Well, what pisses off me about racism in the States is that we enslaved people for 200+ years, made them live in shacks and treated them like cattle. We pretty much stripped them of dignity and all that is human to the point where many of them believed it, then we said: "Hey, you are free now, so act like us!" What in the funking funk is that kind of logic? Do we expect them to say, "Thanks for the freedom, now I'll just erase the indoctrination and all the memory and I'll magically be jolly jumping ideal citizen like the best examples of your race." What adequate tools did we give them to re-engage in society?

We often expect a tabula rasa from African Americans when in fact we ruined them and should heavily reinvest in them for at least a few decades, if not centuries. Racism based on half-assed logic boils my blood more than pure racism.

Satan doesn't care what you believe, as long as it isn't that Jesus Christ is the Lord.

>> ^messenger:
One of my favourite insights into the concepts of truth and Satan, one of the first that got me seriously thinking about the authenticity of the Bible, I heard from a rabbi on the radio. He said something like, "It may be that God wants us to discover his nature through investigating nature, and Satan created the Torah to throw us off track, or maybe God himself created the Torah as a test to see if we were smart enough to tell the difference. From a religious standpoint, it is a valid position to question the origin of scripture.">> ^probie:
S
hiny won't stop, you know. His "god" has commanded him to "spread his word" and convert as many people as possible. Even though this same god created these people tabula rasa, and instilled in them "free will" to make whatever choice they want, "He" still wants them to be followers. And all of this, while supposedly having the omnipotent power to do change anyone's paradigms, at any time. Psychotic.
What I laugh at the most is that science shows us how reality works, empirically, through observation and testing. It shows us, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the truth about our universe and how it works. Sure we may not have all the answers yet, but I'll take the unknown over a blanket answer of "because" any day of the week. By disregarding science (and subsequently evolution), shiny and his ilk are attempting to subvert people from seeing and understanding the truth. Which is exactly what "Satan" wants.
Oh, the irony.

>> ^probie:

>> ^messenger:
Please stop. You know this argument and the whole "mousetrap" thing has been laid to rest already, right? Why do you keep bringing it up? It only demonstrates that you don't understand the concepts you're talking about. If your end goal is to convert people, that's fine with me, but you're losing credibility by citing bunk science.>> ^shinyblurry:
[embed]


Shiny won't stop, you know. His "god" has commanded him to "spread his word" and convert as many people as possible. Even though this same god created these people tabula rasa, and instilled in them "free will" to make whatever choice they want, "He" still wants them to be followers. And all of this, while supposedly having the omnipotent power to do change anyone's paradigms, at any time. Psychotic.
What I laugh at the most is that science shows us how reality works, empirically, through observation and testing. It shows us, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the truth about our universe and how it works. Sure we may not have all the answers yet, but I'll take the unknown over a blanket answer of "because" any day of the week. By disregarding science (and subsequently evolution), shiny and his ilk are attempting to subvert people from seeing and understanding the truth. Which is exactly what "Satan" wants.
Oh, the irony.

One of my favourite insights into the concepts of truth and Satan, one of the first that got me seriously thinking about the authenticity of the Bible, I heard from a rabbi on the radio. He said something like, "It may be that God wants us to discover his nature through investigating nature, and Satan created the Torah to throw us off track, or maybe God himself created the Torah as a test to see if we were smart enough to tell the difference. From a religious standpoint, it is a valid position to question the origin of scripture.">> ^probie:
Shiny won't stop, you know. His "god" has commanded him to "spread his word" and convert as many people as possible. Even though this same god created these people tabula rasa, and instilled in them "free will" to make whatever choice they want, "He" still wants them to be followers. And all of this, while supposedly having the omnipotent power to do change anyone's paradigms, at any time. Psychotic.
What I laugh at the most is that science shows us how reality works, empirically, through observation and testing. It shows us, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the truth about our universe and how it works. Sure we may not have all the answers yet, but I'll take the unknown over a blanket answer of "because" any day of the week. By disregarding science (and subsequently evolution), shiny and his ilk are attempting to subvert people from seeing and understanding the truth. Which is exactly what "Satan" wants.
Oh, the irony.

>> ^messenger:

Please stop. You know this argument and the whole "mousetrap" thing has been laid to rest already, right? Why do you keep bringing it up? It only demonstrates that you don't understand the concepts you're talking about. If your end goal is to convert people, that's fine with me, but you're losing credibility by citing bunk science.>> ^shinyblurry:
[embed]



Shiny won't stop, you know. His "god" has commanded him to "spread his word" and convert as many people as possible. Even though this same god created these people tabula rasa, and instilled in them "free will" to make whatever choice they want, "He" still wants them to be followers. And all of this, while supposedly having the omnipotent power to change anyone's paradigms, at any time. Psychotic.

What I laugh at the most is that science shows us how reality works, empirically, through observation and testing. It shows us, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the truth about our universe and how it works. Sure we may not have all the answers yet, but I'll take the unknown over a blanket answer of "because" any day of the week. By disregarding science (and subsequently evolution), shiny and his ilk are attempting to subvert people from seeing and understanding the truth. Which is exactly what "Satan" wants.

Oh, the irony.

Alright, brace yourself. This is gonna be long.

I've had a handheld almost as long as I can remember, we'd have SEGA Gamegears, little portable things..well, technically not little, it was like 8 inches wide and took 8 AA Batteries to power if you weren't using an AC cord.

From there I got a PSX for Christmas when I was 7, and started off playing Tomba and Jersey devil, eventually graduating to better known games like Tenchu and FFVII+

A year later, I got an N64 and Zelda OOT, had those for years and amounted a fairly impressive collection of games.

Sometime in this period I also came across the GB, GB Colour, and eventually the GBA.

When the PS2/Xbox launch came years later, I asked for a PS2 for Christmas, and for whatever reason my mom convinced me to get an Xbox (No idea why) Got DoA3 and Amped as the two games for that...a month later for my birthday I got Max Payne and Silent hill 2..which scared the everloving shit out of me.
(I was the only person who had an Xbox out of all my friends, and we played the original halo so much I had to buy 4 different copies of it because of how scratched they got)


Year after that I got a PS2 for xmas, and FFX..and probably some other stuff that I actually don't remember.

Later in 2003ish, I bought FFXI and that's what started me down the road of MMo's, I bought it for PS2 and had a special Keyboard/controller thing that hooked into the USB slot for the console.

My xbox got moded because I rarely went on live, and the mod that was placed gave me a crapton of original NES and SNES games, as well as a few PSX rips.

I also got a gamecube, prettymuch for the sole reason of Smash bro's, but I also have a copy of fire emblem kicking around somewhere.

Acquired a PsP sometime in this timeframe aswell.

When the 360 was released in 2005, I bought the "Pro" console, and a copy of oblivion to go with it.

Some months down the road, my friend got interested in MMo's too, and wanted to try WoW, so we got the $2 demo disc and went our separate ways home to install it. Well, our family only had 1 shitty computer up til that point (it was bought in 2001) and didn't have a DvD drive, so I bought my own computer..can't remember the specs, but it was basically a piece of crap.

From there I played WoW consistantly for about 2 years, and off and on for another 3.

I also decided to upgrade my video card this year..Went and bought an ATI..something, got it home, installed it myself (Was the first time i'd ever opened my computer) and found out that my computer wouldn't turn on after that. Half hour later, went back to Futureshop and the guy told me that I needed to upgrade my power supply to a 450w to power the card.. wasn't happy, but I sprung for it.

After this, I installed and tried out Vanguard (to test the new video card with a brand new MMo) the day after, I uninstalled vanguard and set it on fire.

Nov 19, 2006. Actually lined up at a walmart to buy a Wii.. worst investment of my life.

In 2007 I bought a 60G Ps3 because they went on sale due to them only making the 20 and 80 after that.

2008 my 450w power supply died, and in attempting to fix it, I managed to fry a couple other aspects of my PC, and was forced to buy a new one.

I improved it to a 750w Supply and bought an extra 2 gigs of ram, and an Nvidia 8800 GTS 512mb, and tried AoC out when it launched, then WAR.

EvE, Richard Gariotts Tabula Rasa, CoH/CoV, FFXI(pc) Pirates of the Burning Sea, EQ2, and LoTRO all fit in there somewhere, too..but not sure where. So do NDS, NDSi, and an Ipod touch.

I've got a Pre-order for Aion (yay beta key!) and i'm currently working on Empire:Total War on my PC.

Overall..I'd have to say I actually prefer FPS' on console, I prefer twich shooting with my thumbs. RTS wins out PC, and some RPG's (Fallout, ect) are also on my PC..but the majority of my games fall onto my consoles.

..Overall, i've probably got over $10,000 worth of video game crap all in one room..

Erm.. try THIS video..

http://www.warcry.com/videos/view/tabula-rasa/581-The-Final-Stand-Video-Tribute

The guy in this sifted video got lost on his way to the war or something.

When it comes to finding enlightenment, there is no atheism and there is no religion; there is only the unadulterated truth. John Locke was a Puritan by birth, but only in name. The man who believed in tabula rasa would not have considered himself a Christian by birth. He was a philosopher, as is any member of mankind who understands that religious belief and the quest for enlightenment do not always converge, nor do they need such a meeting. Truth comes in many shapes, but it is only one truth. So the Puritan, John Locke, and the atheist that writes this both have a common goal--knowledge unconstrained by belief.

>> ^ShakaUVM:
All the liberal traditions that atheists have adopted under the banner of "Humanism" were mainly the result of Christian philosophers writing in the Enlightenment era.

Once again Yahtzee hits the spot. I 'played' the Tabula Rasa beta for a couple of weeks and it is an insufferable mess.

Brainstorming a list:
- Raw dough
- ingredients
- Sift-me's!
- the slate (too similar to slate.com though)
- tabula rasa (can it be any more esoteric)
- queue (mmmm... classic)

"Sociobiology: The New Synthesis

Referred to by some as Darwin II, Wilson's application of evolutionary principles to the understanding of human behavior and human culture has been seminal, controversial, and extremely influencial. Sociobiology, as Wilson originally called his new synthesis work in 1975, was "the systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior." Human animals, like other animals, were not entirely of a free will argued the pioneering author. Rather, humans and human culture evolve according to certain biologically based rules (i.e. epigenetic rules). Thus, sociobiology established a scientfic argument for rejecting the common doctrine of tabula rasa (i.e. "blank slate"), which held that human beings were born without any innate mental content and that culture functioned to increase human knowledge and aid in survival and success."
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_O._Wilson