TonusOH

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Posts by TonusOH

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  8

  The Last Days?

  by ozziepost in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  today's issue of time magazine bears the front cover headline "the last days of the taliban".. the urgency of these "last days" is re-inforced in the magazine's articles by the use of words such as "final reckoning", "last sanctuary", "rule unraveled for good", "endgame".. words and phrases such as these may seem familiar to regular readers of the watchtower magazine which regularly describes the present time as being the "last days" of this "system of things".. interestingly time describes the "last days of the taliban" as occurring just two months after the commencement of the "time of the end" for the taliban.. i wonder how many witnesses will give this some thought as they consider the watchtower's latest declaration of urgency for the last days of this system of things.

  at what stage will these "last days" cease to be the last days?

  can they last 100 years?

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  TonusOH

  In fact, in this year 1967 we are actually living in the final part of that time!

  Imagine if they then added, "if that seems close, think about how excited you will be in 55 years, when we are even closer still!"

  So, when Stephen Lett told us that we were in the last day of the last day (or however he put it), did he mean that it might be another 55 years before the end? If "close" and "just around the corner" and "the final part of that time" means "at least 55 years away," how can you assure people of the urgency of the end?
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  78

  Top AI inventor Geoffrey Hinton reluctantly concluded that AI will probably humanity fairly soon

  by slimboyfat in

  1. social
  2. current

  geoffrey hinton, major inventor of artificial intelligence: .

  “if you take the existential risk seriously, as i now do—i used to think it was way off, but now i think it’s serious, and fairly close—it might be quite sensible to just stop developing these things any further, but i think it’s completely naïve to think that would happen.

  there’s no way to make that happen.

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  TonusOH

  From https://www.aerosociety.com/news/highlights-from-the-raes-future-combat-air-space-capabilities-summit/

  Aside from how chilling it is to realize just how much time and effort and resources are being constantly expended in the quest to find more efficient ways to exterminate one another, there was an interesting talk about the potential issues with AI. There is now an update at the start of the part in question, where the speaker walks back his claim that these simulations actually took place. He now claims that they were "thought experiments." That sounds... questionable in light of what he originally said. Here are some parts:

  Having been involved in the development of the life-saving Auto-GCAS system for F-16s (which, he noted, was resisted by pilots as it took over control of the aircraft) Hamilton is now involved in cutting-edge flight test of autonomous systems, including robot F-16s that are able to dogfight. However, he cautioned against relying too much on AI noting how easy it is to trick and deceive. It also creates highly unexpected strategies to achieve its goal.

  He notes that one simulated test saw an AI-enabled drone tasked with a SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) mission to identify and destroy SAM sites, with the final go/no-go given by the human. However, having been 'reinforced' in training that destruction of the SAM was the preferred option, the AI then decided that 'no-go' decisions from the human were interfering with its higher mission - killing SAMs - and then attacked the operator in the simulation.

  [...] "We trained the system - 'Hey don't kill the operator - that's bad. You're gonna lose points if you do that'. So what does it start doing? It starts destroying the communication tower that the operator uses to communicate with the drone to stop it from killing the target."

  On the one hand, it's possible to simulate and debug AI in an environment that is completely safe. On the other hand, when you are developing systems that will put military-grade weapons in the hands of AI at a scale capable of winning battles and wars, you are counting on a 'mind' that sees everything as a simulation- as a logic problem to be solved within a closed system, and not as actions taken in the real world.

  Automated combat systems will be developed and eventually deployed, IMO. That is where things will eventually go off the rails in catastrophic ways.
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  57

  Is Bible chronology true?

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  according to jw interpretation of bible chronology, the earliest human, adam, came into existence some 6,048 years ago compared to scientific dating of human fossils believed to be much older.

  since jesus validated the creation of adam and eve as historical people and jc’s own lineage is traced all the way back to adam, bible chronology is certified as true and there must be something wrong with scientific dating.

  what proves scientific dating as accurate that humans are much older than what bible chronology says?.

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  TonusOH

  I'm more interested to know if the concept of Bible chronology has been defined in a way that all Christian denominations agree upon, or if they have reached agreement on parameters for its use. If it is used differently by anyone who relies on it, then it's unreliable by definition. Is there a set of guidelines that all organizations use? Does any organization publish any sort of guidelines?
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  57

  Is Bible chronology true?

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  according to jw interpretation of bible chronology, the earliest human, adam, came into existence some 6,048 years ago compared to scientific dating of human fossils believed to be much older.

  since jesus validated the creation of adam and eve as historical people and jc’s own lineage is traced all the way back to adam, bible chronology is certified as true and there must be something wrong with scientific dating.

  what proves scientific dating as accurate that humans are much older than what bible chronology says?.

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  TonusOH

  Smiddy, the idea is based on verses that can be interpreted either way, but there are no definitive statements in the Bible that state that the Earth is flat. For example, it is described as a circle at least once, but it is also described as having corners. It is described as having foundations and not moving, but also as being hung upon nothing.

  Certainly, you can get the impression that it was thought of as a flat plain with a clear dome stretched over it and serving as the sky, where the sun, moon, and stars were displayed. But I don't think there is any one verse (or group of verses) that settles the matter one way or another.
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  11530

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  TonusOH

  I have to admit, I like the use of the word. Expanding our vocabularies isn't the worst thing in the world (though it does make you wonder why English has such an excess of words for the same ideas). I grew up in a pretty bad area and most of my early years were spent indoors with nothing but books to stave off the monotony.

  And really, the words don't have to be strange or complicated. Think of the many ways you might describe Lloyd? Here are a whole boatload: https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jerk

  PS: the word of the day today is "Stinkard".
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  11530

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  TonusOH

  But ... CSA, and using the services of a sex worker, are NOT the same thing. Conflating the two would suggest that any person involved in the sex industry is promoting CSA.

  To any of Lloyd's supporters seeking to use this excuse: you misunderstand. That is like saying that someone who has a history of shoplifting is not the same as a person who hijacks trucks to steal cargo. While we may agree that there is a difference in severity or scale, it also means that the former person should not be reporting on "the problem of theft in society." Once their own past becomes known, it gets in the way of any serious advocacy.

  Even if he has not engaged in sexual activity with minors, his regular use of a trade that does traffic in minors damages any attempt at combating CSA, because he will become the issue as his past gets more and more attention. He knows this, hence the many times that he has insisted that any sex workers he 'dated' were 20 or older. This, in itself, is an issue- that 20-year-old may have been forced onto the streets at a much younger age, which is the sort of thing that someone like him should be fighting against, instead of supporting with his dollars.

  And by 'his dollars' I am referring to the money donated by his patrons, with the expectation that it would support his 'activism work' and not his dalliances with sex workers.
  
  
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  11530

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  TonusOH

  Toblerone5: Why didn't he just block her ?

  I don't think he can help himself. Even when he blocks people, he will read their tweets. Sometimes he will unblock them so he can make a reply, and then block them again after. His need to have the last word is a compunction that he finds as difficult to master as his penis.
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  14

  What Is Your Favorite Graphic Depicting the WT Experience?

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here's mine: .

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  TonusOH

  Sitting at any meeting/convention/speech be like:

  https://media1.tenor.com/images/fe69ac8e383a5d6249c4986194fdaf9e/tenor.gif

  
  
  
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  11530

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  TonusOH

  pr0ner: Have expertise in legal affairs due to extensive knowledge of Watchtower legal cases

  And don't forget:

  • Have extensive legal experience from filing multiple criminal lawsuits in Croatian court
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  32

  Elder Arrested For Decades Long Abuse

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  not sure if this has already been posted:.

  https://kdvr.com/news/affidavit-religious-elder-abused-raped-children-for-decades/ .

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  TonusOH

  The "people unprepared to deal with the issue and unwilling to seek help" was a reference to elders, not prosecutors.

  Regarding "for this case," note that the line you highlighted says "men like this." In other words, not this specific case, but situations similar to it.

  And none of this explains why you stated that, according to me "everybody is guilty simply because they are accused." Your explanation above does not provide anything remotely like a basis for such a blanket mischaracterization.