AHA has passed the House vote — Page 2

It's still silly metaphysics - i.e., believing in something imaginary. Have at it, if you will, but it's the same thing. Zeus, Jehovah, Mithra, Odin, Ra, Osiris, Buddha, Allah, Jesus, Dracula, AA's higher power, Shakti Gawain, "fate," Titania the Fairy Queen - none of these critters are creating order for you. At best, they're a placebo.

But this is all pointless - believers are not thinkers.

Updated On: 5/5/17 at 09:59 AM

"...it's just wrong to broadly categorize those of faith to be non-thinkers."

Perhaps I should have been more specific, at the risk of verbosity. Believers do not, as a rule, think critically about the implausibility of their metaphysical beliefs. They rely upon something which they call "faith," rather than "thought." They have to, as metaphysics are, by definition, unverifiable.

I don't deny the good that metaphysical belief has done for many; for them, it has permitted them to continue to exist. Without it, they would either sink under the weight of their terror of chaos, or turn to nihilism. They can't conceive of a sense of morality that exists without being dictated to them by a higher power.

newintown - care to explain how some of the greatest, most progressive thinkers and scientists of our history were also people of faith?

newintown said: "No, but you go ahead."



That's what I thought. Have a good one! :)



xo

To bethnor, or anyone who is interested: how do we avoid a transfer of resources from those who make good choices to those who make bad ones? For instance, from non-smokers to smokers, or from those who watch tv and eat Doritos all day to those who exercise regularly? A healthcare system that does that kind of thing would incentivize unhealthy choices. Is that a concern for you?

Regarding what I consider the more important discussion here, I'm on team newintown all the way. I am anti-faith.

There is a perfectly valid discussion to be had regarding the merits of faith. In fact, it's important enough to warrant its own thread. However, the current, extremely relevant topic is Trumpcare.

adamgreer said: "Assuming McConnell doesn't remove the 60 vote threshold, the current bill will be DOA in the Senate, anyway, unless useless DINO's like Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Manchin all jump ship."

I don't think McConnell has control here. I believe the CBO score will drive this. My understanding is that if the CBO shows Trumpcare will increase the deficit, they'll need 60 votes. Can anyone verify?

^ Do you have data and stats to support this theory/opinion?

Liza's Headband said: "^ Do you have data and stats to support this theory/opinion? "

No, that's why I stated it as an opinion/disagreement. Trust that if I had supporting data, I would have worded my response differently, and provided reference(s).

That said, though not scientific data, many of the countries listed among the healthiest in the world (link below) provide some form of universal healthcare. Again, not necessarily scientific data, but it does support my points. The US is usually listed among the least healthy countries, which tends to indicate our current system does practically nothing to incent good decisions.

http://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/healthiest-countries-in-the-world/10

kdogg36 said: "To be clear, I didn't say anything at all about poor people being leeches. My impression is that they work harder on average than rich people."

You are absolutely correct, and I apologize for my inference. It was not my intention.

Liza's Headband said: "And then there are those who do not believe in what you've just spewed, but rather believe in cosmic destiny, universal fate and innate spirituality; that is not religion.

in typical fashion, apologists call religion they don't like or identify with, "not real religion." too bad religion has been using that excuse for... well, hundreds of thousands of years, after centuries of inflicting misery and suffering.

and what i have "spewed" is not belief. it works. for instance, the virus HIV relies on reverse transcriptase as well as integrase enzymes. with this knowledge, we were able to engineer nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors, which caused a premature termination of transcriptase activity. and when you give such an NRTI to a pt with HIV... it works. same with the integrase inhibitors, dolutegravir and the upcoming cabotegravir.

if you ever get CML, by all means, since all what i said was "spew," feel free not to take the tyrosine kinase inhibitors, which were engineered with the same inductive process. and so on and so forth with all medical advances, which, according to the side you like to advocate for, is "just a theory."

spew that.