Piltdown Superman

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Animal rights extremists have been known to refer to the killing of animals as "murder," but that word does not mean what they think it means. Murder is the unlawful taking of a human  life. Humans are sentient. We have consciousness, intelligence, awareness, and all that good stuff. Some critters have consciousness, but not on our level. Corvids (crows, magpies, ravens, blue jays, and the lot) are considered very intelligent, yet they do not write music. Consider  panpsychism , where all living things supposedly have some consciousness. This includes plants. Dandelions, Pexels / Egor Komarov Plant consciousness would raise some questions of morality for some people. F'rinstance, many vegetarians and vegans choose their eating habits on what they consider to be moral grounds. If it turns out that plants have consciousness, they would have to be consistent and not eat those either! On the other hand, this scientist loves dandelions and points out t...

It has been said that people throughout history have found ways to get high, which frequently includes alcohol. Generally speaking, drunkenness is something for disreputable people. The first instance in the Bible is Noah (Gen. 9:21) and it is usually spoken of unfavorably (consider Prov. 23:29-35). Part of the disfavor toward any form of intoxication is the loss of control (Eph. 5:18). In the 1960s, drug use was considered a way of opening or expanding the mind. Our evolutionary ancestors supposedly got high. Hippie-type van, Unsplash / Nick Karvounis Materialists have long denied the existence of consciousness or tried to explain it away, but this goes in the opposite direction. Dr. Bobby Azarian thinks that in the distant past, our apelike ancestors got stoned. (I can imagine a bunch of apes riding in a hippie van, wearing big sunglasses, acrid smoke and Grateful Dead music pouring out the windows...) It's supposed to open your mind, maaan! Far out! What great benefit to humanit...