>> ^GeeSussFreeK:

>> ^ant:
Too stiff.

Me to friend, me too.


Too funny.

>> ^ant:

Too stiff.


Me to friend, me too.

--> @kceaton1
--> @peggedbea

The only reason I upvote these is that I think it's good for discourse. It's more useful for the lurkers on this site than really the involved members. I knew I would be bringing up a very neutral standpoint as I am on the fence; especially, recently as more biological evidence has direct implications on who you may be later in life. That is VERY important to remember for everyone reading. You have to remember that your brain collects and stores information and then processes it through "filters" before it is distilled into what you would say. Biologically you may be far more likely to be an atheist than a believer (the study makes no distinction religion wise; so they are talking about Islam, Christianity, Norse, Greek, Roman, Buddhist, Hinduism, etc...).

We need a table that we can (we, as in, the religious versus non-theist) talk at. More importantly logical minds and compassion MUST prevail for society to remain intact. If Richard Dawkins (maybe I'm thinking of Hitchens) really can't talk with creationists then he is as much a problem as the creationists themselves (of course one of these parties ARE correct, but the lack of civility is extremely annoying--from both sides).

If you want others to learn sometimes you need to act just like Mormon, Catholic, Evangelical, missionaries. You must expect the vitriol and swearing that usually comes out as highly defensive "maneuvering" or hate; the same that the missionaries get day in and day out. Sorry, "my brethren", but answering the door to purposefully create an unnecessary rude or hateful situation comes off as hate/bigotry speech or dismissive attitudes which is just as bad. This is morally corrupt behavior in my eyes. I suggest answering the door and being able to identify to them issues you have strongly opposed views of and why compared to what they do and about what they say. You have to hope, in this day of the Internet, that people will take ONE aspect of what you said and learn more about it.

I had Mormon seminary teachers that taught creationism, but creationism is extremely limited in acceptance within the Mormon church. For crying out loud BYU (Mormon based university for those that don't know; just south of Salt Lake City) accepts evolution WITHOUT ANY hesitation. They are very active in the sciences as well which is why they do believe; furthermore they are huge researchers when it comes to genealogy which eventually loops into evolution. In many situations the Bible is a work of allegory and followers that take it literal are the uneducated Mormons; even unto their own religion.

So when I have these seminary teachers it truly makes me wonder how they got to their position as they seem to follow their own set of tenets which ends up creating Mormons like Glenn Beck who literally don't stand for church beliefs as I knew them (and again why hasn't he been excommunicated--this actually bothers me a lot as he only hurts the churches standing; which is poor to begin with and is nothing like the Mormons I know). Science was always taught to be incredibly important; if not the most important as it was a way to "uncover even more of Gods truths"; plus it is the applicable "science". That is that it gives us our modern day of living and quality of life (like airplanes, microwaves, TV, energy, etc...). I may not believe in any religion now. But, I appreciate that sentiment; as I think it's a very healthy objectivity to have if in a religion: adaptability.

/ I have to agree somewhat with @gwiz665 as religion (like all things) from an atheists vantage point looks a lot like fear manipulation. I love the Golden Rule as it truly does incorporate perhaps the easiest summary of what it is to be good. But, I know religious people use this to their own ends, including what we see in Libya or on Fox News. To them, people and their beliefs are a joke and they abuse it. It often makes me wonder if these CEOs are truly religious (the ones that say they are) or just using it as a gateway--who knows. Which goes back to my first point. It's entirely possible that we as a species have a tendency to vote "sociopathic" or likewise people into office as they themselves, much like drug seeking personalities (like bi-polar) seek out these positions. The abuse of these positions are partially hard wired into their makeup. All this means is that we must be more diligent. We've come too far as atheists and the religious to let this civilization slip away out of our hands.

//If this is tl;dr, to you, go watch a monkey flinging poop on youtube.

Wow, was this awesome bookshelf actually built? or just perfectly rendered on a TRS-80 color computer, I hear they can do some really awesome stuff nowadays, Almost life like, almost 3-d. Almost.

I love the guy at 4:27 who's like "Who the fuck are you and why the fuck do you think a low-life like you can do that in my car?"

For some reason I like that he didn't specify his inspiration. We are all inspired by different things. In fact, there could be some cases where I would be too detracted by an inspiration that I just wouldn't be able to relate to.

I really liked this video. I don't think there is any going back for this man. The video really conveys a commitment to and for life.

To change your life like this (for the better) by such a great amount of grit is so very admirable to me me.

I rarely cheer for and feel happy for a complete stranger like I did when I watched this.

Good for him!

Good job. Well done. Awesome. Inspiring.

would of been better if the balloon permanently trapped him, and he had to spend the rest of his life like that. Just a giant condom walking about going DRAT THIS >_< DARNIT

>> ^entr0py:

>> ^Sketch:
Finally, intelligent design is actually a legitimate scientific fact! But WE are the intelligence. We created life, like we created God.

Except they didn't actually design anything, it's 100% a copy of an existing bacteria's genome. I don't really get the important distinction between this and conventional genetic engineering. Either way your starting point is the genome of an existing cell, which you proceed to fuck with.


My god man, do you have any idea how technically complicated the genome is? We took the simplest bacteria and it still took 15 YEARS (and a millions of dollars) with current technology. This process just proves that we have the capability to build a genome from scratch (whether it's designed to a template of a previous genome or to one devised by us). I think the fact that we have accomplished this much is absolutely incredible and opens doors in our future to lead to the vaccines and cures of diseases we never even thought possible.

>> ^Sketch:

Finally, intelligent design is actually a legitimate scientific fact! But WE are the intelligence. We created life, like we created God.


Except they didn't actually design anything, it's 100% a copy of an existing bacteria's genome. I don't really get the important distinction between this and conventional genetic engineering. Either way your starting point is the genome of an existing cell, which you proceed to fuck with.

Finally, intelligent design is actually a legitimate scientific fact! But WE are the intelligence. We created life, like we created God.

>> ^jonny:

Some seriously messed up comments here. As though highly educated humans are the only lives worthy of not having their throats slit at birth.
I didn't note any mention in the video of extraordinary measures being taken to save this life, like those often taken in the cases of premature babies. Just the opposite in fact - he just survived. Perhaps the commenters that think his parents should diaf believe the baby would have been better off being drowned at birth? Or dumped in a ditch to die quickly of dehydration/starvation? Maybe we could extend that - any toddler that doesn't walk by 18 months, or any child that doesn't quote shakespeare by 5 years is euthanized.
wtf?


Yeah, how we respond to the video probably depends on our temperament and assumptions.

Some seriously messed up comments here. As though highly educated humans are the only lives worthy of not having their throats slit at birth.

I didn't note any mention in the video of extraordinary measures being taken to save this life, like those often taken in the cases of premature babies. Just the opposite in fact - he just survived. Perhaps the commenters that think his parents should diaf believe the baby would have been better off being drowned at birth? Or dumped in a ditch to die quickly of dehydration/starvation? Maybe we could extend that - any toddler that doesn't walk by 18 months, or any child that doesn't quote shakespeare by 5 years is euthanized.

wtf?

This is the ultimate form of compensation. Nothing says "I feel weak and helpless in my day to day life" like openly carrying a firearm.

Next they'll try to bring back the codpiece as a fashion statement.

Tim and Eric were so close.

>> ^blankfist:
You have to consider, major news outlets may find the bluish, more life-like xray images to be too graphic for their site/channels, so it wouldn't outside the realm of possibility for them to darken, desaturate and alter the images a bit.
Less ubiquitous non-news outlets seem to use the higher resolution blue images that seem like they'd make a nude image if you made a negative adjustment the image.
http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20071015/body-scanning-machine-being
-tested/


Nope... I did the negative on that, and it just looks like a dark shadow on white rather than the other way around. People are far too willing to believe anything that people post and say is true.