• HelixDab2@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I wish for one electron to disappear from every atom. The net result would be that all atoms would now have a positive charge.

    True, it would not only end all life on earth, but also destroy the entire earth. But everything would be positive.

    • milkisklim@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      So in this scenario where you have a magical Genie, you would use a supernatural being to stop others from believing in supernatural beings?

      • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
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        1 year ago

        Who said the genie was supernatural? If I can see the genie in front of me and sufficiently measure it’s existence, then it is real and natural. “Super natural” literally means “outside of nature”, i.e. stuff that doesn’t have any evidence of ever existing.

        • milkisklim@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          OP said so.

          OP called it a magical genie. Magic is by definition outside of nature.

          If presented by observable evidence the supernatural exists in one specific case (the genie) then it is reasonable to suppose there may be other supernatural beings.

          If this were a highly advanced alien with probability manipulating technology, that would be a different question.

          • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
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            1 year ago

            Magic is by definition outside of nature.

            A magician would disagree with you :D

            If this were a highly advanced alien with probability manipulating technology, that would be a different question.

            “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

            If presented by observable evidence the supernatural exists in one specific case (the genie) then it is reasonable to suppose there may be other supernatural beings.

            Imagine I was a person who had never seen a narwhal, and thus didn’t believe they were real; suppose I believed them to be supernatural creatures. So to prove me wrong, you bring me to an aquarium and show me a narwhal and say, “look, a live narwhal. See? They are naturally occurring creatures”. I could respond with, “well no, that’s obviously a supernatural creature, and now it’s reasonable for me to also suppose that unicorns exist!” Do you see any flaws in my logic?

            We’ve hypothesized of a situation where we have an observable creature in front of us. At that point, regardless of how “magical” we believe it to be, it is, by the definition of “supernatural”, not supernatural. However, when it comes to supernatural beings that we have not observed, this genie has not given us any more evidence for their existence.

            Happy halloween!

    • horsescorpion@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 year ago

      So every time someone stubs their toe, every other human would feel the pain? Everyone would be completely overwhelmed by all kinds of feelings all the time.

    • Ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 year ago

      What would that look like? I’m a trans woman. When someone is standing there trying to take my rights away, and actively working to remove my access to care and support, what does “agree to disagree” look like?

      • pinkdrunkenelephants@lemmy.cafe
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        1 year ago

        “I accept your right to be what you want to be and don’t care about it anymore. I am sorry for all of the damage I caused by getting so invested in an issue that has nothing to do with me.”

    • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 year ago

      I feel like that one could go wrong. There’s regions where slavery is still de-facto legal, isn’t it awful to just let that slide as their opinion?

        • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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          1 year ago

          Nope. Well, mostly, but there are a few regions where the tradition is still going. Mauritania only banned slavery in like 2003, and the law is basically a joke. Foreign journalists will tell stories about visiting and being served by rough people dressed in rags, until the host notices them staring and gets nervous.

          The gulf states are also famous for having slaves, although in that case it has more to do with cost savings and a lack of scruples, and I don’t think they would call them slaves, just workers-who-have-to-work-and-can’t-leave. There’s various forms of forced labour in probably most places too, but it’s a matter of definition if prison labour or indentured labour count as slavery (which is usually what they’re counting when they put out figures with a giant number of modern slaves).