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Extremely vocal and condescending vegans and nonreligious people have ruined the public image of all vegans and nonreligious people...

 

To a future vegan and a nonreligious person, this is quite annoying. 

 

Chouta Connoisseur acknowledges the fact that this is a problem relevant to almost all groups, but is merely complaining about the two aforementioned because those happen to affect him.

 

I don't even like considering myself to be part of a "group", for fear that it would stunt my intellectual growth, close my worldview, and make many people see me as sharing qualities with the worst (and, unfortunately, most visible) members of that group. I'll always prefer to define myself by what I think and do rather than by the groups that think and do those things. But so many people insist on shoving me into one box or another, and then forgetting to consider the individual. I become merely a faceless tentacle of that subculture, to them...

 

Best to stay quiet, I suppose. That's what I do, already...  :mellow:

Oh yes, this "New Atheism" thingy is ridiculous. It somehow manages to turn it into another religion. That... doesnt make any sense, but they did.

 

You would probably be fine here in sweden, religion isnt really much of a thing and vegans are. You still have people being loud and annoying about things, but thats life.

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As another nonreligious person, it annoys me when atheist are loud and condescending about religion. Why the heck should it matter to me what anyone else believes? I have no tenant of conversion, and I think that it is only hurting images of atheists if people write books like The War on God. I have absolutely no  solid reason to try to convert someone to atheism, and I see no reason to attack anyone's beliefs. Can't we all just peacefully coexist? Why do we have to find things to fight over?  :(

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The worst is the 'Atheist Church' thing that's set up shop on the East Coast. Online courses to become an "ordained atheist minister"? C'mon, guys. Atheism is just the default state of anyone who doesn't believe in a god. Those people are becoming the zealots that they claim to abhor, and giving a bad name to nonreligious people who just want to exist. I just hope that they remain to be a fringe movement. There's nothing wrong with healthy debate, but a lot of New Atheism's rhetoric is just ad hominem. I'm totally OK with books being written to share opinions and spread intelligent conversation, but it's obvious from mere titles like The God Delusion that the contents of the writing are condescending and will only be conducive to increased enmity from the theistic community, in general. I just wish that everyone would calm down...

 

For anyone who's wondering, my core belief is that the belief system that someone holds is irrelevant. The ultimate measure of a person lies in their actions, not in whatever group they belong to. As far as the actual 'existence of a god' thing goes, I just think there isn't enough information to make a conclusion. 

Exactly, there are other secular religions to join if you really feel like doing that, like Discordianism, Pastafarianism or The Church of Satan. You dont need to turn atheism into one.

 

Richard Dawkins is no different from the people he attacks, he believes completely different things, yes, but he is the exact same thing. 

 

Anyway, the universe may or may not have been created by an intelligent force, it doesnt really matter.

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I opened a thread on a worldbuilding forum for people to talk about how the average person can make a difference in different people's worlds. I was hoping for people to talk about what kinds of charities are in their worlds, or whether there are soup kitchens, or otherwise what unique opportunities to help others exist in the world.

 

Instead, a bunch of people hopped on the cynical bandwagon talking about how it's a meaningless question because no one can make a difference in the world and thus there's no point in talking about the small scale charities possible in the setting.

 

Sigh. I think I'll just stick to the Shard from now on.

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I opened a thread on a worldbuilding forum for people to talk about how the average person can make a difference in different people's worlds. I was hoping for people to talk about what kinds of charities are in their worlds, or whether there are soup kitchens, or otherwise what unique opportunities to help others exist in the world.

Instead, a bunch of people hopped on the cynical bandwagon talking about how it's a meaningless question because no one can make a difference in the world and thus there's no point in talking about the small scale charities possible in the setting.

Sigh. I think I'll just stick to the Shard from now on.

Taken from a worldbuilding perspective, that's a rather naive outlook. As the creator of a world, a writer can know that one person's efforts to make that world a better place are pointless and doomed to failure. This can even be the point of a story. However, the people within the story neither know nor care. They live in that world, they want to improve it, and they are going to try their darnedest to do so. So what if their efforts are small? They're helping those within their area, and those they help will deem their efforts successful.

Not only that, but their assumptions fly in the face of everything we know about human nature. Even if a nuclear war started tomorrow and everyone knew the planet would die within the year, I guarantee you that in the middle of all the looting and unrest, there would be some brave souls who set up soup kitchens and triage stations for the displaced and wounded.

Edited by TwiLyghtSansSparkles
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I opened a thread on a worldbuilding forum for people to talk about how the average person can make a difference in different people's worlds. I was hoping for people to talk about what kinds of charities are in their worlds, or whether there are soup kitchens, or otherwise what unique opportunities to help others exist in the world.

 

Instead, a bunch of people hopped on the cynical bandwagon talking about how it's a meaningless question because no one can make a difference in the world and thus there's no point in talking about the small scale charities possible in the setting.

 

Sigh. I think I'll just stick to the Shard from now on.

 

Or, to take a quote from Angel - "If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do."

 

Basically, if nothing that we do matters on the larger scale, then the only actions we can take that do matter are the ones that impact the people around us.  Why does the grander scale have to be the only measuring stick?  If we help one person, make someone smile, then by at least one person's point of view we've made their world just a little bit better.

 

This is also known as the Starfish Principle:  A child is walking along the beach, throwing stranded starfish back into the water.  Another person walks up and says, "Why are you bothering?  There are thousands of dying starfish on this beach.  You can't possibly make a difference."

 

The child looks down at the starfish in her hand and throws it into the ocean.  "It makes a difference to this one." 

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I opened a thread on a worldbuilding forum for people to talk about how the average person can make a difference in different people's worlds. I was hoping for people to talk about what kinds of charities are in their worlds, or whether there are soup kitchens, or otherwise what unique opportunities to help others exist in the world.

Instead, a bunch of people hopped on the cynical bandwagon talking about how it's a meaningless question because no one can make a difference in the world and thus there's no point in talking about the small scale charities possible in the setting.

Sigh. I think I'll just stick to the Shard from now on.

That's awful. (The reaction, of course, not the question). On the other hand, it offers the perfect excuse to open a thread like that here. ;) I know at least one worldbuilder who would have something to say on the subject

 

EDIT: I hate my autocorrect

Edited by Seonid
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Kaellok, is it an introversion thing? Maybe you need to be more conscious about how you're distributing energy?

Please don't feel guilty. They're your friends. They get you. Guilt just makes everything worse and awful.

*hug*

I'm a natural introvert with strong extrovert tendencies...if that makes sense.  I'm not sure that it does.  I like being by myself, and I like being with friends, but I don't really like people in general.  So I usually end up feeling exhausted after working, even when I don't really do anything.  Random crowds of people are usually not a problem at all, until I have to actually interact with people/strangers in it.

 

And I know I shouldn't feel guilty.  My friends absolutely do know and get me, like you say :)  I just feel like I should have been able to at least send them a text message, or IM, but I just didn't instead.  

 

 

Lame complaint:

 

Last night, we were shopping, and the Bullseye Store had little cups of pomegranate seeds.  Yay!  Pomegranate seeds I don't have to work to pry out of the rind!  Woot!

 

This morning, I open my cup of pomegranate seeds.  Erm, they're not supposed to smell like that.  I gingerly eat one...nope, they're not supposed to taste like that, either.  I have fermenting pomegranate in my fridge.

 

No pomegranate seeds for me.  Tis sad.

 

 

Do you have access to the hot water heater's thermostat?  You may be set to a really low safety setting by default. 

 

Maintenance says that the water is already "scorching" and "working normally."  I don't have access to the thermostat at all.  I stopped by the office on my way home today to complain a third time that the hot water should last at least 15 minutes.  Hopefully they fix it this time :)

 

And no pomegranate seeds?!  That's--that's horrible. 

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I'm a natural introvert with strong extrovert tendencies...if that makes sense.  I'm not sure that it does.  I like being by myself, and I like being with friends, but I don't really like people in general.  So I usually end up feeling exhausted after working, even when I don't really do anything.  Random crowds of people are usually not a problem at all, until I have to actually interact with people/strangers in it.

 

And I know I shouldn't feel guilty.  My friends absolutely do know and get me, like you say :)  I just feel like I should have been able to at least send them a text message, or IM, but I just didn't instead.  

 

 

Maintenance says that the water is already "scorching" and "working normally."  I don't have access to the thermostat at all.  I stopped by the office on my way home today to complain a third time that the hot water should last at least 15 minutes.  Hopefully they fix it this time :)

 

And no pomegranate seeds?!  That's--that's horrible. 

 

Self-care is something that nobody should ever be ashamed of.  If you don't have the spoons, you don't have them.  It's hard sometimes to shoot someone a reassuring message and have that be that - we live in a day of instant communication, and it's not always easy to break off a texted conversation gracefully.  Maybe you could come up with a code for your friends?  Some word or phrase that says, "I'm OK, but I'm not up for any sort of people-interaction, so please don't respond right now."

 

Now I know - next time, just get the whole pomegranate and do the work to get the good stuff.

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So my saga continues. As some of you might remember, I've had an ongoing constant headache that has just now passed the two year mark. This morning, we tried an occipital nerve block (injecting a deadening agent directly into a nerve in my skull essentially). Most painful medical procedure I've experienced, though fortunately short lived (the acute stabbing pain that is). The headache? Not so much as a quiver, and then tonight it spiked. Hence why I'm on the couch at 12:30 writing this instead of sleeping.

Only bright spot is I think I'm going to get approved for short term disability, so if so, I won't have to fight my body and keep trying to work, which has largely been a failed endeavor lately anyways, at least the last couple weeks.

jW

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News stations are blowing up. N Korea is claiming to have tested a hydrogen bomb... This is more powerful then the plutonium bombs they have done in past. This is reported to have happened about 2 hrs ago. Sigh

 

Today's XKCD is relevant to your interests.

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So, here in Poland we have this great charity organization called The Grand Orchestra of Christmas Charity. For one day in January Polish cities, villages, the whole county is flooded with volunteers gathering money that is later used to buy medical equipment for our hospitals. For every donation (even the smallest one) you receive a sticker (see spoiler below). In this one day, this organization gathers millions of złoty (how much they raise: wiki page) and almost everyone you meet on the streets has this heart sticker on them. So, why am I writing about this?

 

In November last year we had elections in Poland, and a certain party won. Now, the government officially condemns this organization, calling it a farce :/ What's worse, the Church has always been against it for some reason... Just like if they were envious because someone else is doing a lot to help those in need... It really ruins my mood to think that there are some people that would criticize Jerzy Owsiak (the director of the Orchestra) for doing so much good :( In response to this negative signals from the government concerning the Orchestra many Poles are going to give them even more money... I hope that this year they'll gather more than ever!

 

 

z8920212AA,WOSP.jpg

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News stations are blowing up. N Korea is claiming to have tested a hydrogen bomb... This is more powerful then the plutonium bombs they have done in past. This is reported to have happened about 2 hrs ago. Sigh

Reports from pretty much everyone that isn't North Korea suggest that it's either not an H-bomb or it's a poorly made H-bomb that didn't work properly.

It does put my tiny gripe that stealth-downvote ninjas seem to have arisen again into perspective though, in light of the possibility of nuclear armageddon, getting downvoted without knowing why seems less important somehow.

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So my saga continues. As some of you might remember, I've had an ongoing constant headache that has just now passed the two year mark. This morning, we tried an occipital nerve block (injecting a deadening agent directly into a nerve in my skull essentially). Most painful medical procedure I've experienced, though fortunately short lived (the acute stabbing pain that is). The headache? Not so much as a quiver, and then tonight it spiked. Hence why I'm on the couch at 12:30 writing this instead of sleeping.

Only bright spot is I think I'm going to get approved for short term disability, so if so, I won't have to fight my body and keep trying to work, which has largely been a failed endeavor lately anyways, at least the last couple weeks.

jW

What's wrong? I'm sorry, BTW.
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What's that term mean exactly? Is it a thread aberveation?

 

Yes!  Webcomic.  http://www.xkcd.com/1626

 

Today's strip really dovetailed into your post.

 

 

 

*Edit - no, I can't make the link work right.  Just click it and delete the random garbage on the end, then it works.

Edited by Kaymyth
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