# The Really Big Questions Don't Matter **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 16, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-really-big-questions-dont-matter/596463 "2011-09-16T02:01:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-really-big-questions-dont-matter/596463/61 "2011-09-17T01:18:55Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Again, reread my post. I said all abortions. I perfectly accept that a pre-birth baby can be conscious. And in most cases I wouldn’t support abortion on one. So you agree that an argument against abortion of a conscious pre-birth baby is reasonable and not based on anything supernatural or upon sentimentality? So you made a ludicrous and hyperbolic statement that \*\*all \*\*arguments against abortion were based on the supernatural and sentimentality. When challenged you repeated that ludicrous absolutist statement. And now you are conceding that in fact the _single most common_ argument against abortion is in fact perfectly reasonable and justified and has nothing whatsoever to do with the supernatural or sentimentality. I’ll just repeat what others have said: these debates aren’t generally prolonged because they don’t matter. They are prolonged because of the blinkered attitude we have seen here from Lobohan and Der Trihs. When people enter an argument with the view that nothing the opposition says can even have a valid **basis** , let alone a valid conclusion, they aren’t going to have your mind changed by facts. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-really-big-questions-dont-matter/596463/62 "2011-09-17T01:23:22Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > So you agree that an argument against abortion of a conscious pre-birth baby is reasonable and not based on anything supernatural or upon sentimentality? > > So you made a ludicrous and hyperbolic statement that \*\*all \*\*arguments against abortion were based on the supernatural and sentimentality. When challenged you repeated that ludicrous absolutist statement. You’ve really almost got it. There are arguments against specific abortions. There are no arguments against _all abortions_ that aren’t based in nonsense. Anyone arguing for doing away with\* all abortions\* is being a complete twat. > [@](#): > > And now you are conceding that in fact the _single most common_ argument against abortion is in fact perfectly reasonable and justified and has nothing whatsoever to do with the supernatural or sentimentality. Again, I’m conceding nothing. You misunderstood what I said. You did this because you were so charged with outrage it kept you from considering it clearly. There is no argument for _outlawing all abortions_ that isn’t nonsense. See above. > [@](#): > > I’ll just repeat what others have said: these debates aren’t generally prolonged because they don’t matter. They are prolonged because of the blinkered attitude we have seen here from Lobohan and Der Trihs. When people enter an argument with the view that nothing the opposition says can even have a valid **basis** , let alone a valid conclusion, they aren’t going to have your mind changed by facts. Irony. You still haven’t understood what was said and you’re still going off and doubling down on it. Please, retract your misstatements, okay? Or the shimp taco deal is off the table. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-really-big-questions-dont-matter/596463/63 "2011-09-17T01:23:28Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > No. It’s a fair point. I don’t know the answer. What happened in other countries when slavery was abolished? Usually, not much, but slavery in America wasn’t really comparable to slavery in most other parts of the world. The huge number of slaves, and the degree to which white society had dehumanized them in order to justify their treatment, is really unparalleled. There was no compunction about working a slave to death to make a profit. If slavery stopped being profitable, I doubt there’d be any compunction about killing a slave to prevent a loss. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-really-big-questions-dont-matter/596463/64 "2011-09-17T01:51:01Z")
My apologies to **Lobohan**. I misread “arguments against all abortions” as “all arguments against abortions”. Forgive me, I am a fool. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-really-big-questions-dont-matter/596463/65 "2011-09-17T01:53:13Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > I’ll just repeat what others have said: these debates aren’t generally prolonged because they don’t matter. They are prolonged because of the blinkered attitude we have seen here from Lobohan and Der Trihs. When people enter an argument with the view that nothing the opposition says can even have a valid **basis** , let alone a valid conclusion, they aren’t going to have your mind changed by facts. Of course, you fail to come up with any examples of such a “valid basis”. You simply claim that it must exist, and that anyone who points out that the Emperor has no clothes is unreasonable and “blinkered”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-really-big-questions-dont-matter/596463/66 "2011-09-17T03:01:01Z")
Without reading all the posts, I’m going to disagree with the OP. I can see the point of deciding to ignore a big philosophical issue like “Is there a God?” or “Is there an afterlife?” These are important issues but what are you really going to do about them? But issues like “Pro-life or pro-choice?” or “Should we invade Iraq?” have very immediate real-world implications. We can’t just avoid these issues. They have to be discussed so that decisions can be made. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-really-big-questions-dont-matter/596463/67 "2011-09-17T03:12:45Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > If we think the march of progress in the industrial revolution spelled the eventual end of slavery than the question did the civil war cause more death and suffering and moral evil than would have allowing slavery to perpetuated itself until its natural demise. That’s an empirically dubious claim (though popular among historians before 1950). If it was empirically valid, then I agree (cold-heartedly) the C/B investigation would be appropriate. Consider canals. A superior technology was introduced- railroads- and they stopped being built. Indeed, many went bankrupt, because they couldn’t keep up with their interest payments. _But canals didn’t stop operating during the 19th century_. Rather after reorganization revenues typically still exceeded operating costs, so they persisted. Similarly, the industrial revolution would have led to bankrupt plantations and declines in the sale price of human beings. But there would have to be a lot of technological innovation before the price would drop below zero and the institution would become unviable. And in the 20th century technology could conceivably help lower monitoring and control costs. So, no, the empirical claim wouldn’t be expected to hold. Bankrupting a plantation isn’t the same as driving slavery out of business. For that you would need to drive the asset price below zero. Cite: Robert Fogel and others. ETA: The OP. If one side, the other, or both are populated by hysterics, then there are no small questions. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-really-big-questions-dont-matter/596463/68 "2011-09-17T03:25:02Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > My apologies to **Lobohan**. > > I misread “arguments against all abortions” as “all arguments against abortions”. > > Forgive me, I am a fool. Now I feel bad. Honestly, I was being really snippy in my posts, so I’m sure my tone had a lot to do with coloring your perception. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-really-big-questions-dont-matter/596463/69 "2011-09-17T04:08:15Z")
There are other “big issues” from the past that were addressed successfully, thank goodness: independence from England and women’s right to vote to name a couple. Is the use of human torture any less critical? Our right to privacy? > [@](#): > > **Miller** : There was no compunction about working a slave to death to make a profit. But I wouldn’t think that it would have been profitable to work a slave to death. Slaves were expensive. Do you have a reliable source for this claim on what slave owners or managers had compunctions about? Was this true for Southern slave owners as well as Northern slave owners? It is hard to think of those who founded our country (often wealthy landowners) as being so inherently cruel. > [@](#): > > **thelabdude** : Yet our economic disaster is solely Bush’s fault? Not solely. Wall St. mainly. And fear mongers with access to government money. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-really-big-questions-dont-matter/596463/70 "2011-09-17T10:07:50Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > But I wouldn’t think that it would have been profitable to work a slave to death. Slaves were expensive. It is more expensive to feed and house a sick, old slave for 15 years than it is to simply work him to death. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-really-big-questions-dont-matter/596463/71 "2011-09-17T15:20:13Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > The second is personally. Do the personal big decisions you make actually matter? Here, I think not. I feel on pretty strong ground. The big decisions don’t matter, but the little ones do. > > What job you decide to take probably doesn’t matter all that much. It’s the showing up on time, the commitment, the working hard… the sum total of all the little things you do that matters. I disagree with this too. If you’re in a job that makes you want to kill yourself every day, then no matter how committed you are to it there’s no way you’ll be successful in it. You’d have to put in exponentially more effort on everything just to keep up, and your attitude will shine through to everyone in the vicinity. Compare that to doing a job you love…make the right big decision and all the little decisions fall into place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-really-big-questions-dont-matter/596463.md?page=3)