dbl » Big Big Question

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dbl's profile

Registered since: 2007-11-30 18:45:15

Posts by dbl:

Some people started singing it…, 28 May 2008 in bigbig& music
Spare some change?, 23 May 2008 in bigbig& communication& culture& economics& ethics& sociology
Untitled, 23 May 2008 in bigbig& communication
To Infinity…, 06 Mar 2008 in bigbig& physics& priorities& science
Guv’mint or Charity?, 15 Jan 2008 in bigbig& economics& medicine& philosophy& sociology
She don’t lie, she don’t lie, she don’t lie…, 13 Jan 2008 in bigbig& ethics& law& medicine& sociology
I’d hit that, 03 Jan 2008 in Uncategorized
Golddigger?, 31 Dec 2007 in bigbig& economics& sociology
Who is this new author?, 07 Dec 2007 in fraud

Comments by dbl:

Guilty Pleasure Music?

2008-09-22 05:04:45: Fountains of Wayne's cover of "...Baby, one more time". Incredibly catchy, but I just feel wrong when I start singing along.

Are you getting enough sleep?

2008-06-06 07:37:19: No, but we have a two month old at home. Determined by self-assessment and degreded speling abalities.

Untitled

2008-05-23 06:18:18: If you're not familiar with the concept. I'm pretty sure the concept is flawed. We human beings seem to be obsessed with certain things beyond societal influences. Pascal's universal internal "infinite abyss" springs to mind as a prime example.
2008-05-23 06:45:44: A second and more secular example - Maslow's hierarchy. If the ranking and importance of this transcendent pyramid is truly global, can we argue that there isn't some ingrained impetus in each of us striving to reach the next level? Once one passes the raw physical needs, ...

Where do you draw your pet healthcare line?

2008-03-19 19:00:39: $1k is well above my pet line, though I'm not sure where I'd draw it below that. I'd probably put the cap at a few hundred dollars, and I'd never, ever go into debt for a pet medical bill. Pets aren't kids. Sorry. That's not to ...

What were you going to be when you grew up?

2008-03-18 15:50:07: Taller.

How does it make sense to say that I pay taxes?

2008-03-12 06:19:42: May I suggest that you've never worked for yourself. The difference becomes readily apparent very, very quickly.

What were you meant to be?

2008-03-10 11:07:32: Much like chrisjones I believe I was co2 in a past life

9/11 Music

2008-03-09 17:43:10: Howard Stern. I had taken the train in that day, and needed a lift from work. A coworker lived near me, so took me home. He was a big Howard Stern fan (I'm not), and had him on while we were driving. It made an impact as Howard ...

What's the deal with Yo Mama jokes?

2008-03-04 10:23:39: Fight starter? I've never witnessed a fight started by a "your mom" joke, and I've heard more jokes than your mother has tricks on a payday down at the docks.

Advice that's worse than worthless?

2008-03-04 10:30:10: @BitterOldPunk: So do you speak from years of depressing and soul-deadening life experience, or are you an enlightened engineer looking down on the English and German History majors?
2008-03-03 19:23:16: This Entire Thread. My god. Horrible, HORRIBLE advice. Co-sleeping? Ferber? It's a two week old!! You're not going to sleep! Wait three months, and then talk to me.

Metapost: how y'all doing?

2008-03-04 08:06:23: If I was doing any better, I'd be twins.

Lent for heathens: what would you give up?

2008-02-27 08:30:43: I gave up RSS for Lent. No, seriously. The point of forgoing something in Lent is to provide a constant spiritual reminder. Gave up coffee? Everytime you would've gotten coffee before, you're now reminded of the Lenten time of spiritual preparation. It's actually a great psychological tool. Keeping that in ...

An expensive thread.

2008-02-26 10:02:43: Indoor plumbing.

Whence your personal language peeves?

2008-02-15 09:41:23: I think you're making the dangerous assumption that this applies to everyone, and not just your own petty pedantic world-view. Begs the question. ;)
2008-03-18 16:59:05: @JD Utilize butts, lol.

How would people communicate in Postapocalyta?

2008-02-12 09:36:56: Ham radio. Yes, that's right. Your eccentric uncle Bert is going to be a saviour of humanity and play an integral role in establishing post-eschaton communications.

How do you make difficult decisions?

2008-01-29 11:20:28: If Nassim Taleb is to be believed, the thought processes we ascribe to past decisions are pure fiction. We make decisions largely on subconscious cues, and then make up stories in hindsight about the "Real Reasons" and motivations behind a sequence of events. Personally, I fictionalize my past decisions along ...

Meta thread: weekend Big Big Questions?

2008-01-27 17:48:53: Two alternatives: 1) Every visitor gets a random story on the weekends. I'm wondering if this will trigger old questions to flare up periodically. That'd be neat, if possible. I could see it also having the effect of killing conversation on the weekend, due to everyone not hitting ...

What's the biggest animal you can kill with a slingshot?

2008-01-18 10:07:03: If Marvel is to be believed, the sky's the limit.

When and how will humanity end?

2008-01-03 13:19:49: Not with a bang but a whimper.

Is the philosophy of eugenics morally reprehensible?

2008-01-03 13:24:03: The trend appears to be reversable, as well.

Where's the personal responsibility line?

2008-01-03 08:34:20: I skew classical liberal, so I tend to allocate as much as possible towards the individual. The government should only limit personal actions when they infringe on others; Basically the old saw about your right to swing your fist and the end of my nose. I'd also throw ...

What is belief?

2008-01-03 08:09:35: From the Catholic Encyclopedia linked by whir: Belief., That state of the mind by which it assents to propositions, not by reason of their intrinsic evidence, but because of authority. Given that definition, how much of what we "know" is actually just "believed"? I've seen Newton's three laws of motion in ...

Could you lead a double life?

2007-12-30 04:09:04: While not with those two specific examples, I can safely say that I'm capable of leading two lives.

Can religions fight over a soul?

2007-12-28 16:52:56: @corpse: y'know, I'm constantly tempted by Unitarianism. I've currently formed something of a Christological Universalism for my current theology, but that's up for constant revision as time goes on. I'm currently fascinated by the writings of James Mulholland, for instance. The concept of divine human sacrifice being ...
2007-12-28 19:18:48: "Die, heretic!" I love that joke, but it does call out the divide between legalists, and the rest of us. The OP's MIL was a religious legalist. Strict rules had to be followed in order for salvation to be achieved. In my personal view, that's losing sight of ...

From Tribalism to Pet Rocks

2007-12-25 07:34:11: The secularization of Christmas.
2007-12-26 07:59:05: anti-bacterial soap. We're breeding a race of superbugs.

Would you rather be respected or loved?

2007-12-21 07:41:47: I believe respect is an inherent aspect of love. Having said that, I think I understand the intent of your question, but I'd probably replace "love" with "like". To that question, if I'd rather be respected than liked, I can firmly respond that I'd rather be respected.
2007-12-21 10:03:44: The one state, respected but not loved, is easy to picture, as you illustrate, Josh, but I'm not so clear on the alternative. Could your wife love you, but not respect you? I think I could construct elaborate gedankenexperiment that would illustrate such an odd situation, say, a ...
2007-12-26 10:00:50: I thought this was germane. A commentary on the Brazen Careerist on being liked or respected in your career.

What would convince you to leave them?

2007-12-20 07:11:08: I’d need Fuck You Money to make it worthwhile. Giving up X (where X is sufficiently small) amount of time with my family is worth it only if I get to spend Y (where Y is sufficiently large) amount of time dedicated to them after X is over. So, for ...
2007-12-20 08:13:39: huh. I missed the "no outside contact" clause. I assumed that I'd get email/phone, even an occasional weekend visit, as part of the deal. That would be a deal breaker. It's also personally interesting to me that I focused entirely on the money side of things. Granted, ...
2007-12-20 10:29:51: Is it wrong, or in some way elitist, of me to assume that this is an easier decision for those who aren't married w/ children? Meatbomb and solotoro seem to be coming from a completely different frame of reference than I. I wouldn't abandon my wife and kids ...

Do you (want to) believe?

2007-12-19 06:44:09: I'm going to say yes, extra-terrestrial life exists, but the odds of us coming across any form of it that we can interact with in any meaningful way are near negligible. Or contact may already have happened, but the aliens have an unhealthy and fiercely private obsession with rednecks' arseholes.

How would you want to live forever?

2007-12-18 07:20:39: I'm going to go with Christ-like resurrected body. Appear and disappear with apparent ease. Enter locked rooms without opening the door. Ability to ascend into heaven at will. Seeming omniprescience and telepathy. No pesky ultimate damnation or unending curse to deal with, as in other ...