Although it is natural and comforting to think of certain things as objective and absolute, I have been baffled on many occasions by peoples’ behavior, leading me to realize that even though I’m sure of what I’ve seen, someone else might have perceived it differently.
That’s why I think functionality is so important; while people can argue philosophy or religion all day, they seem to shut their mouths when they see something works, ESPECIALLY if it causes them pain, or gives them some kind of benefit.
Dirty Sci-Fi Buddha 
Right. Like a kick in the rear, or a birthday present.
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Sometimes, one the first is more preferable than the second, lol.
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I think there is a notable difference between TRUTH and FACT. I think that truth is based more on our perception of something than most realize. And fact is undeniable, functional and objective. The reason is that FACT is proven to work and has data to back it. TRUTH, while quite possibly accurate in its own right, is still based on perception (perhaps perception of FACT – a mind scrambler to consider) over undeniable, functional and objective data. The question is can we actually work with and understand FACT. We still have to perceive it
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As long as it works, right? (with the idea that we should never take that for granted; I recently read that physicists had conducted a 20 year experiment to see if the laws of physics were changing, and good on them for being open to the possibility.)
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I think we fool ourselves into thinking we understand who we are and what we are doing. Beyond that, what others are thinking and doing. What empty needs they feel driven to fill. I am happy with approximate empathy and any distractions I can quell.
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That’s why I think some detective work is needed in relation to ourselves. By tudying the trends over time, we can run experiments with ourselves and improve our approaches/positions.
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Seems to me pain shows up when something is broken. Let’s fix it.
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Indeed! That’s how to engender post traumatic stress GROWTH, in my opinion.
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People, no matter whether they’re mother Theresa or Josef Stalin, are self interested. Perhaps a good Darwinian trait that tells our genes to get while the getting is good, be that feeding a person whose belly is distended from malnourishment or having a family killed because they’re Jews. We are I suppose naturally selfish.
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I agree. I think being honest with that and rigorously assessing the best way to channel that self-interest is the way to go. The other way—blind idealism and the insistence that self-interest must be suppressed—leads to dysfunction.
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