My point is that we have no way of knowing whether Ezekiel saw a 'vision', either with the aid of strenuous prayer, psychotropic drugs, or congenital predisposition, or if he in fact saw something that was really there.
Ezekiel could have seen a real event and reported it as such, or could have seen a real event and reported it as a vision, or could have seen a vision and reported it as a real event, or could have seen a vision and reported it as such. After a few millienia and several translations, it's difficult to say.
Um...has it occurred to you that Ezikiel, seeing such a fantastic sight, might have assumed it was a vision from God? For that matter, are you absolutely certain your translation is accurate, that he meant 'vision' as 'hallucination', rather than 'something seen'?
Actually, in all seriousness, here's a quote from the Bible:
"Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel upon the earth beside the living creatures one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction, their appearance was like the gleaming of a chrysolite, and the four had the same likeness being as it were a wheel within a wheel. The four wheels had rims and they had spokes, and their rims were full of eyes round about. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them and when the living creatures went, the wheels went with them, for the living creature was in the wheel".
- Ezekiel, chapter 1, Versus 15 thru 21.
Today the Council of Elders confirmed the rumours that the sinister blue planet third from our star has managed to detect traces of life upon our world.
K'breel, speaker for the Council, stressed that there was no cause for alarm:
"While this is truly a troubling development, rest asured that the mighty Council has forseen this, and has taken the necessary steps to deal with the situation. The asteroid the Council has set in motion is on target to strike the invaders' planet in a few short years, and its payload of biological toxin, specially formulated to destroy their disgusting cellular structure, will insure our continued safety and serenity."
When challenged by pro-life activists present at the conference, who asserted that the invaders were living beings just as we are, and that we did not have the right to arbitrarily exterminate an entire species, K'Breel replied tersely:
Stricchiola harshly criticizes Google, saying the firm typically will not divulge much information to advertisers about the nature or scope of click fraud on their Web sites. Google defends the practice, saying it does not want to provide a road map for those with bad intentions.
<sarcasm> Security through obscurity...always a sound threat-management strategy. </sarcasm>
Seriously, what exactly does Google hope to accomplish by trying to keep a lid on this? News flash, Google: the 'road map' is already out there, and being used to the tune of approximately 20% of all clicks on ads (stat from TFA). The secret is out...no one can gain by covering up the problem...no one, that is, but the people perpetrating the click fraud.
Google better do an about-face on this issue, and fast, before it winds up biting them on the ass even more than it has already.
There wouldn't be too much peace with the majority of the world's oil supply suddenly being rendered unattainable...not to mention the rest of the world frantically trying to lay claim to that area.
...what prevents that new settlement planet from being obliterated a few hundred thousand years later?
Nothing. But are you actually saying that we can only have one settlement at a time???
Seriously, what we really need to figure out a way to deal with this problem that doesn't involve "turn tail and run".
While your devotion to the planet that gave you birth is touching, no one said that the options to escape the cataclysm and and to prevent the cataclysm are mutually exclusive. But if the latter option proves to be impossible, wouldn't you like to have the former option in reserve?
Find a different planet capable of supporting a permanent settlement
What is it with you people and planets??? Why, after you manage to escape from one gravity well, would you beeline straight for another? Humanity's future is not on a planetary surface. It's in habitats in space.
"..."
Honestly...quoting ellipses from another post has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever seen on Slashdot. Bar none.
Please log off before you embarass your species further.
I must have missed something. Exactly when did lack of a survival instinct become hip?
All my arguments have one basic premise: the human race should survive. If you're too irrational to accept even this basic idea, there's simply no point in continuing the debate.
Slashdot Mirror
"Hey there, partner...it looks like you're trying to call 911!"
Does your emergency involve:
A car accident
Chest pains
A guy with an axe
None of these - search Microsoft
That's why you sit down with your children and educate them about the 911 system.
My point is that we have no way of knowing whether Ezekiel saw a 'vision', either with the aid of strenuous prayer, psychotropic drugs, or congenital predisposition, or if he in fact saw something that was really there.
Ezekiel could have seen a real event and reported it as such, or could have seen a real event and reported it as a vision, or could have seen a vision and reported it as a real event, or could have seen a vision and reported it as such. After a few millienia and several translations, it's difficult to say.
Dude! I've...like...had that exact same dream, man!
While his contemporaries believed the world to be flat (along with science at the time), the prophet Isaiah spoke of "the circle of the earth"
Actually, the idea that the Earth was a sphere was well known to the ancients...any casual observation of lunar eclipses would have told them this.
"...and there was much defecation."
- Ghost of Christmas Past.
Um...has it occurred to you that Ezikiel, seeing such a fantastic sight, might have assumed it was a vision from God? For that matter, are you absolutely certain your translation is accurate, that he meant 'vision' as 'hallucination', rather than 'something seen'?
Suuuuuuuuuure it was...
Transplant where?
NIMBY!
Great...now we have to design the probes to withstand headcrab attacks.
Sound like a close encounter to you?
The Bible pertains to humans only...God neglected to mention his other projects to us.
K'breel, speaker for the Council, stressed that there was no cause for alarm:
When challenged by pro-life activists present at the conference, who asserted that the invaders were living beings just as we are, and that we did not have the right to arbitrarily exterminate an entire species, K'Breel replied tersely:
I just purchased it used for $14.97.
B&N price (member price): $32.36
Amazon.com price: $29.67
From the article:
<sarcasm>
Security through obscurity...always a sound threat-management strategy.
</sarcasm>
Seriously, what exactly does Google hope to accomplish by trying to keep a lid on this? News flash, Google: the 'road map' is already out there, and being used to the tune of approximately 20% of all clicks on ads (stat from TFA). The secret is out...no one can gain by covering up the problem...no one, that is, but the people perpetrating the click fraud.
Google better do an about-face on this issue, and fast, before it winds up biting them on the ass even more than it has already.
OK...I challenge you to find a better one.
Norwegian-to-English translators are rather difficult to find.
In the interest of promoting more enlightened discussion, a translated version of the webpage can be found here.
There wouldn't be too much peace with the majority of the world's oil supply suddenly being rendered unattainable...not to mention the rest of the world frantically trying to lay claim to that area.
Nothing. But are you actually saying that we can only have one settlement at a time???
Seriously, what we really need to figure out a way to deal with this problem that doesn't involve "turn tail and run".
While your devotion to the planet that gave you birth is touching, no one said that the options to escape the cataclysm and and to prevent the cataclysm are mutually exclusive. But if the latter option proves to be impossible, wouldn't you like to have the former option in reserve?
Find a different planet capable of supporting a permanent settlement
What is it with you people and planets??? Why, after you manage to escape from one gravity well, would you beeline straight for another? Humanity's future is not on a planetary surface. It's in habitats in space.
"..."
Honestly...quoting ellipses from another post has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever seen on Slashdot. Bar none.
Please log off before you embarass your species further.
Gah. That's a depressing thought. Exactly the opposite of what I was hoping for.
So, if no asteroid impact makes us complacent, and yes asteroid impact destroys our chances, is there any hope left for humanity?
You sure don't see anybody else out there doing any better than us, do you?
As a debate point, that's about as idiotic as saying "I snap my fingers to keep the tigers away".
As for analogies, a perfect one impacted the Yucatan Peninsula about 65 million years ago (give or take).
Komodo Dragon vs. Sewer Rat.
Round 1. Fight!
Crunch
Komodo Dragon wins.
Fatality
Intelligence is not a prerequisite for holding public office.
I must have missed something. Exactly when did lack of a survival instinct become hip?
All my arguments have one basic premise: the human race should survive. If you're too irrational to accept even this basic idea, there's simply no point in continuing the debate.