I am a humanist. I care about everyone. Unlike some groups of people who only care about the the people and the feelings of such people who are like them. --- CMVB, 08092017
"War cannot be humanised, it can only be abolished." - Albert Einstein. Often shall a 3rd or 4th generation be born in peacetime, unaware of the fortune they've had in having lived and slept in relative safety and comfort, who will look to the time of their forefathers and think about the glory that war brings and creates... For the common soldier on the battlefield, those who have bled and sacrificed too many of their comrades, war is hell and soldiers, in the end, will wish for nothing more than for war to end and peace for the next generation.
War should be the last resort when all avenues have been extinguished... then again, it works well with sticks and swords. If the two great wars are in any way a source of wisdom, it's that the current capacity of man to wage war will be the doom of all life itself. War, in this time and age, should be left in video games and sports. --- CMVB, 08162017
There are literally, billions of people in the world. You can't move planets (yet) every time a few people start disagreeing with you or bully you. I am one of the weird(er) nerdy ones and I'm proud of it. Not everyone likes what I like, and I don't find interest in a lot of things that others like. Heck, pineapples on pizza is ridiculous to me and I think dogs are more fun than ravenous cats (but i love cats hehehehe!). We find people in a crowd, of random and unpredictable strangers, whom we can connect with and we stick with people who make us better. That's the situation anywhere we go or are. --- CMVB, 08162017
Rules for the propagation of intellectual discourse.
1. An argument built on logical fallacy is a non-argument. 2. Belief without evidence is a non-argument. 3. For any intellectual discussion, participants in a discussion need to be able to differentiate fact from non-fiction. 4. Common sense, though holding some measure of vague truth, is prone to mistakes whereas proper thinking, aka. critical thinking, attempts to bring logic and rationality into the subject. 5. The scientific method is the best system mankind has developed for the identification of non-truths through empiricism and the application of rigorous fact-checking and peer review. 6. Contemporary understanding in light of new evidence, supercedes past information. 7. The justification of an evil act by any being or culture rooted in tyranny, autocracy, censorship, thought-policing, marginalization, bigotry, prejudice, and the infliction of hurt is unjustifiable and indefensible as a position. 8. For the survival of a culture of tolerance, we need to be intolerant of any intolerant and closed cultures. 9. Our rights end where the rights of others begin, meaning, any act that is detrimental and harmful to others is disqualified as a justified practice. 10. The burden of proof is on the claimant, not the skeptic. 11. A culture or argument that applies the very best of secular, humanistic, liberal and progressive values are the ideal.
Notable Classic Characters: Lucretius, Epicurus, Galileo, Spinoza, Einstein, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Beltrand Russel
Notable Recent and Contemporary Characters: Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennet, Richard Dawkins, Carl Sagan, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Richard Feynman, Stephen Fry