Okay, you successfully pointed out that I didn't know the context of this quote, why Einstein said it, or even his personality for that matter. But I feel that the portion that was given should have been up for interpretation. So I may not have understood this part the way he intended for me to interpret it, but I still hold my beliefs. :)

Finally, a famous quote (that I have never heard before) that backs up my sentiment perfectly! Religion and science go hand in hand. I've always believed that science answers the question "How does it happen?" and religion answers the question "Why does it happen?"

I think most young people on this site are more mature than half of the young voters in this country. :D

I knew way too many people who voted based on charisma, appearance, race, or because somebody else told them to. It was really sad...

Maybe I'm just saying this because I'll be registering to vote later on this month or next month. :)

I think by the time you're 18, you're more mature than you ever have been, obviously. Although not all 18-year-olds are mature enough to vote, a good portion are mature enough. And the ones that are not usually don't vote anyway, so it all works out. The thing that's always bothered me, however, is how 18 is such a magical number. I don't see how somebody who is 18 years, 1 month is more mature, legally, than somebody who is 17 years, 11 months. It's as if suddenly, you turn 18 and a whole new world opens. I think there should be a big thing once you get a high school diploma or something. I still had to get working papers to work (this is a side note), even though I already graduated. But I don't turn 18 until the 20th... =/

"Organ donation upon death should be mandatory."

Well it is mandatory unless requested otherwise in some places, like Belgium I believe. So in that case, it's a great idea. But I think we should at least have a choice. It makes the actual donation that much more precious, sincere, and important.

"My soul won't transcend to some higher plane..."

As much as I disagree with that part, I do agree that after we die, our bodies are just going to lie there and rot. But lets go ahead and discuss the afterlife some other time, shall we? :)

I would give any and all organs as long as I can have an open casket wake and people won't say "Where the hell is his face?" :) But after a wake service, I'd gladly give any organ for science or for another person, even my face.

There are problems with every form of government and society, I'm sure. Capitalism is great because it allows people to actually work for their money and understand the value of it. Socialism could be a problem for the same reason because the poorest people in society would then be getting, in a way, government hand-outs and would not appreciate them. Suddenly, they realize they don't need to try as hard and the former upper class is working harder to maintain stability in society. Then they realize there's no point in doing this and society collapses.

Now, if we were all robots or if we all actually wanted to work together without laziness or greed or jealousy, then yes, I'm sure socialism could definitely work. In fact, I think it could work on a much smaller scale in some cases.

Debating online gives me time to think about what I'm going to say without looking like an idiot and research a multitude of topics easily. Also, when I get really pissed at people, there is a 0% chance I will charge at them and try to hurt them. :)

I really like the idea and I'm sure if it picks up more steam, I'll be using it more and more often, but I don't know about everyone else. I'm not sure how many people would join and I'm also not sure if it would last for months to come. =/

I recently read an article in Popular Science about how using the computer will actually make you smarter, depending on how you use it of course. They did a study and found that people who use computers regularly, to search for things on the internet for example, had greater brain activity while surfing the web than people who have never used a computer before, showing how they were actually becoming smarter from computer use. Of course, bad posture and carpal tunnel syndrome are negative side effects, but you can get those from other activities other than going on the computer.

"This sounds reasonable to me. But, of course, embryos are incapable of feeling pain."

I have to strongly disagree with this. An embryo can feel pain as early as eight weeks, when it first develops brain activity and a heartbeat. And even before this, the mother can feel pain by realizing that she just gave up her own flesh and blood. I've heard stories of would-be mothers feeling extreme guilt or sadness from aborting a baby at any point during the pregnancy.

Okay, maybe that wasn't the best answer. Honestly, I've never thought about why the things I believe are wrong are in fact wrong. They just all seem wrong and I'm sure most people feel the same way about their own morals, but I've been thinking about this more throughout the day... We do the right thing because we don't want to cause pain. And when we do want to cause pain in others, it's out of spite and we may feel bad about that later on. Our morals revolve around the Golden Rule, "Do onto others what you would have them do onto you." If you don't want somebody to do something to you, then don't do it to them.