Are We Alone?

Wow...another Katie ;) This could get confusing...please tell me your surname doesn't begin with B :eek:

And if I make any kind of "suspicious" comments relating to a Katie, it's most likely Katie Barr (barrk)...just in case I accidentally cause any offence :)

I am.

As far as I was aware, the great prophet Mohammed is dead and so Aliens would probably find it difficult to contact him. I know the Pope is (for all intensive purposes) dead but he may just qualify!

Surely the leader of men is money. Greed is the main motivator. As an abstract concept, money has more followers than all of the great religious leaders. Perhaps extraterrestrial beings would notice something like that...

So in that case they would probably try to track down Ronald McDonold!

How about the Dali Lama? I'm sure there's someone that's a bigger leader than the pope.

Or maybe Scrooge McDuck ;)

I think that religion is a bigger, more effective means of inspiring and controlling people's behaviour than (even) money.

My reasoning being that money doesn't make people willing to die for it in the way that religion does.

And if you question the above remark, ask yourself this:

What good will money do you when you're dead? It offers value only to the living.

Religion, on the other hand, offers very little to the living but promises much to the dead!

good point. I think we've just distilled the ultimate human conflict-

good for the living vs. good for the dead.

See what we can achieve when we all work together? :D

If the aliens have contacted the Pope, I wouldn't put it past the Vatican to cover it up. Especially if they believed in contraception... :eek:

what about the vaticans alleged mafia links?

Money wins, ahnds down. While the lure of a wonderful afterlife is enticing, the here and now usually wins out. Else why do people sin? The pleasure of the 'here' beats out the promise of the potential of the 'later." PLUS, sinners get to repent, so they can have it good now and later.

People die for money just as much as religion. Ask any drug dealer or thief. And even religion has fundamental roots in finance....

And no, I'm not Katie B, I'm katie I, so I won't take offense at katie B jokes. But no Canadian jokes, eh!!

Drug dealers and thieves don't die for money, just because of money. I don't think anybody in their right mind would die for money.

Unless they were sacrificing themselves so that others may benefit of course, but then that's not greed.

why do bodyguards work as bodyguards?

I've always wondered - obviously risking your life for money (not the same as dying for money, I know) is a lucrative business, but would a bodyguard really take a bullet?

obviously they have, and do, but I just dont get it...How do you spend your wage for a "job well done?"

They don't die for money; it's something else that motivates them. Perhaps job satisfaction, a sense of professionalism or perhaps they just care more about others than they do themselves.

Altruists, perhaps?

I dunno!

I'm more motivated by food!

hahahhaha!

Let's talk about Auturism ("Oh No!" I hear people groan :rolleyes: ).

Is there such a thing as auturism or do all humans inevitably act out of self interest? :confused:

you cant define altruism. surely people do good to others (those that do) because it makes them feel nice, so pure altruism could never be proved...

Of course you can define altruism. One can 'define' anything: altruism is the unselfish regard for, or devotion to, others.

can it be accurately proven that people behave in a purely altruistic fashion? Probably not. Altruists satisfy their personal need by serving the needs of others. That's self-serving!!

hahahahhahah!

thank you.

Whilst I agree with you that Alturism can be defined, not all words can be defined.

Take "Freedom" for example. Any definition of freedom merely restricts it's interpretation and is therefore false.

What about "Truth"? Truth can only be defined with infintie recursion.

Even words like "Art" you could spend forever arguing over (but never agreeing on) it's definitions.

Alturism

I once heard someone say that only humans can be alturistic. I don't believe it. It's just that our self interests may often lie deep under the surface and be difficult to detect.

It doesn't make sense (from an evolutionary standpoint) for any human (or animal) to act outside of it's own interests.

Ahhh...but the action may be percieved as altruistic....who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men....well, I mean, BESIDES the Shadow.

hahahhahah!

Scientists think that they have found simpal life on mars. I read in Time mag. that when a volcano erupus it melts all the ice and its hot enofe for life to form. But then it melt and all the life dies.

Hey, Nukem has a new title. Or at least I never noticed it before.

Does that mean they found life or they found the possibility of life?

i think nukem said something intelligent (sorry shouldn't have digs really) i think that is how they believe life formed on earth. something to do with chemicals all mixing together making something like ambiotic fluid then the heat from the volcano made it warm enough then the charged atmosphere (lightning) jumped started evolution.