User:Yahweh

From SkepticWiki

Contents 1 International Deity of Mystery 2 Articles I've Created / Written 3 Philosophy 3.1 Epistemology 3.2 Metaphysics 3.3 Morality 3.4 Aesthetics 4 Superpowers 4.1 Being awesome 4.1.1 Temperament 4.1.2 Physicality 4.2 Computer programming 5 What's In a Name? 5.1 Public Reaction 5.2 Real Name 6 Fun with LaTex

[edit] International Deity of Mystery

I am Yahweh. What words can describe me but "I am who I am" (Exodus 3:14).

[edit] Articles I've Created / Written

In alphabetical order:

1. Agnosticism
2. Atheism
3. "Atheism Provides No Basis for Ethics"
4. Bananas: The Atheist's Worst Nightmare
5. Bible Code
6. Divine Command Theory
7. False Dichotomy
8. Fundies Say the Darndest Things
9. Evolution is just a Theory
10. Evolution Violates The Second Law of Thermodynamics
11. Homosexuality (rewrote existing article)
12. Irreducible complexity (rewrote existing article)
13. Last Thursdayism
14. Lunatic, Liar, Lord
15. Missing Solar Neutrinos
16. Subjectivism
17. Strawman
18. Utilitarianism

[edit] Philosophy

Here it is in a nutshell:

[edit] Epistemology

My philosophy teacher always referred to me as the empiricist. I suppose that is true.

I am also a skeptic.

[edit] Metaphysics

The most generalized description to sum up my view of the world would be scientific materialism, and unsurprisingly a determinist.

As a non-believer in the existence of any deities, I am an atheist.

[edit] Morality

In contrast to many other self-described materialist-atheist-skeptics, I reject moral subjectivism altogether. I've long argued that morality has an objective component, and objective moral prescriptions are universal, applying across all cultures future, past, and present.

I don't believe free will has anything to do with morality (in fact, I believe free will - which implies actions are independent of causal components - is contrary to morality). Moral responsibility is articulated as:

Two principal conditions are normally necessary for responsibility: (1) that the agent knows what he is doing, and (2) that his desires and intentions play some role in the act (or omission). Awkward exceptions to this neat schema are cases where a person is blamed for unintentional acts (such as carelessness) or for the unintended consequences of his acts. (A Dictionary of Philosophy, by Antony Flew)

Many people also correct note that my sense of morality is strongly utilitarian and consequentialist.

[edit] Aesthetics

Fire bad. Tree pretty.

[edit] Superpowers

I have many documented superpowers, and some undocumented. My powers include:

[edit] Being awesome

Awesomeness is a generous quality, made up of many component qualities (all of which I possess).

[edit] Temperament

People know me for being a generously jaded, or otherwise described as delightfully cynical. I am generally the type of person who isn't bothered by most things, and tends be calm and reserved in most given situations.

I am deeply introverted, and I am a very private individual (many people know me for being very particular about my privacy).

[edit] Physicality

When people see me, the first thing they notice is the clothing I wear: hoodies and very baggy pants. I wear these kinds of clothes all year round, everyday without exception.

[edit] Computer programming

The first language I learned was Visual Basic several years ago. I am self-taught, without any kind of formal training.

Naturally, after learning Visual Basic, I picked up some derivatives of the VB language, most notably ASP (Active Server Pages), a server-side scripting language comparable to PHP, but more awesome.

I spend my free time creating web sites and writing blogger software. Many of my websites are temporary, so they are probably very difficult to locate on the internet, but the websites which are permanently and publiclly available are as follows:

• Fundies Say the Darndest Things 2.0

[edit] What's In a Name?

I chose the name because I like the character Yahweh, and the name is awesome. And hey, it's a cute name for a skeptical community.

I am not one of the JREF Forum Gods, that title is reserved for Ed and Mr. Skinny.

The name "Yahweh" is just one of a number of usernames taken from mythology, which include:

• Cthulhu
• Iacchus
• Loki
• Nyarlathotep

[edit] Public Reaction

It's only once in a blue moon that I come across someone who is offended by my name.

[edit] Real Name

Nobody knows.

[edit] Fun with LaTex

<amsmath>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</amsmath>

(It appears LaTex is not installed)

Edit: Now it is! --Diamond 19:46, October 23, 2005 (BST)