Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Broken

Smile Empty Soul in "For You":
So kill me with the love that you won't give to me
And pack the wound with salt i want to feel it bleed
You wanted me to crawl so now i'm on my knees (Full lyrics)


Smile Empty Soul in "With This Knife":
I let myself fall into a lie
I let my walls come down
I let myself smile and feel alive
I let my walls come down
No matter how i try i don't know why
You push so far away
You wrapped your hands tight around my heart
And squeezed it full of pain

[Chorus:]
With this knife i'll cut out the part of me
The part that cares for you
With this knife i'll cut out the heart of me
The heart that cares for you (Full lyrics)

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Computer Hardware Upgrade - Round 2

Following my last 1GB-RAM, and 200GB-HD upgrade, yesterday i bought a new DVD-Writer... I couldnt believe how cheap those are now! For only 50JDs i got myself an LG DVD-Writer, although there were other models for 45JDs! Additionally, i bought 25 4.7GB-DVD-R discs for 9JDs which is almost equal to 120GBs... So all in all, I had to pay 59JDs for a fully-equipped DVD-Writer; My take is that anyone who doesnt have a DVD-Writer needs to go ahead and buy one: Its fucking cheap and worth every inch of it!

This extra boost has helped me a lot with the ever increasing disk space demand that can only be achieved by literally abusing my adsl connection; At least now my hard-disk can breath some air...

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Systems Of Belief - Round 2

Although less accurate and less interesting than the previous quiz, this quiz nonetheless is interesting... It features different philosophies and questions relating to those philosophies... What really caught my attention is the cool quotes that are featured relating to each philosophy...

An inconsistency that i found is the inclusion of apathy and nihilism; Logically, every nihilist is apathetic, although not every apathetic is nessarily nihilist, so logically the apathy score should be greater or equal to the nihilism score!

Also, not all questions were precise leading to significant differences in some scores when taking the test at two seperate times...

Check the quiz at: What philosophy do you follow? (v1.03)
1st Go: You scored as Nihilism. Your life is marked by strong Nihilism: You feel that nothing in the world, even your life, has much or any meaning.

"For out of fear and need each religion is born, creeping into existence on the byways of reason."
"There are no facts, only interpretations."
"Every belief, every considering something-true, is necessarily false because there is simply no true world"
--Friedrich Nietzsche


2nd Go: You scored as Strong Egoism. Your life is very much guided by the concept of Egoism: You work primarily to promote your own interests.

"I swear by my life, and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."
"I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows."
--Ayn Rand


System

Average Score1st Go2nd Go
Strong Egoism
75%85%

Nihilism

75%80%
Hedonism
75%75%

Apathy

60%50%

Justice (Fairness)

55%55%

Existentialism

40%40%

Kantianism

25%50%

Utilitarianism

15%45%

Divine Command

5%20%

Rejected (dot)XXX Domains Proposal

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Satanic Commandment: Never Repent

Slipknot in "I Am Hated":
We will not repent - this is our religion (Full lyrics)

Repenting is an irrational, degrading, and self-abusing thought!

To better understand the implication of regret, and the philosophical reasoning behind that commandment, read this article.
snippet: Perhaps your counterpart would have had a better life than you, in which case the past event was impartially bad. It lead to a life less good than some alternative life would have been. But it wouldn't have been your life. So the alternative would not have benefitted you. It would have made someone else exist in your place.

Indulging Temptation

"I never resist temptation, because I have found that things that are bad for me do not tempt me." (source)

-George Bernard Shaw

True! True! True!

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Sharing Thoughts With Readers

Like any writter not every idea I get on my mind can be easily expressed in written words; For quiet a while, i have been trying to introduce interpersonal relationships insight into some of my entries... But none of those drafts have actually made it out yet!

Reasons vary: To start with, relationships are complex... And since you are dealing with other humans the scope of variation greatly explodes more than any other topic I tried to feature ever before....
The slightest assumptions can become big flaws; Besides the inheretly complex nature of relationships, I find it hard to express observations in unambigious and clear way...
Additionally, my interpersonal relationships theories relies largely on my own personality, and are not "mainstream" relationships model, therefore its hard to reinterpret my person insight using the already established terms people use to describe relationships!

Another concern is how does discussing relationships affect current and future relationships... For example, if i show support to one system or introduce ideas that are questionable, current relationships might be adversely affected; And future ones might even more severely be affected because it would introduce assumptions about the other person's character early on in the development of the relationships which might affect the communication due to those convictions!

So, i want to ask few questions; Something that might give me insight to write new stuff in that topic; The questions are: What do you know about open relationships? How do you perceive open relationships? How do you contrast open relationships model with the closed relationships model?

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Pessimistic Incompatibilism

Do humans have a free will? Quick answer: No!

I am one of the proponents of determinism (read more)... And asserting determinism can lead to one conclusion: We don't have true free will! Our actions are the effect of past incidents, that's all! Our thoughts are the natural consequence to the experiences of our past; Nothing is original we are only living the consequences of the past...

We don't have a free will, we have a naturally-dictated predetermined will...

But what this entry is about to add is that even if determinism was false, and indeterminism was actually true, this doesn't mean that we'd have a free will, it simply changes from a predetermined will, to random will... But never free will!

This view is called pessimistic incompatibilism! Pessimistic incompatibilists generally view that the term "will" itself is nonsense...

Friday, May 19, 2006

Falsifiability: Theory VS Tautology

A hypothesis has conclusions... If those "conclusions" when applied in practical terms to explain "observations" and "phenomenons" then this hypothesis becomes a "scientific theory"; this is the "scientific method"!

A scientific theory is falsifiable, that is to call your hypothesis a scientific theory you should be able to answer this question: Give me an example when the theory is wrong?
So lets take ( F=ma ); If you ask Newton to give you an example when he is wrong, this would be the answer: "If you can find a 1-kg mass, moving under net force of 1-N, with acceleration 2-ms-2 then my theory is wrong"; so ( F=ma ) is a candidate to be a scientific thoery!

Similarly if you ask an atheist to give you an example when he is wrong he'd answer: "If the christian god existed then i would be wrong"

But an agnostic cant answer that question!! Saying "God exists or God doesnt exist" cant possibly be wrong! This is a "tautology"; A statement that cant possibly be wrong is called a tautology and does not say anything about the world! Thats why some people call a tautology a redundancy!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Funny Video: The Satanic Cult

Check this to see how funny satanism is perceived! :D

Ontological Question: Atheist Or Agnostic?

In discussions after dinner Darwin asked his guests, "Why do you call yourselves Atheists?" saying that he preferred the word "Agnostic." Aveling replied that "Agnostic was but Atheist writ respectable, and Atheist was only Agnostic writ aggressive." (source)

However, later in the same lecture, discussing modern non-anthropomorphic concepts of God, Russell states: That sort of God is, I think, not one that can actually be disproved, as I think the omnipotent and benevolent creator can. (source)

However, later in the essay, Russell says: I think that if I heard a voice from the sky predicting all that was going to happen to me during the next twenty-four hours, including events that would have seemed highly improbable, and if all these events then produced to happen, I might perhaps be convinced at least of the existence of some superhuman intelligence. (source)

So it depends on who is asking, and what they mean by their question; If it was an average person asking, i say im an atheist! If it was a philosophical question asked by a well-informed person, i say im an agnostic! From an ontological point of view, i am agnostic!

Ontology is the study of what exists... Materialism states that matter is the only thing that exists; I agree with the definition, with a slight twist to clear some confusion that might arise: Materialism states that everything that exists is matter!
So it exists if and only if it is matter...

What does that mean? It simply means that if there is such a thing as creator of this universe AKA God, then this "creator" is part of the universe rather than out of it! If a "super-natural being" created this universe, then this being is a "natural being" in its own dimension!

From an ontological POV i am an agnostic; From a semantic POV i am an atheist; Atheism states that there is no GOD... But the God that atheism rejects isnt a question of what exists; But rather rejects the definition of GOD; An omnibenevolent, omniscient, omnipotent, conscious definition of GOD...

The problem of evil shows that omnibenevolence is nothing but a dream! "Can God make a rock so big, that even he can't lift it?" This simple question shows that nothing is omnipotent! Assuming the existance of Injustice, Justice is an unattainable goal even for a GOD! One demonstration of the unattainability of Justice is the problem of hell...

Monday, May 15, 2006

Assholes Invasion

A friend once put it in a cool way: "We are all assholes, but its up to each one of us to decide to what extent we are willing to show that to the world." Then he added (talking to me): "And you my friend is willing to spill it all."

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Argument By Lack Of Imagination

Flaws in arguments vary in type, but they are all eventually flaws... Its is important to have knowledge in various types of flaws and fallacies used in arguments! The most notorious of those fallacies is the over-generaliztion.

One of the less commonly known fallacies, which usually passes unquestioned, is the "argument by lack of imagination" or alternatively called "argument by ignorance";

To give an example of such argument:
Imagine that at year 1000 BC, two people had this little chat,
PersonX: I wish I can reach the moon.
PersonY: You are unrealistic person. It is impossible to reach the moon.

Obviously, PersonY lacks the basic element of imagination, therefore had made a false assumption based on his ignorance of the possibility to land on the moon.

One of the notable usuages of this kind of argument is in oposition to atheism; It is said that in the old times, this conversation happened between a religious person and an atheist:
Religious: Yesterday i saw a ship; It had no crew, it had no captain, it was sailing in the middle in the sea without anyone onboard!
Atheist: Sorry Sir, I think this is a made up lie!
Religious: So you are telling me that it makes sense that our whole world, with all galaxies... The accurate system in which a simple flaw can be drastic... This big big universe can exist without a captain managing it, yet find it questionable to find a ship without a captain?

Obviously, that religious person lacks the basic element of imagination! I leave the proof to the smartasses out there!! ;)
One of my school teachers used to say: "Imagination is more imprtant than knowledge"; I have to agree, because you can gain knowledge by imagination, while without the element of imagination you cannot make use of the knowledge you have!

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Censorship In Its Ugliest Forms - Round 2

Besides the notoriety of the Chinese government to censor many political movements as has been suggested in the previous post showing the ugly face of censorship, Egyptian government is similarly notorious for such activity...

In recent news, numerous Egpytian activists -6 of which are bloggers- were detained in by Egyptian authorities for participating in peaceful demonstrations in support of greater judicial independence. The incidence has echoed largely amoung Egypian and Arab blogs protesting to free all the detained activists... (read more)

PS: i am not affiliated with any political parties

Why Some Men Look For Virgins

There is an old joke that i think says it all:
There was a man who wanted to marry a real virgin; On the first night with his first bride he took off his pants, pointed at his dick and asked her: "What is that?", so she answered: "DAH! A penis!"; So he divorced her because she knew pretty much to be a virgin... He went on and on, marrying women and divorcing them untill one day, on the first night with a new bride, he took off his pants as usual and asked: "What is that?", and the girl replied: "I seriously have no clue at all!"; The man felt immensely happy that he found his lost treasure... Later on that night, after they fucked all night, he looked at her and said: "See honey, that is called a penis", the girl was shocked and replied: "Ohhh! Really??! I thought all penises were twice as big!!"

There is only one explanation: if a man is looking for a virgin then he has a small penis... The only reason i can think for a man to look for a virgin is to ensure the girl's ignorance to how 'short' he is to be a real man!

Friday, May 05, 2006

Religions Under The Critical Eye

Here are a few religion-oriented essays written eloquently:

Essay 1: My God is Better than Your God
A great article from an agnostic POV; A functional and objective analysis to the state of religions... A "religion-friendly" aproach that holds the premise that GOD wants whats good for humanity...
snippets: In fact, about the only thing they have in common is benevolence. They all want their people to prosper and be happy... Wow. What a bombshell! God wants you and I to be happy... So once again, I tried looking at it from a different perspective: if I can't figure out what will make everyone happy, what can I show that will make anyone unhappy? Then it occurred to me: violence, in the most general sense of the word, makes people unhappy... And where do we get most of our violence? Religion.


Full Essay:
As one of the newest contributors to my world, I feel I should try to distinguish myself from the other members of my illustrious team. After careful consideration, I’ve decided on my niche: I am going to try to bring you all kinds of news that will prove that My God is Better than Your God.

That’s right, I said it out loud. I’ll say it again: My God is Better than Your God. I don’t care if you’re a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu or Branch Davidian. My God is Better than All Your Gods. Hands down. Now I suppose at this point you’re either ranting, raving, or building something to kill me with (or you just don’t give a damn, which means you’re probably not even reading anymore) but hear me out. Once I explain why My God is Better than Your God, you’ll most likely agree with what I have to say.

The only thing that makes my God Better than Your God is this: I’m not even sure my God exists. But that’s OK, because in the end it doesn’t make a licking difference in my life anyways. The way I see it, all through history mankind has been having this debate over whose God is the Best. And when I say debate, I mean debate in the religious sense: war, rape, atrocities, torture, maiming and baby killing. The fun kind of debate that religion has been up to for thousands of years. My God has tried to get away from that debate. He’s lead me to search deep within myself for the true answers. So I did. I thought about him and Jesus and Mohamed and all those other crazy party animals.

I thought about all the things that make them different for awhile, but that was just crazy; there’s too many differences to even try to document them all. Then I thought about what makes them all the same, and you know what? There’s very little that make them all the same. In fact, about the only thing they have in common is benevolence. They all want their people to prosper and be happy. Wow. What a bombshell! God wants you and I to be happy. That is a true saying no matter what religion you are talking about (except for the crazy ones, and who wants to follow a god that doesn’t want what is best for you? Such as @@). So how do we all achieve real happiness? It’s not by praying. Maybe praying makes you happy, but it doesn’t do much for me, and other people find it downright offensive. Maybe it’s by taking whatever we can as quickly as possible. No, it’s not that either. Material goods bring happiness when you buy them, but they quickly loose their attraction, and you end up just wanting the new one that just came out after you bought yours. That’s not true happiness, and even if it was, it’s not a way to make all people happy, because we do live on a planet of finite resources. And if we’re not all happy, someone unhappy will find a way to make others that are happy pay.

I went on and on like this trying to figure it out, but after a while I was at the same point I was at when I was trying to map out the differences between the religions. There were just too many things to consider. So once again, I tried looking at it from a different perspective: if I can’t figure out what will make everyone happy, what can I show that will make anyone unhappy? Then it occurred to me: violence, in the most general sense of the word, makes people unhappy. So even though I’m not sure what will make everyone happy, I can make sure we get closer to this mythical state of happiness by trying to get rid of some violence in the world. And where do we get most of our violence? Religion. That’s right. Religion causes the most violence in the world, and it’s been that way since we invented the word religion.

So the goal for me is to convince as many people as possible to give up on religion. It’s not the way to find peace, or to find God. If God loves you and me, and wants the best for you and me, isn’t it just logical to give each other enough space to pursue happiness? As I said before, I don’t even know if my God exists. I’ve gotten no definitive answers to the question of God’s existence. If he does exist (and he is a benevolent God) then I will make him happy by being good to myself and others, the whole time trying to make myself and the world around me better. If he doesn’t exist, then I’m still going to try to make myself as happy as possible, and I’m going to do that by feeling proud of myself and my accomplishments. In other words, I’m going to try to improve myself and the world around me as much as possible. So either way, I’m going to try to make myself happy by constant improvement in my character.

That’s what my God taught me, and that is why My God is Better than Yours.
[+] Show\Hide


Essay 2: Let's see if I can get some death threats out of this one
A harshly worded essay criticizing organized religions! Partly addressing the danish cartoons that echoed violently in the muslim world!
snippet: I know, I know, it's all about respecting other peoples' religions. But I say "fuck that." I don't respect anyone else's religion (clearly). And you know what? Many of them don't truly respect mine, or my lack thereof. I do, however, respect their right to whatever beliefs they want to have. You're allowed to have your ignorant views, I'm allowed to have mine.

Essay 3: Satanism: The way of Life
A satanic POV showing satanism in its true colors, rather than the misguided interpretations provided by religiously biased light that many authorities promote...
snippet: So be it known to you that Satanism is the way of life or better still call it philosophy of natural life and being such it has nothing to do with child molesters, perverts, psychic vampires, rapists etc. Satanism is a peaceful religion advocating freedom of religion and thought.

Update: I included the full text of Essay#1 because the link became dead