Carborendum

Yup. I bought a lottery ticket and I didn't win. What a waste of money. Proof that there is no God.

I'm sorry. But I don't recognize the image.

The principle of "try again" is where most people fall short. For our current discussion, it is that people tend to stay at the "saying a prayer" phase without ever getting to the "pour your heart out to the Lord" phase. I recently had an interesting interchange with my son. He is a pretty competent piano player. I wouldn't quite call him "gifted" (as far as music goes). But he has simply put in the work and study and time to become pretty good at it. I happened to be in the living room studying something when he came in to practice. Normally, we have the headphones plugged in, so others in the house aren't required to keep hearing the same song over and over again during practice. But that day he had the headphones unplugged. I was actually intrigued at how many times he messed up, and how slowly he figured out the fingerings to get fluent with the piece. I was shocked. He's very competent. He learns new pieces each week. But as I heard him make mistake after mistake, and stop to figure out each step, I thought it was painfully slow. That is when I usually stop trying because I figure it's above my level and don't try further until I've practiced a slightly simpler piece to eventually get to the next level. That is why he's better than I am. I can actually figure things out faster than he can. I can get fluent with some refrains faster than he can. But I lack the patience with myself. He has infinite patience with himself. And all the "failures" are simply stepping stones to success. That is why he can play pieces that I can't. Not because he's better or more trained in the piano than I am, but because he's not bothered by failure like I am.

In theory, that is what the free market should get you. But when we have new technology, it is hard to achieve that when, by definition, a new technology has not been tried, tested, and judged by the consumer market. So, I think it will be another 10 years to get a lot of the flaws in the tech worked out. Then another 5 to 10 years for the market pricing to reflect quality. The other thing to consider is that different companies (nations) have different costs of manufacturing regardless of quality. We hope that there are some factors in the market that eventually even that out as well. But when governments are constantly changing rules, it is difficult for the consumer market's moderation function to keep up with the changes.

Yes, there is always credit for effort, no matter how small. I've recently had to come to grips with that for different reasons. At the same time, I think that greater blessings can be found when there is more than simple "effort".

I first start with reading a passage. But one problem I have is ADD. So, reading along simply isn't enough. I have to read every single word. One method that has become very useful on many fronts is looking up word meanings. This takes several forms. Look it up in the dictionary. Look up the etymology. Look up the word in the original language (Hebrew/Aramaic in OT, Greek in NT). Consider grammar in both English and in original. Look up various English translations of the Bible for other meanings. Sometimes, I look it up in Spanish and French to see what alternate translations we have. Then I wonder about "weird things." Sometimes I read something, and I notice something strange in the way a verse is written. I wonder, "Why was that written that way?" See "EXAMPLE" below. Is there a series/list of words that seems to break a pattern? Is there an odd word that doesn't seem to flow? Where are the commas? What are the pronouns and antecedents? MEMORIZE: I realize that many have a problem with memorization. And I'm not being critical. It is what it is. It's perfectly fine to paraphrase a passage. But I find that memorization really helps me because I cross-reference in my mind a lot more than looking up the topical guide, footnotes, or concordance. It all blends together in a human brain a lot more easily than looking up a bunch of individual verses and trying to make sense of it. Then I try putting all the above mentioned methods together in my mind and see what the Spirit is trying to tell me. Then the pondering comes from putting all this together and lining it up with: Known gospel principles. Known history. Traditions among those who originally wrote it. Personal experience What is happening in my life and in the world today EXAMPLE: Daniel 2:2. List of words. A pattern is broken. Why is that? I went on a search and found out that this was badly translated. But at the same time, the correct translation would not have drawn my attention to the true intent of the verse. When I realized what the real words were, I had to ask, why is this important? Interesting realization. D&C 84:22 "This". What is the antecedent? It isn't what our detractors seem to think it is. The most common assumption requires incorrect pronoun-antecedent agreement. Once I figured that out, I realized the real meaning of the entire verse (and passage) not just a single word. I'm not sure if this is something that others can do. I've just been doing it all my life without realizing it. But I find that when I do this intensive study, I can actually read a page without getting distracted. The more in-depth study that others would consider boring is what keeps my ADD from kicking in.

I'd reckon that the Dubai Temple will cost more than the Hong Kong temple. It may be that we're working out the financing/accounting end more than the politics of the temple. I don't know if that's intentional. I think it's just a natural result. The BoM makes it clear that we (the LDS Church) are the House of Israel. We are the new Covenant people. There are many scriptures in the Bible and BoM that would indicate that the prophecies and sentiments are directed at us instead of modern Jewry. In other words, it's just a random scripture. I have a hard time reading too much into it.

The difference is found when asking "who were his friends"? Job had people who were friendly and "on his side" so to speak. But even those guys accused him of having sinned "because it stands to reason that any curses we receive must be a direct result of our having sinned." The people who accused Joseph had already declared themselves to be his enemies.

Statements from general authorities are very consistent. "Abortion is like unto murder." There is apparently an ecclesiastical difference. Yet "It cannot be overstated that it remains one of the most grievous sins of this generation (dispensation)." Some use the "like unto murder" as some sort of "get out of jail free card." That is ridiculous. "Oh, I didn't commit murder. I only committed a sin so close to murder that it is difficult to tell the difference." This won't stand up well when brought before our Maker. It should be a HUGE blinking red sign that we ought to do all we can to stay away from it as much as possible. On the other hand, we make allowances for abortion that would not be had for murder of one outside the womb. Rape victims are essentially given a green light (I'm being generous with that terminology, I know). If it is murder, why that allowance? Of the three parties involved, the baby is certainly the one who certainly has no guilt in the matter. There is a difference that warrants some different treatment. Yet, it is so close that it should never be taken so carelessly as so many do in this generation. It is this sliver of a difference that causes so much grief among people who aren't given enough light to understand what they are choosing.

Obviously, you do not know much about what I do or do not know. Yes. Yes. Yes. So far you have not said anything that explains how the man in Korea died. If all these protocols were in place, then how did the robot kill this man? Do you even know what a safety engineer does? If you want to call it that, I guess that is your right. But often times, people do "stupid things" out of ignorance (not knowing any better) rather than out of a low intelligence. No, but when there are very obvious methods that can greatly reduce the injuries, and they were obviously not followed, then we can do better.

Here are some quotes to consider:

I think what you're saying is not so much stupidity, but ignorance. This is ignorance in the design of the Ai as well as the design of humans who interface with the machine. The AI wasn't properly programmed for inspection/diagnostic mode. The man with the box nearby was not aware of what the robot would do when seeing his actions. This just reminds me that safety engineers are a lot more important than we tend to think. And there were obviously insufficient safeguards put in place. Of course, that's easy to say with hindsight. And I certainly don't want to say that others would have avoided this. But regardless, Korea doesn't have the safety record that the US does. Safety design consists of three different methods. Engineered Methods Procedural Methods PPE For this incident I doubt PPE would have helped. But obviously there are both engineered solutions and procedural solutions that could have been implemented to prevent this. Engineered: Give the AI a "diagnostic" mode so it doesn't do anything physically without being told, yet it can give data for what inputs it is receiving, and what "decisions" it would make because of those inputs. Procedural: Clear the area/cordon off the sensory input areas during diagnostics/inspection. Again, this is with the benefit of hindsight. Unfortunately, when we have new technology being introduced to a human population, we will always have these incidents as part of the growing pains as more and more powerful technologies are implemented. And as a society, we need to make decisions about what price we're willing to pay on an individual level as technologies can improve our lives on a societal level. Unfortunately, I don't know if anyone has the wisdom and foresight to make proper judgments about what price is fair for what benefit. We just fumble through into the future and lick our wounds as we go. There's not much more we can do.

I can't tell from your commentary on this image, but do you know why this is satire? The lever doesn't really make a difference.

Not really. This is the "site" of an old building that was destroyed (I believe) in the 1800s. That was "The Rising Sun Hotel". There were some characteristics that leaned towards the interpretation that the song was about this hotel. But most music enthusiasts believe that it was only a kernel. The development of the "House of the Rising Sun" as a metaphor was much broader than any single historical building. So, many sites in the US, UK, & France were thought to have provided inspiration for the lyircs. The building that now stands is just a generic commercial building. But many movies/shows that have been filmed on-location in NOLA were filmed on this specific street because of the mystique surrounding that song and site. Some may recognize this street from the movie Undercover Blues and the reboot of Leverage (if anyone actually saw that show, I didn't really like it -- the original was much better). However, I believe the Leverage scenes were on a sound stage that was mocked up to look like that street. So, it may be that many scenes were not shot on location, but on the similar sound stage because of the historicity of the actual site.

Did you happen down Conti Street?

There once... was a house... down in New Orleans...

LoL! FTR to everyone else, @55Spud responded with the heart.

Come on. We all know what a big hit IV was. You didn't like that?

I think you may be right. Notice the heart reaction. Yeah, Pam and MrShorty... KIDDING!!!

We can play with words and origins a lot. I've studied these words (predestination, fore-ordination) many times and pondered them for many years. Bottom line: Etymologically, they are identical. Usage and definition are whatever we want them to be within that overall concept. The idea of predestination (per many evangelicals I've had the pleasure to know) indicates that either Choice does not exist. We're just mindless automatons moving through a pre-determined set of thoughts and actions that God has set up. Choice may exist, but God has already set things up that it is predetermined what choices we will make, so our choices are already made for us. With many debates over the differences, I have found that we keep going in circles on the differences, or which is accurate. At the end of the day, I have faith that I have a mind that God has given me to determine right from wrong. And I have the freedom to choose good over evil. And it is those choices that will determine my eternal destiny. We are not railroaded into our decisions. We all have plenty of time to consider our own wishes, what are the desires of our hearts. And we will be judged on the exercise of our agency based on the light we've been given.

I'm getting the shift outta here. I mean, I'm getting rid of my Nissan Versa (a clutch) and buying a car with a continuously variable transmission.

Korihor knew better. He knew, but would not know. He saw a freaking angel. But the "angel" said there was no God? Then what is an angel if it is not a ministering being from God? He was apparently educated enough to be able to think logically. But he didn't take the time to consider, "Hey, a divine being just came and told me there are no divine beings." Uh-huh. He sure didn't know what he was doing. No sir. Yup, I'll buy that for a dollar.

I always knew you were a thrill seeker.

LoL! Nice Try.

I now have three returned missionaries under my roof, and one out in the field. It is interesting to see the "mellowing" of each of them by way of their mission experience. My daughter has a greater propensity for being social and going to friends houses for a visit. She's also much more ready to stand up for herself. I'm not saying she's ready to run for President yet. But she is definitely more confident and outgoing. My two sons were probably polar opposites from a personality perspective. My eldest son was "the grump" of the family. It was difficult to get him to smile about anything. But he has been easily falling into smiles and has let himself get excited in anticipation for some things yet to come. He's also just a lot more polite and understanding of people's weaknesses. He's a certified genius (smarter than the rest of the family put together - myself included). So, it was very easy for him to get frustrated at others' lack of understanding of things that seemed very basic to him. My second son was the happy son. It seemed that is default mode was to have a genuine smile on his face. And if anything was even remotely funny, he would burst out laughing. I think I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times that he was in a sad mood. Today, he has a "moderate" mood as a default. But he still laughs at nearly any joke. It just so happens that they are all now at the phase where they need to get out on their own. So, I've brought each of them in for a talk about charging rent starting some time next year. That gives them some time to get things organized and so forth. And if they don't do so by the deadline, the rent won't be all that much. But it will increase periodically to motivate them to get out on their own. Each of them have varying levels of preparation as well as different plans on how they are going to make their mark on the world. It is exciting to see their gears working.