Ubuntu 11.10 makes Unity compulsory

[Douglas Pollard]

On 04/05/2011 11:19 AM, J wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 10:44, Douglas Pollard<dougpol1 at verizon.net>  wrote:
>> I think religion fills a need for those who believe in it and I don't think
>> it harms anyone else.
> You may want to look into how membership in various "religious groups"
> (read cults) affects the lives of family members who are not part of
> that group.  Religion certainly fills a need for people who belive in
> it, but it can and does harm other people.
>
>> I have done a lot of reading and searching and the basis for all of them is good.
> To paraphrase: "The road to Hell is paved with the best of intentions"
>
>> Why would a person invent a religion that is bad for him.
> Not so simple but humans fall into generally two categories.  Leaders
> and Followers.  Leaders have an innate desire to control and need the
> feeling of power to be satisfied (though seldom are).  Followers need
> someone stronger, and alpha, to take charge and tell them what to do.
> It's no different than pretty much any other species that has a
> similar social structure.  Whether that Alpha is chosen by the group
> or takes control by force or intimidation is irrelevant.  Some people
> need to be controlled and some need to do the controlling.
>
>> People using religion to do what the want is another matter.
>> People invaded the middle east in ancient times because they wanted to.
> Europeans (the Crusades) invaded the Middle East in ancient times
> primarily because Muslims had taken over what the Roman Catholic
> Church considered the Holy Land and at first at the request of the
> Byzantine Empire (part of the former Roman Empire) to help repel
> invasion by the Turks.  People joined the cause for various reasons,
> including greed (the spoils of war), power, prestige and because the
> Church promised that if the common man took up arms against the
> "heathen invaders" they would be absolved of all sins and live forever
> in Heaven, something that went a long way back then.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades
>
>> The used religion to justify that purpose. Why did they have to justify their
>> action?  How about because religion says its bad to go off pillaging and
>> raping.
> Not all religions say that, and the predominant at the time Jewish
> religion was OK with a LOT of things that modern society would blanch
> at.  Religion changes with the times like anything else.  The
> Christianity of today is a blasphemy compared to the Christianity of
> 1000 years ago (or would be considered so by believers back then).
>
>> Religion  was used to blow up the towers and that again was what
>> they wanted to do.
> Yep, as well as used to enslave millions of people throughout history,
> start wars, execute dissenters, torture, maim, well, you get the
> picture.
>
>> I believe in evolution to a point but when it crosses over to explain the universe they loose me.
> The theory of evolution has nothing to do with explaining the universe.
>
>> I consider the bigh bang belief just another religion.
> Except the Big Bang is a Theory backed by a lot of research and
> evidence that point to it being correct (or at least incredibly
> likely) but the Big Bang Theory does not say one thing about God.  It
> simply describes a cosmic event that possibly kicked off the universe
> as we perceive it today.
>
>> Is there a God, I don't know could there be one I don't know, Can we possible know I doubt it.
> Sure we can.  We can create God (at least in one form...)
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult
>
>> Before there were men there was no math, I think. We invented math is it a surprise that it proves what
>> science.  A different kind of man than us might prove something else with his math.
> We didn't "invent" math, we discovered it as a way to describe the
> physical world around us.  People don't "invent" numbers.  Those
> numbers are already there, people just learn how to describe the
> concept of those numbers in a way that we can comprehend.  if I stand
> next to you, we make two.  Two is a concept created to describe the
> fact that you and I are not standing alone, but standing together in a
> group.  Add in another person and we have three and so on.
>
>> I was raised in a born again church but I was never born again, I just
>> never had that kind of faith.   We all believe in something even if it's
>> only faith in our own existence, We can't prove it to any other species.
>>   Maybe some day we will get in touch with some some place and we may prove
>> ourselves to each other.  Or we may prove we don't exist and are just a
>> figment of a few stary electrical charges. We may not be able to prove that
>> either.
> Personally, I like to think that I'm a figment of my own imagination :-)
>
> Cheers
>
You're likely right on the last point.  Doug