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I don't think the emergence of biological material is the main gap with Abiogenesis, but goal seeking behavior is. Every living organism must have the will to survive and replicate - natural selection itself would fail without it. We already know that complex proteins can form even in the...

Would it be breaking the mold to say that I'm happy to be a cynic? Meh, what's the point. It all sucks, anyway.

I kind of saw this coming, but I'll bite: This is where the fossil record comes in. We've observed evolution happening in our time (contrary to what opponents of evolution want people to believe) and we can create a fairly comprehensive mapping of phylogenetic trees. One can easily deduce that...

I don't think natural selection asserts that. Evolution is an ongoing process - humankind is undergoing changes as we speak, but like the development of a child, one can't see it right before their eyes. The problem with humans is that there is nothing 'selecting' us from our perch at the top of...

Genetic drift has seemingly too much attributed to chance. I'm sure it's a true phenomena, but could it really account for all of biodiversity? It seems like, even with genetic drift, there would still be some aspect of natural selection, as traits that are less suitable for survival would be...

There is a glaring misconception that Charles Darwin came up with the theory of evolution. It was actually concieved earlier, under the title Transmutation of species. What Charles Darwin proposed was a mechanism for this supposed transmutation of species, namely Natural Selection. I generally...

While I couldn't agree more about Monsanto and any corporations running things like this, I think that genetically modified food has sort of a stigma to it that piques peoples aversions - this is seen in a lot of technology, particularly new technology. The same sorts of arguments could be made...

I'd have to cosign with Cognisants desire to be a transhuman, but with one addendum: I want to be an amorphous superintelligent network of nanobots, able to change shape, pass through solid objects, spread out (far enough that I could experience several cubic miles of space at once), and able to...

All debates here will end up fruitless, but bouncing ideas around is always entertaining, and in the end, all we can ever really do is kill time. But, as you said, this will eventually dwindle into a "yes it is" - "no it's not" sort of discussion, and even the novelty of a lively debate will...

This seems to be assuming that a bunch of people could come up with the idea given enough time. I still don't see where any of them should have the authority to decide what other people should and shouldn't be able to do. It's rather like the gay marriage issue going on in the US - a bunch of...

I think, before going further, I should say that we can both agree that the way things are right now is not working well, and will continue to decline as time goes on. Am I correct in saying that? Going on that assumption... This seems like such a top-down approach. In order to effect strong...

So, you don't trust parents to take care of their children properly, but you'll trust a police force to take care of society properly? You seem to have misplaced your faith in the human ability to raise offspring with faith in panoptic law enforcement. I completely agree, I think there are a...

It raises a bit of a philosophical question. Everyone seemed to think that damaged goods was so fantastic, giving them praise on their posts and what not. What do people think now? Is it disillusioning to find out the truth? Does anyone feel they would be happy if they could have continued...

So, relinquishing freedom is the lesser of two evils? As an alternative to coercing and forcing people to do something by some arbitrary standard set by people with no right or authority to do so, why not focus on educating them instead?

I think the worst part about the DNA explanation for superpowers is when the endowed hero 'loses' their power. If it's genetic, then I'm curious as to how one can lose the 'power' phenotype, whether it be the color of your hair, the size of your nose, or your ability to hurl fireballs at someone...

Your handwriting looks almost eerily similar to mine. Mine might be slightly messier though (my letters often get squashed together).

There is a study on the official MBTI website where they did an EEG of people from the different personality types. I posted this in the thread "Official MBTI online?". The problem I've always had with psychology, in particular when talking about psychological disorders, is the absence of a...

For some good hip hop that's not been tainted by the main stream, check out pretty much anything from Def Jux or Rhymesayers. Some of my favorite rappers from these two record labels: Aesop Rock YouTube - Aesop Rock - Freeze YouTube - Aesop Rock - Holy Smokes El-P YouTube - El-P - Habeas...

That's essentially what I'm saying, but I wonder what allows some people to break free of their conditioning. Yeah, because christianity, and religion in general, have always been institutions that supported equality. This can clearly be seen when reading their holy books. I agree with this...

Despite the seemingly large (or at the very least, loud) voice of conservative traditionalists (speaking more from an American POV, since it's the only one I'm personally familiar with), it seems that the consciousness of the population is inherently progressive. As we are all well aware, much...

I am a big advocate of science, but even I will admit that science has limits, as well as the human mind. What I don't care for, however, is the defeatist attitude of calling something 'unexplainable' and giving up all hope of understanding a certain phenomenon, thereby halting further...

The Wit (70% dark, 15% spontaneous, 31% vulgar) CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK I've never thought of myself as clean, really, but I'd prefer something more high brow to the fart jokes and pie in the face gags, but even I thought 2 girls 1 cup was amusing. Dark humor was spot on, though, I don't...

I just have to ask, is there anything that anybody can do or think without it being the result of the patriarchal tyranny that oppresses and brain washes us all? I'm not one to deny that there are societal pressures that influence the way we all think about other people, but you seem to have...

Ah I see, I've never heard that before.

Wolfie? I thought 88 meant "HH" for Heil Hitler.

People use quotes as short, clever ways of expressing a thought that someone else has summed up more cleverly and concisely then they could. I for one like putting reading material in my signature - something that will make people have to think for themselves then tell them what I believe they...

Grammar and spelling doesn't bother me at all, but I hate when people don't use punctuation. This is the internet, and people are going to use 'internet slang' - people need to learn that humanity sucks and just get used to it. I've always found those that get all bent out of shape about other...

I have a complete and utter lack of style. I own about five t-shirts, 3 black and 2 dark blue (I also hate shirts with logos or designs on the front), all of which are tattered and way to big for me (they're about 6 years old, and I've lost a lot of weight since then). I own two pairs of jeans...

The best thing to do is, when posting, instead of making positive statements (ie "this is how things are" or "this is what I think") try asking questions (Socratic method) and getting involved in debates. Also, if you think that something being discussed is interesting but over your head, use it...

Nice links, I'm gonna have to save those. I do wonder how much correlation there is, though.

Climate change is something that's happening, has happened before, and always will happen. That humans think they have the power to destroy, or save, the planet seems arrogant. The 350 ppm seems like a very arbitrary number, and the projections for what dangers climate change will have are...

Which also makes me think of how every time I make a response to someones post, it seems like 10 minutes later I think of something I should have added, or expanded on, or a better way of saying what I said.

I'm a white male. I'm an introvert. Therefore, all white males are introverts. This seems like the kind of logic you are using when you make such broad generalizations about how women 'are wired' and 'are manipulative'. It seems like classic Us vs Them mentality and straw man fallacy; you're...

When I was in school, I didn't care for the classes. I pretty much daydreamed my way through school, didn't do much homework, and barely graduated with about a D- average. I wanted nothing to do with school, so I never went to college. After about four years of doing manual labor out of high...

Here's the problem as I see it: It's impossible for someone that doesn't think a certain way to define how people that think that way think. Because of this, it's impossible for us to define the way in which we think, because we can never experience how it is to think any other way. One thing...

i could hear up to 19 khz. 24-male.

It's posisble to raed thigns taht are mixed up adn stlil get an undrestadning of tehm. in fatc, i cotnest taht it baerly ditsurbs teh continiuty of teh wrods muhc at all.

the way i have always kind of thought of it is: Si - experience driven. they're the ones that know how to do things from having experienced it. people with Si will become very proficient at what they do. SJ's are the ones who'll become good at a skill very easily from practice. generally they...

it's not my favorite song (although it is a good song) but i think it describes my feelings quite well. its called "Weird Side" by Eyedea (Oliver Hart), who i'm convinced is either an INTP or ENTP. unfortunately, the Youtube version cuts off like half way through the last verse, but i also got...

i abhor physical contact. this seems to bother much of my family and extended family, because i refuse to hug them. on occasion, i'm not quick enough to escape, and i end up standing there limply, which usually gets me a dirty look. my mom seems to take it personally. i'm not sure what it is...

i enjoyed it immensely; what implications can that have for me? much of it could have probably been uttered about me (although i'd probably put it less poetically).

Robot: 100% rational, 0% extroverted, 14% brutal and 14% arrogant.

i got the same results.

i'm pretty sure i took this on a different website at some point, too. seems a lot of websites cannibalize the same tests. i find most of the online ones to be incredibly repetitive and 'black and white'. that MBTI website someone posted had some interesting stuff on it. i especially liked...

i don't know whats worse, doping people up for not being of sound mind, or psychiatrists telling people how they should be raising their children. now days everything is so focused on preserving childrens precious 'self esteem' and trying to be friends with them as opposed to parents that we end...

one problem i've always had is that i've never seen any 'perfection' in myself. i have never let myself get away with anything. most people seem to be able to rationalize their actions, or be 'in denial' about themselves (something very foreign to me). but for me, i've always been well aware of...

i almost wonder if there should be different functions for the personality of society then the ones used for individuals. perhaps america could be divided into "extroverted liberal authoritarians" (activist types) and "introverted liberal authoritarians" and so forth... just a suggestion off the...

i used to be obsessed with physics, then it sort of turned towards biology/neuroscience, but it has come back around towards physics (i've just been watching some of the Richard Feynman lectures online). i'm reading a physics book right now and have two about the brain that i haven't read yet...

where i live (west Michigan, USA) i'd definitely say XSTJ. there are a lot of ESTJ and ISTJ, with ESFJ in a close third. but i think that XSTJ is very much a 'working class' sort of mindset (even non XSTJ's probably act more XSTJ then in other social classes), which reflects my area very well. i...

destiny just seems to me like attempting to give meaning to meaningless events. its comforting, but ultimately its confirmation bias. anything happening at the same time can be seen to have meaning, and there's no way to prove otherwise because one cannot go back and do it again differently to...