tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post1318172684242457126..comments2024-02-13T12:50:30.457-05:00Comments on Rants Within the Undead God: Nietzsche and Secular LiberalismBenjamin Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-41811337711259079322012-11-08T09:19:09.218-05:002012-11-08T09:19:09.218-05:00Thanks for your comment, Alex. I wasn't speaki...Thanks for your comment, Alex. I wasn't speaking for myself so much when I said that, but was trying to summarize Nietzsche's view. Nietzsche may have respected the natural dynamic between master and slave, but slave morality itself sickened him. I agree it's too strong to say that Western-style altruism was "created" by Judaism and Christianity, since Judaism borrowed and rework its myths from those of older civilizations. But Rome's exploitation of that Jewish cult did make altruism politically correct even for modern secular Europe, which disgusted Nietzsche. He thought that atheists and secular humanists can't legitimately borrow theistic myths to justify their values; instead, we need a revaluation after the death of God.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-49594053649750907232012-11-07T23:42:40.783-05:002012-11-07T23:42:40.783-05:00" Universal western morality is the creation ..." Universal western morality is the creation of the early Christians, of conquered Jews who, in their resentment towards the more powerful Romans, articulated a myth to trap their oppressors."<br /><br />BULLSHIT. First of all "Universal Western Morality" is a patent oxymoron of a statement. If it is "universal" it cannot be just "Western", second of all, 'Western' (meaning European in origin) morale is not owed to a bunch of illiterate Jewish fishermen and carpenters of the arid Galilean countryside.<br /><br />Secondly, the notions of righteousness disseminated by both the intellectual followers of Paul, and by the inspired simpletons of the Middle East 2,000 years ago were based of old upon the Jewish-Persian ideas of what constitutes righteousness which hark back to the Babylonian Captivity and earlier.<br /><br />Western morality was respected by Nietzsche when he discovered the truly universal moralities of "Slave" and "Master" (incompatible).Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06762158630054894400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-36299868452984281272012-01-19T10:42:55.533-05:002012-01-19T10:42:55.533-05:00I think most transhumanists are pinning their hope...I think most transhumanists are pinning their hope for immortality on the prospects of artificial intelligence and of downloading our minds into machines, but AI has proven more elusive than many predicted. Still, the computer-software relationship seems like the best analogy for the brain-mind one, so theoretically the transfer should be possible. The sticking point is consciousness, though: how can anything physical be conscious?Benjamin Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-23125138025411613372012-01-19T00:03:47.039-05:002012-01-19T00:03:47.039-05:00I wonder, could the pursuit of medicine/life-exten...I wonder, could the pursuit of medicine/life-extension/cryogenics which the wealthy would benefit from firstly be similar to the death-defying pyramids of Egypt for giving hope to a populace?<br><br>Even in realistic terms, people could hold on to the idea of "if not me now, me later" or "if not me, my children who I love" or "If I can't escape death, I may be returned from it".<br><br>Even if we can preserve brains of the dead skirting problems of water crystalization, electrical inactivity, etc. there are likely losses, yet daily existence is also a loss of individuality as we forget and learn new things, so people may be able to accept it.Tyciolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305974455384425337noreply@blogger.com