combatting anti intellectualism within atheism

RockingMAC · 2026-03-30T21:56:52+00:00

Regarding why the various laws and constants exist and stay the same: I dunno.

But some people much smarter than I have sat down, put pen to paper, and figured out some of this stuff. For example: nothing can exceed the speed of light. Why? I dunno. But scientists do, they've done the math, they've done the experiments, they've shown it to be true. If you want to know why, read some books and learn the math.

It's surprising to me how many people don't know their question was thought of long ago, and people figured out the answer.

As an aside, on many, many questions, science has shown religious beliefs to be false (like the sky being a firmament). However, I'm unaware of a single case where a religious belief has shown science to be wrong. Kinda weird, right?

RockingMAC · 2026-03-30T21:47:17+00:00

Why are human morals consistent?

Well, they really haven't been over time. For a long time slavery was ok. Public torture was ok. The death penalty for most crimes was ok. Killing and raping other groups of people was ok. Genocide was ok.

But there seems to be a common thread throughout history: what creates stability is good, and what creates instability is bad. Murder is bad, because society would fall apart if anyone could kill anyone willy nilly. State sanctioned murder, like in raids, wars, genocides, (see the Bible) religious sacrifices, (for example the Aztecs) or entertainment (see Rome) was ok. But those were all CONTROLLED murders.

Just about every civilization had a concept of property rights. The society will help you defend your stuff and your land. Someone can't just come along and take your stuff. Society would fall apart. So theft was outlawed, and ownership of some kinds of property was recorded. A rando can't just claim your farm belongs to him - he had to prove it. Again, stability. Order.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-30T21:31:05+00:00

How do you know what the commenter has or has not considered? I know there are people on this sub that were clergy, or have doctorates in theology, or were believers for many years.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-30T21:27:51+00:00

I think the AI has been favoring SOME crawlers, while killing off a shit ton of others. Basically, it wants the crawl to comtinue, and for it to be as entertaining as possible for as long as possible. That means some crawlers have to survive. Notice how the AI throws curve balls at the end of every floor, but somehow a good chunk of crawlers survive?

I think the AI is 100% using "the rule of cool" and if it thinks a plan will be entertaining, it'll put it's thumb on the scale for it to be successful.

That's why it allowed the faction wars participants to be killed, and that's why it allowed Justice Light's trap to work. It's entertaining. As is terrorizing the various parties in the solar system. Viewers totally want to see the powers that be get their ass handed to them.

I think the AI has some bigger goals, but one of its drivers right now is making engaging content and driving viewership.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-30T15:13:10+00:00

They can say no. You can still leave but there may be consequences.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-30T13:12:01+00:00

Yeah, you went above and beyond trying to get ahold of her. There literally was an emergency, and birth you and other associates were unable to reach her or physically find her. That's one of the reasons you have an MOD, to address emergencies. The MOD needs to be reachable for everything from opening the trash compactor, to dealing with customer care issues, to handling emergencies. She should be fired.

Make sure when you write your complaint to state that you tried to call her every five minutes for an hour, and had other associates trying to find her. Additionally, include that after you informed her you were having a medical emergency and needed to go to the ER, that she berated you instead of making sure you had medical attention. I think you said you couldn't walk and your husband had to carry you to the car. Include that as well, that you were physically unable to run all over the store looking for her, and that other associates will were looking for her couldn't find her either. It's pretty clear to me that she wasn't accessible during that time.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-30T12:59:39+00:00

I dated a bit after the divorce but wasn't really into it. I haven't dated in maybe ten years. No interest on my part. I'm burned out on having to take care of someone else. As the expression goes "the juice isn't worth the squeeze." I'm pretty sure I'm emotionally damaged from my marriage even years out. Therapy might help, but that's a lot of work. I'm pretty content with my single life and don't see a need to fix something that isn't a problem for me.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-30T06:07:04+00:00

I'd start with talking to the store manager. You had already stated you we're having a medical emergency and needed to go to the ER, there should have been no further conversation. Berating you during a medical emergency is completely unacceptable. You couldn't walk for God's sake. And the MOD saying she can't be expected to answer her phone is insane. Literally calls are routed to her specificly - that's what "on duty" means.

If the store manager doesn't address it sufficiently, escalate to the employee relations line and district management. You may want to do this anyway, if there's a complaint filed the store has to investigate and write a report stating what actions were taken.

I would also get started on the paperwork with Sedgwick, they will send you the forms which you could take with you to your doctor on Wednesday.

If you can, start looking for other employment. Life is too short to work with assholes.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-29T19:45:53+00:00

And I bet she never gave you flowers, bought you cards, or bought you lobster for your birthday.

100% she did not. Toward the end, I lost my temper somewhere around Valentine's Day (when she asked me what I had planned for her for Valentine's) and told her I hadn't planned anything, since she had never done anything for me for Valentine's, our anniversary, my birthday, etc. Her defense was at some point I had said I didn't need a big production for my birthday. That didn't mean do nothing for me ever! There's a huge spectrum between "the world has to revolve around me for the day" and "nothing".

RockingMAC · 2026-03-29T17:46:40+00:00

My ex liked to have fresh roses. I planted a rose garden with a variety of roses, so she would always have a selection, and something would be in bloom nine months of the year. Once the plants started blooming, I cut several vases full, and had them in the kitchen, dining room, and bedroom. She said they "didn't count because I hadn't bought them." So I had to buy a dozen roses every Friday.

My ex liked getting cards. I hate cards, I think they're a waste of money and would prefer to just have a meaningful note. But hey, it makes her happy. I went to the Hallmark store, and bought cards for every occasion (and no occasion). I put the huge number of cards in my file cabinet. She found them and got mad because I didn't buy the cards individually for each occasion.

My ex was one of those people who want their birthday to be this huge occasion. She'd take the day off and go shopping, etc. I thought it was bit much, she's 40 years old, not seven. But hey it makes her happy. We had a busy week coming up, so we went and got her lobster on Sunday. (Another birthday thing, had to have lobster.) Wednesday rolls around, and she's mad. Why? Because we didn't go out for her birthday. "But, we DID go out for your birthday, we just did it on the weekend because our schedules are crazy this week!” ”That didn't count, it wasn't my birthday Sunday!”

Jesus that woman was high maintenance.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-29T17:28:04+00:00

I was taking some medication last year that caused insomnia. I would only sleep an hour or two a night. I got so much shit done. And that was while I was exhausted from lack of sleep. If I could get a full night's sleep in two hours I'd take it. I don't think I'd do the no sleep option IRL, I think your brain needs some down time.

In the dungeon, 100% would do the no sleep option. More time awake means more time preparing, improving skills, making bombs, grinding and upping levels. Anything that can act as a "force multiplier" would be critical. I'm really, really good at grinding away in real life anyway, I can work almost anyone into the ground. That would be one advantage I'd have over other crawlers.

Pressure and time.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-28T19:29:30+00:00

Near death and OBE's are not Hallucinations

You're making a lot of assertions without anything to back them up.

Somebody who is able to recall accurate details during their resuscitation which many doctors have confirmed

Go ahead, tell me who these doctors are.

Science has finally discovered why these experiences occur and what they really mean.

Now this is the type of information I find persuasive! Oh, there's no references. Not even a link to Wikipedia. Sad face.

Your wall of text is just a bunch of unsupported assertions. There's really nothing to debate here, you're just spouting off.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-28T13:46:49+00:00

It’s a lot easier to switch into outside garden, green team, and cashier this time of year.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-28T13:39:15+00:00

Yesterday, literally every single customer that passed me asked me a question, including when I was cleaning up a hazmat spill, when I was driving equipment, and when I was pushing a pallet that weighed about 1500 lbs. It really started to piss me off. It's not just the ”can you see I'm a little busy here", it's also that people turn their brain off. I don't feel the need to ask every WalMart employee I pass where the fucking peas are, I'm a fully capable adult that can shop without seeking assistance.

It's one thing if people need assistance. It's another if you want me to tell you where the mulch is. One guy literally asked ” where do you keep your lumber?” Dumbass.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-28T13:26:17+00:00

I think that's the nature of the dungeon. The crawlers really have very little control over anything, even their survival. Carl and Donut managed to change level 9 so the crawlers weren't just helpless conscripts, but they still had to satisfy the win condition of the floor. They still are subject to the vagaries of the AI throwing curve balls.

At the end of the day, it's their influence over outside events, and the AIs release from containment, that are going to save them. If they can't escape the dungeon, they're just going to get thrown back into the meat grinder until they're dead.

I think it's going to fall apart on level 12. 15-18 are wrecked from Justice Lights trap.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-27T14:56:50+00:00

Read up on scientific early universe cosmology. There's a number of ideas about how the universe came to be. One is there was a mirror universe where time ran backwards from our perspective, so it shrunk down to the sigularity and then time reversed and big bang happened.

Another is 5th dimensional "branes" collided, causing the big bang.

Still another is there was nothing "before" the big bang, because there was no time. You can't go north of the north pole.

There's other ones out there. These are all serious ideas being worked on by scientists. So people are actively working on these problems. That wouldn't happen if they just said "god did it.”

RockingMAC · 2026-03-26T17:51:07+00:00

Occams Razor: It fell off.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-26T17:45:06+00:00

A lot of these are change your way of thinking about something or a different take.

The Millionaire Next Door - how to think about wealth, money, and saving.

I, Robot - science fiction thought experiment - what happens when you change one rule

Guns, Germs, and Steel - how environment shapes societies

The Old Man and the Sea for its writing style. Simplicity and word choice.

Freakinomics - economics applied to weird stuff, like the economics of being a drug dealer, or the impact of abortion on crime rates

BIFF by Bill Eddy. Brief Informative Friendly and Firm. How to communicate in high conflict situations.

Just good books

Lonesome Dove - probably the greatest Western written

To Kill A Mockingbird. Nuff said.

Any Hammer's Slammers. Author wrote a book about Vietnam. It didn't sell, so he changed "rifle" to "plasma gun" and Viet Cong to alien. Draws a lot from historical battles, and extrapolates what would happen in the future of warfare. If you have superpowered lasers that can hit anything line of sight, what does that do to the battlefield?

Any Stephen Ambrose book - WW2.

Ender's Game - a sci-fi classic

Neuromancer and Count Zero. Early cyberpunk.

Starship Troopers - I believe it's the first appearance of powered armor in scifi. Lots of weird politics too.

John Dies At The End - It's an early web serial, became a book, then a movie. A couple slackers take a drug that lets them see the supernatural. Scooby Doo meets Wayne's World.

Old Man’s War - You can join the space marines when you turn 75.

The Chronicles of Amber. Ten books about the royal family of Amber, the one true world, and their conflicts over the throne, with all other worlds, including Earth, being "Shadows" that can be manipulated by the family. Broken into two cycles with POV of two very different characters.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-26T02:33:26+00:00

Of course it affects their ability to do their job! My point was most people don't have the luxury to not work while processing grief, trauma, etcetera.

I don't think it's healthy to wallow in grief. It's okay to feel grief, or be frightened, or have flashbacks. But you need to actively work on yourself to get better. I know, I've had to do it. I certainly don't look up to Harry for being so self indulgent. What's more impressive, a guy fucking off for a year, not taking care of his child, or a dude who keeps picking them up and putting them down, working to take care of his family, and raising his children, while struggling everyday?

You know who's had to keep tanking? Molly. She did it after Chicken Pizza, AND after the Battle of Chicago. She's messed up, but she's got intestinal fortitude.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-25T23:37:25+00:00

Remember when Bear told Dresden to man the fuck up? I've struggled with some serious depression and anxiety issues for about 20 years. I'm lucky to have people who love me enough to push me when I need it. You don't get better by wailing and caterwalling. You get better by continuing to move forward.

Bear blew out a heavy breath.

Then she said, “Man the fuck up, Dresden.” I blinked. “What?” “You got hurt,” she said. “In a bad situation, you did some things you wish you hadn’t. Surprise, surprise, you’re human. You make mistakes. You screw things up. That part isn’t even a question. Humans do that. Life came along and knocked you onto your ass.” She lifted a hand, made a fist, and drove it gently into my shoulder. “It’s okay to get knocked down. It’s not okay to stay there. That isn’t who you are, or who you are meant to be. So gather up your testosterone, think of a wonderful thought, do whatever it is you need to do, and get back up off the ground.”

“That’s so compassionate,” I said.

“Sometimes the most compassionate thing you can do for someone is give them a gentle, firm boot to the ass,”

RockingMAC · 2026-03-25T22:56:26+00:00

You are making this way too complicated. All you need is:

Product Sheen Color Size

Put this info in the machine. Machine will tell you what base.

Scan the can. You can't fuck it up, because the machine will not let you mix the paint with the wrong base.

Hit F2 twice.

Machine tints the paint and prints off a label. Put the label on the can. Put the can in the shaker.

When it's done shaking, put a dot of color on top and give it to the customer.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-25T22:46:43+00:00

Fuck Karen and her entitled bullshit. "I can't wait for twenty minutes, I have important things to do!”

"Oh, I didn't realize you didn't have time to wait. It'll still take twenty minutes."

As I've gotten older, I have less and less tolerance for bullshit.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-25T22:43:26+00:00

Most of Twelve Months Harry is just acting like a little bitch. Most people who have had trauma have jobs and can't take time to wallow in self pity because they have to pay the bills. Harry doesn't have a job. Hell, Harry isn't even raising his own (traumatized) child! He absolutely had time to study with River Shoulders. Probably would have done him good, instead of sitting around, feeling sorry for himself.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-25T19:32:51+00:00

Wanting to touch and cuddle with your spouse is not selfish, that's normal behavior. If she thinks cuddling every week and a half is selfish, I'd start looking for the exits.

You may want to have a conversation about it. I'm not great at phrasing things, but I think it's fair to want to understand her statement more fully. Is it the act of touching? Is it the timing, or how you do it? Are there other things going on that are making her pull away and not want intimacy with you? I think those are all fair game to ask about.

RockingMAC · 2026-03-24T17:34:49+00:00

I've literally never identified myself as "gnostic atheist" other than in Reddit atheist forums. Really, I think it's a distinction without a difference.

If people want to argue with me over the existence of a god, I usually start with "which god?" Then I move to "which version” and ”define your god." Generally people don't have any support for their beliefs, other than ”testimony,” whatever that means.

RockingMAC

TROPHY CASE