Hurlshort

Dawkins uses an excellent analogy he calls "climbing Mount Improbable". Mount Improbable has a sheer cliff on one side, which is the phenomena that we wish to explain, such as the organ of sight (the eye), which seems almost impossibly difficult to imagine being created out of nothing (represented by the sheer cliff). On the other side of Mount Improbable is a steady, even gradient, whereby, rather than a leap of faith, we can progress slowly, by microscopic improvements, up the slope from ground level. This side represents natural selection, demonstrating how small random changes in this generation can build upon the cumulative best changes of the past, to create the bridge to the phenomena. Does that help? It does, but what about the point of origin? I'm not claiming to go along with the Genesis style of creationism, I'm just questioning how it all began. It is a matter of faith, that we can all agree on. Someone had mentioned that, as a skeptical person, faith just isn't enough to get by on. I can see that. I'm skeptical myself about car salesmen and telemarketers, but when it comes to life and death, I'm a bit more inclined to have faith in something greater than myself. Maybe it won't matter in the end, but I prefer to err on the side of caution. I don't know why that's considered crazy by those without faith, it seems fairly reasonable to me.

I'm still having some trouble understanding natural selection, or rather how it works against the belief of a higher power. Can you elaborate? Great Luther and Galileo quotes, by the way.

Eh, anyone who defines love as a series of chemical reactions in the brain really needs to examine their love life.

Actually I disagree on there is no evidence of intelligent design. Think on this. We have a moon that had propelled us to seek a way to reach it, to motivate us to see what is there. On that moon there just happens to be ice, water that we can use for it is necessary for our survival. Next we have Mars, which just happens to be terraformable and also has a source of water. By the time we get to Mars we will need large amount of metals and ore to continue and Earth is a long ways away. We now have the asteroid belt to get raw materials from. Now by this time we need a more fuel and even more water to do deep space missions. Where do we go? Jupiter and its moons, which one of them has tons of water just happen to be available and the gas giant itself is a good source of fuel if we can collect it. Now is this all coincidence that this happened? Maybe, but I don't believe in coincidence. A Vacuous truth i believe. That is a logical fallacy. Right? I already pointed out what I feel is evidence for Intelligent Design, and no one addressed them.

Just a quick point: evolution DOESN'T mean that life is random; natural selection (to give it its proper name) drives the creation of more appropriate and specialized life. Sorry, I was getting ahead of myself. I suppose the Big Bang Theory might be considered more of a randomization theory, but even that could be set in motion by forces unknown. My "life is random" and "evolution is a fact of life" were not really related to one another, they were just separate thoughts I crammed together.

I like how everyone keeps throwing up flaws in the bible and religion in general as some sort of "proof" that God doesn't exist. Religion and the bible are products of man. Let's look at actual amazing stuff when trying to determine whether a higher power exists. Love Courage Family Reason These are a few things that make me question the suuposed random nature of the universe. Why are we so different than one another? What is the human spirit? Why does my daughter have a personality of her own, instead of just acting exactly like my wife and I? Seriously, I find it hard NOT to believe that there is something greater at work here.

I don't believe that life is random. I believe that evolution is a fact of life. I don't believe evolution disproves the existence of God. I think people who rely strictly on what a religious denomination tells them are being naive. I also think people who dismiss religion as mass hysteria are being naive.

Ok, I got NCAA 08... I started on the Campus Legend mode, which basically lets you create a player and take them through an entire career. You start out in High School playing for the State Championship. It's a pretty fun 4 game tournament, and scouts come out and watch you play. I played well enough to get offers from pretty much every university, although some were 3rd and 4th string offers. I decided to join Rutgers as their second string QB. Practices are actually important now, you have to earn a certain amount of points in practice in order to move up the depth chart. It took me a week and a half to earn the starter spot. I haven't played my first college game yet. One great new feature is that you can fast forward through any plays that you aren't in, and it's super fast, not painful like Madden 07's superstar mode. This means games fly by. I can now play an entire game in about 20 minutes.

Worst. Show. Ever. Which is kinda surprising since its from the same guy that makes Survivor. I agree, but it's like a train wreck, and I can't tear my eyes away from it.

I'm picking up NCAA Football 08 in a few hours for my 360. I visited the EA Sports boards, and I don't think I fit in. I'm trying though. ncaa is da bomb yo.

For a second, I thought Cyberpunk was losing. Then I noticed Bladerunner has 6 votes. Given that Bladerunner and Cyberpunk share quite a few similiarities, I feel comfortable combining them. Hurrah, K3 is still one vote shy.

Um...why do you keep going to the movies then? I mean, fool me once, shame on you, fool me 5 times, shame on me.

Just a suggestion for the person that read "Animal Farm", I highly recommend Mikhail Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita". http://www.amazon.com/Master-Margarita-Mik...v/dp/0679760806 It's considered one of the greatest satire pieces ever written. It's important to note that Bulgakov wrote it during Stalin-era Russia. Bulgakov actually petitioned to leave Russia so that he could further his playwright career, but Stalin personally called him and told him no, he was too valuable to Russian society. This book was suppressed by the USSR until it's collapse, and even then the translation of a satirical work is no easy matter. But the edition I have pointed out does an excellent job in doing so.

Ok, time to do the worst list. 1. Ira (JA2) - super annoying local foisted onto your team at the beginning of the game. I kept waiting for Fidel to whack her. 2. The droid from KotOR, GOTO? He never really made it into my party...why would I want an evil droid from my enemy in my party? 3. The childhood friend who gets killed in NWN2 right away. Maybe she should have listened better. That's all I have now.

This is the grapest thread ever.

Uh, doesn't that mean you forced people who did pay out of their seats?

12 and Holding - I was impressed, very good movie, but also very dark. There was some uncomfortable moments, but I really enjoyed the fat kid's storyline.

Every 360 has the 3 year warranty. It's not something you pay extra for. Anyways, I thought we were looking at next-gen platforms, not PS2's and Gamecubes. There are so many other factors to take into account when comparing last gen consoles to next gen, it's a bit hard to do so. The 360 won the last round of next gen console based mostly on the fact that it was a one horse race for most of the year. The Wii is off to a tremendous start and I think it's shown a smarter business model than either Sony or Microsoft. It won the lottery with the nunchuck system. But the system also appeals to a different audience, so Nintendo really is in a league of their own. The only real competition going on is between the 360 and the PS3, and so far Sony has not done what is necessary to make up for the fact they released a year after the 360.

By then everyone will already have a 360, and M$ wins again! They lost the last round How so?

Wow, I wish I could run LotR Online on those settings. I'd be playing with a slideshow if I did. Still, it runs fairly smoothly for me on the medium settings, and it is a very well done game.

It's kinda neat how all three of these systems offer very different experiences. I wouldn't even say the Wii is in competition with the other two, it's taking family entertainment to an entirely new level. I'd probably vote for it if my child was older. Between the PS3 and the 360, I think the 360 will rule the next year. But it always takes a new platform at least a year to really establish a good game library, and the PS3 might come on strong by the end of 2008.

Jagged Alliance 2 v 1.13 again. It's just awesome. I decided to use the money cheat this time, hire a crack squad, and go straight for Diedrianna. It's been pretty awesome so far, my squad is healling up at the gas station.

If CoD was turn based, and played like JA2, I'd be all over it!

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/803/803659p1.html Screenshots...it looks like Dungeon Siege in space. Was DS2 an improvement over DS1? Eh, my eternal optimism is taking a bit of a blow.

I know I didn't.