Random Photos

So, as you can see, my fiancée somehow managed to get crabs while Idaho severely disappointed me.

Why You Should Believe Everything Always

Blaise Pascal was a Christian philosopher and mathematician who created something called Pascal's wager.  It was basically a way of coming to decisions when you have vague information.

You see, Pascal wanted all people to believe in God, even though he knew that the available information wasn't exactly compelling to all people.  To that end, he argued that even if you know God doesn't exist, you still have more to gain if you believe He does.

You have two options: you either believe in God, or you do not.  Whether or not you believe in Him, God either exists or He doesn't.  If he does and you believe in him, you get heaven. If you don't believe in Him and he does, then you get Hell.

But, if God does not exist, then there is no real punishment or reward for your beliefs, regardless of what you believe.

So, Hell is bad and you want to avoid it.  Heaven is good and you want to get it. The only way to have no possibility of hell and have the possibility of heaven is to believe in God.  So, everyone should believe in God. 

This type of reasoning is used not only to prove that you should believe in God, but also to prove that you should believe in... 

Global Warming

Here's another nifty chart.

If you believe global warming exists and make people behave in a way to prevent it, then you will either save everyone, or just lose a ton of money.  However, if you don't believe it, everyone dies or nothing happens.

So, since losing money is bad, but everything dying is worse, it's probably a good idea to believe in global warming, as it doesn't have the possibility of everything dying forever.

Finally...

Unicorns!

Yup, unicorns.  Let us turn to the chart:

You see, the only way you can have a life of rainbows, joy and magic is if you believe in unicorns.  If you don't believe, then your only options are causing Fluttershy to cry or to have nothing happen.  By the way, if you make Fluttershy cry, legions of 20-40 year old men will rise up and harm you. No, seriously

However, if you believe in unicorns, you will have a dang awesome life or you will have a party-less life.  

The only choice you can make that will give you the possibility of this rainbow-riffic life while also preventing you from having the possibility of getting harmed by rabid fans would be to believe. So, you should believe in unicorns, too.

Conclusion!

So, there you have it: a reason why you should believe in God, global warming, and unicorns.  Remember, this form of arguing is very common and psychologically convincing, so feel free to manipulate others to believing  whatever the heck you want them to believe.  I've already worked out some charts that prove you should believe that zombies exist, chain letters are always true, and murdering your family will cure cancer. 

Remember, as long as it's possible that something awesome will happen, and impossible that a specific bad thing can't happen, the argument seems good.  It doesn't matter how likely it is.  After all, Pascal wanted this argument to be used when you didn't know the probabilities of things, but wanted to act anyway.

See also: Appeal to Consequences

A Proposed Renaming

This is a vanity:

It is well-named, because it is at a vanity that one usually expresses the sin of vanity.  But, I believe the English language is lacking much by not using more sins to name things.  And so, I propose the following things be renamed:

Henceforth, this shall be called a gluttony:

This shall be called a sloth:

This shall be called a lust

And this shall be called a wrath

Sometimes (Only Sometimes) I'm Random

Natalie and I text frequently, and sometimes I get the urge to be different.  Natalie's message is in yellow, and my response is in blue.

If I Were to Get a Tattoo

Okay, normally, I don't like the idea of tattoos. First and foremost, they're frowned upon by my religion, and secondly, I really don't have the body to pull one off.  I happen to lack muscle and tan-ness, and other such manly things.

Pictured: a person who could clearly take me in a fight

However, those things aside, there is a reason why I would consider getting a tattoo.  It's not a manly reason, and its definitely not a cool reason, but it is a pragmatic reason.  You see, I have often thought that it would be very useful if I were to tattoo my blood type, a list of medications I'm allergic to, a list of medications I'm currently taking, etc. somewhere that wouldn't be very noticeable to most people, but highly noticeable to a doctor.

If I ever were to end up in some terrible car wreck, or were to have a seizure and wind up unconscious, or were to tell my fiancé that I think she may have a gray hair, I might be somehow incapacitated and unable to explain to the doctor what had happened.

It turns out, the punishment for saying such things is a punch to the face.

The genius of this tattoo would be in its ability to quickly tell any doctor all the immediately relevant medical data.  He or she could begin pumping drugs into my body without needing to worry about whether or not this new injection would cause my brain to explode: they'd already know, thanks to the tattoo.

Considering how safe and docile a life I lead, however, the need for this medical information tattoo is relatively low.  I'm not in any extreme sports, I don't drive, I don't drink alcohol, I make sure to get plenty of sleep, and I eat healthy-ish.  I'm as fit as a boring, middle-class fiddle.

Pictured: yet another person who could clearly take me in a fight

Weekend of Awesomeness.

Right.  So, if you came here from Facebook, you already know that I'm engaged.  It's true, I finally was able to trick a girl into thinking I am a decent human being.

Anyway, throughout the weekend, I used my camera phone to record some of the details that drew my eye, but let Mingo use her own, much better quality camera to take pictures of us and rings and such.  Unfortunately, that means that I have no good pictures of us together. But, you probably came here from Facebook, and thus have the ones she uploaded.

Friday
In the airport in SLC, I ran across this sign:


I'm glad that it was worded the way it is, because I most certainly am not a child, and thus played on the escalator.  Take that, oddly-specific sign!





Guess how much this pizza cost.  Seriously, guess.




5 dollars.  I paid 5 dollars for what amounts to a slice of pizza. </firstworldproblems>





This was my view from the plane.  That white thing is the wing.


Saturday

This is a flying unicorn.





Monday


And lest we forget, I did actually get engaged.  Here's an artist's rendition of what Mingo and I looked like when we exchanged engagement rings (yeah, I got one too.):

And that is a completely incomplete cover of what went down during this past weekend.  :D

BYU_i gramer skillz

Odd picture

In the Ricks building, there are some fairly cool-looking Native American style pictures lining the walls.  One of these pictures, as seen below, reminds me very much of a poorly executed Tango dip.

That Must Be an Old Turkey

Okay, Mingo pointed this out to me, and I thought I'd share. This poster, which is plastered all over campus, is supposed to say "Turkey Trot." But it REALLY looks like it says something else.

The Thanksgiving Massacre

In front of one of the buildings at the college I go to, there is a planter.  It is a very odd-shaped planter, and for the longest time, it has reminded me of a sacrificial altar.

 
Approximately one year ago today, (November 10, 2010) I went on my first date with Mingo, and it just happened to take place at this altar. Here's how it went down: A few days before our first date, Mingo and some other friends were over at my place. Somehow, the conversation steered towards the planter before the Spori building, and I brought up the fact that it looked like a sacrificial altar and that it deserved to take some snow victims.  The only person who thought this was a good idea—apart from me—was Mingo.  The rest of the people rightfully concluded that I was weird. So, the next day, she and I got our snow gear and spent hours crafting snowmen worthy of sacrifice.  It took a while and was surprisingly hard work, but our creation was excellently disturbing.

The fake blood doesn't really show up, but it's there.

A page in Mingo's journal which commemorates the event

It was her eagerness to construct this Calvin-and-Hobbes like thing which got me thinking that this relatively quiet girl was pretty dang cool.

Fast-forward a year later, Mingo and I are in a serious relationship.  A few days before the anniversary of this snowman-sacrificing date, we were having lunch or some such when she told me that this anniversary was coming up.  We both desired to do something similar this year, but the weather failed to provide us with any snow on that day. 

However, we were not thwarted so easily: we purchased a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream, stick-shaped pretzels, and cherry pie filling.  Then, we set about creating a lovely winter scene:

Please take note of the bloody stumps where the heads should be.

A broken arm resting in a pool of blood.

We proceeded to messily devour our hapless victims that we had created.  There are pictures of our devouring, but those are far too gruesome for your eyes.  

Well, I hope you feel edified with the Thanksgiving Spirit.  Talk to you later!

I Don't Know Why My Girlfriend Puts Up With Me

Here she is, looking like a lovely Harry Potter knockoff, courtesy of the washable marker that was placed in my hand. 

Blame Them Instead.

So, I ran across this picture on Pinterest:

And realized that it was missing something.  So, I fixed it.

Doodling Time

About a week ago, Natalie was preoccupied with her homework whilst I was visiting, and I, being a good boyfriend, decided not to interrupt her.  However, I got bored, so I decided that I would start doodling to pass the time.  Per Nat's request, those doodles are now on here, with little commentary regarding them.

No, this isn't based on a true story.  Not one I was involved in, at least. 

Technically, he's naked, too.

I seriously want to paint those boxes above my windows when I own a house.

How C-3P0 Should Look When He Runs Away