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Lets Violate Causality!
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PB PM
Sneaky Punk
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
Send a message via Skype™ to PB PM 
2009-11-16, 02:32

Quote:
Originally Posted by billybobsky View Post
Perhaps it is my cultural background, age 13 is pretty much when you decide you aren't going to continue with the nonsense.
Looks like our early lives were very different. I was already an atheist when I was 13, having been raised by agnostic parents, the idea of going to a religious event was not high on my list of things to do, to say the least.
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Kickaha
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-11-16, 07:51

Quote:
Originally Posted by 709 View Post
PS: In 2010 we have flying cars, unlimited android pussy and everyone has finally figured out that religion is a scam. It's pretty awesome. If you don't fuck up the timeline somehow you're going to be super happy.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I should have thought of that.
  quote
joveblue
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Melbourne
 
2009-11-16, 09:00

Quote:
Originally Posted by CoachKrzyzewski View Post
Age 19: Business school is for suckers, don't waste your time - study computer science instead.

would save me 2 years of mostly wasted classes...
Same here, but replace 2 years with 4 years and computer science with probably architecture.

Oh, and "suck it up and get a Mac"
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billybobsky
BANNED
I am worthless beyond hope.
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Inner Swabia. If you have to ask twice, don't.
 
2009-11-16, 09:36

Quote:
Originally Posted by PB PM View Post
Looks like our early lives were very different. I was already an atheist when I was 13, having been raised by agnostic parents, the idea of going to a religious event was not high on my list of things to do, to say the least.
don't get me wrong, so was I. but i went through the formal religious education of my sort-of-atheist parents (they know their isn't a deity, but cannot shake the usefulness of having one at hand)...
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Swox
OK Mr. Sunshine!
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Toronto
 
2009-11-16, 14:16

I discovered religion when I was 17 or so. One of the best things that's ever happened to me.

I wasn't going to say anything, but I've decided I'm going to:

I think that dismissing religion as nonsense is nonsense. Lacking interest in it for oneself is one thing, but dismissing everyone's experience/beliefs/etc. as nonsense, if that was indeed what you were implying, is incredibly arrogant. If it wasn't, then I apologize.

Is it really necessary for the atheists/non-religious members to bash religion every time someone mentions their beliefs, even in passing?

Do not be oppressed by the forces of ignorance and delusion! But rise up now with resolve and courage! Entranced by ignorance, from beginningless time until now, You have had more than enough time to sleep. So do not slumber any longer, but strive after virtue with body, speech, and mind!
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PB PM
Sneaky Punk
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
Send a message via Skype™ to PB PM 
2009-11-16, 14:19

Quote:
Originally Posted by billybobsky View Post
don't get me wrong, so was I. but i went through the formal religious education of my sort-of-atheist parents (they know their isn't a deity, but cannot shake the usefulness of having one at hand)...
My point was, a different cultural background. Like Swox, I came to understand that there may be some value in "religious" systems later in life, not that it was something forced on me as a child.
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Moogs
Hates the Infotainment
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: NSA Archives
 
2009-11-16, 17:38

Kid Advice
Age 9: thank your parents for the nice thought but do not ever pick up those golf clubs again. Let them collect dust! Go practice your basketball and baseball, and ask your brothers to teach you how to skate and play hockey. Tell them you'll give them your allowance if they sell your golf clubs at the local sports shop (since you can't bike there), and use the money to buy you a pair of skates and a hockey stick. Tell them only a douchebag would deny his little brother to opportunity to learn the world's greatest sport, so that he doesn't have to teach himself when he's 28!

Age 11: stop worrying about the chics... in a few years you'll have all those problems solved, but you won't have some of the academic challenges solved. By doing your math homework every night right now, it will make math (and science) much easier later on, and open all kinds of doors to do cool stuff (stuff that will bring even more chics!). And don't go by the math book first; find someone who is good at explaining math in real terms... it will be much easier to understand the books afterward if you do that first.

Age 13: Stopping eating all the junk food and start working out more, so you can be cut like a rock in 3 or 4 years. The older you get, the harder you have to work out to be cut like a rock. Also the earlier you start the more the results will stick with you over time, vs. starting after high school.


Man Advice
Age 21: Tell your brother to see a different doctor (the one he has now is not on the right track) and to keep taking the prescription until the new doctor gives him a treatment that works better, or something awful will happen in the not too distant future.

Age 26: Tell your best friend not to marry that woman, and that you can't in good conscience stand up at their wedding knowing the bad vibe she's giving everyone; nightmare on marriage street imminent!

Age 27: (Re: different woman) Yah she's hot, and flirty and good in the sack. DO NOT get involved. She's a waste of time. Trust me. You won't even learn anything about relationships from it; just a total waste.

Age 28: Take all that money you are thinking about putting into those other three stocks and BUY APPLE. If you don't do this, in about 10 years you're going to want to kick yourself in the nuts.

...into the light of a dark black night.

Last edited by Moogs : 2009-11-16 at 17:57.
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Luca
ಠ_ರೃ
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
 
2009-11-16, 17:39

Age 18: Quit wasting your money on Macs and just build a PC. You'll thank me later. Oh, and please keep your telescope.
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alcimedes
I shot the sherrif.
 
Join Date: May 2004
Send a message via ICQ to alcimedes  
2009-11-16, 18:06

Age 24: Don't get that home equity loan. You'll waste the money on shit you don't have to have under the guise of 'home improvement'. Home improvements should be paid up front.

Google is your frenemy.
Caveat Emptor - Latin for tough titty
I tend to interpret things in the way that's most hilarious to me
  quote
billybobsky
BANNED
I am worthless beyond hope.
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Inner Swabia. If you have to ask twice, don't.
 
2009-11-16, 20:16

Quote:
Originally Posted by Swox View Post

I think that dismissing religion as nonsense is nonsense. Lacking interest in it for oneself is one thing, but dismissing everyone's experience/beliefs/etc. as nonsense, if that was indeed what you were implying, is incredibly arrogant. If it wasn't, then I apologize.
Well.... no need to apologize. dismissal of all things religious is part of my belief system so you've just tied yourself into a gordian knot. call me arrogant if you want. i don't deny it, what i will deny is that you are in any position to take the higher ground here.

Quote:
Is it really necessary for the atheists/non-religious members to bash religion every time someone mentions their beliefs, even in passing?
Actually, yes. You don't see the atheist/non-religious members of the forums mentioning their lack of belief in passing, ever. Now granted, some of us like playing with meme's associated with agnosticism or atheism, but we never will say, for instance: "Age 15: There is no god, nor a santa claus. Sorry." It just doesn't happen. People don't talk about an absence of a belief.

Of course, you could simply be of the mind that mocking religious artifacts, like I just did with the giant ten commandments is a suggestion of atheism, but is it really? Most of my jewish peers with low-brow humor (is there any other type) would mock it the same.

As for religion being mentioned in passing... I don't believe religion is mentioned in passing ever. It is mentioned to proselytize, scare up other religious folk, etc etc. It is never ever mentioned as an interesting aside to a conversation -- because if it is relevant, it is relevant, if it isn't it is always mentioned for purposes of the above.

How can I ever let an opening like that pass me by? Religion is stuffed down my throat 24/7 and I work in a secular lab in a secular field in which almost all members are non-believers... and yet... and yet my atheist boss talks about painting the other side of the last supper sedar table, my egyptian-american and jewish-american colleagues joke about their mortal hatred of each other, i cannot be near anyone with head buds plugged into their tiny craniums without hearing snippets of christmas music. Is it too much to ask, that I be allowed to mock this -- all of THIS?
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Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2009-11-16, 20:23

Alright, kids. Break it up. Break it up.

Take it to PMs if you want to have a back-and-forth about religion/nonreligion/etc. This thread isn't the place for that.

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
  quote
Xaqtly
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-11-19, 16:49

I'd take a practical approach to emailing my younger self.

- Stop eating all the sugar now so you don't get diabetes later.
- Invest in Google when it comes out. And Microsoft if it's still early enough.
- Don't get married.

And that might actually be it. I'm really not unhappy with my life as is now.
  quote
Hassan i Sabbah
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: london and københavn
 
2009-11-25, 09:28

Dear 16-year-old-me.

Yes, your hair is falling out. But you will get lots of girls.
  quote
Banana
is the next Chiquita
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2009-11-25, 09:41

Off-topic (click to toggle):
A problem:

If we could email to ourselves in past with information, wouldn't that then alter the past present, which would then change the outcome, and thus change our email's content, collapsing into an infinite loop?
  quote
Kraetos
Lovable Bastard
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Boston-ish
 
2009-11-25, 16:33

Quote:
Originally Posted by Banana View Post
Off-topic (click to toggle):
A problem:

If we could email to ourselves in past with information, wouldn't that then alter the past present, which would then change the outcome, and thus change our email's content, collapsing into an infinite loop?
You're gonna love this story when it's done
  quote
Partial
Stallion
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Milwaukee
 
2009-12-02, 01:05

14: Do your homework
15: Do your homework
... (same email)

18: Work your ass off, it's worth it. Go to UW, don't stop exercising
19: Work your ass off, it's worth it. Transfer to UW, start exercising again
... (same email until 24)

...and calling/e-mailing/texting ex-girlfriends on the off-chance they'll invite you over for some "old time's sake" no-strings couch gymnastics...
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Gargoyle
http://ga.rgoyle.com
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: In your dock hiding behind your finder icon!
 
2009-12-07, 11:35

I don't normally pimp out sites, but a friend has just launched a site he has been working on for quite some time and it fits in with this thread nicely!

http://www.infinitylounge.com/

OK, I have given up keeping this sig up to date. Lets just say I'm the guy that installs every latest version as soon as its available!
  quote
Kraetos
Lovable Bastard
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Boston-ish
 
2009-12-09, 16:13

Story is done, but I still have a week to edit it. I'd like your feedback!

Sorry about the PDF, but it clocks in at 2,500 words (12 pages double spaced), which is a bit long for a post.

Causality

First and foremost, can you make sense of the ending? There's supposed to be a sizable degree of ambiguity, but I need to be sure that ambiguity is accessible.

What do you think happened?

Here is an optional epilogue. I highly suggest you think about the story for a moment before you read this, as it clarifies several questions that might be fun to ponder on your own. It won't be part of the final story. Think of it as a deleted scene.

Epilogue

[EDIT] Uploaded a revision at 12:40 EST. Sorry if anyone's already read it.

Logic, logic, logic. Logic is the beginning of wisdom, Valeris, not the end.

Last edited by Kraetos : 2009-12-10 at 00:42.
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