giles

I've been told I'm good at art. I enjoy art. However, over the past few months I've started to see art as having no real purpose.

Sure, it looks pretty and can inspire some interesting discussions, but in the end it's only really useful for the artist as a way to express themselves, and there are better and more productive ways to achieve that.

If someone paints a painting, it doesn't help society as a whole. It serves to make the artist proud of him/herself, which is a rather selfish goal.

An architect provides places for people to live or work. A doctor cures people of illness. A teacher educates the youth. An artists smears pigment on a canvas, or mashes some clay into a particular shape, or draws a cartoon nobody laughs at. It's a time waster, a way to placate the masses.

Being good at art is my "gift" or "talent" in the same sense as my being able to bend my foot behind my head is a gift of talent.

What does it entail? Is it simply supporting equality between the sexes, or is there more to it? What about a person would make them a feminist or not in your view?

So I recently got a copy of Majora's Mask for the 3DS, and I'm trying to win the Goron race to get the Gilded Sword.

I've tried several times and lost... I keep getting hit by the other racers, which ruins all chances of winning because you lose your momentum, and it's nearly impossible to avoid getting hit.

Is there any way to win more easily aside from not getting bumped into?

Why do they even try anymore? There are over 7 million JWs worldwide, and they've been around for a while, so by their logic shouldn't heaven be full by now? And even if it's not, why risk your chance of going to heaven by recruiting new followers who might get in before you?

If he was here right now?

So, a few friends and I are working on a 2-D platform game, where I'm mainly working on the character design and artwork.

It has a medieval/fantasy setting, where the Princess has been kidnapped by an evil wizard.

Everything descends into chaos because there's nobody to lead the kingdom, so they call upon the player character (another wizard) to save the Princess because he's the only one who has the magic to defeat the evil wizard. The wizard kills the villain, the Princess restores order to the land, the end.

Now, I've been thinking about the damsel in distress trope, and I'm wondering- is the story sexist? It's a simple excuse plot to fit into the medieval setting and as a nod to old Mario Bros-type games, but I don't want to come across as sexist.

Am I putting too much thought into a very basic story? Should we change it? And if so, any ideas for what we should change it to?

To a government that will use some of that tax money to fund its military, which may unintentionally (or perhaps even intentionally) lead to the deaths of innocent people in other countries?

My friend argued that the penalties for not paying taxes are an acceptable price to pay in order to make a statement about the government's treatments of the lives of others. Any thoughts?

My friend recommended it. I've never been a fan of anime, but I watched a few clips and it looks interesting. Any thoughts?

My friend recommended it. I've never been a fan of anime, but I watched a few clips and it looks interesting. Any thoughts?

Three questions:

1. What is your favorite movie from your childhood?

2. What is your favorite movie from the past 10 years (2004-present)?

3. What is your favorite movie overall, and why?

I've heard various Christians describe hell not as a literal place of fire and torment, but a state of eternal separation from god.

Now, being an atheist, I don't believe in god and don't feel connected to him/it in the first place, so I don't see how this "punishment" would be all that bad.

So I have a question for Christians- how would separation from god be a punishment to me or other atheists? Are we actually connected to god, but we just don't know it, and being separated from him/it would have a severe effect on us?

And Cthulu is the one true god? Shouldn't you worship him so he doesn't devour your soul?

If that person accepted Pascal's wager and somehow started believing in god to avoid hell, wouldn't that god presumably know that the person is only worshipping it out of fear and send them to hell anyway?

Searching for extraterrestrial life, but isn't he the one who wanted to spend millions of dollars on a wooden boat?

I'm a pessimist.

I was watching some old Disney movies with my little second cousin (including the Hunchback of Notre Dame) and for some reason I really like Frollo now.

Maybe it's because he seems kind of disturbing and out of place for a Disney movie... so for anyone who liked Disney as a kid, who was your favorite villain and why?

I've been trying and trying to finish it, but it's one of the few books I absolutely cannot get into.

It's just chapter after chapter of the generally uninteresting characters talking about the village and church sermons. It doesn't exactly help that it's 540+ pages...

Has anybody else here read it, and if so did you have the same problems?

Both are stories about a woman doing something she was told not to and unleashing death, pain, sickness, etc on the world.

Which is more interesting as a story, putting aside personal beliefs on whether they're true?

I personally prefer Batman. Superman is overpowered.

But you can join the army at 18? I've always found it odd that you can't drink alcohol until 3 years after you're legally allowed to go off and possibly get yourself killed.