MysterionMuffles

Yeah I have a lot of ambivelance about this game. It's philosophical merits (hang on here lol) include satire on American culture, and politics. It has a lot of anti-State undertones with its story line and some of the cartoons you can watch on the TV's laying around in the game. However of course, there is the blatant concern of sexuality especially in this version of the game where you can go to strip clubs. There's a mini game where if you want to take a stripper home to have sex with, you have to flirt with her and touch her body during a private lap dance, but you have to touch her when the bouncer isn't looking, otherwise you get thrown out of the joint. There are plenty articles on the web concerning over this, and I can see what effects it can have on impressionable young boys who will be encouraged to grope women "when no one's looking." FURTHERMORE, although the writing is actually pretty good in terms of the storyline (not great, but good for a video game's standards of being able to empathize with the 3 main criminals you get to play as) they made all the women in the game act very annoying and one dimensional. They're just cheating, feminazi psychos who exploit themselves sexually or simply there to talk crap to the men in the game. Though some other owners of this game right here at FDR have argued that you should just not take it seriously, and I agree. The entire game is built around immorality from being able to run over civilians in cars you can easily steal to the elaborate bank heists you can perform--but I just don't feel negatively affected by it. I can tell that this is just a game and there ARE things I can do in the game that I just wouldn't in real life. ie. Drive recklessly, beat up random pedestrians and take their money, and I most definitely would not be spending my time at a strip club. So okay in the game, I played the stripper mini-game about three times just to see what happens if you succeed at taking them home. Nothing happens. You just take her to her apartment, they show an outside view of the apartment while there's a time lapse animation of day turning to night without so much of sounds of two people having sex like in previous games. There is no real pay off in playing that mini-game and since I've just stayed away from the strip club. It's an empty rewardless aspect of the game that is alright I guess to have, ya know...if you like to get off pixelated boobies, but you don't realy miss out on much if you don't play it. There's plenty of more fun things to do around the vast cities. However, in real life, two men who I'm no longer friends with (for many reasons I won't get into here) once took me to a strip club and I just felt completely uncomfortable. I was not at all willing to spend any money to get a private dance, and the girls who were dancing at the stage varied in attractiveness. But despite of how hot or not they were, I just felt...really sad for them. Is there really such thing as a woman with healthy self esteem who just so happens to choose to strip? I dunno, but anyways, that night at the strip club I just felt completely out of my element. I couldn't wait to leave beacuse the entire energy of the place wreaked of sleaze, just the way the entire place was set up with the dim lighting and flashy lights. And the women who would come to our table to flirt...ah anyways My point is, I don't think there's anything wrong in indulging in video game playing as long as you know how to detach reality from fiction. I can spend hours on this game driving recklessly, running reds, breaking traffic lights, crashing into other cars and running people over--and then step outside and drive safely in my real life car, almost to textbook precision. Sorry for the long ramble, but if I can sum it up, I think the more self knowledge you have, the more naturally you can resist the possible negative influences of playing such a violent and immoral seeming game. If Stef happens to see this thread and DOES a podcast on this, I'd look forward to it. Hell he should even bring back the Let's Play series he tried out with Unreal Tournament LOL. Like he should play the game and have by the minute philosophical discussion as to how wrong the game is... But in the end. It's just a game. Some would even argue that it helps relieve stress and that it's a safe place to unleash you inner demons without hurting any real people. A lot of hard working nerds put about 5 years into developing this huge sandbox world with much to do, not to mention writing a solid script (again for video game standards) and i don't think it's particularly a bad thing to play the game as long as you're aware of how it's all just SATIRE!!! Not to be taken seriously or as any moral compass.

I have two adverse memories from my childhood that I feel are connected, but seem to also be missing a link in between...I really hope that there was nothing else in between them that may have caused my mom to teach me how to hurt my aunt, for if there wasn't, I may just have uncovered my own trauma and what it has cost me. One afternoon when I was about 3 or 4, my aunt was carrying me in her arms and she was singing a really sad sounding song in Filipino. I don't remember much of what happened that day, but that isolated moment, I vividly remember crying into her shoulder because I felt moved by the song. I can't even surmise if it was the same day, a few days later or any longer amount of time afterwards, but I remember being mad at my aunt. I want to guess it was because she caused me to cry, and when I told my mom about it, she devised a little plan to help me exact my revenge on my aunt for having created a negative emotion in me from her blasted singing. This is where it doesn't add up...I highly doubt as a kid that I would get mad at her for making me cry from a touching song. I'm pretty sure I would have just let it pass and knew that she didn't hurt me in any way to make me cry, almost as if those tears were a good thing because it helped me understand my own emotional faculties. Either way, this is where it gets messed up. Again I WANT to guess that afternoon was the cause of this happening...I want to guess that I simply told my mom of this incident, and although I'm unsure of the details and what my initial intentions were, I'm almost certain that my mom put me up to such destructive behaviour. Basically my mom shamed my aunt for having caused me to cry and actually encouraged me to hurt her back and make HER cry for having made ME cry. We were in my aunt's room, she was laying in bed and I ran up to her and started digging my fingernails into her hands through the blanket. The blanket in which she used to cover her face with as she cried out in agony. A part of me knew that as a kid I'm pretty sure my tiny hands had no effect on her really and that deep down inside...I also knew my mom and my aunt were in on this little charade. However, I suppose it was my false self that lead me to believe that I had obtained retribution. By hurting another who simply made me cry throug means that weren't otherwise hurtful, I fear that my mom has really twisted the way I think. That being moved by a song and crying was a bad thing, that feeling my emotions were bad. And that I had to hurt someone to feel better about my self as opposed to being told that that was simply the beauty of music. I don't know...I'm just really confused. I really hope me simply telling my mom that my aunt made me cry from singing was the reason why she made me hurt her for revenge...I just remember something changing in my brain that day. That it felt good to give her pain even though I knew deep down inside they were in on the whole gag. I would have preferred if my mother...instead of towering over me and pseudo shaming my aunt for having caused me a perceivably "negative" emotion such as sadness without even direct abuse--I really wish she just got down on one knee to my eye level and explained to me: "you're a sensitive little boy. It was beautiful that you were able to cry from the song. If it upset you maybe you're aunt can apologize to you. What's that? It was okay, just weird to experience? What made you really cry? Was it really the song? Did you understand the lyrics and that's why it made you sad, was it the way it was sung, or both of them put together? Or have you been sad about something else and the song just brought those emotions out?" You know...instead of being encouraged to inflict pain on my aunt as to shame her for making me feel such a way.

Philip, credit should be given where it's due. I won't tell you whether or not God is real if you still believe in him, but that's unimportant. YOU prevented yourself from committing suicide because a part of you valued your life. It had nothing to do with intervention by a cosmic unseen force.

Political Theater sounds like a good band name. I used to be cynical too, and RoseCodex, that is quite generous of you to hear this guy out and empathize with him. It takes a really open heart to not be just another person who shoots down someone who simply needs that kind of honest communication. Just last week, my sister's friend (who she's been friends with for about a decade now) came to my house crying to her. I didn't know it was even her at first, I just heard sobbing from downstairs while I was listening to Sunday show. I chose to ignore it for a while and listen and give whoever was downstairs the chance to talk it out with the mystery woman who was crying hysterically. When the show ended I finally went downstairs to see what was going on and turns out that my sister's friend had trouble at home because she dropped out of her nursing program. She was 3 years into a 4 year program and she was getting depressed by the patients she had to deal with in her co-op. Basically a bunch of people with eating disorders and other dysfunctions caused from childhood traumas, and she felt like she didn't have the emotional resilience to deal with it. She was quite calm when she told me all that stuff because she had already cried her tears with my sister, HOWEVER, it wasn't until two days later that I found out that she came to her house on Sunday morning because she just got beaten up by her father. ON that Tuesday, she was about to receive another beating but texted my sister that she needed us to pick her up. When we brought her to my house, it was surreal. I have never talked to her for more than a minute in all the years I've known her, but when my sister and I sat down with her, I feel like I provided her a form of interaction she has never experienced. My sister had no idea what to say because she just felt the weight of her friend's emotions. Meanwhile, I asked her about how she felt about the initial decision to take nursing and it turns out her parents forced her into it, when she really wanted to take a graphic design course. They told her to take nursing because "there was no money" in graphic design and I just said "then why the hell is there a market for it? Graphic design is everywhere you go!" She also had the tendancy to try and excuse her father's actions but I kept telling her not to give him that unwarranted forgiveness. I cannot believe how much she opened up to me in that hour or two that we spoke. She told me about how suicidal she was, but could never do it because she's too much of a coward to. Now to sum it all up--because I feel compelled to share too many details about our interaction--I'll just quote what I told her at the end of our conversation that pretty much hints at everything we talked about. "Suicide is the ultimate cowardice. It's a fuck you to all the people who care about you, especially my sister here who took the time to take you in tonight. You are actually really brave to refuse committing suicide. Don't sell yourself short and think you are worthless. The fact that you recognized what your program was doing to you and chose to get out before it destroyed you--that takes a lot of self love and self knowledge, hell even respect for yourself to know what you don't want. Do not be afraid to go to your sister's house and tell her how you feel about all this. Be honest and vulnerable with her. Ask her to let you stay with her because you are not safe at home with your father. Tell her that you will need time to recuperate and that you will look for work when you're ready so that you can help pay rent if you have to. And stop apologizing for taking up our time, you're the one who deserves an enormous amount of apologies for what you have been going through."

Lol Jen! You were supposed to be ready 20 minutes ago. Love how she jumped there.

Lol this is great satire. I'm gonna post it as a Facebook status.

How very odd that your sister detests being asked out. Either she is being approached by really creepy guys or she has a horrible stuck up princess complex. Either way you shouldn't let yourself think other women will be like your sister. Most women will take it as a compliment even if they don't want to go out with you. I'm almost in the same boat as you, so I'm not sure if my experience can help you out that much, but we shall see. Wesley and Cherapple stole the words right out of my mouth. You really do need to evaluate the home life and see why you may be feeling this way, and also understand that any chance you take to simply interact with a woman will be a gift. It brings you only that much closer per interaction, as long as you're just being friendly and not too pushy. Anyways, here's my experience: Each time I've chosen to talk to a woman, the same thing happened. I had moments of fear and anxiety before I ever opened my mouth, but once I decided to not over think it and be damned with the outcome, I repeat BE DAMNED WITH THE OUTCOME, I simply walked up to them and started talking. About what? Who cares? It doesn't matter. As long as you're talking about something relevant and something they can easily respond to, you can just wait and see how they respond to you. And most importantly, express yourself in a way that communicates that you feel worthy in their presence. They won't acknowledge your existence until you make it known. For instance there was this woman in my creative writing class a few years back who I spent weeks fawning over. I was filled with absolute dread at the idea of simply going up to her and talking to her. One day our teacher read to us from some children's books just to show us that they are equally as hard to write as an adult novel because you have to be concise in a short amount of time. Anyway, by this time, weeks had already past and I finally decided to at least sit in the same row as this woman. When we were allowed out for a break, I simply walked to that woman's side and said, "you know today's class kind of reminded me of how we used to go to the library in kindergarten class, and have the librarian read to us." Then she smiled and responded about how she was reminded of what she was doing earlier that day: which was reading to kids at a daycare that she works at. And from there I spent the whole break talking to her about a bunch of stuff and well...I was happier than ever about it. It meant that I never had to worry about what she would think of me because I gave her a first hand experience of who I was by being open enough to go and talk to her. Moral of the story: you never know unless you try. If you don't try at all, it's a guarantee fail. If you DO try, well you can still fail, but even those failures will teach you more for next time you. For the woman in my example, I started off strong and genuine, and was not at all wrapped up about what she thought of me. I simply took pleasure in her company and was thankful that she welcomed me into it. However, sorry to break the mood here, I eventually started talking about music with her and a bit of my music nazi-ism (from back then) seeped into our interaction and I don't know if I was coming off as rude when I was trash talking the music I DIDN'T like. For each interaction, look at how they turned out as objectively as you possibly can without rooting for yourself too much, neither beating yourself up either. Just take the time to make a mental note of pros and cons. In this case the pros were: I opened up with a statement she just so happened to connect with strongly, however the con would be that I got too cocky near the end. I'm not sure what I'm trying to get at here, but basically: [*]You will always regret NOT talking to a woman you know you really wanted to talk to [*]But you will never regret the times you simply took the chance to talk to one [*]Even in a rejection, no matter how mild or extreme, you can always look back and learn why it turned out the way it did [*]Any woman who rejects you with hostility is a woman you don't want to date in the first place [*]How they choose to respond to you says a lot about their character anyway [*]The more time you spend overthinking of a negative outcome, the more likely you will create that negative outcome [*]Take it easy on yourself if an interaction goes awry and always remember what you DID do right to even land the conversation in the first place [*]Relieve yourself of the pressure of "dating" and simply try to create a network of female friends so you can learn to become comfortable around them first I would also suggest, in addition to what LovePrevails said about shy busting exercises, try making small talk with female cashiers. They're there to be friendly anyway right? It's their job. In fact you can brighten up one of their days if they've been at the shop for too long mindlessly scanning people's items. I find that talking to them without even the intention of asking them out will work wonders on building your self confidence. You really don't have to ask out every woman you talk to in public and especially not the female cashiers. Either way, just take the chance to bust some jokes with them when they process your purchases and let an otherwise boring interaction be fun. They are small confidence boosts but they really add up the more you do it. You may start off seeing as each opportunity to talk a cashier as mere practice, but the more you do it and the less you see it as practice, the more genuine you will become in simply bringing some light to their days (and hopefully vice versa). I have a few more anecdotes about my own personal experiences in overcoming the fear of simply talking to random women in public, but for now I hope all this will suffice. Plus I want to allow room for other people and their own feedback.

I'll admit that it's pretty obvious this movie perpetuates the typical anarchist stereotype--the radical kind with violent activism and blatant ways of attacking the government--but it is still worth the watch for the ethical dilemmas the anarchist collective face throughout the film. Plus, the way they are portrayed is due to first hand experience of the screenwriters having lived with anarchists that live off the grid of capitalism. These people collect food from dumpsters and manage to make 3 solid meals a day off of it, have limitted use of technology and just have a whole other way of living that is different from our comfortable suburbia. Anyways, about the movie: Jane works for an espionage company and is hired to infiltrate an anarchist collective called The East. Her mission is to fish out information on what corporations this group is going to target and how they will go about attacking them. This ranges from a drug company who got the government's approval to put their drug on the market, even though there are horrible side effects to taking them. In fact one of the members of The East is suffering from a disease akin to parkinsons for having taken the drug himself, among other side effects. And also of course taking down a factory who is polluting their town's water supply causing tooth decay, skin diseases as well as death among its citizens. What's so great about this movie is when Jane is undercover within the group, you often forget that she is a spy and you feel integrated with this group along with her. You go with the motions and wrestle with the same ethical dilemmas that Jane begins to feel. This group does some pretty destructive stuff in terms of their activism, so are they just as bad as the corporations whose evil they are trying to put a stop to? Meanwhile, their way of living, as eccentric as it is, is very nurturing and caring, none the likes of which Jane has ever experienced. So you get a good sense of how devoted she is to her mission, and although she is the one infiltrating The East, The East finds a way of infiltrating her heart and mind. Here are links to two trailers: The East's perspective Jane's perspective I am entirely convinced that independant movies are the way to go now, as Hollywood is filled with too much sensationalism and too many false virtues. (Such was the case with This is 40, stay faaaaaar away from that movie as possible. It is horribly anti-philosophical). For a spy movie, it was actually pretty quiet, there were no explosions and only ONE gun was fired throughout the entire film. The focus was on the character development and once again the ethical dilemmas. Definitely worth the watch, especially for anyone who is sick of the flashy substance lacking crap that Hollywood has been producing lately.

Oh wow I didnt know they had that charity organization, but it only seems logical. More logical than say military bronies. Stef should review the show one day. He has referenced it many times recently especially when it comes to Isabella anecdotes.

That will definitely get the knickers off a many intelligible woman lol.Hey thanks for your reply tasmlab I believe theres much I must learn about body language if its that blindingly simple, yet not so obvious.

Let's start small: the best way to start is to keep a dream journal. Write down your dreams as soon as you wake up. Sometimes the chronology may be different from what you wrote to what you actually experienced, just do the best you can. I have found it really helpful to jot them down and read for later analysis. Sometimes your interpretations will be quick and easy AS you write the dream down, or it may require some time away from the entry before diving into it. Even if you have meanings you derive from writing your dream as it is, when you go back to it, you can expand on that meaning or find a new one completely. If you have trouble remembering your dreams, I think lucid dreaming is a bit harder because you won't be able to put a bit of an awakened enough mind into your dream state to think, "am I dreaming and what can I do to control this dream?" Often times when you DO do that, it causes you wake fully or lose sight of the dream. So for now I would focus on writing them down first and remembering as best as you can. Over time you'll be able to jot down more details. For instance, when I first started logging my dreams, I could only write down scenes as they happened, then the details started becoming more vivid, the characters became more apparent instead of faceless dream beings--and most importantly, I got to the point where I was able to remember what my dream mind was thinking during a particular instance. All I'm saying is, before you can fully create lucid dreams for yourself, you need to be able to observe the content of your regular dreams. If you can capture recurring elements and themes, the easier it will be for you to create something because your mind will be familiar with concepts you see in that astral plane of dreaming. Hope this helps.

Oh I like the concept of the game and how spanking stunts the growth of a child. I was expecting it to be more graphic and more soul crushing to see the spank button be pressed. Like an actual animation of the child with a painful expression on their face even if you don't want to go so far as to animate an actual spanking. Could be something added in new versions if you so choose. All in all, it's a good start and could be quite helpful with a few touch ups.

I can barrage you with semantics, but I guess the easiest, yet most powerful question to ask is: what's the cost/benefit of following through with your intentions? What will it cost you to integrate philosophy into your interactions, namely talking to your mother about your early childhood? And what can you possibly benefit from it if you did?

There is in particular with a file mscvr100.dll

He addressed me in the chat on Wednesday. Said the 12 months renews per donation, but thanks for taking the time to respond, Kevin!

yeah me neither which file am I supposed to click to open it?

Redouane, I don't know much about the Amazing Atheist but all I can say is this: Atheists reject the idea of religion and accept it as highly abusive towards children. Why he would hate on Feminism I dont know, please elaborate that for me. For now I will make the guess he hates on Feminism because of the contradiction in it being equality, yet over the past few years, feminism has become an ascendancy over men, like feminity being better. I could be wrong. As for why the Amazing Atheist may hate all these different groups but sensitively defends homosexuality is maybe because he's gay himself, knows gay people or any other reason. I might be wrong but the way you are phrasing your argument is making me feel like you are basically saying "Atheists are hypocrites because they hate all irrational groups like religions, but defend homosexuals, who are inherently worse and should be among the hated group." SOMETHING like that but Im not saying thats exactly what you're saying, just what I'm getting communicated to me. The reason why this is, may be because there is nothing irrational about homosexuality. It's not a choice you inflict on your youngins like religion is. Religion is only choice by default because the parents are that religion. However, homosexual parents can and do end up raising straight children because homosexuality is NOT a choice. Maybe to some out of some desperation in the lack of getting attention from the opposite sex, but from my understanding is that it is a genetic thing. People are born homosexuals and just because they come out with it DOESNT make it a choice. The choice really lies in wanting to be open about it. Hope this helps.

Hey I was just wondering something about the donator levels and how the annual access thing works. Is it like, from the very first time I became a Bronze Donator, a year from that date afterwards is how long I have to be able to access the premium content? Or is it for every new level I reach, the annual access gets renewed from that date?

sorry to be a bother but did you guys address this issue yet? I wonder if anyone else came across the file being that corrupted or if it was just the way I downloaded it.

I don't think that's the issue, Abhorrent_Ideology... At least not to me. I'm bothered by your misinterpretation of my entire thread, assuming that I'm getting unsolicited sexual contact from women and that my fear of being touched is caused by early life molestation of sorts. I advise you to answer to Wesley.

Yeah I just subscribed lots of good stuff to be found there!

Hey thanks a lot Pepin and Wesley for your deeper yet simpler understanding of whats going on here. All Im wondering is the rationale behind arm slaps while my touches are light shoves or shoulder caresses and why the minimal pseudo violencr occurs. When I think of all the times Ive flirted with a woman it is hard to imagine them NOT giving me an arm slap. Its not unsolicited as it is my unconscious inention when I engage in playful banter. AI, while I appreciate your concern and the time you took to look up that article, but Im pretty sure I havent been molested. Again my problem isnt too severe and never did I mention unsolicited touches from strangers. These touches are between myself and friends (past, present and whether I dated them or not)--and all have been mutually voluntary interactions. None of which resulted in casual or nor unsolicited sex. I've processed my history and still am, and all I can theorize for now is my fear of touch being rooted in neglect.I didnt receive any physical or otherwise emotional affection growing up so thats why Im foreign to it to this degree. My problem simply lies in knowing how to appropriately touch a girl back and know when its neccessary. Also in being open to receive touches as opposed to the occasional backing away I sometimes catch myself doing.

Right...I think you're in the wrong place if you're bringing these things up and expecting people not to argue.

Hmm maybe we can write the link to FDR on money? Write something like "this federal bank note has no real value" or "free yourself at Freedomainradio.com" Or something. Money is always in circulation right? Once it leaves your hands it goes from cashier to cashier. Though I should educate my self on "laws" that disallow people drawing or writing on money. I think the only way this can really spread, since it's mostly an internet based thing is Facebook walling any videos you find helpful that Stef has made and more importantly: having the conversations with people in your immediate world. Try affecting the immediate world around you rather than riding on the vain hope that that amount of world wide advertising may make the difference. Maybe it will, I don't know. But I think you have a better chance at challenging people's critical thinking (in order to improve it) by having philosophical conversations with them.

Homosexual is a choice? What makes you think that homosexuality is a choice?