Hello Jodan,
I'm sending this letter to you, Sam Harris and Douglas Murray, and hoping that it will reach at least one of you directly as I believe it could move all of your individual viewpoints as well as your future conversations forward. I'm sending it in the interest of possibly alerting you to at least one country, the one I grew up in, which seem to have completely evaded your research efforts and leaving you all, it would seem, agree on one, to me a very curious and strange point, that a successful and happy society without a (major) role of religion in it does not exist or have ever been tried. Sam is sure it would work, you say it did not work in Stalin's Russia case (you also add Hitler, who clearly was not an atheist and his most brutal forces had "God is with us" written right on their belt buckles which pretty much destroys the non-religious assertion), but none of you seem to be aware that it worked and is still currently working already very well.
I respect all of you greatly. I identify most with Sam's points of view at matters - perhaps unsurprisingly given the country I grew up in and the personality I am - and least with you Jordan, but that's only because of the religious part of views he seems to insist on deeply. I admire Jordan for your abilities to reason and, most of the time, reason so for clearly logical things. I admire the other two for the same reason without the need for that exception.
I've watched a great many videos featuring you 3 plus of course other very intelligent people like Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and others in the past few years. The one thing that always keeps surprising me is the point where the discussion gets to the point of arguing about "how viable would a theoretical society" built basically purely on reason and no religion look like and what state it would end up in. Not even Christopher Hitchens seemed to ever have any other answers than a very good, but yet still purely theoretical arguments regarding such a society. From all of those occasions in those conversations, I am basically forced to believe that you all guys, however much-traveled and intelligent, have completely missed at least this one real-life, well-working example, which is my country - The Czech Republic. I think that if you haven't and if you then talked to a few people who grew up there at least at the time when I did - born 1973 - you would find not theoretical, but very real examples of a great many people who not only grew up completely without any religion or any stories coming from it and yet, still grew up very nice, intelligent and maybe surprisingly to you all VERY HAPPY people.
I'm not sure how many people exactly like me you would find because I really set up my life to be very happy, not even knowing how exactly stress would feel - I just maybe get hints of what it may feel like when I'm cold, which is why I have relocated to Queensland, Australia a long time ago - but you would definitely find heaps and heaps of people who are undergoing the same stresses in life as in any other western-type society with handling family, work and the other aspects of life, yet without any regard whatsoever to notions of any religion or any need to any type of any kind of comforting mythical stories.
That, of course, is not to say that many of us do not enjoy fiction books or entertaining stories in the form of books, tales, or other arts. We can enjoy it all the same with the full knowledge that those are fiction.
All the above is the result of the socialist/communist system we grew up in which not necessarily stifled but certainly did not promote any religion. It is the one thing I am grateful for to that system I grew up in, apart from a very happy childhood since nobody's parents had existential struggles. I do believe that there were efforts to eradicate the religion, many of which may probably be identified as forceful, but we've always kept our history including its buildings like castles and churches as opposed to destroying them, which would be an extreme way to get rid of something. Even clergy was tolerated and some very tiny minority of mostly the old-times people were attending services even at those times.
The actual real fact of life was, however, that we never were taught about religion apart from being a part of history, including ours. And we would still go on school trips some of which may include admiring a great cathedral purely for its architecture and art.
Strangely, even the name of the "person" who brings the presents at Chrismas (which in the Czech language is called "vanoce", which has nothing to do with Christianity - at least not obviously - I did not study its etymological roots) is "Jezisek", which, funnily and very interestingly enough I personally only realized when I was about 14 years old, means "a little Jezis = Jesus - "little" here meaning a kid, a baby). So the presents were being brought by a baby Jesus and yet, for almost all of us it was just a name, same as the west had Santa Claus or any other name you could use for a fictional character. It had NO religious meaning whatsoever to us, nor any story was attached to it at all. It was (and is for us) simply a holiday with the ritual of decorating a tree and having a very nice, extraordinary family dinner before (mostly the kids) would enjoy the present unwrapping under the tree. (Yes, our Christmas all happen on 24th Dec). We had no idea that it was originally a celebration of the winter solstice or that it was then stolen as a Christian holiday. We enjoyed it and frankly still enjoy it for the same family reasons, all the same. Actually now knowing that it has been for the past many hundreds of years appropriated by a religious cult if anything taints the experience. It probably would not if that cult was a thing simply belonging and part of the history of "less educated" times of us humans. The fact that this magical thinking still sways great sections of global citizens' everyday lives is what taints Christmas for some us Czechs. It surely does for me. I feel more at ease with it knowing that actually it is the winter solstice celebration. I would surely be more fine with it if it was just a date that someone decided to arbitrarily put on a calendar rather than thinking of it in terms of a cult that brutally killed and tortured so many innocent people in history and still thinks that magical thinking is just a fine idea.
Similar to Christmas, we in the Czech Republic also celebrate Easter (another holiday appropriated for itself by Christianity as I learned much later in my life). We also enjoy it purely for the tradition or maybe just for the fact that it is a day off work :). In Czech, a part of the tradition regarding Easter is that man create a nice looking weaved supple "sticks" from the branches of a willow tree, and in the morning we go around as many girls/women we know as possible to "hit" their behinds with it so that they stay young and supple too. I'm sure that in today's "politically correct" society many would find something very wrong with it, but the simple fact was that it ended up being a very nice and very social day for everyone. (By the way, I never knew that anybody would consider women as any lesser than men. I grew up in a society where had no reason to even suspect such a thing.) In the afternoon the girls and women had the right on the other hand to pour buckets of water over the men's' heads, even though that part was never really practiced. (At least in our parts of the Czech Republic. There are more traditional areas.) I suppose that is because it is not as convenient to run around with buckets of water around than it would be with sticks. Also, we - boys and men - would get a colorful ribbon bound to the ends of the sticks by each female we've visited and "paid off" - we don't really call it hitting or beating. It would leave the omitted girls and women feel neglected rather than happy not to get hit. I'm sure that the absolute majority of us were always as gentle as myself and my friends in performing that "stick-and-behind" ritual. I actually never wanted or was planning to do this whole thing, but I had a friend who always came on the morning of Easter Monday to my home with a couple of those "sticks" - one for himself, one for me, and basically had to talk me into joining him every single year. And it always ended up being one of the best days of the year, finishing in a mixed group having a great time (including a bit of drinking in our later teenage years). It was very nice and social and NOTHING to do with any religion or anything other than "this tradition actually turns out to be fun" and we did not need some deep explanation for it that I'm sure Jordan would try to dig out at this point. It was the same fun we can end up with when we come up with brand new social events, out of which, when they turn out fun, we often try to make a tradition of too. All that being completely atheist and secular. I really don't understand what seems to be so hard to comprehend even to Sam - not that he could not seem to be able to imagine it - clearly, he very much is - but that it actually has already been tried and is still going on successfully. Admittedly though, traditions like the Easter ones in Czech are fading as the capitalist style of life requiring most of us to work more and more puts a strain on that too, together with an overload of other modern culture distractions obviously.
In any case, my point is that what Sam is saying, what Christopher used to say and others too, is NOT a theoretically working "utopia", it IS a reality for millions in just my own country of origin and we suffer no ill effects from it!
On the contrary, despite being a tiny nation of 10 million people we have (even though thanks to globalization, corruption, and not in small part thanks to the totalitarianism of the European Union) we are loosing great industry and very clever people. We used to be (before EU) totally self-sufficient in basically everything, were exporting fighter jets, cars, atomic reactors, locomotives, food, and much more to the rest of the world, gave the world some amazing people and inventions like contact lenses, nanofibres, the lighting rod, or even small things like sugar cubes, pencils or Koh-i-Noor snaps for our jeans :) and we needed no religion or the related stories to do that. And that is the one thing I'm happy the "communist" regime gave us - true freedom from religion, freedom from bullshit stories if you pardon me. It lets us concentrate on interesting and important stuff in life instead of trying to solve mute problems like why are we here. We are, so enjoy it. I must say that without the religious ideas surrounding us that most of us don't even think about it as something to worry about. We worry about "we are here now, what can we do to live well" and some of us also "what can we do to leave my imprint on humanity". The more curious of us sure ask "how" did we get here and maybe do think about how in the great scheme of things we are totally insignificant, but I don't think it makes us unhappy. I know it does not make me unhappy for sure. I enjoy learning new things, discovering, making logical conclusions, and, apart from other things, being truthful to myself and others, which is probably why I'm also so happy in my life and have always been, which all of you I'm sure will very easily understand.
All of you guys seem to imply or straight away say that "sure, there is not a person who would not have major problems in life, who would not have "demons"" etc. Well, sure, I've encountered problems in my life. I'm solving software problems every day (I'm a software engineer) I've traveled around the world on a motorbike so I've encountered life-threatening situations, I've lost family members (fortunately for me just the ones who naturally died of old age, no tragedies so far, so yes, I've been lucky in that respect). But problems are here, to my eye, to be solved. They are a challenge, not a tragedy. They make life interesting. And demons? No, I do not have any. Things I regret? Maybe, a tiny little ones like not asking that beautiful girl on a bus for a coffee. But I've never done anything I would be ashamed of. That does not mean that I never failed of course. But I freely admit and not try to hide my failings so I have no demons. Am I really the only person in the world you think? I may be rare, but I'm sure I'm not alone.
Regardless, many, or basically I'd say almost all of my friends, much as they may have more normal everyday problems and stresses than I have (and it is not at all related to money - I'm not wealthy at all - we even still rent the place where we live), would tell you the same thing regarding the role of religion or religious stories in their lives and their decisions - NONE whatsoever.
The Czech Republic is very rich in culture too. Our country has one of the biggest concentrations of castles for example. I do not think that religion was necessary for those structures to be built for powerful people in our history. Yes, many, many churches too. Beautiful buildings. Some of them truly amazing, as some of the castles, too. And our secular society still builds and creates amazing things with no religion required for it. Just yesterday I was sent a link to a video about the biggest chandelier and at the same time, the biggest jewel ever built anywhere. (Link here if you are interested:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/AQ2udSvqx28 .) It could very well hang in a cathedral of some type. But it was built by a Czech company for a Saipan casino. Only human talent, work, and lots of money was needed to build this wonder. No religion whatsoever. So I'm pretty sure, Jordan, that you can stop worrying about losing culture if there was no religion. Sure, cassino may not be considered culture by many, but it is simply a fact of today's world that casinos are one of the areas where the money is. If you want to start to argue that we need religion as a way of extracting money from the population to build such marvels, as was historically exactly one of its functions and is one of the reasons those grand structures like great cathedrals exist, then fine. I would, like Sam, argue that it is possible to do without the pretense of magic, but at least that would be a simple point to defend. Not the only way though!! An example - and I'm sure there are also many modern ones too.. The National Theatre in Prague... It is a grandiose building with high ceilings covered with similar gold ornamentry and paintings to any cathedral you may find. It also has a huge painted curtain - a great painting of its own right. This all was built from money collected from donations of the citizens expressly towards building a national theatre, which was opened in 1881. The first idea came in 1844 at a congregation of Czech patriots. As far as I can tell no religion was involved. Certainly, none needed. And that great building is also a part of our and the world's registered cultural heritage sites.
So to summarize, the reason for this letter was to let all of you three guys know that you can stop only theorizing about a society without religion. Look at the Czech Republic especially before the Velvet Revolution (after which slowly more and more religion starts very slowly creeping in again), but where still today three-quarters of the population are completely irreligious. We are one of the safest, most educated, and happiest countries in the world. And if you look over the state ideology at any one time, where communism was making some people unhappy with restrictions on travel for example, and capitalism in its demands on sacrificing more of one's private / family time for work time, we are generally really happy people, nice to each other (without having to be threatened by hell or whatever other stupid magic idea), helping each other. And it is probably partly thanks to the LACK of any religion that we are that way. There is one less thing to partition us into opposing groups which argue about something they actually cannot even know.
Actually, that makes me think about my friends and people I know. I know and have experienced that my friends or even friends of my parents, for example, would (and in the past have) helped me when I really needed help, despite it being a great inconvenience for them. Yet, I was in similar situations when I only had a religious person to help me and they would not. It would seem to me that religious people like to listen to the stories that Jordan insists are shaping majorly their principles and behavior, rather than actually behave according to them. And then some feel great to tell you how good they are thanks to Jesus.
Ok, I think that concrete examples would be good here:
I know, that every time I go back to the Czech Republic for the summer I have offers from my friends to take me to the airport - both in Czech and in Australia (still from Czech friends interestingly enough). In both cases, it is over 100km and I do not want to inconvenience them if it is not necessary so I thank them and decline. But I know that even if I called them at three in the morning that I needed an urgent lift to the airport they would just tell me how long it would take them to pick me up.
Contrast that with this:
I've known a great person for 7 years and actually shared a house with her for 5 of those years. I consider her a very nice person and considered her a very good friend. I still visit her once a year or so when I have a chance, but thinking back on the story I'm about to tell you certainly makes me feel less worm towards her than I always thought she otherwise deserved.
So the story: I found a new life partner while again staying for the whole European summer in the Czech Republic. For reasons irrelevant to this story she could not join me permanently in Australia for the first few years of being together, so we were overcoming that problem by her periodically visiting me in Australia for 3 months, then we would not see each other for another 3, then I would go to Czech for 3 and a bit, again 3 months apart and then the cycle would repeat.
At the end of one of her stays in Australia with me, while I was still sharing the house with my friend, Jean, my partner was flying home the next day and I, shortly before that, decided I would actually fly back with her. I could not get a seat on the same flight so my flight was at 8 AM and hers the same day at 1 PM. My partner is a bit lost when traveling and she did not speak English at that time yet either, so we decided to travel the 150km to Brisbane in the evening before and arranged to stay with a friend there overnight. We were supposed to catch the second one of the only two trains that goes from that place to Brisbane daily. It was leaving around 9 PM. The nearest train station is about 8km from the place I lived in with Jean, who agreed or maybe even offered to take us to that train station, I can't remember that bit for sure. What is for sure is that once we got there it become clear that the train was not coming as the train tracks were not there and the workers currently working there under the floodlights confirmed that the trains were not operating on that track for the past 14 days and will not be going for another 14 more. I was amazed and surprised, especially after we got back home and I confirmed on the computer that the online time schedule directly on the Queensland Rail website still insists that there are no exceptions or delays and that that train is scheduled as per normal.
There was no other public transport for us to use from that place. So after another couple of hours of trying to figure out any other possibility of getting us there on time, I finally asked Jean if she would be so kind and took us to the airport (we did not want to bother the friend in Brisbane to sleep over anymore because we would arrive too late for that we felt) so that we could make our flights. Jean told us that "she would but that she promised her sister to accompany her to a church service the next morning and that if she took us she would be too sleepy for that the next day"..................
I probably don't have to say that I was a bit disappointed that someone I considered a friend and a good person would refuse to help us in a situation in which I would have no other safe viable option. I never analyzed it further beyond the disappointment. However, a couple of years later I was telling this story to a friend and he, I think very spot on, pointed out that "So she would rather go to church to listen to the preacher to tell her that she should be helping people rather than take the opportunity to actually help someone in a real need.". How is that for "Christian" values? I know my non-religious friends would not hesitate to help me in that situation as I'll give you an example of in a couple of lines.
Just to finish the story, Jean was "nice enough" to suggest that we can try hitchhiking on the highway (at 1 AM no less!!) and "kindly" offered to take us there. We had no other choice so we accepted. To start with, there were literally 2 cars in 40 minutes we stood there. Fortunately, the second car actually stopped for us, and also fortunately we survived that. I say the second "fortunately" since it was a German traveler who told us that he stopped because he needed someone to keep him awake since he has been driving at that point non-stop for 16 hours from Cairns. Needless to say that traveling in a car 20km over the highway speed limit with someone who is grossly falling to sleep is quite scary... The story still developed into having quite a few very interesting twists, but those are not relevant to this anymore.
So now a concrete matching example:
When I was 15 I was to travel by bus 150 km to my brand new high school. I was obviously gonna have to be staying at a boarding school there so I wanted to take an earlier Sunday bus to have a chance to choose my new bed. But after waiting over an hour over the scheduled time for the bus I concluded that it was not coming and I was going to have to take the late afternoon one. After returning to the bus station and waiting for that one for almost an hour again I finally figured out that it was actually a brand new holiday celebrating the two (religious - interestingly enough :)) men who managed to enforce the recognition of our language as a language recognized by the religion, based and thanks to which our writing was established. (Religion would not allow our writing if it did not recognize the language as being worthy.) It was never celebrated before as it was shortly after the Velvet Revolution so I had no idea. Anyway, the result was that there was no other bus that day and that not only I would arrive dead last to the boarding school, but I would also miss probably the important first half of the first day at the actual new school as a freshman since my dad was away somewhere at that time with our only car.
That evening, at about 10 PM, a neighbor and my parent's friend came to pick something up from my mum. He was surprised to see me still at home and so he asked how come? When we told him he said that we should have told him earlier because he would have taken me there. He also told us that he was supposed to be at work the next day at 5 or 6 AM so it was too late to drive me there now. I remember thinking that it is easy to say now if he can't prove he would have done it anyway. Three minutes later I hear him saying: "You know what, let's go, I'll take you there." It was a 3-hour drive one way!!! The Czech Republic is quite dense with towns and villages and there were at that time many quite large detours on the way, too. So this man would get home about an hour or two before having to go to work!
How big of a difference this is to a church on Sunday where you go by your own volition, you are not required to go and being able to take the highway instead of in that case basically the whole way, so that trip would have cost Jean 3 hours max!
So the person who is NOT compulsed to help me for fear of any hell or any other even slightly unpleasant result helps me for purely the good feeling that one gets from helping others by his own choice despite majorly inconveniencing himself is the one that actually helps me and the one that thinks of themselves as the chosen and the most kind people chooses to go listening about how kind they are rather than actually be. Does not that give you a pause? :)
Another example. I was renting a room in a home of another of my friends and I happened to accidentally either drop the clear plastic fridge bucket for fruits and veggies or drop something on it (I cannot remember), resulting in its cracking. The, for me absolutely obvious thing to do, despite that it was "just a crack" and the bucket was still capable of fulfilling its function (and in fact until this day I still use it in my garage to store stuff in), I went ahead and spent almost a whole day trying to find where I could buy the correct replacement and spent something like 60 bucks on it at a time I did not have much money at all. Just because it was a normal logical thing for me to do for the pure "golden rule" reason. And Jordan would maybe say "ha, see, Christian values". And I, same as Sam or Christopher or probably Douglas too, would say that that rule is very logical, self-evident, and much older than the Christianity that appropriates that too for itself. It is just logical. I did not ever need any kind of story behind it and definitely not one where I would be punished other than that others may start doing the same to me seeing me do that to others. And since I want others to be nice to me, I, quite logically and without complicated explanations that some try to fit to some ancient stories they happen to believe in, will behave nicely to them.
And now again, contrast this to a very similar situation the other way around, this time, however, the other person is a church-going Christian.
I now live in a nice big house, which we rent as I mentioned. For the past 10 years, it has been our home and we can only afford it because we are sub-letting one of its rooms directly connected to the main bathroom. And we do this because we fell in love with the house and felt immediately at home as soon as we inspected it. And we originally inspected it purely just as a point of comparison with other houses we went to see afterward because it was available for inspection first that day. Later, comparing it to the other houses, I realized we could make it affordable (same price as the others) by renting out just those two of the 4 rooms that were on the top of what we actually needed. So we did and it has been 10 years since.
We look for people who want to stay longer-terms. Last year, a guy from the Christian part of Nigeria was finishing his stay of over 2 years with us. He would go to church every Sunday without fail and was obviously a devout Christian. He was studying nursing and was working as well, earning quite good money too. In the home, we usually all fit in our big fridge together with our boarder. This one, however, said he needed more space so we bought an additional fridge for him. It was one of the smaller ones which still needs to be periodically defrosted. When we noticed that he is leaving the freezer to become overgrown with ice we told him that he will need to do that so that the fridge does not break. We asked him to do that several times over several months until the plastic hinge of the plastic freezer door broke by the ice pushing it out. It was obviously not even an accident. He would ignore that. So eventually I told him that now he, unfortunately, had to find a replacement freezer door for it because otherwise, the fridge will be consuming much more energy (and we are paying all the energy bills, the boarders have it included in a single unchanging rent amount, which is by the way cheapest in this area) and that it will freeze over faster and that the person after him will surely need the door, too. Nothing at all happened until he left.
I meant to force him to do that before I'd return his bond when he would eventually be leaving, but it happened just at a time when we were holidaying aborad and I forgot about the freezer door. So I remotely returned his full bond. Sometime after that, when he came to pick up some of his post that he still did not change the address for, I gave him the broken door and asked him if he could please finally get a replacement. It's been almost a year now and he tells me he did not find it. So I asked him obviously if he actually tried. He said he did. A couple of simple questions later it is clear that he actually did not even try but is happy to lie about it. So what exactly has the church taught him?? I know it has neither taught him for sure to be responsible for his own actions nor to be honest. Clearly. Qualities that I and all of my close friends who I grew up with, who have never been touched by religion of any kind, have.
I am not necessarily saying that these almost exactly one-to-one comparable examples are totally indicative of the difference of morals between Christians and completely irreligious people, but since it does fit pretty well with many others we see in history and also currently around us, I think it is time to stop theorizing about the necessity or even utility of religious values for modern people. I'm not disputing that religion does have utility for people who follow it, but it certainly is not the necessary or even important tool for people in general.
It seems to me that religion has a utility of a rock that you use to beat in a nail. Take the rock from me and you leave me with a hammer that actually makes much more sense, similarly to taking away the stories and threat of hell and replacing it with something that has been there all along - the genuinely nice feeling of helping someone even if I am otherwise not compelled by anything else than the great feeling and the very logical realization that I have a much better chance to be treated nicely if I treat everybody else nicely. And that I am much more likely to be helped by others if I unconditionally help them. And I may help someone who never helps me, but helps somebody else. And somebody I never helped may actually help me because he was also at some point helped or at least sees it as all so logical how this works.
Jordan, your well-researched arguments on many societal topics are great and helpful and make sense. But I must say that even though I heard a couple of ways you very interestingly matched biblical stories on some current situations or general human behavior, I also think that you are totally overcomplicating stuff in these cases and you are getting many, myself included, lost as to what you are in fact trying to do other than somehow trying to reconcile your Christian belief with current reality and as you just discussed during the talks with Douglas and Sam, smuggling the Jesus into it where really, it is not necessary at all, objectively.
I understand that it is important to many, you including, but it really is not necessary. We can very nicely do completely without it. As an exercise in reasoning it is, or can be, for sure interesting, especially for scholars like you. For us, normal people (or normal engineers like myself :)) it seems pretty pointless otherwise. And the case of the Czech Republic, I think, even takes a base from your case completely, even though I'm sure you could find connections.
As an engineer I can tell you I can map anything to anything if I put enough abstractions in between. But the simple truth is, that almost everybody in a real country that has been historically doing well, grew up a perfectly decent person, arguably in a bigger percentage more decent than the majority in much more religious countries. And we do not suffer. Again, I'd say we suffer less because we are not burdened by any traumas like worrying about ending up in hell.
Sure, in our folklore we have another tradition where St. Nicholas (we never used the "St" part, for us it was just "Mikulas") comes on 5. December together with one or more devils to our home and gives our children presents or coal if "they were not good". And yes, for most children the devils are scary and some parents use that to elicit the promise of being good "from now on", but I think that at least most parents (certainly mine) were not trying to persuade us these were real beings.
It was a (scary) theatre happening in almost everybody's homes. And as soon as you figure out those under the masks are just normal people you feel clever as a kid. And you feel like you've grown and maybe also that you outsmarted the adults who would not tell you straight away those are just people. When you are like 6, 7, or 8, you are looking forward to running outside with the Mikulases and devils despite sometimes still being scared by them if they play the role well. It is thrilling. But it never needed to be shoved down our throats as a reality and not even a story was needed.
We have folklore fairytales that feature devils punishing bad people, yes. But we do not need them to tell us what is right and what is wrong. We can figure that out for ourselves and the stories are just a nice entertainment, if done well. And yes, we can see the useful allegory in it. We would still, however, know quite naturally the difference between clear right and wrong, between hurting others and not hurting others. But we recognize the difference between entertainment and reality. We still enjoy stories all the same.
You do not need organizations that actually believe those, are exempt from paying taxes and are praying on those who cannot reason themselves out well enough or prevent themselves being reasoned in by these fantastical stories and the ability of the storyteller to manipulate. I'd say that the about 25% of people in the Czech Republic who identify themselves as somehow religious are exactly those types of people. Ones who severely lack logical thinking. I have an uncle and a stepdaughter both like that. Neither of them has very good reasoning ability and so they are hanging there to be hooked on by the use of fantastical and magical stories, despite the fact that they were not indoctrinated into it as children, which then makes it more understandable when even pretty intelligent people still have this illogical partition in their brain reserved for god.
OK, that's it. Quite a bit longer than I intended it to be, but I hope it will eventually reach at least one of you in person and maybe give you some more arsenal for good arguments. It is obvious that you are very busy people so I do not expect any reply at all, but it would be great to get something like: "Hey Marek, it reached me, thanks." so that I know that I haven't completely wasted almost the whole day today instead of fixing my server and getting back to my coding in which I'm so much behind.
Wish you all all the best.
Sincerely,
Marek Vsechovsky
Aside:
As I'm reading what I wrote after myself I realize that although not absolutely necessary to explain this, you may wonder if I'm not "telling you stories" since at one point I mention that I am a software engineer and in another talk about affordability of rent. Well, I really don't revolve my life around money. And since I very much enjoy my job and have large amounts of ideas, I'm trying to implement them running it as my own business. However, I am kind of a Wozniak without a Jobs, meaning that rather than marketing a finished product I immediately start working on the next one since I just can't wait to work on it, so I end up with no income to my business and so from time to time I have to accept a paid outside contract. Since my expertise is large and well valued, and since I am a very frugal person (if I compare myself to most other people who say they are too :) ) I only need to work for about 3 months to be able to live from that for the next two years developing my own ideas. That's why I'm still renting rather than owning. I do what I love, I spend as much time on it as I want and I live at a very nice place where I can take a 30-minute holiday jumping in the surf basically all-year-round, so I'm really happy.
Age: 0 years I was born a male in Ottawa, Canada. I was a product of morning sex.
My name is Arthur Smart. My father is Samuel Smart, an insurance agent (age 51). My mother is Alexandra Smart, a photographer (age 39).
Age: 1 year Residents of China have largely converted to pig bone marrow-based protein as their main source of nutrients.
Age: 2 years I am suffering from the flu.
Age: 4 years I am suffering from the chicken pox.
Age: 5 years An unforseen tsunami devastates a surfing competition in Japan, killing 29 people and causing irreversible damage to surrounding areas.
Age: 6 years I started elementary school.
I broke my parents's camera and then lied about it.
Age: 7 years I reprimanded my mother for trying to take me to play tennis.
Age: 11 years I told the cool kids at school I wasn't interested in going to see Michele's Dragon with them.
Age: 12 years I am being bullied at school. I assaulted the bully! I flattened his cheek. I loosened his ear.
Age: 13 years I started high school.
Age: 14 years My father retired.
I chose to be gothic at school.
Age: 15 years I have been diagnosed with tonsillitis.
Age: 16 years I graduated from high school.
I am cured of tonsillitis. I applied to university and was accepted. My application for a scholarship to university was rejected. My parents refused to pay my university tuition. I took out a student loan to pay for my university tuition. I started university.
Age: 17 years I passed my driving test and got a driving license.
Age: 18 years I tried PCP.
Age: 20 years I graduated from university with an undergraduate degree in mathematics. I have to start paying back my student loan for university.
I applied to business school and was accepted. My application for a scholarship to business school was rejected. My parents refused to pay my business school tuition. I took out a student loan to pay for my business school tuition. I started business school.
Age: 22 years I graduated from business school. I have to start paying back my student loan for business school.
I was hired for the position of Business Analyst for Kayak Systems with a salary of $62,730.
Age: 23 years I kept a money clip that I found. It contained $375.
Age: 24 years Laughter yoga sanctuaries are all the rage in Sweden.
Age: 25 years Violent oceanic storms combine to spawn a deadly hurricane off the shore of Mexico. While many manage to evacuate, 103 people are injured and 70 more die.
My best friend, Francois, confessed that he was the perpetrator of a hit & run accident. I offered him my unconditional support.
Age: 26 years My mother retired.
Age: 27 years I complained to the manager after receiving bad service at a restaurant.
Age: 28 years I have been diagnosed with migraines.
Age: 29 years I fully paid off my student loan for university.
I went to a basketball game with my company on a team building exercise. Dr. Benjamin Reid said I am suffering from migraines. My migraines was treated by Dr. Benjamin Reid. I am cured of migraines.
Age: 31 years I fully paid off my student loan for business school.
My father died of complications from old age. I paid my respects at his funeral.
Age: 32 years I took my mother strolling around town.
Age: 34 years I went with some friends to Ottawa Nation Casino. I won $5,000 in a hand of blackjack at Ottawa Nation Casino.
Age: 35 years I decided not to complain after the chef botched my steak dinner at a restaurant.
Age: 36 years I refused to join social media.
Age: 39 years A major typhoon terrorizes the citizens of South Korea and floods the streets of Daegu.
I went clubbing at The Lincoln. I tried reefer.
Age: 40 years I was fired from my job as Business Analyst for Kayak Systems after failing a drug test. I called my supervisor a bitch on my way out. I applied for the position of Jr. Business Analyst at Titanium Technologies but was rejected because I failed a drug test. I applied for the position of Jr. Business Analyst at Family Motors but was rejected because I failed a drug test.
Age: 41 years I was hired for the position of Business Analyst for Willow Designs with a salary of $81,545.
Age: 43 years I tried to take a a wallet that I found but the owner started arguing with me. Someone started arguing with me after I took his wallet. I walked away from the situation.
Age: 44 years My mother died of cirrhosis of the liver. I paid my respects at her funeral. I inherited $1,271. I went clubbing at Illumina Lounge. I said no to magic mushrooms. Dr. Benjamin Reid said I am in good health. A witch doctor offered me toad. I used the dating app. The dating app paired me with an architect named Camille Poulin. I bought 10 lottery tickets. I didn't win the $26,713,358 lottery jackpot. I went to Ottawa Public Library. I meditated. I worked out at Allegiance Fitness.
Age: 45 years I decided to have a one night stand with Myriam Cox. I practiced safe sex. I am now dating Jenna Buble. I took Jenna to hold up signs outside the TV network studio.
Age: 46 years I argued with a call girl who was hollaring at me and she walked off. I took Jenna to dinner. I took Jenna to build a pillow fort. I took Jenna to pick flowers. I proposed to Jenna and she accepted!
Age: 47 years I saw someone call Jenna a slunt! I called her a jumpoff. I married Jenna at a drive thru wedding chapel. Jenna and I went to Brisbane, Australia, for our honeymoon. Jenna decided to keep her name. I took Jenna to catch butterflies. Jenna and I tried to have a baby but failed to get pregnant. Jenna and I tried to have a baby but failed to get pregnant. Jenna and I tried to have a baby but failed to get pregnant.
Age: 48 years Jenna and I tried to have a baby but failed to get pregnant. Jenna and I tried to have a baby but failed to get pregnant. I bought a townhome for $220,774! I adopted a 4-year old boy named Adam Lee. I changed his name to Adam Smart.
Age: 49 years I took my adopted son, Adam, canoeing.
Age: 50 years My adopted son, Adam, started elementary school.
I asked for a promotion but was rejected. I stopped showing up to work for my old position as Business Analyst for Willow Designs. I was hired for the position of Business Analyst for Kayak Systems with a salary of $96,833.
Age: 52 years I gave my adopted son, Adam, $13 to buy a football. I took my adopted son, Adam, for a swim.
Age: 53 years I saw a man threatening a bank clerk at gunpoint. I looked the other way.
Age: 54 years Dr. Benjamin Reid said I am in good health. A witch doctor offered me dill weed. I had colon hydrotherapy. I worked out at Allegiance Fitness. I am suffering from E. coli. Dr. Benjamin Reid said I am suffering from E. coli. My E. coli was treated by Dr. Benjamin Reid. I am cured of E. coli. I took Jenna and my child, Adam, on a business class vacation to the United Kingdom.
Age: 55 years I went to a hot dog eating contest with my company on a team building exercise. I took Jenna to watch sumo wrestling. I took my adopted son, Adam, to troll people on the internet.
Age: 56 years The first ever gaming Olympics have been organized in Turkey.
I took my adopted son, Adam, to a soccer match. My adopted son, Adam, and I had a heart-to-heart about our least favorite word. I took Jenna to an arcade. I took Jenna to play paintball. Jenna and I tried to have a baby but failed to get pregnant. I took Jenna to blow bubbles.
Age: 57 years Jenna and I have been married for 10 years. My adopted son, Adam, started high school.
I took Jenna longboarding. I took Jenna to watch toy unboxing videos.
Age: 58 years I took Jenna to rake leaves into piles and jump into them. I took my adopted son, Adam, to an indoor trampoline park. I asked for a promotion but was rejected. I applied for a car loan to buy a 5-year old blue Subaru Outback. My application was accepted. I bought a 5-year old blue Subaru Outback for $20,381!
Age: 59 years I took my adopted son, Adam, to the movies. My adopted son, Adam, and I had a conversation about whether or not students should wear uniforms.
Age: 60 years My adopted son, Adam, graduated from high school.
I agreed to pay for my adopted son, Adam's, college education.
Age: 61 years My adopted son, Adam, began studying psychology at university.
I have been diagnosed with ulcers. Dr. Benjamin Reid said I am suffering from ulcers. My ulcers was treated by Dr. Benjamin Reid. I am cured of ulcers.
Age: 62 years My adopted son, Adam, moved out.
I went with some friends to the horse races.
Age: 63 years I fully paid off the car loan on my Subaru Outback.
Age: 64 years Jenna retired.
I saw someone call my son, Adam, a little bitch! I called him a pansy.
Age: 65 years My adopted son, Adam, graduated from university with an undergraduate degree in psychology. He started a new position as School Psychologist for Ottawa Public Schools.
Jenna and I discussed our least favorite word. Jenna and I talked about whether or not frosting a muffin makes it a cupcake. Jenna and I had a conversation about the best place to have sex. We got into an argument but I apologized. I took Jenna rollerblading. I took my adopted son, Adam, to watch figure skating. I took Jenna to the library. I took Jenna to a concert. I took Jenna to do some gardening.
Age: 66 years I turned down a chance to take a package to Argentina for $11,300.
Age: 67 years Jenna and I have been married for 20 years.
Jenna cheated on me. I forgave her. I took Jenna swimming.
Age: 68 years I took Jenna to watch Bad Bunny music videos. I took Jenna to the water park. I took Jenna shopping.
Age: 70 years 262 people lose their lives as China's quest to drill deep tunnels results in a magnitude 5.3 earthquake.
I said no to opium. Dr. Benjamin Reid said I am in good health. I meditated. I bought 10 lottery tickets. I didn't win the $262,196 lottery jackpot. I worked out at Allegiance Fitness. I worked out at Allegiance Fitness. I went to Ottawa Public Library. I meditated.
Age: 71 years I took Jenna to a baseball game.
Age: 72 years Jenna and I had a chat about why some BitLife players haven't turned off the ads since it only costs $2. I took my adopted son, Adam, to a baseball game.
Age: 74 years I saw someone call my son, Adam, a sucker! I called him a bozo.
Age: 75 years I said no to appletinis. I retired from my job as Business Analyst for Kayak Systems.
Age: 77 years Jenna and I have been married for 30 years.
Age: 79 years I took my adopted son, Adam, to watch a play. I took my adopted son, Adam, gambling. I took my adopted son, Adam, bungee jumping. My adopted son, Adam, and I had a chat about whether or not duck faces are sexy. I took my adopted son, Adam, to hold up signs outside the TV network studio.
Age: 80 years California’s geological land mass has split from the United States. The body of water between the two is now known as the American Strait.
Age: 81 years Explosives testing in Chile loosens underlying earth, producing a magnitude 6.7 earthquake, killing 207 people and injuring 4,081 more.
Age: 84 years Jenna cheated on me. I forgave her. I took Jenna to a food festival. I took my adopted son, Adam, grocery shopping.
Age: 85 years I had to scrap my Subaru Outback. I bought a 1-year old burgundy Volkswagen Jetta for $17,480!
Age: 86 years Jenna called me a freak! I forgave her. I took my adopted son, Adam, to the museum. I took my adopted son, Adam, to a baseball game. I took Jenna canoeing. I took my adopted son, Adam, to pick flowers. I took my adopted son, Adam, canoeing.
Age: 87 years Jenna and I have been married for 40 years.
I took my adopted son, Adam, to play in the rain.
Age: 88 years Dr. Benjamin Reid said I am in good health.
Age: 89 years Egypt's space program has successfully begun to colonize the moon.
Age: 90 years My adopted son, Adam, married Andrea Moore, a 52-year old trucker.
I said no to horse meat sashimi. I took my adopted son, Adam, to post BitLife screenshots on Instagram. I took my adopted son, Adam, to write poems. I took Jenna to the symphony.
Age: 91 years My adopted son, Adam, and his wife, Andrea, have adopted a 5-year old girl named Evangeline Grant. My granddaughter, Evangeline, started elementary school.
Age: 92 years My adopted son, Adam, was widowed after Andrea Moore died.
I took my granddaughter, Evangeline, to watch a play. I took my adopted son, Adam, to the amusement park.
Age: 93 years Jenna and I had a conversation about the dark net.
Age: 95 years A data breach in Sweden has caused the personal information of 389,365 residents to be leaked onto the dark web.
I took my adopted son, Adam, kayaking. I took my adopted son, Adam, to a basketball game.
Age: 96 years My Volkswagen Jetta has a broken ignition coil. I repaired the broken ignition coil on my Volkswagen Jetta.
Age: 97 years Jenna and I have been married for 50 years.
Age: 98 years My granddaughter, Evangeline, started high school.
I said no to valium. I took my granddaughter, Evangeline, gambling. I took my granddaughter, Evangeline, tire swinging. I took my granddaughter, Evangeline, for a walk. I took my adopted son, Adam, to a boxing match. I took my adopted son, Adam, to the library.
Age: 100 years My Volkswagen Jetta has a busted windshield wiper. I repaired the busted windshield wiper on my Volkswagen Jetta. I took my adopted son, Adam, to a yoga class. I took my adopted son, Adam, to fly a drone. I took my adopted son, Adam, to do Keith Urban karaoke. I took my adopted son, Adam, to dinner. I took my adopted son, Adam, to do some gardening. My adopted son, Adam, and I had a heart-to-heart about good versus evil.
Age: 101 years My granddaughter, Evangeline, graduated from high school.
Jenna died of cirrhosis of the liver. I paid my respects at her funeral. I inherited $729,102.
Age: 102 years My granddaughter, Evangeline, began studying political science at university.
I have been diagnosed with hearing loss. I took my adopted son, Adam, to write poems. I took my adopted son, Adam, to rake leaves into piles and jump into them. Dr. Benjamin Reid said I am suffering from hearing loss. My hearing loss was treated by Dr. Benjamin Reid. I am cured of hearing loss.
Age: 103 years I died of complications from old age. My net worth at the time of my death was $2,585,357.
submitted by It was a dark night, no moon. We’d seen a bit on the road today. A returning trip to Brisbane from Sydney on the inland highway. Less traffic and less speed cameras means two gents can move north in less time? Not really. Here’s why.
It was getting dark. At Tenterfield we turned right.
“Casino 159km” a sign by the road informs. That’s 100 miles on the Grandad Scale. Shouldn’t take much longer than 2 hours, with the hairpin turns, maybe three. We sped off into the night, through the farmland and onwards to Coolangatta for a stopover at Mum’s.
Our progress slowed not far out of town. The moonless night, the wet and lonely road, and the number of hairpin turns slowed us to a walking pace. Carefully, I followed the black road. No white lines. No streetlights. No white posts with red circles to guide my way through the remote bushland. Sandstone cliffs. Fallen trees. The wiper blades dancing helplessly against heavy rain. 159km of hairpin turns on a dark and stormy night.
“Years ago on a late night shoot somewhere in Victoria, it was frickin’ cold”
‘I suppose it would have been’ I think to myself
“Four AM, must have been minus two. The director sent me up inside this abandoned, rundown, dilapidated Sanatorium” he looks over at me. A master craftsman in the use of unusual words
“Yeah, this old hospital”, I slow the car for tight turn number 229, rain thumping the roof of the like a madman.
“There’s an old matron who still patrols the corridors.” Phil continues “she’s still running the place 100 years later”
The dark night throws yet another hairpin turn at me, visibility down to just a few metres. I guide the car into the valley.
“My job was to keep this wispy white curtain blowing through the window. Jo kept the lights on it in the dark and the other bloke kept the camera focused. All trying to get this one shot”
My concentration divided between the story and the dark road
“I went up, set up the curtain and the fan, one great big fuck off fan to blow the curtain on a still night. The curtain rod fell and up into the building I went. Again. This time I tied it on with some old wire. Falls again, up I go again. The fan falls over this time, up I go once more. This time I stayed up there. Curtain doesn’t flow right in the wind from the fan so I lean out the window to hear what the boys are saying downstairs. And maybe this is just autosuggestion. Maybe it’s the ghost story. I get pushed or overbalance. Down I go, my fingers gripping the window sill. The curtain rod falls on me. Bang. I feel myself being pushed again”
My concentration high. I’m alert now “...And?”
“And so in the end we get the shot, no more than three seconds on film”
“For that much trouble?”
“Film’s like that”
I bring the car around another hairpin turn. My nodding dogmoves and I reach into the dashboard to catch it. I also change the clock, forwards two hours. The Camry let’s me do that easily.
An hour into this leg of our journey. Three by the Camry clock. We cross a rickety old timber bridge, the planks sing and dance as we skip across. The nails flicker, polished by years of wear.
“The show was called Haunted Australia, or something along those lines. Heaps of creepy places at creepy times of the night”
“Anything else happen?”
“They took us to some old stone police station in East Sydney at some stage. Lovely spot on the harbour. Into the lower ground with a couple of Mediums or Ghost Hunters or something like that”
“And?” I enquire again
“They tell me that’s the spot where they used to flog the convicts” he turns to me, his face illuminated by the headlights reflecting off the rain “She, the ghostbuster lady, told us of the convict flogged on that spot, a piece of his soul left behind by the trauma. Blood soaks his clothes, his feet in irons, his wrists bound by rope in a frame that he now hangs from” Phil pauses “they left him there. Lifeless. Flies in the summer heat.”
After a few minutes of silence Phil remarks at the lack of other cars. “Hadn’t seen another living soul since Tenterfield.”
Silence
“Your turn” Phil encourages
I slow for another bend.
“This road reminds me of a doco I once saw on Betty and Barney Hill” Phil’s silent response indicates an explanation is required “these two were driving late at night on a lonely road back from Canada. Years ago. Into that New England area of The US. They take a long and lonely road from somewhere to somewhere else” the car slows for another turn. The rain a little easier now. “Betty spots a star that isn’t sitting still in the sky” I pause “Barney sees it too. Above and a little forward of their car” No farmhouse lights are visible “Betty thinks it’s a shooting star, Barney thinks it’s a plane making it’s way to New York” we might be in a National Park or surrounded by a cattle station. “I did fill the jerrycan, right?” Changing the subject. Phil’s attention on me and not so much on the road now. “Try to spot a shed somewhere to keep the rain out of the tank”
“The sky is clearing” pointing upwards “No moon, not even a house in the distance yet. Just darkness and one lonely star in the sky”
“Star light star bright..” Phil begins “And gone again” he looks back at me, his face illuminated by the digital clock “and the star they saw?”
“It develops into a triangular shape. Barney thumps the peddle to the metal. They shake the triangle and duck up some country lane to hide between some trees and, in the middle of the road in front of them is the flying saucer, and a gang of little green men”
I pull the car to a stop “got that brolly?” Popped the boot and grabbed the jerry can. Phil holds the umbrella over me as I fill the tank, a sprinkling of rain drifts to the ground. Just enough illumination from the interior light to see what I’m doing.
“Just imagine it, they come down here, and fill the tank for us” I pause for a moment “with antimatter“ I smile, Phil looks around, one single star visible in the sky.
“Why would there be one star in the sky? If the clouds were clearing then you’d expect the space to be filled with star dust, right?” Philip analyses the situation
“It might be a small plane” and I turn back to the tank
“Remember that time we went up in John’s plane?” Phil, thinking through the Small Plane hypotheses
“Aha”
“The barometer dropped and we had to bring the plane down, it started raining like this after that”
“And?”
“That’s not a small plane, no small plane would be in the sky, at night, in the dark and in a low pressure system”
“Little green men?” I Joke. Phil’s face is void of emotion.
The car glides along the road and we feel a second timber bridge rattle beneath us
“What do you suppose happened to the star?”
“Behind clouds I suppose” I reply
“I’m not convinced it was a star”
“Min min lights?” I suggest
Phil looks at me blank faced “maybe the spot-the-pot chopper”
The thick bushland opens up to thinly treed paddocks. The lifeless road before us. The car remains silent.
Fewer corners and hairpin bends allow the car to move smoothly. Rain beating on the windscreen.
“I put the jerry in the boot, didn’t I?” I enquire “I don’t recall putting it away”
“I don’t really know” the confidence in Phil’s voice now gone “I don’t even remember getting back in the car” he pauses for a minute “how’s the tank?”
“Just under half” thinking to myself that I wouldn’t just leave the jerry can, I must have put it away, and put in its seatbelt to stop it spilling, even though its now empty “I don’t know about the can, i really don’t remember”
“Forget the can, just keep moving” Phil’s voice soft “Coolangatta tonight”
We pass a few more kays. It might have been half an hour when we passed through a small village, slowing for the change in speed limit. No street lights, no house lights, no dogs or other travellers of the night.
“I need to stop, bit squeamish” I slow the car, open the door and look back at Phil’s illuminated by the interior light, his nose bleeding “you right there?”
“Yeah, why?” He pulls the sunshade down and looks into a little mirror, a thin line of blood beneath his nose, his beard filling with red “oh Jesus”. He opens the door, a small pizza appears on the road beneath him. Peas, carrots and yucky stuff added to his already red beard.
Out of the car, I hand a bottle of water to a big man, seated and curled in the foetal position before me. A mess on the black road between us.
“Are you right?” I enquire. And clearly he isn’t. “Water” I hand him the bottle
“It just hit me. One minute I’m fine next” he pauses “this” a moment longer and he adds “how far to Lismore?”
“I don’t know, and you’re right. Maybe we’ll stop in Lismore and get you into the casualty ward.” I pause. Maybe it’s not that bad, just a little nausea. A bleeding nose can be cause by dry weather, aspirin, a dozen causes “let’s see how you go until we get to Lismore”
Phil accelerates. He’s trying to change lanes. Other cars don’t make space for the impatient driver. He curses the other drivers with bad language. The first rays of the morning sun make give the sky fresh blue hue.
“Good morning, Sir”
“How long was I out for?” Curious as i must have been asleep since we swapped drivers when I filled up from the gerry can
“Dunno. But isn’t it nice to see the sunrise?” Phil adds animation, years of living amongst Melbourne’s Italian community “haven’t seen one in years”
I count my fingers, and count them again. The clock in the Camry reads 7:32. We left Tenterfield at 8 or so. No way is that road 11 hours, even with my two hour fiddle clock trick “Did you stop a while?”
“Nah” I can see he’s noticed the same thing. “Bruxner Hwy really does add a few hours”
submitted by The Social VR scene is blowing up right before our eyes! All but one day this week has seen a wide variety of events scheduled on various social VR platforms. Here is the weekend line up for those wishing to experience and support the latest in Social VR.
All events are posted in Pacific Standard Time
Friday March 27
12:00 pm PST (Convrge) European Party
6:00 pm PST (Janus) Fight Night 2: The VR Bar in Janus will be presenting a live fight “The Undercard” in Bossier City, Louisiana @ Diamond Jacks Casino & Resort . If you haven’t seen the video spheres within Janus, now would be a great time to do so. Looking into the sphere from the outside, you can see the event taking place within. Stepping into the sphere will teleport you to the live event streamed in surround 360 degree video.
Saturday March 28
12:00 am PST (VR Chat) Brisbane VR Club live: Brisbane VR Club will be presenting live from Australia. Talks will include “Building a Virtual World in UE4” - Alex Stevens and “Open Source Virtual Reality” - Wilf Watson.
11:00 am PST (Convrge) Nvidia presentation on: "VR Direct: How NVIDIA Technology Is Improving the VR Experience". Nathan Reed from Nvidia will be hanging out with guests in the forest theater presenting and taking questions from the audience.
1:00 pm PST (Convrge) Olivier JT of Synthesis Universe Q&A: Come and hang out with award winning French developer Olivier to discuss his project Synthesis Universe. 2014 Proto award winner for Best Art Direction.
6:00 pm PST (Convrge) EDM Saturday Nights: Follow the music to the forest dance floor and get lost in EDM
Sunday
1:00 pm PST (VR Chat - Overdrive Theater) Roast of Reverend Kyle: Organizers include Matt "Holotape" - Podcaster, Musical Artist, Blair Renaud, Developer, Matt "Stompz" Carrell, VR Locomotion Expert, Bobby Blackwolf, Podcaster & VR Enthusiast, Jason "Apieceoffruit" - Podcaster, Indie developer, Cris Miranda, Podcaster & VR Entrepreneur. Several guest appearances are scheduled as well.
3:00 pm PST (VR Chat) Developer Meet-up: Developers from around the world meet up to discuss development and latest VR news. It has become tradition to take tours of various worlds being created within the VR Chat platform.
6:00 pm PST (Convrge) Shawns Indie/Cult Classic Movie Night: Head to the cinema in the forest for group movie watching courtesy of Shawn Whiting Convrge developer
submitted by Very large text size Brisbane’s new $3.6 billion casino and resort complex has shifted from excavation to construction as the first of 10 tower cranes arrived on Sunday. Very large text size Four new towers are emerging from the ground near George Street in Brisbane's CBD as part of the privately owned $3.6 billion Queen's Wharf resort and casino development. For three years, since construction began in early 2017, development has been underground or along the Brisbane River. Brisbane casino: New mega casino resort at Queen’s Wharf, Brisbane, 9 things you need to know. WITH the announcement of a new mega casino and resort for Brisbane’s CBD, here are 9 things you ... Brisbane casino: Echo wins bid for new mega casino. By Amy Remeikis. Updated July 20, 2015 — 7.49pm first published at 4.09pm. Save. Log in, register or subscribe to save articles for later ... As part of Tabcorp’s $625 million capital injection into Queensland’s three major casinos, a new 5 star hotel will be built in Brisbane. Brisbane will soon see the first new five star hotel built in over a decade with plans by Tabcorp to construct a new 400 room five star hotel. What casino? The Queensland government and the consortium building a new $3.6b development have a hard time saying the casino is its centrepiece. Destination Brisbane Consortium is excited to be building this transformational city changing project for Brisbane and we thank the community for their patience while this work is undertaken. For general enquiries please contact the Consortium direct on 1800 104 535 or email [email protected]. The Treasury Building Brisbane - History of the Treasury Casino. During the building boom of 1885, the former convict Officers' Quarters and Military Barracks was selected the site of the new Brisbane Treasury Building. The military moved from the existing buildings and they were occupied by the Registrar-General, Treasury and Engineer of Harbours in 1864. Plans for a new $3 billion casino and residential project have emerged which would see a parcel of land between Sea World and Palazzo Versace hotel turned into Queensland’s newest integrated resort development. The project would be built and owned by the Chinese owned ASF consortium, and operated by James Packer’s Crown Resorts. The proposed Queens Wharf Brisbane casino resort masterplanned by Jerde Partnership will be connected to the South Bank precinct via a new pedestrian bridge. Image: Destination Brisbane Consortium The site marks the place where Brisbane’s colonial history began and has been described as the city’s “oldest and most symbolic precinct” by the Australian Institute of Architect’s national ...
About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators ... In This Video Build The Most 3 In 1 Story-House Tunnel Water Slide To Swimming Pool.In Video Style Primitive Technology, How To Build, Secret Underground Hou... Why have many major European cities not embraced the skyscraper? We explain. For more by The B1M subscribe now - http://ow.ly/GxW7y Read the full story on th... Bald Faced Hornet worker (Daughter) vs. intruding spider! This spider wedged herself within the layers of paper envelope and began building a nest to take ov... Brisbane was chosen as the capital when Queensland was proclaimed a separate colony from New South Wales in 1859. During World War II, Brisbane played a central role in the Allied campaign and ... Dreaming of owning your own home but convinced you can’t afford it? This week Adam, Jason and Pete team up for one of our biggest makes ever, literally build... No stranger to record-breaking projects, China has now completed one of the largest airports ever conceived - the USD $12BN Daxing International in Beijing. ... 1906 Shattuck Ave. Construction time lapse of our new office building (Oct. 2014 - July 2016) - Duration: 3 ... Port of Brisbane Office Construction Timelapse - Duration: 7:51. adcoconstruction ... The biggest of instruments.Takes a half hour long video just to explore MOST of it.Help videos be made and see them early + extra stuff on Patreon: http://ww... Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
