No matter how open-minded...

[Extragorey]

I can't understand how people of my demographic (16-21 male) enjoy those "My Little Pony" things. They just seem childish to me.

 

[Astoria]

I just don't understand people who are against gay marriage. If you're a bit creeped out by gay people that's ok, you can't help it, but thinking that they don't deserve a simple human right is cruel. It doesn't effect your life in any way so why be against it? I've heard the whole 'marriage should be between a man and woman' thing a thousand times but I've never heard why people think that apart from religious reasons.

 

[Fluffythepoo]

i dont understand children that cant use a computer

 

[Whit]

Spoiler

People who are dicks to others, specifically towards people with religions. They have a religion, get over it. Or just dicks in general, as why they need to be a dick I don't see a proper motive at all. No matter how made I am or upset I can't take it out on someone. No matter how stupid or ignorant someone is I bite my tongue. Maybe mommy and daddy just taught me good manners.

This right here.

Atheists are the worst about this. The number of "religion" replies in this thread is evidence of that.

Every time the subject of religion comes up you get atheists who hop on with their "GOD DOESN'T EXIST" trolling. It's old people, really old. Most of the intolerant, bigoted, and hate filled comments involving the subject of religion on the internet come from atheists. Then they have the nerve to whine when they get the same treatment in return.
Reap what you sow.

I know that not all atheists are like that, and I sure hope most aren't like that, but the same is true for all religions that suffered from the curse of over-zealous members. (And by that I mean all of them.)

Which brings me to a nice bit of irony. Atheism is a religion.

It may not involve the belief in/worship of a theoretical deity(s) or entity(s), but it still involves the belief in/worship of something. Religion is about having faith.

Atheists have faith in science, technology, human ingenuity, and human creativity.
Thus atheism is a religion.

Now many will be angry and upset that I'm calling their believe system a religion but I must ask, why?

There is nothing wrong with atheism being called a religion. Too many have spent too much time trying to demonize the word "religion." I don't understand why they do that though. It just doesn't make sense to me.

It's okay to have faith in something. It doesn't matter if you can physically prove it exists or not. It's perfectly okay to have faith in science, technology, God, Buddha, Ala, Talos, Ponies, the Triforce, Thrall, Spider Man, C-130 cargo planes, a rock, or anything else.

I don't understand why more can't grasp this. It's okay to have faith. It's not okay to belittle people who have faith in things you do not.

OT: Don't know if troll or just completley and utterly retarded.

Atheism is simply the non-belief of supernatural theistic dieties. It is nothing else. It has no dogma or other beliefs than that. So don't go making generalizations about atheists. You are the cause and reason of why people belittle and hate on religious people. Especially christians in america. Stop playing the victim. YOU are the TYRANT and OPPRESSOR. Stop crying. You have no right to do so.

This guy brings up a solid argument, Atheism is the lack of religious belief, you don't even have to believe in science to be an atheist, you can believe in a geocentric model of the universe and a flat earth without believing in any sort of supernatural power.

 

[Whit]

i dont understand children that cant use a computer

I know, it's sad enough when old people refuse to learn, sadder when they try to and just can't seem to grasp the basic concepts, and the epitome of sadness when teenagers can't figure out that resetting their computer will fix it 95% of the time.

 

[Samus Aran but a man]

Forum wars (PS3 vs Xbox; BF3 vs MW3)

 

[Whit]

Forum wars (PS3 vs Xbox; BF3 vs MW3)

yeah, there are legitimate reasons to prefer each, but not to such a crazy extent, and people need to learn to stop hating on everything about the other side (I seem to recall a lot of fanboys hating on exclusives they hadn't even played the last time I saw a flame war over the consoles).

For example, I prefer the 360 due to the combination of xbox live, Halo, and the controller (dual shocks are too small for my hands and I don't like the angle of the handles), but I'm not blind to how awesome some of the PS3 exclusives are (Disgaea, and Uncharted spring to mind).

Why can't we all just get along as a great brethren of geeks, gaming forevermore?

P.S. I know I'm a little weird about controllers, but when you're a large person with large hands you need a bigger controller, hell, I actually MISS the duke (the original controller from the first xbox), don't miss the black and white buttons though, those were still terrible.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

Furries... I don't understand what happens in a persons life that eventually makes them want to dress up in animal customs and get into furry piles.

I can understand other deviant sexual pleasures like BDSM. Costumes like school girls, goth, etc. Even the illegal things like necro and pedophilia. It all can be drawn back to something that happened in childhood.

But furries, what the heck happens in a persons childhood to cause that?

 

[tthor]

I do not understand people who are so blatantly ignorant of things, as well as sociopathic people.. both of those things are why I have lost most faith in humanity :\

 

[Whit]

Furries... I don't understand what happens in a persons life that eventually makes them want to dress up in animal customs and get into furry piles.

I can understand other deviant sexual pleasures like BDSM. Costumes like school girls, goth, etc. Even the illegal things like necro and pedophilia. It all can be drawn back to something that happened in childhood.

But furries, what the heck happens in a persons childhood to cause that?

Actually at least one aspect of BDSM has nothing to do with personal background, some people enjoy pain because the body has a tendency to (exclusively when highly aroused) interpret ANY strong sensation as sexual pleasure, this is EXTREMELY common, some people just embrace this to a greater extent than simple bites and spanks. It's neurology, not psychology.

Also worth remembering that not all furies have sex in their animal regalia, there's a bit more variety than that. But yeah, I don't understand it either.

 

[tthor]

Furries... I don't understand what happens in a persons life that eventually makes them want to dress up in animal customs and get into furry piles.

I can understand other deviant sexual pleasures like BDSM. Costumes like school girls, goth, etc. Even the illegal things like necro and pedophilia. It all can be drawn back to something that happened in childhood.

But furries, what the heck happens in a persons childhood to cause that?

the same reason I theorize why I have a friend who has an artbook full of sexy undead/plain disturbing drawings as well as slight bestiality.. something about people or how people have treated them in the past make them feel the need to distance their mind from people, thus resulting in them finding very unhuman creatures sexually attractive instead.. :\

 

[Fluffythepoo]

Spoiler

People who are dicks to others, specifically towards people with religions. They have a religion, get over it. Or just dicks in general, as why they need to be a dick I don't see a proper motive at all. No matter how made I am or upset I can't take it out on someone. No matter how stupid or ignorant someone is I bite my tongue. Maybe mommy and daddy just taught me good manners.

This right here.

Atheists are the worst about this. The number of "religion" replies in this thread is evidence of that.

Every time the subject of religion comes up you get atheists who hop on with their "GOD DOESN'T EXIST" trolling. It's old people, really old. Most of the intolerant, bigoted, and hate filled comments involving the subject of religion on the internet come from atheists. Then they have the nerve to whine when they get the same treatment in return.
Reap what you sow.

I know that not all atheists are like that, and I sure hope most aren't like that, but the same is true for all religions that suffered from the curse of over-zealous members. (And by that I mean all of them.)

Which brings me to a nice bit of irony. Atheism is a religion.

It may not involve the belief in/worship of a theoretical deity(s) or entity(s), but it still involves the belief in/worship of something. Religion is about having faith.

Atheists have faith in science, technology, human ingenuity, and human creativity.
Thus atheism is a religion.

Now many will be angry and upset that I'm calling their believe system a religion but I must ask, why?

There is nothing wrong with atheism being called a religion. Too many have spent too much time trying to demonize the word "religion." I don't understand why they do that though. It just doesn't make sense to me.

It's okay to have faith in something. It doesn't matter if you can physically prove it exists or not. It's perfectly okay to have faith in science, technology, God, Buddha, Ala, Talos, Ponies, the Triforce, Thrall, Spider Man, C-130 cargo planes, a rock, or anything else.

I don't understand why more can't grasp this. It's okay to have faith. It's not okay to belittle people who have faith in things you do not.

OT: Don't know if troll or just completley and utterly retarded.

Atheism is simply the non-belief of supernatural theistic dieties. It is nothing else. It has no dogma or other beliefs than that. So don't go making generalizations about atheists. You are the cause and reason of why people belittle and hate on religious people. Especially christians in america. Stop playing the victim. YOU are the TYRANT and OPPRESSOR. Stop crying. You have no right to do so.

This guy brings up a solid argument, Atheism is the lack of religious belief, you don't even have to believe in science to be an atheist, you can believe in a geocentric model of the universe and a flat earth without believing in any sort of supernatural power.

youre confusing semantics with reality

 

[Whit]

I do not understand people who are so blatantly ignorant of things, as well as sociopathic people.. both of those things are why I have lost most faith in humanity :\

well, to be fair sociopathy is a mental condition that isn't too different than schizophrenia (schizophrenia is emotional dissociation, sociopathy is moral dissociation). I'm not saying we have nothing to fear from sociopaths, frankly they're bloody terrifying, but they aren't evil so much as they are crazy.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

i dont understand children that cant use a computer

I was talking to this high school boy about music and movies. He was complaining about how iTunes is a pain in the ass. I mentioned torrents and he was completely clueless.

Then again he also downloaded that fake "Windows Defender" Virus.

Perhaps its because my generation as well as the generations before had computers grow into their lives. While these new generations had grown into computers. They were magical to us, we wanted to see how they worked. These kids, they have had them their whole lives. Never went a DAY without the internet existing. It would surprise me if they didn't take it for granted.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

Furries... I don't understand what happens in a persons life that eventually makes them want to dress up in animal customs and get into furry piles.

I can understand other deviant sexual pleasures like BDSM. Costumes like school girls, goth, etc. Even the illegal things like necro and pedophilia. It all can be drawn back to something that happened in childhood.

But furries, what the heck happens in a persons childhood to cause that?

Actually at least one aspect of BDSM has nothing to do with personal background, some people enjoy pain because the body has a tendency to (exclusively when highly aroused) interpret ANY strong sensation as sexual pleasure, this is EXTREMELY common, some people just embrace this to a greater extent than simple bites and spanks. It's neurology, not psychology.

Oh yea believe me I know, choking, slapping, biting, perhaps even tie ups are all very common. I was more referring to extreme BDSM. Like Sub and Dom, Slave and Master.

If thats common, I would be rather surprised.

 

[Whit]

i dont understand children that cant use a computer

I was talking to this high school boy about music and movies. He was complaining about how iTunes is a pain in the ass. I mentioned torrents and he was completely clueless.

Then again he also downloaded that fake "Windows Defender" Virus.

Perhaps its because my generation as well as the generations before had computers grow into their lives. While these new generations had grown into computers. They were magical to us, we wanted to see how they worked. These kids, they have had them their whole lives. Never went a DAY without the internet existing. It would surprise me if they didn't take it for granted.

I was born in the early 90's, so the internet and I sort of grew up side-by-side, and I can't imagine how hard it would be to just jump into where we are now. Unless something pretty drastic happens to simplify things, my generation could be the first in U.S. history to be better with tech than the following generation.

 

[Whit]

Furries... I don't understand what happens in a persons life that eventually makes them want to dress up in animal customs and get into furry piles.

I can understand other deviant sexual pleasures like BDSM. Costumes like school girls, goth, etc. Even the illegal things like necro and pedophilia. It all can be drawn back to something that happened in childhood.

But furries, what the heck happens in a persons childhood to cause that?

Actually at least one aspect of BDSM has nothing to do with personal background, some people enjoy pain because the body has a tendency to (exclusively when highly aroused) interpret ANY strong sensation as sexual pleasure, this is EXTREMELY common, some people just embrace this to a greater extent than simple bites and spanks. It's neurology, not psychology.

Oh yea believe me I know, choking, slapping, biting, perhaps even tie ups are all very common. I was more referring to extreme BDSM. Like Sub and Dom, Slave and Master.

If thats common, I would be rather surprised.

It is more common than most people think, but yeah, that stuff is still pretty out there

 

[Esotera]

Why people are religious. Despite the fact that for the majority of my life I was Catholic.

Also American Politics...are things really that bad over there?

If the system were working the way it was intended, it wouldn't matter how much squabbling went on in Washington, because the federal government doesn't constitutionally have the power to make a strong impact on everyday life. As it stands, they can stick their dirty little paws most anywhere. However, most people just sit back and let the politicians have their little spats in the Capitol. That is, until the taxman comes knocking. Then we get pissed off.

I'm beginning to think that this is how the majority of governments work. America seems particularly bad though, maybe it is partly due to the media.

OT: I'm going to take the other side of the religion topic and say I can't understand how people can be atheistic or agnostic. The odds of you being born from the thousands of eggs in your mother and millions of your father's sperm are high enough. Now consider the odds that your parents met, had sex, conceived, were born in the first place. While we're at it, how about the survival of your familial line all the way from early human evolution and beyond. Then consider the odds of Earth having the right chemical makeup and astronomical conditions to support life, or that physics works in a way to have stable reactions, or that the universe was formed at all.

The odds aren't actually worth calculating because the number is so far beyond human comprehension that it would just be meaningless text. I've heard it's ten to the power of (number of all atoms on Earth), but that could be wildly inaccurate. In essence, it's like betting, say, 17 on a roulette wheel and winning once a minute, every minute, without ever losing until the end of time. Confronted with those odds, I don't know how anybody can take them. That's the point where a magical man in the sky starts to look like the rational, level-headed response to existential questions.

I don't mean to come across as bitter. This is one of those arguments where the two side's viewpoints completely miss each other. All the arguments are based on assumptions that the other side either doesn't acknowledge or use reasoning that the other side doesn't accept. That is why nobody will ever scare an atheist with the threat of eternal damnation and nobody will convert a creationist by showing them fossils.

The odds of us (humans) getting here is actually very small. Same for every other species. But the odds of some species occurring is actually quite high, if you're starting from a set of common chemicals. The interesting thing about our biochemistry is that Amino Acids, which are basically essential for life as we know it, have been found on asteroids in space. It's not like the conditions to make them are hard. Also when you wash a oily saucepan in the sink, you get little bubbles on the surface of the water. That's the spontaneous assembly of oil molecules into a sphere, which could potentially evolve into a cell.

As for physics I don't really know that much, but given the surprising places where we can find life these days (nuclear reactors, hypersaline lakes) then I wouldn't be too surprised if life existed if our universe's parameters differed slightly.

I think we share similar viewpoints but have interpreted the evidence differently. And neither one of us can really be proven right.

 

[cgaWolf]

The alleged lack of morality is not entirely misplaced, however, as the belief that there is no spiritual power also implies no immortal Moral Law, meaning that, to an atheist, morality has no meaning beyond what they are or are not punished for.

I mean no offence, but I personally can't understand how atheists can be so hypocritical. Atheists often claim that those who are religious are being illogical. Yet, when taking an "objective" viewpoint, atheists assume that religion must be false, without any concrete proof either way.

If you assert the existence of something, the burden of proof is on you, not on the sceptic.
At this point, the discussion usually diverges, as the faithful argue on the philosophical level for the existence of a god, while being unable to prove his existence on a physical level - whereas the materialist (that many atheists are) requires to accept the proposition that a god exists.

The problem here is that one posits the existence of an (omnipotent, omniscient & omnibenevolent) being that is clearly outside the realm of nature, whereas the other requires a natural proof as he refuses that things outside his physical reality have or should have an impact on him.

The discussion can't even agree on the same topic, which makes science & faith not be direct opposites, but very compatible, provided faith takes a step back when science proves something in the natural world. The refusal to accept logic as it pertains to natural facts or the models we build to explain them is ununderstandable for someone firmly rooted in the scientific method; thus the statament that faithful are illogical.


All that said, i refuse your implication that the lack of an immortal moral law means atheists are morally bankrupt. We see intrinsic value in good deeds, and there are humanist and social-evolutionary reasons why "doing good" is worth doing. In contrast, the refusal of an immortal moral law absolves me of having to push it unto someone else who may not share those laws or beliefs, and that is A Good Thing!

That evangelical behaviour of religious people is the root of many evils committed by faithful. The opinion that my, and only my, belief is the One Truth, is one of the most damaging ideas ever known to mankind - regardless of whether it's rooted in faith, though it usually is.

Most churches have their own version of extra ecclesiam nulla salus - that dogma that my faith is The One True Faith is the cause and justification for all evil done by good men of faith; and that is the true crime of religions against humanity: It makes good people do bad things.

 

[Whit]

OT: I'm going to take the other side of the religion topic and say I can't understand how people can be atheistic or agnostic. The odds of you being born from the thousands of eggs in your mother and millions of your father's sperm are high enough. Now consider the odds that your parents met, had sex, conceived, were born in the first place. While we're at it, how about the survival of your familial line all the way from early human evolution and beyond. Then consider the odds of Earth having the right chemical makeup and astronomical conditions to support life, or that physics works in a way to have stable reactions, or that the universe was formed at all.

The odds aren't actually worth calculating because the number is so far beyond human comprehension that it would just be meaningless text. I've heard it's ten to the power of (number of all atoms on Earth), but that could be wildly inaccurate. In essence, it's like betting, say, 17 on a roulette wheel and winning once a minute, every minute, without ever losing until the end of time. Confronted with those odds, I don't know how anybody can take them. That's the point where a magical man in the sky starts to look like the rational, level-headed response to existential questions.

I don't mean to come across as bitter. This is one of those arguments where the two side's viewpoints completely miss each other. All the arguments are based on assumptions that the other side either doesn't acknowledge or use reasoning that the other side doesn't accept. That is why nobody will ever scare an atheist with the threat of eternal damnation and nobody will convert a creationist by showing them fossils.

I know I'm not going to change your mind here, I just want to try to bridge the philosophical gap so you can understand the atheist perspective

you bring up an interesting point about probabilities, and yes, it's statistically improbable for things to be exactly the way that they are, but, from an atheists perspective, the odds don't really matter, we had to wind up with something and this is just what we got. We don't attach philosophical significance to the series of events that got us here.

I'm probably doing a pretty terrible job of explaining this, but it's a really hard gap to bridge.


My worldview may sound depressing to you, but it essentially boils down to four basic concepts
1. Here I am.
2. May as well do something interesting.
3. Try to have fun with it.
4. If possible, try to help other people do interesting or fun things.