Thomas

I imagine the end of the day like this Followed by Followed by the sex. No. I'm not posting a pic for that

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Trout is a $#@$ing liar. How am I ever supposed to trust him again after saying he didn't want to negotiate during spring training. It's a trust that just can't be rebuilt. I'm in a well of despair. Okay, I'm better.

Tribal social groups exist in all species of primate. It's a reasonable assumption that our ancestors that predate our current species behaved in tribal manners far before religion ever existed. And do you know any atheists? I have more social media posts from people who flaunt their atheism than those that flaunt their belief in the collective faith. It's maybe 60/40. Both sides love their memes. They clearly do identify themselves in no small part in their lack of faith. Literally the last thing I listened to on one of my commute podcasts last week was a whole segment devoted to the Linux sysadmins talking about their atheism on their podcast. I mean yeah, you'd think if someone didn't believe in any form of deity they would be by definition non-religious. In a straight forward manner that makes sense. However it doesn't seem to be the case. We as a species just don't seem to function that way. Regardless of the issue, we have this innate need to self validate our choices. Need anymore convincing, go read internet comments about people's preference in video game consoles.

Do you believe the quantifiable effects on the human brain differ between being in a specific tribe that based on its belief in a deity versus belonging to a tribe that identifies itself based on not believing in the existence of any?

You make my point for me. Religion or any other social abstract doesn't generate anything because they are by definition social constructs. They exist and behave because of characteristics of human behavior, not the other way around. The diminishing influence of religion has shown quite clearly that those that would manipulate others can easily find other tools that are just as effective in meeting their goals than religion. Take Trump for instance. Yes he, in the most improbably shallow manner imaginable, utilizes the Christian religion for his manipulative purposes. But unsurprisingly it is hardly his most effective arrow in his quiver. However he can utilize immigration far more effectively to inflame tribal sensibilities both in his supporters and his opposition. Similarly he uses race, gender and culture in the same manner. He may not ever build his wall, but he has sure helped in building imposing walls between these tribes.

The almighty father owns Boeing? Buddah is CFO of Google?

With the dramatic increase in secularism, we've seen a corresponding decrease in hate. Yes?

The previously mentioned blenders.

How does an abstract concept actively create anything? What can't people form tribes over? We've been doing it since before we were people. I've seen it with people angrily talking about Vitamix vs Blendtec blenders. We're on a fucking website that glorifies the a particular subsect of fandom that obsesses over others hitting a round piece of rubber wrapped in animal hide with a overly carved piece of wood. I could give an example with what @calscuf and @Lou are arguing about again, but I don't have fucking clue what they are arguing about. God knows they don't. If we got rid of everything that causes what you describe above, we'd be left with just our cocks in our hand. Oh wait, who am I fucking kidding, those gotta go to.

Apparently paragraphs weren't a thing in 2002.

How many people who use this board, live in a state that went for Trump, and voted for him are there?

Dude changed his political ideology almost annually. Probably liked finding new things to get violently angry about. Cherry picked. Typical 4/8chan'er. Different from Uncle Jethro who "doesn't trust libs". Probably more dangerous.

What he wrote in his manifesto, and what has been reported, aren't exactly identical.

Not exactly. He's a big fan of his white supremacy tendencies, but otherwise not so much. He preferred the Chinese style of government.You know, if they got rid of all the Chinese people.

Not sure how that'd help explore the global ramifications.

Huh.Go figure https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-politics-beto-orourke/

We do probably navel gaze a bit much in this country. The impact can be seen in a truly global manner. Check out the comments of this article. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/new-zealand-mosque-gunman-was-australian-right-wing-terrorist-australia-pm/articleshow/68422143.cms

Well he called out Pewdiepie and was on 8chan because 4chan wasn't extreme enough for him so yeah.

The dude's manifesto and livestream literally gave his motivations for the specific methods. He chose this manner and target to generate the highest amount of chaos and discord. Especially in this country as we're the biggest influence globally. You don't get more effective than guns in a Mosque on livestream. He wants severe reactions from both his supporters and even more so from his opposition. Swinging the pendulum ever higher and higher until the whole thing comes falling down. And judging by the comments here and globally, the bastard by killing dozens has gotten his wish. Not only is the administration getting people to follow their call to violence. They are getting those people to use these acts of violence specifically to create the chaos and fear necessary for the administration to achieve their end goals.

Well this post isn't on the spot hours later...

It's not really anyone's fault really. There is enough science to reasonably say that politics seriously messes with our brains, if not enough to exactly say how or why. Triggering responses honed when we weren't even this species. Those with enough motivation and not enough empathy for others take advantage of this vulnerability. At this point, similarly to climate change, we may have passed over the precipice into unmitigated chaos.