so....i have a question about all of this.....
Offline as an atheist i am not inclined to believe in anything supernatural. well, as the years have gone on, my understanding has grown of science and the cosmos. this has led to a lot more questions about life and love, human intelligence and understanding.
long story short.....i still have not found a viable answer to the question of why. or a purpose if you will.
passing on genetic information is kind of a cop out to me, gaining knowledge seems futile if there is no after the end. so that's out. betterment of mankind is out due to a selfish nature in me. (if i don't get to play with the new toy then why invent the tool that is going to make it?)
if i were a member of the faithful i would call this a crisis of faith, but i am not one. so if you are at all able to help and guide me to some sort of reasoning or purpose that would be great.
i have no want of a higher thingy in the sky™
can an atheist have a crisis of non belief?
can i not really care......or worry about the gaps? maybe that's the purpose......
all these questions...agggghhhhhh. good night.....
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins
Lots of people have crises of purpose. It's not unusual, and it's certainly not a crisis of belief.
See, mine is "to fulfill my evil plans". I suggest you start with the idea that you're a supervillain when you're in a crisis of purpose. What kind of master criminal would you be? The reason I don't start with "superhero" is because they're just bascially police officers with interesting talents. It's the criminal masterminds who have vision and purpose. Evil purpose, I'll grant you that, but purpose nonetheless.
So, master criminal, what's the plan?
Will: no gyration without funkstification.
well if you put it that way.......complete domination of the globe then zombies.......yessss zombies....(insert evil grin and the finger thing)
i will have to think on this long and hard. its a bigun......but i am not a villan type. i am to lazy. sociopath....thats another story
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins
To quote the famous philosopher Sarah Connor in Terminator 2, "there is no fate, but what you make." Life's meaning is what you give to it. You create your own purpose. That is for each of us to decide. I know I am still working on my ultimate plan, but doubting your knowledge doesn't mean you have to revert to things you know not to be true to feel comforted. I wish you luck, as I do myself, with finding our purposes. Life can be difficult, perhaps thats why only the strong usually survive.
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda
ohhhhhh brain spasm!!!!!!!
i got it, eureka, ahhhahahaha yes thats it, bueatiful. i am so going to do it. muhahhhahaha..
Runs to underground lab and starts working on making a zombie virus......
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins
my suggestion is to look for the virus known as Solanum, it works by traveling through the bloodstream to the brain. It ceases all bodily funtions, except for the brain which remains alive but dormant, while the virus mutates ints cells into a completely new organ.
who are you and how do you know so much...........you are not coming for me are you?
but in reality....thank you all so far this is very helpful. thank you... really
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins
im the man looking at you through your window *starts laughing crazily*
naw I read max browns book World War Z, good book its about a zombie infestation and now I am starting to read his book The Zombie Survival Guide...it teaches you how to survive if there is a zombie infestation kind of a tongue in cheek of other doomsday survival guides.
Huh. I guess I really am going to need that biohazard suit/samurai sword combination. Go figure.
Will: no gyration without funkstification.
are you trained to use that sword your willness? because funny occurrence i just broke my hand training that exact weapon. no less then three hours ago. (not a real sword if anyone is thinking that...its called a boken)
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins
Well here's a case where religion can be a great example. Why not become an atheist missionary? In my travels, I run into these Mormon missionaries all the time. Say what you will about how wacky their church doctrines and beliefs are, these missionaries sure do seem to have a purpose. I would say deep down they know their beliefs are crazy and untrue.
I think what's actually happening is the opposite of they claim:
Our belief gives a purpose to life.
But actually what's happening is:
The desire for purpose in life gives rise to a (false) religious belief.
Actually because Mormonism has even more wacky beliefs than standard Christianity, it gives them even more purpose. They have to work harder to get new people to believe.
So instead of becoming a depressed nihilist, follow their example. Spread the gospel of truth and reason. Learn more science and philosophy. Become a teacher to the great unwashed masses susceptible to irrational religion.
Stop global whining.
Don't stress about it too much.
My wife used to be worried about "making her mark" on the world, thinking that if you didn't do something notable then life was wasted.
Now she has come around to my way of thinking.
The affect you have on others is more important. Try to be a positive influence, lead by example, be good to people. If you can help someone who is struggling with life in some small way, then I think you have made your mark.
Jesus said, "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division." - Luke 12:51
The main obstacle of Peace on Earth is religion.
Oh shit - who busted your hand? Were you sparring without gloves or something? Wait, with bokken? I've only ever sparred with shinai. To be honest, though, "trained" would be an exaggeration. I'm not good or anything, it's just something I do for fun. Zombies would be about as threatening as straw mats, though. Even the screaming running kind can't form much of an attack without arms (or legs).
Will: no gyration without funkstification.
That's similar to my philosophy: try to die with a net positive influence. Do more good than harm. I'm not sure if that makes up for all the food I eat, carbon footprint I stomp, beer I drink, or thousands of other things it takes to keep me going, but I really am just trying to do more good than harm.
I don't even know how to use a samurai sword. Just a foil and épée. Those wouldn't do a damned thing against zombies, except piss 'em off, so I'll be useless in a zombie attack.
Oh c'mon. Zombies are the stupidest creatures ever. Their main strength is their persistence. After that, they're slow, dull-witted, and single-minded. If you've taken any kind of fencing, you're way ahead of the pack. Plus, apparently you know where to get a bastard sword with lasers shooting out of it. So right there, your advantage is obvious.
Zombies don't even learn! You could use the same moves on all of them, and they wouldn't even figure it out! You'd probably end up adding flourish just to keep yourself amused.
So to sum up, my advice is that when you're called upon to massacre the waves of undead, find joy in the simple things in life. Add flourish to your decapitations, and wear colourful underwear. The zombies won't know you're wearing that special underwear, but it'll give you that extra feeling of confidence as you separate their limbs and heads from their torsos. You'll know you look great doing it.
Will: no gyration without funkstification.
Feelin' sexy on tha inside!
I wonder how many threads we can insert zombies and swords into?
All you really have to do is mention zombies, since the obvious answer to zombies is a samurai sword. I mean, that's just science. You can't argue with science.
Will: no gyration without funkstification.
I have a Chinese machete, a bunch of knives, and a nunchaku.
Science works whether you believe in it or not.
Thanks for the pep talk. You make it sound so simple.
I didn't mention the power supply needed for the laser-enhanced bastard sword. It makes the whole thing pretty immobile, so it really isn't as good as a samurai sword. It's really just a bastard sword duct-taped to an industrial laser. But I'm working on a smaller, portable model. The military is interested.
I do have a pair of Spiderman Underroos Underwear. They're fun to wear.
I'm feeling pretty good now. Thanks!
Bring on the virus-animated undead!
So all I have to do is add to any thread:
But seriously folks, if I encountered zombie Jesus, I'd take his head right off with my katana and say, "rise from that, biatch!"
Jesus said, "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division." - Luke 12:51
The main obstacle of Peace on Earth is religion.
Why not just make it your tagline?
Science works whether you believe in it or not.
Because we all know that to kill a zombie you must remove its head, or destroy its brain... i repeat, remove its head or destroy its brain. Which leads to another question... How do you kill a headless zombie? How deep in the shit would we be if Jesus was resurrected after he was beheaded instead of crucified?!?
This is a glittering generalization of all Zombiekind, and is clearly furthering a negative stereotype of zombies. I thought most people had moved past these prejudices, but you apparently have not. We do not know that all zombies will be mindless and slow, in 28 weeks later, they were not slow, and not completely mindless(although most were).
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda
Ok... ill ask, how da fuck?!? did you break your hand... honestly... wtf?
(it takes some serious skill to break object with blunt force trauma while using a sharp weapon... )
"You are like a delightful random cruelty generator, master, poisoning all you touch. You are a testament to all organic meatbags everywhere." HK-47
Ummm...
I could be wrong but I believe that was actually John that said it. He told his father that as the message to his mother when he was sent back.
And what's up with the terminator time thing...
John sends back his father, so John only exists because he sent back his father...but how was he ever sent back if the first time through time he didn't exist to send his father back? And if someone else sent him back, why were they sending him back after Sarah so that htey would still meet and have John if she wasn't a threat the first time around because she did'nt have john? Fuck terminators timeline.
- Tarpan
Ew Will, do you read Cosmo?
I'm actually serious; even though I don't subscribe to the magazine, every time I pick one up off the rack, the "wear sexy lingerie under your street clothes to boost your confidence" gem is in there.
I think we were both wrong..."The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves."
- Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn)
In T2 I think it is John quoting Sarah who says "no fate but what you make" and Sarah was echoing Reese from the first Terminator.
As for the timeline, yes, it is illogical, but pretty much everything involving timetravel in scifi movies is. It is one of the few circumstances I will suspend my disbelief willingly.
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda
Yeah, Kyle says it but he is relaying the message that John gave him in the future.
In T2 he is echoing the same message.
As for timeline...Futurama still had the best timetravel with Fry finding out that he's his own great grandfather.
- Tarpan
My favorite paradoxical time travel timeline is All you Zombies. The title ties in to the recent theme, but the story is all about tangled timelines.
a bokken is a wood version of the actual sword, the same heft and shape only thicker for obvious reasons. i was practicing a belly cut, and raised my hand a little too far and the instructor came into it to teach me the gaps in that strike. next thing i know bam.....hand starts really hurting and can no longer close.......its a boxers fracture in the middle finger and a hairline on the ring. so now i have this really cool cast on and have to type with only one hand.......but yes we do spar with it...only at half speed for this same reason.
but in case of zombies you don't need to know how to use a true sword, just be comfortable hacking branches off of a tree with a machete
in the zombie invasion i have made progress....my dog now sleeps all day i think she is the living dead......
i have to say that every one here has been great in giving me some things to think about, and i might pull myself out of this funk as soon as i can get back to training....all i can do know is teach the lower students in his class.....oh well at least its something
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins
well if the zombies i create are not slow and stupid then i will have to destroy them with the self destruct in my evil underground lab....i shall name the first one jesus just for you too... so no worries. just keep sharpening those blades...
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins