OGTEleven

I asked a question. You answered. That was a surprise because you haven't done much of that lately. I thought my question was pretty clear so I interpret your "What do you want to talk about?" line as some sort of shot. That part was less than surprising.

I bet in this guy's eyes a noisy but non-violent group of 150-200 republicans would be a "mob".

If your avatar is a picture of you and she's letting you keep that hair, you have nothing to complain about.

Do you think any of his questions are legitimate? For example, do you think the government should ban making movies that include sexual scenes with 10 year olds?

I believe the term is grandstanding.

How about Tim McVeigh? Oops, too late. I think Terry Nichols is still available.

Those Geisha chicks have funny looking feet.

Or the parents of the kids listed at the bottom of this article. Link

Good points Berg and BiB. For the most part, I agree with Berg, but I understand BiB's points. Actually, I want to agree with BiB because if this comes to fruition you can bet the baby boom generation will be all over it. It will be yet another example of that generation thinking only of themselves. It will be a very stark example. The reasons I agree with Berg aren't exactly the ones he cites. I think that if we don't take advantage of our brain power, it will atrophy collectively. If drug companies have no incentive to develop new drugs for example, the first generation may miss out on new drugs, but the next will lose the ability to develop them. I think we need all the brain power we can muster to adapt to the ecosystem/universe (the opposite of it adapting to us). The survival of the species is important but we know that in a few billion years the sun is going to flame out. Clearly we'll need to advance in space travel or we'll be toast (literally). Between now and then we have the threat of asteroids and other niceties that likely make our deadline sooner. There are many steps to do what we must. Maybe this is one of them. To BiB's point of further developing judgement, I hope for that as well. We shall see. The stakes are likely to continually get higher and come along more quickly. The ever improving distribution of advancements via technology gives every individual more leverage, but also allows people to "opt out" and still demand more and more.

But maybe if we pretend the beheadings never happened, the insurgents/terrorists/freedom fighters will all turn into a bunch of nice guys.

...but she says she has a good "personnality".

That is not even remotely close to the topic we're discussing.

Lame Schtick. Please get a new one. You're killing me.

How does one prove unpredicatability? Doesn't this go against the theory that you cannot prove a negative? It may in fact be correct that we cannot measure the electrons reactions because our very method of measurement interferes with the reaction(s). That does not prove they are unpredicatable. Although electrons may have different states which are unknown, and these states help drive their reaction, it does not mean these states cannot be known. They may not be measurable, but they are real. If, in fact, there is nothing but matter and energy, their reactions may indeed be immeasurable, but they would not be unpredictable. Free will could not and would not exist. UConn is free to believe whatever he feels is correct, but his theory that we are all a bunch of matter/energy does not line up with the will to win of his favorite hoop team. Free will is in no way inconsistent with evolution or the will to survive. Determinism is not at odds with survival either. It is at odds with free will.

And here I thought you were calling him a Biece of chit. I'm glad to see you're more civil than that.

It was predetermined that you were going to split that firewood anyway. I understand.

The Bush campaign was a bunch of rich republicans so they used a better adhesive. How long would it take to get them off? A hour dummy. You should know that republicans are too busy screwing over everyone to spend a hour dummy removing stickers.

Yes, but english class should be at least two hours evidently.

If there is no free will how can you possibly make the most of what you have? It was simply your molecules doing what they always do. Nothing more, nothing less. Okafor got some good molecules. Woop-di-do. If everything is pre-determined then hard work and making the most of what you have is a mere illusion.

Your avatar and sig line show pride in your school. Why are you so proud of this pre-determined outcome?

I agree with all of that except the cancer thingy was just an extreme example, and if I see a kid with a dolphins coat on I beat the living stevestojan out of him and then tell God I feel very sorry.

Separate reply to the same post: I think we totally agree on this part. My free will post to UConn dude was rhetorical. I believe that anyone that believes in free will has to believe there is a God by definition. Without a God, we are just a bunch of molecules. The interactions between matter and energy, although not fully understood, are finite and can be explained. This would eliminate any possibility of free will. I believe in free will.

No, no. I'm not that far off from your opinion, just a bit. I think that most behavior has no excuses and that you would probably be right 99.9% of the time in your judgment of a good person 7/24/365 having a better shot with God than a church going jerk. I don't think that holds true 100% of the time. Some people are born smarter than others (not better, just smarter). I'd bet God judges them with that in mind. If you're a nice guy all the time and never hurt anyone but also decide not to cure cancer (even though you can) because you'd rather go to Tahiti, you're sort of like the church going jerk aren't you? Maybe .1% of the church going jerks have to work hard just to go to church and aren't smart enough to understand that they need to bring church with them all week (I think .1% is a high number on this, maybe .0001%). Or maybe these people are just wired so that they are easily overcome by events. My observations are pretty much in line with what you say, I'm just not as sold that I can make a final judgement of who is the better person. In the end, I can only measure myself against myself. Could I have done more?

Outside of two things I think this is a great post: 1. It is Fake-Fat-Sunny-esque (seems to be a developing trend) 2. I'm not in lock step with you on the areas I bolded. The first part I pretty much agree with, but by no means do I know it. I believe there are many facets to this and those that you mention are just a few. The second part I highlighted is what I disagree with. I think only God can judge who is a better person. Neither you or I know everything about other people (or even about ourselves). What if the best that person could do with what God gave him/her was go to church on Sunday and be a jerk for the rest of the week? He or she may have demons they are fighting that manifest themselves in odd ways. What if you or I was good every single day but we had a God given ability to solve world hunger and were too lazy to work on it? I think there are many levels to this. There are probably more than we understand.

Which molecule gave you the ability to determine that you are just a bunch of molecules? Do you have free will? If you do, then you must somehow control these molecules. What gives you that power? If you are truly just a collection of molecules then free will is a mere illusion. However complex and intricate the reactions of your molecules are, they would clearly have to be predetermined because molecules react with each other the same way every time. This predetermination would apply to everything that exists.