AustinDav (3474) 20 SFW Posts | 406 Space Comments | Favorites | RSS Feed Registered 2008-05-05 14:27:18 Comment Karma: 335 Featured Comments: 0 Member of :

Recent Comments from AustinDav

Comment on Inside of a Violin (2012-05-18 11:11:50)
This is what the inside of a violin would look like, assuming they can get the camera to get that sort of depth of field (I'm not a good enough photographer to tell you how they did it, but it seems plausible enough). Oh, and sorry: I accidentally clicked four stars - it should have been five.
Comment on moth on frog on post (2012-05-06 15:12:04)
on MCS
Comment on Presidential Address (2012-04-29 23:49:31)
Yeah, it'll be just like that time Harry Reid tried to convert everyone from the Senate floor, and that time Steve Young tried to convert everyone at that post-game interview, and that time Ken Jennings tried to convert everyone on Jeopardy, and that time Jon Heder tried to convert everyone at that movie premier, and that time Donny and Marie tried to convert everyone in the 70's, and that time....
Comment on Unleash the missionary within! (2012-04-23 04:32:45)
I think what the artistic genius is trying to say with this outstanding series of deep, emotionally-resonating, yet philosophically-challenging masterworks is "Mitt Romney is a Mormon." However, one can never be sure when confronted with such fine examples of sharp-eyed social reflection. I think we need to see at least a couple dozen more of this ever-exciting series before we can really catch a glimpse into the poignant nuances of the artist's witty, yet profound, commentary.
Comment on Romney, spreading the word. (2012-04-22 21:28:54)
I like Stephen Colbert's comment: "Mormons believe Joseph Smith received golden plates from an angel on a hill, when everyone knows that Moses got stone tablets from a burning bush on a mountain." People act like their religions are so much more reasonable, but if they had lived within a couple generations of when Moses or Jesus were around, they would have reacted to those guys' "ridiculous" claims in exactly the same way.
Comment on God? (2012-04-19 02:41:31)
Then here we question the dogma that God created "everything" and what is included in the definition of "everything." If god created us as his playthings, and scripted our universe like a video game, then we have every right to question the necessity of the basic operating rules. But what if God is playing by other, more basic, rules? Did God write Mathematics? Logic? Physics? Causality? Or does he operate in the same program that we do (only with a much greater understanding of the rules and how to manipulate them)? If God did not write the basic operating procedures of the universe, but "merely" manipulates them like building materials, then God might have bounds. What if one of those bounds is that, in order for us to grow (on an eternal time-line), he must allow us free will and opposition, just like we, as parents, are bound to do for our children in our limited world? Thank you, by the way, for the civil, philosophical discussion. This is how truth is found, not through screaming our positions while plugging our ears.
Comment on God? (2012-04-18 03:03:32)
You're right, it doesn't fit the god that most religions teach. It would only fit if God is our literal parent, raising us up for some kind of Eternal adulthood, where the earth-shattering tragedies from our perspective are, from his perspective, only minor scratches. What I am saying, though, is that Epicurus's second line of reasoning is false and too quick to judgment if, in reality, we are merely angry 5-year-olds convinced that our limited perspective is the absolute reality. When he says that the fact that God is unwilling to prevent evil means he is malevolent, he's making very big assumptions about what the will and purpose of a god should be. I won't downplay human tragedy, but if, in reality, we are eternal beings, then what is death, really? Could it actually be a character building experience? What I'm saying is that this line of logic makes me reject the dogma that God is merely raising us like a twisted science project, putting us through hell just so he can let the few of us that joined the right club sit on clouds and play harps for eternity.
Comment on God? (2012-04-17 23:05:47)
Well said; on first read, I agree with you. But then I ask: are you a parent? If I tell my 5 year old child not to run down a gravely slope, but he does, and slips and scrapes up his face, am I guilty of neglect? I am capable of carrying him down the hill, strapping him into a stroller, or locking him in my house. I have enough wisdom to foresee the consequences of his action (something which, to him, is a great unknowable mystery), but I proceed to let him harm himself, not out of neglect, but because he must learn. When my child scrapes up his face, it seems to him to be the end of the world, and his pain, to him, seems unbearable and life threatening. He sees the fact that I no longer carry him or allow him to ride in the stroller as great abuses. So why are my actions in any way justifiable? Because he must learn about reality. He could learn by following my instructions, or he can learn by making painful errors.
Comment on God? (2012-04-17 11:11:38)
I think of a spoiled child every time I read this saying "if my parents can stop something bad from happening to me, but don't, it must be because they hate me."
Comment on mary winstead on the red carpet (2012-04-16 11:13:29)
Hmm... Paramount Theatre in Austin. Where was I?
Comment on Suessbook (2012-04-14 23:07:48)
I hate it when people think they can write poetry just by rhyming, but pay no attention to meter.
Comment on Motivational combo (2012-03-28 23:30:57)
Alright, looks like we need to hold off judgment. Trayvon was apparently up to no good, walking around at night looking to attack anyone unlucky enough to drive slowly behind him, jump out and threaten him.
Comment on dancing bear (2012-03-20 11:15:49)
Ey, Macarena!
Comment on Bobs (2012-03-17 22:01:49)
Where is Newhart, Vila, McFerrin, Dole, Moynihan, Brown, Einstein, Cratchett, Fosse, Eubanks, Hoskins, Wills, Kennedy, Uecker, Knight, Woodward, Silent, Shieffer, Crane, Bare, Kane, Sponge-, Parr, Evans, Goldthwaite, Stoops, Lilly, Schneider, Fischer, Flay, Orr, McKenzie, Odenkirk, Saget, Loblaw, the Builder and the Tomato?
Comment on Bobs (2012-03-16 22:29:42)
I got everyone but the 19th-century-looking dude