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It can also be described as a "subculture", in the same fashion that gangs have their own subculture.

If it is a good idea to flag someone early in order to prevent them from owning a gun, it would seem reasonable to flag a police officer earlier, to prevent him from carrying the authority to kill. In either case, the judgment required to operate the weapon is missing. We need to reassess the...

Perhaps Lennon did not realize that a set of beliefs which guide our behavior is a "Faith" and is a "religion". The song "Imagine" is a hymn.

I don't think the family can legally override the advanced directive. The individuals have the right to make this decision for themselves. The only time the family can be involved is if the patient's wishes are in doubt, such as when they don't have an advance directive. There was a famous...

The question is whether it is better for us all to be at the daily risk of being forced to donate an organ against our will, or whether it is better for everyone to be free of that threat. We could, theoretically, agree to a law that would put us all at that risk, forcing the compatible donor...

We call something "good" if it meets a real need that we have as an individual, as a society, or as a species. Life implies needs. The most obvious needs are at the base of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. These needs animate living organisms to seek food, water, clothing and shelter, etc. If there...

Pre-frontal cortex.

Well, if we did to others what they would wish then we would have a hard time raising kids, or dealing with heroin addicts. There are objectively good and objectively bad things that are done to people. Generally, it is objectively good to allow people the freedom to do what they want, but...

If the culture holds certain beliefs, then it is not unreasonable for a person in that culture to hold such beliefs. After all, it would be unreasonable (or even dangerous) to challenge those beliefs without clear evidence that they were wrong. In America, the President told everyone that the...

If the chair continues to grow branches then we could say that it has the same qualities as the tree. If it doesn't, then a quality of the tree is missing from the chair.

There is a mind-body dualism that becomes apparent when someone dies. The person exists as a process running upon the neural architecture. When the process stops, the body is still there, but the person is not.

Yes. And perhaps earlier we would have gods based upon mothers. Mothers offer unconditional love and fathers offer rules and make demands. Initially we would make mother the god, but later, recognizing the power of father, we make our deities male. The two approaches, Love (morality) and Rules...

Right, that's why I'm suggesting the universal experience of a baby crying out for help and the universe responding with food and warmth. It's like our first prayer, and its answer.

A newborn child, cold and hungry, cries out to the universe for food and warmth. He is gathered up in his mother’s arms, and is comforted, and fed. We don’t remember this experience, but it is one we’ve all shared. I believe it leaves us with a sense that we might implore a greater being to...

Perhaps it is simply distinguishing inert matter from other things that exist, such as thoughts. We have actual apples and we have the idea of an apple. We can distinguish the painting of a bowl of apples from an actual bowl of apples. But both convey is the apple idea. We cannot eat the idea of...

I agree. The goal of morality is to achieve the best good and least harm for everyone (not just family and friends).

Good point. Pragmatically, both the naturalists and the supernaturalists must somehow cope with the same real world. The supernaturalists will curb their claims as needed. For example, they will insist that "God answers all prayers, but sometimes the answer is No". Or they will say "God helps...

A list of the things that do not rely upon belief does not eliminate anything from the list of things that do rely upon belief. There's probably a logical fallacy involved but I don't know what it's called. But Gazzaniga gave the example of Othello killing his wife because he believed she was...

My only moral concern about vegetarianism is that during an ice age the human species may depend upon animals for food. It would be harmful if we lost the ability to hunt.

What about a belief? This is my favorite quote from Michael Gazzaniga: