mr dave

yes! exactly! to the two of you

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i am the universe

coryallen2

You dont have to be a christian to answer those question, all you have to do is actually read the bible.

1st, there is not one instance in the book of genesis that claims an "apple" fell from any tree. It merely said "fruit". Matter of fact, the word "apple" isnt even in the book of genesis ever.

2nd, the whole creation even is split in two. there are two events described with two different sets of details. All the races did not come from Adam and Eve, despite popular Christian belief. All the primary races were created in the first chapter. Emphasis was put on the Adamite bloodline because that was bloodline that would ultimately remain pure all the way from Adam to Abraham to David to Jesus Christ.

sleepy jack

You're no longer going to be allowed to post on here if you keep plagiarizing other people on the internet coryallen2, I'm serious.

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cardboard adolescent

it is impossible to define art without referring to artists. but i welcome you to try.

Terrible Lizard

Ah, it is impossible to define art without someone to gaze upon it, it has nothing to do with an artist. Art can be found in nature and in the twisted masqerades in our urban areas.

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“YOU ARE SCUM SLUT.”
-John Martyn

cardboard adolescent

but if a person looks at something in the world and says "that is beautiful," that makes them an artist.

all an artist does is extract a piece of reality from its context.

Terrible Lizard

Would that include more ridiculous or abstract thought structured upon feeling conveyed by the work or sight itself?

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“YOU ARE SCUM SLUT.”
-John Martyn

cardboard adolescent

it's really up to you how you delineate the term, that's kind of the point

Terrible Lizard

Indeed, getting back to the original point, the Universe is a construct with no purpose but to give the option of purpose or destruction. I don't see how that negates the idea of a sentient being of some sort creating it, only that this creator is no longer involved in its processes.

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“YOU ARE SCUM SLUT.”
-John Martyn

Guybrush

I often have to settle for disagreements, but the road there can still be fruitful

I've studied evolution and believe how we behave and what we are capable of is finely tuned to promote the survival of our genes. This goes for desires for frivolous material goods, jealousy, by far most of our fears and desires. What you call our ego is something I believe to come from within ourselves and it pushes our gene-survival agenda, although perhaps unconciously and unaware of it's true purpose. That competition that started out with the molecules in the primeaval soup is not over yet. Sometimes people don't think it makes sense, but they often forget the very basics - such as the need to see humans not so much in the light of civilization which evolution has no chance of keeping up with, but as the "cavemen" we were some tens of thousands of years ago.

One of the reasons I said science and religion is a difficult explanation is that the two often contradict eachother as you're aware, often leading the believer to have to accept that parts of religion or science is not true. When something is obviously not true, you might still have to accept that other parts are true, but how do you then know they are? It might get messy and I think a lot of people find it hard to unite such beliefs. If you can believe in science and spirituality (not religion) in a way that it doesn't become contradictionary or paradoxal, that solves this problem effectively.

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Something Completely Different