Meme: do you believe?
Feb. 1st, 2004 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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rhythm:
What do I believe in?
In God? I won't discount the possibility, but I'm a skeptic.
In ghosts? Not really.
In aliens? I believe that the odds are strongly in favor of their existence. Have they visited us? I'm doubtful.
In Bigfoot? They found the guy who faked that, right?
In fairies? Not really.
In ESP? In theory, yes. Lemme explain: I've seen it postulated that one could develop an interface between a mind and a computer. (Arthur C. Clarke, mostly, but he made a point of trying to find some grounding for his speculation.) Take that, plus something like an instant messenger, plus wireless network communication, and you'd have something that would be like mind-to-mind communication. And I've also got a pet theory that anything that can be done with technology could happen in nature. I don't think human beings have the hardware built-in for ESP, though.
In superstition? There may be some superstitions with groundings in fact. I don't trust 'em, though.
In equal rights for gays? I believe people should not be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. It never struck me that people were making a conscious choice to be gay or straight or both or neither.
In equal rights for women? Without question.
In psychics? I don't believe humans are equipped to be psychic.
In appearance? For first impressions, I suppose. But certainly not as the be-all and end-all. I don't *trust* appearance.
In auras? I don't understand hardly anything about auras.
In true love? I believe it can exist. I don't trust it, though.
In happy endings? They happen. I don't bank on 'em.
In abortions? The answer to that one needs its own post. Short version: I think making abortion illegal is counterproductive. I believe that people should put a great deal more resources into making abortion unneccesary.
In Santa? Not since I was seven years old.
In soulmates? As in one true match in all the world? No. As in two people finding themselves perfectly matched? With six billion people on the planet, it's bound to happen sometime.
In magic? Good old fashioned hocus pocus? Nope.
In evolution? Look at the fossil records and you can see evidence of development of species, I think. Look at chemistry, look at genetics, and you'll see more evidence, I think. It happens on a time scale that overwhelms the senses, so I suppose many people refuse to believe in it. And threatening with hellfire the people who consider the possibility ... does not help the credibility of the opposing argument.
In cloning? In some respects, possibly a good idea. The cloning of an entire being? Especially a human being? Dangerous territory.
In fraggles? Don't know enough to answer.
In werewolfs? Nope. That silver bullet I keep in my nightstand was intended for my old boss.
In vampires? I've known people who were damn close to it, but I'm gonna go with another "no".
In miracles? Looking at it one way, the whole of existence can be called a miracle. In terms of the divine hand reaching down and ordering things a particular way? Not so much.
In existing thylacines? I'll take "say what?" for $100, Alex.
In nessie? They've been looking in that lake for better than a hundred years now, and they've probably put stuff to use that can hear a whale digesting its dinner in the North Sea from Cape Cod. I think they would have found some evidence by now.
In existing dinosaurs? Not enough uncharted real estate on the planet for a colony of dinosaurs to survive, I don't think.
In interracial marriages? I am morally opposed to people marrying fish. Within the species Homo sapiens, if I recall right, we're pretty much all of the same blood if you trace back a ways.
In adoptions? I think adoption is a very good idea. I don't think it gets nearly as much support as it should.
In saving the rainforests? Er, when one considers that the alternative is basically frelling the balance of the atmosphere? Y'know, all that oxygen we breathe has to come from somewhere.
In saving dying species? If we're the ones responsible for the species going on the critical list? Heck yeah. But species tend to die out naturally, too; one just has to keep the balance so that the number of species dying out don't exceed the number of species coming into being.
In the human race? It exists. Belief isn't so much of an issue there. I believe we're capable of great things, but I don't trust that we'll accomplish them.
In recycling? The less strain we put on tapping the planet's natural resources, the better it's going to be in the long run for us, I think.
In blue tigers? huh?
In tattoos? For myself, only to cover up something like a horribly disfiguring scar. You rmileage may vary.
In plastic surgery? Reconstructive? Heck yeah. Cosmetic? I'm a little leery.
In love in general? I know it exists. I know it has power. But it can also be dangerous.
In animal rights? Rights to do what? I worry about people doing sadistic things to animals because it's not much of a leap from there to doing sadistic things to humans; but with rights come responsibilities, and nobody's suggesting that animals be saddled with responsibilities.
In the death penalty? I've seen too many cases of someone who was put on death row only to be released many years later, on the stinking liberal legal technicality that SOMEONE ELSE DID THE CRIME. You can't impose such a penalty if there's the slightest shadow of doubt; and given my skepticism of how well people can know anything beyond a shadow of a doubt, I don't think that human beings are competent to impose the death penalty on one another.
I'm tired. Been a long long day.
Gonna crash in a bit, I think. No DVD commentary this week, or next. Maybe the week after if things go well. Sorry.
rhythm:What do I believe in?
In God? I won't discount the possibility, but I'm a skeptic.
In ghosts? Not really.
In aliens? I believe that the odds are strongly in favor of their existence. Have they visited us? I'm doubtful.
In Bigfoot? They found the guy who faked that, right?
In fairies? Not really.
In ESP? In theory, yes. Lemme explain: I've seen it postulated that one could develop an interface between a mind and a computer. (Arthur C. Clarke, mostly, but he made a point of trying to find some grounding for his speculation.) Take that, plus something like an instant messenger, plus wireless network communication, and you'd have something that would be like mind-to-mind communication. And I've also got a pet theory that anything that can be done with technology could happen in nature. I don't think human beings have the hardware built-in for ESP, though.
In superstition? There may be some superstitions with groundings in fact. I don't trust 'em, though.
In equal rights for gays? I believe people should not be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. It never struck me that people were making a conscious choice to be gay or straight or both or neither.
In equal rights for women? Without question.
In psychics? I don't believe humans are equipped to be psychic.
In appearance? For first impressions, I suppose. But certainly not as the be-all and end-all. I don't *trust* appearance.
In auras? I don't understand hardly anything about auras.
In true love? I believe it can exist. I don't trust it, though.
In happy endings? They happen. I don't bank on 'em.
In abortions? The answer to that one needs its own post. Short version: I think making abortion illegal is counterproductive. I believe that people should put a great deal more resources into making abortion unneccesary.
In Santa? Not since I was seven years old.
In soulmates? As in one true match in all the world? No. As in two people finding themselves perfectly matched? With six billion people on the planet, it's bound to happen sometime.
In magic? Good old fashioned hocus pocus? Nope.
In evolution? Look at the fossil records and you can see evidence of development of species, I think. Look at chemistry, look at genetics, and you'll see more evidence, I think. It happens on a time scale that overwhelms the senses, so I suppose many people refuse to believe in it. And threatening with hellfire the people who consider the possibility ... does not help the credibility of the opposing argument.
In cloning? In some respects, possibly a good idea. The cloning of an entire being? Especially a human being? Dangerous territory.
In fraggles? Don't know enough to answer.
In werewolfs? Nope. That silver bullet I keep in my nightstand was intended for my old boss.
In vampires? I've known people who were damn close to it, but I'm gonna go with another "no".
In miracles? Looking at it one way, the whole of existence can be called a miracle. In terms of the divine hand reaching down and ordering things a particular way? Not so much.
In existing thylacines? I'll take "say what?" for $100, Alex.
In nessie? They've been looking in that lake for better than a hundred years now, and they've probably put stuff to use that can hear a whale digesting its dinner in the North Sea from Cape Cod. I think they would have found some evidence by now.
In existing dinosaurs? Not enough uncharted real estate on the planet for a colony of dinosaurs to survive, I don't think.
In interracial marriages? I am morally opposed to people marrying fish. Within the species Homo sapiens, if I recall right, we're pretty much all of the same blood if you trace back a ways.
In adoptions? I think adoption is a very good idea. I don't think it gets nearly as much support as it should.
In saving the rainforests? Er, when one considers that the alternative is basically frelling the balance of the atmosphere? Y'know, all that oxygen we breathe has to come from somewhere.
In saving dying species? If we're the ones responsible for the species going on the critical list? Heck yeah. But species tend to die out naturally, too; one just has to keep the balance so that the number of species dying out don't exceed the number of species coming into being.
In the human race? It exists. Belief isn't so much of an issue there. I believe we're capable of great things, but I don't trust that we'll accomplish them.
In recycling? The less strain we put on tapping the planet's natural resources, the better it's going to be in the long run for us, I think.
In blue tigers? huh?
In tattoos? For myself, only to cover up something like a horribly disfiguring scar. You rmileage may vary.
In plastic surgery? Reconstructive? Heck yeah. Cosmetic? I'm a little leery.
In love in general? I know it exists. I know it has power. But it can also be dangerous.
In animal rights? Rights to do what? I worry about people doing sadistic things to animals because it's not much of a leap from there to doing sadistic things to humans; but with rights come responsibilities, and nobody's suggesting that animals be saddled with responsibilities.
In the death penalty? I've seen too many cases of someone who was put on death row only to be released many years later, on the stinking liberal legal technicality that SOMEONE ELSE DID THE CRIME. You can't impose such a penalty if there's the slightest shadow of doubt; and given my skepticism of how well people can know anything beyond a shadow of a doubt, I don't think that human beings are competent to impose the death penalty on one another.
I'm tired. Been a long long day.
Gonna crash in a bit, I think. No DVD commentary this week, or next. Maybe the week after if things go well. Sorry.
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no subject
Date: 2004-02-01 09:09 pm (UTC)And for your entertainment, this was a thylacine. They were huge-ass Tasmanian marsupials that looked like a cross between a wolf and a tiger, and the last known one died in the 1930s. They were very cool, and I'm sorry they're extinct.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-01 09:21 pm (UTC)Neat, huh? Upon further reflection, I'd say it's more like a tiger/possum cross.