Which of these do you believe the Earth to be?

Fernapple comments on Feb 9, 2022:

Sadly only the first two are mutually exclusive.

“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity.

Fernapple comments on Feb 9, 2022:

A great truism. Word salad hides smelly fish.

At least it’s a wireless connection.

Fernapple comments on Feb 9, 2022:

I once had a rat emerge for ours. It must have got in the sewer and dived under the water lock to get out.

Significant dates in your evolution.

Fernapple comments on Feb 9, 2022:

A good summing up.

What is your fantasy wedding spot, if you were ever to get married or renew your vows?

Fernapple comments on Feb 9, 2022:

I think that I would lean on a competent organizer, like yourself, I could not do better than that. Though this spot on a nature reserve in Turkey, would be a good second best. ( My friend and traveling companion in the foreground.)

Is this all BS or does it make sense to you?

Fernapple comments on Feb 8, 2022:

Also perhaps, because they are obviously that little bit smaller, you make that little bit more effort to savour them, because you know they will be gone sooner.

Can we stop the Deserts from Growing?!... [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Feb 8, 2022:

Brilliant, all you need is that magic ingredient intelligent planning.

We don’t need God.

Fernapple comments on Feb 8, 2022:

First I am convinced, that a single overarching morality for everyone, or even a single way of achieving that, would be a bad thing, because there is nothing healthier than free debate. And the gods eye view, just moves the problem back one step. Because if people can't agree on right and wrong, then they wont agree on what is a gods eye view either. And in fact allowing the gods eye view metaphor to be the basis of your morality, only gives unjustifiable extra power to those who can control the media, to dictate right from wrong. Although they are often mistaken about it, or corrupt. Allowing them to claim that they have a deeper understanding of the gods eye view metaphor, only helps them to achieve even more unjustified greater authority. Just as traditional priests who controlled the media of church and temple, claimed a special understanding of the imagined god to justify, claiming fake authority, and further the often corrupt and self serving interests of their own prejudices. So the gods eye view metaphor just takes on the place of god, and gives fake authority to those who control it. Nearly the whole evil of religion, is that it exist to set up and justify claims of false authority. ( I define it as the same thing as false authority.) And the most important duty of any moral person, is to teach others, especially the young to recognize and reject fake claims of authority. There are many alternatives which give real authority and which can be brought to the issues of right and wrong. Secular moral philosophy is a well developed field, which is far better at deciding the fairly simple issues of morality, exactly because it is not restrained by prerequisites such as gods and grand metaphors. While in politics the expression of democratic will is usually accepted as the main genuine source of authority, though it is a very weak one. Even sometimes called the ad populum fallacy, and it can do no better at its best, than say that the largest single minority can dictate to the smaller minorities, and that right or wrong is only what the largest minority says they are. Yet even the world political consensus agrees on more than the worlds religions do. And even poor stumbling democracy is far better than allowing a tiny minority, with a self appointed wish to decide all things, to use fake authority and dictate, without responsibility for their actions to any except to their own created god, or metaphor, as religion does.

First, to those of you whom i normally treat well, i apologize if i in anyway have been harsh for a...

Fernapple comments on Feb 8, 2022:

You are fine. Think only about your dog, but do please give us updates now you have told us. I hope you have a good vet.

Baptisms invalid - priest used wrong words.

Fernapple comments on Feb 8, 2022:

The link is broken sorry. But based on your description, I would say that if the priest is a true literal believer himself then he has no choice, and he is at least honest, even if deluded. If he is not a true believer however, then he is committing a far worse act of dishonesty by leading people to think they should need a baptism, in the first place, and if he thinks that doing the right thing with regards to the words makes it alright, then he is suffering cognitive dissonance to an extreme degree. While if he is a metaphoricalist, then it is a small unimportant matter about exact words, but it is at least honest of him to think that people should get exactly what they pay for.

I got the winning bid on a condo! In thirty days the bank will own almost all of it again though my...

Fernapple comments on Feb 8, 2022:

Congratulations, I hope you get many years of joy from your new property.

Educational Mismatch [thisviewoflife.com] .

Fernapple comments on Feb 8, 2022:

Yes that sounds very true, pity it is only a short abstract, but I see there is a link to a paper.

The end times for religion - Freethought Now

Fernapple comments on Feb 8, 2022:

A note of caution, sorry. Another reason for religion being so strong in the US for so long, is perhaps because of the perceived, though false, connection between atheism and communism. Which may have created a a large but quite artificial and quite fragile bubble of support for religion, which did not exist in most countries. With the rapid discrediting of communism as an ideology in most of the educated world, and the perceived, though false, end to the cold war, that bubble may vanish rapidly, bringing the US quite quickly back into line with the rest of the developed world. Which means sadly, that the rapid decline in the US may not last. After a while, religion will still continue to decline, but only at much the same rate as it does in the rest of the educated western world.

So was there a master plan or was the omniscient creator just winging it?

Fernapple comments on Feb 8, 2022:

God always reminds me of a lot of his religious apologists. Changes his position all the time, and then says. "Yes but you misunderstood, that was what I really meant in the first place." ( Funny that, you would think it may be almost possible that theologians and apologists wrote his lines for him. )

The evangelical 'dissenters' trying to 'save' the faith have their own problems

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2022:

They may have said so, but I don't think that evangelicals ever shared a common set of values. They were always a very divided bunch, just like every other human institution, the illusion of unity only lasts until something goes wrong, and someone needs someone else to blame.

I don't believe in spirits or aliens.

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2022:

Never heard of a spirit harming anyone. Even if they exist, they don't seem to get cited on many death certifications.

As followup to my recent post concerning religion and government and recent discussions about ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2022:

There are a few other features which follow from evolution and could lead to the development of religion, such as the well known positive error bias. Which may be hard wired into us, because for example. If you see a glint of light in the forest, which could be the reflection in a predators eye, it is better to assume that it is, say a tiger, and run away, than to think that it is maybe only a trick of the light. Because if it is a tiger, you could lose your life if you don't run away, where if you mistakenly run from a random glint on a leaf, all you lose is a little energy. And the reverse applies, if you think you see food, then it pays to move towards it, because if you are right then you get a meal, while if you are wrong, all you lose is a few seconds. A false positive error usually costs little where a false negative can be very costly. For which reason we may tend to assume we see dangerous and helpful beings like tigers, and gods, everywhere. Rather than be tend to be sceptical. In other words we may be hard wired to be gullible. But of course, in the modern world, most of us do not live in the jungle, but in an environment built by human culture, where most of the cultural things we encounter, are made by humans to manipulate other humans, probably by exploiting our weaknesses, in which case the best error preference may now be quite the reverse. I see that you say you have been reading Gould which is very good, you may also find that it is good for balance to read Richard Dawkins as well. Since they were great rivals and held opposite opinions, on exactly these sorts of subjects, although they were great friends for a long while and had great mutual respect.

So, It's been a few years, my old account is gone and I can't figure out how to message anyone.

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2022:

You will soon get to the level where you can message people, the first few levels are quick and easy. And here's a like for a few more points.

If there were no humans, would Time exist? (I am not referring to the magazine)

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2022:

As a concept at least, don't forget that humans are not the only creatures to measure it. It would perhaps be better to ask. If no living things existed would time exist ? From which it is possible to infer that living creatures are indeed measuring something that is real, since most biological clocks are genetically hard wired into organisms by evolution through natural selection, and it seems reasonable to think that those organisms whose internal models of the universe were less accurate would be selected against. A plant whose internal clock told it to flower in May, when its pollinators only came out in July would soon go extinct, while those which flowered in July would increase their share of the gene pool.

I do not care what anyone says.

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2022:

Most cats act like they are having hormone problems all the time, its just being a cat. That's what is so lovable about them.

I was informed yesterday that I write too much. Thanks. No more.

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2022:

More, more, more.....

I have a problem here that I think is based somehow in a cognitive bias and I need a little help in ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2022:

Well all I can say is that it happens to me. So you are at least not alone. A few weeks ago I was taking some things out of the van, and had the door propped open. And I thought. " I must remember to close that door before I put the van away. " When it came to putting the van away I thought. "Did I close that door. Yes, I remember making a mental note to do so. " So I ran the van into the garage, and of course the door was open, and it hit the garage door post. Very expensive repair not covered by the insurance.

What starts with W and ends in T.

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2022:

If you assume that I will find that funny, then you and me are following an ass.

I probably need to get out more, it took ten minutes to figure out the right answer

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2022:

Teacher needs a lesson. Written is an alternative to oral, not an opposite, the pupil was correct. LOL

So last time I was on here I talked about the difficulties of coming out to my family, both as an ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2022:

Take it from someone a lot older, a human life is a long time, and things change a lot especially if you are an active person who gets involved. Five or ten years from now you will probably look back and think. "How did I get here." And if I may hand out some pompus old person type advice, (sorry I know). If you are looking for a relationship, then one of the best ways, is not go on the dating round, but to pick hobbies where you do something real and social. Help out in a charity shop for an hour or two a week, volunteer to help in a community garden, or give reading classes for children, that way you have lots of human contact anyway, but you also raise your profile in the community and increase your circle of friends, then one day either you will bump into someone you like, or one of those friends will say. "Come and meet." Because if there is one thing no human can resist, its the thrill of matchmaking. ( They get it wrong most of the time, but hey that's life.)

The Blame Game

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2022:

That way leads to murder.

Today’s scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 7, 2022:

Interesting view from a very interesting man. Not sure that I can really agree, since many equations made within mathematical models made at that time, have been subsequently proved by experiment and observation. While science does allow for the building of hypothesis, as long as they are subjected to evidential qualification. Tesla was an engineer, and here is perhaps here reflecting the long standing conflict in science between the experimentalists and the theorist, yet not all conflict is bad, and the competition between the two in science has certainly been a very productive one.

Amen to that.

Fernapple comments on Feb 6, 2022:

Baffling, WTF would anyone think there could be any reason at all to put aborted embryos in a vaccine ? And why are we searching for signs of intelligent life on other planets, when its often hard to find any here ?

Faith is useless without proof.

Fernapple comments on Feb 6, 2022:

First it important to decide what better means, and then the job is nine tenths done. But God never helped anyone with that. At best you can follow his holy books. Which really means, letting a bunch of ancient Roman and Medieval journalists, who were paraphrasing and sensationalizing the by then, badly garbled, thoughts of bronze age shepherds, to maximize their book sales, decide what better means for you.

LOL... wouldn't they had to have BOUGHT those books in order to burned them?

Fernapple comments on Feb 6, 2022:

In reverse, its a bit like all the atheists who go to the Ark Encounter, and spend money on tickets, so that they can laugh, point out the flaws and mock the fake science. I bet K. H. still pockets the takings.

When was the last time you received or sent a real actual letter?

Fernapple comments on Feb 6, 2022:

No. You do not know how bad most of my friends handwriting is. Too much eye and brain strain, I much prefer it typed. ( English schools are not big on hand writing. )

And I thought it was Dadieo, Ladieo, Spook.

Fernapple comments on Feb 6, 2022:

Those three I could kneel down before.

Morning all

Fernapple comments on Feb 6, 2022:

Sorry, not from the US. Who are the "blue stripe gang" please ?

A fine example of Human Innovative Ingenuity. LOL.

Fernapple comments on Feb 6, 2022:

So it passes through the hole twice. Now if we can only get it to recycle and come back up.

“Guid gear comes in sma’ buik ”…………Old Scots expression which translated means - ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 6, 2022:

Surely, you are not telling me that you are a vertically challenged person !

I haven’t posted here in ages, but I do stick around on several Athiest sites.

Fernapple comments on Feb 6, 2022:

You may of course be both.

Man sends us step-by-step guide on how to crash a pastor's book burning party.

Fernapple comments on Feb 5, 2022:

Buy a cheap porn magazine, cut up the pages and use them as dust jackets to wrap bibles. ( You can keep the interesting pages if you want.) Then go along and throw them on the fire. Hopefully someone will spot what is inside the jacket as they burn. And then you can throw your hands up in fake horror, and say. "Oh no my kids have been hiding bibles inside their porno mags again! "

In keeping with the standards that have become the norm on this site (if they were ever different) I...

Fernapple comments on Feb 5, 2022:

Maybe now I will grant that, though I would happily argue otherwise. But in the future as religion becomes more and more the resort of the criminal, the anti-social, and the anti environmental. In fact anyone who needs it, because they can not find support for their views in science, reason, politics, law or even main stream opinion, or any of the other alternatives now on offer in the world, and have therefore to turn to the one support network that has no moral or intellectual minimums built in. Then it will soon become a very different case. We may divide into tribes because we are genetically conditioned to be combative. But it is childishly simplistic indeed, to think that all tribes are equal, and that no tribe ever advanced, grew and prospered, because they had a greater claim to moral right or objective truth. ( Some times the evil prosper, yes. )Two hundred and more years ago there were too tribes, called the abolitionists and the pro-slavers, and the second were by far the majority, claiming that morality, law, reason, economics, tradition and, yes, religion supported their claims, and that the future would always belong to the slave owners. But now, although there is still much slavery in the world, they can no longer control governments, walk with pride in the streets, boast of the achievements or claim respect from the world at large. In fact they are marginalized, despised by many, never realistically dream of being a great power in the world again, and all the while they lurk in dark corners hiding their shame, and hoping that the extinction of their way of life will not come soon.

Poaching of Myths, Stories, Gods and Heroes

Fernapple comments on Feb 5, 2022:

Don't forget Zeus, he gave birth to Athena, and that was a virgin birth, plus he was male. gets complicated does it not. lol

What are the major differences between government - especially in a more ancient context - and ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 5, 2022:

I don't really know why you posted this as a question, since that seems to be quite a good summing up of the history anyway. Unless you are being purely rhetorical . I would perhaps however add that, religion was probably quite late on the scene when it came to making rules to live by. Firstly, because it was of much more interest to tribal secular leaders to have a well regulated society, than it was for priests. Since no chief/king/queen/democracy wants divisions among the subjects, whereas religion can profit from them. ( At a comic silly level for example, if Ug falls out with Og then she goes to pay the priest for a curse. ) And secondly, because religion was much more concerned and busy with controlling the supernatural forces, to ensure good hunts and harvests etc.. Early religion is usually thought by historians to be largely morality free. It may be a perspective of the Abrahamic religions that morality is an inevitable part of religion, but many early religions were amoral. And if you remember the moral codes, in the Abrahamic traditions first enter with Moses and the so called Exodus plus the captives of Babylon. Neither of which may have literally happened, but it is probable that the early Jews had a lot of contact, at around that time, with more advanced states like Egypt and Babylon who already had established moral laws, and not having an organized secular government of their own, were forced to turn to the witch doctors/priests, as the only tribal organization available. It also has to be said that in many early states such as Egypt, government and religion was one and the same embodied in the kings. And so it may have been with the early patriarchs of nomadic peoples such as the early Jews, who had little tribal organization beyond the wise man at the head of the extended family. A big part of the OT if you think about it, is about how the early patriarch government of the desert nomads separated into specialists kings and priests, and the conflicts which went on during that process.

Medicare opens up access to free at-home COVID-19 tests The Biden administration says people with ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 5, 2022:

In the UK we have had free tests for so long now, I can't remember when they started. And we regard our governments Covid response as largely a shambles.

Oops. Its been like.... A year and a half. But I exist again. Its been a weird couple of years.

Fernapple comments on Feb 5, 2022:

Hello, glad to hear you are well. And existent.

“Flirting is a promise of sexual intercourse without a guarantee”…………Milan Kundera.

Fernapple comments on Feb 5, 2022:

No I don't think that is true. Most flirting especially social flirting, which is the most common type. Is about faking the promise of sexual intercourse, with the understanding that it is not really offered at all.

Can anyone answer this for me?

Fernapple comments on Feb 5, 2022:

Because education brings sceptical thinking and questioning, and if they do that, then you can not indoctrinate them in where to point the guns.

Last night I went to a gender reveal party. I was the only naked person there.

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2022:

Just don't post photos. Please.

In my continuing effort to understand why so many atheists and agnostics (the people one would ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2022:

I have skimmed the paper and it looks like a good rough summary of the current science, that I have heard of.

In my continuing effort to understand why so many atheists and agnostics (the people one would ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2022:

I would also remind you that humans have a genetically evolved liking for high calorific foods. Because we evolved when calories were hard to come by. But that does not mean that we are obliged to eat large numbers of cheese burgers each day, that the people who do, are doing themselves or anyone else good, that people who encourage others to eat them in vast numbers are our moral leaders, that eating cheese burgers is harmless in the modern world, or that we can not train ourselves to do better. And however great the evidence is for the genetic origins of religion, I do not think that it will ever be as strong, plain or direct as the evidence for a need to eat food.

In my continuing effort to understand why so many atheists and agnostics (the people one would ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2022:

I do not know if it is possible to produce scientific papers which disprove the existence of a an evolutionary origin of human culture, and I doubt you can, since it is obvious that all of human culture, is a result of evolution. That is not the question, the real question is. Is religion, as generally understood, (Not your own personal and deliberately deceptive definition of religion as all of human culture. I will ignore that as just folly, giving you the benefit of the doubt, though I suspect it is a deliberate attempt to mislead. ) an inevitable part of human culture when that is developed fully. Certainly there are a few vague proofs that some aspects of religion, such as an obsession with snakes, and a possible tendency to see intention in inanimate things, both of which are errors which people can be trained to live without, and a few more vague things are genetically preconditioned into humans. But that does not get you to any particular myth or belief system, and it is a complete none sequitur to think that the early religions, which may have overlapped with the evolutionary time scale have any connection with any modern existing religions except in a few dubious details. And yes I do have a great deal of respect and admiration for science, which is why I find the deliberate misrepresenting of it especially offensive.

In my continuing effort to understand why so many atheists and agnostics (the people one would ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2022:

All things in human culture ultimately stem from evolved genetics. No problem with that. The important point to realize, is that that includes, atheist and agnostic views as well as all religious views. And since religious views include just about anything that you could possibly imagine, with no common ground at all between some religions, proving the religion is genetically predetermined proves absolutely nothing.

I've spent an hour and a half now trying to explain "sunk cost fallacy" to my son He's no nearer ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2022:

I just wasted five mins trying to think of a funny answer to this post.

Oh no!!!!! Horror movie fans will get this! 😂😂😂

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2022:

The rules have actually been largely fathomed out, from references to it on clay tablets.

a bee micky d's

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2022:

I can never see myself in the mirror, whenever I look there is some ugly old bloke with white hair stood in the way.

I was at Walmart and one of my hearing aids fell out.

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2022:

Should have said. "No I think the kid deserves all the thanks, he's smart, he did not need help." But of course if you are like me those things never occur to you at the time. Like someone said. "Repartee is what I should have said."

So, there are various forms of creationism - I didn't know that.

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2022:

The seven neat groups given are probably basically correct perhaps, but it is probably not quite that simple, with many intermediates, and a lot of confusion about details. I certainly have heard some who don't quite fit the groupings. And because there is a lot of dishonesty and cognitive dissonance involved, I have met with quite a few who jumped around between groups as it suited them.

So, there are various forms of creationism - I didn't know that.

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2022:

The most crazy always make the most noise, but don't forget that they are also the most likely to drive moderate people away from religion as well. And don't forget even when you quote the percent with advanced academic degrees, that not all academic degrees are equal, and there are some very strange degrees available from some very strange institutions, some of which may slip under the radar and get into the category "advanced" when people make stats.

[newsweek.

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2022:

That could take a long time, even if it works.

Links How banning books actually drive sales [smithsonianmag.com]

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2022:

Of course. Lets hope someone buys a few thousand and leaves them lying around outside schools. Amazing what school kids can hide under their beds.

It's been a tough winter but it's that time of year again where Canadian Gardeners start putting ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 4, 2022:

Thats cold. Only in small doses please.

Adorable Sloth Playing With Water While Cruising On A Boat!! - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2022:

Long time since I did that, it takes a sloth to remind you about the important things in life.

Sunrise this morning from my lanai.

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2022:

Next doors cat. And I am pretty sure he does not ever have a shadow, nor can he be seen in a mirror.

Has anyone here visited the palace at Versailles? Interested in your impression

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2022:

It is famous for its gardens but I have never been. I have been here though, where there are also surviving gardens and it is nearly twice the age. The Alhambra complex Spain.

The Bible is a pretty rotten guide as to how we should treat each other. - Steven Pinker

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2022:

What ! You mean that he never tried smashing children's heads against rocks till their brains are dashed out, offering his daughters for gang rape, or kicking sleeping prostitutes. Wow what a dull life !

No internet yesterday. Felt like a hopeless Luddite.

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2022:

Its a good idea to buy a new computer before the old one dies, and then keep the whole of the old one as an extra backup/spare for when/if the new one breaks down. If they stop sending out updates for the old system that does not matter, just delete any sensitive files/passwords etc. and don't use it for your bank account etc. while the new one is repaired or replaced.

How would you answer someone who says they hate our government?

Fernapple comments on Feb 3, 2022:

I would say in a shocked tone as if I took the statement literally. "You mean that if your house caught fire, you would not call the fire department. Oh I would never do that, I love it that my government would help me then. And in any case I could not get here to see you without the public roads, and I should hate to see you go out of business."

This is a VERY old joke.

Fernapple comments on Feb 2, 2022:

Double groan.

So, it seems Neil Young has signed to Amazon Music as protest to Spotify airing antivax views in Joe...

Fernapple comments on Feb 2, 2022:

If your employers disagree, they can not both be right. But they could both be wrong.

Can anybody can have the last word on any topic ?

Fernapple comments on Feb 2, 2022:

Yes very true. There are two extremes to avoid. Absolutism, the belief that you have found, or been given, final truth on everything, which brings with it bigotry and dogma. And. Relativism, the view that there is no final truth, which brings with it apathy and is anti-progress or improvement. Between those two extremes is the belief the perfectly true things may exist, but that you are rarely going to have them, and that therefore research and life, are the business of trying to get closer to the final truth, as a target and aspiration rather than a destination. But that does not mean that all ideas are equal, because it follows from that, however, that those who have done the most work, with the most discipline, attention to detail, elimination of personal preferences etc. are 'likely' but not certain to be the closest to a final truth, and therefore have the ideas most to be trusted.

Trump's depiction of the January 6th insurrectionists as martyrs reminds me of the case of Horst ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 2, 2022:

"Those who can not learn from history are doomed to repeat its errors." But those like much of modern America who have ditched history altogether, along with science, geography and the mind improving effects of travel. Well, best of luck.

Everyone knows about the transatlantic slave trade from Africa to the New World.

Fernapple comments on Feb 1, 2022:

They simply blended in, especially as Islamic slavery was based on religion not skin type, so that there were white slaves too. Also Islam had a slightly more enlightened view of slavery, which meant that many more won their freedom and blended in with the general population.

@ Pralina 1, please tell me your kidney stone has passed or dissolved.

Fernapple comments on Feb 1, 2022:

I do hope so.

It may be my favorite things to do.

Fernapple comments on Feb 1, 2022:

Why is it that everything I want to do is either, illegal, immoral, or fattening ?

This is London Calling "Dandelions do not like the sardine.

Fernapple comments on Feb 1, 2022:

I go with mcgeo52.

I can't wait to hear your answer.

Fernapple comments on Feb 1, 2022:

Only if I can shower afterwards.

In this morning's Press Conference Biden said his Administration was still working on the causes ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2022:

You may add propaganda for the people smugglers, telling them its way better than it really is in the US.

I just got to thinking how Christians pray to their god and call him father as if he were a parental...

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2022:

Toxic parents often raise children who go on to be toxic parents themselves, and if they are Christian they can trace their line all the way back to their God. That's heritage for you. "And don't you dare question heritage, you snotty little sc##t, or I will beat you till you can not stand up for a week." People make gods in their own image.

A lot of people have been pretty quiet lately, sound off if you're still with us.

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2022:

I am still farting out my nonsense nearly as often, thank you. Hope you are doing OK too.

It's not research...

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2022:

Wonder if she hires out at an hourly rate ? ( No wait I can't afford that many hours, even at minimum wage. )

I am trying not to pay to much attention to the news, but where ever I go I get more confused.

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2022:

Its called a perfect storm. And it may have a long way to go yet before it blows itself out. But they do end. And in the meantime all I can say, as a foreigner looking at the big picture from a distance, is that, US democracy has always been strong, and people will not forget that. So that even if fascism, vodoo, anti-environmentalism, theocracy, plague, and/or whatever, triumph for a while, people will not forget that, and will realize what its worth is when they see the other side full in the face, whether they can rebuild a true strong democracy again, that is another issue.

Why Aren’t All Drugs Legal? - Freakonomics

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2022:

Some countries have tried it to a limited extent, ( Holland and Scandinavian counties especially. ) and it seems to work yes. But of course those are countries with fairly good national health and welfare support networks, whether it would work so well in somewhere like the US is another question.

Let's talk about the individualism, masculinity, and Spartans.

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2022:

Amusing little facto. The Spartans had a law that punished any warrior who returned home without his shield, because he/she ( it was sometimes she ) lost it in battle. Not the sword or the spear etc. just the shield, because the shield was what protected your neighbors in formation, and Spartan warriors were encouraged to take cover behind the next fighters shield as a tactical ploy.

Priorities for next 14 days : No matter what , making sure I have no wear down panties on and ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2022:

PS. to your healthy diet advice to anyone reading. In order to avoid stones, especially bladder stones which can be nearly as bad. It is important to take the time to pee out and empty your bladder completely when you go, every time. A stone will waste a lot more time in the long term, than a few seconds saved when you pee. But don't go too far and start forcing it, that can be bad for you too.

Secularism is not atheism.

Fernapple comments on Jan 30, 2022:

Never thought it was.

Just for fun ... [accuweather.com]

Fernapple comments on Jan 30, 2022:

Priceless. Though it could be a very warm outfit.

SCIENTISTS GENERALLY AGREE…

Fernapple comments on Jan 30, 2022:

There is no direct connection recognized by mainstream science, between genetically evolved traits and almost any aspect of modern religion. The genetic factors which favour religion are merely precursors, which may cause religion to happen. As you say. "There are two schools of thought. One is that religion itself evolved due to natural selection and is an adaptation, in which case religion conferred some sort of evolutionary advantage. The other is that religious beliefs and behaviors, such as the concept of a protogod, may have emerged as by-products of other adaptive traits without initially being selected for because of their own benefits." It is a serious fault to quote two schools of thought, and then choose only the first largely discredited and minority one, and treat that as if it were the mainstream, which is exactly the opposite of the truth. Genetic evolution is unable to eliminate the cost deficits of religion, simply because religion is a recently developed cultural phenomenon which has not had anything like enough time to register as a factor in natural selection. Because culture, when once the initial factors favouring its development are in place, develops far faster than genetic evolution can take place. The argument fails to see the great distance at which all modern religion exists, from early primitive religion whose existence may have overlapped ( though its of doubtful significance ) with the evolutionary time scale. Anyone who does not understand that is so far from understanding science at a most basic level, that they could hardly qualify to speak on scientific issues at all, there is a lot of bad pseudo science out there. The genetic factors which led to the development of culture, and its benefits, have nothing to do with religion specifically, and religion is not a in any way a synonym for all of human culture. Nor is it a synonym for social solidarity, though it may be one cultural factor in achieving such on some occasions, yet it is it is becoming increasingly divorced from mainstream culture, and may have long since become a divisive factor in modern times, ( last ten thousand years or so. ) having exactly the opposite effect into the future. To see religion as an evolved trait is to seriously misunderstand evolution, at a basic level. A thing not unknown even among scientist involved in the field. And certainly not the among fringe sciences, like anthropology on the edges of biology. Since evolutionary theory can be difficult and is often counter-intuitive for the human mind, and not all scientists in related fields are given a good grounding in evolutionary theory. Human culture is almost completely flexible, and can easily be reinvented in many forms to fill our evolved needs. Most of us have ...

Dreadful last four days. The male trainer was abusive.

Fernapple comments on Jan 30, 2022:

Clearly not suited to the job.

I think this site can help me put off doing my taxes for at least another month. [si.edu]

Fernapple comments on Jan 30, 2022:

That's the problem with this site, its addictive. But just remember Admin here, wont raid your home, sift though your private papers, and have you carried off between two hairy palmed agents, with your legs dangling, and force you to remortgage your house. Just saying. LOL

Religion is evolution’s protection against ‘extinction-due-to-evolutionary-mismatch’, just as ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 29, 2022:

Religion is the main evolutionary mismatch which is driving us towards extinction. Religion is the main source of support for those wishing to promote criminal ideologies, including and especially anti -environmentalism, anti-science, anti-reason, misinformation, and unethical narcissism. It can never be redeemed or reformed in order to make it a useful and ethically good institution, because the forces driving it towards criminality are inevitable. It lost its role as the provider of ethics to philosophy and popular consent, its role as the source of modeling the universe to science, its role of moral leadership to the rule of law and democracy, its role of interpreter of all those things to the nation state and the international diplomatic consensus, and its role as provider of information to the media. The only thing left to it now, is its ever growing role as the main provider of justification for the criminal, and the marriage between it and criminality will grow ever deeper and more loving as time goes by. The other reason why you can never reform it is simply because, if you do get it to make useful ethical stances, then it becomes philosophy and its position is justified philosophicaly, if you get it to promote accurate modeling of the universe, then it becomes science and its position becomes scientific, when it takes up the spreading of information, it becomes the media, etc. Religion is simply the method used to justify things which can not be justified by reason, evidence, popular consent and education etc., and the only people who need that method of justification are the criminally intended.

Religion is evolution’s protection against ‘extinction-due-to-evolutionary-mismatch’, just as ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 29, 2022:

Evolution does not have intent, there is no evolutionary protection against extinction, evolution does not have foresight, and there is no evolutionary drive for the betterment or protection of the species. Those are the four of the most basic, and simple grade school tenants of modern evolutionary theory.

Just taking it easy today.

Fernapple comments on Jan 29, 2022:

Hello and welcome. There is a small businesses and self employed group, but hardly anything ever happened there, since there was little interest.

Are homosexual natures created by nurture, nature, or God?

Fernapple comments on Jan 29, 2022:

An old question. If god is the creator, then how can you disrespect his creation, and if you find something imperfect in that creation, then how are you not disrespecting the creator ?

How well ( or not ) adjusted are you?

Fernapple comments on Jan 29, 2022:

True yes. Although his assessment of what makes a normal human, was probably just as subjective as everyone else's, and very different from most of ours today, given the great advances made in the understanding of human nature made in the last seventy years.

Tucker Carlson’s Self-Loathing International Tourism In Budapest

Fernapple comments on Jan 29, 2022:

Could not get through the multiple pay-walls.

The Future

Fernapple comments on Jan 28, 2022:

You can't put a lid on technology anyway, if you do try, the worlds crime syndicates just make big profits and only the rich and criminal get the benefits.

We have gotten a lot more sensitive to it in today's environment

Fernapple comments on Jan 28, 2022:

Try to fart at the same time, you may just get away without it being noticed.

Cooler heads still prevail, let's hope it continues.

Fernapple comments on Jan 28, 2022:

Russia is not afraid of anything, the fear is Putin's who feared recently that his hold on power was slipping slightly, and when there are political and economic problems at home, that is the time to start an overseas distraction, and shift the blame onto foreigners. Keep everyone thinking that the threat comes from outside, and they wont realize that the real threat is you.

Zoologist Solves the Bizarre 0-Year- Mystery of the Floating Phantom Midge [scitechdaily.com]

Fernapple comments on Jan 28, 2022:

Seems the site has moved on, just a page not found message.

You do not need the Bible to justify love, but no better tool has been invented to justify hate.

Fernapple comments on Jan 28, 2022:

Nah. Windows updates do it for me.

“Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain.

Fernapple comments on Jan 27, 2022:

Good one.

Is it just me?

Fernapple comments on Jan 26, 2022:

Never be ashamed of ignorance, never be ashamed of mistakes, never be ashamed of what you have done, for every baby is born ignorant, prone to error and selfish, we all have to grow up. Only be ashamed if you are too lazy cowardly or too uncaring to change and move on, when you have reason to know or do better. You did, so rant over.

Confessions first I am continually trying as gently as I can to find out why members of this ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 26, 2022:

There is little point in praising the atheist or agnostic view point here, since that would either be preaching to the converted, or patting ourselves on the back. Both of which are pretty aimless pastimes. I am for what it is worth, which is not much, an agnostic atheist, by which I mean that I don't believe in any god, but I freely admit that I can not prove that no god at all, does not exist. ( Not specific gods like the Christian one, I can disprove all of those. ) As to moving on, I think that the issues of religion , belief, non belief etc. are basically very simple and boring to all but the deluded, easily resolved and not likely to yield any more understanding than I already have. So that moving on means, forget them, and go off to study biology, or physics or basket weaving, etc. which are vast fields with much more original stuff to learn.