Giving up Cubing for Lent

[Muesli]

It's uncomfortable for alot of people to have their beliefs probed in this way, and the last thread decended very quickly into flaming. I'd rather that not happen again.

 

[Dene]

I checked up in the simulation argument a little but cannot see where it does fit in here.

So the idea I was getting at in the simulation argument is that, one day we may be able to create living humans, in a computer simulation. We would be God, we could do whatever we wanted to those people. The point I was going to make is that, if we were God in this situation, what would we do? We might play around a lot at the start, but eventually that will get a bit boring. We would become less and less involved, and would prefer to sit and watch on occasion, helping out when we felt like it.

I was just arguing for my view of a God that doesn't interfere all that much.

 

[CubesOfTheWorld]

Lets stop talking about god/buddha/whatever the nevermind you guys are talking about and get back on topic. I would not give cubing up for lent due to forgetting the algorithms

 

[Deleted member 2864]

It's uncomfortable for alot of people to have their beliefs probed in this way, and the last thread decended very quickly into flaming. I'd rather that not happen again.

We've gone 27 pages and no flamewars have begun I think (don't feel like reading all the pages to check, but if there was one, this thread would probably be closed by now).

On topic (seeing as most of my post were pretty off of it...): I'm not giving up cubing, but I'm going to limit my TV time to 1 1/2 hour/week I'm actually doing pretty well. I've probably watched 1 hour this week.

 

[brunson]

I think most of the posts by the main participants here have been civil and respectful. Everyone clamoring to have the thread closed should just move along, clearly there is nothing for you to see here. No one is forcing you to read any of this.

 

[Edmund]

I think most of the posts by the main participants here have been civil and respectful. Everyone clamoring to have the thread closed should just move along, clearly there is nothing for you to see here. No one is forcing you to read any of this.

Agreed. It seems like the most whiney posts are the ones telling the mods to shut down this thread.

 

[qqwref]

This would be a rather nice discussion thread if half the posts weren't people saying the thread is going to collapse into a flamewar. You guys can stop, we have already heard it 20 times and it's not gonna happen.

So the idea I was getting at in the simulation argument is that, one day we may be able to create living humans, in a computer simulation. We would be God, we could do whatever we wanted to those people. The point I was going to make is that, if we were God in this situation, what would we do? We might play around a lot at the start, but eventually that will get a bit boring. We would become less and less involved, and would prefer to sit and watch on occasion, helping out when we felt like it.

I was just arguing for my view of a God that doesn't interfere all that much.

Sure, but you would have other stuff to do than play with your simulation. It doesn't look like God has any other tasks than, y'know, looking after the universe. If you believe the Bible we (as a species) were created in God's image, which means that even if there are aliens out there we'd be the most important, so it's kind of odd to have a non-interfering deity.

Besides - and this is just my interpretation, feel free to correct me - it seems like the Christian God does care about whether people believe in him or not, since those who don't believe/follow his teachings are sent to a place of eternal torment. If God didn't think following his word was important, and he was a "loving god", he wouldn't sentence someone to infinite torment for disobeying it. But if God cares about that, how come:
- God allows so many different religions to exist and fight each other, when the things he wants people to follow are specific and well-defined?
- God doesn't personally appear to a few famous atheists to convince them of his existence? A lot of people don't believe simply because they've never seen any evidence of a supernatural entity, and I think a personal visit would convince a pretty high proportion of nonbelievers.
I guess what I'm saying is that I can't see why a deity who cares about people's beliefs would leave it up to chance. Showing off wouldn't take away any free will, and even if believers with faith are preferred I'd think it would be better to have believers who've seen evidence than disbelievers. It seems illogical to me for the Christian God (if he exists, of course!) to not interfere with things.

 

[MichaelP.]

I am in no way qualified to speak on the topic of religion, because I have not studied it, nor have I looked into evolution farther then the basics, but I would still like to throw what I can onto the table, and I will try and be as respectful as possible on this subject. So for starters, both sides of my family are Jewish, but my dad thinks it's all nonsense. He was raised in a conservative-reformed house, which occasionally went to services. My mom was raised in a very religious house, and both her parents were orthodox. They attended prayer sessions very often, and my grandpa often led the services. Their faith was not passed down onto her strongly, and she's now conservative, and are family is as well. We keep kosher in the house, but when eating out, almost everything is fair game (McDonalds, Fillet Mignon, ext.). I go to sunday school, but a good portion of the time, I get out of it. I personally have sided with my dad in the idea that scientific theory > religion. One of the main reasons for this is that I think religion started with an idea (g-d), and worked their was down to a theory on how that is possible, where as science, gathers the information, the builds it up to an idea. So I find my belief placed in evolution, and the big bang, because I think man came up with the idea of god, loved it, then decided to build a backstory. I'm also slightly troubled that without the age of scientific repression, when religion was triumphant, we would be, supposedly 1000 years farther then we are today.

 

[Dene]

qqwref: How do you know God doesn't have other things to do? He might have all sorts of obligations that are out of the scope of our comprehension. If we had simualations as I described, and we were the God, the humans in our computers would wonder what sort of other things we might be doing as God. As it turns out, we are just living out our lives.

The way I see it, life is meant to be a test of faith. God doesn't explicitly show himself as a "test", if you want to put it that way. My guess is that you won't find that answer satisfactory, and I can't really think of much else to say at the moment.

 

[~Phoenix Death~]

...Why are we talking about God and about whatever when the posts asks "What are you giving up for Lent?" Answers like "Nothing/this/that/not the same Religion/ahtiest" are fine. But why are we talking about evolution, God, animals, God's view, and whatever I missed? HOW do you get of topic THIS fast and THIS much?

 

[RyanO]

You've lost control of your thread. Get over it and stop making the same post over and over. Most of us actually seem to be enjoying this discussion.

 

[Innocence]

I'm going to say a few words, just as defence, even though I'm WAY too late.

Look them up and ponder over them.

Irreducible complexity.
General revelation.
Teleological argument.
Every intelligent creation has a creator.
The Star of Bethlehem on dvd.

That will be all for now.

EDIT: Oh, wait. Let's assume God's real, and omnipotent. To all that say the world wasn't created in the literal 7 days, I ask you this: Why wouldn't he? If God is omnipotent in the true sense of the word, why would he not do everything exactly as the Bible says? To say he would use a method as inefficient as the big bang is ridiculous.

Omnipotent>Outside time.

 

[Ton]

I'm giving up cubing for lent.
...
...
STARTING AFTER THE CALTECH COMPETITION!
What about u?
What are YOU giving up for lent?

First I respect your dedication, to me this has only purpose if you actually use this time to pray instead of cube.

To me there are a lot of things beside cubing -the smallest part- that waste my time, like watch TV , gaming , browsing the internet

If I was you I would select the thing that uses the most time

 

[RyanO]

Irreducible complexity.

Psuedoscience.

General revelation.

Possible argument for a God, but a pathetic argument for a Christian God.

Teleological argument.

See above.

EDIT: Oh, wait. Let's assume God's real, and omnipotent. To all that say the world wasn't created in the literal 7 days, I ask you this: Why wouldn't he? If God is omnipotent in the true sense of the word, why would he not do everything exactly as the Bible says? To say he would use a method as inefficient as the big bang is ridiculous.

Omnipotent>Outside time.

Lol, just lol.

EDIT*
Sorry for the weird mommentary tripple post. My computer lagged up and apparently the refresh button is not my friend.

 

[Innocence]

Post enough there?

Pseudoscience

How?

Possivle argument for a God, but a pathetic argument for a Christian God.

Again, why? How on earth could all this have come about by chance?

As above

...you get the drill. Learn some arguing, boy.

Lol

You know quite well I was referring to all the christians, not you.


If anything, consider this: If you are an athiest, and there is a god, you're screwed. If you believe in God, and there isn't a God, what happens?

 

[RyanO]

Irreducible complexity is a theory that is largely rejected by scinetific community. It's a wonder intelligent design proponents still refference this.

As for general revelation, how could observed complexity in nature lead someone to the conclusion that Jesus died on a cross to save us from our sins? I can understand deducing the existence of God from observing nature, but getting from there to Jesus is Lord and savior is quite a leap.

Don't even bring up Pascal's Wager, it's just bad philosophy. If there is a God and he turns out be the Islamic God, you're screwed. This is a really bad argument. If there isn't a God (and therefore no afterlife) you've wasted a large part of the only life you're going to get, congratulations.

 

[Innocence]

Irreducible complexity is a theory that is largely rejected by scinetific community. It's a wonder intelligent design, proponents still refference this.

Largely rejected by the ATHEISTIC scientific community. This thing is a pretty weighted topic, and the majority usually appears to be dominant.

You're giving me extremely vague answers, obviously intended to pad your argument.

How exactly can you fault the fact that if you take stuff away to a certain point, a system will be disrupted?

As for general revalation, how could observed complexity in nature lead someone to the conclusion that Jesus died on a cross to save us from our sins? I can understand deducing the existence of God from observing nature, but getting from there to Jesus is Lord and savior is quite a leap.

Point taken.

If there isn't a God (and therefore no afterlife) you've wasted a large part of the only life you're going to get, congratulations.

Define "Wasted".

 

[~Phoenix Death~]

I'm giving up cubing for lent.
...
...
STARTING AFTER THE CALTECH COMPETITION!
What about u?
What are YOU giving up for lent?

First I respect your dedication, to me this has only purpose if you actually use this time to pray instead of cube.

To me there are a lot of things beside cubing -the smallest part- that waste my time, like watch TV , gaming , browsing the internet

If I was you I would select the thing that uses the most time

Cubing takes up a lot of my time.

 

[RyanO]

If there isn't a God (and therefore no afterlife) you've wasted a large part of the only life you're going to get, congratulations.

Define "Wasted".

Wasted, as in you've spent your life worshiping the equivalent of the Easter Bunny.

EDIT*

I'm not an athiest. I don't think worshiping God is silly. I'm just trying to show that using Pascal's Wager as a way to defend your beliefs is illogical.

 

[Innocence]

If there isn't a God (and therefore no afterlife) you've wasted a large part of the only life you're going to get, congratulations.

Define "Wasted".

Wasted, as in you've spent your life worshiping the equivalent of the Easter Bunny.

Exactly how does worshipping God result in a lower quality life?