The Ghost of Paley
Posts: 1703
Joined: Oct. 2005
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| Quote | But then, how would you know whether anyone "figured it out"?
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I'll let the F&B Paley speak for himself, but my impression was that most of you guys had pretty strong suspicions. The only thing I find surprising was that nobody publicly sussed that Paley was a joint effort. I mean, I even suggested the possibility in my "Documentary Hypothesis" spoof. I thought Arden would tip to the different writing styles (he's a linguist after all, and apparently a good one), so I tried to rework several of the posts to smooth the discrepancies. Turns out I had little to worry about.
| Quote | I am truly impressed with your ability to dredge up the most outrageous right-wing lunacy and defend it as if it's defensible. (Please tell me that part was a prank, too). But there again, I'm not so sure Bill O'Reilly and Ann Coulter aren't secretly sane (but somewhat perverse) pranksters themselves.
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Like I said before, it's not a matter of what I really believe, but what the market would bear. Here's my real philosophy, should you choose to accept it:
1) Politics: mostly libertarian, with a sprinkling of religious conservatism (i.e. too much garbage on Prime Time television, we need to clean up some of the sex and violence there, while letting adult media -- books, the internet, R-rated films -- be as unrestricted as possible). I think we should ease up on immigration for a while so that our current newcomers may have time to assimilate. I dislike the neocon agenda to obliterate the nation. Europe needs to have higher standards for their immigrants, especially if they're Muslim. I really do dislike government interference in the market and people's private lives. So some of Paley's views are trollish distortions of my own.
2) Science: I pretty much accept mainstream science as is, with the caveat that some of what we "know" will inevitably turn out to be wrong. Not only do I believe that Evolution is true, I think we've got a pretty good handle on most of its mechanisms.
3) Religion: My suspicion is that the Universe is just a little too fine-tuned for comfort: in other words, I believe in a God that seeded the universe with the right conditions for intelligent life.* He's a good Guy, but he wants us to work out our own problems as much as possible. I pray every once in a while, don't know if it does any good, but since I feel better, it serves a purpose.
* Yes, I've read the counterarguments. I remain unimpressed with atheism. But feel free to show me what ya got, punks! 
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Dey can't 'andle my riddim.
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