"The reason is simple: the wager makes the blatantly false assumption that believing in God while alive has no cost. Moreover, it fails to account for the fact that the 'value' of a cost paid over time is intrinsically linked to the duration of your existence (i.e. your 'life' plus any 'afterlife' you may have). If God doesn't exist, and you believe in God while alive, you pay the maximal price of wasting all that time and energy (along with all the missed opportunities this entails) during the entirety of your existence. It is difficult, if not impossible, to believe that this cost is not greater than living an actual life of happiness without a deity followed by an afterlife of 'hell'."
Perhaps you think we are all bible-thumping uber Christians. Not all Christians are the fire-and-brimstone type, and not all of us believe the Bible is some tome written by the hand of God. Or the Torah. Or the Qu'ran.
Take a deeper look at all religion, and what they have in common. Jew, Hindu, Buddist - the thing that binds them all together in all religion is 'Do no intentional harm to others'. A pretty simple moral code.
Now, if God does not exist, what the worst that can happen? People are nicer to each other? And that is a waste of time? Think of the benefits if everyone adopted this simple moral code - 'Do not intentional harm to others.' Beyond that, it just differences in rituals, rites and traditions. No one would waste their corporeal existence on earth by being nicer to each other.
Believing in God has no 'cost', believing the church is infallible and that religious texts are infallible is what 'Pascals Wager' exposes. There is no downside and no cost to 'believing'. This is also the mistake the CoS has made. They don't believe in doing no harm, and they don't see their religious texts as flawed creations of man.
"The first is that the pilot project involves transferring a user database on encrypted CD-ROM disks to U.S. authorities so they can check it when people come to the border. With a passport, U.S. border agents rely on information kept in Canada to decide if someone should be admitted."
So, with the current system, a passport is scanned, and a computer in Canada flags whether they person is a risk or not. With this new system, data has to be transferred to US computers, and we don't know what they will do with it.
It won't. Just like the CD levy doesn't go to artists. The $5 a month would go to songwriters. Who get paid to write songs, and would get more royalties if they wrote better songs.
Guess that didn't occur to them. Next up, a $5 tax on tires for car designers.
Rona Ambrose is my MP. How lucky I feel. Replace 'Jim Prentice' in your post with that name, and the same holds true, including her sending real letters in opposition, and form letters as Minister of the Environment (that was a laugh in itself).
Not to sound harsh, but in my Canada songwriters get paid to write songs, not because I have an internet connection. Breweries don't get paid because I have water to my home. (and I might use it to brew beer)
No, he doesn't. (Thanks for the clips, but I do watch the show . . )
In the 'Good the Bad and the Ugly' (not a Top Gear episode) He had a Dodge 3/4 ton race an Ariel Atom, and (sarcastically) acts surprised when the little racer wins.
I say, pull 3/4 of a ton with the Ariel Atom, and see who wins.
I won't even mention what he did with the F150 Lightning. He just doesn't get the concept of 'truck'.
"Yes....one of the reasons that police etc are obliged to state that they are recording an interview is because society gives them a certain amount of power,"
And, who exactly is 'society'? Did we say we give away that power, because we will not be utilizing it ourselves?
"One famous example is the gun registry - now I don't want to start a flame war about the registry, but I feel it is the best example of complete incompetence on the part of a Canadian government project and "how stuff like this can happen", so bear with me for a bit."
Government? While I'm all in favour of blaming our elected overlords - this is what happens when you give a big contract to CGI. A simple task, much like the nationwide vehicle registry, all they had to do was take the source, file off 'Make, Model, Colour' and replace it with 'Manufacturer, Calibre and Barrel Length' and it cost $2 billion?
Don't give the government 100% of the blame, when there is an incompetent company willing to milk the public purse involved as well.
"That happens all over the place. It still doesn't make what I said any less."
Yes it does. If undercover Police (under orders) are the disruptives, then it's not the 'Peace Activists' being the disruptives. I'm not saying it's the police 100% of the time ether, but we don't always have such good photographic evidence that they are undercover police.
"There are degrees of illegality. . . Possession of pot in some provinces are a minor misdemeanor making it the next step up from legal to illegal. "
Nope. Illegal is illegal. 'Decriminalized' is the word you are looking for. It means jail time is off the table, and replaced with a monetary fine instead. Speeding is illegal, but not criminally prosecutable - monetary penalty. Murder is illegal, and a crime, but no monetary penalty. A Tort is also illegal.
There is no 'little bit pregnant'.
"If I said we were practically neighbors because we live 2 streets or 4 houses apart doesn't mean I'm lying because we don't live next door to each other. It mean that we aren't neighbors but practically are."
Please rephrase as a car analogy. 'Practically neighbours' is a relative thing. Illegal is not relative. It's black and white. Something is against the law, or it isn't.
"And yes, I remember our last discussion. It had something to do with you claiming that not telling someone something was the same thing as lying."
No, I said the laws where I come from, non-discolsure of information vital to public safety by any member of a professional organization is considered 'lying by omission'. I pointed you to those laws, and yet you sought to try to disprove them anyway. In my opinion; by the laws under which I am legally obliged to practice my profession, not reporting a spill of radioactive material to all relevant authorities of my jurisdiction; is a lie of omission.
"So I guess you can tell what stock I put in your opinions anyways. I think maybe you should just relax and take a deep breath before replying."
I do. You are just pixels on my screen, as I am to you. Perhaps you should (after looking up 'decriminalize') review elementary logical fallacies and debate tactics where it applies to disproving someones opinion?
"Canada seems to be a country that will not let you in for a drug conviction when it is practically legal to use the same stuff over there."
Once again, you don't know what you are talking about (think I forgot our last discussion?). It is illegal to posess certain drugs in Canada. Because in some provinces, the punishment for small amounts is a 'fine' does not make it legal. There is no such thing as 'practically legal'. Or 'a little pregnant'.
If you are convicted of possession on ether side of the border, it's grounds to bar entry.
While I agree that these people were denied entry because they were on the 'watch list', the question is 'Why were they on the watch list'? They did what? Peaceful protest? Trespass? A misdemeanour?
And yet, Paris Hilton, who has been convicted and served time in jail, somehow is in Toronto right now filming a movie?
Ask yourself, as many have, are these people and many other really on that list because they pose a threat? (Whereas Paris Hilton has shown herself to be a threat to public safety, somehow is not on the list.)
I recently (yesterday) rebuilt several of my home PC's. In doing the 80 or so post SP2 'Updates' one of them used to create a folder under 'Documents and Settings\%User%' called 'DRM'. Empty folder. Yesterday's patching didn't do this, but I suspect it's Media Player 10 or 11 - nether of which I installed this round, but have in the past.
Another update created a folder in the root of the drive with the largest free space called 'My Works'. Empty folder, nothing particularly special about the folder, other than it's presence. And it only seems to appear on the drive with the most free space. It appeared on a drive I created after installation, but before patching.
So, which patch for XP puts a 'MyWorks' folder on the partition with the most space? And what is is for? Where did the 'DRM' folder in your profile come from? Which updates say they will do these things?
I don't trust them in the slightest - and the 'stealth' patch for IE7 shows I was right, because IE7 opens up holes that weren't previously there.
Slashdot Mirror
"The reason is simple: the wager makes the blatantly false assumption that believing in God while alive has no cost. Moreover, it fails to account for the fact that the 'value' of a cost paid over time is intrinsically linked to the duration of your existence (i.e. your 'life' plus any 'afterlife' you may have). If God doesn't exist, and you believe in God while alive, you pay the maximal price of wasting all that time and energy (along with all the missed opportunities this entails) during the entirety of your existence. It is difficult, if not impossible, to believe that this cost is not greater than living an actual life of happiness without a deity followed by an afterlife of 'hell'."
Perhaps you think we are all bible-thumping uber Christians. Not all Christians are the fire-and-brimstone type, and not all of us believe the Bible is some tome written by the hand of God. Or the Torah. Or the Qu'ran.
Take a deeper look at all religion, and what they have in common. Jew, Hindu, Buddist - the thing that binds them all together in all religion is 'Do no intentional harm to others'. A pretty simple moral code.
Now, if God does not exist, what the worst that can happen? People are nicer to each other? And that is a waste of time? Think of the benefits if everyone adopted this simple moral code - 'Do not intentional harm to others.' Beyond that, it just differences in rituals, rites and traditions. No one would waste their corporeal existence on earth by being nicer to each other.
Believing in God has no 'cost', believing the church is infallible and that religious texts are infallible is what 'Pascals Wager' exposes. There is no downside and no cost to 'believing'. This is also the mistake the CoS has made. They don't believe in doing no harm, and they don't see their religious texts as flawed creations of man.
"(there was a serious "R" shortage back then)"
Ahh, the time before Pirates.
Remember when two guys with a typewriter took down a US President - and used their real names.
It's not the RFID chips that concerns people. Have a look at this article:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/15335286.html
"The first is that the pilot project involves transferring a user database on encrypted CD-ROM disks to U.S. authorities so they can check it when people come to the border. With a passport, U.S. border agents rely on information kept in Canada to decide if someone should be admitted."
So, with the current system, a passport is scanned, and a computer in Canada flags whether they person is a risk or not. With this new system, data has to be transferred to US computers, and we don't know what they will do with it.
Methinks they have a reptile dysfunction.
Twinaxial, baby!
And remember AUI? 15 pin D-Sub?
"Raymond Niro of Niro Scavone Haller & Niro"
And of such girth that he needs his name mentioned 3 times on every business card.
It won't. Just like the CD levy doesn't go to artists. The $5 a month would go to songwriters. Who get paid to write songs, and would get more royalties if they wrote better songs.
Guess that didn't occur to them. Next up, a $5 tax on tires for car designers.
No, tell us what you really think. ;)
Rona Ambrose is my MP. How lucky I feel. Replace 'Jim Prentice' in your post with that name, and the same holds true, including her sending real letters in opposition, and form letters as Minister of the Environment (that was a laugh in itself).
Not to sound harsh, but in my Canada songwriters get paid to write songs, not because I have an internet connection. Breweries don't get paid because I have water to my home. (and I might use it to brew beer)
"I think he knows what they're designed for, "
No, he doesn't. (Thanks for the clips, but I do watch the show . . )
In the 'Good the Bad and the Ugly' (not a Top Gear episode) He had a Dodge 3/4 ton race an Ariel Atom, and (sarcastically) acts surprised when the little racer wins.
I say, pull 3/4 of a ton with the Ariel Atom, and see who wins.
I won't even mention what he did with the F150 Lightning. He just doesn't get the concept of 'truck'.
Clarkson, you ponce!
And learn what a pickup truck is designed for, would ya?
This is what I thought of: http://www.savethetatas.com/
Guess we are on the same frequency.
"Yes....one of the reasons that police etc are obliged to state that they are recording an interview is because society gives them a certain amount of power,"
And, who exactly is 'society'? Did we say we give away that power, because we will not be utilizing it ourselves?
"Last I checked, Jesus was Jewish..."
What? You actually walked up to him asked him to 'whip it out' and verified his circumcision?
"One famous example is the gun registry - now I don't want to start a flame war about the registry, but I feel it is the best example of complete incompetence on the part of a Canadian government project and "how stuff like this can happen", so bear with me for a bit."
Government? While I'm all in favour of blaming our elected overlords - this is what happens when you give a big contract to CGI. A simple task, much like the nationwide vehicle registry, all they had to do was take the source, file off 'Make, Model, Colour' and replace it with 'Manufacturer, Calibre and Barrel Length' and it cost $2 billion?
Don't give the government 100% of the blame, when there is an incompetent company willing to milk the public purse involved as well.
Indeed, they are. And they think we don't notice.
Probabally give some lame 'shipping costs' excuse, when the thing is made in China.
"That happens all over the place. It still doesn't make what I said any less."
Yes it does. If undercover Police (under orders) are the disruptives, then it's not the 'Peace Activists' being the disruptives. I'm not saying it's the police 100% of the time ether, but we don't always have such good photographic evidence that they are undercover police.
"There are degrees of illegality. . . Possession of pot in some provinces are a minor misdemeanor making it the next step up from legal to illegal. "
Nope. Illegal is illegal. 'Decriminalized' is the word you are looking for. It means jail time is off the table, and replaced with a monetary fine instead. Speeding is illegal, but not criminally prosecutable - monetary penalty. Murder is illegal, and a crime, but no monetary penalty. A Tort is also illegal.
There is no 'little bit pregnant'.
"If I said we were practically neighbors because we live 2 streets or 4 houses apart doesn't mean I'm lying because we don't live next door to each other. It mean that we aren't neighbors but practically are."
Please rephrase as a car analogy. 'Practically neighbours' is a relative thing. Illegal is not relative. It's black and white. Something is against the law, or it isn't.
"And yes, I remember our last discussion. It had something to do with you claiming that not telling someone something was the same thing as lying."
No, I said the laws where I come from, non-discolsure of information vital to public safety by any member of a professional organization is considered 'lying by omission'. I pointed you to those laws, and yet you sought to try to disprove them anyway. In my opinion; by the laws under which I am legally obliged to practice my profession, not reporting a spill of radioactive material to all relevant authorities of my jurisdiction; is a lie of omission.
"So I guess you can tell what stock I put in your opinions anyways. I think maybe you should just relax and take a deep breath before replying."
I do. You are just pixels on my screen, as I am to you. Perhaps you should (after looking up 'decriminalize') review elementary logical fallacies and debate tactics where it applies to disproving someones opinion?
"Peace activist is a misleading term. Often they are the exact opposite of "peace" in the name of peace."
Up North here, the unruly part of the 'peaceful protesters' sometime turn out to be Cops who stir things up in order to lay a beatdown on protesters.
You think I'm kidding?
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/08/23/police-montebello.html?ref=rss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St1-WTc1kow
"Canada seems to be a country that will not let you in for a drug conviction when it is practically legal to use the same stuff over there."
Once again, you don't know what you are talking about (think I forgot our last discussion?). It is illegal to posess certain drugs in Canada. Because in some provinces, the punishment for small amounts is a 'fine' does not make it legal. There is no such thing as 'practically legal'. Or 'a little pregnant'.
If you are convicted of possession on ether side of the border, it's grounds to bar entry.
While I agree that these people were denied entry because they were on the 'watch list', the question is 'Why were they on the watch list'? They did what? Peaceful protest? Trespass? A misdemeanour?
And yet, Paris Hilton, who has been convicted and served time in jail, somehow is in Toronto right now filming a movie?
Ask yourself, as many have, are these people and many other really on that list because they pose a threat? (Whereas Paris Hilton has shown herself to be a threat to public safety, somehow is not on the list.)
You may be able to find an upgraded copy here:
gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/7/v2/vs
I recently (yesterday) rebuilt several of my home PC's. In doing the 80 or so post SP2 'Updates' one of them used to create a folder under 'Documents and Settings\%User%' called 'DRM'. Empty folder. Yesterday's patching didn't do this, but I suspect it's Media Player 10 or 11 - nether of which I installed this round, but have in the past.
Another update created a folder in the root of the drive with the largest free space called 'My Works'. Empty folder, nothing particularly special about the folder, other than it's presence. And it only seems to appear on the drive with the most free space. It appeared on a drive I created after installation, but before patching.
This is true for both XP and XP-64 editions.
"and I have no doubt they will, I trust them."
So, which patch for XP puts a 'MyWorks' folder on the partition with the most space? And what is is for? Where did the 'DRM' folder in your profile come from? Which updates say they will do these things?
I don't trust them in the slightest - and the 'stealth' patch for IE7 shows I was right, because IE7 opens up holes that weren't previously there.
"How would you distinguish a remote disable from a normal breakdown?"
The amount of smoke emitted, and the number of people trying to get out by breaking the windows.