Are we all becoming pagan again?

[o_O.Q]

Pemalite said:

o_O.Q said:

this does not in anyway address what I've asked you 

Yes it does.

o_O.Q said:

you cannot explain why a man for example will choose to love and stay with a woman who is much less attractive to another woman that he may interact with

False assumption considering you haven't provided a single shred of evidentiary support in this thread thus far.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_theory

o_O.Q said:

if the only thing you are taking into consideration is material then clearly he should be ditching one woman for the next

False.

o_O.Q said:

you cannot explain why some people are scared of things like cotton balls or clowns or whatever for seemingly no reason

False assumption. I can.
Genetic and environmental factors can cause irrational reactions to something... And can often be brought on with a distressing event in ones past.

https://www.healthline.com/health/phobia-simple-specific

Another name is the "Fight or Flight response".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response

o_O.Q said:

why people in a sexually dimorphic species would choose to identify as cats 

Sexuality is a spectrum. But other species have "identified" as other animals... You raise a squirrel with kittens and it will start to purr.

o_O.Q said:

dopamine is released as a reaction to an enjoyable activity its not proactive but reactive, it has no part to play in this argument

And that enjoyable feeling from that chemical reaction promotes repetition of an activity.

It certainly has play in this argument.

o_O.Q said:

while you're at it explain consciousness for me with a material/scientific explanation

Consciousness is a very subjective term and is difficult to quantify either way.
...And considering I am not a doctor, I am not willing to make medical/scientific assertions on the topic to any great detail, I'll leave that up to the experts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness#Scientific_study
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science

"False assumption considering you haven't provided a single shred of evidentiary support in this thread thus far."

i'm not the one making vast assertions on how things work

"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_theory"

how does this substantiate your argument?

"False."

elaboration on how?

"Genetic and environmental factors can cause irrational reactions to something"

"can" is very different to "always cause"

"Another name is the "Fight or Flight response"."

fight or flight responses are evolved reactions that occur before a person's conscious mind is able to process what the threat is properly

this is obviously different to someone actually consciously perceiving something like cotton balls and having a response

"Sexuality is a spectrum."

its not and it obviously can't be since sex occurs through the interaction of bodies, the primary sexual characteristics of those bodies follow two forms - penis and vagina... sure there's also anal sex but obviously sexuality is bounded by how our bodies develop

"But other species have "identified" as other animals... You raise a squirrel with kittens and it will start to purr."

animals cannot "identify" as anything, they are not self aware

sure they may change their behavior depending on their environment but its not a purposeful self-conscious imitation of some other group

"And that enjoyable feeling from that chemical reaction promotes repetition of an activity."

ok then why don't people cheat on their lovers anytime the opportunity presents itself? if its just about the dopamine rush?

"Consciousness is a very subjective term and is difficult to quantify either way"

primarily because we don't really understand it