Revealing the thread: 'Atheists hit a new low'

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Revealing the thread: 'Atheists hit a new low'

For those of you that are interested in the finer points of debating philosophical, political, religious, and various other arguments, it's a good idea to understand the exact nature of the "arguments" you're reading.

Hence, the TRUE REASON for the intent of this thread is about to be revealed!

Assume you're given the following two choices by which to classify the argument I put foward in the OP of my thread "Atheists hit a new low."

Is the argument a simplistic example of:
A) casuistry,
OR
B) sophistry?

Which of the two above choices would most accurately describe the nature of the argument???

Feel free to explain why you would chose A over B, or visa versa.


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Yeah. I'm a bad boy!

Yeah. I'm a bad boy!

@(><)@

LOL!


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Not a bad boy, just a stupid

Not a bad boy, just a stupid one.

 

Here is what you call your "argument":

 

Quote:

EVERY goddamn religion in
the world constantly asks for money. In fact, if there is anything more distasteful than that, whilst visiting a church or synagogue, I've yet to experience it.

What I never would have expected is the nauseating feeling of seeing Atheists doing the same thing, such as the
"RRS Clothing Store."

Geez! If you're committed to Atheism, then for christ sake, acting like a mega-church isn't very convincing.

Do it at your own expense, because you believe in it, instead of commercializing Atheism like a religion.

 

Leaving aside that this is a rant which could possibly indicate an underlying argument but is not an argument in itself, your subsequent attempt to invite others to regard it as either casuistry or sophistry indicates only your own confusion. If you claim you are not confused then it indicates how woefully you have overestimated your own intelligence. If you claim you are intelligent then it indicates your dishonesty, even with yourself.

 

All rather pathetic stuff, really. And the fact that you think it makes you "bad" simply renders it even more pathetic still. Allow me to be embarrassed on your behalf. You obviously don't have the intelligence to be.

I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy


Visual_Paradox
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Your post is best described

Your post is best described as antagonistic nonsense, rather than casuistry or sophistry.


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Or in other words: you

Or in other words: you appear to have the world's sandiest vagina.


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 In the famous words of

 In the famous words of Monty Python, 

"An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition."

I find neither a connected series of statements, nor a proposition.  So, I would say this is rhetoric, plain and simple.

Rhetoric: the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion.

Of course, I'm speaking of the persuasion element of rhetoric, since persuasion is often unaccompanied by legitimate factual content.

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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I would choose

B) because you never presented really why it's ethically wrong to ask for money for a service provided, in this case the maintance of the server and this website/forum. But really you didn't make much of a point in your "arugment" because at no point did you provide an alternate means to bring in cash flow to maintain this website/forum. So I am going to have to say it was pretty pointless and stupid. Other than bitching about something and looking really stupid by trying to say asking for money is the same religions....well no it's not. You didn't even come close to connecting the two.


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I'm loving the responses,

I'm loving the responses, and happy to have increased your vocabulary and loyalty to the Borg. Keep 'em cummin'!


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So what is it that you're

So what is it that you're actually "revelaing"?...that you're a self-serving attention seeking, antogonistic jizzbucket who gets his jollies from posting sophmoric nonsense on internet messageboards and wasting poeple's time?

Thanks a diaper load for the revelation. Personally, I hope you walk in on the person you love sucking the dick of someone who owes you money. Die in a chemical fire...no one cares.


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I don't owe any money to

I don't owe any money to him, but I wouldn't turn down a blowjob Smiling


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Rich Woods wrote:So what is

Rich Woods wrote:

So what is it that you're actually "revelaing"?...that you're a self-serving attention seeking, antogonistic jizzbucket who gets his jollies from posting sophmoric nonsense on internet messageboards and wasting poeple's time?

Thanks a diaper load for the revelation. Personally, I hope you walk in on the person you love sucking the dick of someone who owes you money. Die in a chemical fire...no one cares.

 

Um, Rich, you did know that in a chemical fire, the worst is over in a few minutes, right?

 

I would prefer that he get radiation poisoning. With a good ingestible alpha emitter, his death could drag on for weeks.

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Never ever did I say enything about free, I said "free."

=


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 There was this dude who

 There was this dude who worked in a restaurant in my town who fell arm first into a deep fryer.  Fucking grease burns up the whole length of his arm almost to his shoulder.  What really sucked was that he dipped it in ice water.

Ice + Super-Heated Grease = Really Fucking Horrific Skin Melting Nastiness.

I'm not making this up.  They even did a show about it on Mythbusters.  Not the burning arm part, but the part about superheated grease and water.  The water vaporizes instantly, which turns the formerly liquid grease into tiny grease particles suspended in air.  The explosion is impressive to say the least.

Incidentally, that's how a lot of people burn their houses down every year... by trying to put out grease fires with water.  If you ever have a grease fire, don't put water on it.  The best thing to do is put a lid on it.  With no oxygen, it goes out almost immediately.  If you don't have a lid, baking soda will do the trick... but you need a lot... more than most people have in their cupboard.

There isn't a hell of a lot you can do for a grease burn if it's still burning.  Definitely don't put water on it.  Definitely don't put butter on it.  Honestly, if you have burning grease on you in any significant quantity, you're fucked.

But there's no denying the inherent deliciousness of deep fried... well... anything.  Safety first, to be sure, but if you can batter up some sliced green tomatoes and deep fry them for a few minutes... wow... heaven on a plate.  Even for an atheist.

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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Rich Woods wrote:So what is

Rich Woods wrote:

So what is it that you're actually "revelaing"?...that you're a self-serving attention seeking, antogonistic jizzbucket who gets his jollies from posting sophmoric nonsense on internet messageboards and wasting poeple's time?

You know... for a second... just a second... i thought you were talking about me

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treat2 wrote:  Hence, the

treat2 wrote:
  Hence, the TRUE REASON for the intent of this thread is about to be revealed!

yeah, cuz god knows everybody was hangin' on the edge of their fuckin' seats.

"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson


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Ok. Here's a

Ok. Here's a hint...

Casuistry: (n) Specious or excessively subtle reasoning intended to rationalize or mislead.

Sophistry: (n) A plausible but misleading or fallacious argument.
.....
More descriptive info:;
.....

Casuistry refers to case-based reasoning and is used to resolve moral problems by applying theoretical rules to specific situations.

Sophistry is the reasoning that might seem logical while being wrong, using difficult or complicated language to intimidate someone into agreeing. Or, it might appeal to someone's prejudices and emotions rather than logic.


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treat2 == Unreal Tournament 2004

 


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TomJ wrote: fantastic. 

TomJ wrote:

 

fantastic.  prepare for some kind of pseudo-cryptic bullshit remark about the borg.

"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson


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 I got into a pretty

 I got into a pretty serious argument about the Borg once.  The thing I don't understand is what part of the "collective philosophy" of the Borg allowed for the notion that kidnapping Captain Picard and turning him into some Bizarro Spokesman for the Borg was a good idea.  I mean, shit, they've assimilated peskier civilizations than humans before.  What would convince the Borg that by grabbing a relatively famous ship captain from the great big Federation fleet, they would somehow be able to um... do what... they don't bargain.  They don't compromise.  They just assimilate.  What did they think they were accomplishing?

Hi!  I'm Bizzarro Picard.  You will be assimilated.

What the fuck does that do?  Hey, look!  I got your captain!  You might as well give up your whole fucking race and be assimilated!

This is one of the big problems I have with Star Trek plots.  It goes back to the original series.  Why in the hell would the captain go on a landing party on an unknown planet?  At least Battlestar Galactica got that part right.  You never risk the captain or first officer, especially when you're going into unknown or risky territory.  Star Trek has always been about the characters more than the plot.  Why else would the Borg have a reason to capture Picard?  They didn't.  It was all so Picard could portray a different character and get his Shakespearean rocks off.

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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Hambydammit wrote:they don't

Hambydammit wrote:

they don't bargain.  They don't compromise.  They just assimilate.   

 Voyager kinda killed that, once and for all...

Hambydammit wrote:
  

Hi!  I'm Bizzarro Picard.  You will be assimilated.

What the fuck does that do?  Hey, look!  I got your captain!  You might as well give up your whole fucking race and be assimilated!

Well... Picard was probably the most famous/infamous federation capt. privy to all sorts of classified knowledge, which would in turn, benefit the borg. That, and the whole morale destroying factor of "Muahaha your federations mightiest leader is now one of us"

Both of which dont matter at all to an enemy like the borg in the first place... so... yeah...

Hambydammit wrote:
  

This is one of the big problems I have with Star Trek plots.  It goes back to the original series.  Why in the hell would the captain go on a landing party on an unknown planet?  At least Battlestar Galactica got that part right.  You never risk the captain or first officer, especially when you're going into unknown or risky territory.  Star Trek has always been about the characters more than the plot.  Why else would the Borg have a reason to capture Picard?  They didn't.  It was all so Picard could portray a different character and get his Shakespearean rocks off.

precisely...

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speaking of borg

speaking of borg stupidity...

 

for a... "collective" of sentient beings, hell bent on obtaining perfection...

Why are they still assimilating things?

 

I mean, surely, with all the acquired technology and knowledge, they should be the universes equivalent to Masters of Biotech engineering. Why not just create their own form of life? create the perfect fucking drone and then get a life, or something...

 

But no, instead they feel the need to ravage entire star systems adding new species to "their perfection" (is it even possible to ADD to perfection?)

I think ill stick with tyranids for my universal swarm of om nom noming, instead of an illogical computer program -_-

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Borg yummy!!!!

 

 

 

    I have this continuing dream about 7 of 9 throwing me on my back, jumping on me while proclaiming "resistence is futile". Then ravaging me for hours.   Oh hum................I have to go take a cold shower now.

"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."

VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"

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 Quote:or a... "collective"

 

Quote:
or a... "collective" of sentient beings, hell bent on obtaining perfection...

Why are they still assimilating things?

It's a good question.  I suppose it's relatively logical on one count.  If you've encountered enough beings to know that most civilizations will try to conquer you or destroy you, it makes sense to destroy them first.  Perhaps the assimilation is not so much a path to perfection as the removing of obstacles to the path of perfection.

I can buy that story, anyway.

Quote:
I mean, surely, with all the acquired technology and knowledge, they should be the universes equivalent to Masters of Biotech engineering. Why not just create their own form of life? create the perfect fucking drone and then get a life, or something...

It's an interesting question, scientifically.  I am informed by the well informed that it is unlikely that any other element besides carbon can get complex enough to form self-replicators.  If that's the case, then all life in the universe will be organic.  If that is the case, there is probably a relatively limited number of ways that life can evolve.  Sure, you'll get a lot of phylogenic differences based on different planet conditions, but all life will have something quite similar to RNA or DNA.  If it is not the same chemicals, it will work in approximately the same way as far as coding information for replication.

If that's the case, going to all the trouble of creating life wouldn't make much sense when all life is basically the same, and you can just hijack an existing strain of life.  You're skipping an awful lot of evolutionary steps.

Anyway, I never watched Voyager, so I don't really know how they humanized the Borg.  I know who 7 of 9 is, but I don't know the story.  There's an interesting question about the Borg, though.  If, as originially portrayed, the Borg really are completely relentless, completely unwilling (or incapable) of compromise, and ultimately compelled to continue their unyielding conquest of all life in the universe, can we really call them alive?  Or, are they just a computer program gone wild, augmented by the.. um... I guess replication of organic life?  Are they just machines that learned to utilize the useful parts of biological life?  Are their brains organic or mechanical?  If they are organic, how did they overcome natural selection?  Do they just kill any borg who, through natural selection, accidentally get a measure of self-awareness?

The whole premise doesn't make much sense.

 

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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Michio Kaku says that

Michio Kaku says that humanity is transitioning to a Kardashev type 1 civilization, and we'll all be integrated into a global hive mind via implantable brain-chip. I stopped liking Michio Kaku after I saw that. That's some fucked up shit right there.

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Hambydammit wrote:It's an

Hambydammit wrote:

It's an interesting question, scientifically.  I am informed by the well informed that it is unlikely that any other element besides carbon can get complex enough to form self-replicators.  If that's the case, then all life in the universe will be organic.  If that is the case, there is probably a relatively limited number of ways that life can evolve.  Sure, you'll get a lot of phylogenic differences based on different planet conditions, but all life will have something quite similar to RNA or DNA.  If it is not the same chemicals, it will work in approximately the same way as far as coding information for replication.

If that's the case, going to all the trouble of creating life wouldn't make much sense when all life is basically the same, and you can just hijack an existing strain of life.  You're skipping an awful lot of evolutionary steps.

If life is limited, then a super computer consciousness like the borg should theoretically be able to guesstimate the best/most universal/perfect form of life. Construct that, and... complete its ultimate goal? Time, resources, and all the little things that would hidden such human attempts are meaningless to borg, so wtf? lazy shits...

Hambydammit wrote:

Anyway, I never watched Voyager, so I don't really know how they humanized the Borg.  I know who 7 of 9 is, but I don't know the story.  There's an interesting question about the Borg, though.  If, as originially portrayed, the Borg really are completely relentless, completely unwilling (or incapable) of compromise, and ultimately compelled to continue their unyielding conquest of all life in the universe, can we really call them alive? awareness?

Voyager series portrays Borg as an ant colony, with the Queen having absolute control (totally defeats the premise of the Collective). Not only that, but the Queen has emotions, and can be bought, bartered with, allied with... not very borgy

Hambydammit wrote:

 If they are organic, how did they overcome natural selection?  Do they just kill any borg who, through natural selection, accidentally get a measure of self-awareness?

Voyager touched on this as well... First they attempt to re-assimilate them, if that doesnt work, they kill them. Very original thought process ^_^

 

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 Quote:Michio Kaku says

 

Quote:
Michio Kaku says that humanity is transitioning to a Kardashev type 1 civilization, and we'll all be integrated into a global hive mind via implantable brain-chip. I stopped liking Michio Kaku after I saw that. That's some fucked up shit right there.

I stopped taking him seriously after he went on Art Bell.  That's pretty much all it ever takes.

It is often said that the line between genius and insanity is blurry.  I'm pretty sure Michio has taken a belly flop off the cliff.  It's people like him, in my opinion, that drive the wheels of what I call the fallacy of future technology.  We get so damn excited about how awesome it's going to be when we harness the full energy of the sun that we forget that we've got to stop the sun from raising sea level ten feet in the next fifty years.

 

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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so this makes you what...? a

so this makes you what...? a "Future Conservative"? hehe


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 Quote:If life is limited,

 

Quote:
If life is limited, then a super computer consciousness like the borg should theoretically be able to guesstimate the best/most universal/perfect form of life. Construct that, and... complete its ultimate goal? Time, resources, and all the little things that would hidden such human attempts are meaningless to borg, so wtf? lazy shits...

It's kind of a wonky concept.  Reminds me a little of Aliens.  Those sons of bitches are damn near perfect in a lot of ways.  You don't want to poke them because you'll get acid all over you.  They can apparently hibernate in just about any atmosphere for many, many years.  They can apparently impregnate just about any organic critter with a mouth.  Presumably, the fact that their phenotype changes according to their host, they become better adapted to their current environment.  It's a damn fine system.

However, they're not smart enough to deal with marines and guns.  But... marines without their machine guns aren't very good at dealing with aliens.

The point is, no matter how "perfectly" you design an organic life form, you can find an environment in which it's far from perfect.  So.. the whole Borg concept seems... like I said... wonky.

Quote:
Voyager series portrays Borg as an ant colony, with the Queen having absolute control (totally defeats the premise of the Collective). Not only that, but the Queen has emotions, and can be bought, bartered with, allied with... not very borgy

Although it certainly cleans up some of the loose ends.  If the borg queen has emotions, she might have gotten a crush on Picard, or had some kind of irrational reason for wanting to abduct him.  Now that you mention that, I remember the borg queen.  Was that from a movie or the STnG series?  I can't recall.

It also clears up the question of why they're so damn imperialist.  Maybe she's got an overinflated sense of narcissism and gets off on having her own personal army of drones.  Granted, it's not a collective in the strictest sense, but it's certainly a "directed collective."  So.... maybe she sets the parameters by which the collective functions, and can alter the thing as a whole, or as individuals.  If so, then it's not really so much a collective... it's more that she is some sort of multi-organism.  Rather than a single biological unit, she's a collection of brains.  I suppose if neurons can be a brain, brains can be a superbrain, at least in Sci-Fi.

But I've got to tell you, I lost absolutely all respect for Picard when he sent Hugh back to the collective with his own knowledge of individuality instead of a virus.  He should have been brought up on charges of treason against the whole fucking human race.  Kirk would have just recruited Chuck Norris to beam over and kick every borg ass on the cube, and then side kick the queen out of existence.

 

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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Hambydammit wrote: It's

Hambydammit wrote:

 It's kind of a wonky concept.  Reminds me a little of Aliens.  Those sons of bitches are damn near perfect in a lot of ways.  You don't want to poke them because you'll get acid all over you.  They can apparently hibernate in just about any atmosphere for many, many years.  They can apparently impregnate just about any organic critter with a mouth.  Presumably, the fact that their phenotype changes according to their host, they become better adapted to their current environment.  It's a damn fine system.

However, they're not smart enough to deal with marines and guns.  But... marines without their machine guns aren't very good at dealing with aliens.

The point is, no matter how "perfectly" you design an organic life form, you can find an environment in which it's far from perfect.  So.. the whole Borg concept seems... like I said... wonky.

I dunno, they seem to deal with marines and guns very effectively... all considering...

I mean, you have a creature, who has a very limited and primal thought pattern, yet can overcome almost any obstacle through sheer biology o_O

Tasty snacks locked in a metal room? Aliens not smart enough to hack the keycode, but its smart enough to 1. Find another way inside, other than the door 2. Take its claws and rend the door to shreds.

Tasty snacks fighting back? approach from a different angle, different direction

I seem to recall that every instance where Aliens vs Marines, Aliens won... in fact, the only time Aliens ever lose, is when they're pitted against a scantily clad butch human female! Lets face it, the only way to take out a scantily clad butch human female... is with ANOTHER scantily clad butch human female

 

Hambydammit wrote:
Although it certainly cleans up some of the loose ends.  If the borg queen has emotions, she might have gotten a crush on Picard, or had some kind of irrational reason for wanting to abduct him.  Now that you mention that, I remember the borg queen.  Was that from a movie or the STnG series?  I can't recall.
 While the Queen was primarily a Voyager thing, that really does sound like a STnG movie for some reason...

Hambydammit wrote:

It also clears up the question of why they're so damn imperialist.  Maybe she's got an overinflated sense of narcissism and gets off on having her own personal army of drones.  Granted, it's not a collective in the strictest sense, but it's certainly a "directed collective."  So.... maybe she sets the parameters by which the collective functions, and can alter the thing as a whole, or as individuals.  If so, then it's not really so much a collective... it's more that she is some sort of multi-organism.  Rather than a single biological unit, she's a collection of brains.  I suppose if neurons can be a brain, brains can be a superbrain, at least in Sci-Fi.

  For some one whos never watched it, you keep hitting the nail on the fuckin head o_O

Hambydammit wrote:

But I've got to tell you, I lost absolutely all respect for Picard when he sent Hugh back to the collective with his own knowledge of individuality instead of a virus.  He should have been brought up on charges of treason against the whole fucking human race.  Kirk would have just recruited Chuck Norris to beam over and kick every borg ass on the cube, and then side kick the queen out of existence.

Pretty sure "Hugh" caused the hole "Borg individuals" leaving the collective in Voyager (im getting sick of that word)

... and thank you for putting images of Chuck Borgis in my head... asshole -_-

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I lost it for Kaku when

I lost it for Kaku when he decided to inject himself into politics. Specifically surrounding a project to study the feasibility of launching nuclear waste into space. I am probably forgetting some details but he was concerned about potential environmental damage should a rocket be destroyed on the launch pad or in the first few minutes of flight. Mind you, he did not tender that opinion until after the system had already been destruction tested with a sample payload of some short lived isotopes.

 

As far as the Borg go, they are not “adding to their perfection”, they are “adding to their distinctiveness in pursuit of perfection”. Knowing that difference is crucial to any understanding of them.

 

Mind you, the producers are not big on constructing a consistent cannon, so the Borg have changed in some critical ways over the years. In some episodes they have been assimilating for “thousands of centuries”, in other episodes, it has been stated that they were a relatively minor annoyance in the delta quadrant a mere 900 years ago (actually 600 years in our time).

 

Another interesting thing is that they got the assimilation technology from Species 149, thus indicating that they probably were more of a military threat prior to that time. Also, outside of filmed episodes, it has been stated that they developed from the race known as the “Preservers”, who are noted for having kidnapped humans several tens of centuries ago and transplanted them on dozens of planets, thus explaining why the enterprise was so good at finding them nearly everywhere that they went.

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Answers in Gene Simmons

Answers in Gene Simmons wrote:

As far as the Borg go, they are not “adding to their perfection”, they are “adding to their distinctiveness in pursuit of perfection”. Knowing that difference is crucial to any understanding of them.

 

 

I am not nearly a big enough Startrek nerd to actually find evidence of "adding to our perfection" , you'll just have to take it on faith! >.<

 

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 Quote:I dunno, they seem

 

Quote:
I dunno, they seem to deal with marines and guns very effectively... all considering...

My father was Force Recon.  Those bastards on Aliens were not marines.  They were shit.

Quote:
I mean, you have a creature, who has a very limited and primal thought pattern, yet can overcome almost any obstacle through sheer biology o_O

Presumably, aliens would always lose to people on the moon.  People = wear spacesuit.  Alien = boil blood, explode.  We know they do that because it happened on that one movie.

Quote:
I seem to recall that every instance where Aliens vs Marines, Aliens won... in fact, the only time Aliens ever lose, is when they're pitted against a scantily clad butch human female! Lets face it, the only way to take out a scantily clad butch human female... is with ANOTHER scantily clad butch human female 

Proving once again my maxim that a movie without boobs (or ass crack, in Sigourney Weaver's case) cannot be considered a good horror/action movie.

Quote:
For some one whos never watched it, you keep hitting the nail on the fuckin head o_O

I watched all of STnG.  I never watched voyager or the other spin-offs.  I think I've seen all the movies, but I can't swear to it.  (Well, I haven't seen the newest movie.)

Quote:
Pretty sure "Hugh" caused the hole "Borg individuals" leaving the collective in Voyager (im getting sick of that word)

... and thank you for putting images of Chuck Borgis in my head... asshole -_-

You know what Chuck Norris keeps in his beard?

ANOTHER FIST!@

 

 

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 AIGS wrote: Lots of stuff

 

AIGS wrote:
Lots of stuff that's way over my ST head...

Wow.  I don't know anything about Preservers, or species149, and I'm not sure if I'm impressed or appalled that you know the conversion rate for delta quadrant years to whatever quadrant earth is in.

 

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Gauche, what's playing in

Gauche, what's playing in your avatar?

Looks like Shatner pre-Startrek. Possibly a Twilight Zone episode.


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Hambydammit wrote: Quote:I

Hambydammit wrote:

 

Quote:
I dunno, they seem to deal with marines and guns very effectively... all considering...

My father was Force Recon.  Those bastards on Aliens were not marines.  They were shit.

 

Your daddy...

(We fight and kill anything that moves, fur Amurica!)

 

Colonial Marines

(... we follow orders, enough to NOT bring ammunition... yet still think nuking the installation is ok)

 

Space Marine

(Im so bad ass, i can kill things AND make cool poses at the same time! )

(While apperantly ignoring the fact that i just impaled a wounded comrad through the heart with my flag)

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treat2 wrote:Gauche, what's

treat2 wrote:
Gauche, what's playing in your avatar? Looks like Shatner pre-Startrek. Possibly a Twilight Zone episode.

It's from an episode of the original twilight zone series called "nick of time" starring William Shatner and Patricia Breslin. In the episode Shatner plays a superstitious man who becomes obsessed with a fortune telling machine in a diner.

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 Doomed, you're exactly

 Doomed, you're exactly right on all counts.

My  dad was Air Force in Vietnam.  He thought the AF boys were pussies, so when he got discharged, he signed up for Force Recon.  The crazy thing, though, he wasn't your typical jarhead.  This guy would work the NYT Sunday in about two hours, and was a crazy good chess player.  All this, and he could shoot the wing off a fly at twenty paces.

On the up side, I never once considered joining the military.  Not once.

 

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Hambydammit wrote:On the up

Hambydammit wrote:

On the up side, I never once considered joining the military.  Not once.

First he gone an decided ta make sumfin of himsulf, an not sign his life away wit dem young nobal patriots *tear*

Den he go an got himsulf casterated...

Dat boy just ain't right...

Mmhmm

 

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Hambydammit wrote:Although

Hambydammit wrote:

Although it certainly cleans up some of the loose ends.  If the borg queen has emotions, she might have gotten a crush on Picard, or had some kind of irrational reason for wanting to abduct him.  Now that you mention that, I remember the borg queen.  Was that from a movie or the STnG series?  I can't recall.

That's First Contact, which is the movie where the Borg Queen was originally introduced, and you're remembering correctly Hamby, she does allude to having personal, irrational affection for Picard, (and Data incidentally), evidently she had planned to make a 'counterpart' for herself out of Locutis. Overall she brings a turn from the previous story arc of the Borg as a unity, toward the Borg as some kind of meta-heirarchy with her personal brand of megalomania at the wheel.

The Voyager series carried that part over but it wasn't the reason that Janeway was able to ally with the Borg, the reason for that was species 8472 (OMFU it's so nerdy that i know the name), 8472 is a species from a subspace universe reminiscent of an ocean extending through a dimensional rift in the delta quadrant.  They are crazy scary at first, invisible, omnipresent and basally violent. As a threat to both species Voyager strikes an alliance with the Borg, which the Borg ultimately don't honour because they really want to assimilate 8472.  Etc etc...

So in summary, yeah the Borg Queen does have an emotional side which fills in some of the holes in the previous story arc, but that doesn't explain away all the twists on the Borg character that sprung up in Voyager.

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Eloise wrote:The Voyager

Eloise wrote:

The Voyager series carried that part over but it wasn't the reason that Janeway was able to ally with the Borg, the reason for that was species 8472 (OMFU it's so nerdy that i know the name),

Not as nerdy as...

Eloise wrote:

8472 is a species from a subspace universe reminiscent of an ocean extending through a dimensional rift in the delta quadrant.  They are crazy scary at first, invisible, omnipresent and basally violent 

Knowing THAT O_O

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Gauche wrote:treat2

Gauche wrote:

treat2 wrote:
Gauche, what's playing in your avatar? Looks like Shatner pre-Startrek. Possibly a Twilight Zone episode.

It's from an episode of the original twilight zone series called "nick of time" starring William Shatner and Patricia Breslin. In the episode Shatner plays a superstitious man who becomes obsessed with a fortune telling machine in a diner.

I have a only vague recollection of that episode.
He was in several Twilight Zone episodes. Another he was in was as an airline passenger that sees a monster on the wing of an airplane. That episode was re-made more than 10 years ago in a Twilight Zone movie with John Lithgow


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Nordmann wrote:Not a bad

Nordmann wrote:

Not a bad boy, just a stupid one.

 

Here is what you call your "argument":

 

Quote:

EVERY goddamn religion in
the world constantly asks for money. In fact, if there is anything more distasteful than that, whilst visiting a church or synagogue, I've yet to experience it.

What I never would have expected is the nauseating feeling of seeing Atheists doing the same thing, such as the
"RRS Clothing Store."

Geez! If you're committed to Atheism, then for christ sake, acting like a mega-church isn't very convincing.

Do it at your own expense, because you believe in it, instead of commercializing Atheism like a religion.

 

Leaving aside that this is a rant which could possibly indicate an underlying argument but is not an argument in itself, your subsequent attempt to invite others to regard it as either casuistry or sophistry indicates only your own confusion. If you claim you are not confused then it indicates how woefully you have overestimated your own intelligence. If you claim you are intelligent then it indicates your dishonesty, even with yourself.

 

All rather pathetic stuff, really. And the fact that you think it makes you "bad" simply renders it even more pathetic still. Allow me to be embarrassed on your behalf. You obviously don't have the intelligence to be.

Nordman, as you're still attending classes for the scatologically challenged
allow me to congratulate you for still having maintained shit for brains.


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Visual_Paradox wrote:Your

Visual_Paradox wrote:

Your post is best described as antagonistic nonsense, rather than casuistry or sophistry.

Your post is at best, ignorant spam. I loved it!


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KSMB wrote:Or in other

KSMB wrote:

Or in other words: you appear to have the world's sandiest vagina.

Interesting. You're into fucking crabs with your tiny penile bone, eh?


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Hambydammit wrote: In the

Hambydammit wrote:

 In the famous words of Monty Python, 

"An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition."

I find neither a connected series of statements, nor a proposition.  So, I would say this is rhetoric, plain and simple.

Rhetoric: the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion.

Of course, I'm speaking of the persuasion element of rhetoric, since persuasion is often unaccompanied by legitimate factual content.

 

Reading is tough at first, but it will get easier.

But seriously, you wouldn't know an argument if you fell on one.


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latincanuck wrote:B) because

latincanuck wrote:

B) because you never presented really why it's ethically wrong to ask for money for a service provided, in this case the maintance of the server and this website/forum. But really you didn't make much of a point in your "arugment" because at no point did you provide an alternate means to bring in cash flow to maintain this website/forum. So I am going to have to say it was pretty pointless and stupid. Other than bitching about something and looking really stupid by trying to say asking for money is the same religions....well no it's not. You didn't even come close to connecting the two.

Independent thought is what you despise. No wonder you believe your infantile loyalty to ignorant masses is defensible.


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Rich Woods wrote:So what is

Rich Woods wrote:

So what is it that you're actually "revelaing"?...that you're a self-serving attention seeking, antogonistic jizzbucket who gets his jollies from posting sophmoric nonsense on internet messageboards and wasting poeple's time?

Thanks a diaper load for the revelation. Personally, I hope you walk in on the person you love sucking the dick of someone who owes you money. Die in a chemical fire...no one cares.

What I revealed is your infantile mentality.


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Visual_Paradox wrote:I don't

Visual_Paradox wrote:

I don't owe any money to him, but I wouldn't turn down a blowjob Smiling

Go back to using your vacuum cleaner, ya dick head.


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Answers in Gene Simmons

Answers in Gene Simmons wrote:
I would prefer that he get radiation poisoning. With a good ingestible alpha emitter, his death could drag on for weeks.

That was about as creative as
your other habits, like eating shit.


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iwbiek wrote:yeah, cuz god

iwbiek wrote:
yeah, cuz god knows everybody was hangin' on the edge of their fuckin' seats.

Talking about your own posts, eh. ZZZZzzzz.......


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iwbiek wrote:prepare for

iwbiek wrote:
prepare for some kind of pseudo-cryptic bullshit remark about the borg.

Sopeken like a true narcissist.


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 I wonder if anybody will

 I wonder if anybody will ever concoct a super-villain worth a damn.  Battlestar Gallactica had something pretty decent going with the toasters, but as a fan of evolutionary biology, I had a really huge problem with the premise.  If Cylons are different from humans, their DNA is different.  Maybe they still use DNA, but it would have to be different.  You don't just include cyborg machinery in a living being without rejection unless you have altered the DNA significantly.

If you're telling me that they have thousands of years of DNA technology, and they can't grab a dead Cylon, sequence the DNA and locate clear as day genetic markers not shared by humans... well... I'm not buying it.

The Borg were pretty good at first because they were just so... unyielding and powerful.  The problem is, that kind of one-dimensional character doesn't work for repeat performances.  After the third or fourth appearance, it's boring.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  It's the Borg.  Bang bang!  Look, they've adapted to our adaptation to their modulating shields!  DATA!!!!  Make some science magic!  Ok, Captain, here's a SUBSPACE modulating X-9 Space modulator!  Bang, bang... we've barely defeated the Borg... again.... 

but they'll be back...

Then there were the Reavers.  The reavers were pretty badass.  They're absolutely insane, but still sane enough to maintain and pilot spaceships, and all they really want to do is rape people in unthinkable ways before skinning them alive, eating them, and grafting parts of their bodies onto their ships and suits of armor.  

Really scary.

Only... again, it loses its punch.  Once we know what the reavers are like, we aren't scared by them any more.  Hell, I was much more scared of Nitchka (however you spell it) than the reavers.  He was sane.  Sane evil men are much scarier than monsters.  In any case, Whedon did the right thing by putting a twist on the reavers and making them victims.  They had run their course as a scary enemy.  Plus, the evil empire -- whatever it happens to be called -- is always better than a single monster.  If the "two-by-two, hands-of-blue" gets old, you send an assassin.  If that gets old, you send undercover operatives.  If that gets old, you send a squadron of elite troops.

This is one of the ways the original Star Trek (and to some degree STnG) failed.  They invented some great enemies, but they left them one-dimensional, and never bothered to develop them much beyond a few cameos.  The Romulans... gee, they look pretty much just like Vulcans.  There's all sorts of plot fodder there, but it was hardly ever developed.  The Klingons.  Pretty damn nasty, but clearly, they have a society that works.  They're quite authoritarian and lawful, when it comes down to it.  Tradition, loyalty, honor.  Lots of material there.

Now that I think about it, ST was following an older plot style, where our hero encounters a new danger each week.  Once writers discovered the soap opera, this style just doesn't seem to hold water.  That, if you ask me, is why BSG is stronger than Buck Rogers, and why Star Wars is stronger than Star Trek... at least from the perspective of compelling writing.

 

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