Astrology

[imperfect vision]

You completely sidestepped my point: gravity -- the sole cause of tides -- has no particular influence on personality, because then everything with mass would have a personality, which is patently ridiculous.

~smirks~ I didnt side step your point. I clarified why some people would believe in Astrology.

Don't be a moron: I wasn't talking about why some people would believe in astrology; I was addressing Lindar's claim regarding the moon. If you want to defend it, then defend it; otherwise, don't act like you're addressing my point when you aren't.

How can a bunch of animals tell that there is a 350 foot wall of water coming in to kill them?

Don't think about the stars; the stars have always been used to tell time. Tens of thousands of years of behavioral development have left imprints upon instinctual patterns in the brain.

A baby born at x time at night has the basic necessary qualities to perform as a baby does. Additionally, to be born at this time of night requires a discerning eye and prefer night to day in order to be more 'awake.'

A particular star sign in the heavens is an instinctual reminder: instead of being a bull, Taurus could have been a giant phallus, if the stars had been connected in that manner. Taurus = May? = Planting season. Planting season requires x qualities. Our lives have already been assigned to us by nature.

Twins? Nurture. Attributes are designed by birth. Abilities are designed by experience.

Human beings in a nutshell 101.

[imperfect vision]

~smirks~ I didnt side step your point. I clarified why some people would believe in Astrology.

Don't be a moron: I wasn't talking about why some people would believe in astrology; I was addressing Lindar's claim regarding the moon. If you want to defend it, then defend it; otherwise, don't act like you're addressing my point when you aren't.

And don't sling insults. I would like to think you were able to support your intellectual views without turning things personal. I am sorry you are not comprehending the hows and whys I said what I did, and consider it out of context, so let me clarify:

Indeed. Look up Aesop's fables one of these days.

When speaking of power behind something tangible like stars or moon, what is being referenced is trying to define the purpose, pull, or meaning behind the forces such as "combustion", "gravity", etc.

There is a higher interpretation than "an interaction between heat, oxygen and fuel provides warmth." "Fire is pretty." "Fire kills." "Only you can prevent forest fires." The old Smoky the bear kicks ass.

Why stop at that? "The interaction at an atomic level presents a dichotomy of necessity and want - ergo, I require warmth, and the atomic interaction requires sustenance and fuel of some sort." Who wants to talk like a goddamn robot all the time. If that's your cup of hydrogen and oxygen combined with trace elements of caffeine and the leaves of an orange pekote plant, conquer a small latin american country and make it law.

[The Cleric]

Why do things have to have meaning? Can't they just be?

[Bratty]

Why do things have to have meaning? Can't they just be?

Science demands that one takes a hypothesis, a theory, what have you, test it, prove it. If something is determined as fact, due to testing, a true scientist would be skeptical and choose to continue testing it.

Case in point :

Thousand years ago or so, many thought that the earth was the center of the universe.

Why couldn't others just let that be?

Another case in point, from more of a practical standpoint:

The sun provided light, and kerosene lanterns when the sun went down. it is natural, and understood.

Why didn't Thomas Edison just let that be?

There is a purpose for those who just let things be. But to be able to see things with eyes open one must constantly check the environment around them to make sure they understand the truths to be truths, and skeptism not to be a blind faith in and of itself. when that becomes the case, science becomes the religion, and that is not very logical now is it :P

[Mayabird]

How can a bunch of animals tell that there is a 350 foot wall of water coming in to kill them?

Actually this is an urban legend. There are always a large number of animals killed in every disaster that animals supposedly magically knew to flee, but when thousands of humans die, nobody really cares about the animal corpses lying around. Not only that, but the media actively perpetrates legends like this. Nobody reports the guy who saw drowned deer and elephants.

And if someone did see animals running around in a panic before the tsunami, remember that it was preceded by a very powerful earthquake. The animals were already running around scared from the quake.

[imperfect vision]

Why do things have to have meaning? Can't they just be?

Everything does have a meaning. It's the interpretation that causes wars and hurt feelings.

[imperfect vision]

And if someone did see animals running around in a panic before the tsunami, remember that it was preceded by a very powerful earthquake. The animals were already running around scared from the quake.

True. the media sucks.

BUT when humans are "the most forward thinking creatures on the planet," they stood gawking and videotaping a wall of water instead of giving into the fight or flight instinct.

*shrug*

[frigidmagi]

Humies don't do well when the forebrain has been shocked to inaction.

[The Cleric]

Why do things have to have meaning? Can't they just be?

Science demands that one takes a hypothesis, a theory, what have you, test it, prove it. If something is determined as fact, due to testing, a true scientist would be skeptical and choose to continue testing it.

Case in point :

Thousand years ago or so, many thought that the earth was the center of the universe.

Why couldn't others just let that be?

Another case in point, from more of a practical standpoint:

The sun provided light, and kerosene lanterns when the sun went down. it is natural, and understood.

Why didn't Thomas Edison just let that be?

There is a purpose for those who just let things be. But to be able to see things with eyes open one must constantly check the environment around them to make sure they understand the truths to be truths, and skeptism not to be a blind faith in and of itself. when that becomes the case, science becomes the religion, and that is not very logical now is it :P

Not what I meant. I was asking why things have to have some "universal purpose" or some such.

[Bratty]

Ahhh I gotcha.

Well dear, that is a philosophical question, but man has questioned his existence even before homo sapien came into play.

There is archeological evidence of dead deliberately being buried by our human ancestors and primal man.

If you have answered that question for yourself, that is fine. It is fine to be atheist or fundamentalist, or whatever the hell you are.

But the nature of man is to question their existence and find the truth in it.