Do you believe?

[Mordrak]

@AaronSofaer

You misunderstand my goal in this post.

If nothing else, it allows me to compare and contrast between this and other boards / web communities I am a part of, to whom I have also asked this question.

As to why I didn’t put it in P&R… shrug This thread is, to me, neither politics nor religion. If we disagree, that’s fine.

Please don’t turn into Dirt.*

*No offense intended Dirt.

@AaronSofaer

We’re a hell of a lot more diverse, fonder of brevity, and more apt to quip rather than respond seriously than any other community I’m part of.

The forum for Israeli gamers turned this question into an argument of religious beliefs within Judaism, for instance, without nearly a single quip.

All in all, a solid win for QT3.

I really don’t understand how this is a win for QT3. You take a forum, comprised of people whose existence is largely defined by anger and violence directed at their deeply intertwined political, ethnic, and religious identity, and ask them a philosophical question, they are going to focus on that experience. I don’t think that’s a loss for them, but just a natural inclination to express their concerns.

[AaronSofaer]

I’d like to think I remain in contact with the remaining vistages of my sanity, thank you.

[Bill_Dungsroman]

@Mordrak

You take a forum, comprised of people whose existence is largely defined by anger and violence directed at their deeply intertwined political, ethnic, and religious identity

What the fuck?

[Mordrak]

@Bill_Dungsroman

What the fuck?

Huh? That’s what happens when I write poorly. The forum in that sentence is the forum for Israeli gamers, not QT3. However, if you are aware of that already and are still unsure what I mean, please rephrase the question so that it is more specific. :)

[Bill_Dungsroman]

OK no, sorry. I thought you meant here. We ain’t perfect beings of light by any means, but DAYUM.

[shift6]

@Bill_Dungsroman

I suppose I deserve that after lumping you in with DeepT. I actually meant you often act as a lightning rod for religious argument in P&R - for better or worse. I didn’t mean to say you make train wrecks out of threads with your dogma.

True I do get hot under the collar in very specific situations, but I think I’ve made pretty large strides in toning it down (although still with the occasional freakout). I let sharp sarcasm do all the cutting now. ;)

I failed to mention it before, but I have another belief. I believe that Psychobilly Freakout is the least fun song in GH2. Most of the other songs I don’t mind getting 4 stars and playing again to try and get 5, because the song is fun. Even Jordan is pretty fun once you’re into the song. But PF? Fucking yawn. Seriously. And damnit I’m not going to 5-star all of hard without it. grumble grumble

[Kareem]

I believe in using double spacing in Word to make it seem like I have more to say than I actually do.

[Enidigm]

Do i believe what?

[Ben_Sones]

[Hawkeye_Fierce]

[URL=“http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=820”]

[awdougherty]

@Roger_Wong

When I was about 12, I worked out that it was less risky to spend a small amount of time to believe and find out later I was wrong, than it was to not believe and spend a whole lot of time later finding out I was wrong.

But try as I might, I couldn’t wholly believe.

I think this was Descartes’ position as well (maybe not Descartes). Basically he made a 2x2 grid. On the left side, he put GOD/NO GOD. On top he put BELIEVE/DON’T BELIEVE. You only lose if you don’t believe and there is a God. You can’t “lose” if you believe.

As for me, I believe in God, not sure what I believe about Jesus, I believe people are meant to keep falling in love as they go through life and move on as things change (which is weird because I’m married), I believe that poor people often vote against their best interests, I believe in alien life in the universe and that humans will never encounter it, I believe I need to get back in shape, and there are a lot of topics where I haven’t figured out what I believe.

[Mordrak]

@awdougherty

I think this was Descartes’ position as well (maybe not Descartes). Basically he made a 2x2 grid. On the left side, he put GOD/NO GOD. On top he put BELIEVE/DON’T BELIEVE. You only lose if you don’t believe and there is a God. You can’t “lose” if you believe.

I don’t know if that’s how Pascal did it, but this position is usually described as Pascal’s Wager.

[awdougherty]

Pascal, not Descartes. Thank you.

[divedivedive]

Yep - one of my philosophy professors called it Pascal’s Cover Your Ass Theorem.

[DeepT]

@Mordrak

I don’t know if that’s how Pascal did it, but this position is usually described as Pascal’s Wager.

You can’t control ‘faith’ like that. It is not a hat you can choose to put on or not.

If you do not actually beleive in god, but go to church and do all the motions of the truly faithful, you still do not actually beleive in god and thus you still lose.

You can’t really ‘cover your ass’, because the only one you would be fooling is yourself.