starbug1

Nit-picking? What are you doing. I believe you, animals work very hard to stay alive and do accomplish comparatively amazing feats, but still why wouldn't they publish their experiences? How could they just sit on untold amazing stories? Exactly why we are at the top of the food chain, and are proof of natural selection. Are you backing your story or my story here? Precisely. We have more complex brains; therefore, more determinism to live. Is this even relevant? Can animals have a love for life, when there are only a select few species that have this feelings? Pertinence!!!! When does this enter into the question of determinism in animals and humans to stay alive? Suicide bombers are the equivalent of dying for a cause. They don't think there is a more noble way of dying and for them, if it helps me reach salvation, then becoming a suicide bomber is better than life. This has nothing to do saving your life in imminent death situations. Okay, I am done quoting, but as I see it there is no gain on either side of this argument, and you are full of opinions. If you dissect some of your statements you are really proving that yes, humans do have more determinism to live. But that you can't discredit the intelligence of animals. Okay, I get it. You don't want to see logic. All you had to say was Hi, my name is ashennell, and you can't win this argument. I probably would have believed you and backed down. I'm not being offensive, I just don't think this is going anywhere.

think of any survival movie (i know there are dozens), and therein lies your answer. Read any book by a wilderness survivor. (but for the love of merlin, don't bring up Survivor or bad horror movies) When forced into the worst of hardships or solitude (if you are of a healthy mind) you will use common sense of your surroundings to figure out how to stay alive. All else is forgotten but to try to stay alive. This is a trait seen in animals, but not as severely. We are capable of certain complex tasks, we can think, we can use our hands, all of that. Your body will endure great amounts of pain to stay alive. (kinda like that guy who cut his arm off in the Utah canyons) It's that same mechanism that drives hormones in your body to acquire superhuman feats of strenght to save another life. Oh, great example, the movie Cast Away. We will even keep ourselves sane be making a non-sentient being, i.e. a volleyball, into the greatest and most loved companion. Let's see an animal do that. Even our closest ancestors, the primate, don't show such determinitsm traits such as this. Basically, you can literally exhaust, damage, injure your body into near-death conditions just to stay alive. Now, c'mon, and you really think we don't take extreme measures to stay alive. Ok. the one case I can think of that disproves this is in war-time, killing yourself to prevent being tortured by the enemy. Cannibalism is another sticky area. Some will do it to stay alive(including primates and several other animals). But we choose. When one is crazed beyond rational thought, cannibalism is likely. Those with stronger constitutions will die sooner. (Although I'd like to think I would never eat another human being, I have never gone without food for a month ) Am I clear on this or are we still nonchalant about death. "eh, who the hell cares, I really don't want to live and Here, a great story by Richard Connell, maybe you've heard of it, or even seen it... http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/danger.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A7180-2003May2?language=printer Mental fortitude! and his book... http://print.google.com/print?id=EfO4fdFWERgC&pg=PR4&lpg=PR4&dq=between+a+rock+and+a+hard+place&prev=http://print.google.com/print%3Fq%3Dbetween%2Ba%2Brock%2Band%2Ba%2Bhard%2Bplace%26oi%3Dprint&sig=DJtEFQUdFHgErAs-75vbiUNvAJk And believe me, there are plenty and plenty more survival stories and the unbelievable feats of human determinism and strength of mind and body, all just to live this wonderful life; and more than any animal I know of. We beat them in brain mass, language, hobbies,..., and now SURVIVAL! Google it, you'll see.

Thanks you guys, but why is there such a lack of recognition for Red Dwarf? Only bloodhound and Ophiolite mentioned possibly the best comedy/scifi series ever? C'mon, where's Red Dwarf's fans? Ok. I'll settle for this. Even if you don't like it, at least motion that you have either heard of it, or maybe watched it once or twice.

After having tried some eight different avatars and them all being overly complex for the specified size requirements, in frustration I went with the girly heart, not because of the heart, but because of Data; man, how I love Data. How does he achieve that radient glow!

Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth. ~Albert Einstein I'd rather be rich than stupid. --Jack Handy Only in a crowd is one truly alone --IanMalcolm Friends are only friends when it suits them --Cpt. A.J. Rimmer

This is the same premise that Carl Sagan presents in "Contact" through Dr. Ellie's character. She was seen as a crackpot, and look where that accusation ended up!

Carl Sagan has one of the most outstanding imaginations I have ever seen. And for those that didn't like the movie (if thats even possible), you SHOULD NOT be disappointed with the book. At least try reading the pulitzer-prize winning "Cosmos."

I AM NOT BALD!!!!

How common is a creationist in a room of evolutionists? How well is his faith supposed to help him there; he is bound to run away. What's common is ignorance -- this is usually true. I'm under that impression when it comes to the common creationist he is at his limit of thought. He is ignorant and becomes confused when angry. He is angry because he is purposefully blind. He is blind because he automatically assumes he knows everything. This is starting to sound like every teenager I have ever known. And, boy, don't they know everything.

Mokele: you had more guts than I did. I tagged GeminiinimeG with ignorance and looked past it. My laurels to you. so i'm assuming this thread is done with?

So war veterans with only one leg are cyborgs? I think that you have to be at least 40% metal and be oiled every 2 weeks.

True, humans will do almost anything to stay alive, we try with more determinism than any other animal in a life-threatening situation But what can you say for the chronically depressed? With that evolutionary advantage, I believe natural selection and superiority have also given us more problems of live. Naturally, though, we are born to accept life and death.

How so?

Same thing goes for fluorescent lights.

Here is something interesting that, for the most part, disproves the abnormaility of homosexuality. http://www.bidstrup.com/sodomy.htm

found some empirical evidence to disprove starbug1. http://www.solstation.com/stars/earth.htm and one religious site backing this observation: http://www.religioustolerance.org/oldearth1.htm

I'm not sure, but I believe the only force the moon generates on earth is only of enough power to move the tides. To change the length of day by speeding or slowing the earth is beyond the moon's (gravational) capabilities.

the problem is, they give the 'tests' to every individual. Because someone doesn't catch on--or work well--with standardized test, doesn't mean he/she is stupid. A very interesting case is a friend of mine. He reads all the time and is a genius when it comes to politics. He has never been able to pull up a passing grade on the reading sections of some standardized tests. Hm? The basic problem is generalizing. Most tests are to determine your skill level for entry to college. Some of the most exceling students in school usually obtain high grades on these tests, while the average students ( a select few) can get even higher, and even the highest, grades on standardized tests. This almost nearly proves that high school (or some of them) is a social learning experience. A student's interaction in school has a direct affect on his/her learning and fundamentally their grades, which are the only thing most people, including colleges look at. Let's not forget that the majority of geniuses had little social skills and almost always had no success in high school, including tests. But for the average student, there is really nothing that can be more fair. Average=standardized.

Who doesn't? I don't believe that NO ONE doesn't question it, you cant' see the people that do because they are at a desk somewhere trying to figure it out. They aren't the masses on the streets or in schools. This is just such a complicated matter that the people who consider it and can't deal with it, end up going crazy. But you're right, we humans have a desire to only live for the now. Satisfying all of our pleasures. There have been very few people to give up their touch with feeling and reality for a better purpose. except the Buddists. but what do they do for the betterment of society? We do actually progress, as humans. That we die doesn't mean we don't learn from it. Look how advanced civilization has become. On the whole it is an impatiently slow process-to a single person. But then again people have the tendency to believe in oneness, which brings about selfishness and the love for material things. It is much harder to create a life devoted to work, unless you love not having any fun. Not to say work isn't any fun, but it's a question you can't answer, which leads to the question of god and an afterlife--a much more complicated subject. To the people who don't question why we live, it may be that they are looking forward to an afterlife, or believe that god has a purpose for them. This among others are the most common and which also divert the attention of most people from that impossible stymie of a question, "Why am I here." It's one of the reasons religion is here in the first place. It's much easier to forget about why we die, and continue to learn and be intelligent. Then when you die, you can say, "Crap, why did I never think about this! Oh well, at least I didn't waste time trying to find an answer that isn't there. I'll be dead in two minutes anyway." It only sucks for those that two minutes because only then do you realise that no one will remember you (excepting your immediate family) and that you really didn't anything to make a difference or something to be proud of, or even anything worthy of life to begin with. You merely lived. So basically it boils down to faith or feeling content with how many things you have seen in your LONG life. Man, how our brains screw with us.

I have no trouble downloading music from other servers and CD's as long as it's patched through itunes. I've never had trouble with DRM when it's refed through a different computer system.

For just starting algebra and geometry, I would say algebra is the more dull of the two (except for factoring). Geometry is more interesting, and it can be applied to word problems and experiments much more readily.

Hey, starbug here, maybe you've heard of Red Dwarf?? I'm a senior in highschool whose interestes emcompass almost every field of science; likewise, I'm only moderately learned in each subject. I can get down to some major biologizing, I study the periodic table for fun, and I desperately try to learn the math I need for physics since physics isn't a class taught at my school!!

What HAS HAPPENED THEN is our NOW. For example, somewhere in the center of the universe there was a massive collison or the presence of a massive black hole, and while the universe is ultimately eating itself, we don't receive anything from our earth view point. This is an extraordinary gap in time dilation and proper time. We are living billions of years when maybe the universe is disentegrating. And this same process can start in our galaxy; but the thing is, we live in such a great space that time and the speed at which it travels varies greatly everywhere in the universe. That is as simple as I can put it.

...so you're saying that God really isn't exerting force on quarks!