Reaper

Well, I just watched the show. I have to say, one of my favorite scenes was when Michael Behe was trying to claim that evolution could not account for the immune system, or that there was no published scientific work on it, and one of the lawyers not only gave him papers that were peer reviewed, but entire volumes on the subject. A huge stack of them. The "cdesign proponentsists" term was just classic. Another one that caught my attention was when some local church pastor was appalled at the possibility that we might see humanity in a different way, as opposed thinking about ourselves as some sort of "special divine creation" or something like that. ======================================== Throughout the whole recording I was quite astonished at how low the "cdesign proponentsists" were willing to lower the bar, and to what lengths they are willing to go to get religion in the classroom (like lying under oath, shame on you creationists). In particular, I found the Discovery Institute manifesto quite disturbing (e.g. I saw something like having ID permeate every facet of our lives, as if asking us to worship it...) Overall, a good program. Score one for the (real) scientists, and rational thinkers, and real scientific inquiry.

Haha! I learned multiplication when I was in kindergarten .

It's possible. It was that way not too long ago as a matter of fact. I've never heard diversity refer to that. While I understand the idea behind it, the fact remains that it has, de facto, become just what I described. That's why I'm quite a bit skeptical in general about all the claims of "tolerance" and "equal opportunity", and so on.

I noticed that the more this person posts, the stupider he/she seems to become.

Or continue watching Nostradamus documentaries about his "prophesies"

In India they actually do consider astrology an actual science, at least from what I've heard.

You know, I really think that the only reason people single out video games to place blame on is simply because its considered one of the icons of the so-called "youth culture", even though they are more often played by so-called nerds or intellectuals. I think the reason most people have some inclination toward violence in any media is simply because most of the time our everyday average lives are so boring. (Which lifestyle would YOU prefer, being a badass galactic hero like Master Chief, or your current one?)

I'm well aware of that, but I do know that retailers are supposed to ask for I.D. though. Whether or not they do it is besides the point.

Well, the actual law just says that retailers have to see some I.D. before they can sell them. But, it's really only upheld by stores like, say, Wal-mart, and even then all they need is someone who is 17 or older with them to purchase it. And it only applies to games rated M (anything rated T or below can be bought by anybody). But, on the grand scheme of things, its not really enforced, and there are plenty of major retailers including the one I usually shop at that sell them to anyone of any age. ================================================================ But anyways, back on topic. I would have to agree with Saryctos on the issue of religion. From what I've seen here on this site and in general, they never seem to end well simply because in the end I think that it simply goes down to pride or ego issues and people's reluctance to admit that they might be wrong, or that don't know anything. Also, I know that people generally don't like to hear bad things about themselves.

Speak for yourself. I'll have you know that there a number of people who have a problem with people who have a problem with violent video games :-p . =================================== On a more serious note, I don't think that exposure to violent video games constitutes indoctrination. To indoctrinate someone means to force them to develop a particular mindset or attitude or set of beliefs and take them as absolute truth. Video games, well, they impact behavior just like any other game or sport would. To say that violent video games indoctrinate kids into a particular culture is like saying playing Risk or Civilization indoctrinates kids into becoming warmongering megalomaniacs.

I like this one: But my most favorite one is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia Here you go ============================================= That is probably one of the most disgusting thing I've ever read about.

Biological. Otherwise, psychology is too much of a "soft science" so to speak.

Notice how all the percentages exceed 100% when added together....

I think its already too late.

I'm well aware of that, but there is a difference between having problems and being extinct. Humans have had problems since the beginning of their existence.

Just how likely is it in this day and age? Though I've read up on several possible scenarios, I find that most of them are at very best far fetched, and and most they seem more like doomsday prophesies or other kinds of baseless paranoia and nonsense. The only scenarios that I have found that are plausible are either technological (e.g. nukes, maybe genetics, etc) or that of an asteroid impact, or the end of the universe. Environmental damage may pose some pretty hefty problems too. But seriously, how critical is our condition really? Though, personally I do think there is a 100% chance that humanity will become extinct in some time in the future, but what I am wondering is is it anything to really worry about (other than asteroids or nukes). Or is it more along the lines of the belief that civilization is the end all and be all of the human species, because I know those usually collapse on a regular basis anyways...

I don't mean to be necroing, but.... 20/m/USA

I think the issue is defining what type of intelligence we are looking for, because that term isn't even defined among us humans. Otherwise, I skimmed the article and the paper seems to probably be related in speculating what an intelligent extraterrestrial could probably look like, and the probability of finding such features on other worlds.

I had a conversation over at dinner last night about this and the one conclusion that despite all claims and all forms of propaganda out there, most people and most nearly all institutions (e.g. colleges, corporations, governments, etc) seem to be inherently racist or intolerant to some degree. For example, take the various "diversity" and other affirmative action programs upheld in many colleges. Though I am supported by such programs myself (and I know I probably shouldn't be complaining especially since I have a huge scholarship from those programs, but I'm not a person who takes things for granted or a person who believes in ideology), one observation I see is that "diversity" means everyone except white people. And then I remember the conversation went into historical examples too, and the realization that before the 20th century racism was institutionalized by all major powers past. And the only reason it is more noticeable or more commonly associated with whites is that back in the imperial ages the European powers had the ability to crush everyone else. And it makes me wonder if the others would have done the same. China, for example, saw everyone else as barbarians. The Ottomans enslaved everyone who was not Islamic and committed genocide against the Armenians at one point, and I won't even go into the ideologies upheld by imperial Japan at WWII, or by the Mongols. And they all found some excuse to proclaim themselves superior and see everyone else as "sub-human". And mind you, it doesn't have to be overly violent, most of the time it is expressed through favoring one group of people over others. And it really doesn't end there. If you want a recent obvious example, one good one is what is happening in Israel right now and in Sub-Sahara Africa. And if you go down in the southern U.S., I've noticed (or rather heard) that racism is still quite strong down there even though it is officially condemned. But it makes me wonder though, just how "tolerant" or "diverse" are we really? We go off to condemn racism in general and then turn around and display our own form of intolerance in some form or another. I'm going to leave this open ended and see where this thread and discussion goes.

In most cases, this is something that is usually forced on other people. And are you so sure that any of this is necessary for our survival? There are plenty of people who usually don't make it, and society in general typically falls apart under prolonged exposure to this as far as I understand.

Darn it, I couldn't watch it last night, stuck all night preparing for some exam.... But, there is another showing at 1 am so I'll stick around for that show. I see so far lots of favorable reviews over here

You know, I wonder if this atomicpsych0 is the same person as this fella over here: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=75705236 This guy has "atomikpsych" as his AIM so I wonder if there is a connection.

Here's mine:

I've seen this video, and many of cdk's videos for that matter. They are all very good videos. Here is a list of the ones he made (including the clock one) right here on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/cdk007 P.S. Apparently, there is a member on this site that I will not name who doesn't seem like them. But everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Otherwise, these videos are very informative.