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Kles wrote:
nfq wrote:
AQwertyZ wrote:
The increase in human knowledge is explained by neither Lamarckian nor Darwinian evolution. It amazes me how so many people equate intelligence with knowledge.
Without knowledge, how intelligent can you be?
Information makes us more intelligent and creates neuro-passageways in the brain that are then passed down from generation to generation via the genes.
Exactly right. Lamarckian evolution is thoroughly wrong in every conceivable way.
Of course, our knowledge is still passed on to the next generation, just not through DNA. It is passed on through books, documents, teachings, and other such things. Nowadays, when someone wants to learn about something, for example our sun, he doesn't have to start from scratch like our ancestors. He can look at scientific documents and read detailed reports that are the results of decades of observation and experimentation. THAT is what is inherited, and THAT is why we know much more today than people did even just 1000 years ago. We are not "intrinsically smarter", just more informed and less superstitious (at least some of us...).
Blublu wrote:
I think you do not understand evolution. I suggest reading a book, or at least a good article, about it before you dismiss it completely.
I haven't bothered to read much about it because I know it's not true.
How can you possibly know it's not true if you don't even know what it is about? Anyway, you should check it out. It's one of the most mind-bogglingly awe-inspiring scientific theory ever made. Really, it's fascinating. Maybe read the book "The blind watchmaker" or any good book about evolution. It's great stuff.
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nfq wrote:
And because there are different human races, in the future all the races have blended into one. But that's it. We won't evolve beyond that, we won't start morphing into elephants or horses.
I think you do not understand evolution. I suggest reading a book, or at least a good article, about it before you dismiss it completely. I really can't blame you for not believing it if you think it's about humans morphing into horses at random moments in time.
I do believe in evolution a little. For example, because we use our brain so much, we will have a bigger brain in the future.
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nfq wrote:
Chamale wrote:
Name a specific animal which COULD NOT have evolved.
dog.
(reversed it becomes: god)
It's funny that you mention dogs, because they are one of the best demonstration of evolution in action. Dogs evolved from wolves into all the little breeds you see today, from the meanest rottweiler to the tiniest poodly ratdog. The mechanism for selection was different, of course, men selected which animals would breed instead of nature, but everything else was exactly the same.
and a brainless evolution couldn't design so many different animals.
Why not? Personal incredulity is not an answer. It has been proven a million times that evolution happens. You could argue that some designer was behind the scenes, directing things, but that designer is not a theory, has no proof, nothing to test, and is also superfluous - not needed. Besides, if you wanted to tackle the question of life in any honest way, you would have to ask the next question. Who created god?
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Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight. The level that was in the demo. It's some sort of fuel processing station or something. You start off outside, go through some rooms, then you empty a giant fuel tank, go inside, crawl through some pipes, take a super duper long elevator ride, then jump onto a flying ship just before it leaves. It completely BLEW ME AWAY because it was so fun and atmospheric and nice. It was also one of the first FPSes I ever played, so that might have helped. Actually, pretty much every level of that game is exquisitely designed. I also really really like the very first level of that game.
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My view on god is this. The universe is mysterious. Very mysterious. It is extremely, deeply, inconceivably mysterious. We humans have been asking these questions since our ancestors started to think. Who are we? Where do we come from? What is the universe? Why is there something instead of nothing? Nowadays we're starting to scratch the surface of some of these questions. We're far, far from getting all the answers. Maybe we never will. But we'll try. But some people have a different idea. They think they can get all the answers from a book. Well, let me say this. The absurd idea that the key to the entire universe can be found in a single book is deeply, deeply, arrogant. The notion of a god that has something to do with us, is an insult to the universe. The thought that the universe was created just for us is unbelievably arrogant. In fact, religion not only insults the universe, it also insults the tireless efforts of countless humans, humans who are scientists of astronomy, geology, biology, and all the other sciences. Since the beginning of science, we have been slowly accumulating knowledge, knowledge that has brought us cellphones, computers, cars, microwave ovens, antibiotics, modern medicine. Religion has brought no such thing. No breakthroughs, no results, nothing. It is useless extra baggage on our society. Looking at the world through the glasses of religion doesn't work. Those glasses are opaque, there's nothing to see. No new knowledge to be found, no understanding.
The universe is far more mysterious and wonderful and beautiful than some god thought up by some loonies in the far past. Really, we shouldn't even be having this discussion. There is simply nothing that indicates that there is a god, and that's the way it is. We need to get out of the sandbox and take responsibility like adults.
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You know you TAS too much when you're driving in real life and come up to a red light, and the thought occurs that you should see if you can drive right across without being hit by another car. If you crashed, you'd just reload and find the correct frame.
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I was going to post Pugsley from (SNES) Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt, but when I checked it seems his max speed is "only" about 4 pixels/frame. That is without any speed enhancing items/environment. Still one of the fastest in that category, I say. Probably not nearly as fast as Sonic (on a straight level ground).
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You know you watch too much Star Trek when you know enough about their advanced technology to be able to take over the universe, were it (the technology) available.
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^
I think i got it now. The paper with the recipe doesn't contain any "more" of anything in any way than the paper with nothing. The difference is simply in how other people react to it. It makes no difference that someone deliberately altered the appearance of it. A person reading the recipe then interprets the paper in his/her own way, actually completely independent of what the author did. It just happens that we have this system of writing that we all use in (roughly) the same way. Thus, the knowledge isn't actually transferred in some "intrinsic" way, the person receiving the message simply interpreted the world in his/her own way, in exactly the same way that she would interpret a blank piece of paper, a rock, or a pair of pants. This same line of thinking could be applied to any other kind of human contact.
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Warp wrote:
If it's not energy, then what is it? Something *was* transmitted, but what? How can you measure it? How can you describe its physical properties?
I guess information or inspiration, do also keep in mind that the same "stuff" is being "transmitted" between humans all the time, in a conversation, through music, etc, and also through the internet. So it's definitely just information, and in some cases, inspiration. It is of course impossible to measure the "amount" of information contained within a message, since it's not a real thing or force, it is only an interpretation. (Interestingly, some people erroneously regard the simplest things to be messages from a higher power, such as vague patterns on a sandwich, the wood patterns on doors, and other such things. This doesn't make the question easier to answer.)
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DarkKobold wrote:
The name of the thread is "Ask a question, get an intelligent answer." Now, I have a 2 part question. The thread title doesn't say "Ask an intelligent question, get an intelligent answer." Therefore, are you required to intelligently answer any ridiculously dumb question I can come up with? And if so, What is the square root of a pizza with cheese, sausage, and anchovies?
1. No, the thread assumes you have an actual question and aren't just trolling for replies. Read the original topic again.
2. 36. (btw this topic isn't supposed to be for stupid questions that don't have anything to do with anything)
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Dacicus wrote:
This may seem like a trivial question, but I've seriously wondered about it many times. The pages and ink used in many of my textbooks have some weird reflective properties that basically make them unreadable if the light source is within a certain distance or at a certain angle to the book. This is quite inconvenient, as you may imagine. Does anyone know why such paper and ink is used?
Do you mean like magazines, or am I misunderstanding? If it's the former, yes, I've actually wondered the same thing. I often have to adjust the page so the light isn't reflected into my eyes, just so I can read the page. I don't know why this reflective quality is desirable, so it would be nice if someone could give a legitimate reply to this question.
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moozooh wrote:
Blublu wrote:
Since no more "ask me" threads are allowed, is it okay if I create a "ask anyone" thread, where anyone can answer questions instead just the one person who created the thread? People could also direct their questions to a specific person if they wanted, but it would mostly be a free-for-all thread.
I've raised that point here. Apparently, nothing prevents you from starting such a topic provided you know how to deal with its inherent problem.
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So I created this thread because of the recent "ask me" threads. This one is a little bit similar, but different in the way that anyone can answer a question instead of just one person. Feel free to ask any question about any topic about anything, but please don't ask a stupid question about nothing, just to get a reply. Sucky and stupid questions should be ignored. What I mean by that is questions that make no sense. "What is the prime number of a pizza" is an example. The question "what is your favorite color" can actually be answered, therefore it is not stupid.
Another thing, since this is an ask anyone thread, you are free to dispute the opinion of anyone else here (i.e. give a different answer), but if you disagree with an opinion of a member, please try to explain explain in a rational and logical manner instead of just saying "you suck". If you say something like that, your input will be regarded as invalid. Thanks!
To answerers:
Please don't answer a question unless you have at least a little knowledge of the subject matter being asked upon, or can at least make an educated guess based on your current knowledge. Do not just make up an answer from nothing, unless of course the question is such that it enables that kind of reply. This is meant to be a topic where someone with a legitimate question can (in theory) get a somewhat legitimate answer. At least I think so, I haven't followed the "ask me" threads very closely.
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Titus Kwok wrote:
theenglishman wrote:
It's the GameCube that sucks at first-person controls.
there was that Turok game that used dual analog... too bad the rest of the game was a steaming pile of buggy crap.
That was an N64 game, wasn't it? It wasn't too bad, in my opinion. What I liked about it was the super-smooth framerate, too bad you couldn't see more than 7 meters in front of you..... still, overall a likable if a little cheesy/stupid game.
If you mean Turok 2 (still N64), then that game sucked, period, because the controls lagged a full half second behind the actions of your character. Thus, the game was unplayable and deserves a score of ZERO. Absolute crap.
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Dear Bisqwit,
Since no more "ask me" threads are allowed, is it okay if I create a "ask anyone" thread, where anyone can answer questions instead just the one person who created the thread? People could also direct their questions to a specific person if they wanted, but it would mostly be a free-for-all thread.
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(this one is really meant to mock Dasrik's ridiculus question)
Dear Fabian,
I believe in science and no god, but science clearly contradicts my belief that the entire universe was created from a giant tree and a huge cow. Please tell me how I am right.
(this one isn't meant to mock anything)
Dear Fabian,
What's your favorite Star Trek: TNG episode? If you can't say a single favorite, just say some episode that you liked a lot or found interesting in some other way.
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There are also USB adapters available for almost any console gamepad. My favorite gamepad is still the NES one, though it doesn't have enough buttons for almost any game these days.
Now that you have a gamepad, try playing "Doukutsu Monogatari" (Cave Story) again. If you haven't played it, you NEED TO. You'll appreciate the game, and your gamepad, a lot. Edit: Well, Cave Story is a Windows game, but judging from your post, you might be using GNU/Linux ... so try using Wine to play it. Or not, it's up to you.
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P.JBoy wrote:
No you shouldn''t, and you forgot change the "I" in "I" to "II"
Only lower case i, and no doubling two i's further. Otherwise, quoting would quickly become a mess. By the way, since there's now a reason to put two i's together in this thread (because it has been talked about), it's no longer iin to do it here. You must do it when there is absolutely _no_ reason to do it. Yes, iin is a new word that is only used to express whether it is "iin" to put two i's together for no reason. Edit: Actually, I now realize what I typed is complete gibberish.
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Ghostbusters? The same Ghostbusters that Angry Video Game Nerd made a movie about? No wonder you didn't finish - that game is impossible to beat. I would actually be careful saying it's non-linear, some people doubt whether this qualifies as a game at all...
For me, a game has to have at least two different endings to be able to qualify as truly "non-linear". Otherwise the non-linearity within the game is really just an illusion that leads you ultimately to the same goal. Of course, the middle point of the game can be non-linear, but if all threads end at the same point, then the game, as a whole, is not linear. Or something like that. I haven't really thought about this, so my reasoning could be flawed.
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JXQ wrote:
Blublu, as the author of those criticisms of Prime 1, you may be surprised to hear that I've played through the game almost twice (couldn't beat Ridley the second time through). It's just not for me.
You're right, that is suprising. I myself never finish a game I don't like, and if I do, I certainly don't play them a second time. So either you are very weird, or you don't hate the game after all and just find those things annoying, but not annoying enough to make you not want to play it. And like has already been said, those things are all better in Metroid Prime 3 except "Artificial Challenge" which is even worse (on Hypermode difficulty, because even regular enemies are basically invincible). And of course the feeling of lonelessness and isolation and exploration has been surgically removed. With an axe.
Edit: Now that I actually read that article, I agree with all of those points, but I still like the game. :P The "Every door looks the same" argument is no longer relevant to me since I know my way around the entire game, except some parts of Phendrana drifts, and I keep mixing some corridors in Magmoor together. And I occasionally get lost in Phazon Mines. But it's all good. (you're not going to like Elysia, where every single room looks exactly and precisely the same).
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Note: I'm not purposely trying to sound condescending, although maybe I do.
Dear Bisqwit,
Bisqwit wrote:
(...) it is my understanding that until the child is old enough to make consciously a choice that they know is not good, they are pure and eligible to get to heaven.
Isn't that be a rather dangerous belief? Earlier in the post, you said you didn't know if this is true, but it's just that there was this mother who murdered her children for precisely this reason. Since she was already going to hell, she believed she was doing a good deed and the best thing for her children, ensuring them an eternity of happiness in heaven by killing them. Even if her children did get to heaven, did she do a good thing or a bad thing?
Dear Bisqwit,
If faith and the real world (ie hard evidence) contradict each other, is it possible the real world is wrong?
Dear Bisqwit,
Do you believe I will literally burn in hell for all eternity, or is hell more of a "symbolic" thing? As far as I know, I'm a good person, yet I believe there is no god. (strong atheism)
No more questions for now.
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I don't know any Metroid Prime 1 haters but if they did exist, why would they want to play Metroid Prime 3?
Anyway, I find most of those points pretty stupid critisism of Metroid Prime 1. Obviously whoever who made them didn't play beyond the opening sequence of the game, otherwise they would realize how much ass the game kicks and how close to perfection it is. Yes, okay, it is not perfect, but it is still pretty damn good.
I like Metroid Prime 3, but it is not as good as 1 because it butchers the classic Metroid Feeling. It basically feels like an FPS with Metroids and some upgrades for your character. The enemies are also just a tad too strong. Especially if you play in Hypermode difficulty, then you might as well never bother to use your pea-shooter because it does no damage whatsoever. You must enter Hyper Mode to be able to do any damage to even the most basic enemy.
