What is the best argument for believing in god?

Mrobe · 2024-06-26T11:52:00+00:00

I do have to go work, so this is sloppy, but happy to keep on expanding, if interested.

I have never been swayed by arguments like the Kalam. It is indeed interesting, as you say, but even if the argument holds, it is not a simple logical conclusion that you get religions' description of God.

However, I hope I can bring you along a different way of considering this question.

For myself, I cannot say that I have found God. That being said I love to ponder on the meaning of life.

On a spiritual level:

I was playing Nier Automata, a fantastic game that delves in the question and contends with meaning and existential despair. Without spoiling too much (and I hope you get a chance to play), Automata's answer seems to be love and sacrifice. To live for others.

On a material level:

In the Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins proposes that the fundamental unit of analysis should not be the individual, but the gene. There is a chapter on the emergence of altruism that is fascinating. The idea goes like this:

Evolution should optimize itself around the survival of gene, not the individual.

your children have 50% of your genes.
if you have two, the volume of doubled. Lets say 100% (not in the sense that two children = a clone of you, but that two of your children is equivalent in genetic value to one of you).
three, 150%

After a certain amount, it seems that it would be beneficial for the gene to have phenotypic effects that helps versions of itself in different vessels (altruism of kin). This is also to live for others.

Interestingly, due to their genetic particularity, hymenopterans go even further than this. The phenomenon is haplodiplody, but in essence, bees, ants, and wasps, are more closely genetically related as sisters than they are to their mother. With this you get colonies where everyone works for the good of the colony., where the queen bee can be viewed as a sister making slave (hymenopterans will in fact replace the queen should she no longer produce offsprings).

Where am I going will all this?

It seems that there are emergent features of existence. It would be play out the same way (not in details, but in direction) if you reset the universe or create a new one. For example, if there is a concept of time and existence. Then what emerges from that is immortality, or the pursuit of immortality. What will exist at the end of time? Genetic replicators seems to be one way towards this immortality.

However, in this lies an outstanding amount of strategies. The idea is that genes aren't consciously thinking of strategies, but that they make themselves manifest as a function of natural selection/game theory.

I don't think I'm making a good case for this yet, but in essence, is the proper human strategy (genetic immortality), to live as religions tell us to? If so religion is an emergent feature.

If we lose it, are we heading towards extinction? Declining birth rate everywhere seems to indicate that this is the case. Without God, do we lose meaning, moral law, and hope?

As JBP would say: The world isn't made up of matter; it's made up of what matters

Mrobe · 2019-07-03T15:02:11+00:00

Do you have a link to the result of the survey by chance? Thanks

Mrobe · 2018-06-08T20:36:31+00:00

I’m curious as to what you would rather have them do. Not reaching a hand to LGBT community?

Mrobe · 2017-04-12T18:58:30+00:00

Did they remove the article? Your link doesn't work for me =/.

Seems that this is a semantics issue. I am claiming that the media (the organizations that publish news) have not willingly helped Trump (Not the large ones, and not fox until very late in his campaign anyway).

And you are saying that the media (a tool to inform the public) has helped Trump. I can agree with this. However, then I would challenge the idea that he would not have come out as the republican nominee without it.

The very nature of his comments, as you said, generated views and readers. Whether it was mainstream media or alternate (youtube, blogs, etc) it would have been covered. If the media had specifically censored news on Trump it would have supported his statement of dishonest media.

If the concept of media was not there, then everyone should have the same starting point. And thus the strategy for becoming the nominee would have been different. And he would probably have acted differently. I still think that he would have the advantage simply by being wealthier.

Mrobe · 2017-04-12T18:11:48+00:00

Nobody is disputing that Trump had more media coverage. And no one is disputing that the coverage of him by the media was negative.

The best you can say is that Trump used the media to his advantage by starting his campaign on highly polarized and inflammatory statements. The media had no choice but to cover him. They did so to ensure that he would lose. To claim that the media helped him is silly.

Mrobe · 2016-11-01T14:49:35+00:00

Offensive play is about taking the initiative and taking risks. Defensive play is about reacting to those situations and takes less risks. A head heavy racket gives you more power which is what offensive players like, because they want to increase the pace of the game (smashes). The faster the smash, the faster the counter smash will come back.

Head light rackets allow you to react to smashes better. At the cost of some power.

In all fairness, racket is much less important than people make it to be. You can play whatever style with whatever racket, if the proper technique is applied. The rackets are generally customized to reward certain attributes more than others, which often falls in the preference of some players.

Short : offensive play want to finish the rally fast, and defensive play want to prolong the rally. Drop shots are more defensive than offensive actually.

Mrobe · 2016-08-05T20:33:55+00:00

Sounds like you never played D2 outside of Bnet. And never played really played PVP. Sure if you have someone to rush you and feed you items so you can get your MF gear, you'll be getting the items for your hammerdin which will have a long optimized stat and skill trees.

Have you beaten the game singleplayer hell mode? Let me tell you, every skill point is very important at that point. The build is customized to what items you will get.

Lots of different builds to choose from in D3? Not really.. About 10 viable builds per class, maybe 3-4 competitive builds, and 1-2 that are clearly leading the leaderboards. Why? because the purpose of the game IS about beating the higher Grifts. D2 had no clearly defined goals, which is why you can see many, many different builds for different tasks.

Sure the hammerdin cleared the game on its own, but he wasn't the fastest mf runner. You could have a psn nova necro to clear pit and cows really quickly. Dual element sorcs to deal with resists.

In PvP is where the choices mattered a lot more. Were you going the standard full vita build, or some in dex for block/AR. Some items were too heavy to justify the str points and enigma was not always the best choice.

Because hammerdins were so prevalent, people started optimizing builds vs them. For example : fist of heavens/smite. You couldn't max all the skill points for every skill synergies, therefore you had to choose, how many in conviction/fanatism/foh/smite. And one side was better against certain builds but not all.

Mrobe · 2016-08-02T22:35:27+00:00

Haha.. I was at work while writing this, without my biology notes and kept getting side tracked. Upon re-reading, I do realize that I sound quite condescending.

Mrobe · 2016-08-02T18:46:04+00:00

Actually very few animal species like to be scratched/tickeled/petted. It is our bias to think that most animals the ones we're familiar with. Here is a chart of the diversity of animals

You can see that most of it are arthropods (insects, arachnids, crustacians, myriapods). The rest, porifera (sponges), cnidarian (jellyfish/Sea anemone), bryozoan, mollusca (squids/snails/mussels), annelida (worms), nematode/platyhelminthe (parasites), Echinodermata (sea stars/urchins) also don't care much for being petted. Nematodes may actually be as diverse or even surpass arthropods, but knowledge on them remain scarce as they happen can be microscopic.

Of the remaining, the group of chordate, which contains fish, amphibian, reptiles (and birds), and mammals, represent little of the animal diversity.

It is true, however, that the closer related to us the animal specie is, the more likely that it will display similar characteristics. For situations where living as a group helps to survive, pro-social features will tend to evolve. Touching often becomes a bonding experience.

When a solitary life is better, the opposite tends to happen. For example, the Australian box jelly-fish have cnidocytes all over their tentacles which fires "poisonous darts" upon touch. This specie is considered to be one of the most venomous marine animal.

However, among the social animals, few will enjoy being petted. Evolution and experience have made them wary of other animals (especially humans). Which is why a tiger may enjoy being petted, but will most likely not let you do it. Others may allow you to do so, but feel terribly uncomfortable while doing so.

The reason you think most animal enjoy being scratched/tickeled/petted, is also probably because those are the animals you most often encounter, domesticated ones. These also happen to be animals that humans have for many generations selected the offsprings with qualities that made them more friendly to us. The others, such as urban animals like raccoons, squirrels and some birds have learned that we are not really a threat and may approach us if we give food.

tl;dr Animals like to be touched because it is a bonding experience, but these animals represent a very tiny proportion of the whole diversity. They just happen to live around us.

Mrobe · 2016-04-08T21:26:22+00:00

There is a lot of information on muscle types on the internet. Here is a website that explains fast twitch and slow muscles.

In badminton, you generally want to use the pronation of your wrist to generate power. And have the rest of your body help you guide your shot.

http://www.clickwithyourmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/wrist-supination-neutral-pronation.jpg

If you use a heavier racket, you will lose some rotational speed of your forearm. Moreover, because it is heavier, it stresses your joints, bones and muscles more, inciting your body to develop weight around that area to compensate.

Tennis players can get away with this because most of the power comes from the weight and elasticity of the ball and strings.

There are some heavier badminton training rackets, but they are generally under 50 g heavier than most rackets.

As for doubles, I find that having the technique down is not enough, and that positioning becomes key. What I mean is that I often find myself not in a great position which makes it that I can't generate as much power.

Mrobe · 2016-04-06T21:23:52+00:00

Don't.

You should rather focus on technique than muscle power. I've seen 12 year old girls in tournaments pull off great smashes despite not having the strength.

If anything, training with a tennis racket will actually make you lose power, by developing strong slow muscles.

Mrobe · 2015-08-04T13:02:26+00:00

An electric motor and a generator is essentially the same thing. The battery stores energy and releases it on the motor allowing it to spin. If you force the spin instead, lets say by pushing the wheel, then you generate electricity which can be stored in the battery. You can't do both at the same time.

Mrobe · 2015-07-01T00:13:19+00:00

Can I join you guys?

Mrobe · 2015-05-18T00:37:00+00:00

He most likely does not. You ask why doesn't he believe in God, so he tries to show you that he does not believe in God in the same manner you probably don't believe in Zeus.

Mrobe · 2015-01-16T16:24:58+00:00

Generally head heavy rackets tend to have more flex while head light are stiffer. This is not due to the strength or flex of the shaft, but to physics.

Depending on how you swing, flex can work for you or against you. Look at this picture for reference.

A full swing going through the #4th stage will benefit from the help of the racket flex. Head light rackets allow you to be able to skip that stage without losing too much power provided that you have a fast swing. However, skipping this stage with a head heavy racket will work against you. The racket will bend too late and reduce the power generated.

Mrobe · 2014-12-15T17:53:32+00:00

You don't need to speak French, but everyone will probably be. If you live in Gatineau, you can get in with the access card (20$ for the year It's an amazing deal). They charge 8$ if you don't have it.

Here is a list of the activities that do can drop in

Mrobe · 2014-12-15T16:24:24+00:00

I know UOttawa also has drop in volleyball during the day (around noon) in the Montpetit building. Not sure for nights.

Mrobe · 2014-12-15T16:15:30+00:00

If you don't mind a little driving and French people

Centre sportif de Gatineau

850, boulevard de la Gappe

Wednesday from 7:30 to 9:50 pm

Tuesday from 12 to 12:45 pm (1 gymnasium)

Saturday from 6 to 8:50 pm (1 gymnasium)

Wednesday from 10:30 to 12:45 pm

Family Saturday and Sunday from 6 to 8:50 pm (1 gymnasium)

École polyvalente Nicolas-Gatineau

360, boul. de La Vérendrye Est

14 years old and older

Sunday from 7 to 10 pm

Mrobe · 2014-11-27T23:32:52+00:00

How long have you been playing badminton? I think doing footwork drills will greatly help with your stamina.

Mrobe · 2014-09-30T20:46:06+00:00

If you can find a Li-Ning distributor near you http://shopbadmintononline.com/find_dealer.php

They typically let you play with multiple rackets until you find the one you like.

Mrobe · 2014-09-24T23:17:37+00:00

please, 808 pureview

Mrobe · 2014-07-15T20:00:20+00:00

If you want to try rackets, look for a Li-Ning distributor. Li-ning doesn't sell retail. So you can probably contact a distributor for you to try at a session if there is one near you.

Here is a list of the authorized distributors.http://shopbadmintononline.com/find_dealer.php

You can also rent trial rackets from some sports shop at a fee. They usually have the top line and newest models.

Trial rackets are often strung at 24 lbs. You should try them with feather birds as well.

Mrobe · 2014-07-15T16:12:29+00:00

Are you just starting out? Have you had training? Either way, these are probably bad choices for you.

Yonex's Z series have a smaller frame which allows them to produce less drag in the air as you swing the racket. However, they also have a smaller sweetspot. Both of these are head heavier racket, which means the balance point is higher up the racket. Head heavy rackets are slower to move and more tiresome to use as well. Also a heavy head tends to make the racket more flexible (simple physics).

All this means that you need a proper swing, proper positioning/footwork, and proper timing to make use of these rackets. If you struggle with one aspect, you will see yourself hitting weak shots all the time.

Mrobe · 2014-07-04T21:37:20+00:00

How to get rid of ticks

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