Recent content by Falconsgyre

Well, first, have you owned a dog before? I don't know if this counts as a standard piece of advice, but it's worth repeating in any case because of how incredibly important it is: taking care of a dog by yourself takes a lot of time and energy, and you need to carefully consider if you have...

Are The Weepies too well known to qualify?

Does anyone else here have a completed or partially completed degree in biology and want to shoot themselves anytime they hear something like this? Someone has already addressed most of your points, so I'll just take: 1. First misconception: species don't evolve into "higher" forms of life...

Should this even be an issue? On what basis could you say interspecies relations were wrong? Because it squicks you? So what? And I also assumed this was about bestiality at first, which actually probably would have been more interesting.

Someone really needs to put those two minutes on youtube. Thanks for the link.

Hm. Yeah, that's pretty bad. I don't think there's a whole lot you can do to stop that, though.

Cynically, because quid pro quo is a winning strategy in long-running social games and any social animal that doesn't play that way loses to those who do. Idealistically: empathy. Morality is derived from recognizing that others have worth as much as you do and that you are not the center of...

...is she anorexic? Saying "I'm eating too much" when you're not overweight is a pretty bad sign.

To some extent, things would rather suffer and be alive than die, so that position does have some merit. But there's always a point at which it tips. In the most extreme end, if something is in constant, agonizing pain for every second of its life, there will be a point at which it desires to...

This is actually quite a reasonable objection, and requires more background to explain. Your first objection, about it being "classified" as a fish is mistaken. When trying to understand evolution, forget about species and classification. Species are always in flux, always changing, and it's...

Let's put it this way: would you spend all day arguing with pre-schoolers? Why should I waste time and energy on you when someone else has already defeated every argument you have, several times over? When your opinion goes against the scientific consensus in such a preposterous way, it's your...

This is a pretty important point, come to think of it. Suffering matters far more to me than killing. I'd rather kill something than see it live in pain for the rest of its life. I don't think the two issues are unrelated, though. The ability to suffer is a hallmark of the ability to have an...

Well, I can point to official sources that state vegetarianism is okay. I'll start with the Wikipedia page, which links to better sources such as the American Dietic Association. While I'm not really sure being a vegetarian is actually better for your health, as some claim (the kind of people...

Real men don't worry about being real men or conforming to gender stereotypes and recognize that most aspects of gender are socially constructed.

This is the most awesome mental problem ever. Except for maybe synesthesia.