Groundhog's day

[Davin]

I've seen that movie several times, I don't remember the part where he had to teach a lump the basics logic over and over again. The part where he commits suicide by driving a truck with two hicks and Punxsutawney Phil off a cliff was funny though.

[MajorTomWaits99]

Because Killing yourself is Hilarious?

Or the fact that the Groundhog was screaming?

[Davin]

Niether really.

[MajorTomWaits99]

Ah then what was funny about that scene?

[Davin]

The reason why he was killing himself, the context of the scene and acting by Bill Murray.

[MajorTomWaits99]

...He was killing himself because he realized there was no point to living and that he was invincible. Why bother?.

That was funny? I'm sorry to be such a ball buster but I found that scene (among others) rather depressing and futilistic ...(Not a real world but still valid)

[Davin]

So you didn't think it was funny and I did, what is your point?

[MajorTomWaits99]

No Point Just trying to see what you found funny or if I was missing some Key point.

Kind of like how I didn't get the humor of Moral orel originally

[Davin]

Humor is not something that is easily described, there are many forms and not any form is universally funny to everyone. I don't much like the slapstick humor of the Three Stooges, however some of the other humor in their shows I find funny.

In that scene from Groundhog's Day, the reactions of the people in the truck with him are humorous to me, letting Phil drive was humorous to me and how Bill was acting was humorous to me.

His life became a living hell. It was not depressing to me, nor is making an attempt to control his circumstances futile. I would have probably done as he had done and tried several other methods of solving the problem before resorting to what would likely be more permanent solutions. I would not be able to handle the same day reoccurring forever, so if suicide was the answer, I would have taken that solution. I don't see anything depressing in that.

[MajorTomWaits99]

AH I see Fair enoughI just wanted to better understand your view so that is solid.

[Riddler]

selliedjoup wrote

So 90% of the world thinks something you don’t agree with, so you rant on a forum about how stupid they are? ...

...Is it your logical duty to show the 90% why they’re wrong?

Seriously, why do you bother?

It seems bizarre that you spend your free time denouncing something you can't define.

(Can't be arsed to read through 44 pages to find out if this has been expressed already but...)

If your conjected figure is accurate, 90% of the world prays to something they can't define. Ranting about that, and its consequences to the way in which the world is run, seems a reasonable thing to do if you're in the other 10% and have a few spare moments in your day.

[Riddler]

So anyway, yeah. The suicide scene is essential to Phil Connor's character development at that point. Blaming the groundhog for his plight ('He's got to be stopped, and I've got to stop him') reveals the exasperation of having a delusional external locus of control. It mirrors the rage of the anti-theist before he takes the step to realising that the idol he blames and curses isn't directing his experience at all. When he discovers that even a 'successful' suicide doesn't give him a way out, he then begins to accept responsibility for his own circumstances and thereby slowly turn his predicament to his advantage.

So the scene challenges our greatest fear of not being in control, throws into relief the gulf between aspiration and achievement re the ego's vain attempt to shape its own destiny, and plonks a bewildered and entirely innocent buck-toothed rodent right in the middle. What's not to find funny?

[ILOVEJESUS]

What about when 90 % (and this figure for believers is bullshit, not enough holy buildings to hold 5 billion odd), believed the world to be flat, or the earth the centre of the universe?

[Sternwallow]

Riddler wrote

(Can't be arsed to read through 44 pages to find out if this has been expressed already but...)

If your conjected figure is accurate, 90% of the world prays to something they can't define. Ranting about that, and its consequences to the way in which the world is run, seems a reasonable thing to do if you're in the other 10% and have a few spare moments in your day.

It would be nice to live in a world where "live and let live" would be a motto of mutual respect, tolerance and so-on.

In fact, though, 90% of people, whether because they are stupid or evil or crazy, make decisions that actually harm the whole populace. That is why it is not just a whim to bitch about them in a forum; it is an important fight elsewhere as well.

I deny that we should respect a belief in a soul when that belief expresses itself in a ban on stem-cell research.