It was a good try, but even with one quality and two promotes, the vid still picked up just 6 votes. There's no love for song-poems on the Sift, I guess. Glad you liked it anyway. (Maybe I should have mentioned it was recommended by Penn Jillette.)
In reply to this comment by gorillaman:
*promote

"Less opportunity of progress"? Only if we're having an argument with the deluded intention of convincing the other person of our specific viewpoint. (As I said in that other discussion, I'm super excited that we're going to Solve Abortion, right here on The Sift.) If we're not afraid to describe what we believe and why, then discourse is likely to strengthen our understanding of our own position, even if we discount entirely the possibility that we may gain new insight from the other parties involved.

Sure, the cognition\consciousness rabbit hole swirls right down into "metaphysical and epistemological" unknowns and becomes the equivalent of mental masturbation at that point, but that doesn't mean it can't be enjoyable. And you certainly stated your view on Mind with the conviction of someone who feels pretty confident about it.

So if you'd rather not, ok, but I'll leave the door open, like so:

I had intended to leave my views on cognition and consciousness (and why I describe them as illusive and scarcely-understood) out of the abortion thread, but they ended up surfacing anyway. Essentially, I think the "ability of a candidate to engage with that process" is a good test, but it's only useful for the individual engaging in it. In my view, an outside observer isn't going to be able to tell with any degree of certainty, because the human brain appears to have everything it needs to behave like a conscious being even in the absence of Mind.
Picture the protagonist in the video for Metallica's "One" as an example on the other extreme (possessing of Mind but unable to communicate it).

I wanted to continue this discussion, but it's going off in a different direction, so I figured I'd bring it here onto your home turf. You've obviously traveled this road before, but I'm coming along for the ride this time. (Road trip!)

We'll start here and see where this takes us: What's your reasoning for saying that a baby (or someone with a cognitive disability, or hell, an animal) is not Mind? I know where I'd like this to go, but I'll let you drive.
In reply to this comment by gorillaman:
So the question you ask yourself when considering the rights of a creature is 'what is the condition of its intellect; to what extent is it conscious; is it Mind?'

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This achievement has earned you your "Silver Tongue" Level 3 Badge!

Really, short of stealing the actual gags to the letter, they've couldn't steal more than the exact concept replicated in a new Olympic city. I read comments from Clarke that they saw it as lifting the essence of The Games, and he saw it as a theft in spirit, even if he couldn't prove it in law. I tend to agree with this. And while I take your point, I really think the 'in defence of art' argument is the last refuge of the one-eyed.
In reply to this comment by gorillaman:
Well, we can start with the understanding that faux-documentaries are now fairly common, and that the olympics as a huge public event is very attractive to satire. So two different shows being produced along these lines isn't completely unlikely, and once you have those two shows then there are always going to be similarities.

I don't know much about the idea that The Games was being pitched to the BBC and who from those meetings went on to produce Twenty Twelve. There is a suggestion that the makers of The Games had gone so far as to lend the writer of Twenty Twelve DVDs of their show before he went off and wrote his, which is pretty hilarious.

Regardless I think it's fair to say Twenty Twelve isn't a direct copy of The Games; it had its own tone and told its own jokes. (Whether you think those jokes are funny or not.) Stealing the general idea 'satirical mockumentary about the olympics organisers' would actually be totally legit - that happens all the time and is pretty much how art advances, by building on earlier ideas; stealing lines and situations wouldn't be, but I don't see that happening. If I were plagiarising The Games the genetically-engineered horse and 94m 100m track would have gone straight into my script, for starters.

In reply to this comment by kymbos:
Ok, I've only watched one episode, but the similarities were overwhelming to me. How is it different?

Ok, I've only watched one episode, but the similarities were overwhelming to me. How is it different?
In reply to this comment by gorillaman:
Hey thanks for reminding me I've been meaning to check out The Games. Just watched a couple of episodes and it's really pretty fantastic. I'm not sure Twenty Twelve can be accused of ripping them off any more than, say, The Thick of It could be said to have ripped off Yes, Minister; but there are a lot of similarities. Now I just wish there was a Beijing version.
In reply to this comment by kymbos:
Two things about Twenty Twelve:

1. It's a rip off of an Australian comedy set before the Sydney Olympics. The creators pitched it to the BBC, who passed then made one exactly the same.

2. It's not very funny. It's like a who's who of b-grade British comedic actors.

Will have a look at Him & Her if it's any good.

In reply to this comment by gorillaman:
This is dead.

And I can't find a replacement. That sucks. Thanks for letting me know.

In reply to this comment by gorillaman:
There's something wrong with your avatar...


How right you are sir... hmmm. My current avatar was painted by NicoleBee, I'll have to see if she's up for refreshing it

http://videosift.com/video/Mark-Lawson-Does-An-Amazing-Interview-With-David-Mitchell This made me think of you g'man, so here you go

At its fullest ! This is one drunk dick saying your being a fucking dumb drunk dick.

In reply to this comment by gorillaman:
Irony.

In reply to this comment by BoneRemake:
I tend to stay off the internet when I am a raging retarded drug filled prick.

Thats just me though.

I tend to stay off the internet when I am a raging retarded drug filled prick.

Thats just me though.

In reply to this comment by gorillaman:
I had a fish tank. Fish are boring so I killed them. Pets are ridiculous. When I want that heart warming feeling I look at tranny porn.

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