The "Random Thoughts" Thread

[MrChris_CJ]

Re: The "Random Thoughts" Thread

the Spartans sort of did though, but thats because the Spartans had a big stick up their backside, the Athenians did sort of think they were better than everyone else (at one point) because of their great economic and naval power

when the Thebans whooped the spartans though, there was a big party for the Spartan helot class

[Chris_Redfield]

Re: The "Random Thoughts" Thread

Are you saying people didn't value their lives in 5th century Athens? O_o

Nope, reread my post very carefully. I said that dehumanizing your enemy is a method of killing a person more easily. It has happened throughout the history, from Greeks to modern day. Religion, ethnicity or economic rivalry, everything is used for this. I dont want to use the holocaust card, but it worked in WW2 aswell. Your whole argument seems to be built up on the wrong assumption that they didnt see their lives as worth anything. Thats not what I said. Afterall, you cant fight survival instinct (well, you can, but I hope you get my drift).

edit: I feel like you're just arguing with me because you can though.

Youre giving yourself too much credit.

[jake_]

Re: The "Random Thoughts" Thread

Nope, reread my post very carefully. I said that dehumanizing your enemy is a method of killing a person more easily. It has happened throughout the history, from Greeks to modern day. Religion, ethnicity or economic rivalry, everything is used for this. I dont want to use the holocaust card, but it worked in WW2 aswell. Your whole argument seems to be built up on the wrong assumption that they didnt see their lives as worth anything. Thats not what I said. Afterall, you cant fight survival instinct (well, you can, but I hope you get my drift).



Youre giving yourself too much credit.

---------- Post added at 09:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:13 PM ----------

the Spartans sort of did though, but thats because the Spartans had a big stick up their backside, the Athenians did sort of think they were better than everyone else (at one point) because of their great economic and naval power

when the Thebans whooped the spartans though, there was a big party for the Spartan helot class

True, the Spartans were more.... Spartan haha. The Athenians definitely got a massive superiority complex after the Persian wars. That's when they started dehumanizing the Persians. You see it in a lot of literature, art, and whatnot. However, in comparison, I can't think of any modern day example where a country puts out propaganda about how tough, elite, organized, etc the enemy is.

If you look at some of their other early foundation myths (most of them involve Theseus in some way or another), Athens depicted itself as subservient to Crete (having to send youths to be destroyed in the labyrinth by the minotaur). It's something Crete demanded from them and Athens willing gave up: a significant number of their young men and women, destroying households, weakening their army, etc. Thus, when Theseus triumphed for the Athenians, it was a great power, because the Cretans were a mighty force, not cowardly sub-human creatures who should be destroyed merely because of Athenian propaganda. This concept permeates Athenian culture particularly. To reiterate: part of the Athenian ego meant they had to defeat STRONG enemies. If their enemies are week and sub-human there's much less glory to be won. Most ancient Greek cultures revolved around wanting to achieve some sort of lasting glory for yourself or your city. Modern societies have a slightly different focus, I think, in a lot of respects, even in why we fight wars.



It's not a judgement one way or the other, just an observation.
*shrugs*

[Chris_Redfield]

Re: The "Random Thoughts" Thread

A picture of facepalm suits this situation just fine.

True, the Spartans were more.... Spartan haha.

If you look at some of their other early foundation myths (most of them involve Theseus in some way or another), Athens depicted itself as subservient to Crete (having to send youths to be destroyed in the labyrinth by the minotaur). It's something Crete demanded from them and Athens willing gave up: a significant number of their young men and women, destroying households, weakening their army, etc.

QED

Stop reciting your notes and start analyzing them. Youre proving my point.

When I say "dehumanize" or "value as a human being", you instantly associate it with a mudfaced miner who can be kicked around, torched, sold. And through history, certain enemies indeed have been depicted this way. But depicting them as subhumans is not always the case. For example, the depiction of nazis in WW2. An evil force which was fought in a just war, but a formidable enemy who conquered almost all of the Europe.

Taking away your enemies moral equality (through myths) but treating them as prize in combat has the exact same effect. It was more noble in ancient Greece, absolutely, but the basic principle is the same.

You should just chill. Im not arguing with you because you are speshul. I just disagree with your position. My position comes from a completely different field- killing a human being is detrimental to our survival as a species, which is why people dont generally kill each other. Its a purely biological trait (something which some people consider to be "morals") and most social species have this. So to overcome this, most people need a very good reason when they have to (or are asked to) kill another human being. Again, if you reduce the value of your enemy as a human being, he is easier to kill. However, this does not mean that they are always being portrayed as weaklings. The only one who used the word "subhuman" was you.

You misunderstood me right from the beginning. Maybe if I used the term "demonizing"?

[Kreepy Kitteh =^o.O^=]

Re: The "Random Thoughts" Thread

I have an itchy bumhole but I don't want to scratch it in fear of my fingers smelling like sh*t...

[Hendrix]

Re: The "Random Thoughts" Thread

Now thats wisdom.

[RYKUU]

Re: The "Random Thoughts" Thread

I have an itchy bumhole but I don't want to scratch it in fear of my fingers smelling like sh*t...

You have a point.

I need to gain the courage to tell my parents I want to join the Navy >.<

[Hendrix]

Re: The &quot;Random Thoughts&quot; Thread

just say it, most parents can't wait for their kids to GTFO.

[MrChris_CJ]

Re: The &quot;Random Thoughts&quot; Thread

didn't those ****ers on Crete get nailed by an earthquake anyway, or was it that dam volcano caldera underneath that island (atlantis myth)

otherwise, most of the major city states liked to think they were pro, but it often wasn't the case, the Spartans were the top dogs (after the Athenians) until they literally pissed off every other power in Greece (funnily enough by emulating the Athenians), meeting the Theban Sacred band put an end to that...and then those poor sods got done in by the Macedonians lol

I think in the modern day you can't really paint a picture of an enemy anyone will believe, in WW2 etc you would have proaganda and **** but a lot of that was designed to revolve around events that actually happened, such as the blitz etc

now we have mainly terrorists etc, who waste their time bombing civilians etc who then point to their soldiers with billions worth of equipment and expect them to win (all covered by a journalist standing 5 feet from the fighting)

then they don't....

hmmmmm

I don't suppose there were ******* texans around in ancient greece?

[Chris_Redfield]

Re: The &quot;Random Thoughts&quot; Thread

I think in the modern day you can't really paint a picture of an enemy anyone will believe, in WW2 etc you would have proaganda and **** but a lot of that was designed to revolve around events that actually happened, such as the blitz etc

now we have mainly terrorists etc, who waste their time bombing civilians etc who then point to their soldiers with billions worth of equipment and expect them to win (all covered by a journalist standing 5 feet from the fighting)

then they don't....

You just answered your own question.

[MrChris_CJ]

Re: The &quot;Random Thoughts&quot; Thread

it was indeed a great learning adventure

take that skool

oh wait...

[Stev0esque]

Re: The &quot;Random Thoughts&quot; Thread

Killing floor is pretty fun. Not crazy about the mapchange lockup bug that affects every copy this side of the world though

[[Expletive Deleted]]

Re: The &quot;Random Thoughts&quot; Thread

It's not just that side of the world. I get it, too.

It's looking like a Vista/7 memory management thing, though.

[Stev0esque]

Re: The &quot;Random Thoughts&quot; Thread

I read that "officially' (I mean, according to TWI) its because of steam patching servers sending out corrupted versions of the patches. Some people say they just suck at patching. I dont want to hate on them because they are a small company, but that being said, that makes it likely...

[[Expletive Deleted]]

Re: The &quot;Random Thoughts&quot; Thread

Well, I've had a few conversations with the Tripwire guys.

With my systems, it took some trial and error(S!) to figure out the problem.

I've got two main systems. One is mine:
GTX280
C2Q @ 3.15GHz
4GB DDR2
WD Caviar Black 1TB

The other belongs to my wife:
8800GTS 512 (G92)
C2D @ 3.24GHz
4GB DDR2
320GB 32MB cache 7200RPM Hitachi Deskstar

It didn't matter who hosted on our gigabit LAN, it crashed between maps EVERY TIME.
Well, I own a few more PCs capable of running Killing Floor and we found out it has something to do with the Vista/7 memory management systems. It didn't happen on XP with the same systems, or even one box MUCH weaker than those two.

We ended up using our HTPC build as a dedicated server in our house.
AMD 4400X2
2GB DDR RAM
8600GT

It had NOTHING to do with Steam patching for us. That was the very first thing we tried, as it was the easiest thing to try. Making multiple-boot systems with 32-bit XP, 32-bit Vista, and 64-bit 7 is a MUCH bigger PitA.