Your video, alan watts-acceptance of death, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

I love The Fountain, and I pretty much interpreted the movie in the same way as the guy who did the video (give or take a few details).

I agree that it's a movie about coming to terms with death, and that death is not just a part of life. Life needs death to exist and vice-versa. We are all here, because stars died, and from their demise came the stuff that made our existence possible. And plants and animals die (or are killed) so that we can carry on living. And when we die, it doesn't really matter if we are buried or cremated. The stuff we are made of, the basic components of it, return to where it came from. To where it always belonged. We we're just borrowing it.

I think the tree in the spaceship is in fact the tree Tom planted over his wife's grave. And in his inability to accept her death and his eventual own, he grew attached to the tree because in a way it was the only thing he had left that was a part of his long gone wife. Her body nourished the tree, and in that sense became a part of it. But even trees don't live forever, and after 500 years the tree is dying, and once again he can't accept it. That's why he shouted at his memories of her to leave him alone. He just couldn't take it anymore. Living forever and never being able to let go, is not an easy way to live.

His death in the end, renewed the tree, making it bloom once again. Also I don't agree that he's not rational (as the video puts it). I think that's precisely the problem with Tom. He's completely rational, and ceasing to be and never again seeing his loved ones, scares him more than anything else.

I'm an atheist, and therefore I consider myself a rational person, but this movie really gave me a much needed boost to come to terms with death. Not just mine but of everyone I know. It will be terrible (as it is) when it happens, but not accepting it is denying the universe, and denying reality.

Stars die too. What chances did we ever had?

@Jerykk

I'll address by paragraph.

(1)

Wait, so I'm confused. Not enough research on my claim yet the death penalty apparently offers guaranteed results despite evidence to the contrary that I suggested?

Firstly I think you might be trying to make a bit of a straw man. I'm not saying that there should be no penalty. Some penalty obviously discourages some crime. But the argument is more over whether harsher sentences and mandatory minimums as this video discusses are helping, which I would argue they are not for the reasons outlined previously.

As for evidence of rehabilitation reducing recidivism, take for example:

http://ijo.sagepub.com/content/12/1/9.refs (see PDF)

Page 1
Finland, Norway and Sweden all have ~50-70 locked up per 100K, among the lowest. US has 716.

Page 2-3
Norway recidivism - 20%
US recidivism - 52%

I await your evidence to the contrary.

(2)

I'm talking per capita. Per capita the US certainly does have the highest among first world countries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate#By_country

Sort by per capita and find me a developed country higher than the US please.

Russia is not a first-world country (that's actually a Cold War term, more correctly not a a developed country). I'm Russian, I assure you, I would know

Russia's GDP/capita is $14K USD, versus the US's $52K. Not even a close comparison.

(3)

But do criminals proportionalise justice? Like I asked, do you think anything but a small minority (likely white collar criminals) accurately know the likely sentence of a crime before they commit it? If they don't what's the purpose of making them more severe?

Nobody is proposing there be no penalty. Even Scandanavian prisons are a penalty. The question is, does the threat of 30 over 15 years locked up (should they even be able to decipher legal code to know this) actually make a difference? I would argue not, hence the argument for harsher sentences is illogical.

People are generally good at gauging the likelihood of being caught (ie your pirating example) but that's not what I was talking about (the scale of punishment being a deterrent).

(4)

I don't think what you're proposing is practical or logical. No society is going to accept the death penalty as a punishment for speeding. It's an irrelevant argument to make.

Again, why the need for elaborate ideas never before attempted? Why not just adopt a model that has already worked, such as the Scandinavian one? It seems like you're trying to wrap your mind around a solution that fits your preconceived notion of incentives and no government assistance like I suggested in my first post.

(5)

Venezuela is a developing country. Crime is largely a result of economic mismanagement by Chavez leading to joblessness and civil unrest.

There are plenty of countries with which to compare the US with. Obvious choices would be Australia or the UK. Anglo-Saxon countries, similar culture, comparative income/capita. Or really any European country. Your comparison would suggest tp me you're trying to stretch your argument to fit.

Put 40mg in a Volcano and hit that in two hits. Pull each hit in, hold it in your lungs as deep as possible for 30 seconds if you can. Then do it again (if you can). You will see what I am mean by "Quantum".

All time will stop. But you will be propelled at the speed of light into another life. It is a "Quantum Leap" by all means. See for yourself, if you dare.

But you will no longer be "you" because the force will have killed you completely and you will have accepted your death, only to wake up after the "carrier wave" had completely destroyed everything that you ever imagined and knew of (while you are in outerspace), to wake up anew and in a different realm completely. Don't believe me? You don't have to, place 40mg in your pipe and smoke it.

Genji,

I appreciate your words, Ezra, thank you. Let's say that you're right, that my life is meaningless, and that I am the one who determines what is true. Do you know what I would determine to do? What I would determine to do is to do the same things I am doing right now. Even if I knew Jesus Christ was not God, I would still determine to follow His blueprint for the ideal person, because following that blueprint has radically transformed my life for the better. There are many who aren't Christians who feel the same way, that Jesus got it right. If I wasn't a Christian, I would follow the ideal He set forth, summed up in the great commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. To turn swords into plowshares. To pray for your enemies and hold banquets for the homeless. To walk two miles when someone asked you to walk one. To give the shirt off your back to someone else who needs it. To love everyone unconditionally, and see every person as fundamentally worthy of my respect. That is what my life about it, and I wouldn't consider that to be a wasted life, even if I was wrong.

I've also lived the alternative. Contrary to what you say, I was never really afraid of death. I can't say I liked the idea of death, but I accepted it; and so I was resigned to triviality, and meaninglessness. I was also content to go to the grave with those beliefs. Like everyone else, I got by on my dreams, my relationships, and whatever gratification I could get out of the moment; I indulged in the pleasures of sin freely, and felt little shame.

So I didn't come to be a Christian out of fear, or a need to be comforted. I came to be a Christian because God touched my life and shook me from my agnosticism. He showed me I wasn't quite as smart as I thought I was. He showed me that the material reality is but a thin veil covering a much greater truth. He showed me that the truth was always staring me right in the eyes, but I was too blind to see it. What He showed me was that He had always been there, my entire life, and that many of the things I wrote off as coincidence really were not.

You see, it is perfectly reasonable and rational for me to believe there is a God. He has simply given me too much evidence to deny it. It's not a convenient belief that fills in all the scary things about life; rather, it is my reason for being, my logos. It is also my eternal gratitude to the Creator for rescuing me and loving me even though I don't deserve it. To know God is to know truth, to know who you are, and why you're here. To know God is to have hope for your future, and an ever present peace and contentment. You believe I am fooling myself, but I say that even if you're right, it is a life worth living, a life well enjoyed, a life that hopefully will touch many others in positive ways. If that is the only meaning I die with, its worth it to me.

>> ^GenjiKilpatrick:

Shiny.
Accept it. You're an ape.
You're a conglomeration of amoeba.
Your life is a just a blip in the twinkling of the universe.
There is probably no god or gods.
There's probably no purpose or reason for your existence.
You are the being that gives purpose or meaning to your life.
When you realize that.
When you realize that there's not supernatural sky daddy to hold you when you're scared or confused..
You'll understand that you've been talking all this nonsensical religious babble in order to establish that purpose.
That the only reason you and jihadist are so adamant about your own personal interpretation of the essence of the abyss..
Is to distract yourself from the fact that your life is just another series of events in this long chain of entropy, chaos, disorder.
The only reason you're so religious is because you're an ape that's too scared to accept your death and the triviality of your existence.
One day, I hope you'll realize this.
On that day, you'll be "born again" just like you were when you accepted "Jesus Christ" and Christian doctrinal teachings.
On that day, you may become self-actualized..
And from then on, understand that we homo sapiens are very lucky.
For we, among few other animals, are able to choose their life's meaning and purpose.
Please don't waste yours.. being a religious troll on the interwebs.
Your brother,
Ezra.

Shiny.

Accept it. You're an ape.

You're a conglomeration of amoeba.

Your life is a just a blip in the twinkling of the universe.

There is probably no god or gods.

There's probably no purpose or reason for your existence.

You are the being that gives purpose or meaning to your life.

When you realize that.

When you realize that there's no supernatural sky daddy to hold you when you're scared or confused..

You'll understand that you've been talking all this nonsensical religious babble in order to establish that purpose.

That the only reason you and jihadist are so adamant about your own personal interpretation of the essence of the abyss..

Is to distract yourself from the fact that your life is just another series of events in this long chain of entropy, chaos, disorder.

The only reason you're so religious is because you're an ape that's too scared to accept your death and the triviality of your existence.

One day, I hope you'll realize this.

On that day, you'll be "born again" just like you were when you accepted "Jesus Christ" and Christian doctrinal teachings.

On that day, you may become self-actualized..

And from then on, understand that we homo sapiens are very lucky.

For we, among few other animals, are able to choose their life's meaning and purpose.

Please don't waste yours.. being a religious troll on the interwebs.

Your brother,
Ezra.

>> ^NinjaInHeat:

To everyone crying out "OMGOMGOGM, DISEASE GERMS OMG NO!!!", do you have any idea of the type of shit a child will put in his/her mouth during that period in life? Something tells she'll survive this 'ordeal'. I liked the mom's remark about her turning out to be vegetarian, actually, if anything, I imagine this will prove to have a positive impact on her perception and acceptance of death as she grows up.


>> ^Skeeve:

What I want to know is, how is what she did "wrong"?
There might be some cleanliness issues that might make you consider it "wrong" but she wasn't licking it or anything (not something I would be surprised about, considering her age) so if her parents clean her up she will likely be fine.



It's a risk thing. Yes children are routinely exposed to many pathogens, but they are also immunized against the worst of them. Odds are this child will be just fine after this episode, and odds are she will also be fine unrestrained in the back seat of a car. A responsible parent should limit unnecessary risks to their child, and exposing her to zoonotic diseases is a bad move.

To everyone crying out "OMGOMGOGM, DISEASE GERMS OMG NO!!!", do you have any idea of the type of shit a child will put in his/her mouth during that period in life? Something tells she'll survive this 'ordeal'. I liked the mom's remark about her turning out to be vegetarian, actually, if anything, I imagine this will prove to have a positive impact on her perception and acceptance of death as she grows up.

>> ^entr0py:

>> ^criticalthud:
yeah, just don't disagree with the "official" version. you'll be ostracized. I'm still amazed at how it is generally accepted that our government lied to get us into Iraq but told a sparkling truth to get us in and keep us in afghanistan.
whatever fits the narrative

The difference is evidence. None of us should have an implicit trust that our government always tells the truth, but we do have reasoning skills. Many of the claims leading up to the Iraq war turned out to be demonstratively false.
But looking at the killing of Bin Laden, there is substantial evidence that it is true. There's the testimony from Bin Laden's widow and daughter, who were there at the time. There's the videos that the US has released which were taken from the compound. They show Bin Laden there and match photos journalists have since taken of the interior. There's the fact that al-Qaeda has accepted his death officially. And finally there's how easily it could all be disproved if it weren't true.


he never acknowledged it himself, as far as my research goes. i can't really think of a reason why he wouldn't had he actually masterminded the greatest attack on american soil.
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/16/inv.binladen.denial/
and then, i believe shortly before we invaded Afghanistan, the government proffered this "confession" video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhctMpvszqQ&feature=related
I have a difficult time believing that is a video of bin laden. And if isn't, then there are many questions to ask. But it is fairly easy to conclude based on the past and present actions of our government that bin laden was simply an violent extremist that fit the terrorist narrative very well. Part that narrative would have required the aggrandizing of both he and his rather loosely based network ("al queda", a U.S. term) in order to support the mass buildup in both the military industry as well as the security industry (and providing a distraction from the stripping of the civil rights and wealth of the citizenry). Bin Laden has been an exceedingly profitable figure for many interests.
Lately however, with popular rebellion marginalizing small scale terror and an un-winnable effort by the U.S. to create a profitable infrastructure in Afghanistan, bin laden's value likely decreased to that of an election chip.

>> ^criticalthud:

yeah, just don't disagree with the "official" version. you'll be ostracized. I'm still amazed at how it is generally accepted that our government lied to get us into Iraq but told a sparkling truth to get us in and keep us in afghanistan.
whatever fits the narrative


The difference is evidence. None of us should have an implicit trust that our government always tells the truth, but we do have reasoning skills. Many of the claims leading up to the Iraq war turned out to be demonstratively false.

But looking at the killing of Bin Laden, there is substantial evidence that it is true. There's the testimony from Bin Laden's widow and daughter, who were there at the time. There's the videos that the US has released which were taken from the compound. They show Bin Laden there and match photos journalists have since taken of the interior. There's the fact that al-Qaeda has accepted his death officially. And finally there's how easily it could all be disproved if it weren't true.

It's stunning how the compassion is not lost, yet the emotional attachment is quickly forgotten (not in a bad way). The acceptance of death as a outcome of life with no strings attached is beautiful.

It's thing like this that show you how silly we really are when we place ourselves so high above other creatures because of our brains, yet can't have a topic like death be dealt with so simply, when it really is just that simple.

>> ^Bruti79:

Wow, courage under pressure.
I wish I could have half of what she has.
so if somebody posted their final deathbed video, but instead, they were crying and scared and in their frustration with their situation they needlessly blamed other innocent people and were refusing to accept their death, would you comment on such a video and call them a coward?


i'm not trying to be rude or controversial here, just trying to understand people's logic here.

"i thought that since the usa was supporting Georgia, that there would be some control over the situation and there would be a peaceful situation"

haha! how ... distorted.

What's sad about this, is that there is no good guy, the innocent people of Georgia are being killed because the insanity of politics. They are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I almost cried yesterday when I saw a picture of a elderly woman sitting in some ruins, bleeding and screaming for help. My question is... if you are a leader of a country.. how can you order these attacks that will probably hit civillians? Even by mistake. Do you not care? Are all those types of pictures withheld from you? So that you can feel good about your masculinity?

I lost my mother to cancer last january, she was 68 years old, in my opinion way, way too young to die. It's been very hard accepting her death, I can't imagine how I would deal with it if my mother was killed by some missile or bomb that some guy decided to launch or drop. How fucking unfair is that? How insanely discusting is that? People getting killed because of some politicians struggle for power? Imagine carrying your 5 year old daughter, maybe with no legs and an arm, just because some texan thousands of miles away wants to secure more oil?.

The best help USA could offer is, STOP BUILDING MISSILE SILOS IN EASTERN EUROPE! What would the USA do if Russia started building missile silos in Cuba? ... oh wait....

>> ^BicycleRepairMan:

Atheism, by choice, refuses to acknowledge that evidence for God does exist, and in doing so, cannot reach any other conclusion.
Uh, no. We only acknowledge the lack of evidence. Present your evidence, and I will NOT refuse to acknowledge it. Its just that no theist, ever, in human history, has ever submitted anything that even remotely qualifies as evidence in common sense standards. God is simply an assumption based in ignorance. ie "We exist, so God must have created us.." etc.


The evidence of God's existence hits any Atheist right between their eyes. The world is created in such a way that it shows and proves God's existence everyday(Psalms 19:1)(Mark 4:11)(Daniel 12:10). Also, just to rephrase the quote a bit, in a more logical way:
Atheism, by choice, refuses to acknowledge that they lack understanding, and in doing so, cannot reach any other conclusion, other than what they fully comprehend.
I would personally say that this is a better definition of Atheism. Most of the time, it's a matter of pride. They reject things that are beyond their comprehension, simply because they refuse to accept the fact that they know less, because in their comprehension knowing less, equates to being a lesser being(because to them, knowing more makes you more, right?). You seeketh glory in Atheism only for your own gain.
I know the world is cruel. Such truth cannot be denied. But honestly, I'm asking every Atheist out there, don't you feel it within you? The immortality of your soul? The "you" that grows more and more vigorously everyday even if your body weakens through time? Would you really accept your death as the end of your existence? If your answer to the last question is "No", don't you think it's time to check your options? Atheism, does not offer life everlasting...but God does. It may seem hard to choose, because many false prophets appeared, as Jesus had prophesized. If it's because of those false prophets like Benny or the Pope, or anyone else, made you the way you are right now, don't lose hope. If they have led you to not believe anymore, then, they have fulfilled their purpose but you, on the other hand, have not fulfilled yours(Ecle 12:13).
I share unto all of you, the light that I have found. http://esoriano.wordpress.com please take time to visit. May the peace of God be with you all.