Hello everyone. Here is a little introduction:

I am currently a high school student in the U.S. I feel a little underwhelmed by my peers. Some are okay, but many have a deep ignorance and a lack of caring for anything intellectual. My current interests include psychology, neuroscience, body language, linguistics, chemistry, philosophy, magic theory (deception and misdirection), and hypnosis.
I have an older brother (sadly by only 2 minutes), who is a magician. He is quite good and that makes him popular in school. I am not. I live in his "shadow" because my skills as a lie detector and hypnotist (sadly somewhat lacking) are not good enough. Oh well...
I joined Rational skepticism simply to talk with those bright enough to have thoughts of their own.

My current belief:
Though I was raised in a strong Christian household, I no longer share the same beliefs as my parents (which gets stressful at times). Though I do believe that there is indeed a God, I choose too believe that he (she/it) is something we cannot hope to understand. To explain this I usually use the Five blind men and an elephant parable. Each blind man tries to describe the elephant, but each find a different part of the beast.
The first blind man finds the tail. He describes the elephant as a rope.
The second blind man finds the ear. He describes the elephant as a sail.
The third blind man finds the trunk. He describes the elephant as a tree.
The fourth blind man finds the body. He describes the elephant as a wall.
The final blind man finds the tusks. He describes the elephant as a horn.
God is the elephant and the blind men are each a different religion. He (she/it) is so great and we are blinded by corruption. Each religion is right, in a sense. Each part of a whole.

G'day Aodh.

Cool username, BTW.

Welcome Aodh!

I had never heard of the lie detector trick, so I looked it up. It sounds hilarious and entertaining. I'm sure it's one of those acts that gets better and better with practise, so I hope you don't get frustrated and continue to hone your skills (if you enjoy it, of course!).

Best wishes.

Welcome to RatSkeps

Welcome.
If I were adding to your parable, I'd add that religion was what blinded the men, making them mistake an elephant for things most unelephanty.

If there are prizes for inventions of new words, I want one for unelephanty.

Welcome Aodh!

Where'd you get a lovely name like that? It's my name in my native Irish tongue. Also, how would you pronounce it?

Hope you enjoy your time here!

HughMcB wrote:Welcome Aodh!

Where'd you get a lovely name like that? It's my name in my native Irish tongue. Also, how would you pronounce it?

Hope you enjoy your time here!

Most pronunciation guides will probably tell you that it's entirely aspirant, although there is no 'h' in Gaelic, and it denotes an Anglicisation of what would have been an accent (a little dot, whose specific name escapes me for the moment) over the preceding letter, which in turn denotes that the preceding letter should been pronounced 'v', as in Niamh (pronounced Neve) or Siobhan (pronounced Shevaun), so it should be pronounced like what them pesky theropod dinosaurs evolved into, although with the 'a' elongated.

So, welcome little birdy!

I look forward to seeing what you make of the place, especially the idiocy that is propounded here by some, and the manner in which it's treated by the rest.

Welcome, Aodh! I looked up your user name.

hackenslash wrote:Most pronunciation guides will probably tell you that it's entirely aspirant, although there is no 'h' in Gaelic, and it denotes an Anglicisation of what would have been an accent (a little dot, whose specific name escapes me for the moment) over the preceding letter, which in turn denotes that the preceding letter should been pronounced 'v', as in Niamh (pronounced Neve) or Siobhan (pronounced Shevaun), so it should be pronounced like what them pesky theropod dinosaurs evolved into, although with the 'a' elongated.

Yes I've always been taught to simply pronounce it as "A" or perhaps a slightly more elongated "A". In Irish (Gaelic) an "h" besides a consonant usually means that they are both silent, although as you pointed out when an "h" is beside a m or b it makes a "v" sound.

It's funny actually in English my name is often just mispronounced as "U" and then in Irish my name actually is "A".

I just can't get a fucking break.

Thank you everyone for a warm welcome!
@trouble76 That is very nice, thank you for adding that.
@HughMcB I am actually trying too learn Scottish Gaelic at the moment. Aodh kinds just popped out at me. It means fire, and I love fire. It is a great name. If I ever have children, I will name my son Aodh.
Thank you all again for such a warm welcome. I hope my time here will be prosperous.

Hi and welcome Aodh

The blind men were actually feeling a boat that had crashed into a house. Only traditional reverence for antiquated narratives lend credence to it being an elephant.

Hi!