Razputin

Hello, I am Raz, and I have automatic dibs on your brain. I am also probably the biggest TF2 fanatic left on this forum filled with Dotards Do you/have you played comp, and if so what class? Proceed carefully, as your answer will directly influence the fate of your thalamus.

Cmon Splosion you are starting to annoy me now. "Average" does not mean "meh". You are simply blessed with a high average happiness. Some people have an average happiness of a 5 out of 10, and others have an 8 out of 10 That personality is affected by genes is a proven fact (twin studies and all that jazz), and the definition of subconscious is that you don't control it (don't think of a pink elephant). The heartbeat control was simply an analogy, and there simply isn't anywhere where such a third factor would come from: if it's not from your genetics, and not from the outside world, where else could it be from? That outside sources influence your choice is basically what I've been saying all the time; everything that defines your choice originates from an outside source through cause-and-effect, and that cause was the effect of a previous cause, and so on and so on until the beginning of the universe. Perhaps I'm just sucky at explaining this; try googling determinism for a better explanation.

Whoops, I read over this one. Well, the mental activity before the actual thought (which is a different, also measurable mental activity) means that your brain has already processed your answer before you actually thought about making it. Essentially, making a decision is as conscious as making your own heart beat. And for the fallacy: your mind is created by your genes and the environment (i.e. how your parents raised you, the information you gather). Both your genes and the environment can be traced back to previous genes and enviroments (your grandparents gave your parents their genes and you got raised by very protective parents because one of them nearly died in a car accident or whatever) and that goes on and on and on and on until the beginning of time. Essentially the universe is one big chain reaction, and you're part of it. If your choice was not predefined through nature and nurture, that would imply a third factor controlled by you without any input from the outside world. What could that possibly be? The answer is there is no third factor, and thus your choices are simply part of the chain reaction of the universe,

Well he was talking about the ups and downs in his life as a counterargument against emotional equilibrium. And if he sees his life as good on average, that means he simply has a pretty high emotional homeostasis. "Being content with your life" is exactly what this is about Something having "an average" does not mean it is bad. You could live with an emotional average of an 8 out of 10 if you're lucky. I'd consider my own average to be about a 7 as well.

It's a touching story Splosion but it really doesn't disprove emotional equilibrium (I actually never heard of this term before but it fits so I'll stick with it) First of all, the theory about happiness being a constant average is based all around homeostasis. And during puberty, your chemical balance goes off the chart and back, hence why teens can be such emotional wrecks. And thus, emotional equilibrium only starts after this period, starting from either 18 or 25 depending on which study you ask. The other exception on the emotional equilibrium by the way are mental afflictions, like depression or bipolar disease, in which this homeostasis doesn't work properly. Second, having good and bad periods in your life is pretty much the point of emotional equilibrium: something good happens, you feel happy for a while, and then slowly go back to your average, and the opposite happens whenever something bad happens. It's all about evolution, really. Imagine someone whose grandfather just died. He loved his grandfather, and thus feels sad. For a month or so he will miss his grandfather, and feel empty inside when he can't go on his weekly visit. But eventually, he picks up on life again. He will still remember his grandfather, but think about him with good memories; "life goes on". Emotional homeostasis just happened, because from the point of evolution, it would be bad if this person kept feeling depressed, and therefore being less motivated to do things. Now, imagine someone who just got married. It is "the happiest day of her life", as you often hear people say. For some time, she is incrediby happy and feels like her life has changed for the better. But slowly and steadily, this "extra happiness" flows away. Being married just becomes a part of life. This doesn't mean she suddenly becomes depressed or something like that, but it means that her happiness has come back to its average level. Again, emotional homeostasis happened, because from the point of evolution, it would be bad if she would keep feeling happy, and therefore have no more reason to improve her life.

There is also something that I should add: I am not mentally healthy. As I've jokingly mentioned before, I am on medication for certain psychological issues. I'll probably get into them a bit further eventually, but in a nutshell I take the "cynical thinking" we've been talking about above to an extreme. So while I do still think people think much too shallow about their lives, you should probably not take it as far as I do

Alright, I think I can reply to this now First of all I want to make clear that I am in no way offended by your post and am not writing this post with any angry intentions. In fact, I am really enjoying writing this, because it gives me a chance to give a proper explanation of my worldview. I'll be honest, I've always found it a bit odd how cheerful you always seem to be, liked by basically everyone and liking basically everyone on these forums. I originally skipped over your whole text because I expected a huge rant about ethics and all that, but it turned out to be much more personal, not judging the action but the outcome. It gave me a much clearer view on who you are and made me think. In a way, you're completely right: why should I critisize everything so much if it makes me unhappy? There's no reason to do so, and I will not act like there is. But I do have some answers. First of all, plainly put, I am not unhappy. Understanding how a car works doesn't make you drive that differently. I know there is no free will, that people are inherently evil, and that happiness is kept on an average level in my brain no matter what I do, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying things. I still make the choices I want to make, I enjoy talking to other people, and I still feel happiness no matter if it's based on fluids in my brain or not. And of course, it works the other way around as well: from the way I look at things, I often see beauties noone else notices. For example: I know that I am in no way special, just one of the 7 billion people on Earth. A depressing thought. But standing on a bridge over a highway, seeing the cars flash by in a matter of seconds, I often tried to realize thatin every single of those cars, there is a person, with his or her own life, personality, feelings and memories. Who has lived just as much life as me (probably even more, seeing as I am only 20 years old). Standing on a bridge and seeing these millions of stories flash by, trying to comprehend waht it actually means, is beautiful. In general, I think many people do not take the time to enjoy the complexity of our world; people rejoice the birth of a baby, but hardly ever think about the mind-blowing complexity of all the different processes that were needed to form that brand new person. This is also the reason why I am so put off by creationism; evolution is probably the most beautiful mechanism in the universe bar none, and people dismiss it because a 1700-year old book told them so. This is the reason why I think living without a thought is a sign of stupidity. This is not directed at you, but at something I often see and hear around me. Once, I was talking to some random people at my university. We just had a rather philosophical lecture and the subject had touched on the acceptance of death. We were talking about the lecture, and when we tocuhed on that part, a girl said "I just never think about it, it makes me uncomfortable, haha". She said it jokingly, with a smile on her face, like it was completely normal to think that way. And the worst thing is it probably was. This. THIS enrages me. There are so many people in this world, who never for the slightest moment think about the meaning of life, why we're here, about death, never think about the greater scene. They live, they fuck, they die. How is it even possible to care so little about life that you never even dare to consider what it means? They just consume, consume, consume, and when they die they grasp their heart and gurgle for air with nothing but intense fear in their mind because they never even considered the fact that it would all come to an end. Yes, they know that they will die and they often even know that it means the end, but they don't UNDERSTAND. Their whole life was spent in the denial phase of acceptance and the giant brain evolution worked millions and millions of years on has been spent rotting away wondering whether putting on these red shoes would get her more dick than if she put on the black ones. The average person is so fucking shallow, we don't even kill ourselves anymore for legitimate reasons, the majority of suicides in the West are for attention. WE END OUR EXISTENCE SO OUR CORPSES CAN GET ATTENTION. And yes I know that not everyone is killing themselves as we speak, but it is just one of thousands of examples about how people take life for granted and refuse to think about what and who and where they are. And it's everywhere. Just looking at this thread alone there are people who have to submit to witty jokes because they are too scared to actually think about these things theirselves. *deep breath* The problem is, that when you do go look for these answers, you find answers that aren't too pretty. A lot of things humans find value in, like purpose, free will, and "the good in man", are things that either don't exist or are explained in a way we find unsatisfying. And as soon as people start to realize that, they back off and lock it away. I think this is unhealthy, and disrespectful towards life itself. It's not that knowign these things will make your life more beautiful per se: you can enjoy a painting without knowing what the canvas is made of. So it's not like one lifestyle is inherently better than the other one. Still, I cannot help but feel annoyed by the fact that so many people in this world seem to see the greater questions in life as not worth their time.

Aw cmon Rynj, you know that's petty. The brainactivity before the actual thought can be (and has been) easily proven with MRI scans, and the logical fallacy is, well, a logical fallacy.

why would moral consciousness be related to free will? I can learn a robot not to do certain things

the Brutal Legend promos look incredibly awesome yeah are there any vids of the taunts yet

I honestly, without disrespect, have no clue how anything you just said has anything to do with free will

Your brain has already calculated an answer before you consciously asked the question. Essentially, choices are as much of a conscious decision as that you're consciously making your heart beat. The point of the logical fallacy is, that in effect, your choice was already predefined. Your grandparents gave your parents their genes, and your parents lived theirlife and then created you, giving you their genes. Their past experiences affected how they raised you, and in the same way everything else that even influenced you happened because something else in the past happened. The human mind is made up of nature (genes) and nurture (your environment), and nothing else. Therefore, every action ever made is predefined. You still make the choice, but it is impossible you'd ever make a different one than you did. The question whether that still makes you able to "choose" is a philosophical one, but the fact remains that the choices you do make are 100% predefined.

@Huff You're completely free to live your life the way you want to, probably more happily than I do, but in my eyes it is a sign of stupidity. There is not much else to say. I might get into it a little more eventually though. EDIT I actually read your post now and it's an interesting subject. I'll get into it later but I'm a bit busy at the moment It is true. Basically your brain calculates all incoming information and brings a conclusion, and then you "make" the decision. Also there's the logical impossibility of free will because your mind = nature + nurture, which both come from outside sources.

That certainly is a way of living, yes. Ignorance is bliss and all that. But I do see it as a sign of lesser intelligence.

well, yeah.

Maybe I should start playing Highlander

I watched whatsurdeal's vids again and now I reallyreallyreally want to play some IW Spy Why does university exist dammit

Your brain knows what you're gonna think even before you think it, the concept of a soul has been stripped into so many different aspects that there is nothing left, and the hormones that make you feel happy are subject to homeostasis which means that on average you'll always feel as happy as you feel right now Oh, and the soul and free will are logistic impossibilities to begin with Probably. But for now there is medication.

Although I must admit that I never really tried fifth gen comp it looks awful. It looks like gamefreak tried to speed up the slow second gen metagame, and then never goddamn stopped 1st gen: dammit this is such a mess half the moves don't even work properly 2nd gen: ok so everything now actually works. Too bad it's boring as fuck 3rd gen: alright we upped the speed a notch with more powerhouses, this is pretty cool 4th gen: hold on why are we still accelerating 5th gen: OH GOD SOMEBODY HIT THE BRAKES WHAT IS HAPPENING

I tried this for a while a few months ago and hated it

That's some weak-ass bullshit study psychology for a year and learn how free will, the soul, and happiness have basically been disproven

Fuck Can't you wait three more days I might have possibly been planning a coup d'état

I'm wasted so let's make this a contest I will give a hat to whoever manages to write a TF2 fanfiction thay manages to genuinely impress me 1000 words max

My prediction: too many people hope for the second buds, so they will go through a lot of crap to get one. This expectation of buds-level alone will be enough to already put it on a key or two. Traders will hoard them like CRAZY, and do their very best to keep the price high, probably pulling the same bullcrap as they did with the BMOC My prediction is at 4 to 5 keys after all the rucus has settled.

I have MASSIVE respect for people who make up fighting choreography. You have to keep in mind so many different factors while making a combat scene: the combat needs to flow naturally, stay exciting, have crescendos and decrescendos with proper juxtaposition, you need your characters to move from one "scene" to the other, the hits need to feel hard, you can't break the suspension of disbelief, there is just SO DAMN MUCH, and all at the same time, and many of those factors are so fragile Take that White trailer. Her opponent is gigantic, so she can't take a single hit from his sword without going down immediately. She can abuse speed, but if you don't make the giant fast enough he loses all danger. Basically she is dancing around his hits for a full minute and he has to keep it exciting, and succeeds, with her forcefield jump skill. Then he does make her take a hit with the giant's fist so he can start the crescendo into the end, and it was already very on the edge of SoD-breaking but he manages to save it by giving her a head wound, which is severe but doesn't prevent her from fighting (while broken ribs or appendages would've slowed her down). He keeps a fight going for two minutes with only 3 concepts: one giant soldier, her forcefield jumps and her (magical) sword, all while keeping the suspension of disbelief in tact. And don't even get me started at the problems of one vs. many fights like the Red trailer. On that subject, suspension of disbelief is one finnicky thing. The fact that she can block the giant's swing with her tiny arms and sword is okay, while I got ticked off that the way she was singing looked unrealistic (head bowed down and arms in fron of her chest while hitting high notes). ...Goddamn I sure as hell love to rant.