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Prometheus98876

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  1. Like
    Prometheus98876 reacted to Grames in Checking Premises . ORG Statements and My Position   
    The way Kant is connected to developments in art centuries later is not due to anything he wrote on the topic of aesthetics. He could have written the Objectivist aesthetics himself centuries ahead of his time and it would not matter. What we have today is due to the working out of the implications of Kant's self-styled "Copernican revolution" in philosophy, the redefinition of objectivity as inter-subjectivity. Hardly anybody cares what Kant thought about aesthetics, yet people who have never heard of him follow his lead by denying that objectivity is possible in any field whatever, including art.
  2. Like
    Prometheus98876 reacted to Nicky in Peikoff on date rape   
    I think personal attacks and speculation on other members' motives and failings aren't allowed. We should just leave it at "somehow all three of you are getting it wrong".
  3. Like
    Prometheus98876 reacted to realityChemist in Peikoff on date rape   
    I really have better things to be doing right now (homework, anyone?), but since I've already spent two hours reading this I may as well reply:

    I have to say, I'm sort of on the fence about this one. Or, rather, I'm on one side of the fence for one argument, and the other side for another. First of all, I think that Peikoff did likely make this comment off-the-cuff, and he shouldn't be personally attacked for it (unless and until such time as he chooses to clarify himself with a more carefully worded remark, at which point we should judge him one way or another, as he would be making explicit important ideas that he holds). So there's where I stand on that.
    On the other hand, taking Peikoff's statement verbatim now, I think that the most legitimate defense of his statement -- that the verbal withdrawal of consent, if actions which imply consent are still being performed, does not amount to actual withdrawal of consent -- is flawed when referenced against reality. As one person has already brought up (I think it was sNerd, but I'm not sure), words are not empty abstractions without meaning*. That is to say there is no realistic scenario in which a woman would say, "No," and mean it, while still participating in the act. If you can think of a scenario in which a woman would not attempt to physically remove herself from the scenario after verbally removing consent, I am legitimately interested to hear it. Admittedly, there are times when women will say things without meaning them (as I'm sure we can agree; the concept of token resistance is an example of this), but this is not the sort of situation to which I am referring. Thus, continuing after only verbal cues cannot constitute rape, however a situation in which the woman gives sincere verbal cues but no accompanying non-verbal cues, such as attempting to remove herself from the situation or struggling against her aggressor, would not occur in reality. Because of this, there is no situation in reality that can be morally considered rape that does not involve the use of force in some way (unless, perhaps, the victim is a paralysis patient and has no way to physically resist, in which case verbal cues should be taken as absolute).
    I would prefer not to discuss rape in a legal context, because I don't believe I am well informed enough on the current laws surrounding the issue to make a valid assessment of what would and would not constitute legal rape.

    *As an aside, I was reading Aristotle's metaphysics about this earlier today, in which he demonstrates why words must have specific meanings.
  4. Like
    Prometheus98876 reacted to Gramlich in Space Aliens Are Ignoring Us   
    Man, I just don't know what to do knowing the space aliens are ignoring us. I thought we really had something going on.
  5. Like
    Prometheus98876 got a reaction from Sammo in Space Aliens Are Ignoring Us   
    This is really just the mental equivalent of flipping cards into a hat isnt it? I mean, that is not to say it is bad, however it is pretty pointless speculation. Given we have no real context to base this on and we grossly lack enough information to make anything resembling a useful rational assessment.
  6. Like
    Prometheus98876 reacted to ttime in Peikoff on date rape   
    It's important to maintain the context of his answer. I think it's pretty clear that he is talking about a legal context: that is, a woman should not be able to legally claim she has been the victim of rape when she declines at the last second after having presented a large amount of evidence that she did consent (if this were the case, it would be much too easy for women to claim that they had been raped arbitrarily in order to punish their former boyfriends or for some other reasons). Cases such as State v. Rusk (http://wings.buffalo.../web/mdrusk.htm) are evidence that it's not always easy to determine when rape has occurred, but it is very important to set strict limits on when rape can be claimed to have occurred, since it obviously can ruin a person's reputation.

    Ninth Doctor/brian, notice that you completely changed the context by supposing examples where the woman was physically harmed. Physical abuse of that kind is illegal regardless of whether or not rape occurred.

    Whether or not it would be immoral for a man to continue to have sex with a woman after she changed her mind about having sex in the middle of the process is not at issue, and is therefore not taken into consideration in Peikoff's answer.

    Finally, regardless of whether you think Peikoff is correct, I advise anyone who thinks that consent can disappear "whenever the woman says so" should consider the implications of that view. That's something that a malicious woman could very easily take advantage of. So I think the broader context needs to be considered to establish whether or not consent is in fact present.

    Tristan
  7. Like
    Prometheus98876 reacted to ttime in How does one fall in love?   
    The following is my experience of it. But I should mention that I am relatively young and haven't been in that many relationships nor am I presenting this as a philosophic defense of a specific construal of the concept of love.

    I am overcome with a desire to see her happy - but not just by any means. I want to see her happy in part by recognizing who I am and what I have achieved and deriving pleasure from that. I also experience a sense that when I am with her every aspect of my life has somehow been enhanced all at once. I think that's because I have someone with whom I feel I can share every triumph. This is also experienced I think in a form of "renewed strength" that I didn't have before, so to speak. There's a sense in which my motivation to succeed in my goals increases because everything seems more relevant and happiness seems more clearly possible in the moments I am with her - I suppose in a similar way whenever I experience great art.
  8. Like
    Prometheus98876 got a reaction from EC in Iran is almost about to reach nuclear capability   
    Of course it often falls back to WW2, it is one of the BEST wars which can be used to provide evidence for the thesis of the book.

    Sorry, warfare has not changed such that t he lessons of the book become invalid when appliede to modern warfare. If you think that, then you dont understand the nature of warfare, its root causes, how to morally and properly end a war and did/do not understand the book.

    I never said warfare of any sort "curbs terrorism". However I did say that waging war against *state-sponsored* terrorism would if done properly, be an effective way to eventually stop this happening. Obviously terrorism is not completely stopped, but at least states would not be knowingly funding it anymore.
  9. Like
    Prometheus98876 reacted to EC in Iran is almost about to reach nuclear capability   
    God, I wish they would just nuke the whole middle east so that people wouldn't make the silly argument anymore that this has to do with oil instead of terrorism. The point is to kill and eliminate, terrorists, anybody that can potentially support the terrorists including any friends, family, religious supporters, governments that support it or might potentially support it, etc. None of this has to do with walls of words about "geopolitical situations" and definitely absolutely nothing to do with oil.
  10. Like
    Prometheus98876 got a reaction from volco in Ayn Rand's ghost, real or a sophisticated prank?   
    I was being sarcastic, obviously.

    What do those other things she was worried about have to do with this? So she has other *possible* insecurities or something? That just proves that maybe there is a trend here or or something I guess ( I am not commenting either way). Not that the number of replies here is weird.

    Ah yes, your "aspects" of Ayn Rand. Maybe it is just possible that at this point we do not have a lot of reason to take you seriously. At least while DreamSpirit might be confused on a number of issues, she has ( at least in my opinion and I guess in the opinion of some others here ) seemed to make some effort to understand things said to her and to think rationally about them.

    Anyway, I think I am done with making this even longer.
  11. Like
    Prometheus98876 reacted to WilliamColton in Steve Jobs and Cosmic Justice   
    Just replace 'philosophy' with ingenuity, creativity, industriousness, whatever, and I think you've got what the death of Steve Jobs means. None of this Wotan gobbledygook.
  12. Like
    Prometheus98876 reacted to Gramlich in Steve Jobs and Cosmic Justice   
    Don't worry, Wotan; I have it all covered.
    I conversed with a rock today that told me Steve Job's soul was currently travelling past the Gligok galaxy, on its way to Valhalla. Now, as is well known, the Gligok galaxy is home to the infamous Kecktox. An evil race known for its proclivity of enslaving souls as they make their cosmic voyage.
    Me and the rock both agreed something had to be done, so, being a wizard, I cast a spell on Steve Job's soul to hide it from the Kecktox's souldar.
    With any luck, Steve Job's soul should arrive safely at Valhalla, where he will be at peace slaying Jewish money lenders for all of eternity.
  13. Like
    Prometheus98876 got a reaction from TrueMaterialist in Lacking a knowledge of science, as an objectivist   
    No, sorry none of your Ayn Rand quotes support that assertion.

    And for your information I know *plenty* of QM. I just disagree with many of the interpretation/theories contained within it.
  14. Like
    Prometheus98876 reacted to brian0918 in Lacking a knowledge of science, as an objectivist   
    That is simply because you still see science as more important to life than philosophy, disregarding the fact that science - as well as all other endeavors - *depends on* philosophy for its proper function and continued progress.

    My first statement in this thread stands: Rand and Peikoff have a better understanding of what is necessary for proper science than many scientists (and indeed entire scientific fields), who implicitly accepted the philosophy that was handed down to them by their predecessors.
  15. Like
    Prometheus98876 reacted to DonAthos in Lacking a knowledge of science, as an objectivist   
    The "house" that is mainly built upon the foundation of philosophy -- and Objectivism in specific -- is a life-well-lived. To that end, we can expect that most people will have a need for certain basic understandings of sciences, like nutrition and health, household chemistry, and the physics of making their car brake on time. Some people, primarily those who choose to follow a career path which depends on a more intensive study of one or more branches of science, will need to know more.

    But it is not required for an Objectivist, as such, to be a master of all branches of science. An Objectivist could be, for instance, a plumber, and doubtless that would make many demands on certain areas of his scientific knowledge. But there are also several areas of science that he will not necessarily need, and the time he would otherwise have spent gaining that knowledge might be better spent in a variety of ways that will more directly impact his individual affairs.
  16. Downvote
    Prometheus98876 got a reaction from ropoctl2 in Looking for a business partner in hi-tech   
    Game physics engine : C++, and happily so. If it was a game in which high performance was not an issue : C#.

    OS kernel : C or maybe C++. C# if I simply need a simplistic kernel for which performance is not vital.

    Database system : Not sure, probably C++.

    Given its poor design , about the only reason I can think of to use Objective-C is if you are making Apple products.

    C# is highly suitable for a MANY applications. It is a powerful language with many features and libraries ( the .NET ones number in the tens of thousands of really good ones). It is slower than C++ and a number of other languages , however for many , many applications this does not matter. For the vast majority of applications, it is plenty fast enough and anyway, unless it is a high performance application : The choice of programming language makes almost no difference these days.

    If you have a look, you will find many even slower languages are popular? Why ? Because programming language speed makes very little difference to anyone not making applications in which high speed is very crucial. Sometimes languages that seem slower can actually do some things FASTER. Python for instance is considered slow usually, however it has some highly optimized mathematical libaries that can be tweaked to run at speeds approaching C++.

    This does not sufficiently answer the questions I asked however.
  17. Like
    Prometheus98876 got a reaction from Xall in Looking for a business partner in hi-tech   
    Game physics engine : C++, and happily so. If it was a game in which high performance was not an issue : C#.

    OS kernel : C or maybe C++. C# if I simply need a simplistic kernel for which performance is not vital.

    Database system : Not sure, probably C++.

    Given its poor design , about the only reason I can think of to use Objective-C is if you are making Apple products.

    C# is highly suitable for a MANY applications. It is a powerful language with many features and libraries ( the .NET ones number in the tens of thousands of really good ones). It is slower than C++ and a number of other languages , however for many , many applications this does not matter. For the vast majority of applications, it is plenty fast enough and anyway, unless it is a high performance application : The choice of programming language makes almost no difference these days.

    If you have a look, you will find many even slower languages are popular? Why ? Because programming language speed makes very little difference to anyone not making applications in which high speed is very crucial. Sometimes languages that seem slower can actually do some things FASTER. Python for instance is considered slow usually, however it has some highly optimized mathematical libaries that can be tweaked to run at speeds approaching C++.

    This does not sufficiently answer the questions I asked however.
  18. Downvote
    Prometheus98876 got a reaction from Xall in Looking for a business partner in hi-tech   
    This is the first I have ever heard of this "Pliant" programming language. The main site will not work for me right now, and the other sites I can find give me precious little information. What is so great about this language and why would anyone care so much? What about it justifies setting up a business around it? Historically, this sort of thing has been tried : But it has been proven time and time again that it generally doesnt work.

    Programming languages are themselves generally not what makes profit, what makes profit is the great software which can be profitably made with them. What is it about Pliant that lets you do this?

    " This is a little like Rearden Metal -- it is very versatile but its benefits will become clear once a business is setup with a real client." - if you mean it is superficially like Rearden Metal - then sure. Both are things which were claimed to have a lot of promise, even though not everyone sees why or buys into it. Except Rearden Metal clearly shows promise upon examination by a rational and informed person. I am not sure that this is the case here.
  19. Downvote
    Prometheus98876 got a reaction from ropoctl2 in Looking for a business partner in hi-tech   
    This is the first I have ever heard of this "Pliant" programming language. The main site will not work for me right now, and the other sites I can find give me precious little information. What is so great about this language and why would anyone care so much? What about it justifies setting up a business around it? Historically, this sort of thing has been tried : But it has been proven time and time again that it generally doesnt work.

    Programming languages are themselves generally not what makes profit, what makes profit is the great software which can be profitably made with them. What is it about Pliant that lets you do this?

    " This is a little like Rearden Metal -- it is very versatile but its benefits will become clear once a business is setup with a real client." - if you mean it is superficially like Rearden Metal - then sure. Both are things which were claimed to have a lot of promise, even though not everyone sees why or buys into it. Except Rearden Metal clearly shows promise upon examination by a rational and informed person. I am not sure that this is the case here.
  20. Like
    Prometheus98876 got a reaction from DragonMaci in Electric Universe, Wal Thornhill lecture Quotes David Harriman.   
    No doubt Mr V. was a crackpot, with a lot of theories which can be discredited by a six year old with half a brain. However, as pointed out, not everyone on the team buys into those (largely) insane ideas. Nor is PC and its EU derivative worthy of dismissing just because some adherents do not always recognize crazy theories when they see them. I do not yet know a great deal about PC, however I do think it is interesting and promising enough to at least merit some investigation. Is there much that is very conclusive? Not as far as I am aware of, but I have to respect people like Thornhill for at least knowing that *something* is wrong with modern cosmology and for trying to "fix" it, even if I am so far unsure if they are necceasirly going in the right direction.
  21. Like
    Prometheus98876 got a reaction from DragonMaci in Atlas Shrugged cast   
    What, an intelligent movie based on a complicated and intelligent plot / theme? One without explosions / car chases / shooting / scenes of people sitting around in bars drinking every five minutes? I dont think Hollywood would go for that

    As for "keeping it a period piece" - that is unnecessary. It is not a period piece. Despite the fact that trains and other sort of out-dated things are central to the plot / show up, it is not really a period piece. In fact, it is a "timeless piece" that Ayn Rand said should be read as though it was something that could happen sometime in the future relative to the reader ( say five or ten years down the track ). I think the movie would be best to try to stick to this, even if it means modernizing the movie somewhat. After all, making it a period piece makes it seem less relevant today than to whatever period it was meant to be set in. If there was to be a good movie, it should seem to be something that could be happen in the future, not something that might have happened fifty years ago or something.
  22. Like
    Prometheus98876 reacted to WilliamColton in Atlas Shrugged cast   
    When I say Big Budget, I don't mean in a Transformers sense, but more along the lines of Doctor Zhivago, or any of the old MGM epics. It takes money to make a sweeping, visually striking, well acted film. AS is obviously an epic in every sense of the word. It's sprawling, occurs over many years, contains romance, intrigue, villainy, mystery, philosophy, and yes, action sequences (the gunfight at Rearden's plant would be pretty cool to see).

    Hire a good screenwriter, director, cinematographer, crew, and actors; on-site shooting and studio space, props, set design, wardrobe. To keep it a period piece you'd need to rent hundreds of old cars, build art-deco sets, and do all that good stuff. This would be a huge film crew, and a large supporting crew. We're talking serious money, and this doesn't touch on the salary good actors would be asking.

    Epic is a dirty word in Hollywood these days, and Ayn Rand is downright vile.

    PS: a young Rutger Hauer would have made a great Ragnar.
  23. Like
    Prometheus98876 reacted to Daniellecs in Atlas Shrugged cast   
    A movie doesnt need a big budget in order to be good.
    A movie need a good script, good actors and a good director.
    It seems like no one of these actors could actually act, and no one on the set read Atlas Shrugged.
    This movie was lack of talent, creativity and abilities, which makes me very sad. The person that wrote the script obviously doesnt know how to turn thoughts to actions, picture and sound, he probably have nothing to do to cinema language which makes me sad. I'd love to make my own version one day.

    I think that Javier is sexy enough and it's possible to work on his accent, I don't think it's that bad. In the movie, it's fine to have the slight accent.

    Sam Rockwell... I think he is too young and pretty, to be James. I thought more of alec baldwin =] his lyfe syle and the way he acts could easily suit both James and Guy Francon.

    and you are right, it's Christian BALE. I checked it on IMDB
  24. Like
    Prometheus98876 got a reaction from DragonMaci in Time Travel, Impossible Again!   
    Trying to avoid getting sued for any Grandfather Paradoxes?
  25. Like
    Prometheus98876 got a reaction from DragonMaci in Time Travel, Impossible Again!   
    I am not sure what you are trying to say here. Yeah, obviously both are also relational concepts, but which interference fails as a result?



    Right. It seems to come from confusion between time and distance. Distance relates to an area to which travel is relavent. Time is a relationship between events and "travel" through time makes no sense at all....
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