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When what you're doing in economics doesn't work, just do more of it

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

You can call a fish a duck, but that doesn't make it so. Does anyone else find it funny that people claiming to be anarchists - which is, by definition, being against government - are rioting in su...

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What's worth dying for?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

In the movie Braveheart, William Wallace says, "Every man dies, not every man really lives." For thousands of years, people have thought about the values to live for. Aristotle suggest we should live...

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Our Most Dangerous Pandemic

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Every act of communication - or non-communication - is a choice of influence. The essayist is confronted with a peculiar difficulty: he will have time to consider how he wants to influence others - w...

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• philosophy,
• george orwell,
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Put on your thinking caps

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a process of stimulating the brain with magnetic fields that changes/disrupts the way the neurons work. Is it possible to use TMS to unlock "hidden" cogniti...

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The Fountainhead Book Club

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Who's Ayn Rand? Only one of the most well-known and life-changing philosophers out there. Her philosophy is unlike any most have ever read. It's philosophy mixed in with drama and lots of great sex....

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• ayn rand,
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The nature of happiness

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

My daughter just came back from camp and, as we were discussing all of her wonderful experiences, she mentioned that she bought a "happy book" at the camp store. You list all the things that make you...

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Would you, personally, force someone to give charity?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

The great political theorist and economist Frédéric Bastiat wrote in The State: "The oppressor no longer acts directly by his own force on the oppressed. No, our conscience has become too fastidiou...

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Rules vs. principles

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Our current culture appears to revolve more around "dos and don'ts," which is to suggest that society appears more focused on rules of what you are and aren't allowed to do. With that premise, perha...

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No such thing as society

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

"I think we've been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that if they have a problem, it's the government's job to cope with it. 'I have a problem, I'll get a grant.'...

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O Me! O Life! and being thankful for what you have

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Monty Python famously sang "life's a piece of shit when you look at it." There's also the adage that, if everyone threw all their problems on the table, most would reach back down and pick up their...

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The irony of political agreement

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

It appears the "natives are getting restless." Liberals were "up in arms" (pun intended) because the organization Oath Keepers is preparing for violent revolt. They blasted Tea Partiers for purported...

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Ayn Rand: The Wired Interview (1998)

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

I'm a month late on this, for the spotlight of public attention, but I have an Ayn Rand story, too. 11 years ago I blind-pitched Wired magazine an ill-defined article on Rand. In response, they asked...

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The last line of defense when the law is wrong

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

There's a button that some wear on election day. It says "I voted." It's as if voting makes them feel powerful. But the vote they cast typically isn't for a specific law - it's usually for a polit...

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Standards of love

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Have you ever seen posts on social networks where someone will say to all of her friends indiscriminately "I love you all!" or something to that effect? Well, if the Beatles were right, that all you...

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Japanese inspiration

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

If we don't stand for something, then we stand for nothing. In her famous novel Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand asks through Dr. Robert Stadler: "Have you ever felt the longing for someone you could admire?...

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Teach a man to fish

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

In group chat, we recently went on a tangent to discuss the effectiveness of charity. (To quote one of our Braincravers, "teach a man to fish and he'll stay drunk on a boat.") Benjamin Franklin obser...

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The savages among us

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Imagine that you are a human brought to another planet. You are not religious. You haven't any belief in God or the supernatural. On this planet, the aliens are immediately able to cure all your dise...

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• charity

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It doesn't always get better, so stop faking what's real

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

It was all the rage. Following 14-year old Jamey Rodemeyer's tearful "It Gets Better, I promise!" video, in which he tried to show how positive he was in the face of gay bullying, other well-know...

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• children,
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I am sorry - now what?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Referring to the sexual abuse of children by priests, the Pope said "forgiveness cannot be a substitute for justice." Some people admit it when they are wrong and say so. But is that enough? Is forgi...

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The examples adults set for children

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Why are so many children familiar with the adage "do as I say, not as I do?" The answer should be obvious - because we, as adults, often do things that we don't want our children doing. Let's face it...

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Ray Kurzweil - bringing my dreams to real life in a virtual world

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

When I was much younger, I told my father I believed I would live forever. He asked how that would happen and gently reminded me that we all die sooner or later. I explained that I believed we would...

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• technology,
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Killer viruses - should we make them?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

We all have previously learned about the Great Flu Pandemic of 1918, which killed between 20-40 million people worldwide in our history classes. Now with the advance of modern molecular biology techn...

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Why Philosophy Precedes Physics

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

A few months ago, I was discussing certain aspects of quantum mechanics with somebody. I got around to saying that certain claims within the realm of physics can be rejected outright on philosophical...

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Short-selling - the protected companies

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

(Meanwhile, as the Italian cabinet approves a tough austerity plan, and as Nero feasts while Rome burns...) According to the AP, "France, Italy, Spain and Belgium are banning short-selling on sele...

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Rats and the rat race

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

In the future, will you look back, shake your head, and regret that you didn't follow your passions? Feel that you went against who you really wanted to be? Don't wait until another New Year's Eve -...

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The poor don't want charity - they want justice

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

The latest weapon of mass destruction: starvation. The situation is dire. It's the worst drought in Africa in 60 years. The UN is airlifting food to Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. It's estimated th...

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Oh No! Science Supports... The Anarchists!!

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

I'm talking about the real anarchists here, not bloody bomb-throwers or anti-capitalist window breakers. I'm referring to people who have faced the scary fact that all coercive power corrupts and tha...

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Skins - I'm over it

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

I recently read "Conservatives Freak Out Over MTV's "Skins" -- Teenagers Have Sex. Get Over It." posted at the liberal blog AlterNet. If you have any question as to why kids, especially teenagers, ha...

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Hero worship - no cape required

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Through John Galt, novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand discussed the "hero in your soul" in her famous book Atlas Shrugged: "Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless s...

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Get tough and improve a child's self-esteem

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Philip Larkin once wrote in a poem: "They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do." We've discussed in this forum the benefits of self-responsibility on self-esteem. But what...

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Religion and moral truths

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Can a moral relativist and moral absolutist have an objective debate on morality if you don't share the same core values? In physics, a scientist will say that time is relative, but he will not say t...

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Living your dreams

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

As I get closer to formally launching the real-life dating website braincrave.com, I've spent a lot of time reading about how to advertise. Not having any real experience, I first turned to the maste...

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America is very hostile to many businesses, believe it or not

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Attention US government. You're not very bright. By having a high corporate tax rate, you are pushing jobs, profits, patents, executives, research, and operations of US companies overseas. (And, as a...

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TIL: The media can legally lie

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Today I Learned that the media can legally lie. FTA: In February 2003, a Florida Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with an assertion by FOX News that there is no rule against distorting or...

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Socialism or fascism?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

It is true that the welfare-statists are not socialists, that they never advocated or intended the socialization of private property, that they want to 'preserve' private property - with government c...

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The goals of mankind: the state vs. anarchy

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

As Murray Rothbard put it in his marvelous article The Anatomy of the State, "Some theorists venerate the State as the apotheosis of society; others regard it as an amiable, though often inefficient,...

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Environmental suicide

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Contrary to what the United Nations does, Mother Earth doesn't have a conscience. She can't tell us which of her resources she wants us to save, which to take care of, and which to use. Ergo, how we...

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Truth as a Christmas present

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

There's a funny t-shirt for babies that says "Santa doesn't exist but I can't read, so it's okay." Do you lie to children about Santa Claus (or leave it ambiguous)? What are the benefits and limitati...

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• holidays,
• Christmas,
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How to understand people - look at their actions

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Praxeology is a general theory of human action or, more specifically, purposeful behavior. Unlike unconscious behavior such as breathing or reflexes, we act in conscious, chosen ways to achieve vario...

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Is there justice in the world?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Louis Pasteur once wrote that chance favors the prepared mind. But is that the way it always works? Isn't it also true that, sometimes, good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad...

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Engineering the perfect human

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Recently, Harvard University had a panel discussing the legacy of the Human Genome Project. Started in 1990, and with scientists from six countries and initial funding of $3 billion, the project publ...

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• technology,
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How to be a good person

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

What does it mean to be a "good" person? Is there an objective way to define good? Is there a specific procedure/method to evaluate something as good? Does defining the good in life even matter? Assu...

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How to get decent people to do terrible things - put them in positions of power

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Einstein once wrote that "our conscious acts spring from our desires and our fears." Many agree. For example, David Hume suggested in A Treatise of Human Nature that humans are prone to letting emoti...

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Magnets manipulate morality

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

FTA: "By stimulating a certain region of the brain, scientists can alter a person's ability to make moral judgments... The study results show that stimulating a specific brain region interfered with...

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Stop being a bystander

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

The Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. displays the ominous words: "Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander." Although there are except...

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Good will among men

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

In her interview with Playboy, Ayn Rand stated "My views on charity are very simple. I do not consider it a major virtue and, above all, I do not consider it a moral duty. There is nothing wrong in h...

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Feeding the homeless banned

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Meanwhile, as people in Haiti continue to starve in a country "occupied" by 10,000 aid organizations under the government umbrella of the United Nations (an organization designed for war)... They're...

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Ayn Rand vs. Mike Wallace - liberty vs. collectivism

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Ayn Rand warned us. She did it in her books such as Atlas Shrugged (and, to a certain extent, >The Fountainhead). She did it on TV such as in this famous interview between her and Mike Wallace on...

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The Horse in the Plain

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Once upon a time, in a land far away which has nothing at all in common with the world we humans inhabit, a horse was running free in the plain. He longed to climb up the mountains and see the world...

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Optical Illusions - Proof That The Senses Are Valid

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

The senses have no power of distortion; what they observe is what is. Optical illusions do not validate the claim that the senses can deceive us: optical illusions are the senses making valid observa...

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Demagoguery

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Administrator's Introduction: The Greek philosopher Epictetus believed that only the educated are free. With that in mind, BrainCrave.com is more than just bringing people together for dating - it's...

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The Cult of Moral Grayness

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

If I had a nickel for every time someone said to me that I'm too black-or-white, I'd be a rich man. It usually comes up in conversation with anyone that I've known longer than 30 minutes. I even had...

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Irrational self-interest

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Selfishness is often defined as an evil that deals with one caring for oneself more than for others. Many evils in the world are blamed on selfishness. Hunger, poverty and illness are supposedly all...

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The true story of Thanksgiving

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

As Thanksgiving rolls around to the US, children will be taught the false story of the first Thanksgiving (just one of many myths children are taught). The real story is a case study that teaches a v...

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Relative vs. absolute morality

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Are there absolutes? If so, does absolute morality exist, or is all morality relative? Why or why not? What makes something an absolute? Do objective standards exist for morality? If not, should they...

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What happened to the "we" in "yes we can?"

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

How we do like to complain about politicians. We vote them into office (well, some don't vote) and expect them to change the world. To reduce war. To make our lives better. To keep their promises. Af...

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Philosophy - Everybody Needs It

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

We deal with philosophy in one form or another, multiple times every day. For instance, every time we form an ethical viewpoint or act on such, we are forming a philosophical (ethical) idea or applyi...

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I Stumbled... Upon Fun

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Sigmund Freud famously said that "...we men... find reality generally quite unsatisfactory." Over the years, we have become less polite and more sloppy. Now-a-days, we say reality's a bitch. Regardle...

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Slut walks, rape, and hypocrisy - what's eye candy got to do with it?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

How we do love eye-candy. And, after all, "since when is a woman dressing sexy in public a bad thing?" By now, you've probably heard about the various "slut walks" that are happening all over the...

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Speaking of dogs

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, a...

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Defending economic morality

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

The collectivists assert the socialist moral imperative that the highest good for each individual is to live for the sake of others (e.g., for the good of "society"). Marx summed it up perfectly: "Fr...

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OMG! There's Discrimination in the Modeling Industry!

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

New research confirms scandal: not just anyone can be a supermodel. Such discrimination! Say the word discrimination and most immediately think of prejudice. In many countries, by law, employers cann...

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Thinking about thinking

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Thomas Jefferson warned that "Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong." A high I.Q. does not necessarily transla...

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Listen to my music - the philosophy of The Trees

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Make everyone equal. It is a common battle cry across the centuries. Just look at the current class warfare that Obama is pushing because we are not all equal. (Or, as Orwell famously put it in Anima...

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• philosophy,
• ayn rand,
• objectivism,
• economics,
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To criticize or not to criticize

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

In order to avoid offending, is it proper to limit your criticism of someone's beliefs? Which is more respectful: critically examining someone's belief system or ignoring the topic to keep the relati...

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If women ruled the world

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Do a search on the web and you'll find all sorts of criteria for what makes an effective leader. People can't even seem to agree on the definition of leadership. As a result, theories abound. But wha...

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Love is...

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

My answer is that love is... Contemplation. Many would tell you that love is something beautiful and powerful. They might tell you that it is inexplicable and entirely irrational. They would be...

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Learned helplessness

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

FTA: "Why do good men do nothing in the face of evil, especially when evil aggressively invades their lives? ...Some people are paralyzed by fear; some by denial. But many others are immobilized by a...

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Corporate destruction

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

The history of humanity is based on progress. Progress has been the result of individuals coming together to solve problems and to enhance our lives. But history also provides numerous examples of gr...

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What really matters in life - it should be our first lecture

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Life is a constant struggle, especially because the lessons we learn are oftentimes knowledge gained after we really needed it. It's one of the reasons mentors are so important - they've "been there,...

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The central tenet of morality

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Let's assume for a moment that morality is a system of values that a group of individuals (i.e., society) must generally follow in order to live. Let's also assume that the closer individuals get to...

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Cloning - playing God

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

In 1996, Dolly the sheep made headlines around the world as the first mammal to be successfully cloned. As a result of the experiment, President Clinton ordered research into the legal and ethical is...

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• health care,
• medicine,
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Could WikiLeaks have prevented 9/11?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

There is enough evidence now to implicate the US government of a massive cover-up of 9/11. At this point, it's ignorant to claim otherwise. Yet, the only ones who suffer from the terrible events of 9...

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The courage of convictions - rational people don't agree to disagree

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Politics. Morality. Religion. Relationships. Even science. These are examples of the many categories in which you will find disagreements. These debates occur just as much with intelligent people as...

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Dealing with pain during the holidays

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

The holidays are often difficult, and can be downright depressing, especially for those who have pain from a loss, a traumatic experience, or just plain loneliness (e.g., not having a date for holida...

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• holidays,
• philosophy,
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Social contract hypocrisy

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Ayn Rand wrote "Modern collectivists... see society as a super-organism, as some supernatural entity apart from and superior to the sum of its individual members." Those who support freedom are often...

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Politics - a zero-sum game

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

In politics, it seems that everything is an issue. Why? Because everything that politicians do is based on wealth redistribution - taking from one person and giving to another. As a result, politics...

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Space and "empty space": Much ado about nothing, or is it?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Space is a concept which is very rarely correctly understand by anybody, including modern physicists. However, the purpose of this essay is not to discuss the confusions of others in relation to this...

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Learned helplessness

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

In 1967, psychologist Martin Seligman performed an experiment on dogs by shocking them with electricity which appeared to start and stop at random. After the dogs were conditioned, he put the dogs in...

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Too Good to Be True

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

For too long, our society has been tainted by this adage... this taboo of good things. Why, oh why, is this? A product of our psyche? A product of shared cultural values? Or, is it really undeniably...

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Society and the meaning of individual actions

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Libertarians are often talking about freedom and liberty. Thomas Jefferson claimed in his magnum opus the Declaration of Independence that we all have a right to liberty. But freedom and liberty aren...

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Imagine... what a wonderful world it would be

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Aristotle spoke of music as having "influence over the character and the soul." He noted that "Rhythm and melody supply imitations of anger and gentleness, and also of courage and temperance, and of...

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Objective truths and abortion

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

There's a new 5-day "morning-after" pill that's been tested for US approval (New 5-Day 'Morning-After' Pill Tested For U.S. Approval). Some people say the choice to abort is moral and use various...

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TIL hot water freezes faster than cold water (and be careful with reigning paradigms)

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Today I learned hot water sometimes freezes faster than cold water. Although there isn't one, conclusive scientific explanation for the phenomenon, one of the theories for why this occurs is that hot...

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The Great Hoax of Equality

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

History repeats itself. Men have constantly fought and died in the war for equality throughout the centuries. However, not all of them had in mind the same idea of equality when they gave their lives...

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Child exploitation

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

If we are to believe UNICEF, there are about 158 million children aged 5-14 engaged in child labor, "working in hazardous situations or conditions." Most people give this a scary name like "child ex...

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People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

The US government consists of a bunch of hypocrites. I know, tell you something you don't know, right? Recently, Hillary Clinton and her lackeys at the US State Department released the Country Re...

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• military,
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• torture,
• police state,
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The revolution for individual freedom and the principles of cooperation

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Throughout most of human civilization, centuries of men have starved, died from the elements (for lack of proper housing), suffered terrible health, and barely lived. Even today, starvation kills mil...

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America's leading leftist intellectual is angry

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

"America's leading leftist intellectual" and MIT professor Noam Chomsky once remarked that "The U.S. is a leading terrorist state, as are its clients." He has said "that there is no War on Terror." H...

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Well I'll be a monkey's uncle - evolution is not a matter of faith

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Humans and chimpanzees share 96% of the same DNA. In other words, from a scientific perspective, humans and chimpanzees are genetically very similar. As the battle between evolution and intelligen...

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Honestly, why bother?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Given the growing unrest and corruption in the world, it's reasonable to generalize that social relations are strained and getting worse. It's difficult to pinpoint one specific problem but it's logi...

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The ethics of capitalism

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with morality, and the moral code/ideology used when differentiating between right and wrong is critical (e.g., consider that Hitler used national socialis...

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Any monkey can be an artist

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

We experience art as an emotional reaction to our senses. Enjoying art has a personal meaning and relevance; therefore, we evaluate art differently depending upon our own values, perceptions, and kno...

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Are you a bystander?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander. - Holocaust Museum DISCUSS! Original posting by Braincrave Second Life staff on Mar 21, 20...

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The truth meter

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Is there any circumstance in which the government should be a gate-keeper of information? What are the benefits of holding back information vs. letting information flow freely? FTA: "In a recent c...

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Initiating force against tasty animals

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

To sustain life, the human body requires nourishment. Such is the "catch-22" - how to sustain life without destroying life? Most (but not all) consider cannibalism as the ultimate cultural taboo, so...

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• animals,
• food

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TIL Plato didn't believe in Platonic love and supported erotica

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Today I learned that Platonic love isn't what we thought it was. In fact, Plato didn't even believe in it, was pro-sex, thought erotica was a spiritual force that helps us find our true selves, and e...

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