The Orville

[AndrewCrossett]

Well, a transporter would be a hell of a lot more convenient than a shuttlecraft. Especially if you're trying to avoid notice by the locals, or you need a quick escape.

It was kind of a deus ex machina on Star Trek, which is why I hope they don't use them on The Orville. Then again, I hoped they wouldn't use the holodeck either. (The holodeck on Star Trek was a terrible crutch that allowed the writers to get way too far off course with storylines... I wanted to see stories about space explorers, not some self-indulgent nonsense about Robin Hood or Sherlock Holmes or whatever. But The Orville so far has used the holodeck mostly to make fun of the trope, so it's all good... so far.)

[tabo61]

Ed's hand. Ouch!

[Nate Grey]

Ed's hand. Ouch!

Pft that's nothing. What got me was:

"They were wrong: it does come out."

[barf emoji]

[Qwerty]

Yeah, it reminded me somewhat of that Black Mirror episode with Bryce Dallas Howard crossed with The Running Man.

Didn't get to see all of this episode, but this is the first one of the last three new episodes I haven't totally missed because I wasn't home in time.

So black mirror airs on the UK before it airs on netflix?

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Great to have the Orville back! I have really grown to love this show and, most specifically, its characters. It's just great to hang out with them again. It was a pretty strange premier, though, as it was such a quiet, character-driven episode. I loved it but who thought it was a good way to start a season of a show that could do with some more viewers?

[Totoro Man]

AndrewCrossett: The episode's premise was interesting enough, but it didn't have a very accurate grasp of how religions arise, how they fall, and how the human brain works. Believe me, no millennia-old religion would ever collapse due to being "proven wrong."

I've watched enough "Family Guy" where this doesn't really surprise me. Family Guy had a gag where Peter Griffin (of all people) declared that Christians "don't believe in gravity" so they would escape their pursuers. they then show a group of people running off a cliff and acting surprised.

so why NOT keep taking an utterly simplistic and implausible approach to this subject for the sake of entertainment? it's comedy, right? and comedy has never really every hurt anybody throughout the course of history, right?

McFarlane seems like the sort of atheist where he believes this is how ancient religions SHOULD end. prove them wrong in some technical way... and then all of the religious followers will then abandon their foolishness.

it's the reverse side of the "turn or burn" missionary zealot coin.

[Jim Kelly]

The first episode of the second season was supposed to be in the first season, so that explains why it was such an odd choice for the season opener. But I worry that it doesn't kick things off in a big way and new viewers might lose interest. However, it did give attention to the character dynamics among the crew. I expect the next episode to actually indicate where this season is heading.

[Starter Set]

AndrewCrossett: The episode's premise was interesting enough, but it didn't have a very accurate grasp of how religions arise, how they fall, and how the human brain works. Believe me, no millennia-old religion would ever collapse due to being "proven wrong."

Oh, we know for long now that little things as logic or actual facts don't work on this kind of people. Religion is a sickness of the mind that can only be cure from within. One has first to realize that the base of faith is nothing more than wishes and fear to face some sometimes very cold realities of our human existence such as death for example or the lack of meaning of disturbing events.

Facing the death of a loved one for example it's easier to imagine than god, Ganesha of whoever else has some grand plans for all of us than to realize very simply that **** happens. Randomly, without sens.

To wish something to be true doesn't make it so.

[Jokerz79]

Oh, we know for long now that little things as logic or actual facts don't work on this kind of people. Religion is a sickness of the mind that can only be cure from within. One has first to realize that the base of faith is nothing more than wishes and fear to face some sometimes very cold realities of our human existence such as death for example or the lack of meaning of disturbing events.

Facing the death of a loved one for example it's easier to imagine than god, Ganesha of whoever else has some grand plans for all of us than to realize very simply that **** happens. Randomly, without sens.

To wish something to be true doesn't make it so.

OK I'm not religious but I believe if you want respect you need to give it and faith is not exclusive to religion we put faith in people, ventures, sports, even objects like believing some car or appliance has one more go in it. So unless you want to add pretty much everyone in the world to that list of mental illness because they have faith it's not right to talk down to religious people.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

OK I'm not religious but I believe if you want respect you need to give it and faith is not exclusive to religion we put faith in people, ventures, sports, even objects like believing some car or appliance has one more go in it. So unless you want to add pretty much everyone in the world to that list of mental illness because they have faith it's not right to talk down to religious people.

Thank you for saying this. I don't care whether a person is technically religious or not but is this really such a hard thing for fundamentalist atheists to understand?

Seth's take on religion is incredibly naive and simplistic and that episode was proof of that. Doesn't stop me from loving the show, though.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

The first episode of the second season was supposed to be in the first season, so that explains why it was such an odd choice for the season opener. But I worry that it doesn't kick things off in a big way and new viewers might lose interest. However, it did give attention to the character dynamics among the crew. I expect the next episode to actually indicate where this season is heading.

Well, that certainly explains that! And yeha, I share your concerns.

[Totoro Man]

Oh, we know for long now that little things as logic or actual facts don't work on this kind of people. Religion is a sickness of the mind that can only be cure from within. One has first to realize that the base of faith is nothing more than wishes and fear to face some sometimes very cold realities of our human existence such as death for example or the lack of meaning of disturbing events.

Facing the death of a loved one for example it's easier to imagine than god, Ganesha of whoever else has some grand plans for all of us than to realize very simply that **** happens. Randomly, without sens.

To wish something to be true doesn't make it so.

if you're only resonding to AndrewCrossett's remark then why bother quoting my post?

your post seems to be working under the idea that there actually IS an objective, provable truth and that people are better off in believing in. which, honestly, looks like a hold over 'sickness of mind' from monotheistic religious thought!

people have been believing in things that are false for thousands of years and they still keep reproducing and enjoying life as they know it. (I'm inclined to think that, in the big scheme of things, it doesn't matter if what you believe is 'right' or 'wrong', or provably 'true'.... so long as you conform to local societal expectations in the broadest general sense and produce offspring to keep the cycle going)

the greatest 'enemy' of religious thought isn't logic or reason. as you say, people will continue in their beliefs in spite of evidence to the contrary. if those beliefs provide enough comfort, definition, and value... then, yes, people will cling to them out of a sense of self worth and psychological need.

no, the biggest threat to the influence of religion is material comfort. this comfort can be real, imagined, or merely a state of mind that isn't bothered by anything. it's about being comfortable enough in life to not have any need for what religion has to offer.

there's a reason why the influence of religion is declining in highly industrialized nations... and it's not really about an increase in education or literacy. people are so comfortable that they don't feel the need for religion. a lot of people that do attend churches do so more for social reasons than out of any particularly religious conviction.

it is THIS particular detail (comfort) that gets mentioned in the Torah, actually, as one of the biggest dangers that Jewish adherants can face in the future. if they become too comfortable in themselves they will forsake religion and virtue. it's also why so many early Christians decided that living a life of poverty and severe asceticism. they decided to head comfort off at the pass by never fully embracing it.

since we're talking about comfort: the problem of limited resources, competition, and inequality aren't going to disappear. if it were even possible one would think that it would have happened by now. every ten years or so I'll read some article called "solving homelessness is easy, so why don't we do it?". and it usually involves the state simply giving everybody free housing... or, what doesn't get mentioned as often: putting people in prison. both solutions can very effectively solve the lingering problem of housing. both approaches have been used. I've even heard about people (in the Alaskan Aleutian islands) who use prison as a way to solve their homelessness problem! people like to delude themselves into thinking that their next 'war on poverty' will somehow eradicate it... and it never does.

once you set aside material concerns there is also one of attitude. people have to cultivate a certain frame of mind where they aren't bothered by what life throws at them. this can be achieved through cultural indoctrination, religion, philosophy, or... pharmaceuticals. it doesn't simply happen through the enlightenment of an education. knowledge does not, in and of itself, lead to an increased 'quality of life'.

in fact, it might be better to leave the majority of people with only the bare minimum of education required to do what they need to do. to expend anything more on education than what is absolutely necessary would be a waste of resources at a societal level, right? it would be inefficient and illogical to invest more than what is absolutely essential in each citizen. if all they really want to do is have a comfortable place to live, have sex with their chosen partners, and fit into their local communities... this doesn't require very much education for most people. widespread ignorance could actually be a cheaper, more preferable solution so long as the state still has a means to control and subjugate the masses. (this is typically done with coercion, force, and seperation in modern societies. in ancient cultures the inherent limitations and weakness of the central government made religion an almost absolute and unavoidable necessity! no king or prince had the power to be everywhere.)

besides, it was primarily the monotheistic religions and their fixation on everybody being able to read their sacred texts and properly conform to the accepted teachings that literacy became a widespread practice. later on, it was realized that there were economic and legal benefits... but, early on, the only people who could read and write where royalty and priests. later it was the merchant class. finally, it started spreading across all of society. but for much of history MOST people couldn't even read. we now consider this to be one of the hallmarks of ignorance... but it's still something most people could negotiate life without because they STILL had language in spoken form.

so... a certain level of ignorance is actually a viable solution for the random cruelty of life... it might be more beneficial to the majority - since we don't seriously expect EVERYONE to exercise their own free will and forge ahead in life as if they have the power to change history.

people, at an individual level, are essentially nigh-unto-worthless and disposable cogs in the machine of culture. sure, one particular part might be harder to replace than another... but at the end of the day everybody is expendable and capable of being replaced. the machine keeps going. or, to put it another way, if that zip tie breaks... just get another one.

even the old bromide of 'you create your own meaning' is simply assigning value to yourself out of irrational self interest. if we're going to insist that any worthy thought or belief has to be provably true by science... well, you can't use science to prove that your life (or any life) is worth something. it's completely beyond the scope of what science can do. petty things like love, loyalty, charity, friendship... crap like that still needs to exist for people to enjoy life. even the most savagely ardent atheist still needs this stuff.

but this "Rick and Morty" attitude seems to be growing on the internet. even the oft quoted phrase is, when you look at it, extremely self serving:
"Nobody exists on purpose. nobody belongs anywhere. everybody's going to die. come watch TV."

that's right, people, your life is basically meaningless... the only (offered) solution to your sense of rootless and disconnected alienation is to watch TV! so watch OUR television show and line our pocket books with advertising revenue and merchandising! this isn't really some deep, profound, philosophical statement... it's just asking people to keep watching the show! :P

[Kusanagi]

Regarding S2E2

This is what I love about the Orville. Taking an overly silly plot like a computer virus brought upon by porn, and ratcheting it up and turning it into a proper Star Trek like episode. Legitimate pathos, tragedy, character development all on the back of porn! I'm actually struggling with this.

[Jokerz79]

Oh I loved this Season of Orville so far such a great show like TNG and Red Dwarf had a kid.

[Qwerty]

The first episode of the second season was supposed to be in the first season, so that explains why it was such an odd choice for the season opener. But I worry that it doesn't kick things off in a big way and new viewers might lose interest. However, it did give attention to the character dynamics among the crew. I expect the next episode to actually indicate where this season is heading.

Which one. The bortas has to owe episode or the bortas is addicted to porn episode