Grrl Power

Wrath is a desire. The desire to destroy, and to harm. But ultimately a desire that you want satisfied.

Deus is sounding a lot like, well, Greed in this one.

I feel almost like we're falling into that Buddhism thing where "Life is suffering. All suffering is caused by desire".

Okay, so, we just arbitrarily define greed broadly enough, everything will become a subsection of it :P

Greed is pretty broad to begin with. Desire takes many forms.

Well, if you want to go that way, greed is just love of material goods. Therefore, the host was correct and love is the greatest force.

Of course, as I've noted several times, the fact that Deus is redefining things to his own benefit is hardly new for him.

He'd make a fairly good school-level debater. Of course, when you have as much money as him, being a good school-level debater will win you plenty of arguments.

I suspect that Deus would say "Love" is just what people call Lust because they've been taught that being horny is wrong.

Or he'd say love is just a more positive word for greed.

New strip. More of the same, basically.

Well, beyond the fact that multiple philosophies have defined greed as the love for material objects (in the case of several religions, the argument is that such love is misplaced), there is the fact that there are some in the world for whom greed has no meaning - they are satisfied with the material possessions that they have, and some even seek to divest themselves of what they have. I'm sure Deus has a very convoluted justification for thinking that they have greed, but he's still blatantly defining things as best suit himself.

That said, he shows one very fatal flaw in this - yes, money is a form of power. But he presents it as the end-all in power, and the truth is that it's only one form of power. I could very well see his downfall coming at the hands of someone who has him at the mercy of some other form of power that doesn't care about his form of power.

Tangent: according to the character sidebar, the reporter's first name is Cici. Huh... I've only ever heard that as a nickname (for Cecile or Cecilia).

Going back to the whole Buddhism thing, one way I had meditation described to me is to start by focusing your mind on doing nothing but emptying your mind of all thought, then removing that desire as well. Alternatively, your only desire should be to seek Nirvana and then you eliminate that desire to reach Nirvana.

:-P Given this was college, there's even odds that someone was feeding me a line of BS of course.

Based on what I know about Buddhism (which is admittedly the Theme Park Version), I think that's just the simplification of the process. Kind of like how you build a cabinet by getting some wood, some tools, some glue, some nails, maybe a fixture or two, and you put them all together. That's technically correct, but only in a vague fashion that leaves out a lot of important details.

Deus sells himself short, not all of his power comes from money. His drive, personality, intelligence, all of it meshes with his resources to make him as formidable as he is.

He'd probably argue that his resources all come from his money, and that his drive and intellect are all in the pursuit of more money.

What he can't argue, however, is his charisma, and that's probably his greatest strength. People can forgive and defend a surprising amount if you've got a fun enough personality. That's the kind of thing that you just have to have, and Deus's got it in spades.

edited 9th Feb '16 2:49:53 PM by Watchtower

Anyone wanna bet Maxima counts as metallic enough for static charges? Just for Rule of Funny.

I don't think much of the quality of the furnishings in Arc's quarters. Far too much nylon, as it appears.

@740 No bet. We already know she has at least some amount of electrostatic conductivity - she wouldn't be able to use a phone touchscreen otherwise.

New strip. The mornings after the nights before.

I would have lost five bucks too, Peggy.

I'd love to know, in general, if anything that Sydney does could be described as "healthy." Well, I've heard hot sauce is good for your heart and fighting most types of cancer, so maybe that.

Scuba diving?

She appears to be in fairly good shape for someone with a dubious lifestyle. Though actually, a diet without red meat (she really isn't vegetarian) doesn't tend to be too unhealthy - she's probably not putting away as much fat as a standard burger-guzzling geek. That aside, I guess she's got a skinny-model Geek Physique with a polish of lucky metabolism.

I'll give you the scuba diving, but I've met enough overweight vegetarians that I long ago stopped believing that vegetarianism was inherently more healthy. I know, from my own diet, that the parts particularly guilty of my weight are the parts that vegetarians are quite happy to consume. Heck, Sydney is asking for one such part right now.

True, a sufficiently sweet tooth can do plenty of damage regardless of the presence or absence of animal fats.

It seems quite possible that Sydney's hyperactivity actually burns off significant calories and rates as decent cardio exercise...

New strip. Character profiles.

She's probably one of those evil eeeviiil people who can eat like Homer Simpson and still manage to weigh a hundred pounds. I hate them all.

I don't know if it's just who passed on the other side or an artistic error, but for all the author claims the dress code is pretty lax, it looks like everyone on the far side of the track is wearing the basic grey tracksuit.