For anyone thinking of following Robin Williams’ example and killing themselves, here is why I don’t ever want to do that. There is so much worth living for, so many laughs you never know that you’re going to have, and here is something I never would’ve expected I would ever see. Be prepared to laugh:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=BTZBpBYq-DI
Finally, on a Saturday during the dog days of August, the truth can be told
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13 Comments.
I love the way conspiracy theorists use “I don’t know” to mean “I have a strong opinion, but I’m smart enough to know I’ll be ridiculed if I state it explicitly”. I think Glenn Beck does something similar.
Usually “I don’t know” in conspiracy talk means “At this point, I cannot keep all the bullshit up in the air simultaneously anymore.”
That is, the string of ever-increasingly bizarre nonsense becomes so far removed from even the espouser’s version of logic that the whole thing collapses.
Is Ted making bizarre gestures? Well, wait. If he is, then what do they mean? I don’t know. Why don’t I know? Because if I knew what they meant, I could interpret them. But then, when OTHER people — also with lizards in them — start using those gestures, it doesn’t mean anything.
What? Huh? So I’d better backpedal before I get that far out on the ledge. …
OMIGOD!
Could it be that “ortegablue” is the Troll “olegna78” in another incarnation with a variant spelling???
😀
@derlehrer
Your average post length is 15 words. Half your posts are platitudes and the rest are weak insults.
You might try simply talking to people on the internet the way you talk in real life (ie. not running away like a child and calling names when a concept lies beyond you)
Ted,
I no longer laugh at people like her. At best, she’s to be pitied because she genuinely believes the nonsense she’s vomiting. At worst, she will do something lethal one day and crow with glee about how she was doing (insert deity’s name) will.
Alex,
Too true, but I’m almost starting concur with an approach consistent with literature on the matter suggesting that, like other behavioral phenomena, something we might refer to as genuine belief arises out of a constellation of psychological pressures and basic needs rather than anything like a conviction one might feel about something materially evident.
I think we ought to look at this as an emergent psychological matter rather than a matter of belief versus non-belief. If we view it as a matter of belief versus non-belief (or rationality versus irrationality, or enlightenment versus religion), and we don’t remain aware that by doing so we are employing heuristics, then it doesn’t so much matter that we are engaging in something like the behavior supposed believers are trapped in because we are probably going to be less able to formulate responses that have any possibility of actually improving the situation.
I would be no more disturbed if a killer crowed with glee that they were doing it for their country, but I would recognize that the lack of invocation of a deity would make the occurrence much less novel.
In the end, killing for ones country and killing for the will of a deity are not acts which are as substantively distinguishable psychologically as they are by sheer scale of occurrence. And I believe this is as true with the US as it is with Israel. Elsewhere, I am not so sure, but I have my doubts.
I find that a lot of military types simply swap out Jeebus for the Marines or the Flag or Americuh.
I hope, eventually, there will be a war and both sides will meet and simply agree — let’s all go back home, line our leaders up against a wall, and go back to our normal lives. You want this piece of crap field? You go right ahead and take it. We’ll take a piece of crap field from you. We both say we won and 10 years from now, we can visit each other and have a beer and a really nice dinner somewhere close by.
@ alex_the_tired –
.
Was it the movie “Johnny Got His Gun” that depicted a wounded U.S. GI and a wounded Japanese soldier who were sharing a cigarette, when another U.S. soldier came upon them and killed the Japanese man? The message: Individually, we can all get along; the governments declare war, not the citizens.
..
Also, history tells us that the German and the Allied troops got together to celebrate Christmas and sing carols on the battlefield, much to the consternation of their commanding officers.
derlehrer,
There’s a scene in Empire of the Sun where Christian Bale’s character and a Japanese soldier are sharing a piece of fruit. The soldier draws his sword to cut it for both of them and a wandering soldier misinterprets the situation and shoots down the Japanese soldier.
Never saw Johnny Got His Gun. It is the only book I ever put down the first time because it was simply too horrifying to continue reading.
@ alex_the_tired –
In any case, the resultant message is the same: As individuals, we can relate on a personal level; it is only because of government actions that we become “enemies”!
Many thanks for the link.
Ah, but what IS that thing coming out of your mouth Ted? huh? HUH?
Maybe that’s just a fever blister (cold sore). If you are susceptible to these (as I am), I recommend virazide ribavirina. I apply this cream as soon as I sense that one is coming on, and it knocks it out before it has a chance to colonize!