I don't know if that's really a point missed. This paradox that we give up certain freedoms to live in a free society isn't new or controversial imo. The discussion, and the thing Snowden seems to be addressing, is that of a simple cost benefit analysis. I'd wager that a proportion of Americans might, given the revelations on the NSA, still opt for them to continue or even increase their operations in the belief it might make them safer. If they are convinced that not only does this collection of data not offer them protection, but it also comes at great monetary expense, then they might reconsider.

One point Snowden missed the opportunity of making (or just made too poorly for it to be noticeable) is the one about the paradox implicit in the "surveillance which aims to protect our freedom" *becomes* "surveillance that strips us of our freedom."

Egads...
That's sad.
They build the 747 on spec---I guess we just didn't have enough fires to support it.
Though paradoxically, this year, we might.

http://bigthink.com/dr-kakus-universe/the-paradox-of-multiple-goldilocks-zones-or-did-the-universe-know-we-were-coming

"But today, I can view my second grade teacher's statement from a different point of view. Today, astronomers have identified over 500 planets orbiting other stars, and they are all too close or too far from their mother star. Most of them, we think, cannot support life as we know it. So it is unnecessary to invoke God.

But now, cosmologists are facing this paradox again, but from a cosmic perspective. It turns out that the fundamental parameters of the universe appear to be perfectly "fine-tuned." For example, if the nuclear force were any stronger, the sun would have simply burned out billions of years ago, and if it were any weaker the sun wouldn't have ignited to begin with. The Nuclear Force is tuned Just Right. Similarly, if gravity were any stronger, the Universe would have most likely collapsed in on itself in a big crunch; and if it were any weaker, everything would have simply frozen over in a big freeze. The Gravitational Force is Just Right."

The evidence shows the Universe is not an accident; the observation of fine-tuning leads naturally to the conclusion that there must be a FineTuner, much in the same way that the evidence of a painting leads us to the conclusion that there must be a painter. The favorable circumstances of the laws that allow life to flourish on planet Earth are by design.

Applying the principle of Occams Razor, postulating the existence of multiple unobserved universes to try to account for our favorable circumstances should be ruled out in favor of a theory of a Creator because there are fewer assumptions needed and there is greater explanatory power. Once the existence of even "apparent" fine-tuning has been observed, ruling out the theory of a Creator is illogical and contrary to reason according to the principle of parsimony.

It's kind of an unfortunate paradox that the more you practice these things, the more compliant you become to the actual movements. So, in a way, you become less resistant to protect yourself from injury and also to allow your partner to focus on their movements...but in the end, you become more susceptible to the techniques than an unpracticed person.

It's like dance partners. Being the best dancer in the world may allow you to move an unskilled partner in a manner that mimics skill but you're not going to pull off any complex movements.

I have all the respect in the world for what these guys do but I think they'd agree that they're just messing around and showing off some stuff that doesn't work so elegantly in real life.

*related=http://videosift.com/video/The-Paradox-of-Choice-by-Renata-Salecl-RSA

Renata Salecl -- The Paradox of Choice has been added as a related post - related requested by kulpims on that post.

The Paradox of Choice by Renata Salecl (RSA) has been added as a related post - related requested by kulpims.

Less complex than the UI of any Paradox Interactive game.

The paradox that most interests me here is why his hair looks like that.

On the one hand, it looks like a man with an infinite lack of sight styled his hair during a hurricane, but on the other hand he has finite 20/20 vision with his glasses on. How can that be?

agreed.
and its the fundamental flaw i find is ecclestiastical theosophy.
externalization.
that somehow through suffering we find grace.
absolution through redemption.
but in BOTH cases it is the externalization of god that intervenes.

which can be interpreted (and often is) that if their is suffering it is gods will.
which i find extremely paradoxical because then that negates free will at all.

Around 5:45 Julian says that free-form strategy games cannot guarantee that the player will always have something interesting to do, and that, in his view at least, you couldn't get away with that sort of game anymore today.

Paradox Interactive with their Hearts of Iron, Europa Universalis and Victoria franchises are still up and running. Hearts of Iron 3, in particular, seems more popular than ever, after the release of the third add-on, "Their Finest Hour". And if anything, HOI3 is even more of a sandbox than the original XCOM.

Similarly, Bohemia Interactive's Arma series as a comparable counterpart in the field of first person shooters is gaining massive popularity as well, even though it incorporates extensive "downtimes" for players.

You can't churn out annual iterations and expect AAA-rate numbers of sold copies, but the community is still large enough to warrent a couple of these franchises.

Ah...hes explaining it by saying .99 recurring = 1. Thats fair enough I guess, but the paradox is purely a thought experiment. It doesnt hold up in real world.

Beautiful. It's enough to turn one vegan. Of course the paradox is, were we all to do so, the cow, sheep, pig, hen etc, would no longer be needed. Hmmm, dilemma.