Buddhism says that life is suffering. ALL experiences.
Is this plausible?
Is there any experiences which are worthwhile (have positive worth), or feel pleasurable in their own right?
So what I mean is that, are there any experiences which are not suffering? Take the 'pleasure' of eating. Is eating actually pleasurable in it's own right? Or, does the 'pleasure' actually come from/is the pleasure nothing more than a reduction in the suffering that is hunger? Does eating an appeal feel pleasrable in itself, or does it only feel good because it's suffering to be hungry, and it's suffering to have a lack of 'agreeable' taste experience to distract you from the boredom and emptiness of existence? Or perhaps the pleasure of eating is a combination of both intrinsically pleasurable/valauble experiences, and a reduction or cessation of the suffering state that proceeded (and motivated you towards) eating an apple.
Put it like this, why am I eating an apple? Why am I making any action at all? It's is my opinion that the only thing that motivates volitional action, is suffering experience states. I eat because I'm hungry, drink because I'm thirsty, do things because I'm bored, etc.
>>897774
If life had intrinsic worth, if merely existing was pleasurable, then I believe I would have no reason whatsoever to make any action. I would just lay there, in pleasure, with nothing to motivate me. Because if I'm already in pleasure why I would I be motivated to do anything? You might say that well maybe I'm motivated because although merely existing is pleasurable, you could get even more pleasure from doing actions like eating an appple. But I don't thnk I buy this. Because to my mind at least, wanting even more, or wanting to increase your level of pleasure, is a suffering. You have that desire because you don't think your current level of pleasure is enough, so you want to change it. If life really was intrinsically pleasurable, I would never get the motivation to take any action at all, because I would perfectly content with the level of pleasure that I'm at. If I wanted and desired to increase my level of pleasure, then that is suffering. That is non-contentment, unfilfilled desire, 'lack of something', not being comfortable with merely existing, needing more. All of this is suffering.
>>897778
And so my existence is in CONSTANT action. I never stop I'm always doing something. I exist in (as?) the present, with my experience perpetually in motion. I'm never content. I'm always (to my mind at least) trying to get away from suffering states. it honestly feels like that's all I do, constantly. Suffering perpetually is attacking me, which motivates me to act to reduce it. Because I'm always in action, I'm always doing something, then that indicates to me that I am always suffering, because you need to be suffering for you to be taking action. I posit that you could not be motivated into taking action if you weren't suffering. If you were truly not-suffering, you would want for nothing, You would just lay there, not thinking or moving, absolutely perfectly content. But I'm not, I never, ever do that. So that proves to me that I'm ALWAYS suffering. All the fucking time. I am never in a state of pleasure. I might be thingking damn this steak tastes good, but why am I taking the action to eat it? What has motivated me? And the answer is suffering. It feels worse to not be eating the steak, and thus the pleasure of the eating comes not because it's intrinsically worthwhile to eat steak, but rather suffering states are intrinsically not-worthwhile, and therefore a reduction in suffering is mistaken for true pleasure
>>897781
I will illustrate suffering and pleasure like this: A magic genie appears and tells you he has the power to shave off and cease whatever part of your conscious experience that you would like. To my mind at least, any aspect of your conscious experience that you would tell the genie to 'shave off', is a suffering experience. And any aspect of your conscious experience which you would tell the genie NOT to shave off, because you want to continue experiencing it (forever), is a pleasurable experience. I mean if it's pleasurable, then why not forever? If something really does have intrinsic worth and value, then one should desire it to never cease, because it will always have more value, and be preferable than non-existence. And yet everyone says, "well I wouldn't want to live for eternity". That indicates to me that their experience isn't really positive value, because if it was, why would you ever want it to end? It makes no sense. people say they'd get bored or go crazy or be lonely, or all manner of things. Which basically means that the experience wasn't actually truly pleasruable to begin with. Take a speedball rush for example. Lets say you asked the genie to shave off all your conscious experience, including your mind and ability to be bored etc, and just left the pure feeling of 'speednall rush'. Why, if it really is intrinsically pleasurable, are we kind of apprehensive or wouldn't want to experience that indefinitely? If it truly, really does have intrinsic value, then we should never want it to stop. Because it has net positive value, and say non-existence is neutral and suffering is negative. Then net positive should always be preferable to non-existence. And yet, we humans I think on the whole would be pretty apprehensive about existing as 'speedball sensation' for eternity. That strikes me as indicating that in fact, the feeling doesn't really have positive value at all. It doesn't actually feel truly pleasurable.
Is killing in the name of Christianity ever justified?
>>904476
Anything can be justified.
Doesn't make me have to like it tho.
>>904476
No, but killing all christian filth is totally justified.
>>904476
No, but killing in the name of allah is.
Is anti-semitism actually a meme for the marxistic Klassenkampf? Are jews just symbolizing the Kapital?
Any source on his pro-slaveryness?
I am actually writing a university paper on it so would greatly appreciate any primary source where he agrees that slavery is good/needed/should be done
>>904146
That picture is more or less random. Marx to my knowledge didn't condone slavery. He saw the slave-owner-society (Sklavenhaltergesellschaft) as an early form of capitalism, sthat should have been stopped by revolution.
>>904146
It's nonsense. Marx corresponded with Lincoln and supported the federal government in the civil war.
"Byzantium was just tired from the Persian War. Every empire deserves a timeout."
>>902863
Khalid ibn Waleed, best general after Genghis Khan OWNED Byzantine and Sassanid Cucks
Memes aside guys, how did the Persians get so far in that final, cataclysmic war? The Roman Empire was an existential threat to Persian dominance of Mesopotamia, the wealthiest part of its nation. Hell, the Romans had even sacked Ctesiphon a few times. So how did the tables turn, with the Persians basically owning a third of the empire for about twenty years?
Thoughts, concerns?
Also Oklahoma city bombing happened in 1995 so this isn't breaking any board rules.
Set the world record.
Basically the Gaius Mascius of the modern age
>>902762
>concerns
Conspiracy theories are actually entirely reasonable.
His reasoning was sound, which says a lot about how out of control law enforcement was and is.
It's going to happen again. Soon. And probably on a larger scale.
>>902946
>Set the world record
Wasn't the world rec set by Team Al Qaeda on 9/1!?
Why did the French leave the Ardennes undefended? Where did this idea that it was impenetrable come from? Was it from the battles fought there in WW1 or did the Frnech just underestimate the capabilities of German armor?
Either way that seems like a pretty retarded oversight.
>>902694
Well considering the french though pure 'cran" would help them win WWI, I doubt serious tatical planning went into the design of the maginot line.
>>902694
They didn't think the germans could get enough armour through the area without being detected
>>902707
The maginot line was just fine, but it was outdated and useless in blitzkrieg warfare.
what if brahma, yahweh, gilgamesh, viracocha etc were just like kings of very far and ancient civilization, or very spiritually powerful men, and religions were just a cargo cult effect about that?
This has always been my theory
And we've seen it in action all throughout history
FFS /fit/ started worshipping Zyzz, and more than a few east asians worship Douglas MacArthur
>>902028
At least we're 101% certain the Chinese myths of the Yellow Emperor (and generally the early mythical rulers/Gods) were based on prehistoric rulers and their exploits.
Same thing with the Japanese ones.
>>902092
One scottish missionary to the Zulus had to squash the growing belief that her dead father (beloved by the tribe) had the power of prophecy and weather control.
Why do people equate capitalism to buying & selling goods, most other systems do that too.
Capitalism is specifically about the government's role in maximizing the benefits of commerce.
Why do people equate capitalism to private capitalism?
It's not like the state can't manage capitalism.
>>900187
Because capitalism has been conflated with consumerism for better or worse.
What is intelligence? What does it consist of?
>>899292
Understanding and memory.
The letters I,n,t,e,l,g,n,c
adaptation to the environment.
it consists in ways to improve and reactualize this adaptation.
Out of all the Gods out there, why is Vishnu/Shiva the most terrifying? Is it because of his bizarre composition? or is it just that he is tangible and has the appearance of a non-forgiving alien with a creepy smile? is it the arms? the mistery? the correlation with strange induistic theories that somewhat make sense? What is it?
>>897570
Because you're not a hindu so the iconography makes as much sense to you as Catholic art makes to the Japanese (I.e. None)
>>897585
>not liking Japanese Catholic art
>>897585
I partially agree. However, look at this, It looks so surreal, so strange, it's unsettling.
>It is the year 1900
>You were sent from the present to talk to them
>You meet with every king, PM, president, religions patriarch, and other people with influence
What do you say anon? What would you tell them and what do you think the outcome would be?
>>893248
Don't give anymore power to the bankers
Kill all the jews
All of them
>>893267
>Could have prevented WWI, WWII, the Cold War, and 9/11
>Instead you tell them this hippie shit
>"There exists another history, more absurd [ridicule] than the history of Rome since the time of Tacitus: it is the history of Byzantium. This worthless collection contains nothing but declamations and miracles. It is a disgrace to the human mind."
he did it again the absolute madman
NEITHER HOLY
>>904015
NOR ROMAN
>>904020
shut up
What was aerial combat like in WW1? Is it true there was a degree of chivalry and mutual respect among opposing pilots that wasn't seen among soldiers on the ground?
>>903378
>chivalry
At first, and to some pilots, throughout the entire war. Many of our modern theories on dogfighting were formed during the Great War, and for some of those tactics to be put down as the metaphorical holy word, some men treated the fights with nothing but unchivalrous lethal intent.
Eh. I remember one of the biggest tactics was making it so if you're opponent was coming at you, they had to fly with sun in their eyes.
Not so chivalrous to me.
>>903378
M8 it all started when Observer pilots -whose only job was to observe each others lines- stopped waving at each other and someone threw a fucking brick at a pilot.
The first confirmed air to air kill was by an angry Russian pilot crashing his plane to an Austro-Hungarian one.
what's the best source to learn about USSR history?
>>899656
Doing a PhD specialising in soviet history.
>EH Carr
Well you COULD do that, just like you COULD mince your nuts.
Fitzpatrick, Pirani, Andrle
>>899656
Anything by anthony beevor.
>>901137
What is your take on the whole Jew role in the Russian revolution
We are the sons of Odin, the Superior German master race! No nation is better than us and never can be! Our conquest of Russia is insured!
Now you guys go load these ladies' fur coats onto this wooden box on wooden wheels propelled by a pair of cows and then sit up on said box and poke said cows with a stick to get them to go to our soldiers at the front lines. They'll need them before they reach moscow!
Is it autism awareness day already?
This is the most autistic thread I've seen in years
And I'm from /mlp/
i can see what op was attempting to do and while his objective might be commendable
his methods are deplorable, terrible, autistic and demented and homosexual
