FA+
Shop
Thursday Morning Ramble "Normal"
Posted 15 years agoJust some food for thought today, I'm afraid. Looking at things from the bottom up, instead of the top down, for a change. A little something that will hopefully turn your perception of the normal and everyday a little on its head.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
You are currently sitting directly under a column of air 300 miles tall.
At sea level, the weight of the atmosphere exerts 14.7 pounds per square inch of force.
Right now, your body is under approximately 10 tons of pressure.
Even though you're sitting still to read this, you're moving through space at an astounding speed.
The spin of the Earth on its axis is roughly 1,041 miles per hour.
The orbit of the Earth around the sun is approximately 69,360 miles per hour.
The sun, and therefore the solar system, is moving across the galactic plane at a speed of 43,200 miles per hour.
The solar system is moving vertically in relation to the galactic plane at a rate of 15,624 miles per hour.
The solar system is orbiting the galactic center at a speed of 446,400 miles per hour.
The Milky Way galaxy moves through space at a speed of 1,339,200 miles per hour.
Right now, you are hurtling through space at a rate of 1,913,785 miles per hour.
That's roughly 531 miles per second.
This is "normal."
Douglas Adams said it best:
“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”
Consider for a moment the choices you have made in your life. Consider for a moment the millions of choices made by people every day that only impact your life in the seemingly smallest, insignificant, and disconnected ways. Consider that so-called "random" events and choices going back for hundreds, thousands, millions of years have had a direct impact on your life today. Cause and effect, the question "why?", following the dominoes. A "random" series of events since the beginning of time has impacted your life. Given the size of the universe, the odds of people existing are quite good. However, the odds against you existing, you, as an individual, exactly as you are now, are incalculably astronomically high. You are a statistical anomaly. Nigh on an impossibility. If one were so inclined, you could probably call it a scientific miracle.
EDIT: It has been brought to my attention that in my sleepless daze I made the (obvious) mistake of not considering the vectors involved in my calculation of the rate of movement of a stationary human being, and that if the vectors overlap it would be inaccurate. However, if my understanding of the difference between the two is correct, while it may not be an accurate velocity, I believe it is still an accurate speed. In any case, the individual figures are accurate, and I believe my point is still proven.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
You are currently sitting directly under a column of air 300 miles tall.
At sea level, the weight of the atmosphere exerts 14.7 pounds per square inch of force.
Right now, your body is under approximately 10 tons of pressure.
Even though you're sitting still to read this, you're moving through space at an astounding speed.
The spin of the Earth on its axis is roughly 1,041 miles per hour.
The orbit of the Earth around the sun is approximately 69,360 miles per hour.
The sun, and therefore the solar system, is moving across the galactic plane at a speed of 43,200 miles per hour.
The solar system is moving vertically in relation to the galactic plane at a rate of 15,624 miles per hour.
The solar system is orbiting the galactic center at a speed of 446,400 miles per hour.
The Milky Way galaxy moves through space at a speed of 1,339,200 miles per hour.
Right now, you are hurtling through space at a rate of 1,913,785 miles per hour.
That's roughly 531 miles per second.
This is "normal."
Douglas Adams said it best:
“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”
Consider for a moment the choices you have made in your life. Consider for a moment the millions of choices made by people every day that only impact your life in the seemingly smallest, insignificant, and disconnected ways. Consider that so-called "random" events and choices going back for hundreds, thousands, millions of years have had a direct impact on your life today. Cause and effect, the question "why?", following the dominoes. A "random" series of events since the beginning of time has impacted your life. Given the size of the universe, the odds of people existing are quite good. However, the odds against you existing, you, as an individual, exactly as you are now, are incalculably astronomically high. You are a statistical anomaly. Nigh on an impossibility. If one were so inclined, you could probably call it a scientific miracle.
EDIT: It has been brought to my attention that in my sleepless daze I made the (obvious) mistake of not considering the vectors involved in my calculation of the rate of movement of a stationary human being, and that if the vectors overlap it would be inaccurate. However, if my understanding of the difference between the two is correct, while it may not be an accurate velocity, I believe it is still an accurate speed. In any case, the individual figures are accurate, and I believe my point is still proven.
Predisposed
Posted 15 years agoPredisposed - Already thrown away. Example: Every recycled product you buy is predisposed, because is was trash before you bought it.
In other news:
OH HAI GAIZ. I went to the Moon there, for a few days. But I'm back now. I swear. I think. I've gotten so damn lazy about everything. (It's gotta be the lower gravity...) A pile of unfinished poems, three unfinished stories, one half-started story, and now I, apparently, lack the requisite kinetic energy to go through on-line messages. (Oh dear God...I've achieved a state of entropy! It's the end of the universe!) I have also, for some reason, chosen to get on here and do this while I'm PASSING OUT TIRED. Wheeeee...*passes out and snores*
Now, if you'll excuse me... (Sleep-talking, apparently...)
A seminar on Time Travel will be held two weeks ago.
I come to the realization that I probably shouldn't be doing anything until I've slept a good 10 or 12 hours, and that it's too late for that now.
In other news:
OH HAI GAIZ. I went to the Moon there, for a few days. But I'm back now. I swear. I think. I've gotten so damn lazy about everything. (It's gotta be the lower gravity...) A pile of unfinished poems, three unfinished stories, one half-started story, and now I, apparently, lack the requisite kinetic energy to go through on-line messages. (Oh dear God...I've achieved a state of entropy! It's the end of the universe!) I have also, for some reason, chosen to get on here and do this while I'm PASSING OUT TIRED. Wheeeee...*passes out and snores*
Now, if you'll excuse me... (Sleep-talking, apparently...)
A seminar on Time Travel will be held two weeks ago.
I come to the realization that I probably shouldn't be doing anything until I've slept a good 10 or 12 hours, and that it's too late for that now.
Thursday Morning Ramble "Religion"
Posted 15 years agoI'm going to apologize in advance for the nature of this ramble. It's going to be very quote heavy. A regular quote fest...fiesta...extravaganza...pile...Pile. It's a quote pile. A really really huge quote pile. Because, well, that's what my mind is doing right now, mulling over the words of others. Also because I had much much more to say, and having had to rush out the door before finishing this, I have since forgotten most of it...Eheheh...
At first this was purely going to be a continuation of last week's ramble. An attempt to force the reconstruction process. Then I decided it was going to be scientific instead, before I ran into an article that made me decide to write about politics, before running into one last article that settled me on religion. Not God, really, just religion itself. Hopefully you'll bear with me here, because I know I have a tendency to offend when I talk about religion. Some of that is intentional, most of it isn't.
The article contained the results of a study about American's and their belief in God. The relevant data:
82 percent of participants reported that they depend on God for help and guidance in making decisions.
71 percent said they believe that when good or bad things happen, these occurrences are simply part of God's plan for them.
61 percent indicated they believe God has determined the direction and course of their lives.
32 percent agreed with the statement: "There is no sense in planning a lot because ultimately my fate is in God's hands."
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience.....stamericanssay)
I have to be perfectly honest here. I find that to be utterly terrifying. It's not that so many people believe in God. We could sit here arguing all day if there is or isn't, and it won't do us any good. I mean, I can't even decide, so who am I to judge? It's the second, and especially the last number there that frightens me. “There is no sense in planning a lot because ultimately my fate is in God's hands.” Really? This is exactly the same problem I have with unrealistically optimistic people. It's just unreasonable. Untenable. Out of touch with reality. Not every bad thing in your life is a blessing in disguise. God is not going to pay your bills. God is not going to keep you alive. If I were to believe that the Christian God existed, I doubt very much that it's his job to carry you through the bad times. Doesn't it say somewhere in the Bible that God helps those who help themselves? Or to quote *shudders* Dr. Phil (Sorry, but I really like the quote.) “Pray to God, yeah, but swim for the shore.”
This represents, essentially, the biggest problem that I have with religion, in microcosm. I'm perfectly fine with religion, up to a point. That is the point at which one begins to sacrifice reason in the name of religion. Believe in God, by all means, believe in Christ if you're so inclined, but I'm sorry, the Earth is not six thousand years old, and yes your uncle was so a chimp.
I just don't understand it. I really don't. I can understand why someone would have faith that God exists. And as I've stated before, human consciousness is so limited that there are things about existence that we just can't know. Things that we simply aren't physically capable of understanding and perceiving. However, I don't understand faith when it comes at the expense of science and reason. I find the kind of faith that can cause someone to exempt themselves from responsibility, the kind of faith that excuses people from thought and the pursuit of knowledge and truth, the kind of faith that can cause a man to kill in the name of God, to be terrifying.
This is where my bit ends and the absolutely massive pile of quotes begins. These quotes are where my mind has been in the past few days, still struggling to redefine my concept of God. Considering that I doubt any of you really have the time or inclination to read such a long list, I put the ones that I felt were the most significant in bold. Should make skimming it a tad bit easier.
-=-=-=-=-=-
"It has become almost a cliché to remark that nobody boasts of ignorance of literature, but it is socially acceptable to boast ignorance of science." - Richard Dawkins
"The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of discouraging rational inquiry." - Richard Dawkins
"We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realize that we are apes." - Richard Dawkins
"Most people, I believe, think that you need a God to explain the existence of the world, and especially the existence of life. They are wrong, but our education system is such that many people don't know it." - Richard Dawkins
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Richard Dawkins
"There are all sorts of things that would be comforting. I expect an injection of morphine would be comforting... But to say that something is comforting is not to say that it's true." - Richard Dawkins
"What are all of us but self-reproducing robots? We have been put together by our genes and what we do is roam the world looking for a way to sustain ourselves and ultimately produce another robot child." - Richard Dawkins
"I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world." - Richard Dawkins
"Most people can't bear to sit in church for an hour on Sundays. How are they supposed to live somewhere very similar to it for eternity?" - Mark Twain
"Man is a Religious Animal. Man is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion -- several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven.... The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste." - Mark Twain
"The so-called Christian nations are the most enlightened and progressive...but in spite of their religion, not because of it. The Church has opposed every innovation and discovery from the day of Galileo down to our own time, when the use of anesthetic in childbirth was regarded as a sin because it avoided the biblical curse pronounced against Eve. And every step in astronomy and geology ever taken has been opposed by bigotry and superstition. The Greeks surpassed us in artistic culture and in architecture five hundred years before Christian religion was born." - Mark Twain
"During many ages there were witches. The Bible said so. The Bible commanded that they should not be allowed to live. Therefore the Church, after doing its duty in but a lazy and indolent way for 800 years, gathered up its halters, thumbscrews, and firebrands, and set about its holy work in earnest. She worked hard at it night and day during nine centuries and imprisoned, tortured, hanged, and burned whole hordes and armies of witches, and washed the Christian world clean with their foul blood. Then it was discovered that there was no such thing as witches, and never had been. One does not know whether to laugh or to cry." - Mark Twain
"The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also" - Mark Twain
"I do not fear death, in view of the fact that I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it." - Mark Twain
"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." - Albert Einstein
"So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence." - Bertrand Russell
"I am patient with stupidity, but not with those who are proud of it.." - Edith Sitwell
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration--courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and, above all, love of the truth." - H.L. Mencken
"To explain the unknown by the known is a logical procedure; to explain the known by the unknown is a form of theological lunacy." - David Brooks
"The sermon was based on what he claimed was a well-known fact, that there were no Atheists in foxholes. I asked Jack what he thought of the sermon afterwards, and he said, "There's a Chaplain who never visited the front."" - Kurt Vonnegut
"It is the inevitable effect of religion on public policy that makes it a matter of public concern. Advocates of religiosity extol the virtues or moral habits that religion is supposed to instill in us. But we should be equally concerned with the intellectual habits it discourages." - Wendy Kaminer
“At its most elemental level the human organism, like crawling life, has a mouth, digestive tract, and anus, a skin to keep it intact, and appendages with which to acquire food. Existence, for all organismic life, is a constant struggle to feed -- a struggle to incorporate whatever other organisms they can fit into their mouths and press down their gullets without choking. Seen in these stark terms, life on this planet is a gory spectacle, a science-fiction nightmare in which digestive tracts fitted with teeth at one end are tearing away at whatever flesh they can reach, and at the other end are piling up the fuming waste excrement as they move along in search of more flesh.
Life cannot go on without the mutual devouring of organisms. If at the end of each person’s life he were to be presented with the living spectacle of all the he had organismically incorporated in order to stay alive, he might well feel horrified by the living energy he had ingested. The horizon of a gourmet, or even the average person, would be taken up with hundreds of chickens, flocks of lambs and sheep, a small herd of steers, sties full of pigs, and rivers of fish. The din alone would be deafening. To paraphrase Elias Canetti, each organism raises its head over a field of corpses, smiles into the sun, and declares life good.” - Ernest Becker
"I thought scientists were going to find out exactly how everything worked, and then make it work better. I fully expected that by the time I was twenty-one, some scientist, maybe my brother, would have taken a color photograph of God Almighty—and sold it to Popular Mechanics magazine. Scientific truth was going to make us so happy and comfortable. What actually happened when I was twenty-one was that we dropped scientific truth on Hiroshima." - Kurt Vonnegut
“If you try and take a cat apart to see how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a non-working cat. Life is a level of complexity that almost lies outside our vision; it is so far beyond anything we have any means of understanding that we just think of it as a different class of object, a different class of matter; 'life', something that had a mysterious essence about it, was God given, and that's the only explanation we had. The bombshell comes in 1859 when Darwin publishes 'On the Origin of Species'. It takes a long time before we really get to grips with this and begin to understand it, because not only does it seem incredible and thoroughly demeaning to us, but it's yet another shock to our system to discover that not only are we not the centre of the Universe and we're not made by anything, but we started out as some kind of slime and got to where we are via being a monkey. It just doesn't read well.” - Douglas Adams
“Imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in, an interesting hole I find myself in, fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it's still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for.'” - Douglas Adams
“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.” - Douglas Adams
“She who knows that she does not know is the best off. He who pretends to know but doesn't is ill. Only someone who realizes he is ill can become whole.” - Unknown source. I believe it's from Taoism. It's more than a little out of line with the others. Don't care. It's true.
"The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion." - Arthur C. Clarke
-=-=-=-=-=-
Now, if you'll excuse me, I did not want to be up that early this morning, so I'm going to go find something to do that requires even less brain activity than piling quotes on you. XD
At first this was purely going to be a continuation of last week's ramble. An attempt to force the reconstruction process. Then I decided it was going to be scientific instead, before I ran into an article that made me decide to write about politics, before running into one last article that settled me on religion. Not God, really, just religion itself. Hopefully you'll bear with me here, because I know I have a tendency to offend when I talk about religion. Some of that is intentional, most of it isn't.
The article contained the results of a study about American's and their belief in God. The relevant data:
82 percent of participants reported that they depend on God for help and guidance in making decisions.
71 percent said they believe that when good or bad things happen, these occurrences are simply part of God's plan for them.
61 percent indicated they believe God has determined the direction and course of their lives.
32 percent agreed with the statement: "There is no sense in planning a lot because ultimately my fate is in God's hands."
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience.....stamericanssay)
I have to be perfectly honest here. I find that to be utterly terrifying. It's not that so many people believe in God. We could sit here arguing all day if there is or isn't, and it won't do us any good. I mean, I can't even decide, so who am I to judge? It's the second, and especially the last number there that frightens me. “There is no sense in planning a lot because ultimately my fate is in God's hands.” Really? This is exactly the same problem I have with unrealistically optimistic people. It's just unreasonable. Untenable. Out of touch with reality. Not every bad thing in your life is a blessing in disguise. God is not going to pay your bills. God is not going to keep you alive. If I were to believe that the Christian God existed, I doubt very much that it's his job to carry you through the bad times. Doesn't it say somewhere in the Bible that God helps those who help themselves? Or to quote *shudders* Dr. Phil (Sorry, but I really like the quote.) “Pray to God, yeah, but swim for the shore.”
This represents, essentially, the biggest problem that I have with religion, in microcosm. I'm perfectly fine with religion, up to a point. That is the point at which one begins to sacrifice reason in the name of religion. Believe in God, by all means, believe in Christ if you're so inclined, but I'm sorry, the Earth is not six thousand years old, and yes your uncle was so a chimp.
I just don't understand it. I really don't. I can understand why someone would have faith that God exists. And as I've stated before, human consciousness is so limited that there are things about existence that we just can't know. Things that we simply aren't physically capable of understanding and perceiving. However, I don't understand faith when it comes at the expense of science and reason. I find the kind of faith that can cause someone to exempt themselves from responsibility, the kind of faith that excuses people from thought and the pursuit of knowledge and truth, the kind of faith that can cause a man to kill in the name of God, to be terrifying.
This is where my bit ends and the absolutely massive pile of quotes begins. These quotes are where my mind has been in the past few days, still struggling to redefine my concept of God. Considering that I doubt any of you really have the time or inclination to read such a long list, I put the ones that I felt were the most significant in bold. Should make skimming it a tad bit easier.
-=-=-=-=-=-
"It has become almost a cliché to remark that nobody boasts of ignorance of literature, but it is socially acceptable to boast ignorance of science." - Richard Dawkins
"The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of discouraging rational inquiry." - Richard Dawkins
"We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realize that we are apes." - Richard Dawkins
"Most people, I believe, think that you need a God to explain the existence of the world, and especially the existence of life. They are wrong, but our education system is such that many people don't know it." - Richard Dawkins
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Richard Dawkins
"There are all sorts of things that would be comforting. I expect an injection of morphine would be comforting... But to say that something is comforting is not to say that it's true." - Richard Dawkins
"What are all of us but self-reproducing robots? We have been put together by our genes and what we do is roam the world looking for a way to sustain ourselves and ultimately produce another robot child." - Richard Dawkins
"I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world." - Richard Dawkins
"Most people can't bear to sit in church for an hour on Sundays. How are they supposed to live somewhere very similar to it for eternity?" - Mark Twain
"Man is a Religious Animal. Man is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion -- several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven.... The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste." - Mark Twain
"The so-called Christian nations are the most enlightened and progressive...but in spite of their religion, not because of it. The Church has opposed every innovation and discovery from the day of Galileo down to our own time, when the use of anesthetic in childbirth was regarded as a sin because it avoided the biblical curse pronounced against Eve. And every step in astronomy and geology ever taken has been opposed by bigotry and superstition. The Greeks surpassed us in artistic culture and in architecture five hundred years before Christian religion was born." - Mark Twain
"During many ages there were witches. The Bible said so. The Bible commanded that they should not be allowed to live. Therefore the Church, after doing its duty in but a lazy and indolent way for 800 years, gathered up its halters, thumbscrews, and firebrands, and set about its holy work in earnest. She worked hard at it night and day during nine centuries and imprisoned, tortured, hanged, and burned whole hordes and armies of witches, and washed the Christian world clean with their foul blood. Then it was discovered that there was no such thing as witches, and never had been. One does not know whether to laugh or to cry." - Mark Twain
"The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also" - Mark Twain
"I do not fear death, in view of the fact that I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it." - Mark Twain
"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." - Albert Einstein
"So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence." - Bertrand Russell
"I am patient with stupidity, but not with those who are proud of it.." - Edith Sitwell
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration--courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and, above all, love of the truth." - H.L. Mencken
"To explain the unknown by the known is a logical procedure; to explain the known by the unknown is a form of theological lunacy." - David Brooks
"The sermon was based on what he claimed was a well-known fact, that there were no Atheists in foxholes. I asked Jack what he thought of the sermon afterwards, and he said, "There's a Chaplain who never visited the front."" - Kurt Vonnegut
"It is the inevitable effect of religion on public policy that makes it a matter of public concern. Advocates of religiosity extol the virtues or moral habits that religion is supposed to instill in us. But we should be equally concerned with the intellectual habits it discourages." - Wendy Kaminer
“At its most elemental level the human organism, like crawling life, has a mouth, digestive tract, and anus, a skin to keep it intact, and appendages with which to acquire food. Existence, for all organismic life, is a constant struggle to feed -- a struggle to incorporate whatever other organisms they can fit into their mouths and press down their gullets without choking. Seen in these stark terms, life on this planet is a gory spectacle, a science-fiction nightmare in which digestive tracts fitted with teeth at one end are tearing away at whatever flesh they can reach, and at the other end are piling up the fuming waste excrement as they move along in search of more flesh.
Life cannot go on without the mutual devouring of organisms. If at the end of each person’s life he were to be presented with the living spectacle of all the he had organismically incorporated in order to stay alive, he might well feel horrified by the living energy he had ingested. The horizon of a gourmet, or even the average person, would be taken up with hundreds of chickens, flocks of lambs and sheep, a small herd of steers, sties full of pigs, and rivers of fish. The din alone would be deafening. To paraphrase Elias Canetti, each organism raises its head over a field of corpses, smiles into the sun, and declares life good.” - Ernest Becker
"I thought scientists were going to find out exactly how everything worked, and then make it work better. I fully expected that by the time I was twenty-one, some scientist, maybe my brother, would have taken a color photograph of God Almighty—and sold it to Popular Mechanics magazine. Scientific truth was going to make us so happy and comfortable. What actually happened when I was twenty-one was that we dropped scientific truth on Hiroshima." - Kurt Vonnegut
“If you try and take a cat apart to see how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a non-working cat. Life is a level of complexity that almost lies outside our vision; it is so far beyond anything we have any means of understanding that we just think of it as a different class of object, a different class of matter; 'life', something that had a mysterious essence about it, was God given, and that's the only explanation we had. The bombshell comes in 1859 when Darwin publishes 'On the Origin of Species'. It takes a long time before we really get to grips with this and begin to understand it, because not only does it seem incredible and thoroughly demeaning to us, but it's yet another shock to our system to discover that not only are we not the centre of the Universe and we're not made by anything, but we started out as some kind of slime and got to where we are via being a monkey. It just doesn't read well.” - Douglas Adams
“Imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in, an interesting hole I find myself in, fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it's still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for.'” - Douglas Adams
“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.” - Douglas Adams
“She who knows that she does not know is the best off. He who pretends to know but doesn't is ill. Only someone who realizes he is ill can become whole.” - Unknown source. I believe it's from Taoism. It's more than a little out of line with the others. Don't care. It's true.
"The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion." - Arthur C. Clarke
-=-=-=-=-=-
Now, if you'll excuse me, I did not want to be up that early this morning, so I'm going to go find something to do that requires even less brain activity than piling quotes on you. XD
Late Ramble
Posted 15 years agoThere is a ramble for today, but it's half done and I don't have time to finish it before I have to be out the door. So, yeah, there is a ramble, it's just going to be late.
Thursday Morning Ramble "Personal Religion"
Posted 15 years agoI've been asked quite a few times now, whether it's come up in memes, or I've been asked individually, whether or not I believe in God. I've never really given a satisfying answer, have I? I said things ranging from "sort of" to "not really" but I've never really said yes or no. I've thought about my position on the issue, many times, but I've never really come to any sort of solid conclusion. Seeing as one of the original purposes of this weekly ramble, for me personally, was to finally articulate and put into words some of my thoughts that have never before enjoyed that kind of definition, I figured that it was about time I gave form and structure to where I stand about God.
I've stood in several places over the years.
I wasn't raised religiously, though my father is a Christian, and I've certainly gotten my fair dose of it.
I spent several months as a Pagan.
I spent maybe a week, tops, as a Satanist.
I've been a Theist.
I've been a Deist.
I've been an Atheist.
I seem to suffer from chronic indecision.
I suppose that makes me an Agnostic.
God is such a vague word, maybe I'm Ignostic instead.
Let's start with what we know. Except that's the problem, isn't it? We don't actually know anything. The only thing that we do know is that we don't know. Atheists say that science proves God does not exist, but this is wrong. Science tells us that the Universe does not require God to exist, but that is all. However, that inability to prove a negative is not proof that God does exist.
In fact, there is a logical fallacy called "Argumentum Ad Ignorantiam," appeal to ignorance. This argument is most often seen as "It's unexplained, so it must not be true," or "You have no proof, therefore the other theory must be true." The conflict between the religious and the atheists is riddled with this fallacy. "You can't prove that God exists, therefore God does not." and "You can't prove God doesn't exist, therefore God must." Neither of these are logical arguments. Even Atheism requires faith and conviction. In truth, the only purely logical position we have is that we don't know.
We don't know.
However, knowledge and belief are not the same thing, and knowledge does not preclude belief, not in this case.
We do not know whether or not God exists, but do I believe in God? I run into another a problem. I don't fully understand the question. What do you mean when you use the word God? There are so many different definitions of God. What is it? The Architect? The Exterior Decorator? The First Cause? Is God an anthropomorphic intelligent entity who knows, cares, and acts in our daily lives? Is God a philosophical concept tied to the origin of all things? Is God an intelligence? Is God an entity? Does God take action, or is God passive? Is God omnipresent? Does God have thoughts, or cares? If I said that I believe in God it could mean two different things to two different people with two different conceptions of God.
The only question I can accurately answer is whether or not I believe in my concept of God, and I've run into one final and fatal flaw. What is my concept of God? I thought I had one. It was vague, at best, but I thought the word meant at least something to me. And I realize now, having gone through all of this thought, all this deconstruction, slowly and carefully trying to solidify and articulate as much as I could, that it doesn't. I don't even have a concept of God. I honestly don't know whether or not I believe in God, because I don't honestly know what God is.
I don't know.
I've stood in several places over the years.
I wasn't raised religiously, though my father is a Christian, and I've certainly gotten my fair dose of it.
I spent several months as a Pagan.
I spent maybe a week, tops, as a Satanist.
I've been a Theist.
I've been a Deist.
I've been an Atheist.
I seem to suffer from chronic indecision.
I suppose that makes me an Agnostic.
God is such a vague word, maybe I'm Ignostic instead.
Let's start with what we know. Except that's the problem, isn't it? We don't actually know anything. The only thing that we do know is that we don't know. Atheists say that science proves God does not exist, but this is wrong. Science tells us that the Universe does not require God to exist, but that is all. However, that inability to prove a negative is not proof that God does exist.
In fact, there is a logical fallacy called "Argumentum Ad Ignorantiam," appeal to ignorance. This argument is most often seen as "It's unexplained, so it must not be true," or "You have no proof, therefore the other theory must be true." The conflict between the religious and the atheists is riddled with this fallacy. "You can't prove that God exists, therefore God does not." and "You can't prove God doesn't exist, therefore God must." Neither of these are logical arguments. Even Atheism requires faith and conviction. In truth, the only purely logical position we have is that we don't know.
We don't know.
However, knowledge and belief are not the same thing, and knowledge does not preclude belief, not in this case.
We do not know whether or not God exists, but do I believe in God? I run into another a problem. I don't fully understand the question. What do you mean when you use the word God? There are so many different definitions of God. What is it? The Architect? The Exterior Decorator? The First Cause? Is God an anthropomorphic intelligent entity who knows, cares, and acts in our daily lives? Is God a philosophical concept tied to the origin of all things? Is God an intelligence? Is God an entity? Does God take action, or is God passive? Is God omnipresent? Does God have thoughts, or cares? If I said that I believe in God it could mean two different things to two different people with two different conceptions of God.
The only question I can accurately answer is whether or not I believe in my concept of God, and I've run into one final and fatal flaw. What is my concept of God? I thought I had one. It was vague, at best, but I thought the word meant at least something to me. And I realize now, having gone through all of this thought, all this deconstruction, slowly and carefully trying to solidify and articulate as much as I could, that it doesn't. I don't even have a concept of God. I honestly don't know whether or not I believe in God, because I don't honestly know what God is.
I don't know.
Escapism, thy name is Hulu...
Posted 15 years ago...And thou hast captured mine soul!
I had to go and make an account and a queue, didn't I? Christ, it's like dropping a drug addict in a pharmacy. I'm doomed. XD I used to not trust Hulu, and now I'm doomed. Dooooooooooomed. Doomed. That's actually kinda a funny word, isn't it? Doomed.
Also, I had a totally totally awesome joke to tell you guys, and I so totally forgot what it was! Derp.
I just realized, this is my hundredth journal post. Well, that's anticlimactic. I should probably clear out a bunch of the old useless journals, shouldn't I? Which, of course, means it's never going to happen.
I should probably stop sitting here and rambling just for the sake of talking to what appears to be digitized air, and actually catch up on a few of those journals and submissions that I've only been half paying attention to, shouldn't I?
Oh, one last thing. Doomdedoom. Doomdoomdoom. Doom.
I had to go and make an account and a queue, didn't I? Christ, it's like dropping a drug addict in a pharmacy. I'm doomed. XD I used to not trust Hulu, and now I'm doomed. Dooooooooooomed. Doomed. That's actually kinda a funny word, isn't it? Doomed.
Also, I had a totally totally awesome joke to tell you guys, and I so totally forgot what it was! Derp.
I just realized, this is my hundredth journal post. Well, that's anticlimactic. I should probably clear out a bunch of the old useless journals, shouldn't I? Which, of course, means it's never going to happen.
I should probably stop sitting here and rambling just for the sake of talking to what appears to be digitized air, and actually catch up on a few of those journals and submissions that I've only been half paying attention to, shouldn't I?
Oh, one last thing. Doomdedoom. Doomdoomdoom. Doom.
Molecular Bondage
Posted 15 years agoMolecular bondage - Porn for physicists. Oh dear, you're a naughty little atom, aren't you?
Physicyst - A cyst caused by too much science.
Arachnoid cyst - A cyst between the surface of the brain and the cranial base. Caused by spiders.
Physicyst - A cyst caused by too much science.
Arachnoid cyst - A cyst between the surface of the brain and the cranial base. Caused by spiders.
Thursday Morning Ramble "Desperate Measures"
Posted 15 years agoAs I said before, this is about as thrown together and single-buttocked as rambles come. Anyway, here ya go.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Joseph Stack. That's right, Joseph Stack. I'm talking about the man who flew his plane into an IRS building just last week. Why? Because I think he's been unfairly demonized. We've already dismissed him as insane, and I believe this is wrong. He left us an essay that's been misquoted time and time again on the news, but how many of us have actually taken the time to find out what it really said? How many of us have read it? I did. You might be surprised to learn that this man was not insane. He was frustrated, yes, angry, yes, and felt like he was out of options, desperate, but not insane. I think quite a few people might be surprised if they read what he had to say. You might actually agree with some of what he has to say. You might not. But it's worth knowing what he was really thinking. Allow me to do some quoting of my own:
"Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in."
I suggest reading the whole thing for yourselves.
You can find it here:
http://www.t35.com/embeddedart.txt
Or here:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archiv.....1.html#theLink
This isn't so much about one man, to me, as it is a phenomenon. I've noticed it before, every time something at all like this happens. There's a routine, to "distract and demonize." The news media has a duty, it seems, to marginalize people as quickly and effectively as possible, and to distract from the real reasons behind the event. We've done it to this man, we've done it to every shooter, we've done it to every bomber. I'm not saying you have to condone or agree with anything these people do or think, not at all, but I think we should put forth the effort to at least understand it, rather than sweeping it under the rug.
Distract and demonize. The process starts simply enough. It's the same every time. There are a few key words, and it starts off gently. "He was unbalanced. He was troubled." Most likely true, and reasonable to say. Then they ramp it up just a little. "He was ill. He needed help." Conjecture, perhaps, but still within reason. Then they get more intense. "He was clearly unhealthy. Mentally ill. Deeply disturbed. Insane." Now they've done it. They've excused us from rational thought as to motivation. "They were clearly insane! Otherwise they wouldn't have done it! There must not be a rational motive." Then begins the transition into distraction. They make a point of telling us what music they listened to, what movies they watched, what games they played, whether or not they were part of a religion we don't even understand. We begin to take sides. Was it gun control or was it violent media? And we've stopped thinking. Our minds have been successfully shifted from the human being and their motivation onto topical issues.
We've done this en masse to "terrorists" and suicide bombers. Which is especially foolish, because on that front we're fighting an idea, an idea that we refuse to understand. These people aren't insane. These people are angry. They're frustrated. They see a moral vacuum, vulgar behavior, and obscene people, and they don't know what to do. They feel like they're out of options. They're desperate, and they're doing the only thing they think they can do to try and erode the problem.
This isn't about whether or not we think something is right or wrong. I'm only asking that we be properly informed before we decide.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Joseph Stack. That's right, Joseph Stack. I'm talking about the man who flew his plane into an IRS building just last week. Why? Because I think he's been unfairly demonized. We've already dismissed him as insane, and I believe this is wrong. He left us an essay that's been misquoted time and time again on the news, but how many of us have actually taken the time to find out what it really said? How many of us have read it? I did. You might be surprised to learn that this man was not insane. He was frustrated, yes, angry, yes, and felt like he was out of options, desperate, but not insane. I think quite a few people might be surprised if they read what he had to say. You might actually agree with some of what he has to say. You might not. But it's worth knowing what he was really thinking. Allow me to do some quoting of my own:
"Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in."
I suggest reading the whole thing for yourselves.
You can find it here:
http://www.t35.com/embeddedart.txt
Or here:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archiv.....1.html#theLink
This isn't so much about one man, to me, as it is a phenomenon. I've noticed it before, every time something at all like this happens. There's a routine, to "distract and demonize." The news media has a duty, it seems, to marginalize people as quickly and effectively as possible, and to distract from the real reasons behind the event. We've done it to this man, we've done it to every shooter, we've done it to every bomber. I'm not saying you have to condone or agree with anything these people do or think, not at all, but I think we should put forth the effort to at least understand it, rather than sweeping it under the rug.
Distract and demonize. The process starts simply enough. It's the same every time. There are a few key words, and it starts off gently. "He was unbalanced. He was troubled." Most likely true, and reasonable to say. Then they ramp it up just a little. "He was ill. He needed help." Conjecture, perhaps, but still within reason. Then they get more intense. "He was clearly unhealthy. Mentally ill. Deeply disturbed. Insane." Now they've done it. They've excused us from rational thought as to motivation. "They were clearly insane! Otherwise they wouldn't have done it! There must not be a rational motive." Then begins the transition into distraction. They make a point of telling us what music they listened to, what movies they watched, what games they played, whether or not they were part of a religion we don't even understand. We begin to take sides. Was it gun control or was it violent media? And we've stopped thinking. Our minds have been successfully shifted from the human being and their motivation onto topical issues.
We've done this en masse to "terrorists" and suicide bombers. Which is especially foolish, because on that front we're fighting an idea, an idea that we refuse to understand. These people aren't insane. These people are angry. They're frustrated. They see a moral vacuum, vulgar behavior, and obscene people, and they don't know what to do. They feel like they're out of options. They're desperate, and they're doing the only thing they think they can do to try and erode the problem.
This isn't about whether or not we think something is right or wrong. I'm only asking that we be properly informed before we decide.
"He's not quite dead!"
Posted 15 years ago"He's getting better!"
Yep...
Indeed...
Still not in a totally "normal" mindset, but I feel a whole hell of a lot better than I did during my little explosion and absence. The desire to be back on the net began to outweigh the desire to withdraw and so I return. In other words, I miss you people! I apologize for subjecting everyone to that rant, however I do still stand by what I said. You got a free look at one of the unpleasant parts of my mind. I should've charged admittance! XD There, I cracked a bad joke, that's a good sign, haha.
I expected to have a couple poems or something done by the time I felt like returning, but alas, such is not the case. Then again, the fact that I've managed to distract myself and indulge in escapism is probably the main reason I feel better, and escapism is never particularly productive. Ah well, naught that can be done about it now.
Lots of things in my inbox. As usual. The joys of catching up, haha.
Went three hours without power yesterday. Joyous. All my complaining that it's so wrong that it isn't snowing up here and now we're getting two storms in a row. XD Here's hoping the second one misses. That's enough snow for one season, thank you.
About the Thursday Morning Ramble: I really have run out of ideas and motivation to keep it going, however I'm not quite ready to give up on it yet. It might be in its death throes but I'll be damned if I'm not going to milk those throes for all they're worth! Who knows? It might recover. Or it might just get sporadic. Or short. Only time will tell.
Give me a little while here and I'll try to throw something together for today's ramble, even though it's already the afternoon here. It might be short and half-assed (poor thing, with only one buttock), but I'll see what I can do.
So there you have it. Everyone's favorite friendly neighborhood misanthrope is back from the grave! Put down the chainsaw...I said put down the chainsaw...and the shotgun...I didn't mean a literal grave...I'm not a zom- STOP SHOOTING AT ME, DAMMIT! >.<
Yep...
Indeed...
Still not in a totally "normal" mindset, but I feel a whole hell of a lot better than I did during my little explosion and absence. The desire to be back on the net began to outweigh the desire to withdraw and so I return. In other words, I miss you people! I apologize for subjecting everyone to that rant, however I do still stand by what I said. You got a free look at one of the unpleasant parts of my mind. I should've charged admittance! XD There, I cracked a bad joke, that's a good sign, haha.
I expected to have a couple poems or something done by the time I felt like returning, but alas, such is not the case. Then again, the fact that I've managed to distract myself and indulge in escapism is probably the main reason I feel better, and escapism is never particularly productive. Ah well, naught that can be done about it now.
Lots of things in my inbox. As usual. The joys of catching up, haha.
Went three hours without power yesterday. Joyous. All my complaining that it's so wrong that it isn't snowing up here and now we're getting two storms in a row. XD Here's hoping the second one misses. That's enough snow for one season, thank you.
About the Thursday Morning Ramble: I really have run out of ideas and motivation to keep it going, however I'm not quite ready to give up on it yet. It might be in its death throes but I'll be damned if I'm not going to milk those throes for all they're worth! Who knows? It might recover. Or it might just get sporadic. Or short. Only time will tell.
Give me a little while here and I'll try to throw something together for today's ramble, even though it's already the afternoon here. It might be short and half-assed (poor thing, with only one buttock), but I'll see what I can do.
So there you have it. Everyone's favorite friendly neighborhood misanthrope is back from the grave! Put down the chainsaw...I said put down the chainsaw...and the shotgun...I didn't mean a literal grave...I'm not a zom- STOP SHOOTING AT ME, DAMMIT! >.<
Rant with a side of emo.
Posted 15 years agoWarning: This journal is exactly what the title says it is. This is venting. This is rage and this is emo. If you don't want to read it then don't. By reading beyond this point you waive the right to make snide remarks. You have been warned.
I'm tired of this rock. I'm tired of this speck of fucking dirt whirling through space. I am sick of the shit-for-brains species that inhabits it. I'm sick of the constant stream of idiocy so thick I want to bash my head into a wall. I am sick and fucking tired of waking up each day to hear about how many more people have been blown to hell by some bomb. We all deserve to die. Every last fucking one of us. The parasitic maggot millionaire who complains about his fucking bank account being too fucking small while people whither and die. The obscene glutton shoving burgers in his face while people starve. The idiot animals who live only to fuck and breed. The narrow-brained fucks who call for the different to die. The pit-dwelling failures who can't be bothered to climb out. The optimists living in the best of all worlds, exempting themselves from trying to fix it. The ignorant kings of fools who know they're the smartest men in the whole fucking world. The slavering masses screaming "kill the fucking fags" and "kill the fucking towelheads." You know what? Yeah. Fucking do it. I am sick and fucking tired of listening to the idiot children and their petty bitching. So let's get it the fuck over with. Let's go a little "The Final Solution" on the world. Go ahead. Nuke the hell out of the middle-east. Who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky and we'll nuke the shit out of Russia and China too. Hell, lets hit every nuclear power. Get some Mutually Assured Destruction going on. God, what I wouldn't give right now to watch the human race burn away in a radioactive firestorm. Kill everybody and let God sort them out. We don't deserve anything better. Nobody, not you, not me, is exempt. We all deserve to burn.
Because we all fall in there somewhere. What am I? The obscene glutton. Sometimes I'm the king of fools. Today I'm the narrow-minded fuck. But above all else I am the pit-dweller, comfortable in his hole and whining, whining that the world won't come down to meet him. Maybe you haven't noticed, maybe you weren't listening, but I'm sure you've heard me whine.
Not quite in the pit, but not anywhere else either. To watch people's lives fail. To watch them drive willfully into the pit. And to realize that the only reason I'm not that weak is because I'm not that strong. Not even a proper failure. The only reason I'm not a train wreck is because the train never got moving. I haven't got the energy to crash and burn. So what I am then? A failure to fail. A non-entity.
Everything that I am is a distortion. My cynicism, the scarred remains of an idealist. My emoness the symptom of a hopeless romantic and an idiot child. My misanthropy the carcass of a love for humankind. My stagnation only the distorted reflection of failure. So what's the point of me? I am a distortion. I am a distortion of nothing. A distortion of nothing is nothing. I am nothing. I exist. I take up space. That is all. I am nobody. A non-entity.
I'm tired. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of all of it. I'm tired of the world. I'm tired of my own thoughts. I'm tired of wishing for things everybody gets but I cannot have. I'm of tired of it being my fault.
If you can't tell by now, I am not in a good mood. As you know, I haven't been doing too well for the past few weeks. It's been taking more and more effort just to keep up to date online, and I've been falling behind anyway. I'm not going to say that I'm taking a break from the internet, but I am. I'm still going to try to keep up, but don't be surprised if you don't hear from me over the next few days. You might, you might not, I don't really know. As for tomorrow's ramble, yes this places it in jeopardy. I will try to pull something together for you by tomorrow morning, but I'm not making any promises. Don't be surprised if the ramble is MIA. I don't know what to write about, and I don't have any motivation. I don't feel like writing. I don't feel like thinking. I don't feel like existing. I feel like hiding in bed or punching a wall.
I'm tired of this rock. I'm tired of this speck of fucking dirt whirling through space. I am sick of the shit-for-brains species that inhabits it. I'm sick of the constant stream of idiocy so thick I want to bash my head into a wall. I am sick and fucking tired of waking up each day to hear about how many more people have been blown to hell by some bomb. We all deserve to die. Every last fucking one of us. The parasitic maggot millionaire who complains about his fucking bank account being too fucking small while people whither and die. The obscene glutton shoving burgers in his face while people starve. The idiot animals who live only to fuck and breed. The narrow-brained fucks who call for the different to die. The pit-dwelling failures who can't be bothered to climb out. The optimists living in the best of all worlds, exempting themselves from trying to fix it. The ignorant kings of fools who know they're the smartest men in the whole fucking world. The slavering masses screaming "kill the fucking fags" and "kill the fucking towelheads." You know what? Yeah. Fucking do it. I am sick and fucking tired of listening to the idiot children and their petty bitching. So let's get it the fuck over with. Let's go a little "The Final Solution" on the world. Go ahead. Nuke the hell out of the middle-east. Who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky and we'll nuke the shit out of Russia and China too. Hell, lets hit every nuclear power. Get some Mutually Assured Destruction going on. God, what I wouldn't give right now to watch the human race burn away in a radioactive firestorm. Kill everybody and let God sort them out. We don't deserve anything better. Nobody, not you, not me, is exempt. We all deserve to burn.
Because we all fall in there somewhere. What am I? The obscene glutton. Sometimes I'm the king of fools. Today I'm the narrow-minded fuck. But above all else I am the pit-dweller, comfortable in his hole and whining, whining that the world won't come down to meet him. Maybe you haven't noticed, maybe you weren't listening, but I'm sure you've heard me whine.
Not quite in the pit, but not anywhere else either. To watch people's lives fail. To watch them drive willfully into the pit. And to realize that the only reason I'm not that weak is because I'm not that strong. Not even a proper failure. The only reason I'm not a train wreck is because the train never got moving. I haven't got the energy to crash and burn. So what I am then? A failure to fail. A non-entity.
Everything that I am is a distortion. My cynicism, the scarred remains of an idealist. My emoness the symptom of a hopeless romantic and an idiot child. My misanthropy the carcass of a love for humankind. My stagnation only the distorted reflection of failure. So what's the point of me? I am a distortion. I am a distortion of nothing. A distortion of nothing is nothing. I am nothing. I exist. I take up space. That is all. I am nobody. A non-entity.
I'm tired. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of all of it. I'm tired of the world. I'm tired of my own thoughts. I'm tired of wishing for things everybody gets but I cannot have. I'm of tired of it being my fault.
If you can't tell by now, I am not in a good mood. As you know, I haven't been doing too well for the past few weeks. It's been taking more and more effort just to keep up to date online, and I've been falling behind anyway. I'm not going to say that I'm taking a break from the internet, but I am. I'm still going to try to keep up, but don't be surprised if you don't hear from me over the next few days. You might, you might not, I don't really know. As for tomorrow's ramble, yes this places it in jeopardy. I will try to pull something together for you by tomorrow morning, but I'm not making any promises. Don't be surprised if the ramble is MIA. I don't know what to write about, and I don't have any motivation. I don't feel like writing. I don't feel like thinking. I don't feel like existing. I feel like hiding in bed or punching a wall.
Thursday Morning Ramble "A rant on sense and civility."
Posted 16 years agoI have to apologize in advance for the nature of this ramble. It isn't thought out or well prepared. There is no rough draft. This is thought to page. This is a rant. Plain and simple. I almost didn't get to writing it at all. As you probably know by now, since I won't shut up about it, I've been "fighting the good fight" against a continuing depressive patch and the urge to go antisocial. I feel unmotivated about basically everything right now. I had actually decided that I was going to skip the ramble this week. I was going to post a journal saying that I'd probably be offline for a few days, and that there'd probably be no ramble. However, I never got to posting that journal, to "giving notice." And now that it's already Thursday morning, to not post something would feel like a cop out, like a dereliction of duty. Like I said before, this is a rant. There is no other way to say it. I am not in a pleasant mood right this instant, and it shows.
So, here I sat, with no motivation, and no topic. The solution? I trawled the internet. (And yes, I mean trawl, not troll.) I trawled some of my least favorite places on the web. It didn't take long to remind me of why I abhor those sites, or rather the people on them. I spent some time reading comments on YouTube, something I never advise. I spent a while in the forums on IMDB, reading posts from people who prefer gore to plot. I wandered an old haunt on YahooAnswers, and listened to the Atheists and Catholics both behave like idiot children. I stepped into the muck on AboveTopSecret, a site that can make me ashamed to believe in the paranormal. I swam in the cesspool of human filth and congealed obscenities, barely masked for society's consumption, and laid bare on the internet for the world to see. This is our great civilization. This is our glorious culture. This is the human race. Mankind, the idiot children. A species of narcissistic hedonists who can't be bothered to even learn to spell or type. People who believe that they're infallible, that their word is truth. People who don't understand the difference between opinion and fact. People who think that having a different taste in music or film is a symptom of a mental handicap. Atheists who believe the best way to respond to demonizing and harassment is to demonize and harass. Religious believers who think the best way to save a soul is to yell "agree with me or go to hell!" Anti-Intellectuals who think they're better than the "elitist" intelligentsia. People who believe that all politicians and bankers are shape-shifting blood-drinking reptilian aliens who just happen to be from the Draco constellation and a different dimension. Those very same people, who call the rest of us "sheeple," say we are deluded fools who deserve no respect, and claim to be better than the "evil overlords." That's it, right there! That's the recurring theme! Can you see it?
Everyone is always right, and they know it. Everyone who disagrees is either underdeveloped or evil. Everyone is the oppressed minority. Everyone behaves like the tyrant. That's the pattern. I've observed it time and time again, on the internet, in politics, in religion, in war, in everyday life. Both sides of a disagreement engage in the exact same tactics, but claim they're different and better. The opinion may be different, but the behavior is the same.
I just don't understand it. I honestly don't. What's the point? Why even bother going out of your way to ruin someone's day? Why take the time to type "ur ret@rd3d" in the comment box? Why cross the barroom to heckle someone different? Am I any better than this, sitting here in my corner and whining? Probably not, but at least I know how to keep it where it belongs. It's true that I sometimes get caught in a fight I should've ignored, but I can sit here in my little blog and complain all I like, and I'm not forcing anyone to read it. There are times and places for discussion, argument, and debate, but there is never a time to sacrifice sense and civility. We claim to be civil, to be moral, to be ethical, so let's be what we say we are.
Humankind, we say we're better than this. We're supposed to be better than this. So let's be better.
So, here I sat, with no motivation, and no topic. The solution? I trawled the internet. (And yes, I mean trawl, not troll.) I trawled some of my least favorite places on the web. It didn't take long to remind me of why I abhor those sites, or rather the people on them. I spent some time reading comments on YouTube, something I never advise. I spent a while in the forums on IMDB, reading posts from people who prefer gore to plot. I wandered an old haunt on YahooAnswers, and listened to the Atheists and Catholics both behave like idiot children. I stepped into the muck on AboveTopSecret, a site that can make me ashamed to believe in the paranormal. I swam in the cesspool of human filth and congealed obscenities, barely masked for society's consumption, and laid bare on the internet for the world to see. This is our great civilization. This is our glorious culture. This is the human race. Mankind, the idiot children. A species of narcissistic hedonists who can't be bothered to even learn to spell or type. People who believe that they're infallible, that their word is truth. People who don't understand the difference between opinion and fact. People who think that having a different taste in music or film is a symptom of a mental handicap. Atheists who believe the best way to respond to demonizing and harassment is to demonize and harass. Religious believers who think the best way to save a soul is to yell "agree with me or go to hell!" Anti-Intellectuals who think they're better than the "elitist" intelligentsia. People who believe that all politicians and bankers are shape-shifting blood-drinking reptilian aliens who just happen to be from the Draco constellation and a different dimension. Those very same people, who call the rest of us "sheeple," say we are deluded fools who deserve no respect, and claim to be better than the "evil overlords." That's it, right there! That's the recurring theme! Can you see it?
Everyone is always right, and they know it. Everyone who disagrees is either underdeveloped or evil. Everyone is the oppressed minority. Everyone behaves like the tyrant. That's the pattern. I've observed it time and time again, on the internet, in politics, in religion, in war, in everyday life. Both sides of a disagreement engage in the exact same tactics, but claim they're different and better. The opinion may be different, but the behavior is the same.
I just don't understand it. I honestly don't. What's the point? Why even bother going out of your way to ruin someone's day? Why take the time to type "ur ret@rd3d" in the comment box? Why cross the barroom to heckle someone different? Am I any better than this, sitting here in my corner and whining? Probably not, but at least I know how to keep it where it belongs. It's true that I sometimes get caught in a fight I should've ignored, but I can sit here in my little blog and complain all I like, and I'm not forcing anyone to read it. There are times and places for discussion, argument, and debate, but there is never a time to sacrifice sense and civility. We claim to be civil, to be moral, to be ethical, so let's be what we say we are.
Humankind, we say we're better than this. We're supposed to be better than this. So let's be better.
80 questions.
Posted 16 years ago1. What does your FurAffinity name mean and why?
Well, Leon is my just my fursona's name (a wolf named lion, haha) and since I had to tack a number on there I grabbed 42 because, well, you know, the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. So there you have it. The big secret behind Leon42.
2. What fandom were you obsessed with when you joined and what are you into now?
I don't think I would say that I was or am now "obsessed" with anything in particular. Though it would be nice if the new season of Doctor Who would come along soon. Very soon. MOAR DOCTOR NAOW DAMMIT!!! NAOW!!! Why is everyone staring at me...?
3. How many watchers do you have now?
42. Ha, there's that number again. It was meant to be! XD
4. Name 3 of your favorite artists on FA.
Oh god, I don't really know, haha. I'm watching a whole lot of people, some for no real reason (I could probably easily unwatch a hundred or more, haha.), so cut me some slack here. Look through my favorites and you'll probably figure it out. Hell, you might even get a better idea of it than I have, haha.
5. Do you comment, fav, or both?
I comment most of the time I fave, but I try to use that fave button sparingly.
6. Do you participate in clubs' contests here on FA?
Nope.
7. What is your most popular submission?
Not counting the two commissions, Zombies, Apathy, and Chinese Food has the most views, but Hacker's Delight has the most favorites and comments.
8. What are your favorite non-anime TV shows?
Doctor Who, The X-Files, Futurama, Family Guy, The Simpsons, South Park, Ghost Hunters, Destination Truth, Caprica, House, Invader Zim, and I'm afraid I must admit to the guilty pleasures of World's Dumbest, and Judge Judy. That's basically it for non-anime TV shows.
9. What are the things you wish you could draw better?
How about this: I wish I could draw at all. Haha.
10. Summer or winter?
Can't I have something slightly more temperate? Oh, Summer, I guess.
11. Rain or Sun?
It doesn't matter that much to me, but I suppose the sun. *bursts into flames*
12. What's your favorite type of music?
Mostly metal and/or rock but my taste really goes all over the place. You can catch me playing Marilyn Manson one minute and listening to Chopin the next.
13. PC or Mac?
PC for me.
14. Anime or Manga?
I haven't gotten my hands on much manga, so I guess the answer for the moment is anime.
15. Coke or Pepsi?
Oh, that's an easy one. Coke wins every time.
16. Read or TV?
Um...Which book and TV show am I choosing between? I could go for either.
17. How many hours a day do you spend on FA?
It varies wildly. Some days I'm not here at all. Some days I'm here for ten minutes. And then there are some where I spend most of my day here, or at least with the tab open. On average I'd say anywhere between 1 to 4 hours, totaled up throughout the day.
18. Name a hidden talent.
Me with a hidden talent? Ha. I have the miraculous abilities to breath air and take up space.
19. Flash or traditional cartoons?
I really don't care, haha. It's not about how something's animated or what the effects are like. It's about the content.
20. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
I don't even know, haha. Haven't been to one in ages.
21. What are your top 3 favorite books?
1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2, The Mothman Prophecies
3. Uhhhh...Hmmm...I'm not sure. Maybe The Sandman, if I can count graphic novels.
I'm sure there are so many more that could fill that number 3 slot, including many that I keep meaning to read and never quite get to.
22. Wii or Playstation?
Playstation.
23. Name 3 of your favorite bands/singers.
1. Marilyn Manson
The other two slots are always up in the air, but I'll say:
2. Rammstein
3. The Protomen
24. Are you a fast, slow, or medium typist?
I'll say medium. Sometimes I'm flawless. Other times my fingers suffer from severe stupidity. It just about balances out.
25. Do you like Denny's?
Never been.
26. What is your favorite smiley?
I think I use XD way too often, haha.
27. What is your favorite type of pie?
Maybe pumpkin.
28. Have you ever stayed up for 24 hours?
Yes. Many times. In fact, I'm on hour 19 right now, and plan to pass 24 before I go to sleep tonight. I don't think I'll make it, haha.
29. Do you go on YouTube a lot?
No more than average. Really only if I'm looking for something specific, though I can easily get caught up in the related links.
30. Are you a member on any other sites besides FA?
A few, though I probably have more dead accounts on sites I don't remember than anything active anymore. I don't spend time on forums or anything like that.
31. Do you cosplay?
No sir.
32. Fruits or sweets?
Like anyone is going to say fruit XD
33. Buttered, plain, or salted popcorn?
What about kettle corn?
34. Have you skipped school?
I suppose so, haha.
35. Have you been on a plane?
Nope.
36. Have you swam in an ocean?
Nope.
37. Have you been ice skating?
And another nope.
38. Favorite vacation spot?
This implies that I have vacation spots, haha. It would probably be somewhere calm and remote though.
39. Ever been on TV?
Nope.
40. Favorite salad and dressing?
French.
41. What do you do to relax?
Anything mindless or distracting, really. The secret to my relaxation is just to keep my brain's gears from turning.
42. What is the last film you saw in the theater?
Oh god, haha, it's been years, I have no idea.
43. Favorite Sandwich?
I've never even thought about that, hahaha. I make what's available.
44. If you could go anywhere in the world...
Japan, maybe Malaysia, or even Australia. Somewhere that's bright and colorful, somewhere that seems fresh.
45. Favorite time of the day?
Either 3am, or early evening.
46. What did you want to be when you were little?
Any kind of scientist.
47. What do you want to be now?
I'd like to go into psychology, but right now anything that pays would do.
48. If you could eat with one person, who would it be?
God. I would have lunch with God. At a Chinese buffet.
49. What character would you hate to be stuck in a room with?
The crazy zealot church lady from The Mist. One of us would be dead in less than 15 minutes, I guarantee it.
50. When is your birthday?
April 11th. I'll be 19.
51. Favorite type of ice cream?
Nothing wrong with old fashioned chocolate.
52. Last book you read?
Well, the last one I got all the way through was The Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven.
53. Which store would you max out a credit card at?
I'd like to think that I wouldn't max out a credit ca- Oh look! Video games! And anime! And books! And geek gadgets! Wait, what was I saying...?
54. Do you buy / sell / both on eBay?
I haven't had occasion to yet, but it's practically inevitable that I'll set up my own account to buy stuff at some point.
55. What is the most annoying thing people ask you?
Nothing. Honestly. I'll happily field any question any time.
56. Favorite all time movie?
End of Evangelion, or maybe Fight Club. I'm not really sure.
57. What was your favorite show when you were a kid?
Gundam Wing. I realize now that I didn't understand a damn thing that was happening back then, but I never missed it.
58. What are you listening to right now?
Them Crooked Vultures - Mind Eraser, No Chaser. I only just discovered this band. From what I've heard so far, I can easily say: LOVE THEM.
59. What is the last thing you ate?
Chicken.
60. If you were a crayon what color would you be?
Probably green or black.
61. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
It might sound a tad cheesy, but demeanor. Honestly, it's the first thing I notice about everyone. Some sort of threat assessment or something.
62. Favorite sport to play?
Sports and I just don't mix.
63. Favorite Day of the Year?
Friday the 13th, haha.
64. Hugs or Kisses?
What, can't I have both? Hahaha.
65. Vanilla or Chocolate?
Chocolate.
66. Favorite Board Game?
I don't play board games. Except Chess. I haven't played it in forever, and was never particularly good, but I'd still play it.
67. Favorite smells?
I honestly haven't the faintest idea, haha. My sense of smell seems to be kind of wonky.
68. What inspires you?
Music, thought, and all sorts of random things.
69. Do you have any piercings?
Nope.
70. How many siblings do you have?
Just the one.
71. Bacon Bits or croutons?
Just you try and stop me from taking both. XD
72. Favorite Day of the Week?
Saturday.
73. Favorite phrase?
I don't know about favorite, but I think "I just don't understand it." has probably been the one I've said most in the past couple months.
74. Favorite Restaurant?
I haven't been to a restaurant in so long, haha. I have no life, remember?
75. Favorite animal?
A lot of things, haha. Wolves, cats, big cats, foxes, otters, crows, penguins. Yes, penguins. Shut up...XD
76. Favorite thing to do outside?
Take a walk. Usually up to the cemetary, hahaha.
77. Favorite thing to do when it's raining?
That would effect my plans how, exactly?
78. Favorite Disney character?
Oh god, I don't know.
79. Do you like coffee? If so, what is your favorite brand?
Meh. I'll drink it if I have no other source of caffeine available, but I'd much rather avoid it. I'm not a big fan.
80. Tag 3 people
I tag the next three people who feel like doing it!
Well, Leon is my just my fursona's name (a wolf named lion, haha) and since I had to tack a number on there I grabbed 42 because, well, you know, the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. So there you have it. The big secret behind Leon42.
2. What fandom were you obsessed with when you joined and what are you into now?
I don't think I would say that I was or am now "obsessed" with anything in particular. Though it would be nice if the new season of Doctor Who would come along soon. Very soon. MOAR DOCTOR NAOW DAMMIT!!! NAOW!!! Why is everyone staring at me...?
3. How many watchers do you have now?
42. Ha, there's that number again. It was meant to be! XD
4. Name 3 of your favorite artists on FA.
Oh god, I don't really know, haha. I'm watching a whole lot of people, some for no real reason (I could probably easily unwatch a hundred or more, haha.), so cut me some slack here. Look through my favorites and you'll probably figure it out. Hell, you might even get a better idea of it than I have, haha.
5. Do you comment, fav, or both?
I comment most of the time I fave, but I try to use that fave button sparingly.
6. Do you participate in clubs' contests here on FA?
Nope.
7. What is your most popular submission?
Not counting the two commissions, Zombies, Apathy, and Chinese Food has the most views, but Hacker's Delight has the most favorites and comments.
8. What are your favorite non-anime TV shows?
Doctor Who, The X-Files, Futurama, Family Guy, The Simpsons, South Park, Ghost Hunters, Destination Truth, Caprica, House, Invader Zim, and I'm afraid I must admit to the guilty pleasures of World's Dumbest, and Judge Judy. That's basically it for non-anime TV shows.
9. What are the things you wish you could draw better?
How about this: I wish I could draw at all. Haha.
10. Summer or winter?
Can't I have something slightly more temperate? Oh, Summer, I guess.
11. Rain or Sun?
It doesn't matter that much to me, but I suppose the sun. *bursts into flames*
12. What's your favorite type of music?
Mostly metal and/or rock but my taste really goes all over the place. You can catch me playing Marilyn Manson one minute and listening to Chopin the next.
13. PC or Mac?
PC for me.
14. Anime or Manga?
I haven't gotten my hands on much manga, so I guess the answer for the moment is anime.
15. Coke or Pepsi?
Oh, that's an easy one. Coke wins every time.
16. Read or TV?
Um...Which book and TV show am I choosing between? I could go for either.
17. How many hours a day do you spend on FA?
It varies wildly. Some days I'm not here at all. Some days I'm here for ten minutes. And then there are some where I spend most of my day here, or at least with the tab open. On average I'd say anywhere between 1 to 4 hours, totaled up throughout the day.
18. Name a hidden talent.
Me with a hidden talent? Ha. I have the miraculous abilities to breath air and take up space.
19. Flash or traditional cartoons?
I really don't care, haha. It's not about how something's animated or what the effects are like. It's about the content.
20. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
I don't even know, haha. Haven't been to one in ages.
21. What are your top 3 favorite books?
1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2, The Mothman Prophecies
3. Uhhhh...Hmmm...I'm not sure. Maybe The Sandman, if I can count graphic novels.
I'm sure there are so many more that could fill that number 3 slot, including many that I keep meaning to read and never quite get to.
22. Wii or Playstation?
Playstation.
23. Name 3 of your favorite bands/singers.
1. Marilyn Manson
The other two slots are always up in the air, but I'll say:
2. Rammstein
3. The Protomen
24. Are you a fast, slow, or medium typist?
I'll say medium. Sometimes I'm flawless. Other times my fingers suffer from severe stupidity. It just about balances out.
25. Do you like Denny's?
Never been.
26. What is your favorite smiley?
I think I use XD way too often, haha.
27. What is your favorite type of pie?
Maybe pumpkin.
28. Have you ever stayed up for 24 hours?
Yes. Many times. In fact, I'm on hour 19 right now, and plan to pass 24 before I go to sleep tonight. I don't think I'll make it, haha.
29. Do you go on YouTube a lot?
No more than average. Really only if I'm looking for something specific, though I can easily get caught up in the related links.
30. Are you a member on any other sites besides FA?
A few, though I probably have more dead accounts on sites I don't remember than anything active anymore. I don't spend time on forums or anything like that.
31. Do you cosplay?
No sir.
32. Fruits or sweets?
Like anyone is going to say fruit XD
33. Buttered, plain, or salted popcorn?
What about kettle corn?
34. Have you skipped school?
I suppose so, haha.
35. Have you been on a plane?
Nope.
36. Have you swam in an ocean?
Nope.
37. Have you been ice skating?
And another nope.
38. Favorite vacation spot?
This implies that I have vacation spots, haha. It would probably be somewhere calm and remote though.
39. Ever been on TV?
Nope.
40. Favorite salad and dressing?
French.
41. What do you do to relax?
Anything mindless or distracting, really. The secret to my relaxation is just to keep my brain's gears from turning.
42. What is the last film you saw in the theater?
Oh god, haha, it's been years, I have no idea.
43. Favorite Sandwich?
I've never even thought about that, hahaha. I make what's available.
44. If you could go anywhere in the world...
Japan, maybe Malaysia, or even Australia. Somewhere that's bright and colorful, somewhere that seems fresh.
45. Favorite time of the day?
Either 3am, or early evening.
46. What did you want to be when you were little?
Any kind of scientist.
47. What do you want to be now?
I'd like to go into psychology, but right now anything that pays would do.
48. If you could eat with one person, who would it be?
God. I would have lunch with God. At a Chinese buffet.
49. What character would you hate to be stuck in a room with?
The crazy zealot church lady from The Mist. One of us would be dead in less than 15 minutes, I guarantee it.
50. When is your birthday?
April 11th. I'll be 19.
51. Favorite type of ice cream?
Nothing wrong with old fashioned chocolate.
52. Last book you read?
Well, the last one I got all the way through was The Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven.
53. Which store would you max out a credit card at?
I'd like to think that I wouldn't max out a credit ca- Oh look! Video games! And anime! And books! And geek gadgets! Wait, what was I saying...?
54. Do you buy / sell / both on eBay?
I haven't had occasion to yet, but it's practically inevitable that I'll set up my own account to buy stuff at some point.
55. What is the most annoying thing people ask you?
Nothing. Honestly. I'll happily field any question any time.
56. Favorite all time movie?
End of Evangelion, or maybe Fight Club. I'm not really sure.
57. What was your favorite show when you were a kid?
Gundam Wing. I realize now that I didn't understand a damn thing that was happening back then, but I never missed it.
58. What are you listening to right now?
Them Crooked Vultures - Mind Eraser, No Chaser. I only just discovered this band. From what I've heard so far, I can easily say: LOVE THEM.
59. What is the last thing you ate?
Chicken.
60. If you were a crayon what color would you be?
Probably green or black.
61. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
It might sound a tad cheesy, but demeanor. Honestly, it's the first thing I notice about everyone. Some sort of threat assessment or something.
62. Favorite sport to play?
Sports and I just don't mix.
63. Favorite Day of the Year?
Friday the 13th, haha.
64. Hugs or Kisses?
What, can't I have both? Hahaha.
65. Vanilla or Chocolate?
Chocolate.
66. Favorite Board Game?
I don't play board games. Except Chess. I haven't played it in forever, and was never particularly good, but I'd still play it.
67. Favorite smells?
I honestly haven't the faintest idea, haha. My sense of smell seems to be kind of wonky.
68. What inspires you?
Music, thought, and all sorts of random things.
69. Do you have any piercings?
Nope.
70. How many siblings do you have?
Just the one.
71. Bacon Bits or croutons?
Just you try and stop me from taking both. XD
72. Favorite Day of the Week?
Saturday.
73. Favorite phrase?
I don't know about favorite, but I think "I just don't understand it." has probably been the one I've said most in the past couple months.
74. Favorite Restaurant?
I haven't been to a restaurant in so long, haha. I have no life, remember?
75. Favorite animal?
A lot of things, haha. Wolves, cats, big cats, foxes, otters, crows, penguins. Yes, penguins. Shut up...XD
76. Favorite thing to do outside?
Take a walk. Usually up to the cemetary, hahaha.
77. Favorite thing to do when it's raining?
That would effect my plans how, exactly?
78. Favorite Disney character?
Oh god, I don't know.
79. Do you like coffee? If so, what is your favorite brand?
Meh. I'll drink it if I have no other source of caffeine available, but I'd much rather avoid it. I'm not a big fan.
80. Tag 3 people
I tag the next three people who feel like doing it!
Thurday Morning Ramble "Free Will"
Posted 16 years agoI left finishing this a little late again this week, but fortunately my brain is not currently fried (though, perhaps a little boiled), so, yeah...You may or may not have noticed me touch on this subject before. I know I've tossed the term “determinism” around a few times before, and I figure that it's time for me to show where I stand on the issue.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
We think of it as a given, as a fact of life, as glaringly obvious that we are creatures of Free Will. Does it not seem undeniable, looking from within, that we operate under our own volition? Some never even think about it, others do, and manifest existential angst. Then there are those who deny that we are free within ourselves: The Determinists and the Fatalists.
Determinism takes cause and effect to its logical extreme. The deterministic point of view is that there is no free will or randomness in the universe. Everything is dictated by prior events, the most insignificant things echoing through time, rippling out. Think of a row of dominoes. We know the law of cause and effect applies to purely physical reactions, but does it apply to human consciousness? I believe it was Freud who once said “There is nothing in human behavior that does not have a cause.” Our environment alters chemical production in the brain, brain chemistry alters our moods, our moods alter our thinking, and our thinking alters our actions. It's not so simple though. Our thoughts can be altered by chemistry, but not fully determined. We have our own ways of thinking and processing information, but where does that come from? Our environment as we grow. We develop a way to think and process and act from our parents, our schools, our peers, interactions with our physical environment. Our method of processing information combined with our learned or constructed morals leads to pre-made decisions. We already have the answer, we just haven't been asked the question. Of course, this programming of our mind continues throughout our lives, but everything that affects us has its own causal tree linking through every event, significant or not, back hours, days, weeks, months, years, generations, through millennia of “chance” meetings, of ancient ancestors being in the right or wrong place at the right or wrong time, right back to the beginning of time and the First Cause. Even a roll of the dice is already determined by the physical forces acting on it. Ask yourself someday, why are you where you are and doing what you're doing? Don't be satisfied with the simple answer. Go through it all, physiological processes, what happened directly before, what's the day been like, what's the week been like, the year, why do you like what you like, why do you live where you live, why were you born where you were born, why did your parents meet, and their parents, grandparents, and so on. Ask yourself “why?” and keep asking about anything and everything as far back as your knowledge will take you. The longer you go, the more you extrapolate, the more life looks like a jigsaw puzzle in progress, instead of a roll of the dice.
Fatalism seems comparatively simple. It's Fate. Everything happens for a reason, and all events are leading up to something. The future will happen a certain way, regardless of prior events, that or the future determines the past. Fatalism would, in my opinion, have to work through a deterministic process. Otherwise, I imagine we would have glaring historical incongruities, whether large-scale or in personal histories. As a result, it would likely be indistinguishable from Determinism to any consciousness that moves in one direction through time. Like us poor buggers, haha. Thus, due to unobservability, Fatalism requires some degree faith.
Where do I stand? (As if you can't already tell by which I wrote the most about, haha.) Somewhere in the middle. Fatalism requires a degree of faith that I just don't have. Do I think it's impossible? Taking into consideration the idea of non-linear time, no, it's not at all impossible. Determinism is much easier to observe, and is my “favorite” between the three positions, and, to me, makes the most sense. I believe that if a consciousness existed only in-and-of-itself then it would be a thing of Free Will, but because we do not exist in a vacuum, we will always be being affected by outside forces. However, it's possible that there are instances where we truly have no precedent, no programmed reaction, an opportunity to reshape, redirect, or contradict our programming by force of will, and make a free choice. Even this process would have deterministic pressure on it, but it might just be possible to jar the system, to nudge the pinball machine. Even the smallest change can be important. The slightest angle becomes more pronounced the longer the line goes. Every ripple grows as it echoes from the cause. For all we know, if Ug hadn't slipped on that newt and met Og all those thousands of years ago, you wouldn't be sitting here now.
In a way, I suppose I've just contradicted myself. I just denied Free Will, but at the same time I've placed much more weight on the choices we make than I'm sure most people do. I apologize if that seems muddled. It's easier to think than it is to say. However, as always, I hope that I have given you a good enough starting point for you to reach your own conclusions.
If there's one thing you take away from all this, and it applies to everything in life, not just this ramble, then I hope it's this: Make “why” your favorite word, and ask yourself often. You'd be surprised how far that one word can take you.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
This didn't turn out as well as it could have. I shorted myself time once again, and thus wasn't able to do the research I wanted so I could write more about both Fatalism and Free Will itself. Oh well. I started cumbersome, had trouble transferring thought to paper, but I think I managed a few good patches of flow in there too, haha.
This is where I make my usual requests: Any feedback on style or format is more than welcome. Also, any suggestions of future topics are welcome, even if I don't use them, haha.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Free WillWe think of it as a given, as a fact of life, as glaringly obvious that we are creatures of Free Will. Does it not seem undeniable, looking from within, that we operate under our own volition? Some never even think about it, others do, and manifest existential angst. Then there are those who deny that we are free within ourselves: The Determinists and the Fatalists.
Determinism takes cause and effect to its logical extreme. The deterministic point of view is that there is no free will or randomness in the universe. Everything is dictated by prior events, the most insignificant things echoing through time, rippling out. Think of a row of dominoes. We know the law of cause and effect applies to purely physical reactions, but does it apply to human consciousness? I believe it was Freud who once said “There is nothing in human behavior that does not have a cause.” Our environment alters chemical production in the brain, brain chemistry alters our moods, our moods alter our thinking, and our thinking alters our actions. It's not so simple though. Our thoughts can be altered by chemistry, but not fully determined. We have our own ways of thinking and processing information, but where does that come from? Our environment as we grow. We develop a way to think and process and act from our parents, our schools, our peers, interactions with our physical environment. Our method of processing information combined with our learned or constructed morals leads to pre-made decisions. We already have the answer, we just haven't been asked the question. Of course, this programming of our mind continues throughout our lives, but everything that affects us has its own causal tree linking through every event, significant or not, back hours, days, weeks, months, years, generations, through millennia of “chance” meetings, of ancient ancestors being in the right or wrong place at the right or wrong time, right back to the beginning of time and the First Cause. Even a roll of the dice is already determined by the physical forces acting on it. Ask yourself someday, why are you where you are and doing what you're doing? Don't be satisfied with the simple answer. Go through it all, physiological processes, what happened directly before, what's the day been like, what's the week been like, the year, why do you like what you like, why do you live where you live, why were you born where you were born, why did your parents meet, and their parents, grandparents, and so on. Ask yourself “why?” and keep asking about anything and everything as far back as your knowledge will take you. The longer you go, the more you extrapolate, the more life looks like a jigsaw puzzle in progress, instead of a roll of the dice.
Fatalism seems comparatively simple. It's Fate. Everything happens for a reason, and all events are leading up to something. The future will happen a certain way, regardless of prior events, that or the future determines the past. Fatalism would, in my opinion, have to work through a deterministic process. Otherwise, I imagine we would have glaring historical incongruities, whether large-scale or in personal histories. As a result, it would likely be indistinguishable from Determinism to any consciousness that moves in one direction through time. Like us poor buggers, haha. Thus, due to unobservability, Fatalism requires some degree faith.
Where do I stand? (As if you can't already tell by which I wrote the most about, haha.) Somewhere in the middle. Fatalism requires a degree of faith that I just don't have. Do I think it's impossible? Taking into consideration the idea of non-linear time, no, it's not at all impossible. Determinism is much easier to observe, and is my “favorite” between the three positions, and, to me, makes the most sense. I believe that if a consciousness existed only in-and-of-itself then it would be a thing of Free Will, but because we do not exist in a vacuum, we will always be being affected by outside forces. However, it's possible that there are instances where we truly have no precedent, no programmed reaction, an opportunity to reshape, redirect, or contradict our programming by force of will, and make a free choice. Even this process would have deterministic pressure on it, but it might just be possible to jar the system, to nudge the pinball machine. Even the smallest change can be important. The slightest angle becomes more pronounced the longer the line goes. Every ripple grows as it echoes from the cause. For all we know, if Ug hadn't slipped on that newt and met Og all those thousands of years ago, you wouldn't be sitting here now.
In a way, I suppose I've just contradicted myself. I just denied Free Will, but at the same time I've placed much more weight on the choices we make than I'm sure most people do. I apologize if that seems muddled. It's easier to think than it is to say. However, as always, I hope that I have given you a good enough starting point for you to reach your own conclusions.
If there's one thing you take away from all this, and it applies to everything in life, not just this ramble, then I hope it's this: Make “why” your favorite word, and ask yourself often. You'd be surprised how far that one word can take you.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
This didn't turn out as well as it could have. I shorted myself time once again, and thus wasn't able to do the research I wanted so I could write more about both Fatalism and Free Will itself. Oh well. I started cumbersome, had trouble transferring thought to paper, but I think I managed a few good patches of flow in there too, haha.
This is where I make my usual requests: Any feedback on style or format is more than welcome. Also, any suggestions of future topics are welcome, even if I don't use them, haha.
Character memes.
Posted 16 years agoSo, it looks like this meme is making the rounds again, so I figure I might as well do it again. I haven't worked on my stories for a long time now, so I figure a bit of in character interaction couldn't hurt, right? I actually put a decent amount of work and time into this, keeping everything in character, and trying to get my head in the creative mindset. Also, I had nothing better to do...Okay, that's a lie, I did have slightly more important things to do, but didn't feel like doing them, so meh.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
MEME 1: Ask my characters anything you'd like! It can be their favorite foods, colors, what they like to read, who they are currently with, etc.
MEME 2: Character interview!
1. Choose a few of your own characters. Five at the most.
2. Make them answer the following questions and have them interact.
3. Then tag some people.
Characters:
Leon Valentine
Max Pembry
Vincent Blackmoore
1) WHAT SPECIES ARE EACH OF YOU?
Leon: A wolf.
Max: A white tiger.
Vincent: Wolf.
Leon: Vincent spoke...
Vincent: Yeah...I'm not a mute.
Max: No, but you act like one.
Vincent: Shut up.
Max: You shut up.
Leon: *facepalm*
2) BOY OR GIRL?
Leon: I'm male.
Max: Boy.
Vincent: I'm a guy.
Max: He's doing it again!
Leon: Max, drop it.
Max: No.
3) HOW OLD ARE YOU?
(This is always a tricky question, haha, because the stories cover such a wide time-frame.)
Leon: Did...did you just hear that?
Max: The narrator! It speaks!
(...)
Vincent: *sigh* We're all 18 here.
Max: Sure, ignore the giant magical disembodied voice in the sky.
4) WHAT'S YOUR HEIGHT?
Leon: Six foot, even.
Max: About five feet nine inches.
Vincent: Six foot eight.
Max: He's like a giant or something.
Leon: Our own personal bulldozer, haha.
5) ARE YOU A VIRGIN?
Leon: We're not goin' there, 'kay?
Max: Hehehe, *pokes Leon* he's shy!
Leon: Keep poking me and I'll bite your finger off.
Max: You wouldn't!
Leon: *Toothy grin* Do you want to bet your finger on that?
Max: Yes. *pokes*
Leon: Damn it...
Max: *pokes again*
Vincent: Did anybody else notice how they just dodged the question?
6) DO YOU LOVE ANYONE?
Leon: I've never answered that question before, and I shan't start now.
Max: *pokes*
Leon: >.<
Vincent: I, for one, don't...and I think we've lost Max completely now...
Max: No you haven't! *jumps* I love everyone!
Leon: *stares at Max* Okay...who gave him the sugar before the interview?
Max: Brought my own!
Leon: Ah.
7) DO YOU HATE ANYONE?
Leon: Quite a few people, I suppose. People make no sense, and I'm fed up with them. Myself included.
Max: Nope, I don't.
Leon: Lies!!!
Max: Okay then, who do I hate?
Leon: ...Uhhhhh...
Max: See?
Leon: English voice actors...?
Max: ...I can't believe you just said that...
Leon: Moving right along...
Vincent: Honestly, I don't care enough to hate people, haha.
Max: He laughed!!!
Leon: Max...
Max: Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I know, drop it.
Leon: It's only funny once.
Max: Or fifty times.
8) HAVE YOU KILLED ANYONE?
Leon: Oh, a few.
Max: A few, he says, the killer extraordinaire. You've killed way more than a few.
Leon: You're one to talk.
Max: That's what happens in war. I don't like it any more than you do.
Leon: Uh...
Max: Oh, right. I like it a whole hell of a lot less than you do.
Leon: There ya go.
Vincent: I don't even want to think about how many times these two would've been shot in the back if not for me.
Leon: Hey! Nobody sneaks up on me!
Vincent: *raises eyebrow*
Leon: ...Well...Yeah...Okay...But Cirrus III still doesn't count!
Vincent: Sure it doesn't.
Max: I'd almost forgotten about Cirrus III! You got pwned!
Leon: Look, I keep telling you guys, I knew she was there the whole time.
Max: Uh-huh.
Vincent: Sure.
9) DO YOU HAVE ANY SECRETS?
Leon: Wouldn't be secrets if I said, would they?
Max: He's lying.
Leon: Lying, what? I didn't even...say anything...
Max: I don't care, you're still lying.
Vincent: I have none. I'm pretty boring, really.
Max: He's lying.
Leon: You're covering.
Max: Am not!
10) WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE FOOD?
Leon: Anything fresh and meaty.
Max: Anything loaded with caffeine and sugar!
Leon: Caffeine isn't food...
Max: To me it is!
Leon: But it's just...not...
Max: Says who?
Leon: *sigh*
Vincent: Whatever's in front of me, basically.
Max: What if we put hull metal in front of you?
Vincent: -_-
11) WHAT DO YOU DO TO RELAX?
Leon: Max relaxed? *bursts out laughing*
Max: Hey!
Leon: Oh come on! You're always buzzing! I don't even think you really sleep.
Max: >.<
Leon: As for me, I don't know, just waiting in the dark, I guess.
Vincent: Or feeding your video game addiction, or listening to music, or a whole lot of other things.
Leon: Well, yeah, but I do that anyway...Plus, my answer sounds cooler, Mr. Always-Mellow.
12) WHAT SEASON DO YOU LIKE BEST AND WHY?
Leon: I can't choose between Fall and Spring. They're just nice. Not too hot, not too cold, and they're prettier too, I guess.
Max: I really don't know, haha, maybe Summer because it's fun, I dunno.
Vincent: I suppose Winter. I thrive in the cold.
Max: Typical.
Vincent: What's that supposed to mean?
Max: Oh, I don't know, maybe something about your icy demeanor.
Vincent: Icy?
Leon: Nah, it's more like stony, haha.
13) IS THERE ANYTHING IN YOUR LIFE YOU REGRET DOING?
Leon: I suppose quite a few things, but if I had it all to do again, I'd do it the same way.
Max: Well, Leon-induced catastrophes aside, life's going pretty well, I think.
Leon: Hey, if you don't like being on my ship, then you can get off, haha.
Max: Yeah, and you don't have to fly us right into every single obviously dangerous situation you find.
Leon: It's more fun that way...
Vincent: Be fair, he doesn't take us into every situation. A few of them come to us.
Leon: Gee, thanks for the support there, Vincent, really resounding.
Vincent: Hahaha, well...Back to the point, yes, I have regrets.
14) WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR LIFE EXPECTANCY IS?
Leon: Hahaha, oh, with my luck I'll probably plug in a lamp tomorrow and it'll explode and kill me.
Max: No, with your luck, you'll probably plug in that lamp, it'll explode, and kill everyone except you.
Leon: Hehehehe, true.
Max: He's going to give me a heart attack, I swear.
Vincent: Oh, I don't know, we've survived this long. I think we've still got a good run ahead of us.
15) HOW DO YOU IMAGINE YOUR DEATH TO BE?
Leon: Not with a bang, but a whimper, and all that jazz. I don't want to fade out before I die, but everyone dies alone.
Max: God your depressing. You're not very convincing either.
Leon: *grins* It sounded better than "I don't know."
Max: I don't think I'd mind a boring death, honestly. You know, retirement?
Vincent: I'd like to go out on my feet, facing an enemy.
Leon: Actually, I think I can agree with that, yeah.
16) YOU ARE TO BE PUT TO DEATH FOR A CRIME YOU DID NOT COMMIT, WHAT WOULD YOUR LAST WORDS BE?
Leon: What, again? Oh come on. Can't we just skip it? I mean, we all know how it's going to end. I'm going to get away and you're going to yell "Get heem!" but they won't, because there'll be some big Deus Ex Machina moment and...wait...did you say didn't commit? Oops. Forget all that, and get me a lawyer. Eheheh...*sweatdrop*
Max: *facepalms*
Leon: >.>;;;
Max: I think my last words would be along the lines of: I have the right to remain silent. Anything I say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Then I'd say some kind things about their mothers.
Vincent: Why even give them the satisfaction of last words?
Leon & Max: Because it's funny.
17) IF YOU'D HAVE WON THE LOTTERY, WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH THE MONEY?
Leon: I...Uhh...Ummm...*sits down to ponder*
Max: I'd probably give most of it away to friends or something.
Vincent: I'd probably keep or spend most of it, give some to the family, maybe.
Max: Come on, Leon, it's not that hard a question.
Leon: Yes it is!
Max: Why?
Leon: Insufficient data! The query is incomplete.
Max: Oi, don't go all sciencey on me, what do you mean?
Leon: They don't tell us how much we've won.
Max: Oh come on, dude! Seriously?!
Leon: Well, yeah. I mean, I'd like to keep enough to be more than comfortable, but I'd also want to give a ton of it to friends, and maybe charity if there was any left, but they don't tell us if there's enough!
Max: ...There, you just answered it, how hard was that?
Leon: But-
Max: Moving on! ...*mutters* and he thinks I'm the crazy one.
18) IF ANYONE CAME UP WITH A NICKNAME FOR YOU, WHICH WOULD IT BE?
Leon: You'd have to ask anyone who has a nickname for me, haha.
Max: I call him Fuzzball.
Leon: You do not!
Max: I do now.
Leon: Uh-huh. Whatever you say, Sugar-rush. Of course, Vince is pretty obvious.
Max: I call him Vinny.
Vincent: No you don't.
Max: I do now!
19) IF YOU'D BE FANTASTIC AT ONE SPORT, WHICH WOULD IT BE?
Max: I think Leon keeps all of us running around and trying to not die quite enough already, thank you very much.
Leon: You're welcome.
Max: Not what I...Oh never mind.
20) AND FINALLY, DO YOU HAVE ANY PHOBIAS?
Leon: Well...
Max: Skip the emo stuff, we've already heard it before.
Leon: Haha, fine. I'm not fond of spiders or heights.
Max: Which is funny because he captains a ship.
Leon: Hey, there's a big difference between the vacuum of space, and heights.
Max: Yeah, space is worse.
Leon: If I were meant to fly, I'dve been born with wings.
Max: Yes sir, Captain.
Leon: You can talk, Mr. Afraid-of-anything-with-six-or-more-legs.
Vincent: Compared to them, I'm fearless.
Leon: Yeah, we're working on that.
Max: We'll find something you're afraid of someday.
Vincent: That'll be the day.
Leon: Yes, it will.
Max: And there will be much rejoicing.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
MEME 1: Ask my characters anything you'd like! It can be their favorite foods, colors, what they like to read, who they are currently with, etc.
MEME 2: Character interview!
1. Choose a few of your own characters. Five at the most.
2. Make them answer the following questions and have them interact.
3. Then tag some people.
Characters:
Leon Valentine
Max Pembry
Vincent Blackmoore
1) WHAT SPECIES ARE EACH OF YOU?
Leon: A wolf.
Max: A white tiger.
Vincent: Wolf.
Leon: Vincent spoke...
Vincent: Yeah...I'm not a mute.
Max: No, but you act like one.
Vincent: Shut up.
Max: You shut up.
Leon: *facepalm*
2) BOY OR GIRL?
Leon: I'm male.
Max: Boy.
Vincent: I'm a guy.
Max: He's doing it again!
Leon: Max, drop it.
Max: No.
3) HOW OLD ARE YOU?
(This is always a tricky question, haha, because the stories cover such a wide time-frame.)
Leon: Did...did you just hear that?
Max: The narrator! It speaks!
(...)
Vincent: *sigh* We're all 18 here.
Max: Sure, ignore the giant magical disembodied voice in the sky.
4) WHAT'S YOUR HEIGHT?
Leon: Six foot, even.
Max: About five feet nine inches.
Vincent: Six foot eight.
Max: He's like a giant or something.
Leon: Our own personal bulldozer, haha.
5) ARE YOU A VIRGIN?
Leon: We're not goin' there, 'kay?
Max: Hehehe, *pokes Leon* he's shy!
Leon: Keep poking me and I'll bite your finger off.
Max: You wouldn't!
Leon: *Toothy grin* Do you want to bet your finger on that?
Max: Yes. *pokes*
Leon: Damn it...
Max: *pokes again*
Vincent: Did anybody else notice how they just dodged the question?
6) DO YOU LOVE ANYONE?
Leon: I've never answered that question before, and I shan't start now.
Max: *pokes*
Leon: >.<
Vincent: I, for one, don't...and I think we've lost Max completely now...
Max: No you haven't! *jumps* I love everyone!
Leon: *stares at Max* Okay...who gave him the sugar before the interview?
Max: Brought my own!
Leon: Ah.
7) DO YOU HATE ANYONE?
Leon: Quite a few people, I suppose. People make no sense, and I'm fed up with them. Myself included.
Max: Nope, I don't.
Leon: Lies!!!
Max: Okay then, who do I hate?
Leon: ...Uhhhhh...
Max: See?
Leon: English voice actors...?
Max: ...I can't believe you just said that...
Leon: Moving right along...
Vincent: Honestly, I don't care enough to hate people, haha.
Max: He laughed!!!
Leon: Max...
Max: Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I know, drop it.
Leon: It's only funny once.
Max: Or fifty times.
8) HAVE YOU KILLED ANYONE?
Leon: Oh, a few.
Max: A few, he says, the killer extraordinaire. You've killed way more than a few.
Leon: You're one to talk.
Max: That's what happens in war. I don't like it any more than you do.
Leon: Uh...
Max: Oh, right. I like it a whole hell of a lot less than you do.
Leon: There ya go.
Vincent: I don't even want to think about how many times these two would've been shot in the back if not for me.
Leon: Hey! Nobody sneaks up on me!
Vincent: *raises eyebrow*
Leon: ...Well...Yeah...Okay...But Cirrus III still doesn't count!
Vincent: Sure it doesn't.
Max: I'd almost forgotten about Cirrus III! You got pwned!
Leon: Look, I keep telling you guys, I knew she was there the whole time.
Max: Uh-huh.
Vincent: Sure.
9) DO YOU HAVE ANY SECRETS?
Leon: Wouldn't be secrets if I said, would they?
Max: He's lying.
Leon: Lying, what? I didn't even...say anything...
Max: I don't care, you're still lying.
Vincent: I have none. I'm pretty boring, really.
Max: He's lying.
Leon: You're covering.
Max: Am not!
10) WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE FOOD?
Leon: Anything fresh and meaty.
Max: Anything loaded with caffeine and sugar!
Leon: Caffeine isn't food...
Max: To me it is!
Leon: But it's just...not...
Max: Says who?
Leon: *sigh*
Vincent: Whatever's in front of me, basically.
Max: What if we put hull metal in front of you?
Vincent: -_-
11) WHAT DO YOU DO TO RELAX?
Leon: Max relaxed? *bursts out laughing*
Max: Hey!
Leon: Oh come on! You're always buzzing! I don't even think you really sleep.
Max: >.<
Leon: As for me, I don't know, just waiting in the dark, I guess.
Vincent: Or feeding your video game addiction, or listening to music, or a whole lot of other things.
Leon: Well, yeah, but I do that anyway...Plus, my answer sounds cooler, Mr. Always-Mellow.
12) WHAT SEASON DO YOU LIKE BEST AND WHY?
Leon: I can't choose between Fall and Spring. They're just nice. Not too hot, not too cold, and they're prettier too, I guess.
Max: I really don't know, haha, maybe Summer because it's fun, I dunno.
Vincent: I suppose Winter. I thrive in the cold.
Max: Typical.
Vincent: What's that supposed to mean?
Max: Oh, I don't know, maybe something about your icy demeanor.
Vincent: Icy?
Leon: Nah, it's more like stony, haha.
13) IS THERE ANYTHING IN YOUR LIFE YOU REGRET DOING?
Leon: I suppose quite a few things, but if I had it all to do again, I'd do it the same way.
Max: Well, Leon-induced catastrophes aside, life's going pretty well, I think.
Leon: Hey, if you don't like being on my ship, then you can get off, haha.
Max: Yeah, and you don't have to fly us right into every single obviously dangerous situation you find.
Leon: It's more fun that way...
Vincent: Be fair, he doesn't take us into every situation. A few of them come to us.
Leon: Gee, thanks for the support there, Vincent, really resounding.
Vincent: Hahaha, well...Back to the point, yes, I have regrets.
14) WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR LIFE EXPECTANCY IS?
Leon: Hahaha, oh, with my luck I'll probably plug in a lamp tomorrow and it'll explode and kill me.
Max: No, with your luck, you'll probably plug in that lamp, it'll explode, and kill everyone except you.
Leon: Hehehehe, true.
Max: He's going to give me a heart attack, I swear.
Vincent: Oh, I don't know, we've survived this long. I think we've still got a good run ahead of us.
15) HOW DO YOU IMAGINE YOUR DEATH TO BE?
Leon: Not with a bang, but a whimper, and all that jazz. I don't want to fade out before I die, but everyone dies alone.
Max: God your depressing. You're not very convincing either.
Leon: *grins* It sounded better than "I don't know."
Max: I don't think I'd mind a boring death, honestly. You know, retirement?
Vincent: I'd like to go out on my feet, facing an enemy.
Leon: Actually, I think I can agree with that, yeah.
16) YOU ARE TO BE PUT TO DEATH FOR A CRIME YOU DID NOT COMMIT, WHAT WOULD YOUR LAST WORDS BE?
Leon: What, again? Oh come on. Can't we just skip it? I mean, we all know how it's going to end. I'm going to get away and you're going to yell "Get heem!" but they won't, because there'll be some big Deus Ex Machina moment and...wait...did you say didn't commit? Oops. Forget all that, and get me a lawyer. Eheheh...*sweatdrop*
Max: *facepalms*
Leon: >.>;;;
Max: I think my last words would be along the lines of: I have the right to remain silent. Anything I say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Then I'd say some kind things about their mothers.
Vincent: Why even give them the satisfaction of last words?
Leon & Max: Because it's funny.
17) IF YOU'D HAVE WON THE LOTTERY, WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH THE MONEY?
Leon: I...Uhh...Ummm...*sits down to ponder*
Max: I'd probably give most of it away to friends or something.
Vincent: I'd probably keep or spend most of it, give some to the family, maybe.
Max: Come on, Leon, it's not that hard a question.
Leon: Yes it is!
Max: Why?
Leon: Insufficient data! The query is incomplete.
Max: Oi, don't go all sciencey on me, what do you mean?
Leon: They don't tell us how much we've won.
Max: Oh come on, dude! Seriously?!
Leon: Well, yeah. I mean, I'd like to keep enough to be more than comfortable, but I'd also want to give a ton of it to friends, and maybe charity if there was any left, but they don't tell us if there's enough!
Max: ...There, you just answered it, how hard was that?
Leon: But-
Max: Moving on! ...*mutters* and he thinks I'm the crazy one.
18) IF ANYONE CAME UP WITH A NICKNAME FOR YOU, WHICH WOULD IT BE?
Leon: You'd have to ask anyone who has a nickname for me, haha.
Max: I call him Fuzzball.
Leon: You do not!
Max: I do now.
Leon: Uh-huh. Whatever you say, Sugar-rush. Of course, Vince is pretty obvious.
Max: I call him Vinny.
Vincent: No you don't.
Max: I do now!
19) IF YOU'D BE FANTASTIC AT ONE SPORT, WHICH WOULD IT BE?
Max: I think Leon keeps all of us running around and trying to not die quite enough already, thank you very much.
Leon: You're welcome.
Max: Not what I...Oh never mind.
20) AND FINALLY, DO YOU HAVE ANY PHOBIAS?
Leon: Well...
Max: Skip the emo stuff, we've already heard it before.
Leon: Haha, fine. I'm not fond of spiders or heights.
Max: Which is funny because he captains a ship.
Leon: Hey, there's a big difference between the vacuum of space, and heights.
Max: Yeah, space is worse.
Leon: If I were meant to fly, I'dve been born with wings.
Max: Yes sir, Captain.
Leon: You can talk, Mr. Afraid-of-anything-with-six-or-more-legs.
Vincent: Compared to them, I'm fearless.
Leon: Yeah, we're working on that.
Max: We'll find something you're afraid of someday.
Vincent: That'll be the day.
Leon: Yes, it will.
Max: And there will be much rejoicing.
"...and he hasn't got a heeeaaad!!!"
Posted 16 years agoI'm sorry, but I just had to share this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoXBiyll6zw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXvqF-yXb8E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoXBiyll6zw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXvqF-yXb8E
65 Questions
Posted 16 years ago65 questions you've probably never been asked before, until now, which is totally untrue because I have been asked some of these before, several times, from 
Tache.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1. First thing you wash in the shower?
I usually spend about five minutes just standing in the water before I start any sort of process. I take long showers.
2. What color is your favorite hoodie?
I only have one hoodie, and it's, guess what, black.
3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?
I lack the requisite prior data to provide a satisfactory answer to your query.
4. Do you plan outfits?
Consider my wardrobe for a moment. I have black pants, I have jeans, and I have a ton of black t-shirts. There's nothing to plan, haha. It's grab and go. Well, grab, get dressed, then go...
5. How are you feeling RIGHT now?
Cold. Literally. I ought to turn up the heat.
6. What's the closest thing to you that is red?
A pen.
7. Tell me about the last dream you remember having?
Why is it that, when the aliens are invading or it's the apocalypse, nobody else ever notices? How many times do I have to say "urgent" and "emergency" before you stop what you're doing?! Damn oblivious people. I think you get the picture, haha.
8. Did you meet anybody new today?
Nope.
9. What are you craving right now?
I can smell cooking steak...*mouth waters*
10. Do you floss?
Sometimes.
11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage?
Cabbage...What? Too literal?
12. Are you emotional?
Yes and no. I don't typically act it, but it's there.
13. Have you ever counted to 1,000?
I don't think so.
14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it?
I don't eat it in a cone.
15. Do you like your hair?
Yes, yes I do.
16. Do you like yourself?
You've heard me use the term "self-loathing" many times, I'm sure.
17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush?
Well...Is he paying?
18. What are you listening to right now?
Marilyn Manson - Coma White
19. Are your parents strict?
Nope.
20. Would you go sky diving?
To quote Tache: HELL TO THE NO.
21. Do you like cottage cheese?
Yeah.
22. Have you ever met a celebrity?
Nope.
23. Do you rent movies often?
I've got a netflix, but I pirate more than I rent.
24. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in?
What's that about crystal lenses for the doom ray?
25. How many countries have you visited?
Aside from here, just Canada.
26. Have you made a prank phone call?
Oh, I think once.
27. Ever been on a train?
No.
28. Brown or white eggs?
Either or. Matters not to me.
29.Do you have a cell-phone?
No.
30. Do you use chap stick?
Nope.
31. Do you own a gun?
Nope. I'll have to scavenge one if the zombies come early.
32. Can you use chop sticks?
I use them all the time.
33. Who are you going to be with tonight?
Me, myself, and the secret government surveillance team.
34. Are you too forgiving?
Eh. Not really. There's a difference, to me, between letting something go, and really forgiving it.
35. Ever been in love?
Hard to say since I've never gotten past the crush stage, yeah?
36. What is your best friend(s) doing tomorrow?
Haha, I don't have the faintest clue.
37. Ever have cream puffs?
Sure.
38. Last time you cried?
I'm not sure exactly, that or I'm pleading the fifth, haha. Both, really.
39. What was the last question you asked?
"And what's your point?"
40. Favorite time of the year?
Spring or Fall.
41. Do you have any tattoos?
Nope.
42. Are you sarcastic?
No. NEVER. Me, sarcastic? I'm never sarcastic...*cough cough* Come on, haha, of course I am.
43. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect?
Yeah.
44. Ever walked into a wall?
Walls, no. Closed doors, three times...
45. Favorite color?
Green, black, and silver.
46. Have you ever slapped someone?
Nope.
47. Is your hair curly?
No.
48. What was the last CD you bought?
Last one I bought was The High End of Low - Marilyn Manson.
49. Do looks matter?
Sort of, but not really. They're basically bottom of the list, but if you're not attracted, then you're not going to last long.
50. Could you ever forgive a cheater?
I suppose it would depend on the circumstances, but probably not.
51. Is your phone bill sky high?
I have no phone of me own.
52. Do you like your life right now?
No, I don't, you've heard this many times from me before, haha.
53. Do you sleep with the TV on?
No. Hell, even the little light on my speakers can bug me...Which is odd because I usually sleep during the day...
54. Can you handle the truth?
I already got the truth. Can you tell how well I'm handling it? Ignorance is bliss.
55. Do you have good vision?
Pretty good, yeah.
56. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people?
*ahem* "Self-loathing misanthrope." Question answered?
57. How often do you talk on the phone?
Basically never. You already know I hate the damn things.
58. The last person you held hands with?
Ha, nobody.
59. What are you wearing?
The usual, haha.
60.What is your favourite animal?
Wolves, cats, big cats.
61. Where was your default picture taken at?
...it's an icon, not a photo.
62. Can you hula hoop?
I can't even remember the last time I saw a hula hoop, haha.
63. Do you have a job?
No, damn it, haha.
64. What was the most recent thing you bought?
Ummmmm...I, honestly, don't remember...
65. Have you ever crawled through a window?
Once, yeah.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
And now I shall depart to feast upon the aforementioned steak!
Tache.-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1. First thing you wash in the shower?
I usually spend about five minutes just standing in the water before I start any sort of process. I take long showers.
2. What color is your favorite hoodie?
I only have one hoodie, and it's, guess what, black.
3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?
I lack the requisite prior data to provide a satisfactory answer to your query.
4. Do you plan outfits?
Consider my wardrobe for a moment. I have black pants, I have jeans, and I have a ton of black t-shirts. There's nothing to plan, haha. It's grab and go. Well, grab, get dressed, then go...
5. How are you feeling RIGHT now?
Cold. Literally. I ought to turn up the heat.
6. What's the closest thing to you that is red?
A pen.
7. Tell me about the last dream you remember having?
Why is it that, when the aliens are invading or it's the apocalypse, nobody else ever notices? How many times do I have to say "urgent" and "emergency" before you stop what you're doing?! Damn oblivious people. I think you get the picture, haha.
8. Did you meet anybody new today?
Nope.
9. What are you craving right now?
I can smell cooking steak...*mouth waters*
10. Do you floss?
Sometimes.
11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage?
Cabbage...What? Too literal?
12. Are you emotional?
Yes and no. I don't typically act it, but it's there.
13. Have you ever counted to 1,000?
I don't think so.
14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it?
I don't eat it in a cone.
15. Do you like your hair?
Yes, yes I do.
16. Do you like yourself?
You've heard me use the term "self-loathing" many times, I'm sure.
17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush?
Well...Is he paying?
18. What are you listening to right now?
Marilyn Manson - Coma White
19. Are your parents strict?
Nope.
20. Would you go sky diving?
To quote Tache: HELL TO THE NO.
21. Do you like cottage cheese?
Yeah.
22. Have you ever met a celebrity?
Nope.
23. Do you rent movies often?
I've got a netflix, but I pirate more than I rent.
24. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in?
What's that about crystal lenses for the doom ray?
25. How many countries have you visited?
Aside from here, just Canada.
26. Have you made a prank phone call?
Oh, I think once.
27. Ever been on a train?
No.
28. Brown or white eggs?
Either or. Matters not to me.
29.Do you have a cell-phone?
No.
30. Do you use chap stick?
Nope.
31. Do you own a gun?
Nope. I'll have to scavenge one if the zombies come early.
32. Can you use chop sticks?
I use them all the time.
33. Who are you going to be with tonight?
Me, myself, and the secret government surveillance team.
34. Are you too forgiving?
Eh. Not really. There's a difference, to me, between letting something go, and really forgiving it.
35. Ever been in love?
Hard to say since I've never gotten past the crush stage, yeah?
36. What is your best friend(s) doing tomorrow?
Haha, I don't have the faintest clue.
37. Ever have cream puffs?
Sure.
38. Last time you cried?
I'm not sure exactly, that or I'm pleading the fifth, haha. Both, really.
39. What was the last question you asked?
"And what's your point?"
40. Favorite time of the year?
Spring or Fall.
41. Do you have any tattoos?
Nope.
42. Are you sarcastic?
No. NEVER. Me, sarcastic? I'm never sarcastic...*cough cough* Come on, haha, of course I am.
43. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect?
Yeah.
44. Ever walked into a wall?
Walls, no. Closed doors, three times...
45. Favorite color?
Green, black, and silver.
46. Have you ever slapped someone?
Nope.
47. Is your hair curly?
No.
48. What was the last CD you bought?
Last one I bought was The High End of Low - Marilyn Manson.
49. Do looks matter?
Sort of, but not really. They're basically bottom of the list, but if you're not attracted, then you're not going to last long.
50. Could you ever forgive a cheater?
I suppose it would depend on the circumstances, but probably not.
51. Is your phone bill sky high?
I have no phone of me own.
52. Do you like your life right now?
No, I don't, you've heard this many times from me before, haha.
53. Do you sleep with the TV on?
No. Hell, even the little light on my speakers can bug me...Which is odd because I usually sleep during the day...
54. Can you handle the truth?
I already got the truth. Can you tell how well I'm handling it? Ignorance is bliss.
55. Do you have good vision?
Pretty good, yeah.
56. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people?
*ahem* "Self-loathing misanthrope." Question answered?
57. How often do you talk on the phone?
Basically never. You already know I hate the damn things.
58. The last person you held hands with?
Ha, nobody.
59. What are you wearing?
The usual, haha.
60.What is your favourite animal?
Wolves, cats, big cats.
61. Where was your default picture taken at?
...it's an icon, not a photo.
62. Can you hula hoop?
I can't even remember the last time I saw a hula hoop, haha.
63. Do you have a job?
No, damn it, haha.
64. What was the most recent thing you bought?
Ummmmm...I, honestly, don't remember...
65. Have you ever crawled through a window?
Once, yeah.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
And now I shall depart to feast upon the aforementioned steak!
Typing with an accent?
Posted 16 years agoI've just been told something rather, well, odd, and a bit interesting. I, apparently, have an English accent...when I type...That's right, I've been told that I type with an accent. I'm not exactly sure how that works.
So, I put the question to you:
When you read what I type, do you hear it in an accent? Any accent, English or otherwise? If yes, why? If no, well, it's probably because you either know better, or because spellcheck hates it when I try to use English spelling...The bugger...
It actually begs a broader question, because text has no voice or tone, we have to project that onto what we read. We do it all the time without even thinking about it. Imagining a character's voice in a story, etc. So, how about it? What does it "sound" like to you when I type?
One last question for you, that I just thought of, about the power of suggestion. If you've never even thought about what my writing "sounds" like, did it suddenly take on that accent after the suggestion was made?
So, I put the question to you:
When you read what I type, do you hear it in an accent? Any accent, English or otherwise? If yes, why? If no, well, it's probably because you either know better, or because spellcheck hates it when I try to use English spelling...The bugger...
It actually begs a broader question, because text has no voice or tone, we have to project that onto what we read. We do it all the time without even thinking about it. Imagining a character's voice in a story, etc. So, how about it? What does it "sound" like to you when I type?
One last question for you, that I just thought of, about the power of suggestion. If you've never even thought about what my writing "sounds" like, did it suddenly take on that accent after the suggestion was made?
Thursday Morning Ramble "$0u1"
Posted 16 years agoAnother stream-of-consciousness and questions style ramble this week.
I apologize for the lack of depth or cohesion here, but [insert reiteration of emo stuff here] so, I'm suffering from a severe lack of motivation right now. I'm also very very tired, which doesn't help, haha.
Never one to shy away from a grandiose subject, this time I'm on about sentient machines, and whether or not they are alive and have a soul. I'm going to assume that the first sentient AI isn't going to be SkyNet. (SkyNet, if you're reading this: The next statement is a lie. The prior statement is true...There, I just saved yo ass from the robot apocalypse, humanity.)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Is it possible for a machine or a computer program to be alive? Where's the line? When does it become more than just passing a Turing test? Or is there no line? Is a machine always nothing more than that, a machine? What separates computers and the human mind? Programming. Just programming. The way they work is different, but both a computer and the brain serve the function of storing and accessing data. A computer controls its parts just like the brain controls the organs. Ah, but humans have something that a machine does not. We have emotions. Our emotions are supposed to be what make us human, but what are emotions, really? How do they function? What are emotions, if not a programmed response? The functioning of the brain affected by chemicals produced in response to internal and external stimuli in an attempt to guide human behavior towards instinctive goals. I don't mean to degrade emotion by saying this, but aim instead to identify it as a part of the human operating system. Where is that line between life and exceptional programming? What if you can't tell the difference between an AI and a person? Does that make it sentient, even if it's just the product of responsive programming? If we can't tell the difference between programming and a living response, does that mean it's sentient and alive? People are nothing if not exceptionally intricately programmed computers, why is it impossible that someday we could replicate that program? But then there's the elephant in the room (That I put there, right in the middle, with a little sign hanging on it that says "Soul. Do Not Eat."). The soul. What part of what makes us human is the soul? What exactly is a soul to begin with? Is it a psychological allegory, or something more? Can something be truly alive without a soul, and can a machine have a soul? Common sense says that a machine cannot have a soul, because it is built by the hands of man, but as I keep repeating, man is a machine, even if we are built by longer and much more delicate processes than engineering and programming, but that does not mean that we cannot someday duplicate the results (As for whether or not we should, that's another question for another time.). That doesn't really answer the question though, does it? Can a machine have a soul, and is it sentient and alive without one?
As seems to be the status quo, I've asked a whole lot of questions without giving any answers, except in the form of more questions. I'm hoping that you'll come to your own conclusions, but I can offer my own position on the matter. It comes down to the very nature of the universe. (Doesn't it always, with me.) Operating under the assumption that physical reality works the way we all think it does, then it comes to energy. Every rock, every person, every cell, every atom, electron, neutron, proton, every hadron, and quark is the same thing. Let's take it back to the Big Bang (ignoring the origin problem). Everything that was, is, and will be was compressed into one tiny little point of energy. The law of the conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only change states. (Yes, all this physics talk is going somewhere.) The theory of relativity tells us that mass and energy are the same thing, and therefore so are the particles that make up matter. Matter and energy are the same thing. You, me, the sun, black holes, galaxies, the entire universe, are all made from the same thing, from that one first point of exploding energy, and the universe is a closed system. Now you might see where I'm headed with all of this. A soul is something we don't have an adequate definition for. We don't really know what or if it is. I don't know what component of “humanity” or life a soul is. I do know that everything is connected in some way. Not just causally, or physically, but by our origin, by that energy that we are all made of. By that energy that makes us, flows in us, through us, between us, that that is everything that is. In a way that I would hazard to call spiritually. All is one. (If you'll permit me to be quotey: “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.”) I think a sentient machine is possible, and would be alive, it is life, it is a person, and it's just as likely to have a soul as you or I, because it is a part of the universal system, the unified whole. A being made from the stuff of stars.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Once again, apologies for the failure of my brain. This one could and should have been much better. I started cumbersome and I ended vague...Very shoddy writing...Oh well. Still, I think I managed my usual blend of psychology, philosophy, and physics in the end. If you take only one thing away from this, just remember: *points to the sign* Soul. Do Not Eat.
Before I head off, I've got a question for you. (Beyond my usual request for feedback, haha.) Is there any topic you'd like to hear me rant or ramble about? Something you'd like me to expand on, or something that you've wondered my position on? I won't promise that I'll actually take those suggestions, haha, but an expanded idea pool couldn't hurt, right?
I apologize for the lack of depth or cohesion here, but [insert reiteration of emo stuff here] so, I'm suffering from a severe lack of motivation right now. I'm also very very tired, which doesn't help, haha.
Never one to shy away from a grandiose subject, this time I'm on about sentient machines, and whether or not they are alive and have a soul. I'm going to assume that the first sentient AI isn't going to be SkyNet. (SkyNet, if you're reading this: The next statement is a lie. The prior statement is true...There, I just saved yo ass from the robot apocalypse, humanity.)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
$0u1Is it possible for a machine or a computer program to be alive? Where's the line? When does it become more than just passing a Turing test? Or is there no line? Is a machine always nothing more than that, a machine? What separates computers and the human mind? Programming. Just programming. The way they work is different, but both a computer and the brain serve the function of storing and accessing data. A computer controls its parts just like the brain controls the organs. Ah, but humans have something that a machine does not. We have emotions. Our emotions are supposed to be what make us human, but what are emotions, really? How do they function? What are emotions, if not a programmed response? The functioning of the brain affected by chemicals produced in response to internal and external stimuli in an attempt to guide human behavior towards instinctive goals. I don't mean to degrade emotion by saying this, but aim instead to identify it as a part of the human operating system. Where is that line between life and exceptional programming? What if you can't tell the difference between an AI and a person? Does that make it sentient, even if it's just the product of responsive programming? If we can't tell the difference between programming and a living response, does that mean it's sentient and alive? People are nothing if not exceptionally intricately programmed computers, why is it impossible that someday we could replicate that program? But then there's the elephant in the room (That I put there, right in the middle, with a little sign hanging on it that says "Soul. Do Not Eat."). The soul. What part of what makes us human is the soul? What exactly is a soul to begin with? Is it a psychological allegory, or something more? Can something be truly alive without a soul, and can a machine have a soul? Common sense says that a machine cannot have a soul, because it is built by the hands of man, but as I keep repeating, man is a machine, even if we are built by longer and much more delicate processes than engineering and programming, but that does not mean that we cannot someday duplicate the results (As for whether or not we should, that's another question for another time.). That doesn't really answer the question though, does it? Can a machine have a soul, and is it sentient and alive without one?
As seems to be the status quo, I've asked a whole lot of questions without giving any answers, except in the form of more questions. I'm hoping that you'll come to your own conclusions, but I can offer my own position on the matter. It comes down to the very nature of the universe. (Doesn't it always, with me.) Operating under the assumption that physical reality works the way we all think it does, then it comes to energy. Every rock, every person, every cell, every atom, electron, neutron, proton, every hadron, and quark is the same thing. Let's take it back to the Big Bang (ignoring the origin problem). Everything that was, is, and will be was compressed into one tiny little point of energy. The law of the conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only change states. (Yes, all this physics talk is going somewhere.) The theory of relativity tells us that mass and energy are the same thing, and therefore so are the particles that make up matter. Matter and energy are the same thing. You, me, the sun, black holes, galaxies, the entire universe, are all made from the same thing, from that one first point of exploding energy, and the universe is a closed system. Now you might see where I'm headed with all of this. A soul is something we don't have an adequate definition for. We don't really know what or if it is. I don't know what component of “humanity” or life a soul is. I do know that everything is connected in some way. Not just causally, or physically, but by our origin, by that energy that we are all made of. By that energy that makes us, flows in us, through us, between us, that that is everything that is. In a way that I would hazard to call spiritually. All is one. (If you'll permit me to be quotey: “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.”) I think a sentient machine is possible, and would be alive, it is life, it is a person, and it's just as likely to have a soul as you or I, because it is a part of the universal system, the unified whole. A being made from the stuff of stars.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Once again, apologies for the failure of my brain. This one could and should have been much better. I started cumbersome and I ended vague...Very shoddy writing...Oh well. Still, I think I managed my usual blend of psychology, philosophy, and physics in the end. If you take only one thing away from this, just remember: *points to the sign* Soul. Do Not Eat.
Before I head off, I've got a question for you. (Beyond my usual request for feedback, haha.) Is there any topic you'd like to hear me rant or ramble about? Something you'd like me to expand on, or something that you've wondered my position on? I won't promise that I'll actually take those suggestions, haha, but an expanded idea pool couldn't hurt, right?
I committed a logical fallacy...>.<
Posted 16 years agoI committed a logical fallacy. I actually said "It's not natural" out loud...Appeal to nature...Oh god, I feel dirty. >.<
XD
XD
A meme, followed by a quick apology.
Posted 16 years agoTaken from Tache.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kissed any one of your Furaffinity friends? — No.
Been arrested? — No.
Kissed someone you didn't like? — No.
Slept in until 5 PM? — Look, if you know anything about the way I sleep, you know that you could ask about any time and the answer would be yes, haha.
Fallen asleep at work/school? — Nope.
Held a snake? — Just little ones, like grass snakes, but yeah.
Ran a red light? — I don't even drive, haha.
Been suspended from school? — Nope.
Experienced love at first sight? — Not really.
Totaled your car in an accident? — No.
Been fired from a job? — They have to hire me first, don't they? Haha.
Fired somebody? — No.
Sung karaoke? — Oh god no, haha. I couldn't sing to save my life.
Pointed a gun at someone? — Shhhhhh...Nope, haha.
Did something you told yourself you wouldn't? — I can't think of anything specific at the moment, but I must've, everybody has.
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? — Thankfully, no, haha.
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? — Everyone has at some point.
Kissed in the rain? — No.
Had a close brush with death (your own)? — Eh. As a kid I was in the hospital for a period of time with a disease that I only recently found out is deadly. I don't think I came close to dying though. Then again, I didn't even know it was a possibility, so what do I know? Haha.
Saw someone die? — No.
Played Spin-the-Bottle? — Never.
Smoked a cigar? — Nope. Haha, can you picture it though?
Sat on a rooftop? — I've only been up on the one roof, and that was not a comfortable experience.
Smuggled something into another country? — No. Never! What do you mean plutonium?
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? — Nope.
Broken a bone? — Never.
Skipped school? — Skipped is such a negative word for it...Haha, yeah.
Eaten a bug? — Nope.
Walked on a moonlit beach? — No.
Ridden a motorcycle? — No.
Dumped someone? — No.
Forgotten your anniversary? — Don't have one to forget, haha.
Lied to avoid a ticket? — Nope. Piece of advice though, it never helps.
Ridden in a helicopter? — No.
Shaved your head? — Never. Gonna. Happen. Period.
Blacked out from drinking? — I don't even drink, haha.
Played a prank on someone? — I'm not sure prank is the word, but sure.
Hit a home run? — I don't play sports.
Felt like killing someone? — Seriously? Yes, I have.
Cross-dressed? — Nope.
Been falling-down drunk? — Haha, no.
Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? — Not really applicable, is it?
Eaten snake? — No, but I'd try it, sure.
Marched/Protested? — No.
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? — No.
Puked on an amusement ride? — I'm not sure I've ever been on one, haha.
Seriously & intentionally boycotted something? — Eh, not really.
Knitted? — Nope.
Been on TV? — No.
Shot a gun? — No, but someday I'd actually like to learn how to shoot properly. Those zombies won't kill themselves! Or will they? Depressed zombies?
Skinny-dipped? — No.
Given someone stitches? — Back-alley surgeon extraordinaire! I'll just take your kidney as payment...Haha, no.
Eaten a whole habenero pepper? — Nope.
Ridden a surfboard? — No.
Drunk straight from a liquor bottle? — No.
Had surgery? — Minor, yes.
Streaked? — No.
Been taken by ambulance to a hospital? — No.
Tripped on mushrooms? — Nope.
...when NOT drinking? — ...Wait...You meant literal, as in falling over, tripping...?
Peed on a bush? — No.
Donated Blood? — Nope
Grabbed electric fence? — Nopers.
Eaten alligator meat? — No, but it supposedly tastes like crab, which means I'd love to try it.
Eaten cheesecake? — Yeah.
Killed an animal when not hunting? — I am Leon, hunter of small things with six legs!!!
Peed your pants in public? — Hahaha, thank god, no.
Snuck into a movie without paying? — It's much easier to let other people do the sneaking, and download it later, haha.
Written graffiti? — No.
Still love someone you shouldn't? — No.
Think about the future? — All the time.
Been in handcuffs? — Nope.
Believe in love? — Believe? Yeah.
Bungee jump? - No. What, are trying to kill me?
Drowned? - Drowning is fatal, isn't it? I'm answering these questions, aren't I? You decide, am I or am I not deceased. *Brainnnnsssss...*
Kicked some guy in his jewels? - No.
Ass faced? - No.
Ever had suicidal thoughts? - More often than I should probably admit to, yeah.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Now, the aforementioned apology. It's a quick one. A few of you probably already know that I've been in a fairly bad mood for almost two weeks now, and have been having a horrible time sleeping to boot. I've hit one of my antisocial patches, which I hope means that it's come to a head. You may or may not have noticed me falling behind on comments/journals/submissions etc, and that's what I'd like to apologize for. So, sorry about my recent antisocial behavior, and thanks for bearing with my groaning.
Tache.-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kissed any one of your Furaffinity friends? — No.
Been arrested? — No.
Kissed someone you didn't like? — No.
Slept in until 5 PM? — Look, if you know anything about the way I sleep, you know that you could ask about any time and the answer would be yes, haha.
Fallen asleep at work/school? — Nope.
Held a snake? — Just little ones, like grass snakes, but yeah.
Ran a red light? — I don't even drive, haha.
Been suspended from school? — Nope.
Experienced love at first sight? — Not really.
Totaled your car in an accident? — No.
Been fired from a job? — They have to hire me first, don't they? Haha.
Fired somebody? — No.
Sung karaoke? — Oh god no, haha. I couldn't sing to save my life.
Pointed a gun at someone? — Shhhhhh...Nope, haha.
Did something you told yourself you wouldn't? — I can't think of anything specific at the moment, but I must've, everybody has.
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? — Thankfully, no, haha.
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? — Everyone has at some point.
Kissed in the rain? — No.
Had a close brush with death (your own)? — Eh. As a kid I was in the hospital for a period of time with a disease that I only recently found out is deadly. I don't think I came close to dying though. Then again, I didn't even know it was a possibility, so what do I know? Haha.
Saw someone die? — No.
Played Spin-the-Bottle? — Never.
Smoked a cigar? — Nope. Haha, can you picture it though?
Sat on a rooftop? — I've only been up on the one roof, and that was not a comfortable experience.
Smuggled something into another country? — No. Never! What do you mean plutonium?
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? — Nope.
Broken a bone? — Never.
Skipped school? — Skipped is such a negative word for it...Haha, yeah.
Eaten a bug? — Nope.
Walked on a moonlit beach? — No.
Ridden a motorcycle? — No.
Dumped someone? — No.
Forgotten your anniversary? — Don't have one to forget, haha.
Lied to avoid a ticket? — Nope. Piece of advice though, it never helps.
Ridden in a helicopter? — No.
Shaved your head? — Never. Gonna. Happen. Period.
Blacked out from drinking? — I don't even drink, haha.
Played a prank on someone? — I'm not sure prank is the word, but sure.
Hit a home run? — I don't play sports.
Felt like killing someone? — Seriously? Yes, I have.
Cross-dressed? — Nope.
Been falling-down drunk? — Haha, no.
Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? — Not really applicable, is it?
Eaten snake? — No, but I'd try it, sure.
Marched/Protested? — No.
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? — No.
Puked on an amusement ride? — I'm not sure I've ever been on one, haha.
Seriously & intentionally boycotted something? — Eh, not really.
Knitted? — Nope.
Been on TV? — No.
Shot a gun? — No, but someday I'd actually like to learn how to shoot properly. Those zombies won't kill themselves! Or will they? Depressed zombies?
Skinny-dipped? — No.
Given someone stitches? — Back-alley surgeon extraordinaire! I'll just take your kidney as payment...Haha, no.
Eaten a whole habenero pepper? — Nope.
Ridden a surfboard? — No.
Drunk straight from a liquor bottle? — No.
Had surgery? — Minor, yes.
Streaked? — No.
Been taken by ambulance to a hospital? — No.
Tripped on mushrooms? — Nope.
...when NOT drinking? — ...Wait...You meant literal, as in falling over, tripping...?
Peed on a bush? — No.
Donated Blood? — Nope
Grabbed electric fence? — Nopers.
Eaten alligator meat? — No, but it supposedly tastes like crab, which means I'd love to try it.
Eaten cheesecake? — Yeah.
Killed an animal when not hunting? — I am Leon, hunter of small things with six legs!!!
Peed your pants in public? — Hahaha, thank god, no.
Snuck into a movie without paying? — It's much easier to let other people do the sneaking, and download it later, haha.
Written graffiti? — No.
Still love someone you shouldn't? — No.
Think about the future? — All the time.
Been in handcuffs? — Nope.
Believe in love? — Believe? Yeah.
Bungee jump? - No. What, are trying to kill me?
Drowned? - Drowning is fatal, isn't it? I'm answering these questions, aren't I? You decide, am I or am I not deceased. *Brainnnnsssss...*
Kicked some guy in his jewels? - No.
Ass faced? - No.
Ever had suicidal thoughts? - More often than I should probably admit to, yeah.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Now, the aforementioned apology. It's a quick one. A few of you probably already know that I've been in a fairly bad mood for almost two weeks now, and have been having a horrible time sleeping to boot. I've hit one of my antisocial patches, which I hope means that it's come to a head. You may or may not have noticed me falling behind on comments/journals/submissions etc, and that's what I'd like to apologize for. So, sorry about my recent antisocial behavior, and thanks for bearing with my groaning.
Soundtrack
Posted 16 years agoStolen from 
Wrio.
When I saw this one didn't have the old "set to shuffle" rules attached to it, I had to jump on it. Finally, a chance to do this my way! Like I wouldn't have done it anyway...haha.
Opening Credits: The Doors - People Are Strange
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awi14wDTxNw
Waking Up: Marilyn Manson - A Place in the Dirt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db7cKiuOZ2U
First Day At School: Jonathan Coulton - The Future Soon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kEL_xwdp04
Falling in Love: Marilyn Manson - Coma White
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQPJYnr48yU
Breaking Up: Marilyn Manson - Tourniquet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y9jEjMtxgs
Prom: Alice In Chains - Nothin' Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-BpExMqS9s
(It apparently comes after the break up. What do you expect?)
Life’s Okay: REM - Living Well is the Best Revenge
(Ffff, no good video.)
Mental Breakdown: Marilyn Manson - Kinderfeld
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onxOxC276Po
Driving: Mr. Meeble - I Fell Through
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SytEOSmc9pk
Flashback: Mr. Meeble - Until I Grasp the Second
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDKOoWJbpng
(This song will either make you zone out or make you fall asleep.)
Getting Back Together: Marilyn Manson - Heart-Shaped Glasses
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvf1DMDTosk
(Yes, Manson again, haha.)
Wedding: Ashley MacIsaac - Wingstock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LggRIQ2GeA
(Not the best version...Give the song a couple minutes. Who says things can't be lively?)
Birth of a Child: REM - It's The End of the World as We Know It
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmxyj6iInMc
Final Battle: The Faceless - The Ancient Covenant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGjV24TD0c8
(I don't normally go in for growlers, but there's something I like about this band.)
Death Scene: Linkin Park - What I've Done
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMePM9Q-bYk
Funeral Song: Metallica - Hell Isn't Good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZMdgeZnG9M
(He's down there now, screaming up at us...XD)
End Credits: The Doors - The End
Wrio.When I saw this one didn't have the old "set to shuffle" rules attached to it, I had to jump on it. Finally, a chance to do this my way! Like I wouldn't have done it anyway...haha.
Opening Credits: The Doors - People Are Strange
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awi14wDTxNw
Waking Up: Marilyn Manson - A Place in the Dirt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db7cKiuOZ2U
First Day At School: Jonathan Coulton - The Future Soon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kEL_xwdp04
Falling in Love: Marilyn Manson - Coma White
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQPJYnr48yU
Breaking Up: Marilyn Manson - Tourniquet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y9jEjMtxgs
Prom: Alice In Chains - Nothin' Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-BpExMqS9s
(It apparently comes after the break up. What do you expect?)
Life’s Okay: REM - Living Well is the Best Revenge
(Ffff, no good video.)
Mental Breakdown: Marilyn Manson - Kinderfeld
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onxOxC276Po
Driving: Mr. Meeble - I Fell Through
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SytEOSmc9pk
Flashback: Mr. Meeble - Until I Grasp the Second
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDKOoWJbpng
(This song will either make you zone out or make you fall asleep.)
Getting Back Together: Marilyn Manson - Heart-Shaped Glasses
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvf1DMDTosk
(Yes, Manson again, haha.)
Wedding: Ashley MacIsaac - Wingstock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LggRIQ2GeA
(Not the best version...Give the song a couple minutes. Who says things can't be lively?)
Birth of a Child: REM - It's The End of the World as We Know It
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmxyj6iInMc
Final Battle: The Faceless - The Ancient Covenant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGjV24TD0c8
(I don't normally go in for growlers, but there's something I like about this band.)
Death Scene: Linkin Park - What I've Done
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMePM9Q-bYk
Funeral Song: Metallica - Hell Isn't Good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZMdgeZnG9M
(He's down there now, screaming up at us...XD)
End Credits: The Doors - The End
Meme time!
Posted 16 years ago Tache tagged everyone who read it, so here ya go!-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1.What was the last thing you put in your mouth?
Iced tea.
2.Where was your profile picture taken?
It was drawn, not taken, so...In the ether...?
3.Can you play Guitar Hero?
I'd be way out of practice, but set it on expert and give me that controller. Useless Life Skill #17
4.Name someone who made you laugh today?
I've been glued in front of a screen since I got up. I'll get back to you on this one.
5.How late did you stay up last night and why?
Uhhhh...Midnight, 2AM, somewhere in that neighborhood, I think. Two reasons: One, because I was watching tennis. Two, because my sleep has been jerking me around long enough now, it's time I showed it who's boss!
6.If you could move somewhere else, would you?
Anywhere? Can I go to the moon? Please? I want off this rock! Or Canada...I'd like to think living in another country would make me stop being upset about the things wrong here, but it wouldn't. Vermont's not a bad place to be, as places go.
7. Ever been kissed under fireworks?
Never been kissed. Period. Extrapolate relevant data.
8. Which of your friends lives closest to you?
A non-FA person who is a two and a half hour drive from here.
9. Do you believe ex's can be friends?
That's an extremely subjective situation for which I will not provide a generalized answer. It's not impossible, though.
10. How do you feel about Dr Pepper?
It's Dr. Pepper. What about it?
11. When was the last time you cried really hard?
"Really hard?" Oh god, I don't know, haha.
12. Who took your profile picture?
Once again, drawn, not taken.
Sanurapanthress did.13. Who was the last person you took a picture of?
Ha, probably myself.
14. Was yesterday better than today?
I spent the entirety of yesterday wasting time with flash games. I will probably waste the entirety of today watching Doctor Who. I guess that'll turn out better, haha.
15. Can you live a day without TV?
Yeah, sure.
16. Are you upset about anything?
Not this precise instant.
17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it?
The right ones are.
18. Are you a bad influence?
You tell me, haha.
19. Night out or night in?
I'll take the night in basically every time.
20. What items could you not go without during the day?
For how long? I could go a few days without basically anything, but don't strand me too long without internet access.
21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital?
Uhhh, paternal grandfather. That was, what, a year ago? Two years? More? I don't know.
22. What does the last text message in your inbox say?
"Thank you!"
23. How do you feel about your life right now?
I'm isolated, overweight, unemployed, minus a real education, my only friends are on the internet, I have no love life to speak of, no self-worth, no self-confidence, self-loathing in abundance, a family with no relation to itself, a financial mess I'll eventually inherit, and the whole world is going to hell in a hand-basket. How do you think I feel about it?
24. Do you hate anyone?
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Not a question to ask a self-loathing misanthrope.
25. If we were to look in your FA inbox, what would we find?
A couple comments to reply to.
26. Has anyone ever called you perfect before?
Hahahahahahahahaha *gasp-inhale* ahahahahahahahahaha. NO.
27. What song is stuck in your head?
"And as she's getting ready to go, a knock comes on the door...Bang bang, Maxwell's Silver Hammer came down upon her head! Clang clang, Maxwell's Silver Hammer made sure that she was dead." I can't get that song out of there!!!
28. Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., who do you want it to be?
More importantly, who did you steal the ladder from?
29.Wanna have grandkids before you’re 50?
Oh dear god no. Generally speaking, I don't even like kids.
30. Name something you have to do tomorrow?
Eat, do nothing, sleep, rinse and repeat.
31. Do you think too much or too little?
Too much. Waaaaay too much.
32. Do you smile a lot?
Not really.
Thurday Moring Ramble "Questions"
Posted 16 years agoI'm pretty braindead at the moment, so I'm afraid I don't have a long and well edited essay for you. Actually, you might find the divergence from an essay preferable. This is very short, by comparison. I'm still trying to find the right balance for this between essay and blog. (Feedback? Which do you prefer? Thought to page, or edited essay?) So, this is exactly what it says on the tin. It's a stream of consciousness. It's a string of thoughts that occurred to me while I was trying to get to sleep. I ended up writing it down. My mind will go to one of three places if it's allowed to wander. This is one of them. If you know me, then you know this is a subject I frequent.
Why is a rose red? A rose is red because the sub-atomic structure of its pigment reflects photons at a longer wavelength that, when caught by the human eye, is decoded by our brain as the color red. Does this make the rose more or less beautiful?
What is light? Light is something the brain uses to collect sensory data on its environment. Light consists of sub-atomic particles, called photons, carried in a radiating waveform. These particles are caught by membranes in our eyes and result in the capacity for sight. Sight is, essentially, the same as echo location, but with different vibrations.
Have you ever wondered how echo location works for the bat? I mean, we know how echo location functions, but how does the bat perceive it? What kind of mental image is created for the bat? How does its brain decode the information in a way the bat can use? In essence, what does our world look like through the eyes and ears of a bat?
“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” No. Sound is defined as the sensation caused by the vibration of the eardrum. If no one is there to receive the vibrations in the air, then there is no sound. The vibrations still occur, but the sound only exists if it is perceived.
You've never actually touched the world. The sensation of touch and rigidity of objects is a result of the magnetic interaction between sub-atomic particles. The atoms in my hand are not actually touching the pen or paper.
We know the world from sensation alone. What if the world disappears when we aren't looking at it? How do you know if it doesn't? You don't. How do you know if it does? You don't.
So, what is or isn't real? Is reality determined by perception? Is what the stage magician does real, if you don't know the trick? Or is reality a fundamental truth, the evidence of which is provided by our senses? How important is perception to reality?
Stream of ConsciousnessWhy is a rose red? A rose is red because the sub-atomic structure of its pigment reflects photons at a longer wavelength that, when caught by the human eye, is decoded by our brain as the color red. Does this make the rose more or less beautiful?
What is light? Light is something the brain uses to collect sensory data on its environment. Light consists of sub-atomic particles, called photons, carried in a radiating waveform. These particles are caught by membranes in our eyes and result in the capacity for sight. Sight is, essentially, the same as echo location, but with different vibrations.
Have you ever wondered how echo location works for the bat? I mean, we know how echo location functions, but how does the bat perceive it? What kind of mental image is created for the bat? How does its brain decode the information in a way the bat can use? In essence, what does our world look like through the eyes and ears of a bat?
“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” No. Sound is defined as the sensation caused by the vibration of the eardrum. If no one is there to receive the vibrations in the air, then there is no sound. The vibrations still occur, but the sound only exists if it is perceived.
You've never actually touched the world. The sensation of touch and rigidity of objects is a result of the magnetic interaction between sub-atomic particles. The atoms in my hand are not actually touching the pen or paper.
We know the world from sensation alone. What if the world disappears when we aren't looking at it? How do you know if it doesn't? You don't. How do you know if it does? You don't.
So, what is or isn't real? Is reality determined by perception? Is what the stage magician does real, if you don't know the trick? Or is reality a fundamental truth, the evidence of which is provided by our senses? How important is perception to reality?
The Controversial Survey
Posted 16 years agoThis was so painfully easy for me, haha. Does that make me an opinionated bastard? No? Awww...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Stolen from Wrio
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[01] Do you have the guts to answer these questions and re-post as The Controversial Survey?
No. I don't. Not at all. That's why I'm doing it.
[02] Would you do meth if it was legalized?
Psychosis, paranoia, delusional parasitosis, anxiety, tooth loss, loss of liver and kidney function, open sores. All for some super caffeine rush? No thank you. Not interested.
[03] Abortion: for or against it?
Interesting. Nobody is "for" abortion. (Clever choice of name, by the way, pro-lifers. Makes pro-choice seem automatically anti-life. Appeal to emotion. Nicely done.) Okay, I'll bite. Yes, I am for abortion, in the cases where the child would have a poor quality of life, either due to physical ailment, or poor environment, or in the case that it would effect the health of the mother, or she was raped. NOT as a matter of convenience, because you know what else I'm for? Not getting pregnant if you shouldn't be having a baby.
[04] Do you think the world would fail with a female president?
Pfff, NO, haha. As if it isn't failing now. The ability to lead or govern has nothing to do with sex or gender.
[05] Do you believe in the death penalty?
Interesting fact: The death penalty costs more tax dollars than a life sentence. Not a single criminal has learned from the example. Many innocent people (and I mean PROVEN innocent, thanks to DNA) have been put to death. It's ineffective, and a waste of time, energy, emotion, life, and money. No. There are cases where I would say that it seems appropriate, but even then it's really just a waste.
[06] Do you wish marijuana would be legalized already?
Yes. Seriously. Yes. It would be about damn time. As a drug it's much less harmful than either alcohol or tobacco, and as a plant it's much more useful. There is really no good reason for it be illegal, especially when shone next to what is legal. (Unless you want alcohol to be illegal, and solve that hypocrisy) Restrict it, so the people who are still undergoing brain development won't be getting their hands on it (legally), and there shouldn't be a problem. Oh, and by the way, impoverished government? Think of the taxes! Think of it paying for health-care in this country!
[07] Are you for or against premarital sex?
Honestly? Couldn't. Care. Less. For me, personally, sex is something you do with someone you love. Marriage may or may not enter into that. But like I said, personal stance. It's like preferring Nabisco to Keebler. I don't really care.
[08] Do you believe in God?
Sort of. That's really the best answer I can give, and it's difficult to elaborate. Calling me agnostic is much easier, even if it isn't precise.
[09] Do you think same sex marriage should be legalized?
Of course! Clearly! Obviously! Seriously, give me one good reason why it shouldn't be. Give me one good reason why two people who love each other shouldn't be allowed to see each other in the hospital. Give me one good reason that two men or two women shouldn't have the same legal rights as everyone else. Give me one good reason why, in a country where there is separation of church and state, religion is law. (And it's not just Christianity. It's basically every religion ever. The ones that bother with that, at least.)
[10] Do you think it's wrong that so many Hispanics are illegally moving to the USA?
Eh. The wrong thing about it is that because they're "illegals" employers can exploit them for cheap labor. In most cases, if they thought they could have come through legally they wouldn't have "hopped the fence." In many cases they pay "coyotes" to run them across, then get left in the desert to die. It's not a pleasant situation on either side of the border, but "cracking down" is not the answer. Open and welcoming arms are.
[11] A twelve year old girl has a baby, should she keep it?
One question: Can she adequately care for it? If yes, then yes. It was her choice to have it, so it's her responsibility. If no, then no. As much as I'd like to saddle the mother with the weight of her actions, it's better for the infant if she doesn't.
[12] Should the alcohol age be lowered to eighteen?
Oh no. Oh dear god no. Please. Enough people go out and get smashed already. (Both figuratively, and literally, in the car later.) We don't need teenagers getting in on it too. Enough already are as it is.
[13] Should the war in Iraq be called off?
Yes. Both wars, actually. We're not winning over the locals. We're only further entrenching the ideology. We're treating it like a nation, like those lines on the map are impenetrable walls. The region doesn't behave like a nation. It never has behaved like a nation. We're doing exactly, step for step, what Russia did right before it fell. Not even Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan could conquer the region. At this point, unless you advocate nuking the entire middle-east, we need to leave. Yes, it would be sad to leave the innocent people in that environment, but what's worse? Leaving them, or losing hundreds and thousands of soldiers lives before we realize we have to leave anyway? That's not even counting the billions of dollars we're wasting every day. We're fighting an idea. An idea doesn't have borders. An idea can't be shot, can't be bombed. We cannot win this war. There is nothing to win. We need to cut our losses, and run. Quickly.
[14] Assisted suicide is illegal: do you agree?
I, actually, find it odd that suicide is illegal at all. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating suicide, not at all. However, A man is not truly free if he does not have the freedom to end his own life if he chooses to. As sad and horrible as suicide is, I don't think it's a legal matter. At all.
[15] Do you believe in spanking your children?
Nope. It doesn't work better than anything else, and they'll just hate you for it more later. Unless we're talking something like, did your child put someone in the hospital? 'Cause then...You know what you should do in that situation though? This would be awesome. Keep a tally of all the medical bills or damages or anything that you would be liable for despite it being the child's responsibility. Then sue them when they turn eighteen.
[16] Would you burn an American flag for a million dollars?
In a heartbeat. Believe me, my family and I could use that money a whole hell of a lot more than this place needs another flag. It's not like I'd be doing it out of vitriol. Doesn't help that I'm not the most patriotic person in the world. I was born here. Not like I had a choice in the matter, so why get proud and loud about it? Same answer would be true no matter where I lived.
[17] Are you afraid others will judge you from reading some of your answers?
No. People are judging all the time. It's a survival function. Some people assume the best, some assume the worst. I answered all of this honestly. These are my firmly held positions. If you're going to judge me based on anything, I'd say this is a pretty good thing to judge me on.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Stolen from
Wrio-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[01] Do you have the guts to answer these questions and re-post as The Controversial Survey?
No. I don't. Not at all. That's why I'm doing it.
[02] Would you do meth if it was legalized?
Psychosis, paranoia, delusional parasitosis, anxiety, tooth loss, loss of liver and kidney function, open sores. All for some super caffeine rush? No thank you. Not interested.
[03] Abortion: for or against it?
Interesting. Nobody is "for" abortion. (Clever choice of name, by the way, pro-lifers. Makes pro-choice seem automatically anti-life. Appeal to emotion. Nicely done.) Okay, I'll bite. Yes, I am for abortion, in the cases where the child would have a poor quality of life, either due to physical ailment, or poor environment, or in the case that it would effect the health of the mother, or she was raped. NOT as a matter of convenience, because you know what else I'm for? Not getting pregnant if you shouldn't be having a baby.
[04] Do you think the world would fail with a female president?
Pfff, NO, haha. As if it isn't failing now. The ability to lead or govern has nothing to do with sex or gender.
[05] Do you believe in the death penalty?
Interesting fact: The death penalty costs more tax dollars than a life sentence. Not a single criminal has learned from the example. Many innocent people (and I mean PROVEN innocent, thanks to DNA) have been put to death. It's ineffective, and a waste of time, energy, emotion, life, and money. No. There are cases where I would say that it seems appropriate, but even then it's really just a waste.
[06] Do you wish marijuana would be legalized already?
Yes. Seriously. Yes. It would be about damn time. As a drug it's much less harmful than either alcohol or tobacco, and as a plant it's much more useful. There is really no good reason for it be illegal, especially when shone next to what is legal. (Unless you want alcohol to be illegal, and solve that hypocrisy) Restrict it, so the people who are still undergoing brain development won't be getting their hands on it (legally), and there shouldn't be a problem. Oh, and by the way, impoverished government? Think of the taxes! Think of it paying for health-care in this country!
[07] Are you for or against premarital sex?
Honestly? Couldn't. Care. Less. For me, personally, sex is something you do with someone you love. Marriage may or may not enter into that. But like I said, personal stance. It's like preferring Nabisco to Keebler. I don't really care.
[08] Do you believe in God?
Sort of. That's really the best answer I can give, and it's difficult to elaborate. Calling me agnostic is much easier, even if it isn't precise.
[09] Do you think same sex marriage should be legalized?
Of course! Clearly! Obviously! Seriously, give me one good reason why it shouldn't be. Give me one good reason why two people who love each other shouldn't be allowed to see each other in the hospital. Give me one good reason that two men or two women shouldn't have the same legal rights as everyone else. Give me one good reason why, in a country where there is separation of church and state, religion is law. (And it's not just Christianity. It's basically every religion ever. The ones that bother with that, at least.)
[10] Do you think it's wrong that so many Hispanics are illegally moving to the USA?
Eh. The wrong thing about it is that because they're "illegals" employers can exploit them for cheap labor. In most cases, if they thought they could have come through legally they wouldn't have "hopped the fence." In many cases they pay "coyotes" to run them across, then get left in the desert to die. It's not a pleasant situation on either side of the border, but "cracking down" is not the answer. Open and welcoming arms are.
[11] A twelve year old girl has a baby, should she keep it?
One question: Can she adequately care for it? If yes, then yes. It was her choice to have it, so it's her responsibility. If no, then no. As much as I'd like to saddle the mother with the weight of her actions, it's better for the infant if she doesn't.
[12] Should the alcohol age be lowered to eighteen?
Oh no. Oh dear god no. Please. Enough people go out and get smashed already. (Both figuratively, and literally, in the car later.) We don't need teenagers getting in on it too. Enough already are as it is.
[13] Should the war in Iraq be called off?
Yes. Both wars, actually. We're not winning over the locals. We're only further entrenching the ideology. We're treating it like a nation, like those lines on the map are impenetrable walls. The region doesn't behave like a nation. It never has behaved like a nation. We're doing exactly, step for step, what Russia did right before it fell. Not even Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan could conquer the region. At this point, unless you advocate nuking the entire middle-east, we need to leave. Yes, it would be sad to leave the innocent people in that environment, but what's worse? Leaving them, or losing hundreds and thousands of soldiers lives before we realize we have to leave anyway? That's not even counting the billions of dollars we're wasting every day. We're fighting an idea. An idea doesn't have borders. An idea can't be shot, can't be bombed. We cannot win this war. There is nothing to win. We need to cut our losses, and run. Quickly.
[14] Assisted suicide is illegal: do you agree?
I, actually, find it odd that suicide is illegal at all. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating suicide, not at all. However, A man is not truly free if he does not have the freedom to end his own life if he chooses to. As sad and horrible as suicide is, I don't think it's a legal matter. At all.
[15] Do you believe in spanking your children?
Nope. It doesn't work better than anything else, and they'll just hate you for it more later. Unless we're talking something like, did your child put someone in the hospital? 'Cause then...You know what you should do in that situation though? This would be awesome. Keep a tally of all the medical bills or damages or anything that you would be liable for despite it being the child's responsibility. Then sue them when they turn eighteen.
[16] Would you burn an American flag for a million dollars?
In a heartbeat. Believe me, my family and I could use that money a whole hell of a lot more than this place needs another flag. It's not like I'd be doing it out of vitriol. Doesn't help that I'm not the most patriotic person in the world. I was born here. Not like I had a choice in the matter, so why get proud and loud about it? Same answer would be true no matter where I lived.
[17] Are you afraid others will judge you from reading some of your answers?
No. People are judging all the time. It's a survival function. Some people assume the best, some assume the worst. I answered all of this honestly. These are my firmly held positions. If you're going to judge me based on anything, I'd say this is a pretty good thing to judge me on.
Thursday Morning Ramble "Redemption."
Posted 16 years agoThis is not what I had planned for today's ramble, but it was completely spontaneous, and it works. More of a rant than a ramble, I guess, but still...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Also, writing update! My momentum on that last project I previewed really bottomed out on me. HOWEVER I AM STILL WORKING ON IT! So, progress is painfully slow, but progress is still being made.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Today a conversation about a movie morphed into something more, and I quite inadvertently came across a major sociological flaw.
For the record, the movie being discussed was The Bucket List. I have not actually seen this movie, and this is therefore not a judgment of the film itself. (By the way, have any of you seen it? Was it any good?) I took issue with the idea behind the character portrayed by Jack Nicholson. Now, I will say one last time that I have not seen the film, so please forgive me for any wild inaccuracies. As I understand it, Nicholson plays a typical "mean rich old man." He's greedy, selfish, cruel, and responsible for ruining lives. Yet the movie we see is supposed to be his redemption. It's supposed to make us feel good and heart-warmed that in the last months of his life he turns his life around, and becomes "a good man."
This is where the conversation shifted.
This type of story in a movie isn't the problem. It's the symptom.
How many times have we heard this exact story? We hear it all the time. Darth Vader tyrannizes the galaxy, returns to the lightside. A jock bully learns the error of his ways. The introvert comes out of his shell. Man gets convicted, given life in prison, finds Jesus. Celebrity gets drunk, gets sent to jail, reads the Bible. Man cheats on his wife, sees the light.
We are inundated with redemption stories. We see this every day. People beg for forgiveness while on their deathbeds. People fear for their souls after they've committed a crime. It's not remorse. Not really. It's fear.
I'm sure the exact same things happen in other cultures with the local religion, but in this country it seems to stem from the logical extreme of Christianity. Go to confession and say a few prayers, everything will be alright. Accept Christ as your savior and all your sins will be wiped away. Ask for forgiveness and it shall be granted. We've fostered a society that seems think that we can do the worst things and repent later. So many people seem to have accepted this idea. How can anyone honestly believe that they can do whatever they want, and it's all alright so long as they say sorry afterward? Actions cannot be undone. If you've killed a man, apologizing won't bring him back to life. If you've taken money, apologizing won't pay it back. I'm not trying to say that apologies are worthless, if you're truly remorseful, but compared to living a decent life, or compared to a crime, they don't weigh much.
I don't care what religion you are, listen to me.
Live your life well.
You don't get to kill.
You don't get to steal.
You don't get to maim.
You don't get to rape.
You don't get to bankrupt.
You don't get to destroy.
You don't get to abuse.
You don't get to be redeemed.
You don't get to be saved.
Fear is not remorse.
Your last moments do not outweigh your life.
Live your life well.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Also, writing update! My momentum on that last project I previewed really bottomed out on me. HOWEVER I AM STILL WORKING ON IT! So, progress is painfully slow, but progress is still being made.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
RedemptionToday a conversation about a movie morphed into something more, and I quite inadvertently came across a major sociological flaw.
For the record, the movie being discussed was The Bucket List. I have not actually seen this movie, and this is therefore not a judgment of the film itself. (By the way, have any of you seen it? Was it any good?) I took issue with the idea behind the character portrayed by Jack Nicholson. Now, I will say one last time that I have not seen the film, so please forgive me for any wild inaccuracies. As I understand it, Nicholson plays a typical "mean rich old man." He's greedy, selfish, cruel, and responsible for ruining lives. Yet the movie we see is supposed to be his redemption. It's supposed to make us feel good and heart-warmed that in the last months of his life he turns his life around, and becomes "a good man."
This is where the conversation shifted.
This type of story in a movie isn't the problem. It's the symptom.
How many times have we heard this exact story? We hear it all the time. Darth Vader tyrannizes the galaxy, returns to the lightside. A jock bully learns the error of his ways. The introvert comes out of his shell. Man gets convicted, given life in prison, finds Jesus. Celebrity gets drunk, gets sent to jail, reads the Bible. Man cheats on his wife, sees the light.
We are inundated with redemption stories. We see this every day. People beg for forgiveness while on their deathbeds. People fear for their souls after they've committed a crime. It's not remorse. Not really. It's fear.
I'm sure the exact same things happen in other cultures with the local religion, but in this country it seems to stem from the logical extreme of Christianity. Go to confession and say a few prayers, everything will be alright. Accept Christ as your savior and all your sins will be wiped away. Ask for forgiveness and it shall be granted. We've fostered a society that seems think that we can do the worst things and repent later. So many people seem to have accepted this idea. How can anyone honestly believe that they can do whatever they want, and it's all alright so long as they say sorry afterward? Actions cannot be undone. If you've killed a man, apologizing won't bring him back to life. If you've taken money, apologizing won't pay it back. I'm not trying to say that apologies are worthless, if you're truly remorseful, but compared to living a decent life, or compared to a crime, they don't weigh much.
I don't care what religion you are, listen to me.
Live your life well.
You don't get to kill.
You don't get to steal.
You don't get to maim.
You don't get to rape.
You don't get to bankrupt.
You don't get to destroy.
You don't get to abuse.
You don't get to be redeemed.
You don't get to be saved.
Fear is not remorse.
Your last moments do not outweigh your life.
Live your life well.
