Will AI ever obtain true consciousness? (whatever that means)

Buttercup comments on May 20, 2018:

Valentina: Soul in Sapphire: Joseph H. Delaney, Marc Stiegler, is a book I read many years ago on the subject and quite enjoyed. At one point she (a program) is pleading for her life, it's romantically Shakespearean. Her very basic premise is "I believe I'm alive and value myself so what better claim can flesh and blood beings offer."

Will AI ever obtain true consciousness? (whatever that means)

Buttercup comments on May 20, 2018:

In Frankenstein there was a belief that life and nonlife were differentiated by some vital force. Things like viruses made the line kind of fuzzy, reanimating something as complicated as a human is now obviously much more difficult. Phlogiston is a even better example of vitalism gone , fire is just the point where a chemical chain reaction runs away. Since this is an atheism site, a soul that sharply divides animals and humans seems to have been largely discredited. A very simple consciousness is demonstrated when a microorganism avoids an irritant. If a machine ever asks or demands rights we consider it. Chattel slavery as a moral idea isn't that far behind us where humans weren't extended human rights. To me the urge to survive (and all emotions)seems more a byproduct of natural selection. They could get smarter than us and not care if they have rights unless we design it into them.

Why is everyone mostly American on this site ?

Buttercup comments on May 19, 2018:

We need it, authoritarian Christians have taken over our government

Love the smell of my lavender in full bloom.

Buttercup comments on May 19, 2018:

Me too, I'd guess mine is still a month or so out. I press mine for oil, I've got the regular bushy ones like yours and a scraggly little woody one that's even more aromatic.

Hi! Does anyone have funny stories to share?

Buttercup comments on May 19, 2018:

Old fave, a friend of mine was Santa for our volunteer fire department and his own little boy, 4ish, sat in his lap. Usual stuff asked what he wanted and if he'd been good. Just as he was walking away Santa says," Wait, aren't you the little boy that threw a shoe at his daddy?"

What turns you on?

Buttercup comments on May 19, 2018:

Body language stuff... love catching them looking then shyly look down. When the kind of melt in a big hug or when I press them against a wall and kiss.

Yesterday I received a check for a class action settlement with WCA (trash pickup).

Buttercup comments on May 19, 2018:

I got an email from a law firm that had settled with an advertiser who was using pictures without permission. I could receive up to six dollars if I petitioned the person the court had assigned to disperse the funds. I declined but I looked up the settlement 5 million to the lawyers and 1 million for us to share.

What kind of tree is this?

Buttercup comments on May 18, 2018:

Cedar family. The needles look like Hinoki Cypress or Chinese Juniper

What's your favorite vacation spot?

Buttercup comments on May 18, 2018:

I like where I live and we get many German and Japanese tourists coming to visit Olympic National Park. Everything you've ever heard about how wild and fun Carnavale in Rio is true, plus the food and beaches in Brasil are great. I have SAD and think my health insurance should pay me to spend winters there.

10 Things You Don't Know about Yourself - Scientific American

Buttercup comments on May 18, 2018:

I'm very skeptical on implicit associations (2) way too easy for the experimenter to get the result he wants.(phrenology, polygraphs, and horoscopes have similar limitations) I do think people's first impressions (3) are very accurate. I meet people and immediately get the feeling they're angry or open or relaxed etc. It so often turns out to agree closely with others first impressions and only the person being observed doesn't see it. I have fantasized about being able to step out of myself to see the person others see.

Who is your childhood celebrity crush?

Buttercup comments on May 18, 2018:

Annette Funicello in the Mickey Mouse club ( way too old she was 12 when I was 5)and Angela Cartwright from Lost in Space

How long...?

Buttercup comments on May 18, 2018:

3 to 4 years, lost somebody to a drunk driver and the association was just too painful. Also a lot of guilt because I had my own demons of drugs and self destruction to resolve.

What are everyone's thoughts on not seeing/seeking paramours while working on issues in a "primary" ...

Buttercup comments on May 18, 2018:

I don't know if I'd call my issue an issue, but I was monogamous the whole time my kids were growing up.(20+years) My wife and I both came from neglect and abuse in our families of origin and wanted the focus. We always had very close relationships with opposite sex friends, certainly what would be considered emotional affairs in the mainstream. The women I have slept with were people I'd known for years. Every relationship has an ebb and flow, I think the only real consideration for setting priorities is what works best for everybody, primary isn't better but it may as a practical matter take more time and effort. My wife and my girlfriend were very clear that GF wasn't some kind of junior partner and our relationship had to work on it's own.

What do you think should happen to people that have sex with animals?

Buttercup comments on May 18, 2018:

Not much, at most it should a social misdemeanor like indecent exposure. I feel a puritanical streak here, people recoiling then finding a rationale. It's not like child abuse, if daycares or schools had the appalling environment that factory farm animals live in it wouldn't be tolerated. I see religious fanatics similarly condemn homosexuality, "it's unnatural stone them to death". People are just weird about sex. Including me, just the thought of sucking a dick skeeves me out but I don't think my prejudices should be the basis of law and morality.

It depends.

Buttercup comments on May 18, 2018:

Same as any other old friend, offer them a meal, a blanket and an ear.

For the guys..Boxers or Briefs?

Buttercup comments on May 16, 2018:

Boxers, preferably soft cotton flannel. Comfy but getting hard to find.

Cover Songs that are better than the original?

Buttercup comments on May 16, 2018:

Tainted Love by Soft Cell, I only recently found out it was a cover of an old R&B. Punky and decadent works so much better than serious and sad.

Toys?

Buttercup comments on May 16, 2018:

I've given several Hitachi's as gifts (to appropriate and appreciative friends) It works on me but since I'm one orgasm and done (basically for a day), I prefer taking my time

On the topic of porn- porn stars are paid actors and actresses.

Buttercup comments on May 16, 2018:

I like porn as entertainment, I watch it to get turned on much like I watch comedy to laugh. Accuracy is basically irrelevant, I can laugh at wry observational humor that is very realistic or over the top antics. I'm very stimulated by the faces of women in pleasure so they need to be convincing, are they really having a good time or are they a good actress doesn't matter.Probably like conventional actors they seem most realistic when they believe it themselves. LA (American) porn tends to bore me because the women seem bored. I like Italian and French porn because the incidental music is better and like opera it's more enjoyable if you don't speak the language. Both my wives watched porn with me as foreplay.

Taken from another site--What books that everyone else seemed to love did you read and just hated?

Buttercup comments on May 15, 2018:

Satanic Verses but I think Rushdie's popularity got a big bump from the fatwah. He kind of got the dead musician popularity before he died. Dracula by Bram Stoker, so stilted, how did he become a sex symbol.

One of my favorite political philosophers was a man named John Stewart Mill.

Buttercup comments on May 14, 2018:

"He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side; if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion." Long time fan, as well

Sensory deprivation tank

Buttercup comments on May 14, 2018:

Went to "Float to Relax" a few times in the early eighties. Been into hypnosis and meditation for years. Religious awe is more fun without some god stuff harshin' the buzz. Wife likes no touch orgasm and it's helpful for insomnia and aches and pains. It might be an interesting experiment to see if the tank could improve your focus for mind control stuff.

What do you say about polygamy ?

Buttercup comments on May 13, 2018:

I'm against state endorsement of religious institutions. The legal purpose of marriage is property division, survivorship and parental responsibility. I can't see any practical reason polygamy isn't viable. If three people were one household/ parental unit and one died, the two survivors should have the fewest obstacles possible in addition.

So, just about everyone of us (including myself) have responded in the affirmative that sexual ...

Buttercup comments on May 13, 2018:

There are some definite indicators, I'm really pretty comfortable with being the tradition male stereotype. I was fortunate to have many gay friends in my formative years who get a clearer picture that the dominance/submission dynamic is not inextricably linked to gender as Christians tend to assume. Two tops fight to the death and two bottoms die of boredom. One gay and one straight is a clear and obvious mismatch. I like girly girls and they tend to like me.

Does anyone else find it a bit condescending that some people can have no interest in you because ...

Buttercup comments on May 13, 2018:

It's an obviously imperfect filter so yes, but many people realize they want someone with a similar socioeconomic status to their own. I think short guys and older women are the ones most often summarily rejected.

So today I celebrate Dec 25th as a day off from work.

Buttercup comments on May 12, 2018:

I celebrate Yule, I like trees and mistletoe, it's Christmas but without the fun sucked out(they stole it anyway)

Call me ignorant, but do women like being treated like crap?

Buttercup comments on May 12, 2018:

Dating sites are self selecting, scammers have no reason to leave. They aren't looking to find someone and move on. Also just by mathematical distribution people who for whatever reason don't do well in long term relationships will be over represented and take longer to move on.There is also a minority of women that seek out assholes because they are assholes themselves and want a relationship where they can blame and don't have to be responsible for their own bad behavior. (He lied first, he cheated first, he drinks more etc.) Short answer, most of them don't and those are the ones your negative stereotyping is likely to alienate.

What a great way to meet a date.

Buttercup comments on May 12, 2018:

I had a Lutheran minister answer my personal ad, surprisingly opened minded and we had a good talk. She was looking for someone more conventional that would suit her image/ congregation so we parted amicably. Too bad, I got the feeling we could have been a good fit.

Why do you (or do you not) think it is always right to do the right thing?

Buttercup comments on May 12, 2018:

* I volunteered at a suicide hotline and got a call from a woman in crisis. She had progressive brain cancer and had had many surgeries to reduce tumor growth. Between the seizures and anti seizure meds she was too debilitated to drive or care for her children and her death was basically inevitable. I didn't try to discourage her. She was a patient at the clinic that sponsored the hotline and her condition was unusual so I figured out who she was but never told her she'd talked to me. I've taken nursing ethics and these questions were homework. Psychopath is an easy yes, provide care according the nursing code. We routinely honor "do not resuscitate" orders so I think most nurses wouldn't interfere with a suicide if the client was fully informed and chose not to prolong their suffering.*

I see things about people that they themselves do not know.

Buttercup comments on May 11, 2018:

She bills herself as a kind of relationship expert. It's like she can't even hear the words that are coming out of her mouth. This video and the many people who agree with it just stuns me, she has a long list of different narcissists she has "fallen for" and been the "victim" of and even speculates that she will be making a future video after she gets involved with a cerebral narcissist, which she still needs to check off her bucket list. She also goes on a long and angry rant about being cheated on after first stating it wasn't a "real relationship" and they had agreed at the outset it wasn't exclusive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWgF4KIIPko=share

I see things about people that they themselves do not know.

Buttercup comments on May 11, 2018:

As Vonnegut said,"Don't truth me and I won't truth you"(Sirens of Titan) We all have our blind spots and things about ourselves we'd rather not deal with. Sometimes being a friend is not reminding people about their deficits.

Girl Scouts Cookie Sales 'Promote Promiscuous Sex and Abortion' Says Kim Davis' Lawyer

Buttercup comments on May 11, 2018:

I've always wondered what she would do if a devout Catholic bureaucrat refused to give her a license because she is divorced.

Does the term cis bother you?

Buttercup comments on May 11, 2018:

Language evolves continuously, it seems silly to get offended because a word has been adapted to a new situation. Hetero- and homo- when used to describe sexual preference had similar origins. I rarely describe myself as cis but when talking about gender issues it is a useful qualifier.

Anyone using store bought pre mixed fuel?

Buttercup comments on May 10, 2018:

Seems pricy but maybe worth it for the convenience. It probably has stabilizer added for shelf life. Gas can get stale and clog small passages, I add my own but it's a problem for people who let them sit with fuel. There is a good chance this is why it ran rougher before.

So, which is MOST important, a physical attraction or a psychological attraction?

Buttercup comments on May 10, 2018:

There are some bare minimums that have to be met or I'd be celibate. But once those are met, psychological, it's not even close. If she's a jerk, no amount of beauty can offset that; once someone who has won my trust and admiration they get better looking in my mind.

CRYING! What has made you cry as an adult?

Buttercup comments on May 9, 2018:

On the lighter side, kid's movies... Toy Story 2, when they're holding hands being dragged into the trash compactor and the end of Incredible Journey, when the old dog shows up alive. Serious, my baby brother killed himself, I was maintaining okay(if numb) until I called my sister, I just choked when I said it aloud and all my grief burst out.

What do you to make yourself feel sexy?

Buttercup comments on May 9, 2018:

Not me but something that drives me nuts is a woman fresh from the shower, scrubbed with damp hair in a white terrycloth robe.

How do you want to be buried?

Buttercup comments on May 9, 2018:

Open to organ and med school donation, if that doesn't work out cremate any leftovers and spread them in the woods near my house where I bury my pets.

Should the Boy Scouts be both for boy and girls?

Buttercup comments on May 8, 2018:

Other countries have for years, I was at an international jamboree (early 2000s)and there were girls then. Sea Scouts and Explorers also have had women for many years (over 16 I think). I was a leader for years in a fairly liberal suburban scout pack and troop. We had lots of sisters accompany us on outings and mostly ignored the gay and religious stuff. The bureaucracy has to catch up.

One of my favorite musics to listen to is film scores.

Buttercup comments on May 8, 2018:

I like Barry Manilow, but I'm a manly man, I swear. One of my favorites film scores. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1PfrmCGFnk

I've been in a passionless relationship for 5 yrs.

Buttercup comments on May 8, 2018:

She breached the contract, assuming this started out as a sexually committed relationship. You don't owe her a thing. Personally, I couldn't live with the lie, so hard as it is call her out or leave would be my choices.

What is your favorite position?

Buttercup comments on May 8, 2018:

Snuggly spoon under the covers in a cold room especially sleepy. Kissing her back and neck with lazy deep slow penetration. Scissor.... her on her back and me on my side, eye contact, penetration and fondling her clit at the same time. Billow biter, doggie with her arms folded so her head is on the bed. Best when athletic, grab her hips and pound!!! Missionary, skin on skin and face to face, wrapped in my arms. Sweet and intimate.

Once either of these are severed, there is no going back. It can never be the same.

Buttercup comments on May 8, 2018:

Redemption and forgiveness are gs I consider key, everyone should have a chance to regain trust after making mistakes. My gest problem with s is the idea that these can be won back in any way but personal accountability. There is no such g as born again or being forgiven by a priest in confession. If you make a mess, you clean it up.

I’m in the process of hiring a contractor to replace the wood trim around the windows on my house.

Buttercup comments on May 6, 2018:

Ridiculous, the wood for window trim is not a big expense. I wouldn't ask for anything upfront personally. Materials is reasonable but 1/3 should cover it. This job shouldn't require any permits, which do require some time and expense before the work starts.

Who is the biggest employer in your city?

Buttercup comments on May 6, 2018:

I'm within the boundaries of a reservation, the tribe has a thriving economy(casino, pot, fireworks) Tons of civic improvements as well as immunity from some burdensome county laws and they paid for my daughter and some elementary school classmates to go to D.C. (opposite coast) Great neighbors. I would guess 1000 to 2000 people total employed by the tribe.

How do you like it?

Buttercup comments on May 6, 2018:

I'm a big, sturdy guy and I like to lead. I tend to attract women that like to be tossed around, they like strong and I love when they melt in my hands(and my mouth)

Have you ever been voted "Someone most likely to ..."?

Buttercup comments on May 6, 2018:

I was super thin and plagued with respiratory infections when I was young so I was low in the picking order at sports. I went through a huge spurt of muscle growth in my twenties and acquired some prominent scars. I was in a pickup basketball game on a tough innercity court and one team captain said," I want that Frankenstein lookin' motherfucker", nice change.

Best anti-depressants without a prescription

Buttercup comments on May 6, 2018:

Sam-E is prescription in Europe and fairly well researched (similar in action to SSRIs and I would suggest similar precautions)

Lost in Space on Netflix.

Buttercup comments on May 6, 2018:

Beyond bad I gave up after 5 minutes, tried again and regretted the loss of another 5

I don't miss church but I do miss the coming together the togetherness of worship.

Buttercup comments on May 6, 2018:

Religion has co-opted our need for community and companionship, that's why punishments like shunning and excommunication work so well. Alain be Botton has some interesting thoughts on our need for religion apart from some omnipotent administrator.

Does anyone have scars that they're self-conscious about?

Buttercup comments on May 5, 2018:

How about the reverse, I have a facial scar from a botched surgery that looks life it's from a knife fight; it was prominent in my twenties and much smaller now. I was over thin and frail in my teens but really filled out in my twenties so when I got scary looking I enjoyed it. I've had two different girlfriends that had surgery scars from scoliosis that they were very self conscious about, never bothered me. You're not shallow in the least, it's absolutely true people are averse to facial scars especially on women. Hugs

I'm feeling a wee bit melancholy this evening.

Buttercup comments on May 5, 2018:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTIu4UbkK94

Embarrassing nickname?

Buttercup comments on May 2, 2018:

"Big Bird", I was tall and thin and about twelve when Sesame Street premiered. Our surname is Trout and my even thinner younger brother was called "Fish Stick".

Should public nudity be legal?

Buttercup comments on May 1, 2018:

Yeah, I really don't think much would change. We have a naked parade in Seattle which is fun but we don't even have many days warm enough. I was a Bay area hippie kid in the late sixties/ early seventies and we were okay with casual nudity but most people stayed clothed nearly all of the time.

Losing friends

Buttercup comments on May 1, 2018:

Case by case for me, I have some pretty good friends that are Christians, I've also jettisoned a few who think their beliefs give them some sort of superiority. Trumps election made me realize there are people I'd rather not see anymore.

Which one would you choose?

Buttercup comments on Apr 30, 2018:

I'm okay with housework, I do dishes by hand to relax, I tend to like errands too. My kids adore each other and rarely fight. So sleep is the easy one.

What's the one thing your boyfriend/girlfriend does that makes it so easy to fall in love with them?

Buttercup comments on Apr 30, 2018:

Integrity, I like someone who has principles and stands up for them. My wife has gotten in trouble many times when she felt management or customers were treating her more submissive, young or impressionable coworkers unfairly.

The Humanist Dilemma: My Husband Is Pressuring Me to Have Plastic Surgery - TheHumanist.com

Buttercup comments on Apr 30, 2018:

Just say no (seriously if he objectifies her that much I don't know why she would stay, I'm confident that this is not the whole issue)

Would you dare to have sex in a church?

Buttercup comments on Apr 29, 2018:

I have, went out with a woman who had a kink for Jesus on the cross and I'm an obliging gentleman. Courtly manners are not dead.

Weird comfort foods

Buttercup comments on Apr 29, 2018:

Canned corned beef hash, the stuff that looks like dog food.

So is this a dating site...or nah?

Buttercup comments on Apr 29, 2018:

Could be, I think a lot of real world dating starts with social situations that aren't explicitly about dating. Probably better that way, who needs the pressure of rejection or rejecting that leaves no room for other options.

Would you date a disabled person?

Buttercup comments on Apr 29, 2018:

Certainly, I did date someone with scoliosis that couldn't be completely repaired who could only walk short distances with effort.

Being Completely Honest, Is There A Bible Or Cross Anywhere In Your Home Right Now?

Buttercup comments on Apr 29, 2018:

My atheist daughter thinks tacky Jesus memorabilia are hilarious, so I may still have an expired air freshener in my car she gave me.