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adriantc

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Everything posted by adriantc

  1. "nobody cannot disprove" != "Anyone can prove the existence of God" It's simply logic. For example - when you have a car parked in front of you and you say: "nobody can disprove that this car is mine" it doesn't mean "Anyone can prove this car is mine!". What it does mean is that the statement cannot be confirmed or infirmed. Just because nobody knows the car is mine doesn't mean the car is mine. I say "nobody can disprove that he committed a crime" - it doesn't mean "Anyone can prove he committed a crime". I hope that makes it clear. Both "God does exists" and "God does not exist!" are theories. One is almost impossible. The other is probable. Why is that. Because a theory becomes a fact when you have proof. Of course that is very subjective to what you consider enough proof. The first has little or no proof. Nobody has studied the bones of Jesus or studied his DNA. The religion we have is based on the Bible. And the Bible is just like any other book. What makes it interesting is the fact that millions believe in it. It does not give any proof - it only contains stories which may or may not be true. I can only wonder... What if instead of the Bible there would be Lord Of The Rings. Tolkien made a world very much alive... with a language and a grammar of it's own. What if people though Lord Of The Rings was true. What I want to imply is that a theory becomes a reality when you have proof. I can say "The Earth is flat!" - it is a theory! But as long as I don't have proof it has 0 probability of being true and such it is considered false. Once you go up it becomes improbable, probable, very probable and (if there are tons of evidence) we can consider it true. By making "God exists" a theory you are sailing in shallow waters. Why? Because making it a theory subjects it to a scientific analysis - an analysis from you can't simply win (unless God shows up tomorrow in front of the White House). The evolution theory (considered by most still a theory ONLY because it cannot be studied while it happens... that takes millions and millions of years) makes perfect sense logically and has tons of evidence. As much as the church wants to fit Darwin in the creationist picture it cannot. It must not be allowed. Darwin would have gone mad at such a proposal. He based his theory on evidence, on strict and rigorous observations. The church bases it's theory on a book and words said or unsaid (but surely distorted by the passing of time) of someone (Son of God or not). There is no way to compare creationism to evolution. One has hard proof - the other has nothing. What I wanted to show with the teapot is that I am not in the position of proving you're not right. You have to prove that you are... You can make any claim but it's not my obligation to prove you are wrong. You (as the one who made the claim) have to prove you are right. Do you have any concrete evidence to support your claims? To go further let's say I think God is a giant talking apple. I have just much proof as you do. What I don't have is millions and millions of followers. But am I right. Could you believe God is a giant talking apple. Of course not! You believe God is a bearded fellow just because you were trained to by society, by your parents - a process which has gone for generations. If your parents would have told you that God was a giant talking apple when you were little you would have taken it for granted and believed in it. If you have time and you want to laugh I suggest reading this TRUE story http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ist/?next=/people-places/john.html. It will explain what Arthur C. Clarke wanted to say with: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." What the prime mover of the prime mover is supposed to say is that it's only a matter of wish. You make it the prime mover! The theory of the prime mover suggests everything except the prime mover obeys laws. Only he - the prime mover DOES NOT! Isn't that really convenient. Why explain how life appeared when you can simply say God created it and be done with it! Why explain how the Universe was created when you can blame it on the prime mover and be done with it! In that sense it restricts knowledge because it does not arouse our curiosity!And we are definitely in the Dark Ages. If we were I would have been burn on stake for such abominations... If we were in the Dark Ages the Earth would be the center of the universe. If we were on the Dark Ages the way to help someone ill would be to hope for the best. Reason brings us knowledge. God did not give us medicine or a space suite or a computer. God did not dictate planes for those in his Bible. Men finally understood that he knows nothing and he that he should stop waiting from them to fall from the sky. So he built them all! With his own bare hands and discovered knowledge. And religion DOES NOT answer any big "why?" questions! It has ready made answers. Please tell me the answer to: "Why is there life?"... You'll say "Because God created it in the x day!". That is an answer. It is just as good as an answer as any. Because is does not have proof. It is just a series of meaningless words as long as it doesn't have facts... About the waiting room topic. I remaind you that over 90% of the scientist (the kind of people that truly contribute to society) are atheist. I sure haven't heard so much about the theologists. Whats the point in finding out where life came from if you already know the answer... The ones that contribute the most to society are the ones that understand how important it is. Why take medicines when you know there is a better life in heaven? With this kind of thinking medicine would never cure even a toothache. People how believe in this life and not the other will discover things to prolong life, to make it easier, more interesting, more fun. BECAUSE THEY NEED IT. The others don't - because there is a better life just around the corner! You know I am right; you are simply not ready to face that possibility. PS: My post's quote:
  2. I would like to remain you that 6 months ago some guy from Russia convinced some neighbors that the end of the world was coming and for them to save themselves they should dig holes in the woods and get shelter there. Meanwhile he was taking refuge in a house where is was warm and dry. That story and other like it (also in Russia I think there was a postman or policeman who said he is Jesus and thousands and thousand came to see him) show how fragile the human mind is especially minds with little knowledge and reason. The same with Jesus... he may have been an ordinary men (with some kind of mental disorder)... It may also be possible that all his claims where invented (or at least exaggerated) later by the church to gain the power that finally did keeping the world in darkness of a thousand years. I fail to see what kind of God would stare while they did countless crimes in his name... So I guess what you say is that something to complicated to answer you simply have to call in God. The easy answer to everything. NO! Nobody knows how the Universe was created, but maybe some day, just as we did with other discoveries, we will find out. And on that day people will find something even more complicated and blame it on God because their knowledge does not give them an answer. Just because we don't know (YET) it does not mean God is involved.
  3. 1. It is the sign of atheists... together with the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the Invisible Pink Unicorn is the symbol for atheists. [The Invisible Pink Unicorn] [The Flying Spaghetti Monster] 2. Nobody cannot disprove the existence of God for it's existance does not rely on proof. As such it cannot be proved of disproved, you can only do that when you have proof. In science the lack of evidence is a sign (I have to admit - not a conclusive proof) that you theory is false. Basically it has nothing to support it's claims. To make it clear why nobody can dismiss it I'll use something I've read in Dawkin's book... Bertrand Russell's celestial teapot! Bertrand Russell starts with the idea that in orbit of Mars there is a teapot. The teapot so small that no one can see it with any telescope. Since nobody can see it, nobody can prove it - and since nobody has anything that could possibly see it nobody can really disprove it. So what is there to do? Nothing... Nobody can do anything and although the idea is very absurd you can virtually believe in it because nobody can ever prove you wrong. What this does is to refute the idea that the burden of proof lies upon the sceptic to disprove unfalsifiable claims of religions. The first thing you have to do to become an atheist is to question. There is nothing above that! Question everything and everytime. For an atheist there is nothing revealed, but discovered, there is no belief, there is proof. 3. When I said live life to it's fullest I meant taking every opportunity, see as many places as possible, get as many experiences as possible, learn as much as possible and help as much as possible. Life means enjoying a baby's smile, it's innocence; life may also mean finding happiness in another persons happiness... it has nothing to do with religion. For religion, like it or not, did not create a better world, even when it was in power. Contrary to that - it brought misery and ignorance - it brought a Dark Age for science and knowledge.And that is why I think we have to end religion as it is today. For it restricts knowledge. It gives answers for very BIG question. The theologists know all the answers - the scientist is a lot less proud. He knows but very little. Religion kills curiosity and curiosity is what drives progress. If we do not ask "Why?" we will forever be in a Dark Age. Knowledge and religion is like a light in a dark room. The light of knowledge drives darkness away... And yes I imply that those who are in the "waiting room" cannot cannot be inclined to do their best in building up society. Because this world is only temporary. In the waiting room in the train station or in an airport, do you unpack? Do you feel at home? Doesn't the fact that you only stay for 30 minutes stop you from unpacking, stop from making yourself at home? But it is nothing general. As they may be atheists committing crimes, so there may be religious people enjoying life and having a positive influence over the world. 4. As said in the beginning of the post... the burden of proof relies on those who make the claim. And besides there is no logic to God. Why is the Prime Mover the Prime Mover? What moved the Prime Mover? God has no logic... I can tell you what God is: The most easiest answer to maybe the most difficult question of them all! What you don't understand you place on God's shoulders. It is the answer to all questions. The is the Jolly Joker of all questions. Atheist take nothing for granted. We know very little, but we want to discover more. That is what brought the world out of the Dark Age. The ligt of Knowledge and Reason! I shall end my post with another quote I like: PS: kobra500's quote is as follows (I love it... I can only hope that On my deathbed I'll still remember it): (attributed to Mark Twain... unverified) : I shall add a new quote (confirmed to be Mark's Twain's):
  4. Before going any further I have to admit I am an atheist (see my avatar for details ). Until September I was in doubt; I was afraid to be wrong! Then I read Richard Dawkins 's "The God Delusion" and I decided that I am an atheist (I was no longer afraid to admit it) and there is nothing wrong with it. Now I am proud to call myself an atheist! Many will say "but religion gives us purpose, gives us morals - what happens without them?" I like to think that as an atheist my life has even more meaning and importance. There is no afterlife - everything is here and now, here and now... Death is not only a bump on the road it is a necessity because it brings a closing to existence. So I try to enjoy life as much as I can... more then I did before, because as an atheist it has a whole new meaning - it isn't a waiting room for eternal life, but a fixed amount of time in which we have to do our best to leave something behind. I can't find that quote right now, but I remember that Dawkins wrote in his book that we should enjoy life to the maximum because out of the millions of possible DNA combinations only one came to life and such we should cherish ours. And thinking about our fortune we should become more responsible individuals. So finally acknowledging my atheism made me see the world with different eyes! I guess the fact that I accept that I am alone, that there is no one helping me, playing the cards in my favor gives me strength. We must do our own fortunes, we must fulfill our dreams ourselves... As for the existence of Jesus - I believe He was real... He was as real as you and me - he was flesh and blood. No more no less. He wasn't born by a virgin and He might have not died on the cross. He may have married Mary Magdalene, He may even have had children. Because He was not divine or all powerful or the son of God. For there is no God. Or at least not in the spiritual way. My God represents the laws that govern this world, this universe. My God is physics and math; my God is chemistry and coincidence. They are no bearded fellow, they do not watch us and they do not punish or reward us. But they do have something that God has not... They have proof, they have logic. My God is made out of theories, and experiments the Other is made out of only belief. He exists as long as there is someone believing in Him. However I do not judge those who believe in God. It is their choice. A friend of mine said that if something is useful it should be accepted without question. So if believing in God brings spiritual comfort it should be accepted. As someone believing in the importance of this world I guess I should accept this reasoning too. I shall end my post with a quote:
  5. I haven't been watching Formula 1 recently... Unfortunately it lost all it's appeal to me when Schumacher retired. Although I haven't watched it recently I am sorry that it in so much financial trouble. Formula 1 is truly a dollar burning machine... With the current financial crisis they may have to adapt. But we all have to admit Formula 1 a source of progress. Formula 1 exchanges technology with the aeronautical industry and some of that technology ends up in the cars we drive on the road. Maybe all that progress requires lots and lots of dollars.Thinking about it - Formula 1 on a tight budget - sounds kind of weird. Since it was started it was a competition of luxury, of technology; so with a small budget it's not Formula 1. Formula 1 was always something extravagant - it has a "down to earth" cousin ... the World Rally Championship. Could you imagine a Formula 1 car running on electricity? It would be nice if the last cars on Earth to work with fossil fuels would be Formula 1 cars
  6. The thing is I failed to see any text advertising whatsoever! And I can tell you that during the last 24h I surfed this forum more then I do in a full month... And WOW ... 20 cents... for one day! Congratulations!
  7. Thank you! I don't understand how I didn't see that!
  8. I registered yesterday at Kontera and entered my User ID and color in My Controls... But I have a problem... The website fails (or at least I do) to find any links in any topic (mine or anybody's else). But I have noticed that after it loades the forum it tries to load something from Kontera (in Firefox it says transferring from ....kontera.com). The thing is when it finishes nothing has changed (or I fail to see it). Is it only me? Where are they supposed to be located?
  9. Who is more to blame? Walmart or the shoppers... It easier to say Walmart because you can't really blame one shopper. I think the main blame rests with the shoppers who should have stopped when they saw the men on the floor. Of course there is no way to persecute them and that's why this crime is even worse. This was a collective crime... I wonder when they heard what happened did they stop from their damn shopping? Can they sleep at night thinking they killed a men for some discounts? And yes... Walmart has it's share of the guilt... maybe they should build a booth or something. But would you have though that a bunch of shoppers would act just like a bunch of cattle? That's the question to be answered!
  10. When I tried to order the Logic package it requires me to enter a domain - which I don't have not (yet) want... I just want to keep my old subdomain with my old website running...
  11. Is the new credit system online? I registered to Xisto yesterday, but for some reason I cannot buy a hosting package. Did anyone buy a hosting package or do will still wait for it to be fully working?
  12. I don't know if I should link this tragedy to the economic and financial crisis of the world. Yes people are naturally greedy but when they know terrible days are coming they become like animals... the animals we are. When you know food is scarce and it won't be enough there will be competition for it. Isn't that the motto of capitalism... everyone for itself. What this tragedy shows is that we are very much animals - we may be so called "civilized", but deep at our roots we are the same with the chimps that roam the jungles of Africa. When it becomes a matter of survival there isn't civilization any more, it's me versus him. You will no doubt ask "Is this a matter of survival?"... To someone used to have everything or almost everything and put in the situation of not having it (or even the though of not having it) it becomes a matter of survival. He becomes capable of everything...What is sad is that what happened at Walmart shows how much we live in a fake world with only a coat of civilization. It is in fact an concrete jungle and even though we consider ourself so smart and educated we are still animals. It is terrible to think that even our neighbor, the one you know for years, is capable in a very probable situation to kill you for a discount. I found out recently how big are the discounts (compared to those in my country they are enormous), but nothing should be more important then human life. Imagine what would happen if this society for a reason or another breaks up. If your friend isn't tied up by any moral constraints he will no doubt take your life without much remorse. Even thinking that in some situation I could do the same thing is frightening. Is is terrible that anyone is potentially capable of this.
  13. As somebody said in here the Internet has just hit an all time low... I guess this story tells a lot about the values of people - we should consider this a harsh lesson... And I don't think the website is the first to be blamed here, but it's users. What kind of conscious would you have to watch somebody dieing live. I'm sure most of them though it was a sick joke, but somebody should have called the authorities after his first announcement. If it would have been a joke nobody would have been harmed and he would have only received a fine; instead nobody called until it was too late and the result was tragic.What I fail to understand is why society does not help people with mental problems? Everybody says his sorry he died, but nobody really cares. In some ways those close to him are just as guilty as those who watched that live feed. There must come a time when society reassess it's values and put human life above all other. It's a sad story, but it just shows how low we've come in our so called "civilization".
  14. I have to disagree - I don't think that if you clone somebody who is 60 or 70 years ago when it will be born he will have all the problems of the original... DNA is like a blueprint for the cells... DNA tells them what to do - like a programmer making a piece software. It tells the program what to do. In other words the DNA does not change over the years... the DNA remains the same from the day the sperm met the ovule. It's like a CD - once written it cannot be changed . (as far as I know the only way to alter DNA in living cells is by high radiation, but I am not sure) So if you clone somebody you would get another individual. In theory (at least) there shouldn't be any side effects. Dolly didn't die from natural cases, but because of side effects. But that is because the technology isn't fully developed yet. Maybe in 10 or 20 years there wouldn't be any side effects and the copy would be a perfect copy of the original. There is however a problem with this "time travel by cloning" idea. The is no way to transfer or copy a conscious. We may very well get an exact copy of the original physically, but mentally it's a very different problem. In order to get the same individual mentally the only thing you can now do is subject him to the same life experience as the original. That means reliving his entire life just as the original did. Down to the very little details. You can clone Hitler and he may not be that evil. You can clone Einstein and be an idiot. There are experiences in life that alter our conscious making the original... well... original. Maybe it's the way nature makes sure a copy is just a copy of the original; not the original itself. But in time medicine may evolve to the point where we will know everything about our brains and we will be able to read our thoughts. So we could eventually copy our consciousness, once we know exactly how a neuron functions. That is the only obstacle in our immortality! But what is the point of living if there is no death involved. Life without death is just like good without evil. Still it would be really nice to see how the world will look in a thousand years... If there is a world left
  15. Many people see Obama as some kind of savior, but I think this crisis isn't going to be "fixed"; at least not anytime soon. I like Obama and I hoped he will win the elections since it shows how much the world has changed. At least on the side of tolerance the world has done a huge step foreword. 40 years ago there were buses and toilets separated by skin color and now a black person is president of the USA. But, euphoria aside, things are not looking good for the USA or for the rest of the world. Maybe there are some not ready to admit, but we are in some deep s**t! So why I think Obama can't fix this troubled economy? Because capitalism has one rule that states the following... If the trend is positive it will keep getting "more" positive; if a trend is negative it can only get "more" negative. In other words this problems are only going to get worse as more companies fail, more people will loose their jobs, spending power will lower; less demand -> more bankruptcy -> job loosing and so on... There is of course a bottom to this fall but I thik we are no where near. In fact what we have seen is only theory - on paper. The real massacre is when this crisis hits the real market - and that has just begun. Remember this: THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING! I think there is not much thing Obama can do on the short run. This "bailouts" are only worsening the situation as it will increase inflation and lower the buying power even more. The same situation with lowering the interest... On the short run it helps, but on the long run it will only get things worse. What Obama can do is to make this period shorter or better. But he can't fix this tomorrow or in 2-3 years! Just today I read that Obama's advisers are thinking that by the end of January General Motors (if not helped) will reach bankruptcy. Imagine the jobs lost! The great General Motors falling - I never thought I would live to see this happen... So what is my advice... Get ready for some very rough times!
  16. I have heard some negative voices stating that Addendum gains publicity by using the financial crisis as a backdrop. I have to admit they do it, but why shouldn't they? It is the failure of the current economic system. I don't see Addendum as a "bible" for a revolution as some did. It has problems... the Venus Project sells stuff on their website. And despite the fact that I share their vision I can't agree with their methods. The needed revolution has to take place in our mind, in our values. It's not like tomorrow the world will burn money and we will like happily ever after. Only fools could think that. What we have is an abundance of technology (that does not result in profit) ready to help us if we embrace it... What we have to do is to invest heavily into research. Only by doing so we can create viable technology to fulfill the worlds needs. Food, energy all could be plentiful if only it wouldn't be held back by the "no-profit" idea. That is where the change must take place. Once we are on that road money will begin to have less and less value as scarcity will be no more. It's hard for us to imagine a world without money for we are bound by this faulty economic system. Everyone I tell thinks I'm nuts because I wish the current system would fail. But wasn't Galileo seen the very same way? The system protects itself. A friend of mine was horrified that I enjoyed seeing the world economy going to hell. I am immediately labeled as an anarchist. But I am just the opposite. I won't eat as many candies, or drink as much Coke, or buy a PSP as I just did. But I will live. If at the end of the tunnel there is a better world I think the sacrifice of a generation or two is acceptable. A few days ago I tried to talk with my teacher and my colleges at school about why a gold standard would be a great idea in the context of this troubled economy. While it doesn't bring such an explosion in production it sure brings stability. And most important it brings an end to the credit based economy. What we need is called STABILITY. But they kept saying... no it's not good; it stops production and progress. But what is the use of a currency that has no actual backing. The only value of that paper is the fact that the government acknowledges it and forces everybody to use it. My teacher seems to take for granted the idea that more money=more stuff in the market to buy with the extra money=more prosperity for everybody. But that's not I think. More useless things doesn't mean progress. Forced production in the interest of profit doesn't mean progress! And why do we need such a boom in production for it only brings unwanted self indulgence. I won't say "eat just enough to live", but we have to realize that the production explosion cannot run forever as consumption can't increase forever. Even this artificial consumption based on brainwashing people into buying things they don't need cannot grow forever. A sustainable future requires not explosions and downfalls rather a constant very low increase. That's why change doesn't have to happen in a generation or two but in 10. Because humanity has to grow accustomed to a world based on another value other then money. My best friend - a convinced capitalist asked me what this value would be. Glory, some kind of immortality (not in the physical form, but in the spiritual one). Maybe the people of the future will not value the money brought by an invention, but the invention itself. The inventor won't be known because he got billions and billions of useless paper money or strings of 1 and 0 in a computer, but because he invented something that helped millions of his fellow people. When he will be on his death bed he can truly say he left something behind. Galileo for example will be known hundreds or thousands of years from now on. Maybe as long as humanity exists. He is in a sense immortal. But not because he got rich, but because he had an idea that brought progress. No amount of money can bring you that. The reward of immortality (in the general mind or in the invention itself) is far greater then any amount of money. We just have to make the world understand it. In the hopes I haven't bored you to death I await your comments!
  17. I think it is a great idea. Why not do it globally! I mean 70%+ of Earth's surface is covered with water, our very presence here is possible thanks to water so it would be like a tribute to it. And besides there is a lot of unused space in Google Earth's Earth. Why not put some kind of bubbles (just like they do for the ground) with pictures and, why not underwater panoramic images. And I have to disagree with Echo_of_thunder ... any attempt to spread knowledge, wisdom, to make us aware of the world we live in (and are currently destroying) is worth anything and everything. It may eventually convince us to protect our beloved Earth!
  18. I think Microsoft is going to adapt sooner or later to this new concept in operating systems. And it's only a normal move since more and more people have at least 2 computers. I for one I am struggling with the fact that I always have to keep both of them synchronized. There are programs or plugins that can help, but if a operating system would be designed to be synchronized it would really help me and a lot of people in my situation. I'll take an example .... something that happens to all. You bookmark a website on one computer - what do you do if you need that bookmark on your other computer? There's nothing much you can do on Internet Explorer; on Mozilla Firefox there is a plugin that does just that and recently even more. Just the same with the files from one computer to the other. Fortunately there are specialized software to do that. Mozilla is introducing their cloud concept but it's still in beta - it should give users the ability to synchronize their browser over multiple computers... that is settings, bookmarks, passwords, everything!Another thing that I think is pretty common is the fact that people don't like to have different desktops on different computers. It's something psychological of course... It would be far better if one could synchronize all options from one operating system to another. Same debate with software. Update on one computer and then just synchronize the changes done. Microsoft will be eventually forced to harness the incredible power of the Internet.As a side note - I don't think they will ever give up the "Windows" trademark. Microsoft and Windows are like synonyms so a name change would do a lot of harm!
  19. Before reading any of the following I urge you to watch this movie... It may very much depend on your view of the world, but I am sure it will impress you as much as it did me. If you have seen the first one, don't judge now. I didn't like the first either. So without further discussing I give you Zeitgeist: Addendum -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now that you have seen the movie I would like to start a discussion on it's ideas. I am completely impressed by it's reasoning and although I have to admit that even before watching it I was open to a "moneyless" society I am now convinced that it is actually a viable solution to the sickness of money and capitalism. I find the first part (and specially the second) of the documentary rather dim compared to the rest of it. I was already convinced that money is the root of all evil, but what this documentary clearly shows is why! The most compelling thing of this documentary is the way is shows a society based on materialism is not really going forward. The apparent benefit of competition is, on the long run, a dead end. Cooperation is the key to a brighter future and cooperation cannot be in a society based on profit. In fact money as an object is not evil, but what it encourages is. It encourages profit, which is an expression of greed. A materialistic society is a society of greed, a society which cannot evolve to the next level. Competition is good, but cooperation is far better! As for the "conspiracy" of world banks and corporations it's a thing well known. We all know there are far better alternatives to fossil flues, but the industry blocks any real advances. We all know cancer and HIV can be cured with enough research, but the medicine industry gets a lot more profit from treating an already ill patient. One thing they hate is a cure, what they love is a medicine you have to take every single day! As they say in the documentary that is the evil side of profit! It puts something as useless as money in front of human life and human welfare. There is no way to ignore this conclusion even if you are an enthusiastic capitalist. Fortunate or not this documentary has the advantage of landing right in the middle of one of the (if not the) biggest economic crisis of the world. I know a lot of people will suffer but I can't stop enjoying every point DOW goes down. I know people will suffer, but the ones that will suffer the most are the ones most rich. And maybe, just maybe, after the collapse of the monetary system the world will look forward to a new society.... which brings us to parts 3 and 4 of Zeitgeist: Addendum. [i have put all the hate that I have for this system in one post in this topic] Most of you have seen Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future. Star Trek shows an economy without money, an economy driven by self-improvement. It seems utopic that everybody would live in peace, without war and little crime. Most capitalistic laugh when hearing about Star Trek. But what makes the universe of Star Trek possible and the main idea of Zeitgeist: Addendum is technology. What drives the current world is scarcity. Barter and later money was invented because of scarcity of food, oil... resources in general. Star Trek has the replicator, the real world has wind, solar, wave, geothermal power. Enormous quantities of never depleting energy. And with our other technologies, basic things like food, shelter and clothing will never be a problem for anyone on this planet. Technology ends the age of scarcity and with it the need for money and materialism. Still - a society without money - how will it work? what about rewards? and most of all where will the incentive be? Just imagine a world where everything you need is for free because it is massed produced by machines. Work, or at least 95% of it, will be done by automatic machines. There would be no crime... why to steal when everything is at your disposal. What is to do in such a society where there the future is secure from every point of view? Would you spend 70 or 80 years lying in the sun o would you try to give something to the community, to bring glory to yourself. There is no need for incentive for once tomorrow is secure there is nothing else to do. After watching this documentary a society without money seems a lot more plausible, maybe not in our lifetime or in the next generation, but our grandchildren or their children will look back at our times and study the Dark Ages of civilization. Any way you take it - we are living interesting times; we see history in the making. And maybe it's just the right time for this change... If the materialistic world is to fall, I am going to be one of the those trying to build a better one. The Zeitgeist Movement just gone one more member. Hope others will follow. I hope this will be an interesting discussion! Feel free to criticizes any of it, but keep it decent! PS: The site of the Zeitgeist Movement will be launched on the 10th of Oct!
  20. As far as I know it is possible to hoax a crop circle... I remember seeing a documentary on Discovery Channel (not just once, but a few times) about a group of MIT trying to recreate a crop circle together with the whole array of weird phenomenon related to them. They managed to do it, but they barely had time and they used an explosion (a thing which cannot be used by someone who is trying to hoax a crop circle because of the noise and light involved) to distribute the metallic parts over the filed. But what is more important is the fact that their circle was very simple compared to many of the intricate designs spotted "in the wild". One weird thing I remember is that once they finished the crop circle they tried to shoot some pictures from the air using a helicopter. As they were hovering over the circle suddenly, for no explicable reasons, the helicopter lost power and almost crashed. If it were not created by themselves I'm sure they would have said that the properties of the crop circle were to blame. It might have been some effect of what they did to the field since they bombarded it with microwave... or it may simply have been a technical malfunction of the helicopter. Even if a technical malfunction it serves to show us that not everything unexplainable is unnatural.On the other hand I do believe that we are not alone in the universe - otherwise this would be a very dull place Who knows? Maybe the aliens have some kind of Prime Directive stopping them from landing in front of the White House and they are trying to raise awareness by drawing circles in crops. Maybe they have said something like this: "Let's take that primitive earthlings one step at a time?" And considering our infinite morality and wise use of our technology (see nuclear bomb) I can't blame them at all... Somehow related to this subject I've heard today that they have discovered snow on Mars... Not exactly on the ground, but up 2km in the atmosphere - believe it or not it is snowing on Mars. Who would have guessed! If it is possible to snow on Mars I'm sure it is possible that aliens are drawing art in our crops!
  21. I cannot agree with you... It may be possible that this crisis has been jump started by someone (for financial reasons or maybe for a new world order) but I'm sure it's not Osama Bin Laden and Al Quaeda. If it was triggered by someone it's from within the United States of America. I can't understand why such a thing like this can be blamed on a terrorist group hiding in the mountains (which capabilities have been greatly exaggerated)... But maybe they have infiltrated Wall Street, maybe they control the banks, maybe Bin Laden is taking over the world. Come one guys - this is the American propaganda machine .... and you're not even American. And even if triggered by someone the crisis is not their doing. They only took advantage of the opportunity! Or maybe this crisis isn't faked or triggered by someone with a hidden agenda. Maybe this is the natural way. Why can't you just consider the fact that maybe the capitalistic world has reached a dead end. I hope this is the case! Why can only communism fail? Consider this... For a few decades America has been driven by consume... a wild one. Don't have money - get a loan! Why not spend money that you don't have? For decades the true value of man in America is it's bank account or credit card. In the capitalistic view the only thing that does matter is MONEY. No more true values, the only thing that matters is $. Such a society is doomed... and it will happen sooner or later. It seems it is sooner. Even worse America doesn't produce anything anymore... everything from China is much cheaper! Do you think that the fact that they are getting so fat doesn't say something about the way the consume everything and produce nothing. America is were it is because it sold stuff. The 2 World Wars were gold for the USA... It couldn't have been better! While the rest of the world was bombed to the ground they were producing and selling stuff to everybody. Cities where raised to the ground, industry fell in Europe, but the USA was there ready and able to sell anything for the right amount of money. It is exactly what China does today - but not because the Americans are bombed, but because the Americans are too lazy to work anymore. Too much prosperity for too long. They have grown lazy. And this is the wakeup call - or the beginning of it. I said numerous times on this forum that I believe that America will fall in our life time. Maybe it has begun. The giant is on it's knees... Morbid as it may sound I was happy because of this crisis. It will remind everybody that money is not everything. Just like a house cannot strand without a firm foundation a society cannot stand without it's values. And the core of this society is rotten... Every time I see Las Vegas on TV I am reminded of that fact. It is the symbol of the capitalistic world. What would have Plato said if he saw Las Vegas? Where are the values of his Republic? A city so full of luxury and depravation. Where is the human spirit? Surely not in it's hotels or on the gambling tables. Surely not in the hugely expensive cars and fancy dressings. The capitalistic way at it's finest! Can you honestly say you like the fruit of the capitalistic tree? (The love of) Money is, whether you like it or not, the root of all evil! Could you blame me for hoping to see it fall ? I believe (or I hope) that something of a global (economic) quake happens, something to show the world that the capitalistic way is not the right one. Maybe in the dark days that follow someone will pick up the rests and figure out something better, a bright new system that focuses on the human side rather then on a materialistic one. History shows us that prosperous times end in (big) disasters and from the ashes something greater arises. The next level can only be archived thought an equal downfall. We just have to learn the hard way... Out of the chaos a new, better order shall no doubt raise.
  22. Recently I began jogging in the park just as one of my friends started going to the gym in order to get larger arm muscles. For some reason he believes it is the only sure path to... Girls :-D. He may be right :-) , although I couldn't get him to test the theory ... In that field we both lack some much needed experience :-P ... but thats not why i decide to open this topic.Now we began argueing about which activity is better. It all began once he jogged with me. I noticed that he has absolutly no stamina whatsoever. I know his exercises at the gym aren't designed for stamina, but I didn't expect it to make no difference, at best. So he keeps telling me his arms muscles grew x centimeters and I reply that it is of little use since he looses all that energy in a matter of seconds. His muscles are only for display rather than much use. I also tell him it better to breath fresh air (or at least as fresh as city air could be) then the closed air at the gym.So rather them going on and on with our arguing I decided to ask somebody with more experience which activity is better? Don't forget to mention why you think so...Thank you!
  23. As the aftermath of my review I googled to see what the movie did in the box office regarding its income. Although not a resounding success it seems it has more than covered its expenses. Why do I mention that? Because it seems that depending on X Files I Want To Believe success they may or may not produce another X Files movie! What I find interesting and worth mentioning is the (possible) plot of this new (possible) movie... The new X Files will have the old X Files twist - the twist lost in the current I Want To Believe movie - THE ALIENS. And, as a bonus they will try to take over the world by an invasion on the 22nd of december 2012 (for those not aware of the fact on the 21st of december 2012 the Mayans believee the world is to end). So once again we shall see a true X Files. If the rumor is to come true I am looking forword to the day it is going to be released. Maybe this movie will be the 'final stand' of X Files and shall end happyly the story of Scully and Mulder. Ps: Because of this movie I have decided to start watching the series again!
  24. I am a big fan of X Files (the D drives on both my desktop and my laptop are called X Files in it's honor ) so there was no way I'd miss it. I know it is a bit late, but the movie had it's opening a week ago in my country and I didn't want to simply download it. So here we go... X Files: I Want To Believe is a bit odd for the usual X Files topic - UFO, aliens... Not odd, but different! I knew that before viewing the movie and I was still disappointed at the end. As a believer of the UFO phenomenon (or rather the idea of not being alone in the universe) I expected something at least related with the subject. Instead the story is ... well ... different - in a negative way! If you expect an X Files movie this is not it... You could rent the TV serial or an older movie. So if it's nt typical X Files then what is it? X Files: I Want To Believe is more of a thriller... The story of the movie can be written accurately in a sentence - which again is nothing to be proud of! Mulder and Scully investigate not-related-to-aliens event and discover SPOILER AHEAD Russian doctors doing head transplants!?! Yeah! The story is bad, very bad I may add. It's a shame for the X Files legend! The are some positive parts in X Files: I Want To Believe. The characters get much more detail and they develop much more then the usual X Files style. This movie is more about inner trouble then outer problems. The acting is well above average. David Duchovny does a great job and I can't say less about Gillian Anderson, which I may add looks better then I remember her! Overall if you aren't an X Files fan this movie is about 7-7,5! But if you are one an 8,5 would be fair!
  25. It seems that as we get closer to the date of the experiment people get even more excited and scared... I, for one, don't believe in the theory that the experiment will create a black hole since it is hard to think that with our rather primitive technology and very limited knowledge of the universe we could create such a huge cosmic event. We have to remember that a black hole is a passage in time and space - if we could create one so easily it would mean the universe is very simple and thats simply not true. If it were possible to create a stable worm hole, it's hard to imagine a thing we couldn't do in the universe... As for the experiment itself I think it is a great idea. Even if I don't fully understand what it should do and how it works it's objective is magnificent. There is nothing more exciting and noble then to discover what the universe is made of and how it came to be. I know this experiment costs a huge lot, 5 billion euros to be precise, and it took a few decades to be built so it's success is critical for further research.PS: I'm happy that this experiment is a joint venture of 20 countries. A huge cooperation success. Not to mention the fact that the results are virtually public and shared throwout the world. It's nice to be remembered that, at least in one domain, mankind has been able to put the differences aside. Im sorry for one thing... It would have been nice to have Einstein around to supervise the experiment and workout the results!
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