stevesbets

1) When people say good luck before playing against me in a poker game, really any poker game but particularly heads up. When people play me, their sole reason for playing me is to beat me (and rightfully so). To say good luck to me is totally disingenuous and I can’t stand it. I make a point of never saying it, I can’t really think of anything more phony. For those who think it is cordial, you are insane and flat out wrong. If anything it is insulting because you expect your opponent to believe it. This is sort of cliched since many have complained about this before me, but I feel I have to blog about it since still so many people doing it. I know now I will probably have many people say it as a “joke” as a result of this blog, but so be it. Anyone that does it should get over themselves and stop immediately

2) When people smoke outside while walking down a crowded street (particularly in New York). While I acknowledge it is totally legal to do so, I cannot imagine ever being so inconsiderate. At this point it is well established that smoking directly causes cancer. I believe that society should be free and if people wish to poison themselves they should 100% be permiited to do so, but they do not have the right to blow a cloud of smoke in my face (thereby giving me cancer) as I’m walking on a public sidewalk. I often run to get in front of people that are smoking since I can’t stand being behind them for longer than a block. Before I get all these comments about how this is inconsistent with my views that society should be free (and that anti-gambling laws are simply outrageous pandering to brainwashed religious zombies) it truly is not. I believe in the Lockean view of the law and the social contract. That is, that people should be free to do what they want so long as what they want does not infringe on the liberty of another. It is hard for me to imagine someone that wouldnt want to be free and have these rights. Gambling online does not hurt anyone except (arguably) those who choose to participate. They have the OPTION to do it. No one is giving me an option of getting poisoned when someone blows smoke in my face which I think is a bit outrageous. I would have no problem whatsoever with the government mandating certain zones outside where it is permissible to smoke (or not permissible to smoke, notably crowded walkways).

+1) While I’m not as passionate about this one as the others, it is happening in the coffee shop I’m in right now so I have to mention it. When people talk so loud at a restaurant that everyone around can hear their conversation. Now I understand people can do this without realizing it, I have probably been guilty of it a few times myself but to do it for over an hour is just ridiculous, additionally, you should be embarrassed that everyone keeps looking over at you but i suppose some people are immune to such embarrassment.

+2) One more thing that I’ve just been thinking about since my religulous blog and it is really making my blood boil. I have some friends who are religious who are among the smartest people i know. I trust their judgment and respect their logic on pretty much every other issue. But whenever the religious debate comes up they become unreasonable shadows of themselves. One friend in particular has a keen ability to distort the truth. I brought up how silly it was that a hospital wastes an elevator to have a “sabbath” elevator. My claim is that if Jewish people (and I technically am one) really feel that god doesn’t want them doing “work” on Saturday (in the form of pushing an elevator button, the sabbath elevator stops on every floor), then how on earth is god ok with inventing gizmos such as this to get around his edict. The whole thing is hypocritical. My friend does not follow these rituals himself, but for some reason he still felt a need to argue tooth and nail in favor of it being a reasonable custom. His tactic allowed me to realize the one that most religious people use when they do endeavor to rationally argue for their beliefs (rather than simply get offended like many do that you DARE question them). He totally changed the debate from my original claim about sabbath elevators to something else entirely. His argument was that there is value in spending one day a week with no electronics etc because there is a ton to be gained by spending time meeting and talking to your friends and neighbors with no intrusion. I found myself arguing him on this point where I think he had some excellent rational ground to stand on. However, this had nothing whatsoever to do with my original point. Kudos to him I suppose for changing the argument to something he had a chance to win but I will not be so easily tricked again by this tactic. The bottom line is that the core tenets of every religion are so irrational that they simply cannot be argued logically without employing tricks and distorting the truth. I welcome people to try in the comments.