Global Warming: White Man's Problem

[Extra Stout]

I posted a long response to v2freak, which was lost when ST logged me out, so I will summarize it.

1) Of course we need a planet to survive -- but that implies that humans are worth surviving -- which implies that human life matters. And devaluing the lives of human beings below those of cows in order to save the lives of human beings is incoherent.

2) Politics and culture and closely intertwined, and to claim otherwise is either ignorance or obscurantism.

3) Starting with a misapplication of the idea of ethnocentrism, claiming that misapplication to be a generalizable axiom like Occam's Razor (which is not so generalizable, by the way), and therefore asserting that denying the animals the same rights as humans is "species-ism" is ridiculous.

4) A cursory look at the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and thoughts of trying to apply those rights to various kinds of animals, quickly descends into absurdity.

5) It does not require the sorts of outrageous mental gymnastics you have indulged to make something akin to your point. Through clear thinking and common sense it suffices to say, "Do not be cruel."

6) You do not understand evolution at all.

7) Whether humans started hunting 2 million years ago or 20,000 years ago is irrelevant. The human behavior of hunting began in prehistory.

8) Whether or not humans need meat to survive has nothing to do with whether meat-eating "evolved."

9) A theory is a robust analytical framework that explains copious empirical observations. It is not a wild conjecture.

10) Comparing LOST to English literature is ridiculous.

11) Your arguments, rather than being convincing, make me wonder what the is wrong with you.

[v2freak]

I like your responses, Extra Stout, but I don't need to read too many of them. They usually kinda go like this

1.) This is my opinion, if you don't agree then you are wrong
2.) This is ridiculous, and there's nothing else to say about it. Or rather, there's nothing else I can say about it because I don't know how to put my thoughts into words. So i'll continue to say this is ridiculous, which you WILL accept as an axiom
3.) Random insult added for insurance
4.) Nitpick an analogy and miss the point completely. Comparing Lost to literature is not the point, but rather you can gain insight by reading things that "aren't real", and a science fiction show does not make its contributions to society any less relevant. I don't recall saying Jack Shepard is like a modern day MacBeth.
5.) See 1-4
6.) Red herring

Let's cut to the chase here. I already told you I am not trying to convince anyone of anything, I stated my stance and you asked questions, to which I took the time to craft an answer that you may find comprehendable. I was the first to state that vegetarianism could provide answers to starvation, in relation to global warming. By the way, sorry to hijack your thread MB. Not my intention.

So while your last "point" and I use the term loosely, claims that my arguments are not convincing, I must ask. In accordance with the discrepency between "convince" and "state" that I had wrote earlier, it would appear that the only one here trying to convince anyone of anything is you. What is your purpose? You know my stance on things, and you continue to go on and on but for what? What is the real purpose of your posts? Are you trying to convince me of something? Let's be honest here, I'm not going to convince you of anything - and I haven't tried to - and you aren't going to convince me that my beliefs aren't worth having. This is not a "let's agree to disagree" cop out resolution. I am telling you this because I cannot stand people who try to tell others how to live their lives. My girlfriend said she believes most of the problems on earth are caused by people trying to force their ways on others. You apparently do not have the same conviction. One reason I'm fiscally conservative is that I believe everyone making their own money is the fairest course of action, with the rich not taking from the poor and vice versa.

I suspect it's because you're argumentative, but if I called you out on it, I have a feeling you would say 'no I'm not. you're being ridiculous/absurd/ludicrous'.

[Phenomanul]

I posted a long response to v2freak, which was lost when ST logged me out, so I will summarize it.

I hate it when that happens... I can relate...