I don't know how I'd feel sitting in one of those small immersibles face-to-face with a creature big and strong enough to take on most of the fish in the sea and has the intelligence to evade and outsmart man so well.

There is only one creture that can best this Squid - the Sperm Whale. (occationaly teams of sharks)

My point is why do you feel that something you would not do in front of others towards another person is somehow justified in private? It's not, it's cowardice. The fact is she doesn't know him. So even if he pulled her aside somewhere out in public and said it in private it would not be correct. I don't think he would have done that either. I mean in what situation does a stranger pull someone aside and tell them this? I can't think of one. He's hiding behind the internet. He's trolling her. It doesn't matter what words he chose to express this to her he would not have done this face to face *because for the fear of what would happen. So without that fear he act's on it and completely trolls her. That is not normal human behavior. It's internet bullying. There are further examples of where you would not do this EVEN on the internet. For instance, you would not write the creator of this site and express disapproval of their appearance now would you? The moment there is a repercussion people stay inline. It's the fact that there was no repercussion that allowed him to be so crass towards her. >> ^scannex:

Yup Thumper you're right. There is no polite way to say it.
Your comparison over "doing it in public" however is kinda... completely ignoring what happened here?
He did it privately over email.
You need to understand that.
He didn't try and publicly shame her. He doesn't want anything from her to enrich himself. He did not bully her.
What is "nice" to you isn't relevant. Hell, I will totally AGREE that it isn't nice. Doesn't make it worth all this hooplah that she created either by making it public, and it doesn't make being obese a good thing.

>> ^spoco2:

One minute in and I'm with P1ggy... Wow, LOL's shared to fulfill a missing part of your soul?
Fucking hell.
I'll never share the world view of people like this. Always looking for the negative in everything.
YES there are negatives to EVERYTHING
But you know what? There's also fucking awesome things in everything too.
Does he realize how many people use Facebook to organize real world events and meeting with REAL people to interact in a REAL sense?

Does he not get the irony of starting the video with promotion for his websites?
Does he talk with that depressing monotone all the time?
I'm all for interaction with real people, but I'm not for looking on the world through shit coloured glasses.


here here!

i think the OP must have a HATEON for hand written letters too then... or wait, maybe he romanticizes them

i only FB people I know in real life
FB is used almost like a bulletin board system, to organize events, keep in touch with people when I'd otherwise get absolutely no contact with them due to time constraints

and what about all the people i've met abroad, who i've formed friendships with that I would have little to no contact with without online social media

what about all the activism/political information i'd probably either not receive or at best receive in a non-timely fashion if not for social media (arab spring anyone?)

what about being able to see pictures or videos of relatives too sick, too old, or too newborn to travel conventionally... let alone being able to communicate with them

the OP falls into the cliche "everything was better the way it was as opposed to how it is or will potentially be"... shit colored sunglasses indeed

stop using it if you dont approve of the changes to your lifestyle social media makes
but it is IRONIC you are using social media to spread your message don't you think? wouldn't it be truer to your message to do door to door/face to face meet and greets?

and every opinion expressed in this video is hardly... HARDLY universal
let alone original

Facebook is no substitute for face-to-face flesh-and-blood social interaction. Agreed. Thank you for wasting 13 minutes of my life with this obvious and unremarkable observation.

Hey @shinyblurry,

I've had this bookmarked since it came out and finally watched it today. Thanks for this video. I found it quite interesting, and it brought me face-to-face with something I've been kinda half thinking about lately -- the meaninglessness of life.

I read some of the comments, but skipped most, so I may be repeating. Lemme know if that's the case.

About the video itself. To get this out of the way, many of Keller's individual arguments were made in intellectually dishonest ways, like using two meanings of the same word (e.g. "meaningless") to create false logic, and using philosophers' quotes as fact without challenging their validity or pertinence to the argument at hand. Keller isn't the topic though, so that's all I'm going to say about that.

About all the meaninglessness. I agree with the overall point, that if there's no god, then there's really no meaning to life in the grand scheme of things since we're here for a meaningless slice of infinite time. That's hard to face sometimes. That discomfort tends to drive me towards other people. Sharing that feeling with others feels really good. Helping them feel better about it makes me feel good. I might even say it gives me a purpose, gives my life meaning.

I don't see any contradictions in my philosophy yet though. Or, at least, I didn't agree with any of the ones that Keller brought up. For example, about love and about evil. I found those arguments fatuous. I believe there's love because I feel it, just like I feel pain. Also, I don't believe that evil exists as part of reality. There are certainly actions I've done, seen and heard of that I judge as horrible things to do, and which some would see as "evil", but that's my judgement or someone else's, a label, something external both to myself and the person who did the action. Conceiving of it as "evil" is either a metaphysical statement, or an internal reaction to the thought of you doing that action yourself. Good and bad? Yes. Virtue and Evil? No.

So let's go with good and bad. You and I have already spent many screenfulls talking about morality, but to reiterate my belief, I think that people have an instinct for which actions are good and which are bad based on how they affect other people. We instinctively know that torturing babies is bad. We also instinctively know that doing something to ease another's problems or enhance their life is good. The more we try and connect with those feelings of what's good and what's bad, the better we feel about our actions and the happier we are overall. I believe that following that sheer bliss wherever it leads us is the best thing we can do. Specifically, anything the Bible promotes against following your bliss and knowingly causing pain in others should be snipped out.

When I think of my own depression, how it might relate to a lack of reason for my life, and how I might feel better if I were able to believe in God, it makes me feel better when I think of other people I know who are genuinely happy people without a whiff of religion in their lives, and I ask myself what makes them happy, and try and emulate that. The answer is always following their bliss, which is always helping other people find their bliss. Wonderful how that works. FWIW, I don't know any happy, fulfilled people who actively judge any other people as right or wrong, good or bad.

Wow. But wouldn't it be nice if technology could bring us back full circle and actually increase face to face interaction? That should be the next level.

@artician

No offense to the poster of this comment, but when I read things like:
"I've read that children around the age of 12-14 are getting counseling on how to interact face to face with people because"
I immediately flash back to the absurdity of the mid-80's, and the whole "D&D will cause your kids to do acid and kill each other and live in a fantasy world!"

The difference is, what SB said is true (I CAN'T believe I just typed that), and potentially affects the vast majority of young people today and their ability to interact effectively one-on-one as human beings. What you use as an example of some repeating, generational "asurdity" was simply your vague recollection of a made-for-TV Tom Hanks movie that even the small percentage of kids who actually played D&D thought was ridiculous.

It's not just young people, though. Budzos didn't spell it out, but I think his experience and mine are similar in one respect. The co-workers I described are all 30 and 40-somethings who were infected by the asocial miasma of the cellular ether later in life. It's easy. It's cool. It's convenient. It's new and amazing, and it can tell you where all 33 Starbucks within 5 miles of you are located. I understand the initial appeal. It's like a drug. It sucks you in. And before you know it... you're obsessed with Groupon, happiness is the ringtone of a new text message, your Facebook status is IMPORTANT, and that shiny new badge and the subsequent adulations of complete strangers legitimizes all that time you spent/wasted/lost forever scouring Reddit and YouTube.

Not for me.

>> ^poolcleaner:

The internet is just part of our social evolution. This is the awkward phase.


Yeah that's the way I see it.

No offense to the poster of this comment, but when I read things like:
"I've read that children around the age of 12-14 are getting counseling on how to interact face to face with people because"

I immediately flash back to the absurdity of the mid-80's, and the whole "D&D will cause your kids to do acid and kill each other and live in a fantasy world!"

I think anyone is totally valid in saying this trend is pretty stupid in many ways, but it's not the first or last one the human species will go through, and all those awkward kids who grew up on the internet will have kids of their own and wonder "why the hell doesn't he come out of the VR room all weekend? I read research that..." yadda yadda.

From my personal perspective, I wish people were more resistant to "the latest thing" or new technology, because of how much we give up for it.

>> ^shinyblurry:
I've read that children around the age of 12-14 are getting counseling on how to interact face to face with people because they've lived in a world of texting their whole lives. Our wired world is creating profound dysfunction in the minds and hearts of the people:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/07/08/is-the-internet-making-us-crazy-what-the-new-research-says.html


People have an inherent desire to feel needed or worthwhile. That desire can be managed through social interaction, being part of a group helps act as a conduit allowing the interaction to have a basis to proceed. Most group interactions have obvious positive benefits for the individuals involved, with the negative impacts being dismissed because the good supposedly outweighs the bad.

You raise a good point that face to face interaction has declined due to the impact of the internet, and it definitely helps the individuals affected if they can learn multiple ways to interact with others. Take letter writing for example, everyone loves to receive a personal letter but very few people actually take the time to put pen to paper anymore. Maybe we should also be encouraging people to write more instead of cramming what they're trying to say into a small bite-size chunk of communication.

If these modern forms of interaction are providing benefits to the individuals who utilise them then all that is required is ensuring that people are aware and well-informed of the negative consequences so they can make adjustments to their lifestyle if they see fit.

I've read that children around the age of 12-14 are getting counseling on how to interact face to face with people because they've lived in a world of texting their whole lives. Our wired world is creating profound dysfunction in the minds and hearts of the people:


http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/07/08/is-the-internet-making-us-crazy-what-the-new-research-says.html

A true legend, if there ever was one. And there was at least one, so, therefore, he is.
http://videosift.com/video/Face-to-Face-with-Weird-Al-Yankovic

Def fail for his ugly mug with the cute girl...that should be the focus! I heard, ring face face face ring something...

Introducing the new Apple iPerson complete with multi touch and volume control, doesn’t it feel good to touch, doesn’t it feel good to touch, doesn’t it feel good to touch.

My world is so digital, I have forgotten what that feels like.
It used to be hard to connect when friends formed cliques, but now it’s even more difficult to connect now that clicks form friends.

But who am I to judge…

I face Facebook more than books face me hoping to book face to faces, I update my status 420 space to prove Im still breathing; failure.
To do this daily means my whole web wide world would forget that I exist. But with 3000 friends online only 5 I can count in real life, why wouldn’t I spend more time in the world where there are more people that LIKE me. Wouldn’t you?

Here it doesn’t matter if I am an amateur person, as long as I have a pro-file, my smile is 50% genuine and 50% genuine-HD, you will need blu-rays to read the whites of my teeth, but im not that focused.

Ten tabs open, hoping, my problems can be resolved with a 1600 x 1700 revolution, this is a problem with this evolution, doubled over, we used to sit in tree tops, till we swung down and stand up right, then someone slipped a disc, now we’re doubled over at desktops.

From the Garden of Eden, to the branches of Macintosh, Apple picking has always come at a great cost.
iPod, iMac, iPhone, iChat, I can do all of these things without making iContact.

We used to sprint to pick and store Blackberries, now we run to the Sprint store to pick Blackberrys, it’s scary.
I can’t hear the sound of mother nature speaking, over all that Tweeting, and along with it is our ability to feel as it’s fleeting.

You would think these headphone jacks inject in the flesh the way we connect, the disconnect, power ON. So we are powerless, they got us love drugged. Like e-pills, so we e-trade, e-mail, e-motion like e-commerce because now money can buy love, for 9.95 a month – click!

To proceed to checkout – click! To X out where our hearts once were – click!
I’ve uploaded this hug, I hope she gets it – click!
I’m making love to wife, I hope she’s logged in – click!
I’m holding my daughter over a Skype conference call while shes crying in the crib in the next room – click!

So when my phone goes off in my hip, I touch and I touch and I touch, because in a world where there are voices that are only read and laughter is never heard or I’m so desperate to feel that I hope the technologic in reverse the universes so the screen can touch me back, and maybe it will, when our technology is advance enough to make us human again.

It's a farce to think contemplating how large the universe has nothing to do with the grand design.

The Universe itself is only the tip of the iceberg - it's not nihilism, the truth is we do not know anything at all ; but the journey to continue on the path of real Truth by piecing it together is one of the more beautiful and meaningful aspects of life in a world so closed-minded, fearful & narcissistic. It is all in the eye-of-the beholder but know that no religion knows what the powers that be are... we will probably never even develop the senses to get anywhere close to understanding.

I am speaking to the pale blue dot theory that humanists rejoice in, to wave the size of the Universe around as a magic wand that erases the idea of any absolute truth, especially when it pertains to a belief in God. To say that our perceived insignificance in the face of the deep invalidates the idea that God, if He even exists, could possibly care about what is going on here.

It is to see through everything and thus see nothing at all, which is essentially what nihilism is. You say we can't know anything; well, the obvious question is, how do you know that? I agree, this existence that we have now is only the tip of the iceberg, but in the manner that it is a poor reflection of what is to come. The size of cosmos is infantesimal in comparison to the depths of the mind that created it. It is not the material that is interesting, it is the glory of that one who spoke it into being, to which the cosmos testifies:

The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament shows His handiwork.

Day unto day utters speech,

And night unto night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech nor language

Where their voice is not heard.

Their line has gone out through all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world.

The temporal is only temporary, because time is running out. What we see now is a pale rendition of the actual, eternal reality. We are spiritual beings, and these are just clay vessels, dust and ashes. The things that are seen are all perishing; it is the things that are unseen which are eternal.

I understand atheism, I used to consider myself one. But, I think atheism gives itself too much credit in face of the vastness amount of possibilities / possible impossibilities we will never understand but could maybe to a finite degree, comprehend.

I agree and so does francis collins:

"of all choices, atheism requires the greatest faith, as it demands that ones limited store of human knowledge is sufficient to exclude the possibility of God."

Well, philosopher, what I will say is that the only thing that matters is what the truth is. If you cannot define what the truth is, it is impossible to understand anything at all. And unless you are omnipotent, you cannot know that truth, but one who is omnipotent could reveal it to you. That is the only reason anyone can know what is true, because we heard from the One who was there at the very beginning. Now if you can admit the validity of special revelation, then you are one step closer to understanding where I am coming from.

This guy says it best "It's humongous big." True that, brother. Keep on spacin' out, it's the closest we will get to any sort of truth.

I think this is a lot closer:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,b but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.






>> ^shagen454

Using paragraphs isn't difficult, it's just a matter of clustering ideas in a way that makes sense.


Take the note you just left me, should probably separated into 3 or so different parts



hey man. <<< Greeting

mucho thanks for your response and the time you spent. very awesome of ya. always appreciate when someone takes the time to clear something up. <<< Thoughts about our exchange er our conversation

and about the paragraph deal. not gonna happen. im a grammatical trainwreck. <<< Commentary on the grammar of your post.

Make sense?




Thing is, bad grammar is mostly fine in everyday conversation. In face to face situations, someone can ask you a question if they dont understand what you mean or are having a hard time keeping track. In writing, on the other hand, if someone gets lost for one reason or another, they can use a variety of internet resources and other media to make sense of what was said will stop reading.