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Hakarmaskannar

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Everything posted by Hakarmaskannar

  1. Anyone got his email address? I'll send him some links
  2. Well, I work in a 'unionised' business in the UK and it definitely is an experience I work hard, trying to improve efficiency and to motivate others. I volunteer to help managers do their jobs when we are short-staffed and generally make things run more smoothly. yet for all that I get less money than those who've been in the job for 10 years and sit on their back-sides all day, as opposed to my 6 years, as all wages are set by union rules. There is no leeway for the company to reward individuals by merit, unfortunately I suppose I could just be equally as lazy and just do enough to get paid at the end of the month-which is the mentality that is engendered in union-membership (even in non closed-shop businesses)but I don't like to do that. Ah well, I suppose I'll learn or leave eventually
  3. I think you might have missed the point that Ms Snow was making when she reminded you that the nature of knowledge is heirarchal. Teachers might use the phrase 'reflect' instead of 'refract' as young kids can infer part of the process from the concepts they have already formed. Then at a later date, when the concept of refraction has been grasped a referance back to the rainbow can be given a more complete identification of the process. Did your treachers tell you that a table is a flat surface to eat off of or a large collection of atomic matter? Both are correct, but acontextually they are different. My (high-school only) physics teacher initially explained to me about atoms and sub-atomic particals as if they where solid spheres so I could grasp the basic mechanics of their interactions before heading into more esoteric knowledge.
  4. Agreed. Hopefully all that hard work will be rewarded with justice in the courts.
  5. My condolences to all those berieved by this tragic event. It's terrible to hear about these tragedies but what also grieves me about these situations, both in the US and here in the UK, is that had the officer been the one left standing over a dead suspect, having killed them in legitimate self-defence, there would be uproar from the human-rights/liberals/left-wingers about improper procedures and use-of-force
  6. Two cats here. One is a blonde(light-ginger) called Dakeyras (after Waylander by David Gemmell) and the other, a is a tabby called Arakasi after the character in the Daughter/Servant/Mistress of the Empire series by Janny Wurts. I also had a female tabby called Cara, from the SoT series, but no longer. Unfortunately my chocolate lab was named by my girlfriend before we met so my dog (bitch) is called 'Faith', though thankfully it's not indicative of my GF's leanings
  7. Welcome to the forums. I'd say that as an atheist and capitalist who values reason you're off to a good start
  8. It depends for me on how the magic is used. In Mr. Eddings' books alot of the magic is based around varioous god-like beings manipulating people's fates (although Sparhawk is still one of my favourite characters) so I'm not as keen on the use of it in that regard. In Mr. Goodkind's books, however, the magic is an intrinsic part of the world and is used as an analogy of technology today. As TG says in an interview,"The important point that some people are completely missing is that magic in my books is made up for a reason. It's created to help illustrate important human themes." And also in answer to a question from a fan (Trenton, NJ): Do you have a fascination with magic outside of your books? Magic shows, or spells and witchcraft and the like? TG: No, and I think that you may be missing a little bit of the point. The point of my writing is how these characters relate to us in terms of their desires, ambitions, and what really matters in their lives, what their fears are, what their hopes are. Magic is one of the elements that they have to deal with much in the way we have to deal with technology. For example, if you have to be somewhere and your car won't start, it's much the same way emotionally as if they have to be somewhere and the magic won't work. The consequences of not being at the place they need to be, is the shared human emotion that I'm dealing with, not the technicalities of why your fuel injection system isn't working this morning. Magic is a new way of looking at emotions that are common to all of us." I think that Mr Pratchett uses magic in a very similar, though far more humourour manner
  9. Peter F. Hamilton-for his 'Night's Dawn' trilogy and his stand-alone works. Arthur C. Clarke-mostly for 2001-3001 but also some of his short stories too.
  10. Thank you: there are a few people I work with who'd probably agree with you on that (at least about me) but they're socialists, so I don't mind too much With all the above posts to read through you seem to have missed a central tenet of Objectivism; namely, that when people say that the unwanted child (for whatever reason it is unwanted) should be allowed to be born and be raised it supposes the question: At who's expense? No-one has the right to take away someone elses' property without their consent, and considering the cost of raising a child the money must come from somewhere- whether it be the mother too scared by 'Public Opinion' to have an abortion, or the tax-payers forced to subsidise welfare payments. If the child is wanted then (hopefully) the parent(s) will take financial and practical responsibility for the childbut if unwanted then the rights of the parent(s) to pursue their own happiness is curtailed due to the time and effort involved in the upbringing. Also, since the mother has a right to her own life, no-one has the right to force her to undergo the pain and discomfort of pregnancy and labour. If a mother decides, objectively, that a child is of such value to her that she is willing to go through with child-bearing then that is one thing. No-one else has that right to make the choice for her-at least, not in a rational society that respects individual rights.
  11. And yet another TG fan makes it to the forums Welcome, and I'm sure you'll find the topics and answers presented on these forums edifying
  12. Just to show you that our UK government can be just as irrational as that in the US- Quoted from -The Times October 11, 2005 Belief in higher power may have been key to mankind’s survival By Lewis Smith SPIRITUALITY and a belief in God may be a result of evolutionary pressure, Lord Winston said yesterday. The Labour peer stepped out of line with mainstream scientific thinking to suggest that religiosity may have a genetic basis. He argued that, in life or death situations, belief can be the key to survival and for this reason has become programmed into human genes. “I take the view, which is quite controversial among scientists, that religious values are worthwhile,” Lord Winston said at The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival. “There may be a selective reason why we have become religious. Evolutionary pressure may have meant it was an advantage to us. My premise is that man was a deeply threatened species from the savannah. I think that having a feeling there’s something above you may have been a powerful help to survival.” The belief in some form of spirituality led, in time, to the development of organised religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam, he said. He dismissed, however, the idea that the identification of a gene that predisposes people to believe in God would get science any closer to answering the question of whether there is a God. It would, though, reduce the gulf that exists between scientific thought and theology because they would cease to be seen as diametric- ally opposed. “My contention is we cannot explain the universe,” he said. “Religion and science are different views of looking at uncertainty. I don’t think they are opposed.” Lord Winston will present his theory in a new book, The Story of God, published later this month, and a three-part television series to be broadcast at Christmas. In them he will contend that “transcendentalism” may help to explain how it was that prehistoric man took on such tasks as building Stonehenge. “My key point is the transcendentalism,” he said. “How is it ancient people took blocks of stone all the way from Wales to dump them at Stonehenge? It can only be explained by the search for transcendentalism. The effort, the sheer exasperation of doing that, must have meant they were driven by something higher than themselves.” The existence of a religiosity gene could have been an important factor in man’s struggle for survival but would by no means have been an over-riding consideration. “It would be a side issue in evolution,” he said after giving a talk to children about the workings of the human body. “If it wasn’t, we would all be wholly religious or wholly unreligious.” He said that there is already some limited evidence to support his ideas, such as the correlation between twins and religiosity even when the twins have been separated since birth. Lord Winston said that research by Dean Hamar, who sparked controversy when he announced the existence of a gene for homosexuality, suggested the existence of a “God gene”. This, he said, is linked to neurotransmitters in the brain that can engender feelings of wellbeing and may be “related to religiosity”. I've quoted whole text as the archives are only available for 7 days. This link takes you to the original piece.
  13. Just a thought, but how are these 'hedonist' eaters/watchers of porn going to get by in life, ie. pay their way? If the answer is that this is what they do in their spare time, but the have successful jobs as well, then I'd reckon it is their choice and not morally wrong if they infringed on no-one else's rights. If the answer is that they live off of Welfare and live parasitical lives at the expense of the tax-payers then it is totally immoral as those taxes are taken from productive individuals who have no choice in the matter. Remember that rational rights include the right to seek after your own happiness but never at the expense of anyone elses rights. I suggest you read Ayn Rand's The Virtue of Selfishness to better understand the difference between rational self-interest and hedonism.
  14. It's true that here in the UK we have little choice about religion being taught, even to the very young. My kids are taught in a (mostly) reasonable school, with good groundings in basics for the main subjects (they teach phonics from the start for reading, thankfully), but are sometimes taught 'good morals' via bible stories that 'teach good values' and proper behaviour. Also, as part of the Autumn(Fall) term cirriculum the kids will be "retelling some of the parables of Jesus through roleplay and written work." I've also voiced concerns to my wife regarding the teaching of 'Respect for the Environment' but since it seems to be limited to giving the kids information about the natural world I'm holding off on getting involved with the faculty until I find any irrational 'respect being touted in the classroom itself Unfortunately, there aren't any options regarding this other than for me to teach my children to think and analyse information for themselves. Hopefully I'll manage that before they're teenagers
  15. It's as moral as being able to sell a spare kidney see hear but with less risk to your health (unless you have an unfortunate accident, so be careful with those zippers ) The only 'moral' problem would be from a determinists' point-of-view, but as DNA doesn't control who we are your friend shouldn't have to worry about any little 'copies' running around. I'm not sure about the US but I know that here in the UK the government has considered, but not yet implemented, a change to the law protecting the identity of anonymous donors. I hope that's not the case with your friend, as having to attend 20 or more 16th birthday parties a month might be a struggle
  16. I play the original Everquest myself on the Bristlebane server...(same name, different channel )
  17. Welcome to the forums I also teach martial arts, though I teach Kempo Ju-Jitsu, and am recently new to these forums. I'll leave it to those more familiar to link to the best bits here, but for some interesting reading I'd recommend ARI Op-Eds to pass the time.
  18. I have heard that you do not need to have watched the 'Firefly' series to catch up with the movie but would it make for a fuller 'experience' of J. Whedon's vision, and a good grounding of the characters' pasts, to check it out beforehand? A friend has the series box-set and has offered to loan it to me but it'll be a tight squeeze to fit watching it in before I see the movie when it comes out in the UK.
  19. Welcome to the boards, DragonMaci. I'm sure you'll find loads to keep you occupied amongst all your course-work and these forums. (Btw, you'll find a few more SoT fans her as well, like myself )
  20. Don't think I come close to that Here's what I got Your Results: 1. Ayn Rand (100%) Click here for info 2. Aristotle (72%) Click here for info 3. Kant (71%) Click here for info 4. Stoics (68%) Click here for info 5. John Stuart Mill (63%) Click here for info 6. Nietzsche (61%) Click here for info 7. Spinoza (57%) Click here for info 8. David Hume (56%) Click here for info 9. Aquinas (55%) Click here for info 10. Cynics (55%) Click here for info 11. Jeremy Bentham (53%) Click here for info 12. St. Augustine (48%) Click here for info 13. Epicureans (43%) Click here for info 14. Plato (43%) Click here for info 15. Jean-Paul Sartre (42%) Click here for info 16. Thomas Hobbes (42%) Click here for info 17. Prescriptivism (39%) Click here for info 18. Ockham (27%) Click here for info 19. Nel Noddings (17%) Click here for info
  21. One of my favourite movies showing a man with determination whilst facing almost insurmountable odds is 'The Shawshank Redemption'. The qualities portrayed by the character, Andy Dufresne, are in stark contrast to the second-handers leeching off of his talent. I also see some similar characteristics to Howard Roark's first court case in FH when Andy is in court and is his own defense as he believes that his logic will outweigh the emotionally-led, circumstantial, 'evidence' of the prosecution. Quote-DA--"And that(the murder weapon never being found) also is very convenient, isn't it, Mr Dufresne?" Andy--"Since I am innocent of this crime I find it decidedly inconvenient that the gun was never found."
  22. Not very current then Just goes to show me how out-of-date the Prison newsletter really is Thanks for the link.
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