Dominion Strategy Forum
Miscellaneous => General Discussion => Topic started by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on November 06, 2012, 10:36:25 pm
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In reading the P sections of RSP lately, I've been astounded at how informed our non-American members are about our political system, candidates, and situations. It got me thinking about worldview, and how all the cultures of the world do or don't think about the rest of the world. So here's a version of that dinner party topic. If you could meet any 3 people, alive or dead, who would they be, and why?
Assume that there are no barriers (language, cultural, physical, temporal, etc.) to communication. Anybody, no restrictions, other than they need to be or have been real. I might start another thread for fictional characters.
Edit: Added second paragraph.
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In reading the P sections of RSP lately, I've been astounded at how informed our non-American members are about our political system, candidates, and situations. It got me thinking about worldview, and how all the cultures of the world do or don't think about the rest of the world. So here's a version of that dinner party topic. If you could meet any 3 people, alive or dead, who would they be, and why?
do i get a universal translator
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In reading the P sections of RSP lately, I've been astounded at how informed our non-American members are about our political system, candidates, and situations. It got me thinking about worldview, and how all the cultures of the world do or don't think about the rest of the world. So here's a version of that dinner party topic. If you could meet any 3 people, alive or dead, who would they be, and why?
Jesus (That would solve that argument)
Alexander the Great (Legend)
And Captain Frisk (So we could have a game of Mafia while we were there)
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Jesus and Einstein.
And Bill Gates to hand over my resumé. ;D
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Gertrude Stein
Kublai Khan
Vincent Baker
edit: for self-evident reasons
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In reading the P sections of RSP lately, I've been astounded at how informed our non-American members are about our political system, candidates, and situations. It got me thinking about worldview, and how all the cultures of the world do or don't think about the rest of the world. So here's a version of that dinner party topic. If you could meet any 3 people, alive or dead, who would they be, and why?
do i get a universal translator
You do indeed. Did the question affect your choices at all?:
Gertrude Stein
Kublai Khan
Vincent Baker
edit: for self-evident reasons
Am I dim, or were they only evident to you(rself)? Vincent Baker the game designer?
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nearly relevant xkcd: http://xkcd.com/567/
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Jesus (That would solve that argument)
Alexander the Great (Legend)
And Captain Frisk (So we could have a game of Mafia while we were there)
You listed the same person twice.
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Jesus (That would solve that argument)
Would it?
If you came back with the knowledge one way or another, would it change anything?
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Jesus (That would solve that argument)
Would it?
If you came back with the knowledge one way or another, would it change anything?
Well, probably not as no one will believe you've actually met him.
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Jesus (That would solve that argument)
Would it?
If you came back with the knowledge one way or another, would it change anything?
Well it would answer it for me, so that would be my salvation sorted, who cares about the rest of you!
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Jesus (That would solve that argument)
Alexander the Great (Legend)
And Captain Frisk (So we could have a game of Mafia while we were there)
You listed the same person twice.
Is it the sandals and the beard?
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Jesus (That would solve that argument)
Would it?
If you came back with the knowledge one way or another, would it change anything?
Well it would answer it for me, so that would be my salvation sorted, who cares about the rest of you!
If you're salvation is sorted by Jesus, it means he existed as believed by christians and that means he cares about all of us!
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Jesus (That would solve that argument)
Would it?
If you came back with the knowledge one way or another, would it change anything?
Well it would answer it for me, so that would be my salvation sorted, who cares about the rest of you!
If you're salvation is sorted by Jesus, it means he existed as believed by christians and that means he cares about all of us!
Everybody brings a gift to a dinner party, bottle of wine, flowers, etc....KI cant see why Jesus can't bring eternal salvation!
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Jesus (That would solve that argument)
Would it?
If you came back with the knowledge one way or another, would it change anything?
Hey, at the very least, not only would I know for certain whether Christianity is right or not, but I could at least try to get out of him why he doesn't do more to let people know about him. Omniscient divine being or not, it'd be difficult for me to not say, "So, you do realize that the current information-distributing system in place right now isn't working, right? Most people need something more conclusive than, 'This man-made book says so.' When we're done here, would you be willing to make a few appearances? Or maybe at least let me know why you won't do so?"
Though, I'm not sure I'd choose Jesus. What if he isn't the son of God? What if I should speak with Mohammad? Maybe there are other holy figures I should consider first in order to avoid wasting my three opportunities. Great, it's another Pascal's wager.
Though, I think meeting the Buddha would be cool in general and not for any sense of divinity.
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Jesus (That would solve that argument)
Would it?
If you came back with the knowledge one way or another, would it change anything?
Hey, at the very least, not only would I know for certain whether Christianity is right or not, but I could at least try to get out of him why he doesn't do more to let people know about him. Omniscient divine being or not, it'd be difficult for me to not say, "So, you do realize that the current information-distributing system in place right now isn't working, right? Most people need something more conclusive than, 'This man-made book says so.' When we're done here, would you be willing to make a few appearances? Or maybe at least let me know why you won't do so?"
Though, I'm not sure I'd choose Jesus. What if he isn't the son of God? What if I should speak with Mohammad? Maybe there are other holy figures I should consider first in order to avoid wasting my three opportunities. Great, it's another Pascal's wager.
Though, I think meeting the Buddha would be cool in general and not for any sense of divinity.
Hmm, good point.
What if I just went for 'God' and hope it turned out to be Alanis Morisette..?
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Three is a tough number. Very low. Do I get to affect the timeline by talking with them?
Richard Feynman
Carl Sagan
Henry Moseley
I would make an exception to my complete lack of drugs and try weed while hanging out with Feynman and Sagan.
And to Moseley I would say "Don't enlist, you crazy man. You have too much science left to do!"
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Jesus (That would solve that argument)
Would it?
If you came back with the knowledge one way or another, would it change anything?
Hey, at the very least, not only would I know for certain whether Christianity is right or not, but I could at least try to get out of him why he doesn't do more to let people know about him. Omniscient divine being or not, it'd be difficult for me to not say, "So, you do realize that the current information-distributing system in place right now isn't working, right? Most people need something more conclusive than, 'This man-made book says so.' When we're done here, would you be willing to make a few appearances? Or maybe at least let me know why you won't do so?"
Though, I'm not sure I'd choose Jesus. What if he isn't the son of God? What if I should speak with Mohammad? Maybe there are other holy figures I should consider first in order to avoid wasting my three opportunities. Great, it's another Pascal's wager.
Though, I think meeting the Buddha would be cool in general and not for any sense of divinity.
Hmm, good point.
What if I just went for 'God' and hope it turned out to be Alanis Morisette..?
God can't be Alanis Morisette. Michele Shocked has already told us that god is a real estate developer.
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Jesus and Einstein.
And Bill Gates to hand over my resumé. ;D
If Steve Jobs was still around, would you have a second resume handy, or are you a committed Microsoft guy?
Is your picture a new addition to your avatar? I just noticed it for the first time.
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I'd have to go with
Leonardo da Vinci (just so much to talk about, so many fields)
Nikola Tesla (close call over Einstein)
Groucho Marx (cause I like to laugh)
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Jesus and Einstein.
And Bill Gates to hand over my resumé. ;D
If Steve Jobs was still around, would you have a second resume handy, or are you a committed Microsoft guy?
Is your picture a new addition to your avatar? I just noticed it for the first time.
I'm generally a Microsoft guy, because that's what I grew up with and acquainted myself with.
My day job is programming C# / .NET.
But I'm hardly religious about it, I have an iPhone for instance.
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Tough one.
Leonardo da Vinci
J.R.R. Tolkien
Christopher Hitchens
EDIT: I actually typed this up before seeing SwitchedFromStarCraft's answer, and now I really want to append Tesla to this. Can I just make it four?
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Tough one.
Leonardo da Vinci
J.R.R. Tolkien
Christopher Hitchens
EDIT: I actually typed this up before seeing SwitchedFromStarCraft's answer, and now I really want to append Tesla to this. Can I just make it four?
Seeing your answer I want to append da Vinci and Tolkien.
I want to be read to by Tolkien just like his son Christopher was.
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Hmm, can i take out Frisk and put in Douglas Adams?
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Hmm, can i take out Frisk and put in Douglas Adams?
You don't need our permission to go out with Frisk.
If you are asking for a ruling, then yes, you may replace Frisk on your list with someone else, but ONLY because you listed the same person twice.
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Jesus
Maximilien Robespierre
Paul Morphy
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Alexander Grothendieck
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
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Jesus (That would solve that argument)
Would it?
If you came back with the knowledge one way or another, would it change anything?
Sorry for German, but I didn't bother to search Bertolt Brecht in English translation:
Einer fragte Herrn K., ob es einen Gott gäbe.
Herr K. sagte: "Ich rate dir, nachzudenken, ob dein Verhalten je nach der Antwort auf diese Frage sich ändern würde.
Würde es sich nicht ändern, dann können wir die Frage fallen lassen.
Würde es sich ändern, dann kann ich dir wenigstens noch so weit behilflich sein, dass ich dir sage, du hast dich schon entschieden:
Du brauchst einen Gott."
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Jesus (That would solve that argument)
Would it?
If you came back with the knowledge one way or another, would it change anything?
Sorry for German, but I didn't bother to search Bertolt Brecht in English translation:
Einer fragte Herrn K., ob es einen Gott gäbe.
Herr K. sagte: "Ich rate dir, nachzudenken, ob dein Verhalten je nach der Antwort auf diese Frage sich ändern würde.
Würde es sich nicht ändern, dann können wir die Frage fallen lassen.
Würde es sich ändern, dann kann ich dir wenigstens noch so weit behilflich sein, dass ich dir sage, du hast dich schon entschieden:
Du brauchst einen Gott."
.....Ja?
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Roughly:
To the question if there's a god.
It's decisive if your behaviour would be any different given there was if there wasn't. If not, the question is a moot point. If yes, then we can say at least that much: You need a god.
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Let's do a range:
Henry David Thoreau
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Tina Fey
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Let's do a range:
Henry David Thoreau
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Tina Fey
An our second female makes a list. Ms. Fey, have you met Ms. Stein?
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Alexander Grothendieck
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Aww, what's Hillary, chopped liver?
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.
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Alexander Grothendieck
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Aww, what's Hillary, chopped liver?
Man, I'm so tempted....
It was an honest omission. I was actually pleased she was on someone's list. I debated long and hard about whether to put her husband on mine.
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Alexander Grothendieck
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Aww, what's Hillary, chopped liver?
Man, I'm so tempted....
It was an honest omission. I was actually pleased she was on someone's list. I debated long and hard about whether to put her husband on mine.
I think it'd require your husband being ok with it.
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the way i imagined this scenario working, btw, was that i'd get to go back in time and visit the dead ones while they were still alive, not that they'd be ripped into the present, or some sort of inter-temporal messaging system
so i guess, what i'm saying is, i also wouldn't mind getting to briefly be a tourist in early 20th century paris or yuan dynasty china. if that's not part of the scenario, i may rethink.
otoh, completely divorcing historical personages from their historical settings seems difficult.
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the way i imagined this scenario working, btw, was that i'd get to go back in time and visit the dead ones while they were still alive, not that they'd be ripped into the present, or some sort of inter-temporal messaging system
so i guess, what i'm saying is, i also wouldn't mind getting to briefly be a tourist in early 20th century paris or yuan dynasty china. if that's not part of the scenario, i may rethink.
otoh, completely divorcing historical personages from their historical settings seems difficult.
Rethink away. These type of thoughts, as you wrestle with the decisions, are exactly why I posted the thread. I wondered to what extent non-Americans would be listed by Americans (and the reverse), whether personal vs. professional interests would hold sway, etc.
It's also interesting to wonder about the effects that mood or circumstance have on the decisions. My first two choices were relatively easy, but my third one (Groucho) had to compete with Confucius, Go Seigen, and Warren Buffett. I'm sure the space I was in at the time influenced the choice, and today I'd lean towards Buffett.
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There were important people in history who weren't American? I don't know. That doesn't really jive with what I learned in school.
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There were important people in history who weren't American? I don't know. That doesn't really jive with what I learned in school.
Considering American history is only ~500 years old (when you start with Columbus) and you've surely been thought the world is 6000 years old, there are 5500 non-American years missing!
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Vast amounts of sarcasm in that post, if it wasn't obvious.
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I always wanted to meet someone from the early 90's and explain the term "Governor Schwarzenegger" to them.
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I always wanted to meet someone from the early 90's and explain the term "Governor Schwarzenegger" to them.
The Governator!
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I always wanted to meet someone from the early 90's and explain the term "Governor Schwarzenegger" to them.
You should be prepared for the Christopher Lloyd line in BTTF: "Ronald Reagan Arnold Schwarzenegger the ACTOR?"
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Vast amounts of sarcasm in that post, if it wasn't obvious.
It was, in mine too.
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Oh, missed the joke there. No, blissfully my education did not include hilarious mis-estimates of the earth's age. Not quite that far past the Mason-Dixon.
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Oh, missed the joke there. No, blissfully my education did not include hilarious mis-estimates of the earth's age. Not quite that far past the Mason-Dixon.
Plus the ruling out of any pre-columbian American as a possible target for a meetup. I loved how he manages to roll that many European stereotypes about the U. S. of A. into such a short post.
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There were important people in history who weren't American? I don't know. That doesn't really jive with what I learned in school.
Considering American history is only ~500 years old (when you start with Columbus) and you've surely been thought the world is 6000 years old, there are 5500 non-American years missing!
(response I should have said:) Oh, you mean the Bible?