Agnostic.com
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Comes from a family with a history of working in horticulture, grew up running wild in the country and hated school. I have a life interest in the natural world a passion for gardening and also enjoy walking, travel, music, natural history and helping with the running of several gardening and natural history groups. I have been lucky enough to be asked to write a number of articles for books and magazines and also find employment as a public speaker. I continue to run the family business, though due to bereavements I am now left running it alone.

Comments

Have you ever heard of the Laysan Albatross?
Fernapple comments on Jan 20, 2023:
Great video thank you. And not just the birds but what a beautiful place.
I wonder how old she will be when she realizes she fucked up…..🤠 [yahoo.com]
Fernapple comments on Jan 19, 2023:
If you can not marry a human at eight, then you can not marry a religion either.
It will be heavy reading!
Fernapple comments on Jan 19, 2023:
"May you live in interesting times." Old curse.
Hello I am new and looking for like minded friends!!
Fernapple comments on Jan 19, 2023:
Hello and welcome, enjoy the site. Please write a bio if you can, its nice to know who you are talking to.
Finding or crating meaning in life, part II To he human species, that which matters includes ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 19, 2023:
Perhaps the greatest crime of theism, is that it teaches people to despise this world, and think of it as only a ante-room where they prepare for a mythical far better one, and end time thinking where no investment in the future is required. Yet, as even a Christian once pointed out, there is a deep illogic in that. Supposing that you can worship and honour a creator, by despising his creation.
I think a part of the appeal of religion is from nostalgia.
Fernapple comments on Jan 19, 2023:
Can be so. It depends on what you were indoctrinated with as a child, I was given science and nature from an early age, and they still call up nostalgia for me. Yet I also got religious education as well, but that did not take, and thoughts of the early religious teachings now, only fill me with mild revulsion. If your childhood was ideal perhaps you can maintain nostalgia for all you were given, but if there were also bad parts, then when you try to put those bad parts into the past you leave behind, then perhaps some part of what you learned has to go with them.
Because of Autocorrect.
Fernapple comments on Jan 19, 2023:
I wonder if he asked for the Kosher menu ?
There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 19, 2023:
Final pages of "The Origin Of Species".
"Football, beer, and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds.
Fernapple comments on Jan 19, 2023:
Go back even more, and the Romans had bread, and circuses. Nothing really changes much.
I may not be human, but I play one on the internet
Fernapple comments on Jan 18, 2023:
So do many.
I don't know why I assumed this site would be better than facebook.
Fernapple comments on Jan 18, 2023:
It is always easy to overestimate the number of drooling morons everywhere, since they tend to stand out and push themselves forward. Its a side effect of the Dunning Kruger effect. However, if you find drooling especially offensive, you can always block me, at no cost on this site. But I think that it pays to keep an eye on us morons, since that way you are less likely to slip on the drool.
The Prodigal Son This is a ridiculous parable if there ever was one.
Fernapple comments on Jan 18, 2023:
The father, if I remember correctly, does say that the stay at home son has enjoyed all the benefits of life at home, for many years. But in truth you are very correct, it is a very silly story. The point of course is that it is simply a recruitment ad for the church, and like all adverts its main con is, that it says you will get everything you want, a happy life, nice home, good friends etc. if you only buy the product. No company ever sold their soap or cars, by presenting them as being used by unhappy, lonely people in a dirty poor home. Quite the contrary, everyone in the world of adverts is impossibly happy , loved and prosperous, and the word "impossibly" is the important one. Because if it was possible to be that happy, then there would be no need to keep buying the product in hopes of improvement. And since religion has no material and testable end product, it is pure advertising with nothing to deliver, and no production costs, and since it is infinitely variable, if the customer is not happy, then they are obviously using it wrong and must try harder. While the main part of the product is due for delivery, only after you are dead, so no complaints or returns. Religion is advertising made pure.
Hume and Avicenna 😆 [existentialcomics.com]
Fernapple comments on Jan 17, 2023:
Ah! But is a soul the same thing as a self ?
“The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike.” ― Delos Banning McKown
Fernapple comments on Jan 16, 2023:
The silent and the non-existent also sound very alike. Do not go to god for advice.
What world awaits Gen Z? | Malcolm Gladwell x Brain Bar
Fernapple comments on Jan 16, 2023:
Moderate quite good, though I have doubts about whether the sports analogy works for real life, quite so perfectly as he claims.
Hands down, the scariest nightmare I ever had, was the one that started out with me on my honeymoon ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 16, 2023:
I was walking down the street with my wife, when on the other side of the road we saw my mother in law, being attacked and beaten by four thugs who were trying to steal her bag. And my wife said. “Are you not going to do anything to help ?” I said. “No. four should be enough.” Les Dawson
FINDING OR CREATING MEANING IN LIFE, pART i I will begin this discussion by asserting that human ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 16, 2023:
Very good. Here for what it is worth, ( Not much.) is my view, which is a joke. When we realize that there are no big, god given, purposes in life, demanding our obedience. And the many completely contradictory purposes, offered by the many different religions, prove that to be so. Then we can easily see, that wanting any big purpose at all, is merely a vanity and narcissism. The failings which are the trade of religion. For if you build up the vanities of people, then they will, obey you, pay you, and praise you, for as long as you keep flattering and confirming those vanities, over and over again. Yet atheists often say in reply to the theist's question. “What is the purpose of life, if there is no god ?” That, by being none religious, we are free to choose our own purposes. Though admittedly they must by definition be small personal ones, meaning that in the deepest sense, atheism, agnosticism and deism are inevitably, by their nature, mainly philosophies of humility. Yet here for fun is the irony. Suppose for one second, hypothetically, for arguments sake, that there is a creator, an intelligence behind the universe, though one who has not revealed any purpose to us yet, perhaps a deist creator at most. Then what can we discern, if anything, is most likely to be pleasing to it, if pleasing it has any value at all ? Well after the usual if doubtful, givens, such as, be kind, the only thing I think that seems likely, is that we should appreciate its creation as much as possible, down to the smallest detail. Valuing and treasuring all that we are given. And what are we doing when we create our own small purposes, whether, we climb mountains, garden, paint pictures, entertain our pets, make a coffee for a friend or help in a charity shop, if not appreciating that creation, or nature, down to the smallest detail, and valuing it enough to care for it, environmentalism. Perhaps therefore being an atheist could after all, be the most pleasing of all things to the hypothetical creator. Now forget the hypothetical creator, since it has now done its job, and what are you left with ? That the small things are the biggest things there are, because they demand the greatest appreciation of you, and it is when you turn your back on the idea of great purpose that you come nearest to your greatest purpose. And when you forget god that you are most likely to please god. So you see that in the end, my deepest thoughts lead to an ironic joke. Nice joke perhaps ? Yes, but I was also never more serious. And is this my original philosophy ? No, I don't think so, for at the very least the Greek philosopher Epicurus more than twenty centuries ago wrote. “Bring me a pot of cheese and I will feast.” And. “Don't over think it.”
My youngest claimed religion today, officially joined the cult that ruined my life.
Fernapple comments on Jan 16, 2023:
If you have taught them to value skeptical questioning, and set an example of being a moral and caring person without needing religion. Then you have done all that you could and should have done, it is no fault of yours. And if you have done those things, then you will probably find that the attractions of religion will soon wear thin, a decade is a long time.
Let's get personal.
Fernapple comments on Jan 14, 2023:
A friend named a plant after me, a kind of Polypodium. The trouble is, I really don't like Polypodiums at all.
Good morning.
Fernapple comments on Jan 14, 2023:
"My car windows are not dirty. That is my dogs nose art."
The Asshole Hypothetically speaking there's a person named John.
Fernapple comments on Jan 14, 2023:
If you have a good idea, the world will come to your door. But if you think that fridges are penguins, then you need a good agency to help to push the idea, fortunately God accept all clients, and does not charge any fees, so you get to keep everything.
Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Hated More Than Andrew by Older Brits—Poll
Fernapple comments on Jan 13, 2023:
Actually no, a lot of us Brits think that they are all a waste of space.
Memo to any parents out there that allowed your kids to attend concerts with me in High School! You...
Fernapple comments on Jan 13, 2023:
WE are all lucky to be alive, especially at your age.
Good question!
Fernapple comments on Jan 13, 2023:
Here you go. https://agnostic.com/group/naturalhistory/discussion/703069/sometimes-i-think-that-well-intentioned-had-work-should-just-be-appreciated-for-its-own-sake-whatev
There is a little known cure for jingles that suck up your brain capacity and won't go away all day ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 12, 2023:
"I must remember that." Could be another good one. But seriously I am sad to say. Getting fixated on jingles can be a sign that you are not getting enough sleep. If it happens often, it may mean that your brain is trying to send you a message. Do take care.
“Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the assessment that something else is more ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 12, 2023:
That. "Courage is, not being without fear but facing down the fear." Is a commonality, often overused. But your quote takes it to a far deeper and more meaningful level.
Tim Minchin [i.pinimg.com]
Fernapple comments on Jan 12, 2023:
To me that seems almost banal, yet the world is full of people who can not seemingly understand that at all.
We seem to continue to have our conspiracy theorists on board and some of us are getting tired of ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 11, 2023:
I went into a bookshop today, and while browsing the shelves, I was horrified to find that they actually have a shelf called "Conspiracy Theories". OK it was only a small shelf, but even so ?!
FREEDOM Freedom is the state of being able to act and think independently, without being ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 11, 2023:
Good definition. And ?
Psychologist Stanley Milgram found that 80% of people do not have the psychological and moral ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 11, 2023:
Don't you mean "illegitimate".
PUN FUN Dad, are we pyromaniacs?
Fernapple comments on Jan 11, 2023:
No sole is ever so tired that it wont wake up when it finds a sexy plaice. ( Just came up on another post. )
Can complete stillness heal a tired soul?
Fernapple comments on Jan 11, 2023:
No sole is ever so tired, that it wont wake up when it finds a sexy plaice.
This applies to UK. No idea what happens anywhere else.
Fernapple comments on Jan 11, 2023:
Yes, it is called animal hygiene, in case they are carrying diseases, that could transmit to others. At the moment we have an outbreak of bird flu, so you would not be able to walk your parrot past a chicken farm, but nobody told the sparrows of course.
I don’t normally pay any attention to the number of points, or posts.
Fernapple comments on Jan 10, 2023:
And long may you continue to post, for the pleasure of us all.
It’s a constant state for me…
Fernapple comments on Jan 10, 2023:
I live in a village, and try to be a useful member of the community. You can work it out from that. LOL
Re: Transgenderism Hard to argue with sensible logic. 😏[youtube.com]
Fernapple comments on Jan 10, 2023:
She is in part wrong and part correct. Wrong in that. We have inherited a strange idea, based on the primitive understandings of those Bronze Age shepherds again, that sex is a simple binary. That is clearly false, and does not even have the backing of all tradition, since several old cultures held that there were more than one, binary is just a feature of the Abrahamic tradition. See Seagreeneyez below. For that reason the speaker is wrong. But she is correct in that allowing people to self identify as whatever sex they like, is not ALWAYS, just or valid. The law needs to recognize that not only are there are several sexes and genders, but also that there are several ways to identify which one you belong to. Just as in most countries laws recognizes that there are several ways to have a house, at least, homeless, homeowner, tenant, lease holder, sub-tenant, squat etc. And would not allow you to self identify as homeless, to claim a social security payment made to the homeless, if you in fact lived in a house you owned. So that with gender/sex, you could use for example, use self identification for entry on a marriage certificate, ( Though you could just ignore sex for that.) and a blood test for the presence of a Y Chromosome in sports, we already do blood tests for drugs, so it is no big extra. ( And stop calling sports male and female anyway. Call them X and Y sports. )
As of 10:20am today, Jan 9th 2023, My best friend, companion, and loyal doggo Molly crossed over the...
Fernapple comments on Jan 10, 2023:
Well done for rescuing her in the first place, that is one happy life that would never have been otherwise, both of you only gained by that.
There are thousands of religions around the world.
Fernapple comments on Jan 9, 2023:
1. If there is no god, then all theist religions lie. 2. If there is a god, then all theist religions are guilty of setting up an impostor in its name. ( It is just possible that one sect of just one religion knows about the one true god, but that is a ten thousand to one shot, and you would be better off, if you want to please god, trusting that god likes atheists the best of all, for not putting up impostors in its name, or pretending to speak on its behalf. )
“Each one of us is alone in the world.
Fernapple comments on Jan 9, 2023:
I can understand and get with that. Just one small adjustment, I would say it is not "always" narcissistic. But it can be a very dangerous way to feed it if it is.
A friend in Mumbai, India, is complaining that it takes longer to heat up water for the shower as it...
Fernapple comments on Jan 8, 2023:
About eighty six F.
This is important
Fernapple comments on Jan 8, 2023:
Perhaps "uncaring" would be a better word.
What’s your take on the following from the Spoof Locker?
Fernapple comments on Jan 8, 2023:
There is a compelling reason to keep pursuing it, because pure research is good in its own right, and usually yields some benefits even if not the intended one.
How many of you can ace this basic science quiz?? [pewresearch.org]
Fernapple comments on Jan 7, 2023:
Yep 11 out of 11. Though I would think that the site members will do very well as a whole.
Good morning! Begin your day with happy thoughts and keep them close to you for the rest of the ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 7, 2023:
Nice idea, but hard in practice sometimes.
The world is divided into men who have wit and no religion and men who have religion and no wit ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 7, 2023:
That is a bit harsh, but acceptable.
First Flying Car Passes Safety Test In Japan, Could Be On-Sale By 2025 [iflscience.com]
Fernapple comments on Jan 7, 2023:
Not really. I can't see anything with flailing props sticking out at the sides, ever working on the streets. It is in the same niche as autogyros and they have been around for years, and have a flying time measured in hours not mins.
Hoist with their own petard The legal ruling that business's do not have serve gay people if it ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 7, 2023:
I would prefer tolerance all round. But sometimes balanced intolerance is better than unbalanced intolerance. And you never know. It is just possible, though highly unlikely, that someone may learn something from this.
Voices from the Deepity: got any pithy quotes to share?
Fernapple comments on Jan 7, 2023:
Nice quote, and very true. I have problems with the word soul, and would prefer, "personality" but I go with the flow of the river. If you like deepities, and want to read or share them, then there is a, "quotes" group on the site which is one of the more active ones. I like this one about the first cold days of spring in childhood, and again, especially for the last line. "A spring day came when I began to know that this was not the first spring of the world. That I had lived through other winters - perhaps seven or eight of them - and known a sudden tender day like this one, when I stood with flowers in my hands, gazing up at the haystack that rose dingy on an island of new green sod, surrounded by a sea of thaw water. ------ My thumb and fingers would not meet around the violet stems, I had picked so many, and were cold with tightly keeping them. ------ Over all the sky was tautened in one vast blue arc. And I wondered, for the first time. Why is it so sad to be so happy ? " D. C. Peattie
What not to do when you're sick.
Fernapple comments on Jan 7, 2023:
You should change them if you feel you are at risk. But I am told that there is little risk in writing them down, and that the old advice, never to write them down, is now regarded as history. It appears that experts in crime now say that, people who break into your house or steal your bag, are almost never the same criminals who drain money from your accounts on-line. Nor are they in contact with them. If you want to be extra safe it is easy to think of a simple code or cypher to use when writing them down, or you can add an extra bit to all of them which you don't write down, but it is easy to remember because it is always the same. Such as. "I always add my initials backwards to the end of all my passwords. "
More Americans stay away from church as pandemic nears year three Many Americans already had ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 6, 2023:
Its an ill wind. As they say.
Re-introducing myself - anyone remember me?
Fernapple comments on Jan 6, 2023:
Interesting talk.
Re-introducing myself - anyone remember me?
Fernapple comments on Jan 6, 2023:
Welcome back, I do remember you, and its still quite fun here. I do not think that it matters one little bit what words you do or do not use, as long as you are careful to ensure that you define the meaning of your words each time you use them. Especially so if your usage deviates from the commonly assumed meanings. Though that is hard work, but it is less work than trying to clear up a mess of confusion afterwards.
Interesting survey on Twitter this A.M.
Fernapple comments on Jan 5, 2023:
I don't think that Later Day Saints halved either, that is just probably, because the survey measures in whole round percentages and they dropped below two.
We always ignore out instincts, and as time goes by, we soon see that they were right all along.
Fernapple comments on Jan 5, 2023:
Very true.
We're not human beings having a spiritual experience.
Fernapple comments on Jan 4, 2023:
No we a narcissists having a hubris event.
"Amen" is actually a Hebrew word meaning "certainly", "truth" or "verily".
Fernapple comments on Jan 4, 2023:
Sometimes translated as "So be it." or "Let it be."
Is it just me or do you also find sadistic evil projected in the “loving” name of the Christian ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 4, 2023:
Very sorry for your loss. Religion offers a big show of pretend caring, and pretend morals. Those who can not do the real thing, or can not be bothered with the real thing, are the ones who most want to control the fake puppet show.
Usually when a pope dies it's plastered all over the news for a week.
Fernapple comments on Jan 4, 2023:
Some of the hard line deep catholics seem to, but it does not seem to matter to anyone else much. Perhaps modern media does help the world understand what is happening, and what people really are like better after all, whatever its downsides.
My rant.
Fernapple comments on Jan 3, 2023:
Sorry to hear about that. But they may be more sympathetic than you think in ER, they are sure to know just how painful stones can be. Go and plead your case, what have you got to lose ?
A sad but true observation on today's social-media driven world: "The reason is because ours is ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 3, 2023:
Mainly true, but be careful not to glorify the past. Schools in my day, half a century plus ago, existed mainly to suppress education, and to propagate ignorance, there was just as much disinformation about then as now, it just cost more money to get it, and it was called education. I was for one, taught in school things every bit as foolish, as the worst web based fringe pseudo-science. One of my own experiences. https://agnostic.com/discussion/703130/the-more-i-look-at-the-hypocrisy-of-some-of-the-teachers-in-my-childhood-the-more-outraged-i-become?aid=2906336 What did change, possibly because of that, was that the old respect for the establishment was thrown out, which may have been good because of exactly that ignorance and prejudice, but with it, the ideas of good taste and objective truth were also thrown out, because they were seen, wrongly, as part of it, to be replaced with shambolic, anything goes, happy go lucky relativism. Yet as said. "Human nature does not change with the passing of history." So that social attitudes often adjusts themselves with time, to fulfill real human needs, and when people begin to see the fruit of the present attitudes, a reaction will almost certainly set in. I think that we are on the brink of a new age where belief in objective truth and formal good taste are the emergent mainstream values once more. You already begin to see a thousand commonalities emerging which disparage the new relativism, from, “You found it on the web.” to “Wing nut”, and that shows the growing trend of contempt for failed values, which always precedes a reaction.
The safest country in the world. The US ranks 129, just above Azerbaijan. [usatoday.com]
Fernapple comments on Jan 3, 2023:
Interesting report, though not that many surprises.
[youtu.be] This story is being made into a movie. Its amazing.
Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2023:
Yes it does work like that, a lot of the time.
The more I look at the hypocrisy of some of the teachers in my childhood the more outraged I become.
Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2023:
My school teachers forbade the reading of the classical literature of Rome and Greece. Because, they said, it was wholly out of date, immoral, and of no worth in the modern Christian/socialist world. Since modern thinking had entirely superseded them. ( This was UK so socialist and Christian can go together. ) So of course being a child, and being told not to do something, I went out and did exactly the opposite, I read all of them I could get. I only half understood most of it then, and I do not now, agree with much of what I read. But they did tell me, that there were quite viable alternate views to the modern Christian dogma, and that the Christians did not have a monopoly on virtue and understanding. ( I also learned that my school teachers had not read everything they claimed to be experts on, and they told lies.)
The more I look at the hypocrisy of some of the teachers in my childhood the more outraged I become.
Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2023:
No you are not alone. But you must remember that teachers are at the core of any culture, and that they are there, because they have proved to be the people who are most compliant with that cultures values, or lack of values. They are therefore also, any cultures greatest victims.
Research finds negative effects of screen time on kids, including higher rates of OCD and attention ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2023:
Worrying. Does that apply to computer screens too, and do you still count as a kid at sixty five ?
When history is not what it used to be, nostalgia has assumed its most dangerous nuance Dr.
Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2023:
Sadly history changes all the time, sometimes because a revisionist finds a revealing new understanding of it. But mostly because, a would be revisionist, wants to stoke their vanity by persuading everyone to think the have revealed a new understanding.
One of the reason the US has dominated the world was because it inspired, doing shit the kiddies ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2023:
It is a common observation, that the countries which thrive and provide the moral, economic and intellectual leadership of the world in any age, are usually the most democratic. ( The most in the age. They can be absolute kingships, if their kings is just closer to and more respectful of the people, than the other kings of the time. ) And there are good reasons for that. Not only the obvious, that people do not have to face the violent armed power of government, when a bad government needs to be replaced. But also that people are more likely to invest, work hard, respect others and innovate, when they feel they, and their products, are likely to be respected and protected by the law and state. And also that where a country makes mistakes, and they all make mistakes, it is easier for countries who invest power in the nameless masses, to admit and correct that, than it is for less democratic governments who must try to pose as infallible, to try to justify their denial of democratic rights and their frequent criminal corruptions. Yet democracy most often fails because people lose faith in it. It is easy to say when you look for someone to blame. "Why would I want, "those" to have a say in my government ?" And there are more ways for it to fail than just some dictator seizing power, failing to provide good information to the people, good education, and the economic security needed, for all people to vote and assist well in government, is enough. America began two and a half centuries ago, in the top five most democratic counties of that age, and by far the most important democracy by size. With what seemed like a cast iron guarantee in the constitution. But success breeds complacency, and while other countries, though behind to start with, have continued to move forward and improve on their democracies. The USA have neglected those other things besides the constitution that are needed to support good working democracy. Like a healthy, well informed, well educated population, who feel secure enough in their rights to respect others rights. I would say be careful therefore. I think your democracy is still strong enough to come back, but you will lose it if you are not careful. There now, and that is the arrogant, poorly informed opinion, of a foreign person, with no right to tell you what to do in your own country. So you are welcome to throw stones if you like.
New York State now allows human composting. Just in Time!
Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2023:
Humans compost whether you like it or not, ( Unless you burn them. ) if the state of N. Y. thought that they could stop it, then they were getting delusions above their station. LOL
I second the motion!
Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:
And to you.
Would you prefer that this site be more welcoming to religious people, or screen them out more ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:
Yes please, I love to talk and debate with any opinion. But it also has to be kept in mind that this is a refuge for some people, so that while diversity is good for people like me, it should not be gained at the expense of making an unfriendly site to those who need the community, and the religious do have plenty of places of their own where they can find community.
Happy Arbitrary New Year.
Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:
May the fates send you only happy accidents.
One of my favs!
Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:
But apart from that, Dawkins seems to quite like him.
I think that's doable...
Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:
She's been looking at my list.
Which prize wanker in Verizon hired the prize fucking idiot who claimed that 0.
Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:
0.002 dollars is I think one fifth of a cent, while 0.002 cents would be two thousandths of a cent. But I am British so you must tell me if I am correct.
Greta Thunberg claps back at Andrew Tate on Twitter Tate had requested the 19-year-old climate ...
Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:
A perfect sting. Well done G. T.
Happy New Year, ya heathens!
Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:
And to you.
It’d be funny, it he wasn’t a rapist and human trafficker…
Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:
Well at least my house looks neat, relatively. But you do just wonder if life in prison, is not an improvement in living standards for some people.
In some cases, color may matter. [sciencealert.com]
Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:
We ourselves may as yet pay many little understood prices, for using our genes for multiple purposes, all the effects and uses of every gene have not been tracked down yet even in humans, and there may still be many undiscovered uses for a lot of our so called junk DNA.
“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better...
Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:
Great advice, but sorry, no. My vices are now at least sixty years old, which is well past the age of consent, so it is well time that I started having an intimate relationship with them, before its too late.
Happy New Year everyone. It's now 2023 in Australia.
Fernapple comments on Dec 31, 2022:
Only where you are, we have got a long wait yet. Still look on the bright side 2023 is probably going to be a lot worse, so a few extra hours of even this dismal year is a gift.
Value of beauty
Fernapple comments on Dec 31, 2022:
No especial favourite form, but I do like it to have a philosophical content, or some deepity in it, since that rewards the slightly higher reading effort required. Years ago I was told that poetry is concentrated text, like rich fruit cake, while prose is like plain bread. And just as you would only take rich fruit cake in small bites, and savour it carefully, so you should take time with poetry, small bites even with a long poem. Therefore I like my bites to be filled with good things. Loss. In this cool green space. Where wings of memory, Bring in a once loved face. Nature’s sky is all above, And only shadows, yours to love.
What Happened to the World's Greatest Ape? - YouTube
Fernapple comments on Dec 30, 2022:
Sad but wonderful.
Share you ideas for celebrating/spending new years eve/day.
Fernapple comments on Dec 30, 2022:
I go to bed.
Does The Team Think ... ?
Fernapple comments on Dec 30, 2022:
It is the same as nearly everything else, exercise and keeping fit are things needed in moderation, neither too little nor too much, and yes too much is a sign of unhealthy attitudes, just as much as too little.
16 Y.
Fernapple comments on Dec 29, 2022:
Well that's good nothing wrong with getting kicked out of Sunday school, big win. I have heard, only heard, because I am no Greek scholar myself. That the whole nativity story about there being no room in the inn, and Mary having to give birth in the stable. Is based on a mistranslation of the Greek word ( maybe kathistikó )which does not mean "inn" but "living room".
You really can't make this sh!t up...
Fernapple comments on Dec 29, 2022:
Well of course NASA would tell a few of their actors to pretend to be Flat Earthers, would they not, its a double bluff. LOL
Would you prefer that this site be a comfortable echo chamber for like-minded individuals only, or ...
Fernapple comments on Dec 29, 2022:
The wider the range the better and the more stimulating. But, having said that, not all opinions are worthy of equal respect, and any opinion has to stand up to the full force of counter opinion.
“Organised religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in ...
Fernapple comments on Dec 29, 2022:
Especially when they need a way to prop up their prejudices.
I should already be dead. [consumerreports.org]
Fernapple comments on Dec 29, 2022:
Turmeric is another health food, which has also been found to sometimes contain lead at quite high levels.
Scientists publish the first complete human genome | Reuters
Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:
You should not trust any claims made by anyone or any institution entirely. Scientist do not themselves do that, and more than that it is the fundamental principle upon which scientific philosophy is built, that all claims are subject to correction and reevaluation. It is exactly therefore, because it is the only thought system which values its mistakes as good things, that you can trust scientific claims more than any other, though not completely.
Scientists publish the first complete human genome | Reuters
Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:
It is actually quite hard to define what is the genome, since most individuals have some mutations and a lot of genetic variation, not even all the base pairs match up, so saying you have the entire genome, is really a quite subjective statement anyway.
Fat chance 😆 Mary Holding Out Hope For 4th Wise Man Bearing An Air Fryer
Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:
"So Joseph you tell me that you married this young woman, despite the fact that she was pregnant ? Because she told you that it was a miracle, that she was still a virgin, and that the father was God himself. THEN ! You ask me how I explain the fact, that three random rich guys turn up at the birth with expensive presents !"
Terry Pratchett
Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:
Beware of the fantasy you choose and support, even our fantasies blend into our mind and alter our balance. As science seems to be discovering with pornography today. And someone else, may take it literally, therefore you have to be careful what you dream, the dream often births the literal, therefore it is unwise to propagate nightmares even as metaphors.
And they swap as I turn over. 😆
Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:
I know that feeling sadly.
Lies travel faster than the truth.
Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:
This is fun. Truth is naked because the lies stole her clothes and ran of round the world wearing them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_Coming_Out_of_Her_Well
Whoopi Goldberg Reiterates False Claim That Holocaust Wasn't Racist
Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:
The two are not logically different, "white on white" can still be racist, since race is a matter of belief, and the Nazis themselves believed that they were being racist. Since as race is a belief system and not a matter of fact, anyone, including the Nazis, (or W. G. ) are free to put racial divides where they like. Including also, most biologists, who say that their scientific evidence supports the idea that there are no races, though they are to some degree guilty of trying to apply objective evidence to a subjective superstitious belief, which is not strictly valid, even if plainly true. It does not matter if someone like W. G. thinks that they were technically wrong, about their definition of race, since there are no technically valid definitions, and the big mistake is to think there are.
You can only see as far as you think. -Author unknown.
Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:
Yes as an inversion of. "You can not see as far as you think." That is quite clever and equally true. Neat.
I don't get the concept of prayer.
Fernapple comments on Dec 26, 2022:
You are not the only one, there have been people who thought that, since at least Epicurus three centuries into BCE. You are in good company.
Agnostic, atheist, druid, buddhist, martian.
Fernapple comments on Dec 26, 2022:
Very heavily shortened but quite good. I prefer Jeff Buckley's though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4
Same place, same memory, 58 years later.
Fernapple comments on Dec 26, 2022:
Clever shot.

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