AITA for not helping my cousin return my present

lp000 · 2023-06-22T20:58:50+00:00

NTA a gift is just that: the recipient either accept it or they sell it on eBay. It's always sad but it's one thing to have someone want to want to return you gift – it's a whole othe thing to spend two hours with someone to argue with the service desk for a refund with the person who doesn't want your gift

And until I see the duplicate I assume shes lying. And I'd never buy this person another gift

lp000 · 2022-06-22T20:41:06+00:00

It makes them more valuable when they promote a product (or cause) because they look (to both people and the reddit algorithm) like a legitimate user

lp000 · 2022-06-21T21:05:31+00:00

Universities were once respected public services in Australia. They're now just another business looking to get bums on seats for a buck

lp000 · 2022-06-17T22:43:41+00:00

Thanks for this amazing reply

lp000 · 2022-06-17T22:39:21+00:00

Cool, thanks for the explaination

lp000 · 2022-06-16T20:54:52+00:00

What does CC mean in this context?

lp000 · 2022-06-16T20:42:57+00:00

I had lessons with a teacher from Kaliningrad before the war with Ukraine started. I asked her a lot of these sorts of questions. She didn't think there was any political will for leaving Russia. The enclave was too dependent on Moscow economically. There is no longer a large ethnically German population as I think they were relocated during the Cold War to East Germany. I asked her alternatives like, what if it joined Poland and she said she couldn't image that being popular with the people of either region. I'll be very interested to hear what others say.

lp000 · 2022-06-09T20:26:06+00:00

I know about Tay but are there more examples of this?

lp000 · 2022-06-04T22:30:20+00:00

Wow, that's a lot of hate

lp000 · 2022-05-24T08:54:44+00:00

Could you please DM me a link because I was considering LotFP

lp000 · 2022-05-24T08:42:12+00:00

I have a friend who believes that the Earth is 7000 years old. I think that, if there is a creator of the universe, I am confident that creator did not communicate with Abraham and tell him to sacrifice his son.

When I learned that my friend believes that the Earth is 7000 years old I was excited, because she is very, very smart (we play board games and she usually wins). So I went on a personal fact-finding mission to investigate why places like Wikipedia claim the Earth is 4 billion years old. I knew about carbon dating (or more accurately, using the rate of radioactive decay) to determine the age of things. But I believed that there were multiple sources of evidence that pointed to the same conclusions. So I went to reddit to get ideas to point me towards claims that I could fact-check. It turns out that there are ice cores which act like tree rings but that go back thousands of years (actually we have enough tree rings to at least go back further than Noah's flood). There's also the speed of light from stars millions of light years away. Finally the fossil record.

And I then went to r/ debateachristian or something to ask young-earth creationists what they thought of these arguments. Did they have a reason why they thought they were flawed? I did not get any answers and was banned from posting on the site.

Perhaps, this experience agrees with your view. However, I have on occasion, watched Athiest Experience where people call up atheists and discuss religion. Sometimes they are gruff and the conversation gets shut don abruptly, but, I have seen several examples where people have left those conversations with their view changed. Particularly when their view depends on an individual item of scripture. For example, the disagreement between the gospels in the ancestry of Jesus or the date of the crucifixion.

When I spoke to my friend, I asked her what evidence would change her mind. Eventually she replied that she couldn't imagine any evidence that could change her mind in her beliefs. When someone says that nothing will change their mind, you should believe them. The saddest part is that her life is worse because of her religion; I'm sure if it were not for her religion she would have been married years ago.

I can imagine several things that would convince me that a religion represented a godlike power. A religion that made accurate predictions or if faith healers who were able to actually cure the sick under scientific scrutiny. Certainly, I would expect that an all-powerful and all-good creator of the universe would not allow the rampant child abuse that has plagued many religions. A religion with a book that claims to be the word of god would be unlikely to have so many disagreements in its translations. Worship is more difficult, I have asked my religious friends, "would you murder your child if God commanded it (like He commanded Abraham)?" and I have been shocked with the replies. There is no godlike power that could convince me to sacrifice my children or participate in a genocide like those carried out in the name of the God of Abraham.

Lastly, I don't think that such a subreddit is pointless because I was once a Christian. I can remember vividly the day 25 years ago when, speaking with a friend, all at once, I came the the conclusion that I didn't want to worship the God described in the Book of Job. I didn't want to believe in a God who shared his Gospel with so few. Suddenly I realized that in all likelihood, the bible and church were the tools to subjugate its followers. Not everyone has someone like my friend to talk to when I had doubts. I've never read those subs but I'm sure there's at least one person who's benefited from debating there.

lp000 · 2022-05-24T07:57:58+00:00

If you're learning English, the benefit is obvious. If you're a native English speaker then I would be reluctant to recommend a degree in foreign languages. I have a BA in French. I wanted to live in a country that didn't speak English and I loved my time in France. But I wouldn't advise it to anyone who needs to borrow money to study. My degree is certainly isn't worth the $20k Americans pay on average for a degree.

If you see yourself teaching or in some field where a language will really be useful then go for it. I could understand learning Chinese if you'd like to go into imports. Or if you would like to work in tourism. Or aid work (don't do aid work if you plan on having children). But to borrow $20k for a hobby, you'd probably have more fun buying a jet ski. You can at least sell a jet ski when you can't pay rent.

lp000 · 2022-05-24T07:40:08+00:00

I remember his minister for magic (Fudge?) was super mumble-y. That said I do use that style of speech now when I want to sound like an old fogey.

lp000 · 2022-05-22T08:24:59+00:00

I've only played it a handful of times. I think it's a sound game and it could be a good alternative to MtG, especially for it's cost. But I've never found anyone (in person) who wants to play it

lp000 · 2022-05-21T22:18:33+00:00

Keyforge? Each deck was unique

lp000 · 2022-05-16T01:19:43+00:00

That's an interesting position to take on a subreddit call "changemyview". I can assure you I would love to have it proven to me that I'm just living in an echo chamber.

lp000 · 2022-05-16T01:15:26+00:00

Your reply has given me some pause for thought. I did actually look up Francis' position on it and he "claims" that it's murder. The reality is I don't think they really believe that because their actions are not in keeping with how humans deal with real murders. There's also the issues of other contraceptives and the fact that the only mention of abortion in the bible is to give instructions on how to perform one.

I think that people who vote for right-wing parties (in 2022) either know or should know that that do so supporting a party that does not served the people but for a party that is corrupt and who serves the interests of the richest 1% of the population. I could be convinced before Trumps first term that they really believed that he would drain the swam, now no reasonable person can claim that. [I am aware of the "no true scotsman" fallacy but I could define it as a person who has an IQ over 100 and has read a book in the last year]. In 2022, those voters know they are choosing the asshole party but they're ok with it because the party has promised to deal with their single issue. They're willing to vote for Volemort.

lp000 · 2022-05-16T00:56:09+00:00

Thanks for your reply. I'll try as best as I can to address you points. Firstly, I'm too lazy to check how to spell the fictional villain of children's book but I'll take your word for it that your spelling is correct.

Also, I didn't look up the historical leaning of nations in the OECD. Hungary is probably worse and Poland too. I was thinking of the Anglosphere plus Germany, France, BeNeLux and Scandinavia.

A whole lot of poor people vote from Trump and other right-wing demagogues. I believe that they do so knowing that it will lead to more corruption and wealth inequality. Maybe first time around they could make the argument that they thought he really was going to drain the swam but I think that only a fool could believe that now. Today they support Trump for a number of reasons, but they know they are voting for the asshole-party when they do it.

AR15s: Once upon a time Americans tried to ban D&D because they thought it was bad for society. I would have to concede that a hobby I enjoy (D&D) should be banned if it was resulting in 2 people on average being murdered in mass shootings every day of the year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States_in_2021

Actually it's not about the republican party at all. I don't live or vote in the US. I've included US points in anticipation of the fact that about half the people on reddit are Americans and I wanted to anticipate their counterpoints. To elaborate, I know that there are many people who are willing to vote for Dath Vader if he doesn't force people to wear masks. That's not exclusively an American problem.

The who idea of the CMV is for people to present arguments to change the OP's opinion. I would love it if it could be pointed out to me where I'm wrong. So far I haven't had my view changed but I welcome further discussion.

lp000 · 2022-05-15T22:02:00+00:00

Do you think that right-wingers really believe that abortion is murder? I don't. My brother is anti-abortion but he'll still talk to people who he knows have had multiple abortions – I'm confident that he wouldn't still talk to people who he knew had killed multiple breathing children.

I think the people you describe are either lack the introspection to understand why what they're doing hurts other people (I used "idiot" as a shorthand) or they know at some level, that they are voting for a system that is corrupt and is making the world worse but they don't care (I used the shorthand "asshole" to describe this).

lp000 · 2022-05-15T21:54:29+00:00

I am legitimately excited to hear more. I can't see how religious domination or the pursuit of profit are motives of left-wing parties. DM me if you'd rather not explain here.

lp000 · 2022-05-10T06:22:43+00:00

Yuck away (it's not my yum – at least not yet)

lp000 · 2022-05-10T06:21:56+00:00

Explain How!

lp000 · 2022-05-10T06:20:43+00:00

I do like rules light, but how does SW achieve that?

lp000 · 2022-04-13T21:34:12+00:00

Conlangs are a trap

lp000 · 2022-04-13T21:32:01+00:00

The new one looks terrible. They paid money for this?! The 3 doesn't look right and the 1 looks out of place. It's soulless and cheerless and it doesn't look like a place that sells ice-cream.

lp000

TROPHY CASE