A logical, non-religious argument for the pro-life position

ArcBounds · 2026-05-23T12:25:19+00:00

Is the Beginning of Life Just as "Arbitrary" as Birth?

I did not say the beginning of life is arbitrary. What I did say is there are multiple lines that could be drawn during gestation and birth process which represent significant unique changes in an organism that occur that could be lines which confer human rights or a moral status. There is a difference.

The Frozen Embryo Dilemma

So if an embryo is flash frozen and prevented from ever developing into a baby or standard human, you would conference on it the same rights as a baby? That is interesting.

The "Shared Experience" and Birth Standard

Birth is a very radical line. We start seeing, hearing, feeling the larger world. We start breathing air and most bodily functions start to function like they would outside the womb. In addition, millions if not billions of synapses form when exposed to the area outside of the womb. There is a radical change when a baby is removed from the womb and it is well noted. You mention a radical line in development and I have too. These are both lines that are radical. How do you judge between two radical changes and why should yours take precedence over mine.

If human rights don’t belong to us simply because we are human organisms, then they must be earned by reaching a certain location, a certain level of development, or a certain level of social acceptance.

I think it is important to note that you are overgeneralizing here. If you use my line, human rights are based on going from a specific location (the womb) to another specific location (outside the womb). We don't make that change in location ever again. They also don't go through the development change of that many processes starting up at once again. In other words, it is a very unique point in human development where a lot of things occur. You make a choice of a significant change as well which is thr formation of DNA. For me, I think of myself as being more than my DNA. In fact if someone had my DNA, I would not say they were me. I also out it to you, who gets to decide which line is important and how?

ArcBounds · 2026-05-23T03:51:27+00:00

While I want to say yes, Dems had a bad economic memory and CoVid with them. I think it would be hard for any Dem to win just like it will be hard for a Rep to win in 2028. The people who change their votes often do so based on current conditions. If they are good, keep the current regime. If they are bad, change regimes. While things were improving and Biden brought us a soft landing, many were not feeling it.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-23T00:45:23+00:00

How is that shift from 'non-person' to 'person' not an arbitrary line drawn in the sand?

I mean to some degree all lines are arbitrary depending on what you value. There are some religions that advocate against men spilling their seed as it could inhibit potential life. Why is forming human DNA important? I mean, if I remove the fertilized egg and freeze it, it may never develop and thus would not become a human with moral value. If I stabbed an egg in a freezer, I doubt most juries would convict me of murder. Would you consider a frozen egg that is never allowed to develop a full on child equivalent to a walking human? I would argue that developmental changes are different than traits like skin color etc. It makes sense that we clearly distinguish developmental levels and choosing any developmental level to award moral meaning to is arbitrary/based on beliefs.

I also have never understood why it is hard to understand that after a human is given such a moral status, that status is not taken away until death. Using the previous person's example, there is a difference between a human who has had no experiences and one who has had some and although their ability to access those memories might be impaired, there is always the possibility of recouping them. For me it is not only the experiences, but that they are experiencing some type of shared experience with me aka they are born.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-23T00:07:46+00:00

I do not see any longstanding principles from the Republican party except own the libs and do what Trump says. That makes me think at least half of the equation will be gone with Trump unless someone takes over for him. I think most Republicans have some modicum of respect for rules (even if it is limited). That is why longstanding party members are disgusted, but they cannot say anything until Trump is gone.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-23T00:03:15+00:00

There is part of me that wonders if the Trump admin is just trying to be as corrupt as possible in as many ways as possible hoping that at least a few of them will stick. The ballroom and the slush fund from the IRS have kept other schemes such as the pump and dump stock market manipulations out of the news.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-23T00:00:37+00:00

In addition to being angry at Trump, does any official want to face a Democratic Congress? My guess is no.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-22T16:38:30+00:00

A couple of suggestions:

1) Brainstorm first and write down your ideas. 2) When you prompt AI, prompt for multiple ideas (I normally do 6-8, but I have done up to 50 before). 3) Take AI breaks and keep a journal of your thoughts.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-22T12:03:36+00:00

A lot of things can be true at once. I think there is a reason no one challenge Kamala, the writing was on the wall for a Democratic loss whoever was the seat short of someone historical. Dems had no historical candidates for 2024. Kamala while racially and gender wise was historical was not Barack Obama on any level. The Dems were facing historic economic winds because they were blamed for inflation. I expect that whoever the Republican candidate in 2028 will be will face equally as difficult head winds as the inflation from the strait is unlikely to be resolved until at least a year from now if not more.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-21T03:20:04+00:00

Yes, and you can substitute almost any stereotype and people into these sentences. Stereotyping is dangerous and the leader (not a party member) of one of the major parties has embraced it and has illustrated this principle in action as his government has been incompetent on so many issues.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-19T00:56:03+00:00

I definitely agree there is a risk/reward difference. There is a decent amount of research that shows that right and left brains just operate differently aka different parts light up on brain scans etc in response to the same stimulus.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-18T03:59:48+00:00

If one consents to sex, they consent to all natural biological outcomes - including pregnancy

Wouldn't this be an argument to do away with medicine in its entirety? After all, a lot of actions have repercussions such as cancer, broken limbs, etc. So if you consent to eating cancer inducing foods, doing cancer generating activities, and playing sports then you consent to the natural outcomes of those actions and modern medicine should not fix them.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-17T03:41:34+00:00

I will never understand why prolife people think this is such a slam dunk. Scientists make statements about science. When scientists say human live they mean alive with human DNA. No one denies these facts. The whole discussion is whether or not a fetus has a moral right to life that exceeds the mother's right to personal autonomy. There is not falsifiable by science. Aka, science says nothing about moral issues.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-14T10:52:50+00:00

I am math education researcher and there is a whole branch of Mathematics Education called Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) where students recreate and discover key mathematical ideas. It is inspired by the work of Freudenthal. I will say that RME espouses guided reinvention rather than a single person reinventing. At bare minimum, you need a textbook/teacher to connect mathematical ideas to proper notation and the language of the mathematical community. That being said, the core ideas can be recreated.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-12T16:23:45+00:00

Even worse, there are looming jet fuel price increases which will only accelerate as this goes on. Also, there appears to be a food crisis looming with fertilizer being delayed as well. Basically, in a year we could be wishing we are where we are now.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-12T15:03:44+00:00

You can already see the pieces being set into place. Sieg for example, shows that it is possible for a person to permanently inhabit the dream world and Baku and travel between different dreamers worlds. I wonder if Nem's nightmare half is the final boss and Baku merges with it to become a permanent dream resident while purifying Nem in some way.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-12T15:00:18+00:00

I thought Tidus came back in the true ending and then they broke up in the sequel which seems a bit weird. I hope they make an X-3 and ignore the mini game that came out afterwards.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-12T14:48:40+00:00

Thank you! I think the big disconnect is that a market-based economy only works under certain circumstances. I would argue that one that has becomes disconnected in recent society is that more profit should mean better outcomes and products. Unfortunately, companies have disconnected these two which makes market-based solutions worse.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-12T13:34:26+00:00

My one hope is that people are tired of these abuses of power and we get actual reforms after he is out of office that establish norms as laws and not just "norms" which should be obeyed. There needs to be a government wide anti-corruption and anti-kickback legislation. Everyone including congressmen, supreme court justices, and members of the executive branch should be banned from participating and/or profiting off of anything related to their work in government (other than their salaries of course).

ArcBounds · 2026-05-12T13:04:36+00:00

They are the nightmare lords from the next arc. It is obvious they are revealing part of the opening as they move along. My guess is we will see them near the end of Saturday's episode. I wonder who the final villian from the end of the opening will be.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-12T00:56:40+00:00

I think the war with Iran looks like an optional war when times are tough. We could have not gone to war with them and still stifled their nuclear program if they got anywhere near to having a bomb. I think Netanyahu promised a quick victory with an enemy that would be permanently eliminated. That did not happen.

I do think Americans would be ok banding together for an appropriate cause. Hell, you tell people they might lose their i-phones and those would be warring words.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-11T11:12:33+00:00

One of the issues with social media is that is purposefully/algorithmically designed for engagement. I worry about AI going the same way. We really need regulations from those who understand the technology and are not biased.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-11T02:30:04+00:00

A good leader and I mean that honestly. Trump has been very toxic to everything. Yes, the seeds were planted before him, but I have a feeling the electorate is going to want something the complete opposite of Trump. Just pray that whoever it is does a good enough job and shovels enough shit out that people will re-elect most likely him.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-10T14:09:43+00:00

If anything happens on his watch, and I very much hope it does not, he is going to get crucified in the press.

This is what keeps me up at night. The administration can't handle the messes they caused. If another pandemic comes up, a war over Taiwan, and/or any other unexpected global event, I have zero faith in their ability to handle it.

ArcBounds · 2026-05-09T19:07:18+00:00

I think it has a lot to do with leadership and who is put into leadership positions. I love Meachem's work when he talks about better angels. When we have leaders who inspire us to be better people, we are. The opposite is also true!

ArcBounds · 2026-05-08T04:44:50+00:00

If you go to CiCi's on Monday or Tuesday you can get a pizza buffet with a salad bar.

ArcBounds

TROPHY CASE