Saturday, December 22, 2018

Thoughts on Atheism and "Lack of Belief"



     The phrase “lack of belief” is commonly used by atheists to describe their stance concerning the Christian god known as “God” and other gods, though they almost exclusively focus on “God” and ignore the myriad others. Atheists therefore make the same critical error that theists make.
     Atheism, along with theism and pantheism, are words we don’t really need. If we were a consistent species, we would have a set of three belief-related words for each set of fictional characters. As an example, the DC and Marvel Universes would have their own set of words used to describe belief. A marvelist would accept one or more, but not all, of the Marvel characters. An amarvelist would reject the Marvel characters or have the so-called “lack of belief” (both are identical).

     Let’s stop here for a moment. Why are “reject” and “lack of belief” identical?

     They are identical due to what they are being used to describe – the intangible. Marvel characters, along with God and the other gods, are intangible. One can choose to reject things that are intangible, as well as choose to have a “lack of belief” in them. The end result is the same, however you choose to define how you reached your conclusion. “Reject” is simply more efficient to use than the clumsy sounding “lack of belief”. Even the word “disbelief” sounds better and gets the job done with less keystrokes. Furthermore, it makes no sense to say you have a “lack of belief” in something that is intangible. It also makes no sense to say you reject something intangible. It makes no sense to say you disbelieve in something intangible.
     So the real issue here is that a lot of people don’t understand the difference between tangible and intangible. Tangible things are objectively real. Intangible things are subjectively real. How God and the other gods made their way into the tangible realm, unquestioningly, by the vast majority of humans, is proof enough that our education system, worldwide, is a failure.

     Let’s continue. A panmarvelist would unconditionally accept all of the Marvel characters. A deeceist would accept one or more, but not all, of the DC characters. An adeeceist would reject the DC characters or have the so-called “lack of belief”. A pandeeceist would unconditionally accept all of the DC characters.
     And we could go on and on, inventing words for each intangible set of characters, such as Dune, Super Mario Bros., The Man in the High Castle, Star Trek, Bayonetta, Star Wars, etc.
     If we really did have a set of three belief-related words for each set of intangible characters, things would be ridiculous, but we would be consistent. The words atheist, theist and pantheist are just as ridiculous as amarvelist, marvelist and panmarvelist.
     The bottom line is that the difference between tangible and intangible is understood by few, and terminology used to describe the forms of belief (lack of belief is a form of belief just as the empty set is still a set) is not necessary.

Saturday, December 15, 2018

Pictures from Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I was often taken aback by the beauty of this game and stopped along the way numerous times to admire the visuals. I also took some snapshots to aid in memory preservation (how much do you really remember from the games you played?) Here are some screenshots I took:

Sept. 8th, 2017
This is the first screenshot I took, shortly after paragliding from the Great Plateau. I'll never forget the journey to the ground and listening to the sounds of the Moblins in the forest. They terrified me at first.




Sept. 9th, 2017
One of the first shrines I discovered after leaving the Great Plateau.



A regular occurrence, until I improved....



My first encounter with a Lizalfos. He killed me, of course.



Took me a while to figure out what this was for.




Sept. 10, 2017
I heard a Hinox somewhere in the vicinity. I was concerned.




Sept. 11th, 2017

The lighting effects on wet rock is attention grabbing.



The path to Zora's Domain was humbling.



Arrival at Zora's Domain.




Sept. 13th, 2017
Spotted a rainbow for the first time.




Sept. 16th, 2017
I actually found a way to paraglide above those spikes until it occurred to me to try a fire arrow.




Sept. 17th, 2017
One of my favorite images overall. Really sets the mood, as it captures the contemplation of what lies ahead.



Awesome fall colors.



Watching a sunrise.




Sept. 20th, 2017




Sept. 25th, 2017
One of the foreboding pillars by Hyrule Castle.



Cascading sand in the desert.



Admiring the desert sky.




Sept. 26th, 2017




Sept. 29th, 2017




Sept. 30th, 2017
Lighting effects in the desert give me more pause than the heat.








Oct. 1st, 2017
Found the Radiant Armor set.



More contemplation.




Oct. 3rd, 2017
Endless nothingness.




Oct. 4th, 2017
Now I'm equipped to run around in this place.




Oct. 11th, 2017





Oct. 14th, 2017
Trying to fool a Lynel (it didn't work).



Nighttime cognition.





Oct. 15th, 2017





Closest I got to Death Mountain so far.



First pool of lava spotting.




Oct. 16th, 2017
Two heat sources.




Oct. 21st, 2017
Found a Stalhorse.











Spotted a Lizalfos playing in the water.








Oct. 22nd, 2017
What a strange place...







Another one of my favorites.




Oct. 24th, 2017
More lighting and more rainbows.






Oct. 27th, 2017
Very elusive shrine. One of the last that I found.



Guardian Armor equipped and upgraded.



Devastation.




Oct. 29th, 2017
Found the Korok Mask, about where I thought it would be.



More contemplative shots.









Last Heart Container.



Acquired Dark Armor.






Oct. 31st, 2017
Humidity is not a problem when it looks this good.




Nov. 3rd, 2017
Got the Switch shirt, where I predicted it would be (I was not always this lucky).




Nov. 4th, 2017
Another elusive shrine (it was the last).






Fin!








Dec. 16th, 2017
Still playing...got Ganon's Armor.






Dec. 22nd, 2017
Now shit is gettin' damn real.




Dec. 27th, 2017
What it takes to get to a ledge.



Time to take a break after that DLC Shrine.




Dec.29th, 2017
Almost there!



Got it!




Jan. 2nd, 2018
Fierce Deity Mask acquired.




Jan. 11th, 2018
Fierce Deity Boots acquired




Jan. 16th, 2018
Fierce Deity Armor acquired.



And here is my favorite armor set in the game (took me 15 days of attempts).




Sept. 30th, 2018
Taking a break while Korok Seed hunting.




Oct. 1st, 2018
Finally found the last armor set.






Oct. 2nd, 2018
Found enough Korok Seeds to satisfy Hestu for a while.




Oct. 5th, 2018
Attempting Final Trials (got my ass whooped).








Oct. 6th, 2018
Taking a break to farm Star Fragments.




Oct. 19th, 2018
Just checking things out.





Lynel practice.



Messin' with some Bokoblins.




And that's it for now. I'm taking a break from Zelda and Final Trials and working on ARMS, Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2 and Smash Ultimate (love 'em all).

Thanks for looking and play Breath of the Wild!