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Cheezburger Network Blog
OMG … OMG ….
FIRST !!!!
Isaac Asimov (c. January 2, 1920[1] – April 6, 1992; originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as Айзек Азимов), born in Russia to Jewish parents, was an American author and professor of biochemistry, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 9,000 letters and postcards.[2] His works have been published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System (the sole exception being the 100s; philosophy and psychology).[3]
Asimov is widely considered a master of the science-fiction genre and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, was considered one of the “Big Three” science-fiction writers during his lifetime.[4] Asimov’s most famous work is the Foundation Series;[5] his other major series are the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series, both of which he later tied into the same fictional universe as the Foundation Series to create a unified “future history” for his stories much like those pioneered by Robert A. Heinlein and previously produced by Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson.[6] He penned numerous short stories, among them “Nightfall”, which in 1964 was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America the best short science fiction story of all time, an accolade that many still find persuasive. Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile science-fiction novels using the pen name Paul French.
Asimov rocks
Just a few hours ago I thought of him and his short story “Reason”: It shows excellently how the truth of a conclusion is totally dependent of the premises. I don’t know any other story which illustrated this point in a comparable way, therefore I frequently cite this one to explain it.
The one with the Robot priest on the spaceship?
)
I love Asimov too. One of his short story collections is lying on my desk this very moment so I decided he could be part of the ordinal post rule.
“Reason” has Powell and Donovan, yes? I always liked the Susan Calvin stories a bit better myself. Haven’t got round to reading “Foundations” though. (Somebody has exiled a load of his books to the library reserves and basements.
I got to hear him speak in around 1980 in NJ. He pointed out that science fiction is a matter of developing a current world trend or fact to the fullest extent, to see where it could lead. His example was the then current rate of growth for the world population, and what effect it would have on energy use, food availability, pollution… He was great–and a bit depressing.
Wow… Damnit, I missed all the interesting stuff. Why am I a 90s kid?
Don’t worry. There’ll be plenty of interesting stuff for you, that we older folk will be too old or too dead to do! Mind you, I’m in no rush to get to either state!
I know, right? We missed the invention and popular days of the interrobang! NOT FAIR!
When I was reading his essays, it felt as if I were having a chat with a good friend. Guess that’s the next best thing we will have to arrange with
But just now I realize that I never searched on YouTube for his interviews and speeches…wow!
don’t put it off, that is a great series and just about the right size to fill a summer
Exactly! When I read that for the first time, I was trying to deal with religion. On the one side, any thinking child can expose religions being just as credible as any other fantasy a child can come up with. On the other side, billions of people are following them. I wasn’t able to understand how so many grown-ups could fall for them. Weren’t they supposed to be *more* rational than a twelve-year-old? How could they constantly miss something that was so obvious to me?
Asimov solved this conundrum. He showed me that the primary flaw of religions isn’t a lack of logic, but a false premise. Because from there on, you may argue absolutely logical and still keep your worldview intact. I always thought that religions require you to believe the whole time, but I was wrong – essentially, you only need to believe when it comes to the false premise. That’s what religions are about: Belief in the premise. That’s the leap of faith. Only this single step it is.
Kudos.
I realised this too, but I never managed to state it anything like this well.
Is THAT all it is? There’s nothing insulting in that at ALL! Well, thank God you enlightened shining light was here to set straight all us superstitious cretins – I mean, us poor misguided sheeple – who believe in a Living God. Here to think so many lives dedicated – er, wasted – on nothing more than a simple little false premise! Well, we’ll all just be leaving that behind now! Kthxbai.
They weren’t insulting you, Anniee. I think they were rather trying to explain how hard it is to understand how people can believe in religion until you hear Asimov’s idea. If you are an atheist or agnostic, religion does seem a little hard to imagine, with the scale it’s worshiped on. It’s not saying that religion is a lie, it’s explaining how it’s not *that* much of a leap of faith as it seems.
Of COURSE it’s insulting, Tyler – to anyone with religious faith. And don’t bother trying to convince me it’s not because there’s no other way to see it. I think people like that either don’t realize or don’t give a sh*t who they’re insulting or how badly, and once in a while someone needs to step up and say “Whoah, wait a minute, did you HEAR yourself? Are you serious? Is this REALLY what you want to say about most of the people in the world?”
By the way, Tyler, I read and comprehended it before replying. It used to seem that people who believed in a God were just *crazy*, but if you think about it, they’re just wrong. It makes sense, if you can accept the first wrong thing, you can accept everything else that builds on it. So people who believe in God (i.e. most of the people in the world) aren’t really insane, they’re just eccentric and misguided. You bet your ass that’s insulting.
As it’s been said, “If you believe in God and He isn’t real you have lost nothing. On the other hand, if you don’t believe in God and He is real, you have lost everything.”
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Yes, it is hard for people to grasp that some people believe in a divine power. But for those who do believe, it’s not that difficult at all.
As someone who only within the last few years stopped believing in capital G god, I find it hard to grasp how I thought that way for so long.
And that’s ok, because we all have free will!
Freedom is a beautiful thing
Yep. I was raised Christian, but I just couldn’t understand how these people could be so very *sure* that there was a God, and that they were correct. Plus learning about the Crusades, etc, made me think “… Can I really follow something with a history like that (religion), until I feel completely reassured that it will NEVER spark something like that again?”
Regarding Pascal’s Wager, Annie’s fear and rage prove quite the opposite. Let me say it like this: “If you dedicate your life to a being that is just imaginary, you may view this life as wasted.”
In the German Wikipedia, there is quite a nice segment dealing with the many other flaws of the wager. Just think about it: Did you ever ask yourself why the *real* Goddess should refrain from punishing all the Christians with eternal torture? Are you really willing to take the risk of *not* rejecting Christianity?
There goes the last of your credibility. If you were versed in logic and philosophy you wouldn’t need to stoop to falsely categorizing me as afraid or enraged (fear? *SERIOUSLY*?) in an attempt to belittle me in order to dismiss Pascal’s wager. That can be quite handily done without such ploys, as has been demonstrated to me many years ago by an independent logician/philosopher. That you have to do that speaks volumes.
As to the miracle argument – I don’t find any merit in it either. Miracles have to be independently verifiable and in this day and age, sovereign (not performed through a “worker.”) They are by definition extraordinarily rare events that confound the natural laws of science and physics. Not much of that going around, is there? And there won’t be, until the Antichrist rises.
It’s alright Annie, I understand that you feel humiliated because I didn’t put your fantasy above other’s fantasies. But see, your personal ego is no sufficient reason for doing that. Why should I dismiss the imaginary friends of millions of children only to prevent you from crying and flaming? What besides your pretty pathetic craving for supremacy is supposed to prove them to be any less real or true?
And regarding fear and rage, you make it really easy. I can actually imagine you trembling when you wrote “Here to think so many lives dedicated – er, wasted – on nothing more than a simple little false premise!”
Yeah, that’s faith. This insulting treacherous unreliable thing you hate so much is faith
People with faith don’t have a problem with naming the fact that their belief is based on faith. So you are insulting them by wrongfully claiming that they can’t bear the truth. Now, according to your own comment, you either don’t realize or don’t give a sh*t whom you’re insulting. But since actual believers are very rare, I can’t ask you whether this is really what you want to say about most of the people in the world, since they simply aren’t most of the people
(By the way, your reasoning is called “argument from personal incredulity”. A logical fallacy.)
Already replied below. Don’t waste my time.
By the way – real believers in God are rare? You DO live a sheltered little sequestered life, don’t you? LOL And the day that “Hey, those people who believe in God aren’t QUITE as crazy as I always thought they were!” isn’t insulting is the day I personally eat one of your turds. In other words it’s prima facie insulting to anyone who does believe in God, and that’s pretty much all there is to it. Your reversal doesn’t work.
I’m aware of what the logical fallacies are; that’s so far off the mark it doesn’t even make sense.
I really think she’s pointing out the difference between “Catholics” and “practicing Catholics”, in a way. There are believers who claim to believe in God but don’t necessarily follow through into their daily lives, then there are Believers who are completely committed to their beliefs and have good reason behind them. I think there is a statistic floating around out there that says something like 70% or higher of the nation considers themselves Christian, or “Believers”. I’m sure that number isn’t accurate as to the actual number of people who practice what they preach.
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That’s what I got out of it, anyway.
I didn’t realize the conversation was limited to Catholics – maybe I didn’t read back far enough. But her subsequent comments about how one who has studied about the bible has wasted their life on a childish fantasy pretty much clarifies if there was any doubt about her condescension and insulting attitude towards anyone who believes in God or religious writings. Though I’d like to see her debate that one Fermi Lab scientist on it LOL
I wasn’t suggesting that she was referring specifically to Catholics, but the term “practicing Catholic” versus “Catholic” is thrown around a lot. I was just using that to illustrate the point that believer =/= practicing believer.
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I’m not taking offense at her statements as far as my (or anyone else’s) belief in the Bible. She’s simply making a statement of fact, that for someone who hasn’t had the personal revelation or been raised to believe it to be so, the Bible has no meaning. Or, no more meaning for her than believing in a Pink Unicorn has for us. She does have a point about the “childish fantasy” part, though I don’t think it’s the point she meant to make. Jesus told us to have “the faith of a child”, which is uncomplicated and very trusting. It can come off as juvenile or naive to a non-believer.
No, I’m not surprised you don’t take offense, but she’s not just “questioning” faith in God, she’s outright declared it false, childish, and a waste of time. There is a huge difference between a respectful statement of disbelief and a disrespectful one – and that’s what I was saying to you another time (when I mentioned if you once saw the difference you’d drop this place, when you explained the difference between this and your real life.) This is an example of a disrespectful one, as well as incredibly haughty and arrogant.
But you’re borrowing trouble in this case. There is no reason to get up in arms about someone being (as you see it) condescending to your faith. If I were to be upset every time someone questioned me or told me I was stupid to be a Christian IRL, I’d be insane, and wouldn’t be able to work where I work. It’s a matter of dealing with it as it comes, and not taking people too seriously.
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I’ve read the back of the book, I know how it ends. How someone else views me or my faith is between them and God. As long as I live my life as God wants, then what’s the issue?
So let me get this straight – I am a jerk if I tell people their leftist beliefs are false, stupid, childish and a waste of time (even when they are) but it’s just dandy when someone else does it regarding something infinitely more important and *I’m* the one borrowing trouble? This makes sense to you?
Yes, in the scheme of things it makes no difference; I’ve read the end of the book too. It doesn’t threaten my belief, shake it, or affect it. The arrogance and nastiness of expressing it in this fashion, however, pisses me off, and I’m bad for expressing that? Well I am not living by a double standard; I’m going to express things that annoy me just as others are free to express what annoys them.
I’m not saying you’re wrong by saying that a person’s belief system is bad, or anything like that. I’m saying that the approach is wrong. Just because someone doesn’t hold your beliefs doesn’t make them bad, or evil, or in any way less valid than you, and insulting and thrown about names isn’t the way to sway anyone. Even Jesus kept his cool, except when confronted by a misuse of His house. He never called names, he never called people stupid for questioning Him. He even forgave those who crucified Him, even though that’s worse than anything that could happen to us as Christians. Lillith has a different viewpoint than you do, based on her own personal life experience. She has no reason to think that you are any more right than the proponents of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and throwing insults at her for being confrontational will only drive her further away from God.
So noted. Next time I level an accusation of false, childish, or a waste of time at a leftist belief (as she has outright labeled any belief in a God) I will thank you to keep silent and not accuse me of being insulting or bashing anyone. It’s merely an expression of a different worldview than the other person, ok?
On the other hand, I have leveled only the accusation of hubris, and that was an observation and fact, not an insult or bashing. Let that be the end of our conversation on this subject for the moment, will you?
I have decided not to ever engage you when you get insulting, so no fear as far as me “interfering” with your insult-fest.
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And everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if it completely differs from others.
Yes, I know, it’s only offensive or insulting when I do it, not when anyone else does it.
“she’s outright declared it false, childish, and a waste of time”
I never said that it were false or childish or a waste of time to worship the Invisible Pink Unicorn. It is rather you who is denying the one true God
And worse, you even condemn faith as “insulting” because it bears the risk of “wasting your life” to a fantasy. And to top it all, you are freaking out because I deny to call unfaithful people true believers? You are either one very confused person or a pretty persistent regular troll.
Here’s the difference in you two, Anniee: You’re both invalidating the other’s belief systems, however serious those beliefs may be. The difference is that you’re leveling personal attacks in the form of name-calling, and Lillith isn’t. Who do you think looks like the bigger idiot in that case? Stick to the argument itself, not on the person making them, and I guarantee that not only will your opinion be listened to, it might actually be taken to heart.
And, of course, there’s nothing insulting or patronising in your reply, is there?
No.
I expected a response like this. Why? Because interestingly, believers are the ones who are the furthest away from having faith
Children have absolutely no problem with pretend play, their imagination is strong. But most adults lose this ability; if they want to feel something as real, they have to convince themselves that it is actually real! In other words, they are rejecting the very concept of faith in the sense of “not resting on logical proof or material evidence”.
So they face a dilemma: If they use strict criteria like those of science, their worldview is well-founded, but their preferred beliefs don’t survive this process. However, if they are content with just having faith, their beliefs do persist, but they stay on the same level where a child’s fantasy or a drunkards hallucinations are standing.
Their solution to this dilemma is making themselves believe that they actually don’t *need* to have faith, that their point of view is rational and substantiated. And they even succeed in it! But this illusion is endangered whenever someone points out that their preferred god is in fact no more probable or plausible than any other of the countless gods and spirits mankind has ever believed in.
Now, of course the Invisible Pink Unicorn (my favorite goddess!) *could* actually exist, even if we don’t have critical-rational evidence for it. So we mustn’t call her a lie, just as Tyler says, and just as science says too, by the way (Science: “The objective existence of the IPU is an uncalled-for assumption.”). But a truth we can be sure of is: By dedicating your life to this religion, you risk “wasting your life” to “a simple little false premise”.
Faith is an essential element of religiousness. And if you lack the faith to take this risk…
Stuff and nonsense. Link. I came to belief only through long, hard study including history and science with regards to the bible. But plenty of other scientists will tell you the same and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. There are dozens more from microbiologists to physicists to mathematicians. No dice, Lilith; just because you don’t believe it doesn’t mean no one who has studied science does.
By the way, faith is still quite required in order to be saved, at least in the Christian faith. It isn’t an either-or proposition in the least.
You could just as well claim that leprechauns must exist because you studied long and hard to learn about them. I don’t doubt that the alternative of having wasted your life onto a childish fantasy is quite unpleasant, but hey – don’t kill the messenger just because he brings bad news.
And no, sitting on a bench for years to achieve the authority for preaching isn’t science. Arguing and researching on critical-logical measures is science. For example, I know physicians who make absurd and refuted claims about condoms. That some foreign university gave them a doctor title doesn’t make that any better or more truthful. If you believe that a title compensates a lack of valid arguments, you are not on the ground of science. I suggest you look up the logical fallacies on Wikipedia or Nizkor. This one is an “Appeal to Authority”.
Lookie there – someone more arrogant than I could ever hope to be! Go figure.
I have many friends who are atheists but none among them of this wrapped-to-the-teeth in arrogance type. They don’t deliberately misread what people of faith write, they don’t feel themselves so far above those who believe, and they certainly don’t liken belief in God to belief in leprechauns. Make no mistake – I have understood every nasty point you have made; not an iota of it has slipped by me. My first reaction probably should have been the last but I’m fascinated by such a degree of arrogance and haughtiness…you just don’t see that every day except in very sheltered and sequestered people. Spend a lot of time in a lab or something maybe?
Rejecting logical fallacies is always viewed as brutal arrogance by those who don’t have anything better to come up with but logical fallacies. They feel humiliated because one shows them that cold logic betrays their preferred worldviews, without any respect for their emotions – and that leaves them hardly any possibility but simply bitching around. I mean, what else could you do? Rethink your position? Bring logically valid arguments? Stop false reasoning? Or even be thankful for pointing out the flaws and explaining them?
If you were willing and able to do that, you’d have done so. Instead, you acted just like I expected…
Trust me, I’m not humiliated in the least.
As I explained, it was in fact logic that led me to my beliefs (and I know that is not usually the case; it just happens to be in my case, and the case of certain people like McDowell and Dr. Henry Morris) but it still took faith to step into them. They are simply not incompatible.
So far all you’ve brought is assertions and Asimov, not cold logic or any set of facts to back yourself up. So if you want me to bow to your logic and facts you’re going to have to actually use some.
1.) It’s not my job to disprove the existence of leprechauns, it’s yours to prove it. If you don’t see that, you haven’t understood neither logic nor science.
2.) As Asimov’s story shows, logic is totally worthless in regard of truths when it’s applied to false premises. Any intelligent paranoid guy with a clear perception shows that very clearly – the flaw in his worldview isn’t a lack of attention or a lack of logic, but a false premise.
3.) You are believing in something that is on the same level as any child’s fantasy. If you can’t deal with that, if you desperately want others to think that your belief is far more than just some invented imaginary friend among billions of imaginary friends, then prove it. Until you have succeeded to do so, I will graciously forgive you worshipping a false god and denying her Holy Unicornness
Where on earth did you ever get the idea that I was trying to prove – to you or anyone else – that there is a God? You can be insulting and arrogant in stating your opinions and assertions regardless of what I or anyone else believes or knows to be true. I don’t proselytize; I can’t think of how many more ways I have to say this. I don’t try to talk you into believing in God, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t act like an arrogant b*tch in declaring those who do to be false, childish and wasting their time/lives. I assure you, such is not the case, and there are many scientists who disagree with you, as I’ve already pointed out – God is not just in the realm of childishly foolish uneducated hicks, as you seem to believe.
This has been a fascinating discussion. Maybe I should make a scrapbook out of all these pages of comments and force the community here to fly over to where I am for an annual get-together.
Don’t worry, none of the regulars here will be left out. I’d be overjoyed to be able to discuss these things with Anniee over a real-speed conversation, and to listen to all the awesome references Eric would be making, learn about the military from Eddie and Charlie, and be taught how logic works by Jane.
Oh, don’t forget being trolled endlessly by Deep Thought and HST. That would be awesome too.
You never tried to prove that there is a God, that’s what I’m saying. If you would stop hyperventilating, you may realize that you are fighting your own shadow; but then again you would be less entertaining, so keep it up.
Anyway, just for your information: You are whining like a four-year-old who has just been told that Santa Claus is not scientifically proven. I mean WTF, I didn’t even say “does not exist”, and yet you are freaking out! Grow up, for God’s sake. If you need a motivation, imagine her sending annoying crying girlies right down to Hell
A lot of Christians have trouble having their faith or belief system questioned for the very reasons you’ve given here. If forced to explain them to someone who doesn’t believe in it, the Christian almost always falls into “Well, the Bible says it, so that makes it so!” without actually realizing that the reason they are being questioned is to understand a different point of view. A lot of Christians lack the empathy needed to put themselves into the viewpoint of a person who wasn’t raised to believe a certain way, or who didn’t come upon that particular belief on their own through personal revelation.
This is not to say that the Christian doesn’t have valid beliefs, quite the contrary. Most Christians aren’t taught how to articulate those beliefs to a non-believer. It comes off as Bible-thumping if done the wrong way, while the questions or criticisms of the non-believer come off as brash and confrontational. It’s a matter of perspective on both sides, and is very difficult to get past, especially when both sides are locked into the “I’m right, so get over it” argumentative mindset.
I am linking an article by a very well-written atheist on how to talk to an atheist if you’re a Christian. I think both sides should read it and take it to heart, if for no other reason than to understand how the “other side” sees things.
For the record, Lillith, I think you’re wrong in your beliefs, but I can’t do anything but answer questions posed to me. I can’t force you to be a Christian, but I guess we’ll eventually find out who’s right
(2nd post)
{http://www.joethepeacock.com/2008/03/how-to-actually-talk-to-atheists-if.php}
Actually, I don’t ask people why they believe in one god. Instead, I ask them why they don’t believe in one of the million other gods. With that approach, they don’t get all defensive, but are rather willing to admit that their belief is arbitrary. In other words, they are willing to admit that it is pure faith that makes them prefer this religion over other ones.
And that’s fine, because that is what religion is about. In fact, I regularly enjoy inventing goddesses myself. If you have preserved your inner child, these imaginary friends are no less real than those in your childhood. And when I look on people like Annie who refuse to have “only” faith, then I think I’m even more religious than most theists. Isn’t it ironic? *gg*
(But unicorns *are* awesome. There’s nothing silly about that!
)
I have heard that particular argument, and I don’t want to use it on my parents for fear that it would make my dad’s head explode
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I’m not sure if you and Anniee are defining religion in the same way, which is leading to the argument here. And I disagree with your “imaginary friend” argument, but I see how it’s an easy one to make. God, to me, is much more than an imaginary friend, in that I’ve never had an imaginary friend heal a loved one or otherwise perform a miracle for me
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And yes, unicorns are teh awsum!
Hehe ^^ Well, I see statistical probabilities perform miracles for me every day. It’s like winning in the lottery – the probability that it is *you* is very low, the probability that it is *someone* is much higher. And playing the lottery is just one action. Over the day, we perform hundreds of thousands of actions, therefore extremely unprobably combinations of sensory inputs, thoughts, incidents etc are inevitable. The only problem is that these miracles are not impressive stories at all, they are just very unlikely coincidences for a single person.
So whenever a spectacular miracle occurs, it is just the tip of the iceberg. To view it in the proper context, one has to see the many non-spectacular miracles and especially the countless non-spectacular non-miracles. Also, one has to differ between pure chance and covariating elements. If I think of a person in the exact moment where she rings me, it may be an incredible coincidence. But it may also be that we both heard a song in the radio we connected with the other person without conciously noticing it, which would make it much less of a miracle.
Regarding healing, I side with a recent comic on the atheistcartoons-website:
“I asked God to cure my cancer and he did!”
“Miracle!”
“I asked God to grow me a new hand, but he didn’t…”
“Well, duh.”
Now, if the belief helps to activate the self-healing abilities, then it’s fine. The success of the placebo-effect is absolutely real. Also, the social contact in many esoterical treatments has an effect itself, independent from the therapy. So there is a pragmatic legitimation for it, even when it isn’t rooted in some supernatural power.
The problem with the imaginary friend argument is that God created us, not the other way round.
Now I could claim that my imaginary friend isn’t just a personal fantasy of mine, but an actual being that communicates with me. If I then casually declare this friend to be the creator of Life, the Universe and Everything, then my imaginary friend has turned into a god as well
Interesting, we are thinking opposite ways round. (I think) You think we created someone and then attributed creation to them. I believe humanity wanted to understand the creator addressing them and so gave them the name God…
Your God reminds me of Zeus or Ra or whoever else: human kings who became legendary and were deified. Your God is subject to human will whereas I believe that humans are subject to God. I believe God made us, spoke to us, and all the many institutions we had are made to understand him, not create him…
Lilith, I’ve enjoyed reading your posts this evening. I must look into Asimov.
Thank you very much. I highly recommend not only his short stories, but his essays as well. Of course it’s a matter of taste, but in my humble opinion Isaac Asimov is one of the greatest writers and thinkers who have ever walked on this planet. However, it’s about ten to fifteen years since I’ve read Asimov for the last time, so I’ll have to look into him, too
I read an Asimov book which my mother had on physics. I still recall with a giggle a little poem he had about what happened when Teller and ‘anti-Teller’ came in physical contact. *snerk*
Wonderful, I love being introduced to good literature, it’s like getting a present you didn’t even know you wanted
I’m taking a class on short stories next month, the professor is usually open to suggestions so maybe she’d agree to give us one by Asimov – I’ll ask her if we can read Reason, it sounds fascinating
I liked Calvin much better, too, by the way. I’m very interested in psychology and the stories with her are extraordinarily illuminative in that regard. I especially like how she views robots as programmed tools on the one side, but values them more than humans on the other side. Additionally, in that time female intelligent realistic role-models were rare, and her remarkable intelligence is her only strength. I remember her being described as physically unimposing in the story “Liar!”, she is portrayed as being cold, having flaws, sometimes even being dislikeable. However, I always had the feeling that deep inside she is just a hurt little girl searching for a noble soul and having been disappointed once too often. Samantha Carter from Stargate kind of goes in the same direction, she is shown unconfident in several social settings, but she is not at all repudiative and isolated like Susan Calvin.
All in all a very intriguing and impressive character and a great emotional contrast to the robots. I could write for hours about her
She is great. I think Asimov decribed her as having an “acid charm.”
dude, read “Escape!”: it has Powell, Donovan, AND Susan!
successful troll is successful
I don’t know, it’s generally considered conceited to declare your own success. I’d hold off a on that a bit, let others see what a successful troll you are.
bitter troll is bitter
Name changing troll changes their name.
Intelligent, non-troll Jane is intelligent… and not a troll…
captain obvious troll is obvious
Unable-to-write-their-name-in-one-go troll is unable to write their name in one go…
Please… don’t taint the name of captain. Don’t go there, troll.
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the trolls;
Rise up–for you the flag is flung–for you the bugle trills …
Walt Whitman, FTW!
(just finished ‘This Republic of Suffering’, or I wouldn’t have caught the reference, for my sins)
Captain Obvious Troll has been demoted to Corporal Obvious Troll.
De-commissioned, apparently.
Space-wasting human zombie troll wastes space. And clearly suffers from severe mental illness, if you’re going to call Captain a troll.
HOORAY!!! You win first place in the “state the obvious” competition!!, A shiny new lawn-mower is coming your way.
Thank you for the shiny button link, Mr.! It’s so… SHINY!
*blushes*
Aw shucks, thanks Tyler :-*
If anything I’m sarcastic troll is sarcastic. If I were bitter the post would have gone something along the lines of, “you’re just jealous because you wish you were as cool as AC and who the hell are you anyway, you’re not a regular you don’t even know ordinal post rule.” Or something along those lines. I, however, went the sarcastic route because that is where my heart lies.
ummmm ……. oookey
O_o
Boring troll is boring.
Boring troll is still boring.
Got more boring, actually.
As they say, “Crikey!” That did my head in after 30 seconds. I couldn’t imagine if I had to listen to that day in, day out.
Nesting fail..
Seriously, is that how girls are these days?!?!
Pretty much, Eddie. See what I have to deal with?
Hey!
*frowny face*
On a sidenote, she looks (and acts) exactly like my friend but I bet she doesn’t drink as much…
AC, that’s not pertaining to the Irish teenage females, just the ones in/surrounding Massachusetts.
Better?
Scottish, actually, but thanks for the clarification.
Massachusetts… That word amuses me -I keep pronouncing it wrong…
Most of us here just pronounce it with the letters. Massasschet is fine too.
Sorry, Scottish. Still, you have an awesome accent.
Phew. What time is it there?
I just love accents in general
It’s only 6 in the morning here, that’s not fair.
Ever met someone from Boston? (Bawwwstun?)
Sadly, no… I met someone from Alabama and was much impressed that accents like that existed outside of “To kill a mockingbird”…
A teacher at my school (well my former school as of a couple of weeks ago) is South African and her accent is nice but drives me crazy since I can’t imitate it, lol…
You can tell, because I’m a bitter idiot who WOULD go that route.
They’re hungarian politicians. This is the hungarian parliament.
sorry :
in the center
http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81der_J%C3%A1nos
Hehehe, Hungary. My home
D
And the idiots in the parlament…
I Agr33.
Is there a country on this planet where the citizens DON’T say that about their government? Not that I’m complaining, just making an observation.
Wishes stupid people would learn the correct uses of the words “your” and “you’re”!!
Your = belonging to you
You’re = contraction of you are
Yikes your yelping yields yawns.
Sorry. I typed it after no sleep. Ask before making assumption. I have an I.Q. of 141 and aced my college degree with a 4.0 GPA. Where is YOUR front page LOL if YOU’RE so smart.
Oh you’re not sorry. The first step is you’ve gotta get mad and show it! You’ve got to say, ‘I’m a HUMAN BEING, Goddamnit! My life has VALUE!’ … You’ve got to say, ‘I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ Then we’ll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis …
You go, pittypat. Truth is, I didn’t even notice the typo until I read the comments page. If you look at any other of my LOLs I’m usually very retentive about my grammar. I would redo this one and delete the old one if it wasn’t one of the few front page ones I have. (plus, its kind of fun watching all the grammar nazis going insane.)
My IQ is eleventy zillion billion and I know everything. Including what you’re thinking right now…and no, it won’t fit up there, and that will make a VERY embarrassing visit to the ER.
My IQ is over nine thousand…
WHAT‽‽‽ THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!!!
^ Actually watched that episode during 2nd grade.
Yeah, their getting mad about that alright.
Hear, hear!
Here, hey’re?
:lol”
you’re…
…an idiot.
*snicker*
*twix*
*crunch*
-giggles-
you’re**
You’re an asterisk? That makes no sense to me.
Ah, good ol’ mem’ries comin’ back
Hmmmmm, I don’t think anyone has mentioned yet that is should be you’re instead of your…
Srsly, this is a cute one.
You’re point is it’s humer lays in it’s being you’re basic cute caption?
That hurts to read…
Probably hurt more to write
It did, ouch.
I had a hard time understanding it. That’s how much of a spelling nazi I can be.
And it’s not grammar nazi if you’re correcting the proper spelling of you’re/your. It’s a spelling nazi.
A grammar nazi would have a hissy fit about me starting a sentence with “And.”
What is a srsly? Is that like a skin lesion? *referencing an earlier joke on an earlier thread and failing miserably*
I think it’s some sort of facial expression? Maybe it means “You guys are making me cry!”?
I spend too much time on this website because I immediately know who and what you were referencing.
Well, of course. I am the most popular guy on this series of tubes called the interwebs.
Comment leakage from ICHC?
Ew, no, he was referencing my question from a few days ago silly
You’re tongue, you should bite it.
Keep up the deliberate you’re/your thing and I might just have an aneurysm.
I’ll try for you’re sake, Eric.
Wow, that time I actually winced. For real.
Only a few ounces of me, and biting them would hurt!
I think it’s leprosy. At least, I have leprosy so that’s probably what it is.
Been snuggling with the armadillos again?
*guilty*
Anyone else think moustache man looks like Stephen Fry? With his moustache in Blackadder goes forth?
Now I have General Melchett’s laugh stuck in my head. I must watch some Blackadder to remedy this….
Opposition leaders in the Hungarian parliament (National Assembly)
Left, sitting: Tibor Navrasics, head of parliamentary group of the “Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union”, the main Hungarian opposition party
Middle, standing: János Áder, former speaker of the parliament
Right, sitting: Viktor Orbán, president of Fidesz, former prime minister of Hungary
Do they often pass notes?
Even though I totally missed the spelling error, I lol’d at this. Must be because it’s my birthday!! So, I am sending my 17 year old off to China! (No, really we are; I would appreciate as many prayers/good thoughts/whatever you practice for her and her People 2 People delegation as possible. You are reading the jottings of a slightly nervous but very proud mom.)
Happy Birthday!
…And good luck to your daughter!
Happy birthday! And good wishes for your daughter’s trip! Sounds like a good and worthwhile adventure for her!
For the little grunt:
wǒ tīng jiàn wǒ wàng jì. wǒ kàn jiàn wǒ jì zhù. wǒ zuò wǒ liǎo jiě.
(I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand).
And Happy Birthday LG!!
Hey, yeah, happy birthday! And, wow, China…that should be an interesting experience! One of the partners in my firm’s sons went over there for a year of college and loved it. He’s got a job there now (doing what, I’m not sure…). His dad goes over to see him a couple of times a year; says the air pollution is not to be believed.
Happy birthday. Way to go to celebrate!!
I went on people to people. She is going to have a great freaking time, lowly, there’s no need to worry. Australia is AWESOME, I can see why Eddie lives there.
Tyler, actually I live here because my wife is an Aussie and has stated categorically that she is not going to live in the States. If it wasn’t for her, I’d probably be living some place where it’s warm 24/7/365. But yes, Australia is a nice place to live out your sunset years.
But the kangaroos! They were SO cute. We even got to pet them and hold the koalas
Uh-huh, that was at a wild animal park, right? Try doing that out in the bush and you’ll end up getting mauled. I will say it’s pretty cool to sit out on the back porch and see a bunch of cockatoos or rosellas hanging around.
I’m not crazy, man
I know I’ll get mauled if I try and touch an animal out in the bush, nor would I touch them if they wouldn’t- I don’t want to disturb them, or let them get used to humans- I know not everybody is as gentle in regards to animals as me.
However, I do love hanging around them where they’re domesticated, (and it was People 2 People, where they take you to some pretty restricted and off-the road places, like a tiny hotel set up near a gold panning river, where they teach you how to throw a non-commercial aborigine boomerang [not the commercial crap I've seen in the stores there], etc. and meet the ranch animals.) So, I wasn’t in a zoo if that’s what you’re thinking, but yeah, I know, but they are soooo freaking adorable. I despise most of the human race, but I have a soft spot for babies and animals, especially furry ones. So I can’t ever not mention adorable hoppers and their mini-hoppers.
Tell your wife her accent is sexy, because Aussies have some of the best accents in the WORLD. So, how can you see cockatoos and rosellas? Aren’t you a bit old for “vision”?
Oh, hahaha, I’m laughing on the inside at that ‘bit old’ comment. They actually come close enough, like on the fence, so that I don’t have to even put my spectacles!
-
And yeah, I agree about the accent. My wife’s though sounds a little more english (as in the UK) rather then Aussie, even though she has never been to the UK.
-
The P2P sounds like a great program. Is there an age requirement and how much did it cost?
It’s for kids who consistently score about 96th to 99th (I was 99th apparently, for about 3 years without knowing) percentile on their state testing program, pass the interview process, and are diplomatic enough to represent the US in other countries while learning about culture. It’s about five thousand dollars, but I’m lucky because my grandparents paid as a gift. They send out invitations to the people they choose, and it can be anywhere from kids 11, like I was, to 16, maximum. It was a pretty awesome program, but also super-hectic. I went on an average of one plane flight per day, whew.
Yay grandparents!
But that sort of flight schedule would kill me–Bonine is my friend!
Sounds like a great experience. I was in a foreign exchange program myself, courtesy of Uncle Sam. Sometimes relatives have a sick sense of humor.
*groans*
Question mark, VG?
“Uncle Sam”–Eddie’s military service…
Ahhh… I see.
Eddie, where/when were you stationed, and how much combat did you see?
At least you didn’t say *grunt*. Charlie F would hear that and come running.. Hooah!
I was Navy but saw a bit of trouble in SE Asia with the Marines. I was pretty much stationed at a lot of places, mostly on ships, with the worst being Lemore NAS in California. I saw enough combat to not wish it upon anyone, but I also know that someone has to do it. So if you see me calling Charlie Foxtrot a REMF, just know it’s with a great deal of respect (plus he also knows I’m just stirring him a bit.)
You can call someone a Rear-echelon mother f*cker with great respect Eddie?
Impressive, man
Did Charlie see combat also, or are you saying it cause he actually was?
I can call him that because we both know it’s not true.. hehe I’m pretty sure CF has seen his fair share since he was career Army.
Charlie spent some time doing intel in Central America during the mid 80’s. I’ll let you connect the rest of the dots.
He’s out of town getting some teacher training and is unlikely to answer this, which is why I jumped in.
Ack, nesting fail. Thes goes up ^.
*this* It’s one in the morning, I need to stop before I get worse.
Janie, where is Maxwell anyway?
I don’t know. He comes and goes at odd times and had actually been gone for several months before he came back recently.
And surprisingly, cockatoos don’t listen when you tell them to get off your lawn.
Which is why Eddie likes his shotgun disguised as a cane. Maybe you could bring it to your daughter’s first date?
And they call humans the intelligent species..
Happy Birthday LG! Best wishes for your daughter!
I spent a month in China a year or so ago and it was the trip of a lifetime. Your daughter will have a wonderful experience. The people were sweet and helpful without fail. Please don’t be apprehensive. The plane ride over and back is a bitch (15-16 hrs,) but it’s absolutely worth it. I hope to go again next year. So much history to soak in! Xian (terra cotta warriors) is a must. Don’t be nervous, lg.
Oh….and Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday and I hope your daughter has a great time! Sounds like a really good experience.
Happy Birthday, LG!
Thanks, everyone! I held it together until they all got on the bus for Dulles, then had a little weep. It will be quiet for the next three weeks. Your good wishes and good advice (in the language itself, no less!) warms my heart! You are good peeps……
Happy birthday and good luck to your kid in China!
Learn the f-ing difference between “your” and “you’re” before ever posting here again!
Thanks LM! I hadn’t noticed the mistake!
grammar nazi gives this lol 1 head of lincoln…
All of you need to chill out. Check out my reply to Grammamamma above and spend more time creating your own LOLs instead of cracking down on mine.
I want you to get up on your chair! Open a window! And start yelling!
I’m mad as hell! And I’m not gonna take it anymore!
i’m smart enough, i’m good enough, and dog gone it… oh damn.. uh line?
Okay your lol was quite funny, but your mention of your IQ score…was also funny.
I don’t even know my IQ, how does one find this out? Also, from the standpoint of an educator, it’s not really a relevant form of data anymore. That being said, I liked this lol and would not want to by judged by my typos either. Everyone makes mistakes.
That’s right, DV8, we’re razzing you because it’s a nothing little typo that we all make all the time – just silly ribbing, really. Don’t be pissed. And whatever you do, don’t tell us your IQ. Kiss of death.
Well, my IQ is 254 and I can fly. So there.
Oh yeah? Well, my IQ is INFINITY and poop rainbows!
I’m srsly ROFLMAO here. And I thought my IQ of eleventy zillion billion was good.
My IQ is infinity squared. *sticks out tongue*
CURSE YOU!!!!
*shakes fist*
Heh heh heh! That’s because I’m infinity times as smart as you, SB!
Oh yeah, well I’m a stupid bitch!
Hey, wait a minute…
Well I’m bitchy squared so stand back rawrr.
SON OF A! Well, you can’t win ‘em all.
Greatest comment ever.
However, it DID get me busted for viewing PK in school.
I.Q. reference was used just as a way to piss of the people who think they’re smarter than everyone else. I did 4.0 my college degree, but I have no idea what my actual I.Q. is. The 4.0 came from damn hard, consistent work, not copious brain cells. (But, boy, did you see the feathers fly? This is a lot more fun to watch than it would be if I cussed at them)
… and we could have had a DV8
Ba dum tish!
You REALLY wanna see the feather fly? Say that any given conservative/liberal pundit mixes up you’re/your all the time. THERE WILL BE BLOOD!
or even multiple feathers if you so desire. Oy.
… Dear God, Eric.
We’re not asking for a nuclear war here, maybe just a hydrogen bomb or two.
Wait…wouldn’t that be nuclear war?
Meh. That’s what they WANT you to think…
(Isn’t a hydrogen bomb different than the atomic or nuclear?)
No.
Well then, just one or two isn’t as bad as the whole world going ker-poof that Eric’s suggestion would cause
(I fail.)
I DRANK YOUR MILKSHAKE!
Well MY milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and that’s right, it’s better than yours!
-Tries really really hard not to think about Viking’s milkshake-
WHY GOD WHY?!
Heh, heh. Maybe not as impressive as the People’s Breasts, but still, they have their ‘impact’!
-twitch twitch- I’m sorry, Tyler has gone into a coma from an overload of boobietalk.
Da Comerade!
Should we form an exclusive association? The Bosomery Sistern? The American Association of Ample Mammaries? The Breasted Business Association?
I can only be a part-time member, as my boobage shrinks back to normal size when I stop breast feeding
I like the American Association of Ample Mammaries. We can be the AAAM. I bet Shortright will join.
Discrimination against the boobless!!!
Fine, I’m forming my own club.
*Sticks tongue out*
Every girl has at least one big boob if she’s got a boyfriend. Or a husband. We do not discriminate around here, AC. Join us in our boobery!
They already have one.
It’s called the itty bitty titty committee.
And as IBTC chair, you’re welcome to join, AC!
Hee hee!
TTTTT…
@ Froo – what do you mean, one big boob?!?
I have two small ones and a bf!
So you have three boobs then, the two small ones on your chest and the big one that sleeps next to you at night
Aaaaaaahhh ha ha ha ha
He actually sleeps 5,000 miles away, but point taken
IBTC!!! Yay! *High fives fellow members*
Can I join this club? I mean, I’m basically a HUGE boob. And AC, pics or they aren’t small
I think my cousin was the founding member of the IBTC. We used to tease that her bathing suit was two postage stamps and a handkerchief–but, boy, did she attract the guys!
Ladies, the only thing that’s really important about boobs is that they’re natural. Implants feel wrong to a guy when he’s playing (hands, lips and tongue, maybe a little breathing), and cut your nerves, so you don’t get to enjoy being played with either!
Oh, I’ve created heaps of LOL’s [LINK]. They just never get posted for some reason.
-
As for the spelling, it’s you’re not your (sorry, just poking the stick at ya bit.) Seriously though, the LOL was funny the first time I saw it, and still funny now, despite the spelling error. But since I’m not a grammatical genious I’m not about to give you sh*t for it. Just don’t let it happen again Mr. 4.0..
Once again, the 4.0 reference was just to wag a finger at the “smarter than thous” out there. My degree is in chef work and I had been a chef already for 10 years when I went to college. If I couldn’t 4.0 that degree, I have no business being in the food field. Thanks for helping me tweak the noses of the folks here, though. Today has been lots of fun.
It’s because they’re not funny.
Yeah, yeah, I know. Get off your lawn.
*stuffs hands in pockets, kicks rock, wanders away*
(Actually, that’s not true at all. I just went on a favoriting spree through Eddie’s LOLs.)
They’re not funny because you are a no-sense-of-humo(u)r LIBRUL!!
-
And stay OFF my lawn.. but feel free to peruse the lols.
It’s not your lawn, man. It belongs to all of us. *smokes pot and listens to hippie music*
Yeah, man, just like the Native Americans always thought, man, the Earth owns us, not the other way around, man.
/hairflip
It is my lawn.. the gubmint says so.. freakin’ hippies..
Sir, I think you have a drum circle.
Oh, don’t start that hippie sh*t with me, missy. I’ll have a word with your Pa and we’ll nip this one in the bud.
-CARTMAN NEEDED-
*makes a daisy chain*
HEE HEE here have a brownie!
ROFLMAO!!
I hope there’s weed in ‘em!
Right-hand side, sitting: Viktor Orban, former Hungarian PM, now leader of the opposition. Standing: Janos Ader, same party, former speaker of the Parliament. Right: dunno.
The guy in the grey coat is Viktor Orbán, i don’t know who the others are. But they are hungarians.
Hungarians!? Wow, I would never have known that!
Who wants goulash?
Or uborkasalat. (spelling?) I’ve good friends, who’ve taught me how to properly say “PAP-rika”.
I was from Hungary earlier today, but now I’m from Full.
Figures. Those Hungarians are KNOWN for their note passing.
And goulash..
Maybe they’re rhapsodizing…
They like to slip notes into their goulash…
Well if they wore their goulashes they wouldn’t slip so much.
Btw they can pass all the notes they want – these guys are expected to win the next election by an epic landslide.
left to right:
Tibor Navrasics, leader of the FIDESZ faction in Parliement
János Áder, head of Parliement, Fidesz prominent
Viktor Orbán, former hungarian prime minister
i meant right to left
He used the wrong your. It’s supposed to be ‘you’re’
Wow, I can’t believe nobody’s mentioned that at all in the previous 198 comments!
Well you know, some of us don’t have a keen sense for the obvious.
The guy in the middle looks like Graham Lineham, of Father Ted And Black Books fame
did Billy Mays shave half his face and get into politics?
This reminds me so much of all my high school days! Minus the guy on the left. He’s so not into it. Fantastic caption, whoeveritwas!
It is the Hungaria Parlament, the guy sitting on the right is Victor Orban, ex PM
*Hungarian … sorry for the typo
Oh America. Please learn the difference between “your” and “you’re.”
“Your” means “belongs to you.”
“You’re” is a contraction of the two words “you are.”
Yes, language is fluid and has a life of its own, but Americans are generally losing English proficiency, not because of immigrants who speak other tongues, but because of a tragic lack of emphasis on genuine literacy and correct English in our public, charter, and private school systems. Tweets and texting are more or less ruining spelling, grammar, even meaning; we don’t know yet how micro-messaging is going to affect the way we talk and write in the future, but I worry that in 50 years nobody will know how to write. Just beware. You’re wrong if you think your security doesn’t depend upon good communication skills.
Just out of morbid curiosity, did you even bother to read through the comments? Had you done so, you would have realized that your comment has been addressed ad infinitum. You may be a typesetter, but you obviously don’t have an ability to read.
What he said. I know the difference, I was tired, it was a typo, get over it. (how did you like my clever use of improper comma usage and run on sentences, not to mention putting quotations after parenthesis incorrectly?)
P.S. Where is your front page LOL?
The LOL was fine, but Babs does have a point, beyond the one that she’s re-addressed for the elebenteeth time. It’s just a shame that it’s totally irrelevant to this site in general, and even to this LOL.
Agreed. This country is full of so called smart students who, out of laziness or lack of caring, don’t take any interest in attention to detail or accuracy and make themselves look “ignint” in the process. Decline of literacy in this country is a huge problem. When asked if they more intensely dislike ignorance or apathy most of American youth today reply, “I don’t know and I don’t care.”
-HEADDESK-
Thanks for having my back, Eddie
No worries, mate! It just pisses me off when people pop off without even bothering to scroll through what’s being discussed. What’s really stupid is, had Barbara scrolled back even half a page, she would have seen where someone already addressed her keen observation. In my book, it’s all about her and her need to be noticed.
And she would have seen that it was a common typo that we all make now and then, that was made by a very intelligent and well educated member of our community, not some sad example of ignorance and apathy. She’s being a troll.
Oh….my…. GOD!!!!! ITS HITLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
good info.thanks!