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Not YET, but some of the more right wibg assholes want to
'close the borders' for the influx of refugees. As if that's even a viable
Option, even if it wasn't a terrible idea.
A few other people are realizing, on the other hand, that it is exactly
this kind of thing all those fplks are running from.

Warning: written at 2am, in bed, on a tablet...
(calloused fingers + touch = hilarity)


It hits me hard because it's like a six hour drive away.

It hits me because here, in my little nook of Europe, many
people are trying to learn how to live together.
It hits me, because I feel that in many ways, things have been
improving. European society is changing, and in some ways, it
really looks like it'sbfor the better.

It makes me think of Giang. She's an almost 50 year old professor
of Law from Vietnam. She's in my fine city doing research on the
Belgian Labour Codex. I know her through work. She does dishes
in the restaurant i used to work at. We've had conversations spanning
many, many different topics, and I can honestly say I've learned quite
A bit from her. But you should see how she's changed in the four years
That I've known her! When she first got here, she didn't want to be here,
but her husband brought her daughter here, so, there you go. Now, she
has embraced everything that I love about what I (double capital I) consider
to be 'western culture'. The love of 'freedom', equality,the search for
knowledge, the aversion to dogma. I've seen her change many of the
values she was taught from birth on the basics of reason and ethics!
I feel fucking priviliged to have been a small part of this process. a
And then
to see my frikkin neighbours attacked, at least in part because we hold these values...
(clarificaTion: I fully realize that the aforementioned values are merely
a part of a, for lack of better term, 'enlightened humanist' ethical system which
any selfrespecting biped with a functioning brain could arrive at, if said biped
removes its cranium from its rectum before venturing to ponder ethical quandaries)

Most of all, this shit pisses me off.
Recognizing bias is all well and good, but if fuckers are going to keep
pulling this shit in my backyard, anybody that tells me I'm being biased
for being ripshit pissed that someone wants to turn Paris into Bagdad
can go take a long walk off of a short pier for all I care.

Why should we judge eachother for how this shit makes us feel instead
of focusing the negative energy towards the more deserving, or, better yet,
piss em off some more by, idk, improving education, tolerance, and understanding?
You know, all that flowerchild shit...

How can the cost of living another moment (barring shit that makes you ask for euthanasia) EVER outweigh the benefit, to ME?
I might outlive my usefulness to YOU, or the Machine, but that's notnthe same. Is it?

I wanna LIVE!

I find that trying to put an economic value on life hardly ever leads to 'good things'...

You got meh! Should've realized that:p
The contents would be indecipherable, only the frequency, band and surviving binary patterns would hint to a technological origin.

Well. if they'd look at our star they'd see there's a planet here. No fancy solar panels around the sun here...

Now if they'd listen to our TV and radio transmissions, then they'd hear... Nothing. At least for another... what 1430 odd years?

Plus the first few things they'd hear would include a lot of WWI and II propaganda...

Honestly, that exact picture popped into my mind when I read the headline, only just after this one:

https://f1.bcbits.com/img/a2110998030_16.jpg

not a viable form for a Dyson structure, but a pretty picture

My two cents: you do not need a soul to explain anything.
Anything the soul is supposed to do can be attributed to various other mechanisms.
TGRR said something about his reason to believe in a soul, in relation to a '55 gallon drum of ego', which I think is a great remark.

As Reginald stated, we may be meatmachines, but we are far from JUST meatmachines.
And, similarly, gravity is not JUST gravity, life is not JUST life, love is not JUST love, etc.
Value exists only in our heads, but why should that make it any less real? It's something we all (mostly) share, isn't it?
So, yes, you are only your 'bodymind', but, isn't that a pretty cool thing in and of itself?


This discussion reminds me of a discussion I once had, back when I had the illbegotten idea of studying philosophy.
This Dutch Dude gave a lecture about how something like altruism, isn't really altruistic. His reasoning was that since altruism, just like any other trait, was selected by the evolutionary process, it per definition had to give an advantage to the individual possesing the trait. Hence, altruism is selfish.
One of my fellow student made the counterpoint: Well, the tendency towards masturbation has been selected. Maintaining quality of sperm is just one of the benifits it offers. But when I'm alone in my room at night, and I'm horny, bored, or both, I do not think to myself: "Ya know what, I think I'll maintain my sperm quality""
His point is, that cognition basically creates another level, above reality. I think he said 'meta-level'
Our thoughts, perceptions of reality, are a product of our minds. Our minds are a product of our bodies, and our environment, in present and past. Those bodies are a product of your genetic codes, and again, environment. Those codes are a product of the evolutionary process and all that good stuff.

Why should any level of reality be given any more validy, or level of truthfullness, or value, over another? Focusing on the level most applicable seems like a pretty good way of handling it to me. For day-to-day life, at the very least.

Hey, Dubya, could I convince you to upload, or send me, your 'fair version'?
Layout is NOT a part of my skillset, and postage within the EU is not too bad!

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/the-most-interesting-star-in-our-galaxy/410023/

Synopsis: the Keppler Space Telescope, which has been used in an exoplanet hunt for the past few years has collected some truly strange data.
It has been looking at stars in order to measure drops in brightness, which, if periodical, are usually an indication of an orbiting body.
Amongst the 150k stars it's been watching, one stands out. The reason is the wholly unexpected frequency and number of brightness drops.

Hypotheses have been put forward to explain this, but none of them do not raise questions.
The very very last to be considered, yet still not impossible, is a Dyson Swarm, which is a collection of objects, designed and built to collect solar radiation. This would indicate a Type II civilization, on the Kardashev scale...

Now mind you, I'm not saying it's aliens. I'm just saying that it is NOT IMPOSSIBLE for it to be aliens.

SETI's gonna point some radio telescopes that way by Januari, to see if the collection of bodies sends out any radio signals which MIGHT be of technological origin...

Could be interesting, no?


EDIT: I am truly sorry for the title. I could not help myself...

None needed! I am quite a bit more thick skinned than that!

Especially in such a mirthful environment!

Nice roof, btw...

If I came across as saying that (let's run with the example) 7th day adventism is an unacceptable viewpoint to me, then, my bad.
It unacceptable FOR me  personally. What they do with their brains is their business.
I wish them nothing but the best.
(which, imo would include a slightly more rational worldview, but hey, that's just me. who gives a damn about my opinion, anyway?)

Hmm. Interesting thought Q. G. Pennyworth. One I can find myself agreeing with if the definition of 'hurting other people' is broad enough to include, for example, keeping people from information about the world around them. Wether this be by keeping the information from them, or by trying to keep them from developing the mental tools required to obtain or process the info...

...I believe that people should believe whatever they believe.  It's only when they insist that I should believe what they believe that things get messy....

THAT BEING SAID:  To mock other people for their beliefs is fine and good.  So long as you don't mind being mocked yourself.

I am in agreement with your point concerning anyone's right to believe what they want, as long as they do not try to impose their beliefs upon others.

However, I find it difficult not to assign a higher value to a philosophy (cosmology, view on reality,whatevah) that leaves itself open to differing opinions, and, most of all, to falsification. At the very least over more static and dogmatic worldviews.

I realize that this is just an opinion, and that all 'value' is definined strictly in human terms, yet I am loathe to give it up, for fear of nihilism.

Nihilism doesn't exactly help me be a 'good person'...

While I agree that one cannot make a simple value-judgement on the 'atheism-deism' dichotomy,
one can make a distinction, IMHO (H for Humble ), between say, seventh-day-adventism, and
a more... enlightened deist perspective. Would you agree with that viewpoint?

I'm guessing he saw some of the "really real discordians (for realness)" stuff, but didn't have the context or realise it was tongue firmly in cheek.

Or it was when one of the noobs was saying how we weren't proper Discordians and I was agreeing in a "there, there, lil fella" kind of way.

But I am amazed how many intros have some kind of slam aimed at me.  It's nothing new, of course, but I'm not posting nearly as often as I did, so you'd think that would slack off some.

I realized it was more of a way to tell 'em something like: "Dave's not here man, go AWAY!" than anything else. Just kinda rubs me (and not in the nice way) that so many people use this beautiful irreligion as yet another way to put their heads in the highly contaminated sands of belief....


By the by, was that a 'Hackers' reference with the roof? Must be more than 10 years since I last saw that flick... Recently caught 'The Terminator' on the idiot box, and I must say, the 80'ness dripping off the creen like that was a hoot and a half! :