SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
No bio...
User ID: 225
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
12hr ago
If the bureaucracy is so bad that bribery is preferable, that doesn't make corruption not bad. In that case, both the official process and the corruption are bad.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
18hr ago
I oppose the idea that all "real science" is objective, since this fuels fields which are inhuman and which promote the inhuman as better than what's human.
Your complaint seems orthogonal to whether we define science as only including the objective. I personally think that the true issue is not how we define science, but the almost-religious fervor people have for science. I quite agree that science is not some final arbiter of truth, and that many important things are completely outside the purview of science. I also think it's fair to say that anything which is not objective isn't real science, though. The two aren't in conflict.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
1d ago
Huh. Never thought I would see my alma mater in the wild. The world is small, I guess.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
1d ago
I've been kind of afraid of that. I enjoyed the short story collections quite a bit, but with the shift to full novels I know I might not enjoy it as much. But we'll see.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
2d ago
I picked up a few books at the bookstore yesterday. Wind And Truth by Sanderson, On Living And Dying Well by Cicero, Blood Of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski, and an illustrated selection of Hagakure passages. The last one is really nice in particular, it is bound in traditional Chinese fashion and has lots of Japanese illustrations to go with. The only thing I'm not stoked about is that it's only a selection of passages, not the whole thing - but it's such a nice edition that I still enjoy it. Have only started Hagakure so far, but I'll start the others soon enough.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
2d ago
I've been on a cruise with my wife (back before we were married). It was really nice, although I did get horrible motion sickness. We were on a 3-day cruise from Miami to Nassau and back, and I would like to do a longer cruise - but I also worry about the motion sickness aspect. I've heard great things about the patches, but would kinda like to try it on a shorter cruise before I commit to a longer one.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
2d ago
Right but I don't see why "start school in the dark" is something you put out there like it's an obvious nonstarter. That seems perfectly fine. Ditto for getting home in the dark. The state of the sun when I'm going about my day doesn't matter to me in the slightest, and I fail to understand why it matters to some people here.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
2d ago
Yeah I dunno man. It probably goes without saying, but I'm equally baffled that there are people who genuinely care whether the sun is up when they get up. I believe you, I just can't understand it on a visceral level. Maybe it's the difference between morning people and night owls? I find waking up to be kind of unpleasant no matter what the light is like, so I guess maybe if I didn't feel that way I would notice more of a difference. Not sure though.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
2d ago
The point is that Rov_Scam called the people moronic, not the arguments. Upon reflection I probably just should've let it pass, but I do object to the characterization that I was starting a fight. He came in starting a fight by calling names, not me. But yes, I shouldn't have continued the fight and you're correct about that.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
2d ago
Obviously I haven't seen every artist's work (who can, there's only so many hours in the day). But I have not seen anyone else whose work I liked more.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
2d ago
I'm not being antagonistic, or at least not moreso than he was. I didn't personally attack him (deliberately so), yet he is directly calling people morons. I don't think I'm breaking the rules to say his argument is weak.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
2d ago
Dude nobody gives a shit about how early or late it gets light. It's not a big deal. Changing clocks, on the other hand, is an inconvenience for everyone and it messes with time calculation as the Count rightly pointed out. If you're going to call people "moronic" you best bring an argument better than this weaksauce "oh no it'll be dark when I get up for work" shit.
Nobody is saying that changing clocks is the biggest inconvenience in the world. The point is that there's no corresponding benefit, so why keep it?
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
3d ago
Right, but contrary to what Prima said that has to do with the finish applied to the wood. The form of the wood isn't causing the lack of splinters.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
3d ago
Yeah I have never seen anyone complain about Thomas Kinkade who wasn't being an insufferable snob about it. I get it, I'm snobbish about some things too. But I don't care what the "art community" says: Thomas Kinkade makes better art than most of the rest of them put together, because fuck man at least he understands that people want art to be beautiful. Beauty is subjective and all that, but modern "artists" are so busy sniffing their own farts that they have completely lost touch with what the profession is supposed to be about.
Also while I'm at it: Bob Ross was the greatest visual artist of the 20th century and the fact that we don't have his stuff in a museum instead of literal garbage like bananas duct taped to walls is an utter travesty.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
5d ago
Oh yeah that's a good one too! And:
To my knowledge, tech companies are chomping at the bit to hire female talent...
This is absolutely correct in my experience. Having a vagina is pretty much a cheat code for your career, from what I have seen. You aren't guaranteed to get jobs just because of that, but you have an automatic edge over everyone else. Ditto if you are black, and I would imagine the effect stacks if you're a black woman.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
5d ago
The logic doesn't work that way. The proposition Randall makes is "dowsing works" => "companies would use it". If that statement is true (let's just say it is), then the contrapositive "companies don't use it" => "dowsing doesn't work" is also true. But your proposition is the converse of Randall's, which is not automatically true when the original proposition is true.
My personal favorite implication which Randall almost certainly didn't intend (and I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of those @Folamh3 has in mind) is that his logic disproves the gender pay gap (as stated by feminists anyways). If companies could in fact hire equally effective women for 70% of male wages, they would hire only women if at all possible. Every company would jump at the chance to cut their labor costs by 30% with no drawbacks! But they don't, which means that there is some drawback to hiring women, which means the gender pay gap isn't explained by just sexism.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
5d ago
I don't think they truly believed this, but then again I find it hard to believe most Christians in general truly believe.
Frankly, that seems to me to be a failure of imagination on your part. Most people believe their religion, regardless of what it is.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
5d ago
Before I try to address your post, it's important to note that some of the answers here are going to vary a lot based on denomination. The basic doctrine of "repent for sins, get forgiven" is the same across every denomination, but once you get into the details things vary. So just bear in mind that on some of the things I'm saying there isn't a monolithic Christian viewpoint. I'm giving you the Catholic viewpoint.
Forget about the whore - Kony embraces God and he's alright? The thug who murders someone's whole family sincerely converts and is forgiven - but the victim goes to hell because she can't let go of her hatred for this bastard?
There are a few misconceptions here. First, hell is not a punishment for acts we have committed. Hell is what happens when you have chosen being apart from God during this life - once you die, you get what you wanted and are separated from him in the afterlife. It is miserable not because God wishes to punish people, but because he is the source of all good things. So by separating yourself from him, you wind up in a place where you can only experience bad things. But as CS Lewis memorably put it, the gates of hell are locked from the inside.
Second, Catholics believe that after you die (if you are going to end up in heaven) you will go through a period of purgation as the stain of sins you committed is erased (through means we can only guess at, but it's generally believed it will be painful). Yes, God forgives you for your sins, but they still happened and they still have consequences for you. And based on the exact sins you committed, you will suffer a varying amount as your soul is purified.
Third, all people are equally flawed compared to God (because they are being compared to a perfect standard), but not all sins are ones which mean you will go to hell. Remember, that hell is really about choosing sin over God and not a punishment, so only some sins are so serious that they constitute a break in your relationship with God. The example Bishop Barron gives (which I found helpful) is to use the analogy of a person who does something inconsiderate toward a friend. Some things are minor and weaken the relationship, but don't destroy it. But some things are so serious that the friendship is dead afterwards because of the level of disregard shown.
So to go back to your example of a murderer and the family of one of his victims. The murderer will not be in hell, because he repented and God is merciful. But he will very likely have to suffer the consequences of his sin in purgatory. Meanwhile, the family member will probably also not go to hell, because her hatred is not a mortal sin. She will also have to suffer the consequences of that sin in purgatory, but they will probably be less than what the other person suffers because the sin was not as serious.
Real justice systems don't work this way, there is no unlimited forgiveness and for very good reason.
God is not running a justice system with the various factors that they need to take into account. Like I said, hell is about your relationship with God and not punishment for sins.
I feel confident that the vast majority of Christians in history did not truly believe this
It's official church teaching and has been since the very beginning. That doesn't mean that the actual people truly believed it, but the doctrine is very clear on this point.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
6d ago
Fair enough, I wouldn't blame you at all for doing so.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
6d ago
Twilight Princess is great, but yeah the Midna thing with some of the fans is hella weird. She does tell you the whole time that the imp form isn't what she normally looks like. And when you do finally see her with the curse broken, she is a fairly normal (for a fantasy setting) young woman. But generally you don't see the fans gushing over the real Midna, it's always her imp form.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
6d ago
Do religious people actually genuinely believe that those who willingly perform such stunts are capable of having all their sins washed away?
"Religious people" is a big group but I'll speak for Christians at least: yes, we do. Christian teaching is crystal clear that God will forgive any and all who repent of their sins, and that we all are equally in need of this mercy no matter what we have done. The girl who bangs 1000 dudes in one day is no worse, in God's eyes, than the sweet old grandma who snapped at her grandson in a moment of frustration.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
6d ago
Sure, if you believe that behavior is primarily genetic and not taught. But that is an open question, to put it mildly.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
6d ago
For what it's worth I appreciate that you post stories about India (and similarly I appreciate that @Folamh3 posts about Ireland). This site tends towards American events but that isn't inherent to its mission and I'm glad we get these perspectives on other parts of the world. It's true that sometimes I will scroll past posts about other countries because they aren't interesting to me, but the same is true just as often of the posts about America too.
SubstantialFrivolity
I'm not even supposed to be here today
7d ago
I'm a father. If I found this or equivalent on one of my kid's devices I'd throw away the device and our very nice wifi router.
This, too, would be an overreaction though. I understand your concerns, but I don't think they justify going nuclear right off the bat. You might need to go nuclear in the end! But I think starting there is bad.
I can also recommend Just Egg plant-based egg replacer for baking. My brother has an egg allergy but I've been able to bake some stuff that turned out pretty well using that.
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