Nikolai, Share Your Views

[pimpdave]

Mr. olai,


You are very smart and intelligent and stuff. Please share your views on things, as well as on stuff. Everyone, please suggest a topic for Mr. olai to share his views, but only after he has answered the one pending. I will begin.


Interloping: Do You Do It On Purpose?

[Nikolai]

If I had done it, I could have and would have answered your question. But since I didn't... I will instead share my view that inkless printers are a really, really cool idea and I want one of Xerox's UV printers when they finish developing them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_printer#Inkless_printers

[jonesthecurl]

What is your view on the use of vanilla flavouring as opposed to genuine vanilla?

[Nikolai]

I love vanilla flavoring, but I have to admit that the concept of eating genuine vanilla is unappealing, as I don't usually like eating large flowers. But vanilla flavoring is amazing.

[InkL0sed]

What do you have to say for yourself?

[Nikolai]

For myself? I have only to say this: absolutely.

[Nikolai]

It is my view that having the forum games in a different place is obnoxious because it adds extra clicks before I can enjoy reading about the six people who are apparently attempting to destroy each other by being more devoted to Satan/dark gods/evil principles of pain in the combat by material thread. I thought DM was winning, but then he sidetracked into a wedding. Then I thought Ditocoaf was winning, but he permitted his mom to be killed and reanimated as a zombie stripper by another player without any reprisals. Hardly a winner's actions.

I will be very happy when TNYR goes away. (Especially because then there won't be moronic posts in it after clapper asked us not to post. )

EDIT: reprisals appear to have begun, so maybe Ditocoaf will abase himself before Satan/dark gods more successfully than the rest after all.

[Frigidus]

My fine Nik, does free will exist?

[Nikolai]

Hm. A question with hundreds of years of argument behind it.

I'm going to go with yes, based on a perceptual argument. That is, as far as I can tell, when I make a decision, I have a free choice to make. It's all well and good to speculate that our choices are being made for us, whether by God, socio- or psyhohistory, racial memory, evolution, the will of the people, or whatever, but at the moment of choice, I feel that I am the one making the decision. All of those other things (with the exception of God) influence me, and thus indirectly my choice, but don't make the choice for me. (And God comes with an entirely separate argument, which I may expound upon at another time... I don't think that was really what you're asking.) Anything that actually makes the decision for me is beyond my perception, or I would know about it when the decision is made. And as I can't blame my own decisions on something that I wasn't aware of when I made the decision, perceptual argument indicates that I must accept free will and the responsibility that comes with my choices.

Also I don't wanna be a robot!!!

[Nikolai]

So, I have reached the conclusion that the vast majority of threads in the (Not Yet) Banned can be classified as falling into one of two categories.

1. Have you seen this (link here) horrible indication that the world will end soon? Oh Noes! (This thread type is mostly posted by Juan.)

2. I'm an attention whore! (This can be broken into two categories.)
2a. I'm going to try to offend people/start trouble! (Most parody threads.)
2b. I want people to listen to my opinions/jokes! (Which, curiously, often includes threads in category 1. This category also includes most of the stupid political threads... like we can't read them off of CNN's front page anyway. It also includes the rest of the parody threads. It also includes this post, to a certain extent. Although it's to be expected when you give me my very own thread for sharing my views. )

Unfortunately, the vast preponderance of threads of these two types are making this forum boring. I have to read thirteen boring/stupid threads to find one interesting one. Maybe if we were to lay off the idiot thread spam a bit, the interesting threads would stay on page 1 longer and attract more attention? Please?

[jnd94]

Would you rather have a robot as a slave, but he was very annoying or always lose your keys, but when you find tehm there is a $5 bill next to them?

[Nikolai]

Lose my keys. Definitely. What good's a robot slave if I can't tell it to shut up and go away and stop annoying me? I'd just have to buy one of those keyring trackers. Hey, if I was gonna make $5 every time I lost 'em, I might even relax my habits regarding not losing my keys.

[InkL0sed]

What kind of thread do you approve of?

[Nikolai]

Many kinds. For instance, this one, this one, this one, this one, and especially this one. Just as a brief sampling.

[InkL0sed]

Wow. I find most of those horribly dull.

To each his own, I guess.

[Nikolai]

Always true, that particular line, though oft used to cover a multitude of lies... very true in this case, though.