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I think sometimes people take too much for granted and can overthink thanksgiving. Just having the means to read this site means you probably have hundreds of t

by n8cpdx 4y ago

I think sometimes people take too much for granted and can overthink thanksgiving. Just having the means to read this site means you probably have hundreds of things to be grateful for, like the ability to read and the leisure time to do so. But maybe that perspective comes from practicing gratitude daily rather than only once a year (not shading the holiday, it is great to also dedicate a special day). More relevant to the article, several of these things seem calibrated to cause division and strife at the thanksgiving dinner table. Sometimes being the drama can be fun, and I think the following would Do the trick: > That electric leaf blowers now exist and perhaps we can develop a new understanding that it’s chill to not spew intermittent pitch-shifting mechanical shrieking sounds at deafening volumes all the time everywhere? > That ghosts don’t exist, which wasn’t obvious a thousand years ago.

ChuckNorris89 4y ago
>the ability to read This. A lot of people take for granted how cool it is to have a working pair of eyes. Or being able to hear everything. Or have all four limbs. We only appreciate health once we lose it.
- neilv 4y ago
  Good thoughts to keep in mind before dispensing any roundhouse kicks.
- dogmatism 4y ago
  I really only have one working eye but I still manage to take it for granted most of the time. I'm usually just annoyed at the other one (causes minor physical discomfort, but my brain has learned to just kind of ignore the off-axis blurry signals from it) but never appreciate the normally working one Thanks, Right Eye! And fuck you, Left Eye
musicale 4y ago
In the past 1000 years, hasn't the overall set of ghostly evidence increased? Reported sightings, suspicious photos/videos/images, reported haunted houses and locations, etc.? Even if one finds the reported evidence unconvincing, it seems difficult to definitively prove that ghosts do not exist.
- FrontierPsych 4y ago
  > it seems difficult to definitively prove that ghosts do not exist. It's pretty difficult to definitively prove anything doesn't exist. Big Foot, unicorns, leprechauns, grachflaxaprods. I made the last one up just now, but hard to prove it doesn't exist. I think that when people say things like you did, like the existence of ghosts or Santa Claus, it is generally presented as binary choice. They exist or they don't. In reality, it is a continuum and looked at as the odds for something like that to exist. So the odds that a different species of lemurs exist and we have not found it might be 80%. But that a god exists, let alone the one that you happen to believe in rather than the other 10,000+ that have existed, is .0000000000000000000...0000000000000000001%. For example, I'm not saying a god doesn't exist, but I AM saying that the odds are not binary, meaning a 50/50 chance. Agnosticism therefore is an extremely weak position. This is important, because no scientist is going to try to prove leprechauns exist, because the odds are so exceedingly low that it is a bad choice to try to prove it. Sure, one scientist in the world might, but the vast majority don't. It's a poor choice of where to beneficially spend one's time. And on some things, like a god, the odds are so extremely low that you might as well be like limits in calculus - you just say "close enough" and say it is zero odds of a god existing, so practically speaking, you're an atheist. Which isn't to say that if the evidence changes, as a scientist you would wouldn't change your mind - of course a scientist would...because there is evidence. However, the evidential burden would and should be quite high that this "entity" is indeed a god. And really, a god's power is really only just atom-moving (or changing quantum field states if you prefer). For example, if we take the story of Jesus turning water into wine, people look at it as "turning water into wine", but it isn't. Not really. It is just moving atoms. "Turning water into wine" is a misnomer. What actually happens is take H2O atoms, grab two Carbon atoms and extra 4 Hydrogens atoms and rearranging them into C2H5OH - Ethanol alcohol. This is the reality. Jesus was just an atom twiddler. Sure, wine might have more actual atoms arranged into additional molecules, but still it is the same thing. So when you think about it, Jesus had to take the Carbon and extra hydrogen from the air or dirt on the ground or rearrange the atoms into a different molecule. It's the same thing with everything - bringing Lazurus back from the dead? No. Jesus just twiddled some atoms in Lazurus' body. This is pretty much true for any god. If I can move individual atoms, like the replicator in Star Trek, am I a god? If I can bring atoms into existance from quantum fields, am I a god? Ooops, got off track there on the whole god (Jesus) "miracle" thing, sorry.

by n8cpdx 4y ago

ChuckNorris89 4y ago

>the ability to read This. A lot of people take for granted how cool it is to have a working pair of eyes. Or being able to hear everything. Or have all four limbs. We only appreciate health once we lose it.

neilv 4y ago
Good thoughts to keep in mind before dispensing any roundhouse kicks.
dogmatism 4y ago
I really only have one working eye but I still manage to take it for granted most of the time. I'm usually just annoyed at the other one (causes minor physical discomfort, but my brain has learned to just kind of ignore the off-axis blurry signals from it) but never appreciate the normally working one Thanks, Right Eye! And fuck you, Left Eye

musicale 4y ago

In the past 1000 years, hasn't the overall set of ghostly evidence increased? Reported sightings, suspicious photos/videos/images, reported haunted houses and locations, etc.? Even if one finds the reported evidence unconvincing, it seems difficult to definitively prove that ghosts do not exist.

FrontierPsych 4y ago
> it seems difficult to definitively prove that ghosts do not exist. It's pretty difficult to definitively prove anything doesn't exist. Big Foot, unicorns, leprechauns, grachflaxaprods. I made the last one up just now, but hard to prove it doesn't exist. I think that when people say things like you did, like the existence of ghosts or Santa Claus, it is generally presented as binary choice. They exist or they don't. In reality, it is a continuum and looked at as the odds for something like that to exist. So the odds that a different species of lemurs exist and we have not found it might be 80%. But that a god exists, let alone the one that you happen to believe in rather than the other 10,000+ that have existed, is .0000000000000000000...0000000000000000001%. For example, I'm not saying a god doesn't exist, but I AM saying that the odds are not binary, meaning a 50/50 chance. Agnosticism therefore is an extremely weak position. This is important, because no scientist is going to try to prove leprechauns exist, because the odds are so exceedingly low that it is a bad choice to try to prove it. Sure, one scientist in the world might, but the vast majority don't. It's a poor choice of where to beneficially spend one's time. And on some things, like a god, the odds are so extremely low that you might as well be like limits in calculus - you just say "close enough" and say it is zero odds of a god existing, so practically speaking, you're an atheist. Which isn't to say that if the evidence changes, as a scientist you would wouldn't change your mind - of course a scientist would...because there is evidence. However, the evidential burden would and should be quite high that this "entity" is indeed a god. And really, a god's power is really only just atom-moving (or changing quantum field states if you prefer). For example, if we take the story of Jesus turning water into wine, people look at it as "turning water into wine", but it isn't. Not really. It is just moving atoms. "Turning water into wine" is a misnomer. What actually happens is take H2O atoms, grab two Carbon atoms and extra 4 Hydrogens atoms and rearranging them into C2H5OH - Ethanol alcohol. This is the reality. Jesus was just an atom twiddler. Sure, wine might have more actual atoms arranged into additional molecules, but still it is the same thing. So when you think about it, Jesus had to take the Carbon and extra hydrogen from the air or dirt on the ground or rearrange the atoms into a different molecule. It's the same thing with everything - bringing Lazurus back from the dead? No. Jesus just twiddled some atoms in Lazurus' body. This is pretty much true for any god. If I can move individual atoms, like the replicator in Star Trek, am I a god? If I can bring atoms into existance from quantum fields, am I a god? Ooops, got off track there on the whole god (Jesus) "miracle" thing, sorry.