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@Wylted
I am arguing that punishment is meaningless if it does not accomplish anything. So we are punishing them in order to prevent murder?
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Can you demonstrate this majesty and grace or are you merely asserting it? Understand that in the absence of evidence I have no choice but to reject your claim.
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@Wylted
What do you mean by I need to be held accountable? Do you mean that it serves some utility to hold them accountable? Do you mean that it would prevent further murders for them to be held accountable?
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@Wylted
It is clear. It renders the concept of individual self mostly meaningless but it is clear. Also I see no reason to accept that either wylted a or wilted b is wylted in the first place.
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@Wylted
And what if a second being with identical memories was created? Would both then be you?
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@Wylted
Are humans merely their memories or not? Now animation is also necessary?
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@BrutalTruth
I am not the one you need to convince. Also this holds true for theists other than christian.
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@PGA2.0
That is decidedly inconvenient for you, and also for god if what he wants is for me too believe in him. Or maybe the reason he isn't inspiring you is that when you think you are talking to god you are actually talking to yourself.
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@BrutalTruth
I was a believer right up until I examined my beliefs for logical flaws. Did you ever believe?
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@PGA2.0
Sorely an omnipotent omniscient being could tell you what to say.
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It could be that I'm not good at expressing it well enough to prove it true
Why not ask god for the right words? Doesn't he talk to you?
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@Grugore
I'm glad you can hold an intelligent conversation without resorting to insults. That is a sign of maturity.
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Please give what you can
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@Grugore
It's really funny. Atheists are the only group that attacks something they swear doesn't exist.
Do you feel atheists are attacking something? Also didn't you say there are no atheists? A little consistency please.
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@drafterman
Then the transporter is a source of existential terror no matter what spin the show tries to put on it.
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@drafterman
Is there an observable difference between the two? How would the first option differ practically from the second?
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@drafterman
Where did the dualistic entity (soul) come from? Does real Riker have half a soul?
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@drafterman
If it's just a few crackpots how do we account for a second Riker?
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@Wylted
Does that mean that a complete enough journal is the same thing as the human that wrote it?
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@drafterman
Star trek can accept dualism. Without evidence I cannot.
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Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!
But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money!
-George Carlin
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Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.
-Isaac Asimov
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Being a Humanist means trying to behave decently without expectation of rewards or punishment after you are dead.
-Kurt Vonnegut
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@keithprosser
I would die before I used a star trek transporter. I'm pretty sure it kills you anyway.
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@keithprosser
During the next generation episode second chances https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Chances_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation) we learn that a transporter evident has led to an exact duplicate of Commander Riker being abandoned on the Nervala IV research base so yes the transporter makes duplicates.
Furthermore during the Voyager episode Tuvix a transporter mishap combines Neelix with Tuvak into a third distinct being who is possesses the memories of both characters as well as elements of both personalities. During the episode Tuvix expresses fear of the process which would separate the two once more claiming the process will kill the unique life form known as Tuvix and that this being has a right to life.
The star trek transporter is observable an existential nightmare which after only a single trip will leave whatever arrives on the transporter pad on the other side in eternal unanswerable quandary about the nature of self and more specifically whether or not you are your "true self" or only a copy. Worse there seems to be a lot of evidence that you are merely a copy and not the original.
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We must conduct research and then accept the results. If they don't stand up to experimentation, Buddha's own words must be rejected.
-14th Dalai Lama
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The Government of the United States is in no sense founded on the Christian religion.
-John Adams (2nd pres. U.S.A.)
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And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence
-Bertrand Russell
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Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions
-Blaise Pascal
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I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours
-Stephen Roberts
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And your contenention here is that some people do not have work they consider drudgery that they must do?
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When the debate is over, slander becomes the tool of the loser.
-Attributed to Socrates
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Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life.
-Atributed to Aristotle
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@zedvictor4
You seem confused. I did not ask its purpose but for its definition.
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@zedvictor4
Indeed... the donkey work? What precisely is the donkey work?
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@Wylted
Who said anything about dismissing the importance of money. But seriously since you agree that it is an abstract concept you owe me ten money. Don't welch now.
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@ethang5
Sort of a,lovecraftian creeping doom.
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@ethang5
So in your opinion the scary thing about the thing is that anyone can be the monster including one or both of the men sharing scotch at the end?
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@keithprosser
That's okay just for this discussion you can just be pro xenomorph. Unless of course the case for the th8ng becomes too strong of course.
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@keithprosser @ethang5
Well since this is a debate site and since we now have two nominees perhaps we could discuss the differences between the two and see if there is a case for one being more frightening.
First ethang5 do you recall if they ever say how much of the thing must survive to go on infecting others? I know a relatively small amount of blood retains this property but would we have to be afraid of fingernail clippings and dandruff? I feel that may affect which is more frightening.
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With Kurt russel and burt lancaster?
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@ethang5
Directories by Christian Nyby?
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@Mhykiel
You are correct about the double negative and also that no one said that the ball couldn't be red. In fact the only time I generally hear the argument "you can't prove it isn't" about anything is when the claimant cannot prove it is. Claims about religions and god(s) are often red ball statements but this analogy can be applied to any undeminstrated claim.
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What is the most frightening space critter to ever grace the silver screen?
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@Mopac
Some reality likely exists. That doesn't mean I have to accept your claims about reality. So where does that leave us?
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