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Cake day: June 27th, 2023

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  • There’s this dude at the gym who watches netflix on his phone between sets, taking 10+ minute breaks while people wait in line to use the machine.

    I normally try to be charitable about these things. I have no idea if he has some type of fatigue issue or something along those lines justifying the long breaks, right?

    But I need to actively push my thoughts in this direction, in some probably misguided attempt to cultivate kindness within my own life. Truth is there’s just something infuriating about watching a movie while sitting in the building’s only leg extension




  • Hey, Outer Wilds super fan here. Bought the game twice, recommend it to everyone, etc.

    I’ve seen a couple people bounce off the game because of the space flight, which is totally valid! It’s legitimately very difficult, doubly so if it’s your first time doing a zero G type of thing.

    I’ve also seen people thoroughly enjoy the game despite crashing into everything! So that’s possible, too. I wish I knew the secret to making it click, as I think once the story really gets its hooks in you it’s one of the most rewarding experiences out there.

    With all that being said, a couple tips:

    The autopilot let me crash into stuff blocking its path so I gave up on that too.

    Don’t give up on auto pilot! I simply can’t imagine traveling between planets without it.

    You just have to keep in mind that the auto pilot isn’t intelligent. When you activate it, it does exactly three things: it lines you up, it accelerates you, then it slows you down to a stop in front of your destination. You have to watch and be willing to interrupt it if it looks like you’re going to crash into a planet or the sun. You also have to make sure you’re reasonably far away from a planet before activating it in the first place. Once you’re there, keep a close eye on your instruments and just guide the ship in slowly until you can land.

    Even if you don’t have any obstacles, the auto pilot can still rarely result in a crash in certain scenarios where the planet is orbiting directly at you. This is especially prevalent with the twin planets.

    But the game is designed with crashes of all sorts in mind! Make sure to always put your suit on immediately when you first enter it on Timber Hearth. That way you can abandon the ship if necessary. There’s even a working eject button!

    I hope things work out, but best of luck no matter what you end up doing!


  • Nope you got it! Okami by the now shut down Clover Studio. The remaining members from Clover actually founded Platinum Games, the creators of Bayonetta, NieR Automata, and Astral Chain.

    Playing Okami you can absolutely feel the essence of their later games in the combat, but the game overall is more Zelda inspired. Absolutely delightful title, I played it and replayed it on the Wii back in the day. There’s an HD remake available as well, sadly the game is still stuck at 30fps due to technical limitations but very worth grabbing on sale.






  • I myself am a physicist lol, I assure you that we do not believe in our work in the way you suggest. This is why it has been so outlandish and perplexing for you to continually insist that I “believe” in every science themed idea but irrationally hold religion to some even higher standard. I’m sorry my friend, but I stand by my conclusion that you have simply made some mistakes along the way while learning about all of this. It happens to all of us, the important thing is having a willingness to reexamine.

    But yes, many of the hypotheses regarding ‘before’ the big bang etc. are currently on the same level as the hypothesis of a god (or prime mover). As I have continually affirmed over the course of our discussion that is all correct and definitionally compatible with atheism and the scientific method. I think perhaps we have reached the end of what we can discuss, unless you are willing to take into consideration how the scientific community actually thinks, rather than trying to insist they use your personal definitions of their words


  • Sure, and so as an atheist and an otherwise “scientific person”, I do accept that god is a valid hypothesis. And I will remain an atheist until any evidence pops up to support that hypothesis.

    At some point I think you may have gotten confused by terminology. It is indeed similar to various other scientific ideas, which are believed only after being tested. You do not accept every hypothesis as being the truth until proven otherwise. That is the essential difference between conducting science and exercising one’s imagination.



  • Yes, really! I endorse Azimir’s explanation fully.

    To potentially address some confusion:

    If you said there are no gods, that would be a claim that requires proof. You would then have the burden of proving that there are no gods. Exceptionally difficult, as one could be hiding anywhere.

    If you claim there is at least one god, then you have the burden of proving that.

    Where would you land if you believed neither claim could be proven? Well, it turns out, you could actually be either an atheist or a theist! All we have learned so far is that you are agnostic.

    This is where the story ends for the agnostic atheist. They have no reason to believe either claim, and therefore they do not believe there is at least one god, and therefore they are an atheist.

    The agnostic theist however has additional work they must perform in order to become a theist from this position. They must believe in at least one god to be a theist, but they have no evidence that would compel such a belief. So they must take it on faith.

    This leads to additional questions such as: is faith a good reason to believe in things? Can’t you use faith to believe in literally anything, thereby making it useless?

    This is generally why the atheist is involuntarily forced to withhold belief. I phrase it that way because often people forget how beliefs work, they are compulsions. They can’t choose to look past these thoughts and believe in a god any more than you could choose to set aside your better judgement and believe, and I mean really believe, in unicorns.

    I understand if you also can’t choose not to be offended by the unicorn comparison, btw. I didn’t like hearing it the first time when I was young and involved with the church. It made me think “surely that’s a step too far, and these two concepts are incomparable. Billions of people worship, they can’t all be that wrong”. It inspired me to go look and see what all of my fellow religious people had to offer in that regard. And to be honest, I still love hearing from them, but the truth is so far nobody has any evidence whatsoever. Most religious people themselves will even admit that. So it really does just come down to faith in the end.


  • The overwhelming majority of atheists are agnostic. Actually I cannot say I have ever once heard of a gnostic atheist, i.e. someone who would want to “prove no gods exist”. You (and afaict, all atheists) agree that that would be absurd, because for all we know some god is hiding under a rock somewhere. We can’t claim certainty until we’ve checked under every rock.

    Agnostic atheism is where people generally land when they realize that none of the theists have found anything, either. Why believe in something prior to the point of there being any valid reason for the belief?

    To further illustrate, do you believe in unicorns? No, right? Does that mean you say you can prove there aren’t any? Also no, right? Same situation with agnostic atheists.

    Sorry if I’m over-explaining, it’s a commonly misunderstood topic


  • I was unemployed for a bit, and also underemployed at various points in my life

    Hiking/running/swimming is a great way to pass time. Looking for new spots to do these things, taking note of nearby restaurants and other things. Planning larger trips based on what I find. Sometimes just setting aside an hour for no purpose other than to walk by some shops or other parts of town I’m not familiar with.

    Volunteering is good and also can help when applying for jobs just by the merit of giving you something to fill the time with. I’ve done trail cleanups, tabling, soup kitchen type stuff. Did some work with a mental health hotline.

    It really all depends on your circumstances and what you want to get out of your time moving forward, you know?