What is the highest principle?

[henry quirk]

define essence (you brought it up)

The immutable thing that makes a Unicorn, a Unicorn.

It occurred to me as I was on my way to take a shit, there are immutable things that make a unicorn a unicorn.

Each man, woman, and child (each person) who thinks about, dreams about, writes about unicorns, furthers the myth.

So: free wills make a unicorn what it is.

[Skepdick]

It occurred to me as I was on my way to take a shit, there are immutable things that make a unicorn a unicorn.

Each man, woman, and child (each person) who thinks about, dreams about, writes about unicorns, furthers the myth.

So: free wills make a unicorn what it is.

Welcome to the point, Harry. Took you a while.

The definition of a unicorn precedes the ESSENCE of Unicorns.
Like the definition of a woman preceded the ESSENCE of a woman.

Each man, woman, and child (each person) who thinks about, dreams about, writes about men and women, furthers the myth of the ESSENCE of men and women.

Free wills make "men" and "women" what they are.

The "immutability" is in your head. Mutating it is just a choice.

[henry quirk]

The immutable thing that makes a Unicorn, a Unicorn.

it's fiction, it has no essence

Great, now that you understand the question, back to the previous one.

Do ALL real things have essence?

like a dog with a bone: you worry at it, thinkin' others want it

I don't

excuse me: i gotta go drop some immutability into the john

[Skepdick]

like a dog with a bone: you worry at it, thinkin' others want it

When did you start caring about what others want, Harry?

This is philosophy, not a wishing well! Truth matters more than your feelings (or some such idiotic proclamation)

[Skepdick]

Stable societies do not let themselves become overpopulated due to advances in science
So is it not better to use the science to improve the health of the pre existing population

Well, it depends.

Can you think of a way to fix over-population in a way that addresses the problem (over-population) while moving us towards our goal of "non-extinction" also?

[surreptitious57]

Can you think of a way to fix over population in a way that addresses the problem while moving us towards our goal of non extinction also ?

There are certainly solutions but are they practical or ethical ?

Legal restriction on the number of children a woman can have in countries with high populations
Financial incentives for women either not to have any children or any above the national average
Financial incentives for voluntary vasectomies for men with no wife or no children
Relaxing abortion laws making it easy for women to have them when they need to

Stop saying that our goal is non extinction because immortality is simply not an an option here
As however long we do survive for we will at some point die as a species just like all the others

[Sculptor]

Stable societies allow for more and more people to acquire useful knowledge and become doctors and scientists - moral

Stable societies do not let themselves become overpopulated due to advances in science
So is it not better to use the science to improve the health of the pre existing population

There is no such thing as a stable society.

[Skepdick]

Legal restriction on the number of children a woman can have in countries with high populations
Financial incentives for women either not to have any children or any above the national average
Financial incentives for voluntary vasectomies for men with no wife or no children
Relaxing abortion laws making it easy for women to have them when they need to

What about acquiring more real estate?

Life on the moon?
Life in space?
Life on Mars?

That sure solves the "Meteorite hits Earth" problem....

Stop saying that our goal is non extinction because immortality is simply not an an option here

Stop dichotomising everything.

Living to 500, 5000 years old. 50000 years old.

Those are all options.

As however long we do survive for we will at some point die as a species just like all the others

You don't like having a Free Will, do you?

[Sculptor]

Do no harm???
LOL

https://truepublica.org.uk/united-state ... uk-silent/

Other non-signatories of the ban on landmines (including most of the world's major military powers): Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, China, Cuba, Egypt, Georgia, India, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, North Korea, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Libya, Micronesia, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Tonga, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam.

Glad to see the USA dropping to the bottom of the pile of shit.
Good old Trump making the US no better than the worst countries of the world.

[Skepdick]

There is no such thing as a stable society.

Another black-and-white thinker emerges!!!

[surreptitious57]

There is no such thing as a stable society

No but it is still a goal that can be strived for even if it is unattainable
An unstable society is by contrast something to be avoided at all costs

[Sculptor]

There is no such thing as a stable society.

Another black-and-white thinker emerges!!!

The only societies that are stable are dead ones. All societies are in a state of growth or decline, there is no stasis.
Clearly you are the b&w thinker here.

[Sculptor]

There is no such thing as a stable society

No but it is still a goal that can be strived for even if it is unattainable
An unstable society is by contrast something to be avoided at all costs

Indeed not. Stability is stagnation.

[Skepdick]

The only societies that are stable are dead ones. All societies are in a state of growth or decline, there is no stasis.

Have you heard of this thing called "derivatives"?

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, N-th? Change, rate of change, rate of rate of change.

There is stable growth.
Stable decline.
Rapid growth.
Rapid decline.
Exponential growth.
Exponential decline.

Clearly you are the b&w thinker here.

Clearly you need more hay for your strawman.

Go bark up some other tree, or learn something new

[surreptitious57]

Life on the moon ?
Life in space ?
Life on Mars ?

That sure solves the Meteorite hits Earth problem

What about the meteorite hits moon problem ?
What about the meteorite hits space station problem ?
What about the meteorite hits Mars problem ?

Hurry up and get some problem solvers solving these problems before we establish any colonies on them