Comment

Comment by Fabio on July 8, 2010 at 6:21pm

@Ryan: Can't but agree. That's the main reason why I'm a staunch proponent of European federalism. That would be one interesting starting point.

Comment by R. Ryan Nelson on July 8, 2010 at 6:19pm

The only way to achieve global peace is political unification... yes i know what I just said. If history teaches us anything its that political unification brings internal peace. Yes there are millions of examples where the kleptocracy oppress their people, forcing rebellion. Yet there are even more examples where unification brings a higher standard of living, and a higher standard of living brings peace. The only thing we need to do is extrapolate to the inevitable conclusion and... unify globally.

Comment by Dale on July 8, 2010 at 2:47pm

well, their are other ways to achieve world peace that are not nearly as... ethical but more in tune with human selfishness. The version that I think is more likely and in which Penn and Teller suggest on their show Bullshit. That is, complete global economic interdependence. Similar to what the European Union has achieved. A lot of the emotional prejudice is still there, but you need each others help to continue to enjoy your standard of living.

Comment by Dale on July 7, 2010 at 8:35am

More than containment, well, we need to start making a list of areas that need fixing. Set goals in place for each category and then decisive plans. I am sure for almost everything we can come up with good, rational and obtainable plans that would aid in each aspect. The world is finite in size and our knowledge and technology continue to increase against this size and complexity. I see no reason why we can't actually do something. Alas, it would be much better if we could focus all of humanity on these problems instead of bickering over meaningless things such as whose interpretation of one book is better, let alone who has the better book, or believing mis-information spouted off by people who have an agenda solely based on self-interest.

Comment by Fabio on July 7, 2010 at 8:29am

@Fred: Can't we, in 2010, aspire to a little more than mere damage containment?

Comment by Dale on July 7, 2010 at 6:26am

Beyond the continuation of life on this planet any other meaning is one that we need to appoint ourselves. As Fabio mentioned, we do have an awful lot of extra time on our hands. Global Peace would be a nice goal. By the way Fabio, as far as humans go, we might not even need to worry about procreation given our numbers, I think a lot of us should opt to adopt and ensure a Religious group doesn't gain another head count by default.

As for myself, well, I am still working on defining my meaning clearly. I think something along the lines of generally inspiring the next generation to think for themselves and make the world a better place. Oh, and enjoy the hell out of my time on this planet.

Comment by Fabio on July 7, 2010 at 4:51am

See, the cool thing about life is that if we take out the few minutes it takes for successful procreation to occur - plus, obviously, the months of gestation and the few years of rearing - that still leaves us with decades of potentially meaningless time in your average human's lifespan. That's not a bummer, that's actually an awful lot of potential to put our hands on. It gives us a chance to give our own existence its own meaning. Sadly, not enough people take advantage of such freedom. Many people are downright terrified by the responsibility and would rather embrace pre-made, boxed meanings-of-life (TM).