Dear Bisqwit,
How much does one's ego affect on everyday life?
What would change if people were anonymous?
Kind of a strange place to reply to this, but I'll throw in some coins here.
At one point in time, I ran an experiment on my forum (relatively well-behaved, sort of a less technical TASvideos), by making all of the usernames and such "Anonymous". IDs were hidden, there was little that could be done to guess what user was what.
About 99% of the users immediately started acting like complete and total morons. I'm being extremely serious, too -- threads immediately devolved into random crap, the general attitude went to shit... There were about 2 or 3 users (not on staff*) who acted normally.
The experiment was supposed to last for a day, or about 3-4 if it went well. I ended up calling it off within an hour.
As for the answer itself, that is left for somebody else to answer; this is just an interesting footnote on what anonyminity can do to people.
* All of the staff members had "Moderator" as names and acted relatively well. The figures in this post refer only to "normal" users, who all had the name "Anonymous".
About 99% of the users immediately started acting like complete and total morons. I'm being extremely serious, too -- threads immediately devolved into random crap, the general attitude went to shit... There were about 2 or 3 users (not on staff*) who acted normally.
That's disturbing. Just because you're anonymous doesn't give you the right to do whatever the hell you want.
After you restored the settings, were names associated with their posts, so everyone could see who said what?
As for questions...
1) How hard is it to install Linux on a machine? I've only ever used Windows (using a Mac in school doesn't count), and I've always been curious as to how difficult it is to install and maintain a second OS. Is it worth it?
2) How's programming for a job? Does it get monotonous with very similar projects, or is there a lot of variety as to the projects you do?
adelikat wrote:
It started off fairly tame, but as more balls entered the picture it sure got a lot more entertaining.
Joined: 4/25/2004
Posts: 615
Location: The Netherlands
Ok so... yeah. I've been a little reluctant to post this but it seems like nobody else is so I'll just give it a shot.
First of all, I'm a hardcore atheist (ok, maybe a flavour of that aiming toward solipsism, but whatever), just so you know what direction this is coming from. I'm by far unbiased so I won't try talking you out of this myself.
I'm just wondering whether you have some unbiased (RL) friends you can talk to about this step. It seems to me like you're a great coder and know your stuff. Tbh, I've been a little disappointed to learn you're so much into your religion. I wouldn't have guessed that myself before.
Point is, you've got a great thing here. A lot of people would love to have a site with an active userbase. There's so much more potential in TV than the site is at now. This also seems to be something that's up your alley, being a coder and all.
I obviously don't know what you'll do next since you don't seem to know this yourself, but I'm a little afraid you're throwing your current life away for this "mission".
Now, to each his own. If you're really happy doing this then whatever. As far as I'm concerned that's all that matters in life (happiness). But all I'm trying to say is to please talk this move over with somebody that you trust that's not so biased (one way or the other) and not afraid to tell you the truth.
Meh.
That's disturbing. Just because you're anonymous doesn't give you the right to do whatever the hell you want.
After you restored the settings, were names associated with their posts, so everyone could see who said what?
Yes, it is. For the record, all of the usernames reappeared afterwards (partially so that I could go on a tempban spree and reward the users who actually did good).
Another site, SMWCentral, recently did this as well, with predictably awful results. Of course, the userbase there is usually made fun of for being, well, ... less than great.
Joined: 4/25/2004
Posts: 615
Location: The Netherlands
Xkeeper wrote:
At one point in time, I ran an experiment on my forum (relatively well-behaved, sort of a less technical TASvideos), by making all of the usernames and such "Anonymous". IDs were hidden, there was little that could be done to guess what user was what.
...
The experiment was supposed to last for a day, or about 3-4 if it went well. I ended up calling it off within an hour.
I'm a little afraid you're throwing your current life away for this "mission".
That's what it's all about. Jesus always said to give up everything we had to get what we could never get otherwise.
I'm an atheist too, but I've read parts of the Bible (The New Testament is really good, even if you don't believe in all the supernatural stuff; and you know most atheists read supernatural crap like Harry Potter and LotR anyway). And I love seeing people getting "the call of God", they get all that inspiration all of a sudden and start making some important changes in the world or they become amazing artists somehow. :P
...And talking about great artists and callings of God, Caravaggio's "The Calling of Saint Matthew" must be the best painting ever made. (So, yeah, non-atheist people can be very smart and talented too. Kind of shocking, eh?)
You're just fucking stupid, everyone hates you, sorry to tell you the truth. no one likes you, you're someone pretentious and TASes only to be on speed game, but don't have any hope, you won't get there.
...And talking about great artists and callings of God, Caravaggio's "The Calling of Saint Matthew" must be the best painting ever made. (So, yeah, non-atheist people can be very smart and talented too. Kind of shocking, eh?)
I don't think anybody was ever claiming that they couldn't be.
I don't think anybody was ever claiming that they couldn't be.
Not exactly the same, but close:
qFox wrote:
It seems to me like you're a great coder and know your stuff. Tbh, I've been a little disappointed to learn you're so much into your religion.
You're just fucking stupid, everyone hates you, sorry to tell you the truth. no one likes you, you're someone pretentious and TASes only to be on speed game, but don't have any hope, you won't get there.
I don't think anybody was ever claiming that they couldn't be.
Not exactly the same, but close:
qFox wrote:
It seems to me like you're a great coder and know your stuff. Tbh, I've been a little disappointed to learn you're so much into your religion.
That was more of an implication that he was leaving what most people percieve him to excel at (programming, coding) for something religion based, which given that he is considering turning off his server lately, seems to imply that whatever his "God-given job" will be won't involve it.
Which isn't really that close when you think about it.
That was more of an implication that he was leaving what most people percieve him to excel at (programming, coding) for something religion based, which given that he is considering turning off his server lately, seems to imply that whatever his "God-given job" will be won't involve it.
Which isn't really that close when you think about it.
I see. I fail at reading implications.
EDIT: by the way, this is the full quote; hopefully people won't misread it like I did anymore.
qFox wrote:
It seems to me like you're a great coder and know your stuff. Tbh, I've been a little disappointed to learn you're so much into your religion. I wouldn't have guessed that myself before.
You're just fucking stupid, everyone hates you, sorry to tell you the truth. no one likes you, you're someone pretentious and TASes only to be on speed game, but don't have any hope, you won't get there.
EDIT: by the way, this is the full quote; hopefully people won't misread it like I did anymore.
qFox wrote:
It seems to me like you're a great coder and know your stuff. Tbh, I've been a little disappointed to learn you're so much into your religion. I wouldn't have guessed that myself before.
Ah, I didn't see that bit. (Now I feel pretty stupid, considering.)
The entire meaning could change by that, but I'll let qFox fix it rather than try to guess.
When it comes to the area of supernatural beings, if you claim to have a higher understanding of stuff you yourself claim is ununderstandable, that's arrogant.
It's not like you can't get to know Him, too.
Bablo wrote:
How much does one's ego affect on everyday life?
For most people, the perception of oneself in the eyes of others plays a significant part of their behavior.
Apo123 wrote:
1) How hard is it to install Linux on a machine? I've only ever used Windows (using a Mac in school doesn't count), and I've always been curious as to how difficult it is to install and maintain a second OS. Is it worth it?
2) How's programming for a job? Does it get monotonous with very similar projects, or is there a lot of variety as to the projects you do?
1) Depends what you want to accomplish and how much you are ready to learn new. And it of course depends which Linux distribution you install; some have one-click installers (well, almost) whereas some require you to dive in the specifics before it is even installed.
2) It quite depends on where you work at. Both are possibilities.
qFox wrote:
I obviously don't know what you'll do next since you don't seem to know this yourself, but I'm a little afraid you're throwing your current life away for this "mission".
It is indeed true that I'm throwing away something. Or maybe I'm just putting into a loosely closed box. Point being, I'm not burning bridges behind me. I'm not destroying anything I've created. I'm just hurrying up the process of delegating stuff out. I'm not going to vanish from the Internet (at least not anytime soon) and move into a monastery, or sell everything I have and book the next flight to Amboland. I am, however, shifting some priorities. God has showed me a road he wants me to walk, and he walks with me -- but the road is only lit one step at time. And he knows I'm an "always have a plan b" type person, and not being malicious, he doesn't force me to suddenly jump into the unknown, until I'm ready for such decisions. And I want to follow God's will, and for that purpose, having found that TASVideos is an obstacle that takes away from the time that I could dedicate for learning to know God better, I'm relieving myself from TASVideos.
qFox wrote:
I've been a little disappointed to learn you're so much into your religion.
I realize these words sound like nonsense to you all things considered, but I'm not into religion. I oppose religion. Religion is a curse. Faith is a life. There is an important distinction, which is unfortunately lost on people not having that faith.
So as to not sound arrogant again, I'll try to explain the difference.
Biblical faith is companionship with God. You are working with God. Not only to God, but _with_ God. God works with you. God works through you. And he shows his love and might to you, and leads you, as long as you're willing to follow..
Religion is following a set of rituals/routine and/or philosophy. For example, do more good than you do evil. Wear a cross necklace. Visit church every Sunday. Meditate and try to reach some awareness. Read Bible twice through. All of these are rituals and/or philosophies. Such things alone are nothing but death. It is a curse because you may think that you're on a good path, but you have never met God, or you have abandoned him in favor of easy-to-follow rituals.
Xkeeper wrote:
given that he is considering turning off his server lately
I'm not considering that. I just wrote that I want it to be possible for me to do that without inconveniencing lots of people, should it be necessary for whatever purpose.
given that he is considering turning off his server lately
I'm not considering that. I just wrote that I want it to be possible for me to do that without inconveniencing lots of people, should it be necessary for whatever purpose.
I've been a little disappointed to learn you're so much into your religion.
I realize these words sound like nonsense to you all things considered, but I'm not into religion. I oppose religion. Religion is a curse. Faith is a life. There is an important distinction, which is unfortunately lost on people not having that faith.
So you're against religion, yet still have faith in some higher being (that you happen to call just the way christians do) guiding you the way? I seem to be missing something.
/edit > post
given that he is considering turning off his server lately
I'm not considering that. I just wrote that I want it to be possible for me to do that without inconveniencing lots of people, should it be necessary for whatever purpose.
INSERT INTO `mouth` SET `object` = 'foot';
I have never understood that expression.
But tell me, if you have a backup plan of sorts, in whatever area of life, does having that plan actually mean that you're considering actualizing the plan? No, it just means that you're _prepared_ for it, _if_ it ever becomes necessary to actualize it.
But tell me, if you have a backup plan of sorts, in whatever area of life, does having that plan actually mean that you're considering actualizing the plan? No, it just means that you're _prepared_ for it, _if_ it ever becomes necessary to actualize it.
given that he is considering turning off his server lately
I'm not considering that. I just wrote that I want it to be possible for me to do that without inconveniencing lots of people, should it be necessary for whatever purpose.
INSERT INTO `mouth` SET `object` = 'foot';
I have never understood that expression.
put one's foot in it or into it, Informal. to make an embarrassing blunder. Also, put one's foot in or into one's mouth.
I don't necessarily get it either. It's just one of those things that's been around since whenever and has become somewhat common usage.
But tell me, if you have a backup plan of sorts, in whatever area of life, does having that plan actually mean that you're considering actualizing the plan? No, it just means that you're _prepared_ for it, _if_ it ever becomes necessary to actualize it.
, still does not make sense, I blame it on my bad command of English :)
Ok, time to bore you guys with my opinion! :D
I know that no human being can ever know if there's something like a god or there isn't. They can never know, they can only believe in it. No feeling that you ever get can tell you that there is definately a god and no inspiration or anything can. It's all about believing in it or not. Which is basically not your choice! However, you can act as if (you believed in god, or didn't). This isn't lying, this is trying if it works for you. And chances are it will influence your believes. So you have a mini-choice of influencing yourself.
I'll list some pros and cons..
Pro-believe:
- You can make people feel good by being overall optimistic and stuff. This adds to your self confidence and makes people feel safer around you. Very cool.
- Others who share your believes are more likely to want you as their friend.
- You feel good and accepted. Your every-day troubles lose importance.
Con:
- Lots of people will think you're stupid and irrational.
- You have to explicitely dissociate yourself from others who share your basic believes, but proclaim strange ideologies.
- You are easier abusable.
- Consumes some time. (I guess)
Once you start believing it's hard to stop. If somebody has read the Bible, which is something fellow Christians 'like' him for, he doesn't want to get into a situation where it suddenly doesn't matter anymore. If he stopped believing, he'd have read the Bible for nothing. It wouldn't make sense that he went to church every Sunday either.
So to avoid that situation, it's likely that he won't stop believing and also get upset when somebody wants him to (that's basically a threat to him). He'd have to admit that he's wasted some time of his life. And nobody can prove him wrong anyway because there's simply no way because we don't know anything about god.
I've been trying to find some way to achieve the pros without the cons, but haven't found a way yet. A good idea is maybe to make up some own believes that somehow correlate with the believes of the masses a bit. This seems to be exactly what you've done. Evidence (not proof):
Bisqwit wrote:
Biblical faith is companionship with God. You are working with God. Not only to God, but _with_ God. God works with you. God works through you. And he shows his love and might to you, and leads you, as long as you're willing to follow..
I guess that's all very smart of you unless you let yourself be abused by others too much.
What is your opinion on all of this? ^^
Arguably, "putting one's foot into it" is one of the better versions of that phrase (if worse), as it usually has a not-so-subtle refrence to... well, stepping into shit.
Well, if what I wrote, Bisqwit wrote:
But tell me, if you have a backup plan of sorts, in whatever area of life, does having that plan actually mean that you're considering actualizing the plan? No, it just means that you're _prepared_ for it, _if_ it ever becomes necessary to actualize it.
, still does not make sense, I blame it on my bad command of English :)
It makes sense to me:
internal translator wrote:
But tell me, if you have a backup plan, does having that plan actually mean that you're considering putting the plan into action? No, it just means that you're prepared for it, should it become necessary to use it.
It was my misreading that led me to believe that you were planning on shutting it down in x years and leaving entirely, not considering the possiblilty should it become a requirement.
In short, I fucked up again. Shock, awe, etc.
This.
> I know that no human being can ever know if there's something like a god or there isn't.
I naturally disagree on this.
> I guess that's all very smart of you unless you let yourself be abused by others too much.
I suppose you are suggesting that people are abusing me or that I'm letting myself be abused by others? I disagree on that account as well. I'm trying to guess what is it that you mean by abusing -- in what context could it be considered that I'm getting abused? My guess is that you mean that when you are helping people, those people you are helping, are actually abusing you and robbing you from resources, even if completely unintentionally. However, it is my experience that quite contrary to the previous sentence, when you help someone, you feel strengthened and more joyful after the fact than before it. Most teachers can vouch for this in particular: Teaching is the best way to learn; when you manage to induce understanding in someone by something you have spent effort in trying to formulate in an understandable way, you feel greatly rewarded.
EDIT: Oh, I seem to have misread your "unless" as "until". Stupid people union!
Yes, I suppose I can agree on that. There's the concept of "help vampires", for instance. It is also a real possibility to suffer a burn-out if you answer "yes" to every request.
Oh, you can never know, but you can think you know.
If you think you can know, then it's because you believe in something in the first place, but on what basis?
Oh, you can never know, but you can think you know.
If you think you can know, then it's because you believe in something in the first place, but on what basis?
Oh, you seem to be a follower of the "the entire universe might just be an illusion and nothing really exists at all, but you can never know" principle. I'm not willing to go further that path.
(I'm sorry if I skipped an intermediate step or two. I'll explain. You're in effect trying to refute subjective experiences. But subjective experiences are all that we have. Our entire perception of the world is just a subjective experience through our senses. By making subjective experiences in general an issue of doubt, you're in effect doubting the existence of the whole universe.)
Sorry to further derail, but if you have a pretty decent Windows box you can download the free VMWare Player: http://www.vmware.com/products/player/
It lets you run virtual machines inside of windows. Unlike the full version, you can't arbitrarily install new OS'es, and you must rely on "playing" images others have made. Fortunately, there are a ton of them, for example: http://www.thoughtpolice.co.uk/
So far the easiest for me as a total newb was Ubuntu (not surprising since that's pretty much the point). Fun stuff!
On the topic of religion, Bisqwit's delineation of faith and religion is well put and mirrors my thoughts pretty closely. I'd rather deal with an open minded person of faith than a dogmatic atheist any day (I'm solidly in the refuses-to-have-a-solid-belief camp myself)
