The power of one kind act can positively benefit the many: be the one for everyone around you. We must never forget we are currently writing the story of our lives and I for one wish it to be a call for kindness, an inspiration of heartfelt compassionate courage to fight against injustice and motivate the burning desire for what is real and true.
Let me explain the core of my mortality or ethics in the simplest way possible:
“people own themselves/self-sovereignty”
Grasping and respecting this message is a strong starting point to a position when we think about how we should interact with other people.
Champion of Kindness
To be a champion of kindness with all the trying things or people in life can be quite hard at times. But the task of kindness is often self-rewarding in how it is life-enriching to others around you. Such recipients of acts of kindness are often motivated. to themselves. do similar acts of kindness, which can lessen the reaction to the noise of all the trying things or people in life.
“Damien, where would we be without religion?” – Questioner
My response, Well, we would be free from the biggest supporters of pseudoscience, pseudohistory, and pseudomorality. Thus, humanity could move on as one, because nothing separates humanity as religion, for at its core it is just fear and tribalism.
Fight to End Abuse and Injustice.
When I was young and I saw people abused or treated unjustly, I was manly happy it was not me. But as I developed my humanity, I started to thoroughly despise abuse and injustice universally, wishing all abuse and injustice would end. I started to be vocal and compiled through my compassion to join the fight to end abuse and injustice. So. now that I have positively changed, I want to promote all the positive prosocial relating and kindness between all people I can; with a hope that they to will join to fight with me to help put an end abuse and injustice for everyone.
Let justice and kindness reign, are you with me?
Equal is a Behavior
I see all as equal, because equal is a behavior and a value status not a physical state of being thus all can be equal. I see “anybody can come up” as a tempered openness, to remember people can or have the potential to improve as a person and don’t just always write people off so quickly.
The neuroscience of prejudice and stereotyping
Despite global increases in diversity, social prejudices continue to fuel intergroup conflict, disparities and discrimination. Moreover, as norms have become more egalitarian, prejudices seem to have ‘gone underground’, operating covertly and often unconsciously, such that they are difficult to detect and control. Neuroscientists have recently begun to probe the neural basis of prejudice and stereotyping in an effort to identify the processes through which these biases form, influence behavior and are regulated. This research aims to elucidate basic mechanisms of the social brain while advancing our understanding of intergroup bias in social behavior. ref
Stereotyping Neural Network
Neural structures that underlie components of intergroup stereotyping. Semantic information stored in the lateral temporal lobe — especially representations of stereotype-related knowledge about people and social groups in the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) — is recruited into the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to support the formation of impressions (that is, stereotypes) and, in conjunction, into the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) to support goal-directed actions that are guided by these stereotypes. In particular, the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) is associated with the representation of social knowledge, such as attributes that describe people but not inanimate objects. The dorsal part of the ATL, which is implicated more specifically in the representation of social objects (that is, people), is densely interconnected with the regions of the mPFC that are associated with trait judgement and impression formation. This suggests that social information represented in the ATL is selected into the mPFC to support the process of social cognition. Not surprisingly, the ATL is frequently implicated in studies of stereotype representation. In one fMRI study examining the neural basis of stereotyping, subjects considered either social or non-social categories (for example, men versus women or violins versus guitars) and judged which category was more likely to be characterized by a particular feature (for example, enjoys romantic comedies or has six strings). A contrast of brain activity between social and non-social conditions revealed that ATL activity was uniquely activated during stereotype-relevant judgements of social categories. A different fMRI study used multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) to examine neural activity representing judgements of black and white individuals on the basis of stereotype traits (athleticism) versus evaluations (potential for friendship)49. Results showed that when subjects made trait judgements, a behavioral index of implicit stereotyping correlated with ATL activity, and when they made evaluative judgements, a behavioral index of implicit racial attitudes correlated with activity in the same part of the ATL. Consistent with these findings, the disruption of ATL activity by transcranial magnetic stimulation attenuated the behavioral expression of implicit gender stereotype associations94, suggesting a neural network for stereotyping. The research suggests that a network of neural structures supports stereotyping processes. The ATL is believed to represent stereotype-related knowledge, and it provides input to the mPFC, possibly also during the online formation of impressions about an individual. In this way, social stereotypes ‘stored’ in the ATL may influence trait impression processes associated with dorsal mPFC activity. The application of stereotypes to behavior seems to involve regions of the lateral PFC that are associated with goal representation and response inhibition. Together, the structures in this putative network may support the storage, activation and behavioral expression of social stereotypes. ref
Despite some success in reducing behavioral and physiological expressions of implicit bias in the laboratory, most forms of implicit learning are resistant to extinction. Implicit racial biases are particularly difficult to change in a cultural milieu that constantly reinforces racial prejudices and stereotypes (for example, in mainstream media). Thus, although attempts to undo learned intergroup associations are laudable, such strategies may be ineffective for reducing the expression of bias in behavior outside the laboratory. Instead, interventions that enhance the cognitive control of behavior should be more effective. Such control-based strategies may not reduce prejudice in the mind, but they can prevent its effect on potential victims. Over time, control-driven changes in behavior may become habitual, and prejudiced and stereotypical associations in the mind may weaken. Neuroscience models suggest that control-based interventions should focus on (at least) two separate processes: those for monitoring unwanted racially biased tendencies and those involved in the top-down control of behavior. Strategies to enhance ACC-mediated conflict-monitoring processes include interventions that increase people’s awareness of the potential for bias, increase attention to specific cues indicating that control may be needed (for example, the appearance of an outgroup member in an interaction) and increase the sensitivity of conflict monitoring systems (for example, by activating cognitive conflict prior to an intergroup response). For the effective control of behavior, conflict monitoring processes must be paired with top-down response plans. To this end, psychological research has shown that goal strategies that link a specific cue (for example, ‘if I meet a black person’) with a pre-planned response (for example, ‘I will ignore his or her race’ or ‘I will respond more carefully’) are especially. ref
Effects of Compassion on the Brain
“Compassion Training Alters Altruism and Neural Responses to Suffering”
“Have you ever wondered if someone with even the hardest exterior could learn sensitivity and love? A new study shows that we can be trained to feel compassion for others just like we learn many other skills. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin Madison discovered human kindness is teachable, and what’s more – it can change how the brain works, making acts of kindness in others and ourselves more commonplace. We’ve been told through the ages that we need to develop compassion for our fellow humans and other sentient creatures on this planet, but that emotional state has been difficult to pin down scientifically. Motivating altruistic behavior in people was a big puzzle – until now.” Ref
“Compassion is a key motivator of altruistic behavior, but little is known about individuals’ capacity to cultivate compassion through training. We examined whether compassion may be systematically trained by testing whether (a) short-term compassion training increases altruistic behavior and (b) individual differences in altruism are associated with training-induced changes in neural responses to suffering. In healthy adults, we found that compassion training increased altruistic redistribution of funds to a victim encountered outside of the training context. Furthermore, increased altruistic behavior after compassion training was associated with altered activation in brain regions implicated in social cognition and emotion regulation, including the inferior parietal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and in DLPFC connectivity with the nucleus accumbens. These results suggest that compassion can be cultivated with training and that greater altruistic behavior may emerge from increased engagement of neural systems implicated in understanding the suffering of other people, executive and emotional control, and reward processing.” Ref
How Culture and Bigotry change the BRAIN
“Bigotry Is a form of cultural pollution”
A bigot’s ‘rights’ ignore how culture shapes our brains.
“Culture gets under your skin, and deep into your brain. From the perspective of neuroscience, this idea is called “neuroplasticity”. In our early years, our brains and minds are highly plastic. They depend on sensory input to grow and develop. In this phase of lives, our brains and minds take shape around the major habitual features of our environments. By early adulthood, our minds and brains have developed elaborate structures. We have more ability to act on and change our environment. But the cultural shaping of our brains and minds predispose us to act on and interact with our environment in line with our established ways of seeing the world. In the context of our biological dependence on culture, federal attorney-general George Brandis’ “right to be a bigot” is the right to pollute the shared cultural environment in which we live and raise children. It is the right to express views that, however much you feel are your own, you came by, largely unconsciously, simply in the process of living. If you then have a nice big megaphone through which to broadcast your bigotry, your impact on that cultural environment will be significant. From my many friends who have suffered its slings and arrows, I know that the content of bigotry is, above all, very dull. It’s very “same old, same old”. The pain of it comes from its capacity to narrow both individual and cultural horizons.” ref
To read more check out the link: “A bigot’s ‘rights’ ignore how culture shapes our brains”
How anger changes the BRAIN
Aggression causes new nerve cells to grow which can trigger even more rage in the future.
“Researchers studied changes in brains of mice with aggressive behavior. After winning a fight, mice became angrier and new neurons appeared. This in turn appeared to cause them to become more aggressive. Study could shed light on angry behavior and even how autism develops. From increased anxiety to high blood pressure, it’s well known that anger is bad for our health. But a new study suggests becoming full of rage could change the structure of the brain itself, with the production of nerve cells in the hippocampus. Activity in these new nerve cells was seen with the continuation of aggressive behavior in an experiment involving male mice, which became increasingly angry. This suggests that the act of getting angry makes us angrier and the cycle continues.” Ref
How Hatred Changes Your Brain
“Seeing someone you hate – from that nasty lab partner to your cheating ex-boyfriend – produces sudden changes in the brain, according to a recent study conducted by British neuroscientists. The researchers took fMRI scans of subjects as they viewed both pictures of people they claimed to hate, as well as acquaintances to whom they felt neutrally. Not surprisingly, hatred activated areas involved in aggression and corresponding motor regions. Most specifically, the medial frontal gyrus, right putamen, bilateral prefrontal cortex, and bilateral medial insula exhibited heightened activity. The scientists even found three areas (right insula, right premotor cortex, right fronto-medial gyrus) that correlated linearly with the professed level of hatred the participants assigned to each picture. Interestingly, though, hatred activity also showed a surprising degree of correlation with areas involved in logic and planning. The researchers write: What seems not to be in doubt is that this cortical zone involves the premotor cortex, a zone that has been implicated in the preparation of motor planning and its execution. We hypothesize that the sight of a hated person mobilizes the motor system for the possibility of attack or defense. These findings could have legal implications, given that in some states, hate crimes lead to tougher sentencing. If a court could prove someone committed a crime while under the influence of hate, or that a defendant harbored strong hated towards the victim, the findings could be used to toughen the sentencing of the perpetrator.” Ref
5 Ways Love Affects the Brain
*Hormones go haywire
*Works like a drug
*Makes the blood pump
*Makes brain a little ‘OCD’
*Hormones create attachment
“Love might seem to move in mysterious ways, but scientists actually have a pretty good idea of what love does to the brain. Being in love floods the brain with chemicals and hormones that produce feelings of pleasure, obsession and attachment.” Ref
To learn more check out the link: 5 Ways Love Affects the Brain
Stress: Your brain and body
“What is stress and can it be good for you? Does it kill off your brain cells and can it cause depression? How does your brain perceive a terrifying situation and prepare your body for survival? Your body’s stress response kicks in when you perceive you are under threat. Mammals have evolved this superb mechanism to ensure we have the best possible chance of survival when faced with a life-threatening situation. Imagine you are in the jungle and you hear movement behind you. You stop still, heart pounding and turn your head to orientate your eyes and ears to the sound. You see the undergrowth trampled as you hear an animal pounding towards you – then you hear the lions roar. At times like this you’d want every muscle in your body to work to the peak of its ability – and your brain to be super-alert. Evolution has obliged, and given you the stress response.” Ref
HOW POVERTY AFFECTS THE BRAIN
“A Constant State of Fight-or-Flight”
“Young minorities who are more likely to experience poverty—and in turn more likely to face the cognitive development challenges laid out by science—could end up shouldering another burden, says W. Carson Byrd, assistant professor of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville: the assumption, based on these studies and headlines, that minority children “are less capable than their white peers.” Growing up as a poor minority in America alone does not make someone inherently more prone to brain development impacts—but the manifestations of poverty, along with how society treats poor minorities, can have an effect. Housing discrimination against minorities living in unsafe, dilapidated buildings, implicit racial bias by teachers, malnutrition, and underfunded schools in poor communities can hamper normal brain development. All of these factors combined can make learning nearly impossible and influence why African-Americans, for example, are more likely than whites to be entrapped by poverty. It’s easy to see how a sound bite about smaller brains “can end up as fuel for narrow views of social inequalities and the people that endure them in society,” Byrd says. It begins to dangerously echo racist arguments from past generations by so-called scientists who claimed that black people had smaller brain sizes and were therefore less intelligent than Europeans.” Ref
Response to Fear & Anxiety causes Physical and Mental health Changes
“Impact of Fear and Anxiety”
*Facing Fear & Anxiety Home
*Impact of fear and anxiety
*Work with threats
*Manage chronic fear
*More resources
“Fear is a human emotion that is triggered by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism that signals our bodies to respond to danger with a fight or flight response. As such, it is an essential part of keeping us safe. However, when people live in constant fear, whether from physical dangers in their environment or threats they perceive, they can become incapacitated. How fear works: Fear prepares us to react to danger. Once we sense a potential danger, our body releases hormones that: Slow or shut down functions not needed for survival (such as our digestive system). Sharpen functions that might help us survive (such as eyesight). Our heart rate increases, and blood flows to muscles so we can run faster. Our body also increases the flow of hormones to an area of the brain known as the amygdala to help us focus on the presenting danger and store it in our memory. Living under constant threat has serious health consequences. Physical health. Fear weakens our immune system and can cause cardiovascular damage, gastrointestinal problems such as ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome, and decreased fertility. It can lead to accelerated ageing and even premature death. Memory. Fear can impair formation of long-term memories and cause damage to certain parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus. This can make it even more difficult to regulate fear and can leave a person anxious most of the time. To someone in chronic fear, the world looks scary and their memories confirm that. Brain processing and reactivity. Fear can interrupt processes in our brains that allow us to regulate emotions, read non-verbal cues and other information presented to us, reflect before acting, and act ethically. This impacts our thinking and decision-making in negative ways, leaving us susceptible to intense emotions and impulsive reactions. All of these effects can leave us unable to act appropriately. Mental health and other consequences of long-term fear include fatigue, clinical depression, and PSTD. So whether threats to our security are real or perceived, they impact our mental and physical wellbeing.” Ref
Pregnancy Changes the Brain in Ways That May Help Mothering
“Pregnancy changes a woman’s brain, altering the size and structure of areas involved in perceiving the feelings and perspectives of others, according to a first-of-its-kind study. Most of these changes remained two years after giving birth, at least into the babies’ toddler years. And the more pronounced the brain changes, the higher mothers scored on a measure of emotional attachment to their babies. In the study, researchers scanned the brains of women who had never conceived before, and again after they gave birth for the first time. The results were remarkable: loss of gray matter in several brain areas involved in a process called social cognition or “theory of mind,” the ability to register and consider how other people perceive things.” Ref
Traumatic stress: effects on the brain
“Brain areas implicated in the stress response include the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. Traumatic stress can be associated with lasting changes in these brain areas. Traumatic stress is associated with increased cortisol and norepinephrine responses to subsequent stressors. Antidepressants have effects on the hippocampus that counteract the effects of stress. Findings from animal studies have been extended to patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) showing smaller hippocampal and anterior cingulate volumes, increased amygdala function, and decreased medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate function. In addition, patients with PTSD show increased cortisol and norepinephrine responses to stress. Treatments that are efficacious for PTSD show a promotion of neurogenesis in animal studies, as well as promotion of memory and increased hippocampal volume in PTSD.” Ref
Response of the Brain to Enrichment
Enrichment:
Neural grafting to experimental neocortical infarcts improves behavioral outcome and reduces thalamic atrophy in rats housed in enriched but not standard environments.
THE EFFECTS OF ENRICHMENT ON THE CEREBRAL CORTEX
“What do we mean by “enrichment” for the rats who have served as the animal of choice for most of these studies? Thirty six Long-Evans rats were sorted into three experimental conditions using 12 animals in each group: 1) enriched 2) standard or 3) impoverished environments. All animals had free access to food and water and similar lighting conditions. Eventually, it was determined that animals maintained in their respective environments from the age of 30 days to 60 days developed the most extensive cerebral cortical changes. For the enriched environment, the 12 animals lived together in a large cage ( 70 x 70 x 46 cm) and were provided 5-6 objects to explore and climb upon (e.g., wheels, ladders, small mazes). The objects were changed two to three times a week to provide newness and challenge; the frequent replacement of objects is an essential component of the enriched condition. The combination of “friends” and “toys” was established early on by Krech as vital to qualify the experiential environment as “enriched.” For the standard environment, the animals were housed 3 to a small cage ( 20 x 20 x 32 cm) with no exploratory objects. For the impoverished environment, one animal remained alone in a small cage with no exploratory objects. The numbers of animals placed in these separate conditions were based on the manner in which the routine housing was established in the rat colony. Three rats in a cage has been considered standard for all experimental work over the decades. Since prior to these experiments no one had designed studies to examine brain changes in response to different environmental conditions, the decisions about what represented “impoverishment” and what represented “enrichment” was more arbitrarily than scientifically reasoned. After 30 days in their respective environments, all animals were anesthetized before the brains were removed for comparison among the three groups. Twenty micrometer frozen sections were cut and stained, and the thickness of the frontal, parietal and occipital cortices were measured. Results indicated clearly that the cortex from the enriched group had increased in thickness compared with that living in standard conditions, whereas, the brains from the impoverished group decreased compared to the standard. Because the nerve cells were farther apart in the enriched vs. the impoverished brains, it was thought that the major component of the brain changes due to enrichment had to do with alterations in the dendritic branching. With more detailed studies, the cortical thickness increases were found to be due to several factors, including increased nerve cell size, number and length of dendrites, dendritic spines, and length of postsynaptic thickening as measured on electron microscopic pictures of synapses. In the initial experiments designed to explore the impact of an enriched environment on the brain of post-weaned rats, only enriched and impoverished groups were used. Rats were maintained in their respective environments from 25 to 105 days of age because there were no available data on how long it would take to create chemical or structural changes in the cortex. Chemical and anatomical measurements taken from these animals showed significant differences between the two groups – in cortical thickness, cortical weight, acetylcholinesterase, cholinesterase, protein and hexokinase levels. In these initial experiments, however, it was not clear if the changes were due to enrichment or impoverishment because there were no standard conditions established as controls. Nonetheless, the differences in cortical thickness with this 80-day exposure to the two environmental conditions were not as great as during the 30-day exposure. Consequently, in subsequent experiments, the period of exposure to the experimental conditions was reduced from 80 days to 30 days, then 15 days, 7 days and finally to 4 days. At each of these intervals, animals from the enriched environment showed increases in cerebral cortical thickness in some areas but not in others. For example, in the male animals exposed for 80 days to enriched conditions, the somatosensory cortex did not show significant changes, whereas male animals exposed for 30 days did develop significant differences in the somatosensory cortex. The occipital cortex showed significant changes for both the 80- and the 30-day experiments, but, again, the differences were greater at 30 days than at 80 days.” Ref
Brain Changes in Response to Experience
“Rats kept in a lively environment for 30 days show distinct changes in brain anatomy and chemistry compared with animals kept in a dull environment.” Ref
“Before 1960, the brain was considered by scientists to be immutable, subject only to genetic control. In the early sixties, however, investigators were seriously speculating that environmental influences might be capable of altering brain structure. By 1964, two research laboratories proved that the morphology and chemistry of the brain could be experientially altered. Since then, the capacity of the brain to respond to environmental input, specifically “enrichment,” has become an accepted fact among neuroscientists, educators and others. In fact, the demonstration that environmental enrichment can modify structural components of the rat brain at any age altered prevailing presumptions about the brain’s plasticity. The cerebral cortex, the area associated with higher cognitive processing, is more receptive than other parts of the brain to environmental enrichment. The message is clear: Although the brain possesses a relatively constant macrostructural organization, the ever-changing cerebral cortex, with its complex microarchitecture of unknown potential, is powerfully shaped by experiences before birth, during youth and, in fact, throughout life. It is essential to note that enrichment effects on the brain have consequences on behavior. Parents, educators, policy makers, and individuals can all benefit from such knowledge.” Ref
Hold Generalizations suspect for Hasty generalizations
People like generalization as they can be good tools to distribute falsehoods as fact or support something they don’t know much about and are hopping you don’t require details and accurate evidence which they likely lack.
Ps. “Hasty generalization is an informal fallacy of faulty generalization by reaching an inductive generalization based on insufficient evidence—essentially making a hasty conclusion without considering all of the variables.
The fallacy is also known as:
*Illicit generalization
*Fallacy of insufficient sample
*Generalization from the particular
*Leaping to a conclusion
*Hasty induction
*Law of small numbers
*Unrepresentative sample
*Secundum quid
So, when referring to a generalization made from a single example it has been called the fallacy of the lonely fact[2] or the proof by example fallacy. When evidence is intentionally excluded to bias the result, it is sometimes termed the fallacy of exclusion and is a form of selection bias.” Ref
Belief in god(s) May Involve Suppressing Analytical and Critical thinking
Studies show that people who believe in supernatural agents like gods or spirits and their explanatory speculations which lack evidence or are demonstrably false tend to suppress analytical and critical thinking and involve the engaging in social and emotional thinking relating to such issues. Thinking analytically and critically seems to reduces the strength of religious beliefs and when such believers in gods or spirits are pushed to think more rationally their religious beliefs lessen. This tendency of supernatural believers likely utilizes a reliance on intuition to analyze beliefs rather than rational analysis. 1, 2
Credibility, Accuracy, & Reasonableness
I challenge the credibility (“worthy of belief”) as well as the accuracy of ideas just as I do with uncredible (“unworthy of respect”) behaviors.
Ideas do not have a dignity. They do not have a right to exist. People have a dignity. People have a right to exist.
Thus, I don’t respect beliefs unless they are respectable as in they are warranted and justified by valid and reliable reason and evidence.
People deserve respect unless they behave unrespectably. I always strive to attack thinking not people. In this theme of respect is the integrity of responsibility and reasonableness of being a good human. Thus, I challenge uncredible behaviors as well.
Furthermore, I don’t force people to believe things, I only try to inspire in myself and others to see the need for using accurately rational, and reasonably ethical held standards in beliefs and behaviors.
Reincarnation is a false belief.
Reincarnation | religious belief | Britannica.com
There is no evidence to support it and there are also logistical problems with reincarnation as well as past lives.
Reincarnation is the philosophical or religious concept that an aspect of a living being starts a new life in a different physical body or form after each biological death. It is also called rebirth or transmigration and is a part of the Saṃsāradoctrine of cyclic existence. It is a central tenet of all major Indian religions, namely Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism. The idea of reincarnation is found in many ancient cultures, and a belief in rebirth/metempsychosis was held by Greek historical figures, such as Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato. It is also a common belief of various ancient and modern religions such as Spiritism, Theosophy, and Eckankar and is found as well in many tribal societies around the world, in places such as Australia, East Asia, Siberia, and South America. Although the majority of denominations within the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not believe that individuals reincarnate, particular groups within these religions do refer to reincarnation; these groups include the mainstream historical and contemporary followers of Kabbalah, the Cathars, Alawites, the Druze, and the Rosicrucians. The historical relations between these sects and the beliefs about reincarnation that were characteristic of Neoplatonism, Orphism, Hermeticism, Manicheanism, and Gnosticism of the Roman era as well as the Indian religions have been the subject of recent scholarly research.[10] Unity Church and its founder Charles Fillmore teach reincarnation. In recent decades, many Europeans and North Americans have developed an interest in reincarnation, and many contemporary works mention it. ref
According to a very thoughtful post from January 16, 2012 called
“Logistical Problems with Reincarnation and Past Lives”
An anonymous author exposed six logical problems:
1. Why do some have past life memories, but most don’t? Do only some reincarnate but not others?
2. What if a fetus is born, but no “souls” want to enter it? Then what?
3. Wouldn’t all souls want to be born into beautiful rich families with a good life? Who would choose to be born in a war-torn country in poverty? Do souls even get a choice? If not, then who chooses? Some intelligent forces or random ones?
4. Since the world population 30 years ago was half of what it is today, where do all the “extra souls” come from? Are they new souls? Are they souls from other planets or dimensions? Or from animals and insects? If from animals and insects, then where are the souls replenishing the evolving ones coming from? Is there a first life? Or does our past have no beginning?
5. A lot of reincarnation believers use the “souls coming from other planets/dimensions” explanation, but that sounds like a convenient copout since anyone can just say that. But even if we take that explanation, then where are the souls replacing the migrating souls coming from? Wouldn’t there have to be new souls entering in at some point, unless the population of souls always remained the same?
6. Since there are far more insects and plants then humans and animals, then would that mean that in your next life, your chances of coming back as an insect or plant are far infinitely greater than coming back as a human? If so, then no one would look forward to their “next life” would they? Or do humans only reincarnate as other humans or higher? Can an animal reincarnate as a human? If so, then couldn’t it work the other way around? Ref
Nobody knows anything absolutely?
“Damien, Nobody knows **** all for absolutely sure” – Challenger
My response, Well, do you realize, that saying “Nobody knows **** all for absolutely sure”, is making an absolute knowledge claim there is no one who knows **** absolutely sure, which includes the author of this claim. So, I absolutely know that as offered the claim about knowledge has an internal contradiction.
I value Intellectual Honesty.
I don’t claim any perfection, being intellectually honest but I strive to do the best I can, reaching for a virtuous disposition, and always work to improve anything found wanting, with open willingness.
Harvard ethicist Louis M. Guenin describes the “kernel” of intellectual honesty to be “a virtuous disposition to eschew deception when given an incentive for deception”. Intentionally committed fallacies in debates and reasoning are called intellectual dishonesty.
Intellectual honesty is an applied method of problem-solving, characterized by an unbiased, honest attitude, which can be demonstrated in a number of different ways:
*One’s personal beliefs do not interfere with the pursuit of truth;
*Relevant facts and information are not purposefully omitted even when such things may contradict one’s hypothesis;
*Facts are presented in an unbiased manner, and not twisted to give misleading impressions or to support one view over another;
*References, or earlier work, are acknowledged where possible, and plagiarism is avoided. Ref
Treating Others Equal as Humans is a Prosocial Behavior
All people are of worth and equal as humans. I see all humans as equal because equal is a positive prosocial behavior and a value status, not a physical state of being thus all can be equal.
Equal Human value
I don’t really classify humans by whom they are as a being, instead, I strive to only judge people by how they act and the behaviors they do or promote others to do. To me, we all have equal value as people. I am against the hierarchy structures of people. I find more connections in heterarchy social order. A heterarchy is a system of organization where the elements of the organization are unranked (non-hierarchical) or where they possess the potential to be ranked in a number of different ways. Ref
Kindness is Good for You
“Mortality is delayed, depression is reduced and well-being and good fortune are increased. Committing acts of kindness lowers blood pressure. … Witnessing acts of kindness produces oxytocin, occasionally referred to as the ‘love hormone’ which aids in lowering blood pressure and improving our overall heart-health.” Ref
Babies & Morality?
“Researchers believe babies are in fact born with an innate sense of morality, and while parents and society can help develop a belief system in babies, they don’t create one. A team of researchers at Yale University’s Infant Cognition Center, known as The Baby Lab, showed us just how they came to that conclusion.” Ref
Only a Human
May I remember before anything I am or think myself to be, I am human, one of the billions all over the earth just other humans like me. We need to see past what can separate us and see how we are all the same. A tree cannot grow healthy without enough water and light. Neither can humanity survive and flourish to greatness without kindness and love.
Human beings need support and encouragement to grow healthy as well. We are not alone we are all connected in this life. May I set an example in my thoughts and actions which would even inspire me and empower me to not only champion human freedom but do it with the liberation of kindness.
While hallucinogens are associated with shamanism, it is alcohol that is associated with paganism.
The Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries Shows in the prehistory series:
Show two: Pre-animism 300,000 years old and animism 100,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show tree: Totemism 50,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show four: Shamanism 30,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show five: Paganism 12,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show six: Emergence of hierarchy, sexism, slavery, and the new male god dominance: Paganism 7,000-5,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Capitalism) (World War 0) Elite and their slaves!
Prehistory: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” the division of labor, power, rights, and recourses: VIDEO
Pre-animism 300,000 years old and animism 100,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO
Totemism 50,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO
Shamanism 30,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO
Paganism 12,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Pre-Capitalism): VIDEO
Paganism 7,000-5,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Capitalism) (World War 0) Elite and their slaves: VIEDO
Paganism 5,000 years old: progressed organized religion and the state: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Kings and the Rise of the State): VIEDO
Paganism 4,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (First Moralistic gods, then the Origin time of Monotheism): VIEDO
I do not hate simply because I challenge and expose myths or lies any more than others being thought of as loving simply because of the protection and hiding from challenge their favored myths or lies.
The truth is best championed in the sunlight of challenge.
An archaeologist once said to me “Damien religion and culture are very different”
My response, So are you saying that was always that way, such as would you say Native Americans’ cultures are separate from their religions? And do you think it always was the way you believe?
I had said that religion was a cultural product. That is still how I see it and there are other archaeologists that think close to me as well. Gods too are the myths of cultures that did not understand science or the world around them, seeing magic/supernatural everywhere.
I personally think there is a goddess and not enough evidence to support a male god at Çatalhöyük but if there was both a male and female god and goddess then I know the kind of gods they were like Proto-Indo-European mythology.
The “Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries”
Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ Atheist Leftist @Skepticallefty & I (Damien Marie AtHope) @AthopeMarie (my YouTube & related blog) are working jointly in atheist, antitheist, antireligionist, antifascist, anarchist, socialist, and humanist endeavors in our videos together, generally, every other Saturday.
Why Does Power Bring Responsibility?
Think, how often is it the powerless that start wars, oppress others, or commit genocide? So, I guess the question is to us all, to ask, how can power not carry responsibility in a humanity concept? I know I see the deep ethical responsibility that if there is power their must be a humanistic responsibility of ethical and empathic stewardship of that power. Will I be brave enough to be kind? Will I possess enough courage to be compassionate? Will my valor reached its height of empathy? I as everyone earns our justified respect by our actions, that are good, ethical, just, protecting, and kind. Do I have enough self-respect to put my love for humanity’s flushing, over being brought down by some of its bad actors? May we all be the ones doing good actions in the world, to help human flourishing.
I create the world I want to live in, striving for flourishing. Which is not a place but a positive potential involvement and promotion; a life of humanist goal precision. To master oneself, also means mastering positive prosocial behaviors needed for human flourishing. I may have lost a god myth as an atheist but I am happy to tell you my friend, it is exactly because of that, leaving the mental terrorizer, god belief that I truly regained my connected ethical as well as kind humanity.
Cory and I will talk about prehistory and theism, addressing the relevance to atheism, anarchism, and socialism.
At the same time of the rise of the male god 7,000 years ago was also the very time there was the rise of violence war, and clans to kingdoms, then empires, then states. It is all connected back to 7,000 years ago and it mover across the world.
Cory Johnston: https://damienmarieathope.com/2021/04/cory-johnston-mind-of-a-skeptical-leftist/?v=32aec8db952d
The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist (YouTube)
Cory Johnston: Mind of a Skeptical Leftist @Skepticalcory
The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist By Cory Johnston: “Promoting critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics by covering current events and talking to a variety of people. Cory Johnston has been thoughtfully talking to people and attempting to promote critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics.”
Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ @Skepticallefty Evidence-based atheist leftist (he/him) Producer, host, and co-host of 4 podcasts @skeptarchy @skpoliticspod and @AthopeMarie
http://anchor.fm/skepticalleft
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Damien Marie AtHope (“At Hope”) Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist. Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Poet, Philosopher, Advocate, Activist, Psychology, and Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Historian.
Damien is interested in: Freedom, Liberty, Justice, Equality, Ethics, Humanism, Science, Atheism, Antiteism, Antireligionism, Ignosticism, Left-Libertarianism, Anarchism, Socialism, Mutualism, Axiology, Metaphysics, LGBTQI, Philosophy, Advocacy, Activism, Mental Health, Psychology, Archaeology, Social Work, Sexual Rights, Marriage Rights, Woman’s Rights, Gender Rights, Child Rights, Secular Rights, Race Equality, Ageism/Disability Equality, Etc. And a far-leftist, “Anarcho-Humanist.”
Art by Damien Marie AtHope
Damien Marie AtHope (Said as “At” “Hope”)/(Autodidact Polymath but not good at math):
Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist, Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Jeweler, Poet, “autodidact” Philosopher, schooled in Psychology, and “autodidact” Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Pre-Historian (Knowledgeable in the range of: 1 million to 5,000/4,000 years ago). I am an anarchist socialist politically. Reasons for or Types of Atheism
My Website, My Blog, My (free accesses) Patreon, My (free accesses) Patreon Blog & Short-writing or Quotes My YouTube, Twitter: @AthopeMarie, and My Email: damien.marie.athope@gmail.com