Guest posts by Astrocyte

157

Prisoner's Dilemma / Re: Prisoner's Dilemma - Rules

« on: May 17, 2011, 06:58:09 pm »

I have a question that's probably stupid. If I'm reading the rules right (I might not be), we're fighting through the brackets as individuals... but the finals will be fought between the top teams, and the winner of the event is the winning team. So how exactly does that work?

158

Competitions / Re: Voting: Team Card Design PvP!

« on: May 17, 2011, 02:04:15 am »

The Sapphire Ox models the raw momentum'd force you'd expect from Gravity. Quick and easy damage, but set so that it can never last. This thing can be used in a variety of situations. One last shot for quick wins, or a means to balance out falling hp levels. This thing can do whatever you need to, and to top it off, it's as easy to destroy as any other card!

Plus it uses Charging Bull as its card art. 

(For folks who don't recognize it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charging_Bull )

159

General Discussion / Re: Just got my first Nymph!

« on: May 16, 2011, 01:25:35 pm »

Just got my first after about 3 months! Welcome to the deck, nymph!

160

Prisoner's Dilemma / Re: Prisoner's Dilemma #1 - Sign-Up!

« on: May 14, 2011, 12:36:42 pm »

GET ME OUTTA HERE, WARDEN! I'm about to shiv some fools play a nice forum event.

Astrocyte (forum/chat)
MatsuTsuko (IGN)

161

Trio & Quartet / Re: Skyfall - innovative & incredibly funny PvP Rush / T50 grinder

« on: May 13, 2011, 08:29:45 pm »

This looks downright evil ... I love it!

162

Philosophy / Re: Concepts

« on: May 13, 2011, 08:27:16 pm »

I'd say that luck is how we choose to recognize the effects of probability. "Good luck" is the conscious recognition of probability outcomes that have positive effects on us, or the attribution of such outcomes to probability alone (regardless of whether that's correct -- how many people do you know who try to shrug off compliments, or claim helplessness, by invoking luck). "Bad luck" is the same regarding negative effects. If we ignore the role of probability, or misattribute its role to something different, we don't recognize any luck at all.

Of course, if we were all omniscient, there wouldn't be nearly as much room for the idea of luck -- but we're not, we don't know all the events that lead up to all the things that happen in our lives. But we do often know the general odds of something happening or not happening, and we can label happenings as "luck."

Example 1: you could say it was "good luck" that caused you to be accepted into a very selective college. It's certainly possible that an admissions officer used a random number generator to select your application and admit you, but it's more likely that the person read your application (the product of your personal efforts), judged it to be worthy, and recommended you for acceptance. Whatever happened, you have no way of knowing exactly what it was, so you can choose to call it "good luck" if you wish.
Example 2: You have exercised, eaten healthily, and lived in a clean environment all your life. Now you have cancer. The doctors can't tell you what caused it (something you did, something you didn't do, some genetic predisposition that would have screwed you over no matter what, magic, voodoo, ancient curse, whatever). Because you have no information on how it happened, the only descriptive explanation you have left (insufficient as it may be) is "bad luck."

(Not at all presenting this as a complete theory, just throwing it all out there.)

163

Off-Topic Discussions / Re: POST YOUR EPIC XTH POST HERE!

« on: May 13, 2011, 08:11:57 pm »

   
This is my 100th post!   

164

Religion / Re: Does anyone have a strong argument against God?

« on: May 13, 2011, 08:09:27 pm »

There's always the possibility that God is either omnipotent and not omniscient, or omniscient and not omnipotent. No matter how offensive this may seem (I am Christian, though loosely), it's a possibility that has yet to be disproven. If he is omnsicient and not omnipotent, then he could know that although he can't create a perfect world, he is trying to create the best to his ability. If he is omnipotent and not omniscient, he is rather like a scientist, who made a universe to study it and learn about his own potential. This has been on the back of my mind for awhile, actually. I'm just curious to see if my opinion has merit.

A number of religious (and antireligious) thinkers have written about this, actually.

Similarly, a few religions also embrace the idea that God has been learning and growing along with mankind, or that God is slowly revealing his full truth and power piece by piece.

165

Politics / Re: Obama Send Mexico Aid, Snubs Texas

« on: May 13, 2011, 07:29:36 pm »

1) "In a theoretical free society, all individuals act voluntarily." Does this not sound like freedom? If not then what definition of freedom are you using for it is certainly foreign to both Ron Paul and me. I do not see how involuntary action can be a necessary part of freedom.

Permitting all individuals to act voluntarily does not mean that all are free. Voluntary individual actions can go quite far in curtailing other individuals' freedom. If this idea is foreign to both Ron Paul and you, so be it.

A possible place to take a "What is freedom?" discussion:
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,25821.0.html
(not trying to sidestep, I take responsibility for my part in yanking this thread off the rails  )

166

Politics / Re: Obama Send Mexico Aid, Snubs Texas

« on: May 13, 2011, 07:04:46 pm »

This demonstrates that you misunderstood Ron Paul like so many people do.
Ron Paul's position on natural disasters:
No money should be forcibly extracted from the taxpayers to be given to the victims of natural disasters.
AND
Everyone, would you please volunteer to give money to those victims?

I understand his position perfectly well. I simply disagree with it.

167

Politics / Re: Obama Send Mexico Aid, Snubs Texas

« on: May 13, 2011, 06:40:43 pm »

"Do you think everyone should just be responsible for themselves and if a flood washes your house away no FEMA?" the viewer asked via email. "Sink or swim?"

"I think that's the way a free society works and that's what the Constitution mandates," Paul replied.

This is not what "free society" means; this is closer to "anarchy" than "freedom." It's not in the public interest (in terms of economics, public health, and crime/safety, at the very least) to leave people to fend for themselves after a natural disaster.

168

Humor / Re: The Troll Council

« on: May 13, 2011, 05:27:16 pm »

I shall present to you the most epic quotes in the trollniverse

"Anything too hard in life is not worth doing. Remember that... like snowboarding... and martial arts... and pottery, or um, math. Point is, if you're not immediately good at something, why do it. Right?" - Coach McGuirk