And then I have met many atheists who are zealots, or at least hobbyists, about it. Their disbelief is not a passive thing, but an active assertion, a passion, an argument they must make at every possible opportunity. It may not be "faith" in the religious sense, but it has an awful lot in common with "religion" in the pejorative sense.
Robert Pirsig once observed that very few people run around screaming that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. Things we are deeply certain about generate very little in the way of zealotry. It is only those things we doubt at some level that generate in us the overwhelming need to convince others. It's as true of religion as of irreligion.
Just as I find religious fundamentalists off-putting, I find atheist extremists off-putting as well, and I'm not overly concerned with the epithets people try to apply to them. Dogmatism by any other name will never be anything greater than sophomoric.
The moment religious folks stop mandating when I can and cannot get groceries because of their "holy" days and stop interfering with what my hypothetical children get to learn in school, I'll stop fighting them. Until such time, I will fight any and all legislation that boils down to "because my religion says it's good/bad" with all I have within me.
>Al Gore's scare and doom movie caused this. Lee said at the time that he experienced an "awakening" when he watched former Vice President Al Gore's environmental documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."
Al Gore's movie caused this incident. Video games caused columbine. And...apparently the internet causes terminal stupid. Are you sure you want to be online?
I dare think that the very concept of a news organization paid for by public money somehow not turning into a government mouthpiece would be downright unfathomable to americans...
Shocking, isn't it? There's, what, 120 names on it? So, go on, name 120 notable 'non Western' scientists, and we'll fix it. It's OK, we'll wait while you do that.
Please, for the love of all that is holy, tell us that you do not get to vote in a country that has nuclear weapons. When did it become fashionable to wear one's ignorance as a badge of pride anyway?
The way I see it, the only way a GPS-based system would be implemented as anything but a pilot program would if there were huge amounts of money to be made. If saving money was the issue, we could reduce crime, costs, and prison populations starting tomorrow simply by writing each offenders a monthly check for a portion of their incarceration cost. Last I heard, that would give each evil do-er a comfortable middle class existence.
Heck, you could go a few steps further and implement proper educational and social welfare programs. Kinda hard to do that and pretend to be "tough on crime" at the same time though.
$10 divided by the 52 hours you spend talking to your brother on Xbox Live == $0.19 an hour extra you are paying. How much is a long distance phone plan?
Considering Xbox live requires an internet connection anyway, how about using any of a gazillion free voice chat programs instead and buying your brother a couple beers the next time he's in town instead?
Your line is arbitrary to the point of being meaningless. Religions exist that support torture, and religions exist that allow for abortion. Fundamentally everyone is 'religious', provided that they follow any sort of moral code at all. You may well be a 'Haffnerist', who would believe that the reverent logic and teachings of Haffner is the true source for living your life. That's not organized religion, but it is in fact religious. Perhaps you pray at the alter of 'atheism', or 'logic', or 'science', or maybe just 'common sense'. The simple fact is, you're not weighing each and every moral dilemma each and every time you come across one. All you'd have to do to start a church is write it down and start handing out copies...
There's a massive difference between "this is wrong because $deity says it is" and "this is wrong because we the people say it is".
We make up our own morals. We collectively decide what is good and what is evil. The key difference is that some of us do so using our own brain and others would rather follow whatever the funny guy in the dress is telling them.
Glad to see the FUD campaign wrt Net Neutrality has achieved its goals. The meaning of the concept has been distorted beyond all recognition in certain countries.
Either the corporations can do whatever they damn well please, or there is *some* sort of organization, be it an official government or a less official entity, in place that serves as a layer of protection between the might of the corporations and the individual citizens. The moment such an organization exists, the corporations *will* try to corrupt it.
Specifically don't want to start a flame war... Why despise religion? I am religious, but I also acknowledge that we all have free will to decide what, if any, religion we follow.
My problem with religion is not that I don't want adult people believing whatever it is they want to believe in. My issue is with the fact that on a massive scale we feed children superstitions and, contrary to the local version of Santa and the Easter bunny, we go on letting them believe that for the remainder of their life. And even those that really don't believe will still allow the same to be done to the next generation.
I find it interesting that the human psyche seems hardwired to believe in a higher power. Go back through history and you will find some form of theism in almost every culture. Whether it is belief in ancient ancestors, all powerful God/Allah/Yahweh, the Greek/Roman/Norse/Egyptian gods, Gaea etc. That we appear to be hardwired for it makes me wonder.
I'll be the first to admit that religion is throughout all of human culture. There are things out there that are scary, unfair, that we cannot understand or influence etc. And within every group of people there will be one who's just a little smarter than the rest who will be more than happy to fill in the gaps and tell us what we can do about it, usually in such a way that said individual inexplicable comes out a little better.
I despise religion for the very same reasons that many Slashdotians despise/fear government. No matter how pure it may be at first, within no time it becomes a tool for people to control other people. It becomes a means of shirking responsibility, for claiming "God's Will" in those situations where we have no explanations (yet), etc.
Free will? Maybe...but when religion has been force-fed to you from the age of 4 and your entire peer group consists of people for whom the same applies...you're in a big heap of trouble if you want out.
Nonsense. I despise religion as much as you do, but thinking that removing it will eleminate terrorism is a pipedream.
Terrorism is simply a form of warfare, and in situations where one is outnumbered by one's enemies on the scale of 1 to 10000 effectively the *only* form of warfare available.
So unless we run completely out of other excuses to bash one another's brains in...terrorism is here to stay.
you're nothing but an ex-fanboy, you've fallen out of love with my country. fine. i didn't ask you to love my country, that's your own fault
Ehmm, I don't recall ever having been a fan of the US, apart from the massive service you guys did us back in the 40's.
The fanboyism is an american phenomenon. Making small kids swear pledges in school, the absurd amounts of flagwaving, politicians getting roasted for not wearing a pin etc.
likewise, that you hate my country is your own fault too
I don't *hate* your country, I just thoroughly enjoy making fun of it:)
but what i dislike is when americans are held accountable for crimes and weaknesses that basically every human being is guilty of. or when the atrocities of the american government are given special analysis for high holy indignation, while much worse atrocities of the same form from other governments are completely ignored, minimized, or excused, including from their own government. not that a crime committed by another government excuses the crimes of the american government. but it doesn't excuse critics of the usa to focus their high holy indignation on the usa alone, when whatever ugly game in question is played by everyone
Tough shit. You claim you're the best country god gave this world...then we're going to hold you to your own standards.
No one forced you to put the bar that high, but if you're going to scream from the rooftops that you're better than all of us, we *will* take exquisite delight in pointing out the hypocrisy.
Oh, I do remember the days of DOS. I also remember that anyone too retarded to use a combination of dir and cd almost by definition did not get to touch a computer.
As for autorun being good for tech-support, I wonder how many calls could have been *prevented* by disabling it. And I've had my share of calls as well, so I know the drill;-)
Honestly, that has been annoying the crap out of me since the very first release of Windows 95. How *anyone* could think that is a good idea continues to baffle me.
Then again, turning it off for all possible devices and situations is very satisfying:)
I actually enjoyed avatar. However, that may have been because:
1. I brought a cute girl to watch it 2. We had a nice dinner with some excellent wine beforehand 3. We kicked back and allowed ourselves to be entertained without pretending to be movie critics 4. We had a couple of drinks after-wards
It's entertainment, not the frigging Second Coming.
Slashdot Mirror
But I've had a few drinks and I just can't resist...
I'm in ur nightskiez panejaculating on ur planetz!
Soooo worth the karma.
And then I have met many atheists who are zealots, or at least hobbyists, about it. Their disbelief is not a passive thing, but an active assertion, a passion, an argument they must make at every possible opportunity. It may not be "faith" in the religious sense, but it has an awful lot in common with "religion" in the pejorative sense.
Robert Pirsig once observed that very few people run around screaming that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. Things we are deeply certain about generate very little in the way of zealotry. It is only those things we doubt at some level that generate in us the overwhelming need to convince others. It's as true of religion as of irreligion.
Just as I find religious fundamentalists off-putting, I find atheist extremists off-putting as well, and I'm not overly concerned with the epithets people try to apply to them. Dogmatism by any other name will never be anything greater than sophomoric.
The moment religious folks stop mandating when I can and cannot get groceries because of their "holy" days and stop interfering with what my hypothetical children get to learn in school, I'll stop fighting them. Until such time, I will fight any and all legislation that boils down to "because my religion says it's good/bad" with all I have within me.
Mrs Thatcher call Nelson Mandela a terrorist. Given current legal definitions many much admired historical figures could be classified as terrorists.
Nah, terrorists try and fail. Those who succeed become heroes.
>Al Gore's scare and doom movie caused this.
Lee said at the time that he experienced an "awakening" when he watched former Vice President Al Gore's environmental documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."
Al Gore's movie caused this incident. Video games caused columbine. And...apparently the internet causes terminal stupid. Are you sure you want to be online?
and a new laptop pimped out with Norton Internet Security 2011
"Pimped out" with Norton...is that like a hooker with free syphilis on the side?
I dare think that the very concept of a news organization paid for by public money somehow not turning into a government mouthpiece would be downright unfathomable to americans...
Shocking, isn't it? There's, what, 120 names on it? So, go on, name 120 notable 'non Western' scientists, and we'll fix it. It's OK, we'll wait while you do that.
Please, for the love of all that is holy, tell us that you do not get to vote in a country that has nuclear weapons. When did it become fashionable to wear one's ignorance as a badge of pride anyway?
The way I see it, the only way a GPS-based system would be implemented as anything but a pilot program would if there were huge amounts of money to be made. If saving money was the issue, we could reduce crime, costs, and prison populations starting tomorrow simply by writing each offenders a monthly check for a portion of their incarceration cost. Last I heard, that would give each evil do-er a comfortable middle class existence.
Heck, you could go a few steps further and implement proper educational and social welfare programs. Kinda hard to do that and pretend to be "tough on crime" at the same time though.
$10 divided by the 52 hours you spend talking to your brother on Xbox Live == $0.19 an hour extra you are paying. How much is a long distance phone plan?
Considering Xbox live requires an internet connection anyway, how about using any of a gazillion free voice chat programs instead and buying your brother a couple beers the next time he's in town instead?
Your line is arbitrary to the point of being meaningless. Religions exist that support torture, and religions exist that allow for abortion. Fundamentally everyone is 'religious', provided that they follow any sort of moral code at all. You may well be a 'Haffnerist', who would believe that the reverent logic and teachings of Haffner is the true source for living your life. That's not organized religion, but it is in fact religious. Perhaps you pray at the alter of 'atheism', or 'logic', or 'science', or maybe just 'common sense'. The simple fact is, you're not weighing each and every moral dilemma each and every time you come across one. All you'd have to do to start a church is write it down and start handing out copies...
There's a massive difference between "this is wrong because $deity says it is" and "this is wrong because we the people say it is".
We make up our own morals. We collectively decide what is good and what is evil. The key difference is that some of us do so using our own brain and others would rather follow whatever the funny guy in the dress is telling them.
Isn't passing a law that makes something originally outside the law to remain outside the law rather oxymoronic?
Hmm, is it? I vaguely recall a set of laws that certain things shall remain outside the law to be rather highly thought of somewhere...
"Congress shall make no law" sound familiar?
Glad to see the FUD campaign wrt Net Neutrality has achieved its goals. The meaning of the concept has been distorted beyond all recognition in certain countries.
I've worked with a sociopath and a lazy slimeball ( two people ) who both got good recommendations on there.
From each other, by any chance? ;-)
Either the corporations can do whatever they damn well please, or there is *some* sort of organization, be it an official government or a less official entity, in place that serves as a layer of protection between the might of the corporations and the individual citizens. The moment such an organization exists, the corporations *will* try to corrupt it.
Specifically don't want to start a flame war...
Why despise religion? I am religious, but I also acknowledge that we all have free will to decide what, if any, religion we follow.
My problem with religion is not that I don't want adult people believing whatever it is they want to believe in. My issue is with the fact that on a massive scale we feed children superstitions and, contrary to the local version of Santa and the Easter bunny, we go on letting them believe that for the remainder of their life. And even those that really don't believe will still allow the same to be done to the next generation.
I find it interesting that the human psyche seems hardwired to believe in a higher power. Go back through history and you will find some form of theism in almost every culture. Whether it is belief in ancient ancestors, all powerful God/Allah/Yahweh, the Greek/Roman/Norse/Egyptian gods, Gaea etc. That we appear to be hardwired for it makes me wonder.
I'll be the first to admit that religion is throughout all of human culture. There are things out there that are scary, unfair, that we cannot understand or influence etc. And within every group of people there will be one who's just a little smarter than the rest who will be more than happy to fill in the gaps and tell us what we can do about it, usually in such a way that said individual inexplicable comes out a little better.
I despise religion for the very same reasons that many Slashdotians despise/fear government. No matter how pure it may be at first, within no time it becomes a tool for people to control other people. It becomes a means of shirking responsibility, for claiming "God's Will" in those situations where we have no explanations (yet), etc.
Free will? Maybe...but when religion has been force-fed to you from the age of 4 and your entire peer group consists of people for whom the same applies...you're in a big heap of trouble if you want out.
Nonsense. I despise religion as much as you do, but thinking that removing it will eleminate terrorism is a pipedream.
Terrorism is simply a form of warfare, and in situations where one is outnumbered by one's enemies on the scale of 1 to 10000 effectively the *only* form of warfare available.
So unless we run completely out of other excuses to bash one another's brains in...terrorism is here to stay.
you're nothing but an ex-fanboy, you've fallen out of love with my country. fine. i didn't ask you to love my country, that's your own fault
Ehmm, I don't recall ever having been a fan of the US, apart from the massive service you guys did us back in the 40's.
The fanboyism is an american phenomenon. Making small kids swear pledges in school, the absurd amounts of flagwaving, politicians getting roasted for not wearing a pin etc.
likewise, that you hate my country is your own fault too
I don't *hate* your country, I just thoroughly enjoy making fun of it :)
but what i dislike is when americans are held accountable for crimes and weaknesses that basically every human being is guilty of. or when the atrocities of the american government are given special analysis for high holy indignation, while much worse atrocities of the same form from other governments are completely ignored, minimized, or excused, including from their own government. not that a crime committed by another government excuses the crimes of the american government. but it doesn't excuse critics of the usa to focus their high holy indignation on the usa alone, when whatever ugly game in question is played by everyone
Tough shit. You claim you're the best country god gave this world...then we're going to hold you to your own standards.
No one forced you to put the bar that high, but if you're going to scream from the rooftops that you're better than all of us, we *will* take exquisite delight in pointing out the hypocrisy.
For christ sakes.. in star wars you could alter someones mind by waving at them.
I see your Jedi and I raise you a horny Betazoid...
Oh, I do remember the days of DOS. I also remember that anyone too retarded to use a combination of dir and cd almost by definition did not get to touch a computer.
As for autorun being good for tech-support, I wonder how many calls could have been *prevented* by disabling it. And I've had my share of calls as well, so I know the drill ;-)
Honestly, that has been annoying the crap out of me since the very first release of Windows 95. How *anyone* could think that is a good idea continues to baffle me.
Then again, turning it off for all possible devices and situations is very satisfying :)
Why does that conjure up a picture of a German Sheppard sitting there wagging his tail with a keyboard in his mouth? :)
Ah, to be fuckbook.com's lawyer in drafting a reply...so many options.
10 bucks says they're based/hosted out of a country that doesn't give a hoot about US trademarks.
Ye gods, someone actually gets it.
I actually enjoyed avatar. However, that may have been because:
1. I brought a cute girl to watch it
2. We had a nice dinner with some excellent wine beforehand
3. We kicked back and allowed ourselves to be entertained without pretending to be movie critics
4. We had a couple of drinks after-wards
It's entertainment, not the frigging Second Coming.
2030: Gmail clones a soulmate for you (based on conversations you've had using it's service), and delivers it to your door.
Oh, awesome, I should be just about done with my midlife crisis by then. :)