[I need some help with this one]

 

My mom said that on september 29th, 2008 the stock market (or more specificly; the DOW) dropped 777.7 points or 7%.  This is a big deal for her because the number 7 is considered a holy number, plus september 29th of 2008 was the bilbical holiday of Rosh HaShanah.  She brought this up because she wanted an explanation for miracles and wonderous signs. 

 

 

Just to nitpick, it was 777.68 points, or 6.98%. People who cling to absurdities like numerology are typically all too willing to round up or down to suit their wishes.

[A Personal Update]

Stef,No epic words of encouragement or anything, but you've been a positive influence on my own thinking these last several years. I wish you all the best as you deal with this medical matter. Here's hoping you knock down cancer like a bad argument.

[The Existence of God Proven!!!]

David C. Pack is a professional nonsense merchant, whom I've occasionally seen come up in the context of prophetic doom claims. That he makes terrible theistic arguments is no surprise. The article begins by presupposing the Christian deity and invoking scripture, which is a complete non-starter, and I think most serious theistic philosophers would agree at least on this point. What follows is a string of ignorant assertions, hand-waving and appeals to ignorance. The short list includes:

• evolution denial;
• teleological arguments;
• word gymnastics (e.g. defining "faith" as "absolute confidence");
• question-begging;
• thermodynamic confusion [1, 2];
• general misunderstanding of the scientific method, scientific theories and the scope of science;
• the infamous "explosion argument."

As someone else mentioned, all of this stuff has been dealt with thoroughly many times over.

[Will the video game market collapse soon?]

Because it seems to me that the better the graphics, the simpler the games are. Nowadays, games are just too damn easy to beat because most developers focus on flashiness and gimmicks to assault your senses with the best graphics and sound effects possible.

That's not to say that there are no good challenging games out there, but they seem to be far and between from the rehashings of say...Call of Doodoo. D'ah I mean Call of Duty. It's a yearly release game with the most minor changes from the previous installments, but it so happens to sell more than anything original coming out. Like let's look at the new Tomb Raider reboot which Square-Enix expected to have sold 7 million copies in the month of its release. They only got 5 million which make them doubt the fruits of their labour was not worth it and unsure if they should proceed with a sequel. (I personally think it was worth it, watching the making of it, they seemed to have a lot of passion into it and it turned out pretty awesome)

This is a sign of change, because the industry is growing. The more people playing video games, the more "mainstream" the industry becomes. So you can expect a higher percentage of games to cater to so-called lowest common denominators. While I don't like that, it isn't necessarily a bad thing or a sign of impending market failure. With the advent of Kickstarter and widespread indie development per se, the spirit of that golden age you mentioned is, I think, still alive and well. Some of the most fun I've had in years has been just recently with the old-school dungeon crawler Legend of Grimrock. It will never be a Call of Duty, obviously, but the market for less flash and more substance isn't going anywhere, particularly on PC.

I agree with your general assessment of things -- I'm highly skeptical of the upcoming console generation and deplore the nickel-and-dime DLC business model -- but I'm optimistic (greater economic concerns notwithstanding) about the game industry in general. As someone else mentioned, the tools for producing quality content are very accessible nowadays.