three. video. id: the Outsider. later tonight.

[crypdick]

[ It's traditional, when asking simple, broad questions to the Network to do so in a text post but that's not nearly melodramatic enough for the Outsider.

He's in the desert in the outskirts of Jeopardy, night has fallen and he's looking not at the communicator but up at the stars. There's some faeries nearby he's bribed to leave him alone with pizza, but they make it cold enough you can see his breath glittering on the air. ]

The places you come from are varied, where even the things that you take for granted may be different here, or for other imPorts. Even this reality is changing week to week.

With that in mind, I have a question for you.

[ Now he turns to look at the comm, eyes empty and black. He tilts his head. ]

What do you think makes a god a god?

(( And regular reminder that if you respond with video, you are completely free to include a vision for him to see if you want! ))

Comments

[hatestrashcans]

[ Marco shrugs. ]

If you say so.

I just think 'god' is what people call what they don't understand. It's self-centered.

[crypdick]

If you categorized and examined it properly, studied it and definined it, then it wouldn't be a god?

[hatestrashcans]

Yeah.

But I know there are things it is literally impossible for humans to understand. Like how we could never actually represent every digit in Graham's Number.

I guess my point is that a 'god' is something that has no cause or reason, it just is, but I think that everything has a cause and a reason, it just might be one that I can't comprehend.

[crypdick]

You make it sound as if a god is a concept and never an individual.

[hatestrashcans]

Yeah. It's a concept applied to an individual most of the time because they do things we can never understand.

I just don't think the fact that I can't understand something means it's a.) mystical or b.) something I can't or shouldn't do anything about.

[crypdick]

Your logic is sound enough, as far as that goes.

[ Not the most interesting, in his opinion, which wasn't biased at all, honest. He does ping on one point in particular though. ]

But what if something is mystical in nature?

[hatestrashcans]

Then we need to ask the question 'what is mystical'? first.

Because I don't think mysticism is real either. It's again another word for 'a force humans don't understand'. It's lazy categorization.

[crypdick]

Ancient forces beyond the laws of reality, bent to the will of a few. Men call those forces magic. At which point does the name of a thing define the thing?

[hatestrashcans]

Well that's bullshit. Nothing is 'beyond the laws of reality', it just means that the way we think of the laws are wrong. By that definition, in the Dark Ages penicillin would've been magic.

I mean, I guess we could Arthur C. Clarke things.

[crypdick]

A separate reality then, with differnet laws, outside time and weaving through time.

I do not come from your world, little natural philosopher. The history of Earth is foreign to me, and the things you take for granted do not always apply.

[ Which is partly relevant to the discussion and partly a pointed sideways remark on how he doesn't get those references. ]

[hatestrashcans]

Well, yeah. Obviously. Doesn't make anyone a God: Just able to do and understand things humans can't. Sort of like how there's a physical limit on how quickly a human can run but other species can go faster. It doesn't mean they're magic, just better than humans at some things.

I like 'natural philosopher'. It sounds way more classy than 'giant nerd'.

Arthur C. Clarke said: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." the idea being if we can't even speculate on how something works, we as humans are likely to term it magic.

[crypdick]

In my experience, which is vast, magic is not technology. But it is called that because humans have little idea of how it works. But if they have no other word for something other than magic, then how is it distinguishable from what one would call real magic?

At a certain point isn't the distinction arbitrary? Or is it the most important distinction one could make?

[hatestrashcans]

[ He takes this as a serious question and considers it. ]

I suppose it would be like the square and rectangle thing. Logic. You know, how every square is a rectangle but not every rectangle is a square? So all sufficiently advanced technology is magic, but not all magic is sufficiently advanced technology?

I guess it would depend on why you're asking the question. If you're a human who's trying to figure stuff out, it'd be a really important distinction. If you're just trying to categorize, it'd be arbitrary.

i'm sorry

[goodtobebad]

You seem like a right prick but I'll give you that you've managed one of the best definitions of Godhood I've heard from a human.

no i love him <3

[hatestrashcans]

I am 100% a prick!

In fact, you're a demon, right?

Because I am totally putting that on my resume. Great character reference.

:3

[goodtobebad]

"A demon called me a prick once," it does have a nice ring to it I suppose.

Just don't let it go to your head. At least you can admit there are things you can't understand.

[ Unlike some of the assholes on this post, yeesh. ]

Re: :3

[hatestrashcans]

It really does. You could make up little badges or cards and hand them out. 'Congratulations, I'm a demon and I think you're a prick.'

Well, I have no idea how Dick Lady got the energy to get us here, so pretending I understand everything would just be a sign that I'm really, really stupid. And I'm not. I'm just really stupid. I draw the line at two reallys. That's 'needs the warning not to smoke at a gas station' stupid.

[goodtobebad]

Not a bad idea, really. I mean, at the very least I might not have to do the whole "I'm a demon" spiel as often.

[hatestrashcans]

Do you have to do it often? I just figured you know, you said it, and it's about 900th on my list of 'things I should have questions about' in this situation.

[goodtobebad]

I keep having to repeat myself. And even here, you'd be surprised at how many people don't believe me.

[hatestrashcans]

Yeah, because you're the unbelievable thing about this situation.

As opposed to say, appreciating the head's up and making a note to not make deals with you.

[goodtobebad]

Exactly!

Though, I don't usually make bargains. Humans are so bad about keeping up their end of a deal.

[hatestrashcans]

You know, I never thought about it, but you are so right.

Like sure, you'd get a soul, but you already have billions of those. So at this point wouldn't it be like us going 'yeah, I reneged, but here, have an AOL Trial disk?'

Especially if you were promised something cool like a fun war or something.

[goodtobebad]

Humans are plenty good at walking themselves right into Hell, there's no reason for me to inconvenience myself over it.

Also, wars are never fun.

[hatestrashcans]

Good point. Why do more work than you have to?

Not your brand of misery?

[ Marco thinks about it, he hasn't gone to Church since his Mom 'died' and he's an atheist, so he's not super up on his religion. ]

Honestly I never got why demons or angels hung out in Hell and Heaven if they could be on Earth. Heaven wouldn't have any interesting people and Hell wouldn't have any good food. Both those options suck, aka why I'm no longer Catholic.