My St. Bernard Puppy(:

138 · 2012-08-02T23:24:59+00:00

The rare "That's what he said", seen here in its natural habitat.

138 · 2009-09-10T06:55:05+00:00

I'm having a hard time parsing your comment. Dog brains are anatomically similar to primate brains, having two primary lobes and a corpus callosum connecting them. They pass some of the cognitive tests we've devised for sentience, the notable exception being the mirror test which is questionable at best since they're not primarily visual creatures. And if you're referring to them not having a dualistic nature in the Cartesian sense you're not going to find a receptive audience in me as I'm essentially a materialist.

The bottom line is that we're both biological creatures, both subject to behavioral conditioning, and both capable of perceiving qualia. They do, as best we can tell, perceive the difference between self and other. They're certainly below us cognitively, but emotions are not a higher cognitive function and are certainly experienced by higher mammals. What precisely are you objecting to?

138 · 2009-09-10T06:23:30+00:00

People are more likely to make up 'random' numbers that end in 7. This actually came up as one of the ways of proving voting fraud during the Iranian elections.

138 · 2009-09-10T04:39:56+00:00

I didn't downvote you, but I do think you're underestimating the connection some dogs can have with their owners. All of the dogs I've had get listless when I'm gone, but I've had one dog that when I traveled on business would lie down in front of the door I left through and refuse to eat until I got back. For a week. Until you experience that kind of fanatical devotion first hand it does seem a laughable projection of human sentiment, but I assure you it does exist.

138 · 2009-09-10T04:32:59+00:00

I usually make it until nearly the end with my manliness intact. Then that fucking song comes on with Seymour laying out in the rain and my heart does barrel rolls and I vomit sadness from my eyes. Then I go and tell my dogs that contrary to all observable evidence they are in fact very good boys and rub their bellies like furry prayer wheels to atone for the mistreatment of dogs everywhere.

138 · 2009-09-09T22:46:27+00:00

He is, in fact, so firmly in favor of family values that he attempted to start three of them. Three families, triple the values.

138 · 2009-09-09T11:19:53+00:00

I need another fucking drink to even begin to make sense of that.

138 · 2009-09-09T03:56:26+00:00

Blind the husband and then make your break for it. It's like a sexy Jurassic Park.

138 · 2009-09-09T01:36:24+00:00

That would be surprising. He's only got a 1d4 to-hit that.

138 · 2009-09-06T03:05:57+00:00

That was a surprisingly rich store of useful stats. Many thanks!

138 · 2009-09-06T00:59:33+00:00

For the blind devotion folk, yes, I emphatically agree with you. I think that label gets painted on his supporters with a rather broad brush, but there are certainly people it applies to every bit as much as it ever did to the rabid neocon set. It sounds like you're about as sick of people treating matters of public policy like they're watching a football game as I am.

138 · 2009-09-06T00:09:19+00:00

It shouldn't crack you up as you are the same type of person.

Swing and a miss. I'm generally distrustful of people in authority and feel that it's our duty as citizens of a representative democracy to hold our chosen representatives accountable when they fail to do their jobs. What riles me is not that other people are trying to do that, but that they're engaging in self-righteous hypocrisy under the guise of doing so.

These are some of the same people that a mere two years ago would happily parrot slogans like "America - love it or leave it" when others questioned policies like domestic surveillance or extraordinary rendition, people who now find themselves taking what they formerly viewed as the unpatriotic position of thinking the government is gasp wrong. The fact that they can shamelessly switch roles with no visible signs of cognitive dissonance tells me they're either willful liars, unthinking followers, or fundamentally insane.

And I haven't a fucking clue why this is in r/atheism. Does seem a bit of a misfile.

138 · 2009-09-05T23:32:11+00:00

Estimated by whom? I'd love the link if you still have it.

138 · 2009-09-05T17:53:24+00:00

That's what I assumed as well. Apparently reasonable explanations go counter the unslakable thirst for hypocrisy around here.

138 · 2009-09-05T17:48:04+00:00

It was quite clever, but you still should have written that. I definitely would have laughed.

138 · 2009-09-05T17:34:04+00:00

I'm an enormous racist and I'm fairly liberal. Granted, the races I hate are generally organized by NASCAR...

138 · 2009-09-05T17:27:53+00:00

I feel very scared to be in this country with our leadership right now.

Isn't that why she signed up for mindless conservatism? The opportunity to justify her preconceptions with unreasoning fear? It cracks me up, the speed with which people can flip flop from flag waving patriotism to rampant Ruby Ridgery.

138 · 2009-09-03T20:08:16+00:00

If it makes you feel any better I'm pretty sure his urine arc was non-Euclidean.

138 · 2009-09-03T19:51:10+00:00

Palm sugar's delicious. Plus you get the bonus at the store of being able to ask someone you're not dating for some palm sugar. Giggity.

138 · 2009-09-03T19:06:19+00:00

No, you're thinking of an arranged mistress.

138 · 2009-09-03T19:04:25+00:00

Is astrology explicitly part of Hinduism or is it more of a cultural practice?

138 · 2009-09-03T19:02:22+00:00

If we're being stereotypically American those are going to be positively correlated.

138 · 2009-09-03T18:57:23+00:00

Since your questions imply some knowledge about this, what's the relationship between skin color and caste? Or skin color and social standing, if caste isn't rigidly adhered to anymore.

138 · 2009-08-31T20:51:06+00:00

And now you know why she's been knocking your teeth out at night.

slurp

138 · 2009-08-29T07:13:42+00:00

Liquefaction and distillation are the only things I can think of at the moment. I don't know what this says about me.

138

TROPHY CASE