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Thread: What if There Was Nothing Left to Fight About?

  1. #1

    Default What if There Was Nothing Left to Fight About?

    What the fuck would we do?


    Note: the word fight in this context is not restricted to punches, jabs, point-n-shoot or other forms of violence. If your imagination is having difficulty wrangling with that concept, substitute "wrangle" (or brannigan, row, ruckus, or rumpus) for fight, then proceed.

    For CLARITY, say this 60 times over out loud (or in your head) in 60 seconds or less:

    Here comes wrangler
    He's one tough customer
    He knows what he likes,
    -when he sees it.
    Ooo oo, wray-ang-ler.
    The Rules
    Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
    Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
    Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)

  2. #2
    What kind of scenario could possibly facilitate a situation where humans existed but had nothing to fight about?
    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  3. #3
    EXACTLY! WOULD WE CEASE TO EXIST? <poof>

    Beg: Is conflict what (in part, to be fair) we are?

    EDIT: Hey, you didn't answer the question. Fuckinay.
    The Rules
    Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
    Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
    Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)

  4. #4
    Once everyone has a good life we can begin to exert selection pressure for being happy and satisfied by shooting anyone who wants to grab for more at the expense of someone else's well-being.
    "One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by EyeKhan View Post
    Beg: Is conflict what (in part, to be fair) we are?
    Probably. There is a finite amount of energy in the Universe.
    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Aimless View Post
    Once everyone has a good life we can begin to exert selection pressure for being happy and satisfied by shooting anyone who wants to grab for more at the expense of someone else's well-being.
    That's a lot like wrangling over something: FAIL.
    The Rules
    Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
    Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
    Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Nessus View Post
    Probably. There is a finite amount of energy in the Universe.
    So goes current thinking. When I was a kid, there was no dark anything and universal expansion wasn't accelerating. Maybe the Great Attracker is a huge fucking hole in the universe spewing in a bunch of dark energy - like god vomitting - with the universal effect of accelerating expansion while localing sucking. Locally it sucks, anyhow.
    The Rules
    Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
    Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
    Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by EyeKhan View Post
    So goes current thinking.
    And that is all I have, the rest is the purview of shamans and snake-oil salesmen.
    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  9. #9
    EDIT: Neither of you've done the CLARITY exercise.
    The Rules
    Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
    Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
    Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by EyeKhan View Post
    EDIT: Neither of you've done the CLARITY exercise.
    So?
    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Nessus View Post
    And that is all I have, the rest is the purview of shamans and snake-oil salesmen.
    That's where the fun is.

    Ooo baby baby its a wild world,
    I'll always remember you like a child, girl

    Quote Originally Posted by Nessus View Post
    So?
    She gets high.
    The Rules
    Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
    Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
    Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by EyeKhan View Post
    That's where the fun is.
    For some values of 'fun'.
    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Nessus View Post
    For some values of 'fun'.
    Yeah and fun gets used up, too. What is fun anyway? Some fucking thing in the brain that keeps moving around, squirting chemo-joy in just the right spot. Just the right current in the right place and that trick is nix.

    Anyway, even just one human could not be conflict free; he'd argue with herself. Life is conflict. All of it. Since the beginning.
    The Rules
    Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
    Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
    Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by EyeKhan View Post
    Anyway, even just one human could not be conflict free; he'd argue with herself. Life is conflict. All of it. Since the beginning.
    Essentially. Can't escape the 2nd Law.
    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  15. #15
    Essentially? Practically.

    I've got the obligatory Hendrix perm and the inevitable pinhole burns now all down the front of my favorite satin shirt.
    The Rules
    Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
    Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
    Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by EyeKhan View Post
    Essentially? Practically.
    We don't have sufficient data to found the argument on practical terms, but we do have sound physical principles that provide a far more convincing support.
    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  17. #17
    Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony! Forthecolony!
    . . .

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Nessus View Post
    We don't have sufficient data to found the argument on practical terms, but we do have sound physical principles that provide a far more convincing support.
    You're on drugs.
    The Rules
    Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
    Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
    Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by EyeKhan View Post
    You're on drugs.
    Actually, I'm not.
    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Nessus View Post
    Actually, I'm not.
    Druggies always lie.
    The Rules
    Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
    Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
    Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)

  21. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by EyeKhan View Post
    Druggies always lie.
    Everybody lies.
    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  22. #22
    Yes. We do.

    So the universe is constructed so that life must have intrinsic conflict. Argument, struggle, warfare itself is built into the very fabric of Everything. One wonders why we resist it so much. Why, son, you resist because that in and of itself is an act of conflict. Heh heh heyyyy.
    The Rules
    Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
    Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
    Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)

  23. #23
    It's a very trite observation, though; as I said, the 2nd Law can be formulated in many ways. It's also utterly uninformative re-phrasing, as it only states a problem (there is conflict) without offering anything.
    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  24. #24
    Yeah, that's right. I'm trite as fuck, bitch.

    And I offer nothing because I have nothing to offer. I'll give you that; take all you want.

    Observation - there is conflict everywhere on every scale throughout every and all human endeavor and interaction.

    Question - Can there not be conflict (roundabout but yeah)?

    Answer - No. All you can do is try to shape it. We shape it all the time. Sports! Just DO it! Precision guided munitions! Who ahh! MAD - yeah baby, just try it. Proxy war! Not on my front lawn. Woot! Debate club. Ho ho Hoooo! Marriage bans! Fuck yeah. Dance Dance REVOLUTION! MARKETS! COMPETITION! HAVE NOTS! See - this is why socialism can't work. People want to compete. We're all monkeys in a cage and all we want is out. But there is no out and there is no way. But we keep trying.

    See. Its all one discussion. Always.
    The Rules
    Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
    Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
    Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)

  25. #25
    I'm not convinced it's an argument for the infeasibility of socialism, they're all just landmarks down that slippery slope which says that warfare is the only natural condition of nation-states and tribes.
    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  26. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by Nessus View Post
    I'm not convinced it's an argument for the infeasibility of socialism, they're all just landmarks down that slippery slope which says that warfare is the only natural condition of nation-states and tribes.
    Well if people thrive on conflict and socialism is a means of removing large bits of conflict between people, then people will thrive less.

    What we need is a means for people to constantly be in win/lose conflict, have the win part feel good, but the lose part not be so horrible. Like a humanitarian minimum - I can beat you at whatever but as a result, you don't starve, go homeless, lose health care, die, etc. I guess that's what sports do in practice.
    The Rules
    Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
    Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
    Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)

  27. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by EyeKhan View Post
    Well if people thrive on conflict and socialism is a means of removing large bits of conflict between people, then people will thrive less.
    False dichotomy. Socialism resolves conflicts; so does war.
    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  28. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Nessus View Post
    False dichotomy. Socialism resolves conflicts; so does war.
    How does socialism resolve conflicts? It just imposes a solution and sweeps the problems under the rug...
    Hope is the denial of reality

  29. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Loki View Post
    How does socialism resolve conflicts? It just imposes a solution and sweeps the problems under the rug...
    Socialism as a loose catch-all for the type of social democracy in the North, not poli-sci jargon

    War imposes a solution too! The point is that the energy gradients are smoothed one way or the other (bargain with the other hairy ape, or bash his head in)
    In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  30. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Nessus View Post
    Socialism as a loose catch-all for the type of social democracy in the North, not poli-sci jargon

    War imposes a solution too! The point is that the energy gradients are smoothed one way or the other (bargain with the other hairy ape, or bash his head in)
    How does that eliminate conflict? You still have to brainwash people who are better educated/better paid to want to contribute to that system. And as the costs of that system increase, you eventually have to figure out which aspects of socialist to cut back on (something the Swedes have been doing since the '80s).
    Hope is the denial of reality

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