16 replies to this topic

[Hidden G]

well don't raise a cat ,i say .

[Molly Mae]

well don't raise a cat ,i say .

You don't raise cats. They raise you. =P

[Hidden G]

You don't raise cats. They raise you. =P

i didn't say that i don't raise cats

[itachi-san]

You want to talk about my real meaning, though? Take a house cat. You don't own a house cat. A house cat owns you. Seriously. You take care of it, feed it, clean its litter box. You pet it, play with it. If the cat wants to cuddle, she'll cuddle. If the cat wants to jump on the counters and refrigerator, she'll do that. She's taking advantage of you in the most literal sense of the phrase, but if asked point blank most people would say that a cat is a lower life form. Why? Because cats don't think and reason using complex rationale? Because cats don't slave away night and day working two jobs while getting a degree? Cats don't worry or stress on an hourly basis. They don't wake up late and freak out.

Cats are the highest life form because they've found a way to survive (and have a pretty high quality of life) while doing very little.

I'm not sure what your point is. you're assuming all cats have a pampering owner who chooses to do all that for the cat and allows the cat to do all these things. there are plenty of cats that don't have these luxuries and live their lives similar to a raccoon. even if we assume all cats live this way, it's not the cat's mental prowess that establishes and maintains this lifestyle. it's entirely contingent on the human and just luck on the cat's part really

[MissKitten]

The whole higher brain power thing...... I honestly believe that it's just a way for humans to push themselves. Flame makes a good point, and I see where he's coming from, but I agree more with Li. I think that wanting to improve your brain power is just a way to challenge yourself, to make yourself fell like you're accomplishing something. I know that when I turn to the riddles here, or mafia on MM, etc, I'm doing it because I want to increase my brain capacity, and improve my ability to think. I go into these things saying, "okay, I want to, someday, be as great as shakee in riddles, or mo in mafia, or Blake in debate." I don't go into it saying, "I'm improving my brain power so I can feel better about myself." I can see how people might do that it makes sense, but personally, I think that the most fundamental reason we try and improve our mental capacities is to just push ourselves, and see how far we can go. Like Li said, people with disabilities think "higher brain power" is just being normal, while for "normal" people, "higher brain power" is being smarter or something. And though it seems to be opinionated at first glance, you see one thing in common: the "higher brain power" that we all strive for is the next level up, a goal that we want to reach.

Sorry if that doesn't make sense to anyone, I was just kinds putting my thoughts down as they came.

[octopuppy]

Pushing yourself is, I think, a choice and a personality trait.  Personally I don't buy into the idea of any species or individual being "higher" than another, application of a linear scale is absurd since it's all a matter of taste.
Molly Mae has suggested that if A can exploit B then A is "higher" than B.  There are many people who consider gaining at others' expense to be a measure of success, especially if they have avoided work and made no contribution in the process.  But parasitic people generally lack happiness in their lives, partly because they ignore their own moral drives, and mainly because any relationships they form with other people can only be dysfunctional.  We are social animals, which is why people who seek success through exploitation tend to be failures personally as well as making no contribution.
Hidden G suggests that the "higher" path is through social responsibility and working together to improve the world.  Making moral choices is something you could consider "higher brain power", on the basis that if enough people did so it would be a path to humankind achieving its potential, freed from the shackles of petty egotism, or maybe it's just an end in itself.  As for mental training, you can take that in any number of directions, through puzzles, acquisition of knowledge, linguistics, mnemonics, creativity, physical skills, meditation, debate, social skills, observation, specialised skills, and any number of other disciplines.  Or you could simply be yourself.  Who's to say one thing is "higher" than another?

[flamebirde]

The way I figure it, this all boils down to what the definition of higher brain power is. Is brain power intellectual in nature? Physical in nature? Emotional in nature? All of these require some form of thinking, and because of that I figure that they all use brain power. For instance, you have to think (Even if you're on a subconscious level) in order to move your arm. You have to think why you should be angry. And of course, you have to think (however little) of the answer to a puzzle. So, therefore everything you do from eating to running to being angry to solving for x if x= 4x4+2⁴ is using your brainpower. And whichever of those is making you think more, is the one using the more brain power.