[Alan spends a few moments just trying to process the message and feeling very out of his depth. There’s a lot to unpack here, very little of which he actually feels qualified to address.]
I’m sure Flynn would be happy to hear from you if you decided to message him. [Emphasis on “message.” Far be it from Alan to tell Anon who to pray and not pray to, but he might as well underscore the fact that contact via ACE is much more reliable.]
As for deities, I don’t know a whole lot. There was one called God who was pretty popular back home. Other than that, I’ve heard of Buddha, Allah… Brahma… [Honestly, that mostly depletes his knowledge of modern gods.] There’s some older ones, too, but I don’t know how many people worship them anymore.
[Alan finds himself chuckling as he types, but it's more out of incredulity at the conversation than anything. There’s something surreal about listing off deities like he’s recommending a good roofer.]
Did try suggested method of addressing memorial, re: Flynn, he did not respond. Will have to try more conventional means, may be too distant for 'prayer' method to function properly.
[Flynn does not as of yet, answer prayers.]
"God" seems as if it would be confusing. Much like yelling "You, program!" and expecting a single one to respond in a crowd. Other names sound more distinctive. A lack of attention to older gods may lead to more receptiveness; are all helpful?
[And here is where Alan realizes that this is going to require a lot more explaining than just giving Anon a list of names.]
Ok, let’s slow it down. I don’t mean to be disrespectful to whoever told you about all this, but it sounds like they may have left out some important details.
First, users aren’t gods. At least, not here. If you want to contact us, you can speak to us directly or through a communication device like your ACE. Praying doesn’t work as a means of long-distance communication, I’m afraid.
Second, gods tend to be unreliable. A good number of users don’t believe they exist at all. Sometimes people get what they pray for, but from what I’ve seen, they usually don’t. As I understand it, most people turn to religion for comfort and guidance, not with the expectation that they’ll receive everything they ask for.
Third, most gods have rules you have to follow and things you have to believe if you want any sort of relationship with them. And for a lot of them, one of the biggest rules is to only worship them or gods in the same family. So you can't try to improve your odds by praying to as many as possible.
If after all that, you still want to pursue this, then that's fine. But it’s a big decision and you shouldn’t go in with any false expectations.
[Programs are let down often enough by users. Alan wouldn’t want to let Anon rush into this just to find even more disillusionment.]
[There is a delay on the response that isn't insignificant, while he can be reactionary he also has no problem sitting down and thinking something through.]
Confirmed: Users are not gods. You are human. Humans are fallible, and can die. Gods are: ????
[Except HIS User, his was clearly superior.]
'Prayer' in context, described as a communication method with a thing believed in, be it person, god, or even concept. Not certain how ideas can be communicated with in a P2P fashion.
Prayer described less as way to get everything wanted, more new way to ask for aid. Like text. May get, may not, relies on hope and willingness for other to help, and belief. Observable results at memorial due to actions of User (?) found there. Someone is answering, if asked, if given gifts. I do not know who. But method works.
Do not believe in many things with intensity she spoke of. Willing to learn.
[Well, at least Anon accedes to that first point easily enough. The rest is… quite reasonably laid out, though Alan still feels Anon is approaching the subject a little too pragmatically. From what he’s observed, there’s little practical about prayer. Anon, however, seems to have observed something different.]
Can you tell me what you saw at the memorial? What was this user doing and what were the results?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: text;
I’m sure Flynn would be happy to hear from you if you decided to message him. [Emphasis on “message.” Far be it from Alan to tell Anon who to pray and not pray to, but he might as well underscore the fact that contact via ACE is much more reliable.]
As for deities, I don’t know a whole lot. There was one called God who was pretty popular back home. Other than that, I’ve heard of Buddha, Allah… Brahma… [Honestly, that mostly depletes his knowledge of modern gods.] There’s some older ones, too, but I don’t know how many people worship them anymore.
[Alan finds himself chuckling as he types, but it's more out of incredulity at the conversation than anything. There’s something surreal about listing off deities like he’s recommending a good roofer.]
text;
[Flynn does not as of yet, answer prayers.]
"God" seems as if it would be confusing. Much like yelling "You, program!" and expecting a single one to respond in a crowd. Other names sound more distinctive. A lack of attention to older gods may lead to more receptiveness; are all helpful?
text;
Ok, let’s slow it down. I don’t mean to be disrespectful to whoever told you about all this, but it sounds like they may have left out some important details.
First, users aren’t gods. At least, not here. If you want to contact us, you can speak to us directly or through a communication device like your ACE. Praying doesn’t work as a means of long-distance communication, I’m afraid.
Second, gods tend to be unreliable. A good number of users don’t believe they exist at all. Sometimes people get what they pray for, but from what I’ve seen, they usually don’t. As I understand it, most people turn to religion for comfort and guidance, not with the expectation that they’ll receive everything they ask for.
Third, most gods have rules you have to follow and things you have to believe if you want any sort of relationship with them. And for a lot of them, one of the biggest rules is to only worship them or gods in the same family. So you can't try to improve your odds by praying to as many as possible.
If after all that, you still want to pursue this, then that's fine. But it’s a big decision and you shouldn’t go in with any false expectations.
[Programs are let down often enough by users. Alan wouldn’t want to let Anon rush into this just to find even more disillusionment.]
text;
Confirmed: Users are not gods. You are human. Humans are fallible, and can die. Gods are: ????
[Except HIS User, his was clearly superior.]
'Prayer' in context, described as a communication method with a thing believed in, be it person, god, or even concept. Not certain how ideas can be communicated with in a P2P fashion.
Prayer described less as way to get everything wanted, more new way to ask for aid. Like text. May get, may not, relies on hope and willingness for other to help, and belief. Observable results at memorial due to actions of User (?) found there. Someone is answering, if asked, if given gifts. I do not know who. But method works.
Do not believe in many things with intensity she spoke of. Willing to learn.
text;
Can you tell me what you saw at the memorial? What was this user doing and what were the results?