So, I was re-reading the Dresden Codak Dungeons and Discourse comics, where they're fighting p-zombies, so I googled it, and yes, they are what I've also heard called "Chalmers' zombies". To quote, "A philosophical zombie, p-zombie or p-zed is a hypothetical being that is indistinguishable from a normal human being except that it lacks conscious ( Read more... )

I think one of the traits that helps define me is I think things can be better. Our best days don't have to be behind us, they're ahead of us. Not just individually, but as a world. Instead of looking back to the idealized past, and seeing how things have just been downhill since whatever perfect Golden Age, the Golden Age is an idea, for the ( Read more... )

...is to write a self-help book and fleece a bunch of people who need help out of their money.

Okay, context. I've started reading The Secret, this book that's been on Oprah at least twice and a couple of the other daytime talk shows and we've been selling a zillion copies of it, the DVD, the audiobook, and the CD soundtrack. I'm only about 30 ( Read more... )

So I was thinking about the Awesome thing. One thing that came to mind is stuff that you remember more, and feel more glad to have done, are things where you actually DO something. Going to watch a movie can be Awesome, depending on the movie and the company and a lot of other things, but the part with the company is about what you do with them, ( Read more... )

This probably doesn't deserve to be called a philosophy yet. That, or somebody else has already come up with it. But I'm getting used to that happening, so here we go ( Read more... )

"Oaths are made to be kept only until their purpose be fulfilled," the fluty voice responded. "Every geas is lifted at last, every self-set rule repealed. Otherwise orderliness in life becomes a limitation to growth; discipline, chains; integrity, bondage and evil-doing. ..." -Ningauble of the Seven Eyes, Swords Against Death by Fritz Leiber

The game system I have the most books for I've never used is probably GURPS. Mainly because GURPS takes so damn long to make characters, I always lose patience, so I've never tried to run anything with any of my groups. But I have them more because a lot of the books are good reference for other things, and I've used them for that. And I used to ( Read more... )

"I'm thinking of getting a haircut," I said ( Read more... )

In the aftermath of much frenzied shopping nationwide and the subsequent giving (and inevitable returning) of many of these gifts, I figured I'd try and narrow down what makes a good gift. I have a theory ( Read more... )