That's not what I was wanting to discuss. You have pointed out and discussed what was in the last paragraph of my post and I am not concerned about that.
If it's truly nothing more than value judgments that are claimed and believed to make our lives good and worth living to us, then count me out. It is a waste of time to even consider this value judgment version of value in the event that I lose my positive emotions. Living my life by positive outlooks alone would be a no quality standard of living without this intrinsic good quality (my positive emotions). A value judgment version of goodness, joy, beauty, suffering, etc. wouldn't be any real version of these qualities.
no they don't. they are just selfish. there is something damaged about people who sacrifice themselves for others? that's insane too. I tend to that disorder as i feel guilty if anyone has less than me and I hardly have anything. so any extreme is unhealthy. btw, autistic individuals are not sociopaths, most of them have no inclination to predate on others, unlike sociopaths. also, sociopaths can understand empathy very well, which makes the ones that do even more malicious so the better to torture you with. sympathy is what they don't feel. of course, they are SELFISH. is a lion a sociopath for abducting a gazelle's newborn to eat it? we like to find some disorder for people's obscene behaviors. the disorder is assholery. that's the problem with this whole fukin damn universe!!!! what is a paradox is that the more evolved one becomes, the more aware of what sociopathy is and be horrified, even at ourselves. have you looked under a microscope at a drop of pond water as the microbes are ingesting eachother? life starts out sociopathically. as we evolve, we want to get away from that. it's disgusting. ask yourself why that is? I think it's because ultimately consciousness is independent from matter. the process and vehicle that is used for that consciousness is entirely a different matter. our consciousness is expressed within this system. but consciousness itself is independent. hypothetically, in another universe, system or dimension, consciousness could have an entirely different system. when we get to a certain point of evolution, we REALIZE and KNOW it's wrong. where does that sense come from? right. empathy and sympathy because the more aware you become, the more aware you are of the faults as well as aspects of the inferiority of a system. just the very fact that humans are the most evolved of any species on the planet and are the ones to manipulate their environment, not just to adapt blindly to it is a testament to the fact that consciousness is obviously independent from matter. otherwise, there would be no need for our brains in the first place to continually evolve. it's not really adaptation, it's really a strive to overcome it. humans are a testament to that. consciousness proves this is not our (consciousness) original home/maker. in other words, this universe does not have the sole corner on consciousness.
There was no intent to compare the two conditions. Oh I agree, sociopaths are usually highly intelligent and understand the meaning of empathy, but they lack the ability for empathy or they would have sympathy, which is a result of empathy, also referred to as love or having kindred spirit. Lacking sympathy is an indication of lacking empathic emotional identification. You can call it selfish or ego-centric, but it is very different than suffering from autism.
Problem Being Addressed by My Theory: It is currently believed that it is our value judgments and outlooks alone that allow us to perceive value in our lives. I think this is false. It requires a sense in order to see the value of things in your life like how you need the sense of sight in order to see objects. Perceiving value and worth in our lives depends upon something greater. It is something more than our value judgments and outlooks alone, it is something that goes beyond words and phrases (value judgments), and it is like a divine/sacred life force or a horrible, dark, negative life force that flows through our conscious being. This divine force/energy is literally intrinsic goodness itself and this negative life force is literally intrinsic badness itself. The divine life force would be the light energy of god and the negative life force would be spiritual darkness in a spiritual universe. In a purely naturalistic universe, they wouldn't be spiritual forces, but simply intrinsic qualities of goodness and badness. Thesis: It is only our positive moods/emotions which allow us to perceive good value, worth, joy, beauty, happiness, love, peace, contentment, etc. (i.e. the positive qualities of life), our negative moods/emotions which allow us to perceive bad value, suffering, hate, misery, torment, sadness, etc. (i.e. the negative qualities of life), while having neither positive nor negative moods/emotions due to a mental health condition such as anhedonia is the only thing that can allow us to perceive the basic, neutral qualities of life such as the idea of your microwave running, knowing mathematics, seeing the trees outside, etc. We can acknowledge the existence of values that things and situations have in our lives without our emotions, but we would not be able to actually see these values. Even though we can't see them, I would still recommend, for example, saving your life or the life of one of your family members who is in danger even if you were completely apathetic. Likewise, I would also still highly recommend doing things that would get you out of trouble and things that would promote the health and well being of yourself and others around you. Name for My Thesis: I call it the evolutionary definition of good and bad since it is only through evolution's pain (negative feelings) and pleasure (positive feelings) that we become aware of good and bad. It is not us who define the perceived value of our lives. Rather, it is evolution that does. I keep an open mind to the idea of evolution as well even though many people would disagree with it. Again, my theory could work both ways. It could apply to a purely naturalistic universe where there is no god, paranormal, or afterlife, or it could apply to a spiritual universe where these phenomena do exist.
47 posts for you to reveal your agenda. So this definitely does not belong in the Sci-Tech forum. Reporting to have it moved to Religion.
But when I said divine/spiritual, this was just an analogy. I first used that term as a means to keep an open mind to a spiritual universe since I am undecided on the existence of god and the paranormal. But seeing as how this is a science section of this form, then I am just going to use it as an analogy.
I have presented an interesting thesis. I'm not sure why you are out on this one. I thought a part of a discussion that involves theories is not supposed to be a situation where the person drops out of a discussion.
One of the difficulties I see is that you are already talking around the subject. Analogies are another step removed. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. It's not a theory; it's an idea.
It is a theory. It just wouldn't be a scientific theory yet. It would just be a theory in the sense that it's just an idea at this point.
Well, if you want to count Bonobo chimpanzees as humanoids, they are the most peaceful of the great apes. They resolve their disputes by sexual gratification. Pretty neat solution for releasing emotion tensions.
I am not advocating the idea that you should not, for example, save your life or make wise and healthy decisions if you did not feel positive emotions. As a matter of fact, I would still highly recommend making such decisions. However, what my theory says here is that any decision we make we cannot perceive as having any good value and worth to us without our positive emotions. In other words, just force yourself to do these things without your positive emotions since they will result in you and others not getting harmed.
This is true in that an abstract thought or intention, doesn't necessarily correlate with the emotional state you are in or experiencing at the moment. it also doesn't mean it can always affect/control it completely. So, yes, your emotional state would influence your perceptions and thoughts as much as the other way. and yes, emotions are a 'thing.' when you are experiencing positive emotions, you may notice beauty in ways you didn't before etc and if you are experiencing negative emotions, you may not see beauty or even if there was, it really is moot if you are in pain because how can one appreciate it? you would need to take care of that pain and solve the source of it. I know this is a ridiculous analogy but if someone were stabbing you repeatedly, would it matter if the weather was exceptionally beautiful that day? of course not. priorities, priorities... otoh, deluded or misshapen negativity is different from realistic pessimism. The truth isn't always rosy or good, but it doesn't necessarily have to make you extremely negative, just more sober. of course, this doesn't lend to outrageous happiness but having a handle or facing a truth that you can't change is sometimes more empowering because this is the first step in how to get around or overcome it. but false negativity due to lies, ignorance, wrong programming/nurturing etc is something that should be corrected because you are suffering unnecessarily.
So, when you say that emotions have an impact on the values we see in life, do you mean to say that the emotions have an effect on our thinking and compel us, through our value judgments, to judge our lives as beautiful or horrible? If that is what you are saying, then this is not my theory. I am saying that the emotions themselves allow us to see our lives as having value to us. Based upon my theory, seeing value in your life is not a thought form of perception at all. Rather, it is purely an emotional perception. It's like the sense of sight. You need sight in order to see objects just as how you need your emotions to see the value in your life.
No, you accept life for what it is, where there is life, there is death. So it comes down to this; either you live your life as best you can, or you can prepare for death as best you can. The motive is unimportant; as long as it is viewed in proper perspective, the result should the same. Scientifically and/or Metaphorically.
Well, without any positive emotions in my life, then this is a no quality standard of living for me. As long as I do not have my positive emotions to allow me to see the positive qualities of life, then living is a waste of time to me.
