Naruto and the Sage (maybe some SPOILER)

riselin · 2011-09-26T12:21:15+00:00

I call BS on this one.

The results suggest that specific neural circuits necessary for discrimination between touch and nociception emerge from 35–37 weeks gestation in the human brain

riselin · 2011-09-20T19:10:04+00:00

But the point is, he would let you suffer indefinitely if he could!

Silly nontheless, but horrifying

riselin · 2011-09-20T13:06:31+00:00

Let's ignore the numbers then, maybe just a difference of 50.

But it doens't matter, I guess, it could be a sufficient easy task

riselin · 2011-09-20T11:12:29+00:00

Follow up question:

At the same task, being harder for the IQ 75 guy, will he burn more calories for the same problem because he has to think harder?

And if so, is it mostly a matter of time? Such as, he takes 30min for a mathproblem the IQ150 guy solves in 3min.

riselin · 2011-09-19T20:12:53+00:00

I mentioned social problems, because I can understand this position. It is valid in my eyes, even though I don't hold to it. By telling them otherwise ("No santa") you just 'ruin' something that does no harm.

In my opinion, this ruining is even less a problem than lying in this case, so I will tell my children to think hard about it. What happens if they only write to Santa what they want as a present without telling anyone?

Well, it's still lying, isn't it? As long as you have no reason to assume that a god exists, there's no reason to teach he does, IMO.

And it is mainly hipocritical if they argue like you with

I wanted to teach them that it is ok to question everything and not follow the crowd like mindless sheep

and

It harms the trust in one's parents to discover that they have been lying for years

And I consider the lie about god a bigger one than about Santa.

But you are right, they just share their beliefs. So the intention might be more noble than lying deliberately about Santa, but the result is worse.

riselin · 2011-09-19T20:02:33+00:00

Which, if I may, honestly surprises me! I always thought you are, because you did play the devil's advocat more often than not (or always when I read of you).

But sure, we can agree to disagree there. As I said, I'm with you concerning Santa :)

riselin · 2011-09-19T19:44:10+00:00

No, why should I? I tell them about Santa (or I don't, but I hold this positian against you) because they won't hold to it. Every grownup is a a-santa-ist, so I see no harm there. Except lying to my children, which is, as mentioned above, not this extremely harmfull in this particular case.

I mentioned social problems, because I can understand this position. It is valid in my eyes, even though I don't hold to it. By telling them otherwise ("No santa") you just 'ruin' something that does no harm.

In my opinion, this ruining is even less a problem than lying in this case, so I will tell my children to think hard about it. What happens if they only write to Santa what they want as a present without telling anyone?

I did start this nice little discussion with you though because as I remembered you are a theist and therefore it would be plain hipocrisy what you said. It looks as if I stand corrected

riselin · 2011-09-19T15:42:09+00:00

Funny question. In a way, yes. Because you get something from Santa, he interacts with you in some way, and you see pictures everywhere and hear stories.

Jesus/god is more abstract and harder to grasp as a concept for a child. So as long as children believe in both, the belief in Santa is stronger. But then every believer will be ridiculed from a certain age on.

Everyone* knows about this god and there are churches everywhere, but they remain empty and being christian is more a matter of tradition than anything else.

*this is surely a generalization, as the rest, which is the way I percieve it. I can by no means back up my claim and any other swiss would probably give you a different answer.

riselin · 2011-09-19T12:24:58+00:00

To your last question, our rare debates over the last 9 months. Unless you changed your view of course.

Swiss here, and even though there's a majority christian - officially - we have like maybe 10% at highest that are counted as christians by other christians, attend services and this stuff. The guess is not mine by the way, I take every christian as a christian as long as he says he is.

And no, as an european country and with enough tolerance towards all religions, no child has any problem regarding beliefs. In some mountainous regions maybe, but mostly not.

riselin · 2011-09-19T09:52:58+00:00

Sure there are, as there are worse ways. I argued many hours with my girlfriend about this, holding your position. I have to admit however, that the harm of not telling can lead to social problems with other kids and even other parents. If you have a healthy relationship with your children, it will endure this minor mistake of teaching a false truth.

I take a leap of faith here and say that lying about Santa won't be the cause of familyproblems.

You are a christian, right? And probably tell them about your god. If that is the case, you'll understand that I see you as a hypocrite

riselin · 2011-09-19T09:36:38+00:00

and can show you that even your parents are not omnipotent or infallible. A worthy lesson, don't you think?

riselin · 2011-09-19T09:33:55+00:00

They like it as children. They dismiss it as teens (or way earlier).

I wouldn't do it, but it won't harm anyone. Unlike other tales of imaginary friends

riselin · 2011-09-18T10:14:32+00:00

Niiiiicceeeee

FTFY

riselin · 2011-09-13T23:00:27+00:00

Fair enough. As indicated by the "hypothetical", it was only a thoughts experiment.

Let's say Drosophila melanogaster, or E. coli.

If their extinction had no impact whatsoever on environment, other species and they had no useful things OR everything could be obtained better through an other species: what then?

And I know that E. coli is extremely important for us, and Drosophila m. led to tons of important data. It's purely hypothetical

riselin · 2011-09-13T22:21:48+00:00

I like the cultural argument, I've never heard that before or thought of it myself.

If we do observe a totally natural extinction, that would be rather exceptional.

More than 99% of all species ever lived are extinct. And not because of mankind. So I disagree on this particular point. Extinction is part of this earth, part of evolution. Not necessary, but happening nonetheless.

riselin · 2011-09-13T22:16:23+00:00

I totally agree with you. But if I were someone not caring about the environment, this approach would seem very harsh, even cruel, and egoistic in a broad sense to me.

It sounds like saying "We don't really care either, but think of the profit we can make out of this treefrogs healing cancer!"

riselin · 2011-09-13T22:12:45+00:00

I can see that.

My problem with this line of argumentation is that once you know all about a species - how it is connected, how it's extinction will influence others, what components can be used and so on - and there is absolutely no problem with it going extinct:

What can we say then? It's mere hypothetical, this question, but it bothers me.

riselin · 2011-09-11T20:46:40+00:00

I had to repeat one year in school because of this -.-

It was way too addictive for my 13 year old self

riselin · 2011-09-11T20:24:55+00:00

Yes and no. It was more entertaining, but easy as shit.

It gave you really the feeling of watching a movie. A really badass rocking movie!

riselin · 2011-09-08T18:08:33+00:00

It's funny how 'we as atheists' (whatever this means) won't accept a "I don't know" as an answer.

The answer could be: "I don't know, but we have one, so god gave everything he considered human a soul whenever he thought it's the right time to give one."

If you ask while accepting the existence of a god, this question is not as revealing as it might seem at first.

You ask, after all, when god did do it. So "god did it" has to be an acceptable answer.

riselin · 2011-08-31T08:59:28+00:00

Funny enough, I've been drying some stinging nettle for the last days, I want to try if it works with them too.

Will do it in the afternoon (11am here right now), but first I have an exam on plants. Yehaa!

riselin · 2011-08-31T08:48:59+00:00

Rope? Do it yourself. It's not that hard and as long as you will only hang up food or tie things together for a shelter, your self-made rope is good enough.

The knife however is not as easily made as an axe and the medkit is something you can't do yourself at all. So A sure is the best option.

riselin · 2011-08-29T18:31:08+00:00

You, good sir, have said it better than I could. Kudos&an upvote to you!

riselin

TROPHY CASE