Felllix, while dogs may have been a poor example, the baseless exclamation that only humans can have thoughts is unnecessary.
1) As Tiax point out, human thought evolved just as everything else has. Therefore an ancestor of ours almost assuredly had thoughts, quite quite similar to our own, but only 95% of the way there. Which leads us back to the original point.
2) There is direct evidence that certain animals have thoughts. Gorillas and elephants recognize there own reflections in pools of water (unlike Beta Fish which cannot recognize their own reflections). Dolphins have been shown to have a wide range of ability including possible language ability (if not for the lack of throats).
3) Mostly a semantic point about human thought. People vary in terms of creativity, ingenuity, and just plan old ability to imagine things. Some people, now matter how hard they try cannot imagine things we know exist (and can even describe). Just because you or I cannot imagine something, doesn't mean that a 3rd party cannot. Just because I could never fathom something today doesn't mean it won't be commonplace 10 years from now.
If you believe that Mankind is capable of living morally in the absence of God, ultimately you will be an atheist.
If you believe that Mankind is only capable of living morally under the supervision of a deity, but you believe that deity to be truly benevolent, you will become what you call a universalist.
If you believe that Mankind is only capable of living morally under the supervision of a deity, and you believe that deity to also be immoral, you will become religious (Christianity, Hindu, whatever). (Pascal's Wager, and similar arguments really only hold for immoral deities).
The media is currently set up to give the audience what it wants, not what it deserves. As long as the American public wants sensational exaggerated racially motivated narratives, they will continue to get them.
The only way to change media is to convince large swaths of people that well researched, unbiased, quality journalism is worth something and that they should pay for it.
I would argue that the author is not playing his playgroup properly.
If the table you play at doesn't attack people with giant hands, then play CA.
If the table you play at doesn't attack people with 100 mana, then play ramp.
If the table you play immediately kills Thrun on sight, and kills any player over 41 life, then you shouldn't play Thrun or significant life-gain.
Meta-Threat assessment is also a skill, and i think the author needs to learn that. Knowing what your opponent's think are threats and aren't threats is also an important EDH lesson. There is something to be said, for playing cards your opponent's undervalue, but you know how to win with.
1) Can I Win?
2) Can I put myself in a better position to win?
3) If its all the same, attack the player with the most experience, since if everyone is on equal ground, the player with the most skill will win.
Therefore, being the most experienced player at a table can actually be a large disadvantage, since its in everyone else's interest to attack you. Hopefully, this disadvantage can be made up by outplaying the table, but sometimes it can not.
While this doesn't solve your problem, perhaps it does explain it.
I agree that science is about discovering the fundamental laws of the universe and engineering is utilizing science to build things, and that there is an important distinction.
However, the problem with the original question is that it is a quote from a major news source, not a scholarly journal or academia at all.
Major news is not very good at understanding the nuances of what they report, let alone something like this.
Anyone in a white coat is either a doctor or a scientist according to most major news outlets.
Beyond that, cards you don't need: Knighthood - Doesn't actually do anything Leyline of Vitality - the toughness boost isn't that great, and your general already gains you life. Is cuttable Eyes in the sky- Given your general, is pretty redundant Spidersilk armor - same issues as leyline and knighthood Primal Rage - Trample really isn't all that important for 1/1s.
Reborn Hope- Regrowth is strictly better if you can get one. Recollect is 99% of the time better if you cannot. I'm afraid you don't really have enough targets to warrant running this card.
Selesnya Cluestone - I havn't looked at the mana that closely, but I can assure you there are stronger mana fixing/mana ramping cards in green than this.
There is more than can go, but these are where I would start.
While this does nothing short-term, here is the real secret to fixing the American health-care system in the long-run.
Somehow survive the next thirty years, and then everything will be fine.
Right now, the proportion of older persons/retired persons to younger/working persons is the highest it has ever been in our history. This is projected to be true for the next 30 years or so. But then, the Baby-boomers are going to be mostly dead, and on the overall our age ratio will normalize between 30-50 years from now.
We will have more young people paying taxes/premiums and fewer sick/old people needing healthcare.
Once we restrict who can vote, those that can still vote will take away the rights and freedoms of everyone else. Just because you don't currently pay taxes doesn't mean you should have to forfeit your rights granted to you via your citizenship.
If when I walk down the street and get mugged there is a system in place to retrieve my items, then it can be said that I have a right to property.
If when I walk down the street and get mugged, there is no system in place to retrieve my items then I have no right to property.
Like it or not, the police and the legal system decide which rights you have as a human being, since if they choose to abandon you, you can be killed, raped, whatever and nothing will happen as a consequence.
I feel compelled to disagree with your third point.
Even if every human attempted to kill at every single opportunity, society would not annihilate. It would look pretty different, but humanity would still continue.
Some thoughts first though:
Thunderstudy Warlock cannot remain as worded. As is, if you hit your opponent once with anything, this will deal them two damage. Then see that something (itself) did noncombat damage and do two more damage. This loop will never end. Perhaps it can do two additional damage. Similarly, you could say whenever another source you control ......., but even then, it infinite loops if you get two of them out.
The following are either strictly better or strictly worse than already existing cards, or the name is already taken, just so you know:
Time Balm needs to be reworded, but has already been mentioned
Last but not least, shuffling cards from the exile zone, back into the game, is generally frowned upon. If this set is supposed to stand alone, it doesn't super matter, but if you say, wanted to play modern with this set included, cards that did this should probably come out.
Similarly, Warp sword is fine within this block/set, but goes infinite once you allow it into the modern card pool.
Also, while in principle I am not against a dice-rolling mechanic, it is odd to see one card with it. Either go for it, or cut it, you cannot really just have one card.
Last for now, Jaya's second ability....... first of all, I assume there is a typo in it, second, it is WAYYYYYY to strong. Overall, you may way to look over all the walkers again.
Feel free to PM me to talk more about your set, you have a pretty solid start it seems. (Also feel free to check out my set)
First we had scry (a spell mechanic), then we had two combat mechanics (bloodthirst, and exalted). I would suspect therefore the next ability would be spell orientated.
a man with a knife can kill, he can perhaps kill 4 or 5 people. But there is no way he can charge into a crowd of a 1,000 people and kill them all.
a man with a machine gun can.
This is the inherit difference.
This is why a decent number of the proposed solutions involve things such as magazine size, so that a potential shooter cannot kill quite as many people.
1) As Tiax point out, human thought evolved just as everything else has. Therefore an ancestor of ours almost assuredly had thoughts, quite quite similar to our own, but only 95% of the way there. Which leads us back to the original point.
2) There is direct evidence that certain animals have thoughts. Gorillas and elephants recognize there own reflections in pools of water (unlike Beta Fish which cannot recognize their own reflections). Dolphins have been shown to have a wide range of ability including possible language ability (if not for the lack of throats).
3) Mostly a semantic point about human thought. People vary in terms of creativity, ingenuity, and just plan old ability to imagine things. Some people, now matter how hard they try cannot imagine things we know exist (and can even describe). Just because you or I cannot imagine something, doesn't mean that a 3rd party cannot. Just because I could never fathom something today doesn't mean it won't be commonplace 10 years from now.
If you believe that Mankind is only capable of living morally under the supervision of a deity, but you believe that deity to be truly benevolent, you will become what you call a universalist.
If you believe that Mankind is only capable of living morally under the supervision of a deity, and you believe that deity to also be immoral, you will become religious (Christianity, Hindu, whatever). (Pascal's Wager, and similar arguments really only hold for immoral deities).
The only way to change media is to convince large swaths of people that well researched, unbiased, quality journalism is worth something and that they should pay for it.
If the table you play at doesn't attack people with giant hands, then play CA.
If the table you play at doesn't attack people with 100 mana, then play ramp.
If the table you play immediately kills Thrun on sight, and kills any player over 41 life, then you shouldn't play Thrun or significant life-gain.
Meta-Threat assessment is also a skill, and i think the author needs to learn that. Knowing what your opponent's think are threats and aren't threats is also an important EDH lesson. There is something to be said, for playing cards your opponent's undervalue, but you know how to win with.
1) Can I Win?
2) Can I put myself in a better position to win?
3) If its all the same, attack the player with the most experience, since if everyone is on equal ground, the player with the most skill will win.
Therefore, being the most experienced player at a table can actually be a large disadvantage, since its in everyone else's interest to attack you. Hopefully, this disadvantage can be made up by outplaying the table, but sometimes it can not.
While this doesn't solve your problem, perhaps it does explain it.
However, the problem with the original question is that it is a quote from a major news source, not a scholarly journal or academia at all.
Major news is not very good at understanding the nuances of what they report, let alone something like this.
Anyone in a white coat is either a doctor or a scientist according to most major news outlets.
Beyond that, cards you don't need:
Knighthood - Doesn't actually do anything
Leyline of Vitality - the toughness boost isn't that great, and your general already gains you life. Is cuttable
Eyes in the sky- Given your general, is pretty redundant
Spidersilk armor - same issues as leyline and knighthood
Primal Rage - Trample really isn't all that important for 1/1s.
Reborn Hope- Regrowth is strictly better if you can get one. Recollect is 99% of the time better if you cannot. I'm afraid you don't really have enough targets to warrant running this card.
Selesnya Cluestone - I havn't looked at the mana that closely, but I can assure you there are stronger mana fixing/mana ramping cards in green than this.
There is more than can go, but these are where I would start.
Good Luck
Somehow survive the next thirty years, and then everything will be fine.
Right now, the proportion of older persons/retired persons to younger/working persons is the highest it has ever been in our history. This is projected to be true for the next 30 years or so. But then, the Baby-boomers are going to be mostly dead, and on the overall our age ratio will normalize between 30-50 years from now.
We will have more young people paying taxes/premiums and fewer sick/old people needing healthcare.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-fourth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
Once we restrict who can vote, those that can still vote will take away the rights and freedoms of everyone else. Just because you don't currently pay taxes doesn't mean you should have to forfeit your rights granted to you via your citizenship.
Enforcement = rights
If when I walk down the street and get mugged there is a system in place to retrieve my items, then it can be said that I have a right to property.
If when I walk down the street and get mugged, there is no system in place to retrieve my items then I have no right to property.
Like it or not, the police and the legal system decide which rights you have as a human being, since if they choose to abandon you, you can be killed, raped, whatever and nothing will happen as a consequence.
I feel compelled to disagree with your third point.
Even if every human attempted to kill at every single opportunity, society would not annihilate. It would look pretty different, but humanity would still continue.
Some thoughts first though:
Thunderstudy Warlock cannot remain as worded. As is, if you hit your opponent once with anything, this will deal them two damage. Then see that something (itself) did noncombat damage and do two more damage. This loop will never end. Perhaps it can do two additional damage. Similarly, you could say whenever another source you control ......., but even then, it infinite loops if you get two of them out.
The following are either strictly better or strictly worse than already existing cards, or the name is already taken, just so you know:
Blinding Rift
Knighthood
Erase Paths
Lost Crusader
Fang Druid
Fang Summoner
Rift Spark
Time Balm needs to be reworded, but has already been mentioned
Last but not least, shuffling cards from the exile zone, back into the game, is generally frowned upon. If this set is supposed to stand alone, it doesn't super matter, but if you say, wanted to play modern with this set included, cards that did this should probably come out.
Similarly, Warp sword is fine within this block/set, but goes infinite once you allow it into the modern card pool.
Also, while in principle I am not against a dice-rolling mechanic, it is odd to see one card with it. Either go for it, or cut it, you cannot really just have one card.
Last for now, Jaya's second ability....... first of all, I assume there is a typo in it, second, it is WAYYYYYY to strong. Overall, you may way to look over all the walkers again.
Feel free to PM me to talk more about your set, you have a pretty solid start it seems. (Also feel free to check out my set)
a man with a machine gun can.
This is the inherit difference.
This is why a decent number of the proposed solutions involve things such as magazine size, so that a potential shooter cannot kill quite as many people.