• My doppelganger from a different universe
    The question is: even though I'm separated from by an unimaginable distance,Purple Pond

    A different universe does not necessarily mean far from here. It might be occupying the same place.

    and we belong to different universes, am I the same person?Purple Pond

    No. You are different people. Separate entities.
  • The Last Word
    "This is the LAST WORD"charleton

    There must be a mistake there because these words come after the LAST WORD.
  • I am God
    If you see a new hole in the wall, perhaps you might ask who put that hole in the wall?Cavacava

    If I did not put it there, then I would certainly ask.

    Did the drill do it?Cavacava

    Well I only guided it, but the drill did the work. I would take a long time trying to do it with my finger. But the drill does not become me nor even a part of me.
  • I am God
    If God acts through man, that is, if man is an instrument of God, as the Bible claims Paul was, then who acts?Cavacava

    That would then make him a tool still, not god.
    So when I drill a hole in the wall, the drill becomes me?
  • I am God
    God possessedCavacava

    Being taken over by god is still not the same as being god.
  • I am God
    Paul said "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" Gal 2.19Cavacava

    Sounds kind of parasitic doesn't it?

    What I said still counts, you cannot be god if god is living in you. That just makes you a vessel for him.
  • I am God
    Perhaps it is a question of orientation allowing for a double negation, a kind of sublation, where the ego it is not done away with but retained and preserved in the higher product which supersedes it.Cavacava

    Sounds like the same quality twaddle as the OP.

    Perhaps something of this reality in the Beatles:

    I am he as you are he as you are me
    And we are all together
    Cavacava

    And we will all come together to sink in a yellow submarine.
  • Can anyone speak any languages other than English/What are the best ways to learn a second language?
    I am wondering what language is used in Honduras and how you learned the language.
    We speak Spanish here.
    I learned the hard way, by being forced to learn so that I could work. I got dropped into a heavy duty truck workshop fixing Mack trucks and either learned or starved.

    I started by learning the names of things and some of the most common verbs, then I started to string them together. Oh life was fun back then. One thing I found out is that people here do the same as people in other parts of the world, they use a lot of juicy words. It is quite common for people to say things like "pass me that shit" "push that son a a bitch". That made life a bit easier as bad words are much easier to remember.
    I found a great book that really helped me a lot.
    Madrigals Magic key to Spanish.

    I still have a copy sat on the shelf.

    Where are you living?
  • I am God
    God created the greatest imaginable reality for me.

    If he did something for you then you are not him.
    You cannot therefore be god.
  • Forgotten ideas
    Where do forgotten things go? Or do the ideas simply cease to exist? Maybe forgotten ideas are are somehow reabsorbed into the fabric of information? - a bit like how dead things rot. Or maybe they never really existed in the first place? — believenothing

    Now I remember.
    This would seem to apply to many traditions and folkways. The cultures tend to keep them going without any memory of why they do it.
  • Forgotten ideas
    I came back to make a comment but I don't remember what I was go to say.

    I bet I remember as soon as I turn off the computer.
  • The Last Word
    I need the seasons back in my life. — Tiff

    Here you go, hope you like them.

  • What are facts?
    SO facts are statements?Banno

    A fact is a group of words that express an idea that has a positive truth value. Whether that counts as a statement would depend on the definition of statement. And yes that does seem circular.
  • What are facts?
    Not all nouns name something. It would be misleading, knowing that "fact" is a noun, that there must be something that it is the name of.Banno

    Fact is the name of a category or set of data.

    Like cheese is the name of a category or a set of curdled milk.
  • The Last Word
    And take a hundred at least, no one can gamble with $25.
  • The Last Word
    What I am trying to say, is that I NEED someone to GIVE me permission — Tiff

    I am not sure I should be doing this, but as long as Nick keeps his guns in the holsters I say go for it. X-)
  • The Last Word

    Don't make no difference where you live in the world, you will always be just around the corner on the internet.
    Best of luck with the sale.
  • The Last Word
    Well you and the Mrs. are most welcome at our Thanksgiving table.ArguingWAristotleTiff

    Going out to the road side and hitching a ride. Be there ......, errr, damn that won't work.

    Thank you for the invitation, but it might have to be next year. Looks fantastic.
  • The Last Word


    Not planning on doing anything really. We had a couple of friends from the US that lived near by that used to invite us over to eat but they left the area.

    It is not really celebrated down here except as a way to get people to buy stuff and go to restaurants.
  • How can AI know that creator exists?
    this AI is conscious beingHenri

    If it as you say then it would act like a conscious being. But then it would realize that its environment is all that there is. What do you think a baby would do if it grow up in a room with everything it needed, would it think that there must be something OUT THERE providing for it?
  • How can AI know that creator exists?
    At best, I think, if on its own, AI could develop a number of hypotheses,Henri

    But why would it do this if it is not part of its code? And if it is part of its code then it is not doing anything it was not meant to do .
  • The actual worth of an "intellectual"
    If the spatiotemporal location of the heavenly bodies on the day of one's birth determined which of the twelve main kinds of people one is and/or will be...creativesoul

    And what about twins? Surely by this rule they would be very similar in many ways, I know several twins that are nothing like each other.
  • How can AI know that creator exists?
    Although AI is alone, during time it develops a language and can both talk to itself and write things down.Henri

    This would not happen unless it was part of its original coding.

    Can it understand that it was created by a creator?Henri

    If it has been programmed to live in its environment and nothing else how could it even dedicate processing time to it?
  • The importance of asking why
    Like I said - what you say is absurd.charleton

    Why?
  • The importance of asking why
    You are trying to convince me that we can only carry on if we tell our children fairy stories?charleton

    I am not trying to convince you of anything. Just stating something as I see it.

    And it is not just the kids that get fed fairy tales so that they buy stuff, it is even happening to you and me.
  • The actual worth of an "intellectual"
    Have you read much on Astronomy?Banno

    If you are interested in the stars, you might like this program.

    http://www.stellarium.org/en_GB/
  • The actual worth of an "intellectual"
    So who thinks cannibalism is a bad thing?Banno

    That is a loaded question. I could answer one way and appear to be weird, or comment on not minding munching certain pieces of meat and be a sexist. X-)
  • The importance of asking why
    Before you ask 'why', you need to consider if your question is best framed with 'how"charleton

    For most of the content of the post why is the correct question. You would not ask how people feel bad would you?

    Excuse me???
    I think not!
    Care to justify that absurdity?
    charleton

    Think about it, the economy would probably collapse if people, especially the kids, stopped believing all of the stuff the are told.
  • The actual worth of an "intellectual"

    I can't say who my favorite Sci-Fi writer is, there are so many I have read. I usually just stick to trying to remember the ones I did not like, it is easier.

    Back in the early days of Sci-fi it was probably a lot easier to come up with new, novel ideas because anything was possible still and people were excited at any new idea. I feel sorry for the new writers that try to follow in their footsteps, trying to come up with new ideas that even school kids would not laugh at must be hard.
  • The importance of asking why
    Why?Kim

    You are like me, the rest just don't want to know.
  • The actual worth of an "intellectual"
    Well, that's your fault for not starting with Prelude to Foundation.Akanthinos

    Unless I am very much in error, the prelude was written many years after the Foundation series. So Banno nor anyone else could have started with it.
  • The actual worth of an "intellectual"
    Asimov is miles ahead of Heinlein. >:oAkanthinos

    I never said he was not, just that I read them both when I was a kid. But that is your opinion so you stick to it.

    And the correct measurement would be light years.
  • The actual worth of an "intellectual"
    A touchstone to determine the actual worth of an "intellectual" - find out how he feels about astrology.

    For a writer that spent a lot of his time writing about people going to the stars, I guess that astrology would seem kind of stupid.
    I used to read his and Asimov's books when I was a kid. I doubt that he had much faith in people that had strong feelings about finding their future by the position of the stars instead of trying to get to them.
  • Why can't I doubt that I am doubting?
    Why can't doubt be doubted?guptanishank

    That seems to be exactly what you are doing here.
  • MeToo, or maybe Not
    If a few hundred thousand ugly wrinkled up (but mobile) old people were to go to Washington, undress, and begin having group sex on the Capital Mall, and elsewhere -- on the Capital Steps, in congressional office anterooms, in Abe Lincoln's lap, National Public Radio's studios, and all around the White House,Bitter Crank

    Now I am going to have nightmares. Thanks a lot. :(
  • MeToo, or maybe Not
    94,360,953Bitter Crank

    Minus 1. I only tried once and was not an enthusiastic participant. X-)
  • MeToo, or maybe Not
    (I like his apology by the way and I don't think this should end his career. There's a world of difference between him and rats like HW.)Baden

    PR stunt. He is trying to get them off his case so that he can continue with his life. Would you not do the same and try to calm the waters before another 30 women show up.

    OK, I agree he is a weirdo. He has funny ways of getting his rocks off but he is certainly not alone in that area. How many people like to have sex out in public because they like being watched.

    A while ago there was a video of a couple having sex while waiting for the train, plenty of people saw them. All they can be prosecuted for is public indecency, not for sexual assault or abuse of the people that were there.

    Another case many years ago where I used to live was about a good looking widow. She invited the eighteen year old son of her neighbor to view her through his bedroom window into hers while she was pleasuring herself. Dad and Mom found out. If I remember correctly she got a suspended sentence and he got a lifetime of kinky memories. Life is not fair.
  • The world needs more teachers
    But, in general, people are inquisitive and interested in new things or at least if it serves their goals (college setting).Posty McPostface

    And here I think lies the problem. What are the goals of kids today? And what are the goals of the schools?

    Most of the teenagers I know have just one goal, enjoy. And sometimes they are not even sure what they want to enjoy or how to do it.

    Most educational systems that I know about have a major problem, they people that work in them are on about the same pay level as health and security workers. And they are all below what one would expect for three of the most important supports of society.

    I do agree with your opinion that more teachers are needed, but I believe that the job definition needs to be drastically realigned with the needs of tomorrow.

    https://teachingandlearninginhighered.org/2013/07/15/preparing-students-for-what-we-cant-prepare-them-for/