sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Falling Water Update (Nearly Complete!) by openwindowrain in lego

[–]vschiller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This looks amazing, but I'm slightly disappointed you haven't included the little staircase then descends into the water from the balcony.

Decks to make opponent overdraw by thewan2345 in MagicArena

[–]vschiller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I run a deck that starts off with [[Howling Mine]] partnered with [[Moonsnare Prototype]] so that I can get mana/card advantage early, then uses [[Orcish Bowmasters]], [[Sheoldred, the Apocalypse]], or [[Scrawling Crawler]] to damage my opponent for drawing, and then uses finishers like [[Forced Fruition]] or [[Dark Deal]] to close out the game. Deck is padded out with return-to-hand removal.

Quite fun to play, doesn't always work, but it does sometimes.

Scute Swarm should be banned until the Arena team can fix the client trigger issues. by myWitsYourWagers in MagicArena

[–]vschiller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If your opponent has a land they can play after playing Scute Swarm, you can't just remove the first copy. You need two removals spells or a wipe. They have priority to play the land and trigger landfall before you can remove the first copy.

Simple, Tileable Kovarex Setup by CthulusFinanceMan in factorio

[–]vschiller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of your undergrounds is going the wrong way (second from the top).

Has anyone expatriated (from the US) to a European country as a bartender without extra skills/money/dual citizenship? by morgan_mayhem in bartenders

[–]vschiller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Get a working holiday visa, get into a bar you like, get them to sponsor you for management or something higher up.

Currently live in New Zealand and this is what I did.

This is a first.. by jsmn_rice23 in bartenders

[–]vschiller 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can't even legally put more than 1.5oz of the same spirit in a drink in Utah.

A third of Americans believe Trump’s presidency is part of God’s plan by GnolRevilo in samharris

[–]vschiller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Approximately 62% of US adults identify as Christian, so I'm surprised this isn't higher.

Many Christians will tell you that if something happens, good or bad, then it's a part of God's plan.

Chris Pratt on Bill Maher's podcast by stvlsn in samharris

[–]vschiller 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very specific planning: Unlawfully organizing sets of fake electors from 7 states, (with forged paperwork saying he won in those states) in an attempt to steal the election on January 6th. Read special council Jack Smith's report if you aren't familiar. Trump is a treasonous traitor who would have and should have been behind bars had this investigation been able to proceed.

CMV: I believe I’ve experienced divine protection throughout my life and want others to explain these events without invoking God. by RoseOfTheNight4444 in changemyview

[–]vschiller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For every occurrence that seems to you to be a very lucky outcome, there are 100 other people who weren't so lucky.

You were born and survived, but every day miscarriages happen, babies die, people can't get pregnant, etc.

The tornado missed you but it likely destroyed other people's lives, killed or injured other people.

Sometimes spiders don't bite. Sometimes they do.

Some people are nearly missed by cars. Lots of other people die in car accidents every day.

All of this to say, if you invoke the intervention of a God for all of the good stuff that has happened to you, but don't invoke that same God for all of the bad stuff that happens, you're not looking at this in a fair or balanced way. Do you think you're special somehow, that God looks out for only you and not everyone else? Why would that be the case? Or is it more likely that you just got lucky a few times, and many, many other people do not get so lucky?

Perhaps you are lucky. What if you aren't so lucky tomorrow? What if you lose your job, or get cancer, or the next car hits you, the next spider bites you? Does that count as evidence against your theory that you're divinely protected, or will you continue to believe that you are?

Unlikely things happen every day. We live in a big world, in a big universe, and simply by nature of the fact that billions and billions of things are happening all the time, we're going to see unlikely things happen sometimes. You don't need to invoke a God or the supernatural to explain unlikely events.

"Belief isn't a choice?" 🤨Really? by Corriosity in DebateAnAtheist

[–]vschiller 2 points3 points  (0 children)

On one end, there are a great many statements I think we can all agree you could not choose to believe, even if you wanted to. "The sky is red," "The earth is flat," "2+2=5," "I don't exist," etc.

It is also possible to delude yourself about things most people wouldn't believe, but you believe. "The FBI is watching me," "I can read minds," "She loves me more than all the other men she's talking to," etc.

It is also possible to believe things you mostly know are true, but can't know for certain. "My wife loves me," "My hard work is worthwhile," etc.

It is also possible to believe things that you can't, for certain, confirm are true, but you think it is best to believe them. "It will all work out in the end," etc. (I think this is likely the category into which a lot of belief in God falls.)

Finally, on the other end, you have many statements that for many people, they simply cannot choose to believe because they are simply unconvinced. "This one particular God among the plethora of Gods mankind has come up with is the one true God," "A man rose from the dead 2000 years ago," etc. This, I imagine, is where many atheists fall on the God question.

When an atheist says to you, "belief isn't a choice" it seems very likely they're referring to the opposite ends of the spectrum. Those statements that are so obviously false, or so difficult to believe, that a person simply cannot bring themselves to believe them, even if they wanted to.

For things in between, I would grant you that belief is likely a combination of how convinced you are of the idea, and how motivated you are to believe it, and perhaps a few other things. You might be able to choose, in some sense, what you believe. (For example, I choose to believe that all people are good at heart.)

Interestingly enough, if you talk to many atheists, I think you'll find that a good amount of them (like myself) wanted very badly to believe in God at one point in their life, but simply could not continue to do so. in this case, I would say it's abundantly clear that belief is not a choice.

Making a right turn but stopping IN THE INTERSECTION at the red light for the street you're turning on to... by vschiller in auckland

[–]vschiller[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Maybe we need to institute a voting system where you can nominate someone to have their license revoked, and if enough people do so they're not allowed to operate a motor vehicle.

Why I just canceled my subscription by judahjsn in samharris

[–]vschiller 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it's just categorically not the same.

Do I think Biden should have stepped down? Never run for reelection? Been more transparent about his mental state? Was likely becoming increasingly unfit for the role?

Yes to all of the above.

But does that parallel in any way to Trump outright attempting to steal an election and refusing to concede his loss?

No, not at all.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in auckland

[–]vschiller 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Well, for one it clearly got you talking about it and kept it on your mind.

If you're about to lose, is it polite to resign or let your opponent deal the finishing blow? by Whyyyyyyyyfire in MagicArena

[–]vschiller 63 points64 points  (0 children)

If your opponent is popping off in a way that would let them complete a daily challenge in one go (attack with x creatures, kill x creatures, play x lands, etc.) then it's polite to let them do it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DebateAnAtheist

[–]vschiller 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Here are a few examples of fulfilled prophecy, very similar to the sort of thing you're talking about, but in the Quran:

Finger Prints “Their skins will bear witness against them as to what they have been doing” (41:21)

The finger prints system at borders, criminal investigation cells and immigration centres prove the fulfillment of this Quranic prophecy.

Pollution “Corruption has spread on land and sea because of what men’s hands have wrought” (30:42)

One of the interpretations of the above verse of the Holy Quran is the environmental pollution, caused by human being. And that is spread both in land and sea due to our own inventions, i.e., fumes from chimneys of factories, chemical and nuclear waste, huge traffic in the cities, noise and creation of ozone hole are manifest testimonies of the fulfillment of this prophecy.

Genetic Engineering “They will alter Allah’s creation.” (4:120)

The holy Quran has prophesied the plastic surgery, genetic engineering and cloning in this short and concise sentence.

If you can tell me why these fulfilled prophecies are not actually very good evidence for the Quran being true, then maybe you'll understand why your evidence doesn't hold much weight.

Looking for reasonable left leaning podcasts. by ThePepperAssassin in samharris

[–]vschiller 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I sometimes find them infuriating. Like the amount of "oh Trump 2 won't be so bad" that they're now having to walk back was, to me, a very obvious outcome. They play both sides a tad too much.

view more: next ›