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Yoruichi-san

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Posts posted by Yoruichi-san

  1. ...that evolution is not "good". Semantics, the vague definitions of human language, and misapplying a scientific concept.

    I.e. it's a common misconception that evolution/survival of the fittest->progress and progress->good, hence evolution is good, but that's not the case. The two 'progress''s used as links are not equivalent. Evolution means the traits that helped the species/sub-species/group survive during that period are passed on. These traits are good for survival under those particular circumstances, but that doesn't make them "good" in a moral sense or good for changing circumstances, etc.

    As for entropy, entropy->disorder, disorder->bad has the same problem. The 'disorder's are not strictly the same. The disorder of entropy is, as Prof. T pointed out, a disorder of uniformity rather than a disorder of chaos. I.e. think of a dam holding back water. The state is ordered by a section of higher water content and a section of lower water content. Entropy breaks the dam and creates a uniform body of water (okay, breaking the dam is probably not a good thing, but the point is the result is not complete chaos.)

    In fact, I would argue that entropy is often a good thing. It allows us a degree of security in our existence. I.e. it's the reason I don't have to be afraid that all the heat energy in the room won't all of a sudden move to one side and I end up spontaneously freezing/burning to death (okay, some people might think that's not necessarily a good thing :P).

    Oh, and on the topic of words being vague and misused, I want to bring up a pet peeve of mine: Descartes's assertion, translated as "I think, therefore I am.". The 'am' is the exist 'am', not the being a particular state 'am'; he's proving his existence as a thinking being, not saying you can be whatever you want to be. [/rant]

  2. Two can play at the grammar nazi game...after all, you don't own the "patient" :P

    All harm that the spiteful genie [where does it say all genies must be spiteful? Can't they just be absentminded, neglectful, or blind?] inflicts [does not specify on who the harm is inflicted upon] should ultimately derive from a creative interpretation of the wish [does not say "of the person the harm is inflicted upon", hence the person who is harmed and the person who made the wish do not have to be the same].

    I wish that Ysan and her "parents" have and will continue to have no knowledge of my existence or whereabouts unless it is on completely affable terms at which time they will repent and be baptized.

    Ysan and her "parents" have no knowledge of your existence, but their other personalities know exactly who you are...and where you live (you were spot on about the shuriken...it was just their alternative, evil personalities blocked it from them ;P)

    (Y-san's evil personality: http://thebookofbant.../Hamyuts_Meseta)

    I wish every time there was a blatant scientific inaccuracy in a movie, the science gestapo would jump out of the screen and enlighten the audience.

  3. If you're allowed to connect your wish to the previous wish you just granted, then the creative interpretation should be allowed to apply to both those things. *shrugs*

    I wish flamebirde was able to prove how a paradox creates a paper-cut and so avoid violating rule 3 of the genie code ( E.g. it's cheating if a person wishes for a million dollars, and the genie gives him a million dollars and also dumps a bucket of lava on his head). I contest that the paper-cut and the paradox are not related

    With great effort, he managed to fold an origami version of an Escher painting, thereby creating a paradox, and in doing so, he gained a paper-cut.

    I wish my parents had had the perfect asian child they wanted instead of me (stupid one-child rule :(), and I had, as a baby, mysteriously washed up on the shore of some river where I had been found by an order of elite assassins and been raised by them :ph34r:.

  4. The agents had deciphered most of the inscriptions, but the last eluded them. Should they try that one as the real one? "No, we can't risk it," the captain said out loud. "We have to figure out what it means, and then we'll know which is real."

    Orin nodded in agreement. They had come too far to lose now on an unnecessary gamble.

    As if hearing his thoughts, the helpful leprechaun tapped his feet.

    "The general method has been hit,

    Letters in italics challenge your wit,

    Look not to math,

    Take a different path,

    For the last think like a Brit!"

  5. (Since you never finished the sentence, the genie gets to finish it for you)

    "...y partitioned."

    Done. The partition is the part that causes the zombie apocalypse and the part that doesn't.

    I wish for a voice-changing bow tie like Detective Conan uses ;).

  6. There was no hurry to develop it...actually, it was discovered by accident when an apple went through one and hit One-Eyed Zack Nu-Ton, the rapping pirate physicist, on the noggin.

    I wish every work place was as awesome the Google campus.

  7. I wish I knew the relationship between geekdom and pop culture quotes

    Friends with benefits ;P.

    I wish I had a translator app that translated the things people spoke to the way of speaking in my time period of choice.

  8. Hmm...that sounds like beginning of an 'adult' joke. *whistling*

    (Sorry for forgetting to wish again...too busy plotting the zombie apocalypse >D)

    Well, while we're on video games...I wish that I could create save points and life and reset at any point to any previously save :D.

  9. Um...I don't get why i

    Granted, hover-boards can't do 3:12 marathons

    Um...no...they fly...(okay, fine, I suppose at the end of the last Res Evil movie there were those flying mutalisk-looking things... :unsure: )

    Granted the ultimate question is "what is 7 times 7"?

    I wish I understood the fundamental flaws of the universe

    One fundamental flaw is that you can never know the fundamental flaws of the universe and be happy at the same time...better stock up on prozac too :(.

  10. Muhahahaha...biohazard, eh >D? Yes, things are dire indeed, for they find that, rather than a country, I came from the lab of the Umbrella Corporation and am now carrying the dreaded T-virus instead of venom in my fangs. Oops, did I just bite that nice customs officer trying to wrangle me into the cage? Hmm...I'd advise you all to stock up on supplies and find a remote cabin in the woods...(fortunately for me, the virus doesn't effect disembodied serpent kittens :)...and zombies can't do 3:12 marathons ;P)

    I wish for a working, regular sized, fully controllable by me and me only, hover-board.

  11. @phaze: I will NEVER be a vegan. I start feeling weirdness in my muscles if I don't eat meat for like 1 day (I'm totally serious :unsure: )...

    Nah, the disembodied kitty formerly known as 'Flamebird' grants your wish instead, whereby you do gain a vast amount of money from Faiza(a)n, but end up losing twice that amount on the bet on who grants your wish :(.

  12. No one specified what species of kitten curr3nt turned me into...the adult cheetahs can go much faster ;P...

    No one questions how you know things, you are simply arrested for knowing them.

    I wish we could have an infinite supply of meat for consumption without killing anything...and without having negative side effects of eating the meat. (Yes, I like meat as much as mugiwara Luffy :D)

  13. @phaze: Wow, I didn't realize 6.99999999 billion ppl could run better than a 3:12 marathon (that's a 7.33 minute mile, btw ;P). Also, I didn't realize kittens had credit cards...

    @chad: only if Adrian Viedt was a leper...

    @current: um...I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but it appears a one-way mirror is an actual thing...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-way_mirror

    I wish I had perfect DDR timing (stamina and speed are no issue, I just suck at the timing :()...

  14. Current state of what? Current physical state of a human being? Current state of religion, of politics (of the the United States or some other country?), of environment (of global warming or the denial of global warming...), of science (of the lack of funding for a space program, of the interest in renewable energy, etc), of societal structures, of war, of popular media, of...you get the picture.

    Not that it's not a good question. On the contrary, it's a great question, and considering what evolutionary forces and other events (i.e. random disasters, diseases, movements, etc) caused the things mentioned above, and the things not mentioned above, to be the way they are is all very interesting, but for each thing there is a complex history, and I find the immensity of asking the question in general is incredibly daunting. Did you mean for the question to be open-ended, or was there a specific aspect you were asking about the current state of?

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