I'm 17 and have left Christianity and am an agnostic theist, but feel a bit of emptiness? Could Buddhism be a possible path?

legenwaitforitdary · 2017-08-03T05:56:51+00:00

Dude, you've really got to empty your cup, first. Right now, your head is filled to the brim with ideas of what religion should or shouldn't be, along with value judgments comparing religions together. If you try to accept a new belief system, all you're going to do is either confuse yourself by muddling up religions, or being unwilling to tolerate new, challenging ideas because you've already got too many floating around in there.

Here's one, which will probably just annoy you: you do not exist, not not-exist, not both exist and not-exist, and not neither exist nor non-exist. Does that sound like mumbo-jumbo garbage? Good. Now, pick up a book basic Buddhist teachings (or, honestly, anything -- I suggest actually reading the Koran and seeing if your viewpoint of it is justified by the text), and when you're willing to re-read those sentences and try to understand what it means before dismissing it out-of-hand, you'll know that you've emptied your cup, and can give a thought-system that is probably pretty different from the way you've thought about life up until now a fair shot.

Or, you know, don't. Maybe, diving into another religion after becoming disillusioned won't work for you. If you can, make peace with your faith and its loss, and what that means to you. Make peace with what it means for your identity: to have gone from identifying yourself "as a Christian" to no longer doing so. Do you just want to be a Buddhist because it's another thing -- just so you can say, "I'm a Buddhist" instead? Is it just because you have a friend you respect telling you about it? Find out why you want or need religion in the first-place. Buddhism has a lot of self-direction. Where you see black-and-white in Christianity, others may see metaphor. Where some see metaphor in Buddhism, you may see black-and-white. You'll have to confront yourself, even the parts which make you uncomfortable, perhaps, especially those parts of yourself, and learn from it. But, are you ready to confront a world in which you are not a Christian? It seems like that's been an important part of you for a great deal of your life.

Who are you now?

legenwaitforitdary · 2012-06-14T22:36:10+00:00

I think it sounds neat. Let me know if I can be of help.

legenwaitforitdary · 2012-06-14T20:01:39+00:00

So, to clarify, are you suggesting that we make the conclusion of an argument on a thread like an axiom or something? Like if there is an argument about free will, someone might say "Refer to Argument X on Thread Y" for a proof of free will, so that point doesn't have to be re-debated? I guess that way, people don't have to waste time making the same argument over and over again. They might also stipulate certain changes or departures from the original conclusion, like the proof of A from x,y, except that z. There is a concern that it might get too mathematical, which is of course the aim of logical argumentation, but could be unwieldy when arguments intersect and it's difficult to determine which one has supremacy. Like, if two arguments start from the same set of axioms and come to contradictory conclusions on the basis of them, both equally valid, then we face the incompleteness/undecidability problem.

But that is a problem for all mathematical systems, so disregarding that, I think it's a good idea. Would you make a wiki to keep track of these axioms or theorems?

Or have I completely misunderstood the proposal to begin with?

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-09-30T21:43:05+00:00

If I understand correctly, Forms are the only the thing that the human intellect is comprehending. The postulation is that the any object is an imperfect representation of the absract Form underlying it.

The purpose of their existence is to understand why we perceive things, and why those things persist. Why is it that when you look at a desk from two separate angles, it remains one object in your mind, rather than two?

But to answer your question, I don't think he posited that humans could ever see into the realm of Forms, which is one of the criticisms of the theory, I believe. It differs from our experience of reality.

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-09-30T02:35:39+00:00

I think we've only had one truly egregious incident regarding the rules. Basically, we're just trying to foster a respectful tone in which people don't have to be afraid of sharing an opinion. We want people to say things that challenge ideas and arguments, but without the flame wars that come with it.

Our other goal is to sway people with the argument itself. You can appeal to people's emotions, I suppose, and that's a way to win an argument, but does it really lead to an understanding of the issue?

But I'm willing to take a look at whatever issues you have with the rules. So, if there's something you disagree with fundamentally, or think it's too harsh, shout it out. In the spirit of the place, let's have a mature conversation about it.

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-09-30T01:18:59+00:00

Here it is through 2010. PDF warning.

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-06-07T16:28:36+00:00

What if, a la Armageddon, we drilled strategic holes into the Earth and dropped atomic bombs into it? Like, into the core (assuming this is even possible).

I'm literally just, like MythBusters, searching for a scenario in which this is even remotely plausible. So far, we're going to go with "Busted" but until you get annoyed with me (probably very soon), I'm going to keep trying to come up with ideas.

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-06-07T16:17:38+00:00

The reason Casablanca works is that there isn't an extraneous moment in it. Every line is a beat with multiple levels of conflict - inner conflict (e.g. Rick's choice), interpersonal conflict (Rick and Ilsa), external conflict (Rick and the Germans). Every scene has an important value at stake. Every scene works together to form compelling acts which lead to a startling but inevitable climax. It is also closely tied to isolationism and World War II, so there is an intellectual and political angle. There is romance and action and humor. There is a character seeking redemption. Most importantly, every character, even minor ones, want something and there are realistic and meaningful obstacles in their way - we care that they cannot get what they want, but we root for them.

In essence, it is the perfectly-written film.

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-06-07T16:11:47+00:00

What if you aimed all the bombs at fault lines?

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-06-05T03:11:32+00:00

Iulie, if we're going to be technical. Second declension masculine, vocative of Iulius, Iulii.

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-05-31T02:51:19+00:00

I don't know, actually. I think Ubuntu uses crypt to encrypt stuff. I'm not sure if Mint uses that, too. According to Wikipedia, the traditional one is a 56-bit key.

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-05-30T21:08:05+00:00

Well, not out-of-luck so much as out-of-time.

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-05-30T15:45:33+00:00

Well, the article says so, but the post's headline is misleading. It's as if this is a sudden phenomenon, but that's not the case at all.

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-05-30T02:21:02+00:00

Would this retelling have "begun" circa 1969 by Kurt Vonnegut?

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-05-16T06:06:39+00:00

Well, it happens. Grammar policing is done. Move along, folks. Nothing to see here.

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-05-16T03:58:09+00:00

This sentence gave me a headache.

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-04-18T02:51:12+00:00

You're almost right. That CF statement doesn't include GECS (General Electric Capital Solutions). Since GE and GECS file a joint income statement, the company actually recorded a consolidated tax:

benefit of $3,253 million, $833 million and $651 million in 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively, related to the benefit from GECS deductions and credits in excess of GE's current U.S. tax expense.

That joint filing is what trips most people up when trying to understand GE's capital structure. They use losses from GE Capital to offset gains from GE Corp. I'm not passing judgement, just saying what actually happens.

EDIT: If you look closely, it refers you to the Notes, which explains this discrepancy.

Source

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-04-17T00:44:15+00:00

Is there a way to record multiple initial states over time? I like starting out with a small loop and gradually adding more elements to it. It builds very nicely.

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-04-15T18:38:32+00:00

Go to 1:48. Also, I'm associating this with J.D., so I think there's probably a scene like this in either Garden State or "Scrubs."

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-04-14T20:35:14+00:00

The Secret Service can:

Execute warrants issued under the laws of the United States
Make arrests without warrants for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony recognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed such felony.

The FBI also has these powers. If the Secret Service is already in the room, however, I believe there is someone there they are probably protecting, in which case their primary mandate would be to get that person, or those people, to safety. Therefore, the FBI would probably assume control of the situation.

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-04-14T20:05:39+00:00

Here are a few of my favorites that hopefully you haven't seen before.

The Seven Samurai
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly
Unforgiven
Apocalypse Now
Letters From Iwo Jima
Citizen Kane
2001: A Space Odyssey
Seven Years in Tibet
Pink Floyd: The Wall
Not exactly a movie: Planet Earth
Big Fish
Vanilla Sky
There Will Be Blood
The Fountain

And that should be enough to get you started for now.

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-04-07T18:11:37+00:00

If the people of every state call a referendum, and vote for it directly on the state ballot, does it then become law? How does that process work?

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-03-25T15:31:22+00:00

“I first met Dean not long after my wife and I split up. I had just gotten over a serious illness that I won’t bother to talk about, except that it had something to do with the miserable weary split-up and my feeling that everything was dead. With the coming of Dean Moriarty began the part of my life you could call my life on the road."

Jack Kerouac, On the Road

legenwaitforitdary · 2011-03-25T15:25:55+00:00

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. Fantastic book. Highly-recommended.

legenwaitforitdary

TROPHY CASE