Even when it looks perfect, I know it's fake so I don't feel the creepy vertigo of the person standing on the edge of a skyscraper because the emotional part of my mind knows they are standing on a green screen.
And you are correct- in MOST cases, it just doesn't look real yet. It's darn close- but even when it looks perfect, the subtle physics or lighting don't mesh with the movie.
So a $200,000 education should result in a $44,000/year boost in income (since you lose roughly 50% to taxes). A $400,000 education should result in a $88,000/year boost in income.
You also have to figure in the risk that these are government backed loans so it is a lot harder to get free of them if things don't work out. You can't walk away from them as easily as you could walk away from a car loan.
If you were to take $400,000 and invest it, getting 8% return, that would be about $32, 000 a year ($21,000 after taxes assuming you were in the top tax bracket and no social security taxes on this kind of income).
If you were to take $40k and put it into trade school, your income comes out about the same these days and you have more job security since trade skills must be performed locally and can't be outsourced. They are often unionized as well. A successful plumber or electrician can make more money than most programmers.
College degrees are completely insane right now and i think a good part of it is that colleges are no longer using their endowments to help hold down costs. They'll get pasted soon tho- their endowments have gotten big enough to attract government attention.
An engineer should be able to pay off their education in under 10 years after school. If people are paying $200,000 dollars for schooling, you expect a minimum $22,000 a year return on investment. The fixed number will vary by person, but if the cost of schooling is too high, the prestige is too low, and the job security is not there, then people will enter other fields.
I was a developer, designer, etc. for 26 years. I've been a manager for about a year now and what I'm saying is true. You really think that you work hard but the managers "phone it in"?
I have to think that in their own pointy headed way, many executives must be working hard to do their best too.
Only 8 minutes sooner and you would have been modded funny, bolstering your self confidence, getting you that new job that lead to a fabulous career, a beautiful wife and being selected for the first L5 station in space 20 years from now as someone recognized your screen name and remembered laughing at your post years ago....
Only... 8... minutes..
Instead, Anonymous got it this time. And now anonymous will get all the glory.. again.
True management is hard- in a different way than engineering.
It involves motivation, a good workplace morale. It involves deciding which of three employees will have to work a holiday in a way that people respect even if they are unhappy with the fact that decision has to be made. It involves listening to all the projects being pitched and correctly picking the two that will result in the best success vs. the resources used. It involves correctly scheduling work so your engineers are not allowed to work themselves to death. And it involves getting the paperwork out of the worker's way.
True management is very hard-- just in different ways.
However, engineers are not currently paid correctly because of a temporary (albeit a few decades long) glut. That glut will end. Probably soon too (another 4-8 years).
Business Major types have been scamming engineers and scientists really hard for the last 50 years.
Smart people in general see this and avoid the engineering programs which are bloody hard, have as much as a 2/3 failure rate in the sophomore year, have low status with regard to females/dating, typically have long hours, hare been out-sourced like hell recently (since a smart indian or chinese engineer can do the same work for peanuts)* and don't even pay well even when not outsourced (compared to the effort put in).
*Business majors could also be replaced but they decide who is replaced and somehow never choose to replace themselves.
In Texas, we make all kinds of jokes about "Aggies" implying they are exceptionally stupid.
And then there are blond and dead baby jokes.
Your average french citizen is similar to people from other cultures.
I'm sure the french soldiers on the Magenot [sp] line would have fought very hard to defend france but they got driven around. The folks behind the line were not ready to fight germans with tanks with virtually no warning. To have something like the impact of a blitzkrieg war today, imagine that an enemy country could teleport their entire army inside your country.
However, just like an "aggie" joke or a "blonde" joke or a "dead baby" joke wouldn't make any sense with some other subject, the "french surrender" jokes wouldn't be funny with someone else now. I laughed at the "French military rifles for sale, dropped once" joke myself.
Your point interests me in a way you do not intend.
The only reason we view engines and air conditioning as irreplaceable parts of the car is the historical way we got here.
It would be fairly easy to force car makers to use standard connections and mounts and form factors for air conditioners and alternators instead of allowing the auto companies to customize them so they can be bundled.
I can't see that there is a need for more than a few kinds of alternators or A/C units.
Even for engines, the mountings could be standard even if the guts are custom.
AND if they were standardized, then the costs should drop dramatically. All the standardized parts would be commodotized.
The chinese stop learning english long before they are good at it.
There are a lot less brilliant indians than their used to be. I assume the brilliant indians are mostly working in higher paying places now. The current crop are smart but average.
It is strongly in their interest to refused to train and/or mistrain their replacements.
If management really things saving money is such a great idea, they should be using some of the many fine indian managers who make about 1/300th what they do.
Or if the managers thing that working in a totalitarian or 3rd world country is so great, they should go work there (as the 25 year old is doing).
No, you are using a logical fallacy. In fact, THIS came up on a random search on the first page on google where I only specified "logical fallacies dicho". I did not specify athiesm...
assuming there are only two alternatives when in fact there are more. For example, assuming Atheism is the only alternative to Fundamentalism, or being a traitor is the only alternative to being a loud patriot.
---
I can firmly believe 2+2 = 4 (I'm right), that 2+2=5 (I'm wrong but I believe it) or I can have no opinion since I do not know math.
I can firmly believe there is no god of any kind (unprovable). I can firmly believe there is no christian god (plausible but unprovable). I can firmly believe Thor, God of Thunder does not exist (more plausible but not provable).
Or I can say, "I have no 'supernatural being detection skills' and so I have no opinion".
I disagree. In my experience most people who identify themselves as atheists believe there are no gods.
You are creating a dichotomy when the actual situation is a continuum. And you are behaving like a Wonderland character in saying words mean exactly what you say they do and nothing else.
From webster: atheist Pronunciation:
\-th-ist\ Function:
noun Date:
1551 : one who believes that there is no deity
AND
agnostic Pronunciation:
\ag-näs-tik, g-\ Function:
noun Etymology:
Greek agnstos unknown, unknowable, from a- + gnstos known, from gignskein to know -- more at know Date:
1869
1: a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and probably unknowable; broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god.
---
Nothing stops you and others from conflating and abusing the two terms so that in time they will mean what you say. I see this a lot on slashdot tho-- people redefine terms. It makes it very hard to have a reasonable discussion when we are using the same words but holding different meanings. I'll defend the definitions we've been using for awhile myself.
Also... sorry but knowing that a computer animated guy fell off a cliff doesn't cut it compared to knowing a real guy really did fall off the cliff and was at real risk. Or if they really did jump 30' in a car.
So that means, you need to have better writing and the "big stunts" and "money shots" are really just backdrops for the story instead of being the experience. I can see those "big scenes" in a computer game now. No emotional impact.
It's interesting that people would consider killing for songs and movies rather than not download them or forgo purchasing them for 12-15 months until they are reasonably priced.
How would the record industry react if people started freaking out for real? How would the government react?
I think creating that environment is bad for our children and grandchildren.
Aware creatures are killed all the time by unaware things which neither the aware creature nor any other aware creature were aware. They are killed instantly and are not even aware they were killed. Yet they are dead. I'm sure many people died in the chinese earthquake this way.
Athiests believe god does not exist. (negative) Agnostics do not believe god exists and not not believe god does not exist. (neutral) Thiests believe god exists. (positive)
Athiests have made a decision which may be incorrect. Agnostics have not made a decision. Thiests have made a decision which may be incorrect.
There is a difference. Just as there is a difference between Drive (forward), Neutral, and Reverse (backwards) gears in a car.
In my experience many athiests hold the position in part as an emotional pushback against the constant pressure they get from theists.
You may also want to follow the links to the press releases at the bottom by
Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Roman Catholic Church
Southern Baptist Convention
United Methodist Church
All of which basically say, "Mormonism is not christianity-- make sure you are very aware of what christianity is when discussing religion with mormons."
Again, I'm not the member of any of these faiths either. I'm agnostic.. I think.
As a person who follows neither religion but knows some of the doctrinal positions of both, mormonism is *trivially* not a christian religion.
It is christian in the sense that intelligent design is a science. You redefine some terms and keep the words "god" and "jesus" but mormonism has some major breaks with fundamental points of christian dogma and teachings.
It is more akin to islam (not in a bad way-- just saying that islam uses jesus as a character too while not being a christian religion).
Slashdot Mirror
Even when it looks perfect, I know it's fake so I don't feel the creepy vertigo of the person standing on the edge of a skyscraper because the emotional part of my mind knows they are standing on a green screen.
And you are correct- in MOST cases, it just doesn't look real yet. It's darn close- but even when it looks perfect, the subtle physics or lighting don't mesh with the movie.
Just don't say that on the streets in London. :)
So a $200,000 education should result in a $44,000/year boost in income (since you lose roughly 50% to taxes).
A $400,000 education should result in a $88,000/year boost in income.
You also have to figure in the risk that these are government backed loans so it is a lot harder to get free of them if things don't work out. You can't walk away from them as easily as you could walk away from a car loan.
If you were to take $400,000 and invest it, getting 8% return, that would be about $32, 000 a year ($21,000 after taxes assuming you were in the top tax bracket and no social security taxes on this kind of income).
If you were to take $40k and put it into trade school, your income comes out about the same these days and you have more job security since trade skills must be performed locally and can't be outsourced. They are often unionized as well. A successful plumber or electrician can make more money than most programmers.
College degrees are completely insane right now and i think a good part of it is that colleges are no longer using their endowments to help hold down costs. They'll get pasted soon tho- their endowments have gotten big enough to attract government attention.
An engineer should be able to pay off their education in under 10 years after school. If people are paying $200,000 dollars for schooling, you expect a minimum $22,000 a year return on investment. The fixed number will vary by person, but if the cost of schooling is too high, the prestige is too low, and the job security is not there, then people will enter other fields.
No man,
I was a developer, designer, etc. for 26 years. I've been a manager for about a year now and what I'm saying is true. You really think that you work hard but the managers "phone it in"?
I have to think that in their own pointy headed way, many executives must be working hard to do their best too.
Only 8 minutes sooner and you would have been modded funny, bolstering your self confidence, getting you that new job that lead to a fabulous career, a beautiful wife and being selected for the first L5 station in space 20 years from now as someone recognized your screen name and remembered laughing at your post years ago....
Only... 8... minutes..
Instead, Anonymous got it this time. And now anonymous will get all the glory.. again.
True management is hard- in a different way than engineering.
It involves motivation, a good workplace morale. It involves deciding which of three employees will have to work a holiday in a way that people respect even if they are unhappy with the fact that decision has to be made. It involves listening to all the projects being pitched and correctly picking the two that will result in the best success vs. the resources used. It involves correctly scheduling work so your engineers are not allowed to work themselves to death. And it involves getting the paperwork out of the worker's way.
True management is very hard-- just in different ways.
However, engineers are not currently paid correctly because of a temporary (albeit a few decades long) glut. That glut will end. Probably soon too (another 4-8 years).
Then there will be enough engineers.
Business Major types have been scamming engineers and scientists really hard for the last 50 years.
Smart people in general see this and avoid the engineering programs which are bloody hard, have as much as a 2/3 failure rate in the sophomore year, have low status with regard to females/dating, typically have long hours, hare been out-sourced like hell recently (since a smart indian or chinese engineer can do the same work for peanuts)* and don't even pay well even when not outsourced (compared to the effort put in).
*Business majors could also be replaced but they decide who is replaced and somehow never choose to replace themselves.
Jokes are just that.
In Texas, we make all kinds of jokes about "Aggies" implying they are exceptionally stupid.
And then there are blond and dead baby jokes.
Your average french citizen is similar to people from other cultures.
I'm sure the french soldiers on the Magenot [sp] line would have fought very hard to defend france but they got driven around. The folks behind the line were not ready to fight germans with tanks with virtually no warning. To have something like the impact of a blitzkrieg war today, imagine that an enemy country could teleport their entire army inside your country.
However, just like an "aggie" joke or a "blonde" joke or a "dead baby" joke wouldn't make any sense with some other subject, the "french surrender" jokes wouldn't be funny with someone else now. I laughed at the "French military rifles for sale, dropped once" joke myself.
Your point interests me in a way you do not intend.
The only reason we view engines and air conditioning as irreplaceable parts of the car is the historical way we got here.
It would be fairly easy to force car makers to use standard connections and mounts and form factors for air conditioners and alternators instead of allowing the auto companies to customize them so they can be bundled.
I can't see that there is a need for more than a few kinds of alternators or A/C units.
Even for engines, the mountings could be standard even if the guts are custom.
AND if they were standardized, then the costs should drop dramatically. All the standardized parts would be commodotized.
I've worked with chinese and indians.
The chinese stop learning english long before they are good at it.
There are a lot less brilliant indians than their used to be. I assume the brilliant indians are mostly working in higher paying places now. The current crop are smart but average.
It is strongly in their interest to refused to train and/or mistrain their replacements.
If management really things saving money is such a great idea, they should be using some of the many fine indian managers who make about 1/300th what they do.
Or if the managers thing that working in a totalitarian or 3rd world country is so great, they should go work there (as the 25 year old is doing).
How fat people are doesnt' really matter at 3 billion population.
And at 11 billion, it is probably going to be a self correcting problem.
OTH, the majority of fat people tend to be that way because they eat very inexpensive food like chips, noodles, flour stuff.
No, you are using a logical fallacy. In fact, THIS came up on a random search on the first page on google where I only specified "logical fallacies dicho". I did not specify athiesm...
---
Excluded Middle (False Dichotomy, Faulty Dilemma, Bifurcation):
assuming there are only two alternatives when in fact there are more. For example, assuming Atheism is the only alternative to Fundamentalism, or being a traitor is the only alternative to being a loud patriot.
---
I can firmly believe 2+2 = 4 (I'm right), that 2+2=5 (I'm wrong but I believe it) or I can have no opinion since I do not know math.
I can firmly believe there is no god of any kind (unprovable). I can firmly believe there is no christian god (plausible but unprovable). I can firmly believe Thor, God of Thunder does not exist (more plausible but not provable).
Or I can say, "I have no 'supernatural being detection skills' and so I have no opinion".
I disagree. In my experience most people who identify themselves as atheists believe there are no gods.
You are creating a dichotomy when the actual situation is a continuum. And you are behaving like a Wonderland character in saying words mean exactly what you say they do and nothing else.
From webster:
atheist
Pronunciation:
\-th-ist\
Function:
noun
Date:
1551
: one who believes that there is no deity
AND
agnostic
Pronunciation:
\ag-näs-tik, g-\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Greek agnstos unknown, unknowable, from a- + gnstos known, from gignskein to know -- more at know
Date:
1869
1: a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and probably unknowable; broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god.
---
Nothing stops you and others from conflating and abusing the two terms so that in time they will mean what you say. I see this a lot on slashdot tho-- people redefine terms. It makes it very hard to have a reasonable discussion when we are using the same words but holding different meanings. I'll defend the definitions we've been using for awhile myself.
Also... sorry but knowing that a computer animated guy fell off a cliff doesn't cut it compared to knowing a real guy really did fall off the cliff and was at real risk. Or if they really did jump 30' in a car.
So that means, you need to have better writing and the "big stunts" and "money shots" are really just backdrops for the story instead of being the experience. I can see those "big scenes" in a computer game now. No emotional impact.
It's interesting that people would consider killing for songs and movies rather than not download them or forgo purchasing them for 12-15 months until they are reasonably priced.
How would the record industry react if people started freaking out for real?
How would the government react?
I think creating that environment is bad for our children and grandchildren.
However, the creeping oligarchy is bad too.
Aware creatures are killed all the time by unaware things which neither the aware creature nor any other aware creature were aware. They are killed instantly and are not even aware they were killed. Yet they are dead. I'm sure many people died in the chinese earthquake this way.
Athiests believe god does not exist. (negative)
Agnostics do not believe god exists and not not believe god does not exist. (neutral)
Thiests believe god exists. (positive)
Athiests have made a decision which may be incorrect.
Agnostics have not made a decision.
Thiests have made a decision which may be incorrect.
There is a difference. Just as there is a difference between Drive (forward), Neutral, and Reverse (backwards) gears in a car.
In my experience many athiests hold the position in part as an emotional pushback against the constant pressure they get from theists.
Not really.
You have to start with the party and take control at a much earlier stage.
In america by the time the voting for a candidate in either major party takes place, you've already lost to the corporations.
I think your Einstein reference is a bit dated given his handwritten letter for sale right now.
... if god exists, which one?
While he believed some kind of god existed, he felt all existing religions didn't worship that god and were foolish.
Most of the rest of your piece is the usual puffery.
Statistics for example, can't tell us anything.
Why?
Say the odds that God exists are 9,999,999,9999 to 1.
Prove the universe we are in has god.
Can't do it. Probable isn't certain.
And it begs the question of
yada yada yada.
Just leave me alone and you can worship however you please tho.
However,
just to be technical...
If you were going to become a wiccan or hindi, wouldn't the verse apply (there is not a lot of wiggle room there that I see).
Verses like that should be removed or else they really are part of the religion that you must own up to.
Because when times turn bad (and they will in the next 50 years) then the bad old verses get revived as an active part of the faith.
I would say his definition is pretty dead on as a member of neither religion.
Using the old SAT analogies...
Mormonism IS TO Christianty as Intelligent Design IS TO Science.
Mormonism IS TO Christianty as Islam IS TO Christianity.
and since it is slashdot a car analogy
Mormonism IS TO Christianty as F250 IS TO Sportscar.
and of course
Mormonism IS TO Christianty as National Socialism IS TO Facism.
just so I can invoke godwin...
You may also want to follow the links to the press releases at the bottom by
Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Roman Catholic Church
Southern Baptist Convention
United Methodist Church
All of which basically say, "Mormonism is not christianity-- make sure you are very aware of what christianity is when discussing religion with mormons."
Again, I'm not the member of any of these faiths either. I'm agnostic.. I think.
Please see my other post summarizing
http://www.irr.org/mit/is-mormonism-christian.html
As a person who follows neither religion but knows some of the doctrinal positions of both, mormonism is *trivially* not a christian religion.
It is christian in the sense that intelligent design is a science. You redefine some terms and keep the words "god" and "jesus" but mormonism has some major breaks with fundamental points of christian dogma and teachings.
It is more akin to islam (not in a bad way-- just saying that islam uses jesus as a character too while not being a christian religion).