The Big Questions of the Universe

[Scourge of teh Galaxy]

American government are revoking the right to free will from their citizens with SOPA. I could rant on about SOPA forever

[Naryar]

What was that about an amoeba in Io ? Isn't Io an entirely volcanic planet ?

the existence of aliens, universes beyond our own, the existence of a deity, etc etc.

Existence of lifeforms different from our own : Possible but unknown. I'm not gonna claim I saw aliens.

Universes beyond our own : We can speculate as much as we want but we will need empirical proof for this to be proven. However, as our senses only are limited to our universe, it's not going to be easy to get empirical proof.

Existence of a deity (aka supremely powerful entity), or maybe more than one : I don't think so. And I even think religion is a giant fake, made to exploit the fears and hopes of people. If it/they exists however and can communicate, it/they certainly doesn't want to reveal his/their existence to me, so I'll just not bother about religion. If they existed, however, I wouldn't mind about worshipping Odin.

Of course I want to become the equivalent of a god, but this is off-topic

[HurricaneAndrew]

[Meganerdbomb]

Have a random paragraph from my philosophy paper!
   
   Kant’s  realization that free will exists as a part of the self, and every action we  take is the result of our own choice, is an important one indeed. This fact is  absolutely essential for not only the existence of morality, but also for there  to be any meaning to our own existence as rational beings. If all thought and  action were determined by forces external to us, then what good would reason be  at all? One could say that if we do not posses free will, then we do not, in  fact possess reason. If humans are rational beings, then free will must exist  in some form, and although our actions can be influenced by factors external to  us, ultimately, it is our own rational choices that determine them.
 

[Scourge of teh Galaxy]

Try and get Twilight Sparkle in this one 8D

[GoldenFox93]

Try and get Twilight Sparkle in this one 8D

"HIIIIIIII KAAAAAANT"  8D

[Scourge of teh Galaxy]

Try and get Twilight Sparkle in this one 8D

"HIIIIIIII KAAAAAANT"  8D

Not like that. Something about how Twilight had a similar realisation about friendship.

Then have a three-page rant about Pinkie Pie and you're set

[Meganerdbomb]

But this one isn't about friendship, it's about freedom and free will. My friendship paper did have a mention of Pinkie Pie. I also titled it "Friendship is Magic", which i suppose technically could be considered plagiarism, but I got away with it. It was more of an essay answer to a quiz than a full paper.

Hmm, maybe I could link it for you.

Scratch that. It has my real name on it.

[Naryar]

But this one isn't about friendship, it's about freedom and free will. My friendship paper did have a mention of Pinkie Pie. I also titled it "Friendship is Magic", which i suppose technically could be considered plagiarism, but I got away with it. It was more of an essay answer to a quiz than a full paper.

Hmm, maybe I could link it for you.

Scratch that. It has my real name on it.

simply edit out your name ?

[123savethewhales]

Not take the bible literally is the worst attempt to save a religion that claims to know the truth about everything.  What the Bible teaches are so hateful, violent prone, and intuitively immoral, that it can only be justify by being the literal truth.

I don't know how anyone can swallow the oppressive teachings without believing in the literal truth of heaven and hell.

[TeamXtreemer]

What was that about an amoeba in Io ? Isn't Io an entirely volcanic planet ?

the existence of aliens, universes beyond our own, the existence of a deity, etc etc.

Existence of lifeforms different from our own : Possible but unknown. I'm not gonna claim I saw aliens.

It's pretty possible, I doubt we're the only planet/mass with life forms in 150 billion light-years of space.

[Naryar]

What was that about an amoeba in Io ? Isn't Io an entirely volcanic planet ?

the existence of aliens, universes beyond our own, the existence of a deity, etc etc.

Existence of lifeforms different from our own : Possible but unknown. I'm not gonna claim I saw aliens.

It's pretty possible, I doubt we're the only planet/mass with life forms in 150 billion light-years of space.

It's 30 billion.

[Scourge of teh Galaxy]

It's debatable

[TeamXtreemer]

What was that about an amoeba in Io ? Isn't Io an entirely volcanic planet ?

the existence of aliens, universes beyond our own, the existence of a deity, etc etc.

Existence of lifeforms different from our own : Possible but unknown. I'm not gonna claim I saw aliens.

It's pretty possible, I doubt we're the only planet/mass with life forms in 150 billion light-years of space.

It's 30 billion.

From http://www.universetoday.com/37409/how-big-is-the-universe/

Recent measurements reveal that the Universe is at least 150 billion light-years in diameter. For comparison, its age is estimated to be about 13.7 billion years. Doesn’t make sense does it?

[Meganerdbomb]

Not take the bible literally is the worst attempt to save a religion that claims to know the truth about everything.  What the Bible teaches are so hateful, violent prone, and intuitively immoral, that it can only be justify by being the literal truth.

I don't know how anyone can swallow the oppressive teachings without believing in the literal truth of heaven and hell.

There's nothing oppressive or immoral about the Bible. That you would even say such a thing proves that you understand little to nothing about it. And of course it's the literal and absolute truth. To say anything else is preposterous.

[Naryar]

Maybe 123's talking about the Old Testament ? As I remember, God was pretty damn violent (not that there's anything wrong with that) back then.

[Meganerdbomb]

Yeah, God's pretty much a total badass in the Old Testament.

[123savethewhales]

Maybe 123's talking about the Old Testament ? As I remember, God was pretty damn violent (not that there's anything wrong with that) back then.

Every part other than the life of Jesus pretty much.  Which includes old Testament and half of the New Testament.  To say they are "hateful and violent prone" is really an understatement.  Followers who take those parts literally also shown "hateful and violent prone" traits.

As for intuitively immoral, that is based on the harms principle.  You can always argue for other forms of moral system, but so far the only argument that came out is "divine will" which actually requires at least heaven and hell to be taken literally.

If you just read the Jesus part, that's not so bad.

Not   take the bible literally is the worst attempt to save a religion that   claims to know the truth about everything.  What the Bible teaches are   so hateful, violent prone, and intuitively immoral, that it can only be   justify by being the literal truth.

I don't know how anyone can swallow the oppressive teachings without believing in the literal truth of heaven and hell.

There's   nothing oppressive or immoral about the Bible. That you would even say   such a thing proves that you understand little to nothing about it. And   of course it's the literal and absolute truth. To say anything else is   preposterous.

To be precise, it doesn't matter what I draw out of it since I neither believe nor follow it.  What does matter is the huge among of hates and violence among those who does follows it.  They can certainly find passages in the Bible that justify their behaviors.

[Enigm@]

Yeah god was the bombdigity in the old testament. then he became a pussy in the gospel and so on.

[Scourge of teh Galaxy]

The Big Questions of the Universe

Will there be cake?