Seattleite

(Don't think absinthe actually induces hallucinations.) (And yeah, lots of religions prohibit alcohol. Islam and Mormonism are the main western ones, but there's plenty of eastern ones. And technically, I THINK Islam only prohibits drinking to excess or under a ridiculously long list of holidays and exceptions, like you can't have alcohol during Ramadan even after the sun goes down. But all the Muslims I've talked to gave different answers on it. One said it's not allowed at all, another said it's only disallowed during holidays, another said it's actually drunkeness that's not allowed and minor drinking is fine... I don't know. I never read the Qu'ran. But if you're not sure, probably best not to buy them any because they might be offended. Especially with a fundamentalist.) I think I'd cry. I would cry deep, bitter tears for my lost love. What if you did something completely harmless and benign in public nobody you know would ever register as a thought, but a small group of people take deep offense to it to a point that it seems completely incongruous with the action you just performed? (I actually had this happen the other day.)

Well, I haven't slept in a couple days now, so it might just be that. I think I last slept before I brought up the Elder God the first time, and that was what? Three days ago? Four? I don't know, when you don't sleep the days kinda blur together. (I fucking hate insomnia.) Speaking of which, I'm going to try sleeping again. Anybody got any tips, preferably that I won't have already tried?

(Sorry, never intended it to come up here. It just did.) Trying to stop shaking. I feel really wrong right now, I don't know what it is, but I'm pretty sure I'm coming down with something.

(Hate to break it to you, but buying an Islamic fundie a beer is a bad idea. Alcohol is prohibited by their religion.) I'd get along fine, at least until I wanted to listen to something older. What if you had to found all the water in your house was now absinthe, including that coming out of the taps?

This is the realm of pure speculation, of course, and by the looks of it we're not likely to ever agree. So I'd prefer to leave it.

I doubt it, and of all the approaches to the issue that's the one I have the LEAST hope for. Instead of directly replicating the brain's functions, flat-out impossible with how computers work, try replicating its cycle of development. Yes, I'm talking about making a computer program evolve. Make a separate program that makes random changes to the system's logic as it runs through a task, keeping changes that improve its results and removing the ones that diminish its results. And if it does anything as a part of its present programming that leads to a positive result (even by accident) make it do that more often. If it does anything as a part of its present programming that leads to a negative result (even by accident) make it do that less often. This WILL require human intervention at some point, but many simple things (like say, "breaking support beam while near it resulted in termination of unit, do not repeat" or "breaking support beam while enemy unit was near it resulted in termination of enemy unit, repeat frequently") can be programmed into it fairly easily. The problem is that this just DOESN'T work outside of the specific setting used. Which, of course, means it's pretty much just useful for developing a game AI. Of course, as I'm going into game design, I'm thrilled at the idea of making a program to improve my AI as they go and include things I hadn't thought of. The bitch is programming the program that alters the programs of my AI, especially so it doesn't do stupid things frequently just because it worked out the first time.

I'm against the idea that a true AI can ever be achieved. At all. It just doesn't fit with how computers function, since computers can only ever act in the way they're programmed to act in situations they're programmed to act in, so anything you want a computer to do you have to think of ahead of time and tell it how to behave. Even then, it only does what you TELL it, not what you WANT, and that can be a huge difference. It also has to operate strictly under the parameters laid out for it, anything even slightly off will not be recognized so many times a computer trying to recognize something gets a false negative (which in real life can lead to things like sentry turrets failing to fire at an incoming missile because they don't recognize the heat signature as a missile). It also frequently finds something withing the parameters set out when it's NOT what you were intending it to be, resulting in a false positive (which, using the sentry turret example, can lead to it shooting at the sun, or the engine of one of your own planes). And if your parameters are faulty or you forgot to include or exclude something this gets even worse. (Sticking to the sentry turret example, they're notorious for friendly fire and civilian casualties in any test run ever initiated, although thankfully nobody has been dumb enough to actually arm a computer for anti-personnel purposes outside of the Korean DMZ.) A computer can't think, it can't reason. It has no sapience or even sentience, and the simple fact of the matter is they never can. All computers can ever do is follow commands as given under the conditions given, and while we've managed to create complicated enough commands and conditions to do some pretty marvellous things, we will never be able to command them to command themselves or create their own conditions.

00111001

Yes, well, with you it's hard to tell. And there are a LOT of people who don't understand how absolute the speed of light actually is and think things can actually just physically exceed it.

Take it in stride, it's hardly the silliest thing you've done here. If there were dozens of BTGs on this site?

I deal with you, don't I? If you were completely insane, do you think you would know? (BTG, you're disqualified from answering. This is supposed to be hypothetical.)

"You don't understand!" Is NOT a defence. It is NEVER a defence. It's a desperate cry of somebody unable to defend their beliefs. It's the cry of the religious, the racist, the sexist, the homophobes, rapists, murderers and paedophiles. It's the cry of the emo kid begging for sympathy when they have no real problems, the mother who murders her child, and those who kill their fellow men in the name of god. It has no basis, no meaning, no rationale. All it really means is that you know I'm right, but aren't willing to admit it and lack the intelligence to make something up.

9

BTG, you are about to defend an evil religion that condones slavery and rape, and demands the murder of children. Think about that before one more word comes out of your retarded mouth.

Feel a little weird despite myself, then shrug it off and keep going. What would you do if the forum suddenly went down for technical reasons?

I prefer to go after the religions themselves, not their followers, but yes, that's a factor as well.

Seriously, stop encouraging him. 1.

Yes. Do you think BTG should feel deep shame for such?

And yet for the past several hundred years the Catholic church has been looking for other life in the universe. There is absolutely nothing in the bible that says there isn't be life on other planets. For the record, I never thought that. Very possible, but I personally think that there will always be more tech levels to research. Right now the limiting factor is government and financing, sometimes time, but I doubt that even light-speed can withstand our progress barring xk-class end-of-the-world scenarios. The issue is eventually we'll peak. We'll hit a point where we just can't advance any further on our own. There are limits to the human brain, and while we're supplementing the brain's capabilities a lot with things like computers there's only so much they can add as well. Eventually, we WILL peak. The advance of technology WILL slow down eventually and keep slowing to a stop some time later. And it's likely any other species will be the same way, although their limits and ours are likely not the same and we may find that working together we can each achieve more as our weaknesses and strengths are in different areas. I strongly believe this, and I've used it as a core rule in BOTH of the major universes I've created, so I'm going to stick to it. As for the speed of light: We can't pass it. It's not possible. The best we can do is cheat a bit, and create the effect of a higher velocity without actually moving any faster. For example, compressing a tiny amount of space in front of our ship by a huge amount as we reach it so that technically our trip is shorter, although it creates the same effect as moving faster in most practical respects. For instance, if the millimetre in front of our ship is compressed into a micron, the ship is travelling only 0.1% of the distance and is thus effectively 1000 times as fast. If we make it a nanometre instead, it's effectively 1,000,000 times as fast. And so on. It's not moving any faster, it carries the same kinetic energy, but we're getting places faster anyway due to the shorter trip.

1. The old testament of the bible is still valid, the new testament outright says so. ALL THE FUCKING TIME. Matthew 5: 17-19, Luke 16:17, 2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 20-21, John 1:17 and John 7:19 for examples. 2. Not only that, Jesus reinforces the most heinous rules of the old testament: mandatory infanticide. Mark 7:9-13, Matthew 15:4-7. 3. Need I actually quote the passages of the bible concerning slavery? Because it's a HUGE part of the bible. Even in the new testament they are in full support of it. Why yes, it is praised less, only three times instead of four! Oh my, such a fucking improvement. Don't believe me? Of course not, you're retarded. Esphesians 6:5, 1 Timothy 6:1-2 and Luke 12:47-48 all condone slavery. That's JUST the new testament. The old testament you want Leviticus 25:44-46, Exodus 21:2-6, Exodus 21:7-11 and Exodus 21:20-21. 4. For rape, why no, it isn't mentioned or condoned in the new testament, but the old testament STILL APPLIES. Even the old testament only condones it by blaming the victim, making her marry her rapist, and basically absolving the rapist of all fault as long as the victim is not married. Here, the bibles rules on slavery are laid out in: Deuteronomy 22:23-24, Deuteronomy 22:28-29, Deuteronomy 20:10-14, Judges 5:30 and possibly the sex slaves thing above in Exodus 21:7-11, depending on your definition of rape. As for individual instances where rape was demanded, look to Numbers 31:7-18 and Zechariah 14:1-2. 5. Want something especially sick I found while finding the passage numbers for #4? Here. 2 Samuel 12:11-14. God gives rape victims to their rapist, then MURDERS AN INNOCENT CHILD WHO HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. 6. Moving on to another sick thing, we have the bible's love for murder. Deuteronomy 17:12 (murder anybody who questions), 2 Chronicles 15:12-13 (murder non-believers), Zechariah 13:3, Deuteronomy 13:1-5 and Deuteronomy 18:20-22 (murder... prophets? Really?), Exodus 22:19, Deuteronomy 13:7-12 and Deuteronomy 17:2-5 (murder heathens), Leviticus 24:10-16 (murder blasphemers), Exodus 22:17 and Leviticus 20:27 (murder witches), Leviticus 20:13 and Romans 1:24-32 (murder homosexuals), Leviticus 20:10 (murder adulterers), Deuteronomy 13:13-19 (murder entire towns if even ONE person is a heathen), Deuteronomy 22:20-21 (murder promiscuous women), Numbers 1:48-51 (that had better be one important tabernacle if you murder any man, woman or child who goes too close to it), 1 Samuel 6:19-20 (murdered for curiosity), 1 Kings 20:35-36 (murdered a man for not hitting a prophet when commanded), 2 Samuel 6:3-7 (murdering the good samaritan), Ezekiel 21:33-37 (murdering the ammonites), Exodus 31:12-15 (and murdering people for picking up sticks on Sunday). This isn't even CLOSE to all of the murders in the bible. I don't have that kind of time. 7. Sickest of all, the bible loves murder even more when they're murdering CHILDREN. Exodus 21:15, Proverbs 20:20 and Leviticus 20:9 (mandatory infanticide), 2 Kings 2:23-24 (god murders FORTY TWO children for mocking a prophet), Isaiah 14:21 and Leviticus 26:21-22 (murder children if their fathers commit sins), Hosea 9:11-16 (murdering the children of Israel), Ezekiel 9:5-7 (murder everyone, even children), Exodus 12:29-30 (god murders ALL the firstborn sons of Egypt, including those of the slaves he's supposedly trying to free, over the actions of the pharoah), Jeremiah 51:20-26 (god promises a great slaughter, including all the little children of their enemies because he's FUCKING EVIL, but then fails to deliver, so much for being all-powerful), Isaiah 13:15-18 (and a demand to murder all, especially children, most of this is demanding the murder of children). THE BIBLE SUPPORTS THE MURDER OF CHILDREN. ANYTHING THAT SUPPORTS THE MURDER OF CHILDREN IS AUTOMATICALLY EVIL. THE BIBLE IS EVIL. THERE IS NOTHING MORE EVIL IN THIS WORLD. 8. Human sacrifice! Yes, the bible is in favour of it. Here, take a few examples: Judges 11:29-40 (infanticide again, as a ritual sacrifice, WITH FIRE to appease the lord), Joshua 7:15 (once more, sacrifice the sinner WITH FIRE to appease the lord), 1 Kings 13:1-2 and 2 Kings 23:20-25 (sacrifice the priests of other religions WITH FIRE to appease the lord), Wisdom 3:5-7 (more human sacrifice to appease the lord) Wisdom 14:21-23 (sacrificing CHILDREN to appease the lord), Deuteronomy 13:13-19 (sacrifice an entire town, WITH FIRE, to appease the lord). And I bet you thought human sacrifice was only for those "dirty" pagans, didn't you? But no, this is a feature of your religion just as much as it is any other. As for the rest of your ignorant statement: While sure, the Book of Mormon is a load of shit made by a charismatic idiot who wanted to justify his actions, but then again, SO IS THE BIBLE. AND the Qu'ran. AND the Torah. AND the Talmud. Especially the Qu'ran, actually, as it was made by Muhammad during the period where he was FUCKING A NINE YEAR OLD, and he set himself up as a prophet to defend that action. But none of this is unusual. That's the ENTIRE POINT of religion: To justify the most heinous actions of leaders, be they the writers of the religion or those who use the religion after their deaths, the bible, like any religious text, is designed so no leader cannot turn to his priests at any time and say "Hey, find something that says god is in favour of this. Lie if you have to, the peasants can't read." That is all religion is, ever was or ever will be. And THAT is why I'm an atheist.

Banned for not pointing out that I spelt it right in, you know, ENGLISH English. (Fucking Americans.)

Hey, I'm just using it to insult him. When he stops, I'll stop.

Seriously, BTG. Have you READ any of those books? The Torah, Bible, Qu'ran and Book of Mormon are all filled to the brim with support for the most heinous things humans are capable of. Including rape, infanticide, genocide and slavery. They're all also EXTREMELY misogynistic, homophobic, racist and internally inconsistent. And NONE of these things can be denied if you actually read the damned things.

If I were to guess about technology, I'd say there's a limit on how advanced any ONE species can make its technology, since there are limitations to each. (Although it's possible multi-species conglomerates could advance further than any individual species could, as their weaknesses would be in different areas.) So as a result, the "apes and angels" thing is likely nonsense. They're likely still WAY more advanced, but that's probably because they'd be at or near their technological limits. That's also why associating with other species, even more primitive ones, would be desirable as it's the only way a species at its limit could advance. Why yes, I am a sci-fi author. Thanks for noticing.

(Pennies are not aerodynamic enough. It would lose most of its energy almost immediately, and the stress would destroy it. Also, they're not magnetic, so a gauss rifle wouldn't move it.) Granted, but due to hyperinflation the currency is worthless because it GROWS on TREES. I wish people had at least a basic understanding of economics.