Science fact

Fernapple comments on Mar 28, 2023:

Actually I could probably get more factual information from sniffing a dogs ass. (I am not planning on doing either in the immediate future though. For much the same reasons. )

The Statue of David

Fernapple comments on Mar 28, 2023:

Check out the Donatello, he makes the Michelangelo look quite tame. Certainly he intends to flirt, with the flora hat, the BDSM boots, the curls and the very trans bottom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Donatello)

I am drinking heavily tonight.

Fernapple comments on Mar 27, 2023:

I hope all goes well for you. Keep us posted.

@Glennlab! somebody who follows(?

Fernapple comments on Mar 27, 2023:

That is strange actually, I never thought about it before, but I often interact with Glennlab and appreciate his comments, usually on other peoples or my posts. Yet I hardly ever see one of his posts, I assumed that he did not post much, but your question made me look and I find that he does. This site is really odd.

Biden has started his re-election campaign.

Fernapple comments on Mar 26, 2023:

Don't worry its not just an American thing, its the same all over the world. One of the first principles of politics. "If you can't fix things at home, blame foreigners." And the more inept the government at home, the more likely they are to go to war.

Folding a fitted sheet

Fernapple comments on Mar 26, 2023:

People fold sheets ? And why ?

6 years from leaving church.

Fernapple comments on Mar 26, 2023:

I don't think there are many here who are not in tune with that..

Yet another proof that Republican America is trying to rival fundamentalist Muslim states in ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 25, 2023:

Good job it was not Donatello's, David, then. Now that is getting quite ripe with suggestion, I love the posture, the hat and the BDSM boots. Michelangelo's is quite tame, by comparison. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Donatello)

Am I correct that just allowing one's curser to wander over to the right of a post, so that ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 25, 2023:

Yes that does happen. Even worse blocks of annoying text, which are hard to get rid of sometimes pop up. It always has been like that on this site, you have to be really careful where you park your mouse. It may not be a problem on a mobile, but there are a lot of ways in which the site, which is almost certainly designed for use on a PC, does not work well on a phone, most of the complaints about difficulties using it seem to come from phone users, and never happen to me on a PC.

This works for me. [theguardian.com]

Fernapple comments on Mar 24, 2023:

Actually the things which are commonplace and do not change, are the really profound things, that mater most and an appreciation of those is the deepest of all understanding. So yes his argument is very meaningful. It is one of the reasons why religions do so well, out of promoting rituals, which directly address the principle facts of life, and why we need some much to establish a secular culture, with its own rituals.

One of the symptoms of the "age of narcissism" (Christopher Lasch, 1979) is that today everyone ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 24, 2023:

Pride like all words has no real meaning, but multiple usages, a short search on line turned up just one encyclopedia which gave seven or eight. Including. 1. satisfaction derived from one's own achievements 2. consciousness of one's own dignity 3. the quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself or one's importance The first I think is the one you are using. The second the one the people you are talking about are using, and which is perhaps best described as the state of not being ashamed of who you are, the negative of shame. While the third is of course the negative form of pride itself, usual called the sin of pride, and a synonym for hubris or narcissism. And we probably do live in an age of narcissism, since in part we live in a religious or post religious age, and religions main role in human life was always to promote narcissism. " You are so special: you will live forever, you have a special super powerful friend, you are given special understandings of the universe, not given to members of other groups, etc. etc. " Which of course they traditionally did, because if you over inflate something like narcissism then it becomes a fragile bubble of empty pride, which has to be constantly protected, and inflated over and over again. Nobody is therefore needier than a narcissist, and nobody therefore keeps coming back for more, more reliably.

This works for me. [theguardian.com]

Fernapple comments on Mar 23, 2023:

Repeat: this is not boring. Repeat: this is not boring. Repeat: this is not boring. Repeat: this is not boring. Repeat: this is not boring. Repeat: this is not boring. Repeat: this is not boring.

Top Reasons For Joining The Church Choir - You're running out of clean clothes and the robe ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 23, 2023:

Yes, but just don't OK. Outside the birds are singing, the air is fresh and while the Christians are all in church, you can cook the babies without being caught.

One of the great problems of contemporary democracies is that the highest stage of identity has ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 23, 2023:

I think that is true yes, but of a lot of people. I would be wary of making it a generation divide, I know many people, perhaps most people, in my generation who are exactly like that.

“A Little Bit of Logic” Who is Donald Trump?

Fernapple comments on Mar 23, 2023:

If you buy into the culture, you are likely to buy its products. That is almost certainly true, both literally and metaphorically.

The Bible made easy

Fernapple comments on Mar 22, 2023:

Here you go for real. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Vg9EYy4c0

Are the days of "American exceptionalism" over?

Fernapple comments on Mar 22, 2023:

Every country is exceptional in some ways, but every country thinks that it was even more exceptional in the past. In fact the past was just grim everywhere. These are the exceptional times, enjoy them before they fade, and start to resemble the glorious past, when most people died before they were forty, and most people had never seen a book, let alone read one.

Imagine that, with regards to a given question / problem, two kinds of reality are on a collision ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 22, 2023:

There are not two kinds of reality, objective and subjective, there is only one reality, objective and subjective are not realities, merely methods used to try to reach that reality. And reaching that, is very hard by both methods, so that it is not only a case of, is objective or subjective correct, but also a case of, is either of them correct ? Since there is also the highly likely possible, that both could be wrong. ( Or both correct and the apparent difference is the mistake. ) Indeed to a degree, both are almost certainly wrong all of the time, since perfect modeling of reality by the human brain, like everything else in the human sphere, is not, possible. Especially as we do not have much chance of perfection with only our limited senses and cognitive powers. ( Perhaps arguably the basics of mathematics, only.) That however, is not an argument for relativism, since while perfect modeling of reality may not be possible, that does not mean that some models are not more truthful than others. Indeed it would be a form of perfection if all models were exactly equally in error. And in any case, relativism is only the frauds escape route, when they wish to avoid challenges, or not put in the work, it is by nature anti-progress and anti-learning and therefore leads nowhere. Therefore if you find that your subjective view and your objective view are in conflict, you can not say that one should by nature trump the other. Rather you should say that you need to put a lot more work and effort in, (Objective is often better, only because people sometimes put more work and self sacrifice into it. ) and if that gets you nowhere, then you have to learn to accept the third way, not subjective, or objective, but. "I don't know."

"It seems to me that if you have psychopathic tendencies and you are born to a poor family you’re ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 21, 2023:

Also though, if you are born to a rich family, you will never get medical help, just followers.

It's Boulder Season

Fernapple comments on Mar 21, 2023:

Cones are good. I remember driving in Turkey, something had not landed on the road, but half the road had collapsed and fallen down the hill. There was clear drop of several hundred feet, with just enough surface left for a small car to inch round, between the solid rocks on one side and the drop on the other. Some kind local person had come out and tried to mark it, though they did not have any cones, so they had just tipped a barrow load of earth at either end of the drop. It was lucky we were not traveling at night, because the earth was hardly visible, and one small barrow load would not have stopped a car going over.

This is a follow on from my post on progression For those who like definitions .

Fernapple comments on Mar 20, 2023:

That is because that is a bad definition of progressivism. Although it also has to be said that you are not really using a very good definition of politics either, which should embrace all of human relations including family and business, as long as they are within the body politic, which means everyone not living alone on a desert island.

We are on the very cusp of the Astronomical start of spring, unless you're an Aussie, eagerly ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 20, 2023:

Here you go, a weather forecast just for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV9q_KdtQfc

What do you think of this idea: Any "ideology" (in the broadest sense) that fulfills the following...

Fernapple comments on Mar 20, 2023:

No. I would not say that none is a religion, because I would add another point to the list of things that you need before you can claim something as a religion. And that is that to be a religion, something has to make a claim of authority. ( Though it is true that the authority does not have to come from a god.) Which since getting nones to agree, has often been described as herding cats, "none" clearly does not make claims to have an authority. And I am sure that many other people could think of many other criteria to add to the list. So this is a case of T. I. Burton, making your list of evidence required, to fit your intended outcome.

For reasons of my own, to do with science I like to look for patterns in my own behavior as well as ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 20, 2023:

If you know in which direction you are progressing, or even think you know which direction should be called progressive. Then are you really progressing, or are you just moving on rails ? Personally I have learned a lot from members here, especially the ones who I don't always agree with. If learning equals progress, then yes, this site is progressive.

Well that clears that up.

Fernapple comments on Mar 20, 2023:

"We are all atheists, about the vast majority of gods that people ever believed in. It is just that some of us go one god more. "

Putin went to Ukraine and no one took him out?? What a missed opportunity.

Fernapple comments on Mar 20, 2023:

No, not a good idea, that would only give him martyrdom, let his supporters rewrite history in his favour, and provide a justification to continue the war. He has to be taken out by his close circle in a coup. So that they can then rebrand him as a bad apple, which will almost certainly happen sooner or later, because that is the normal way for Russian leaders to go.

The Brights' Net - Who are The Brights?

Fernapple comments on Mar 20, 2023:

It was an attempt to rebrand skeptics/atheists/agnostics, like most rebranding it did not get very far, which is perhaps no bad thing. "A rose by any other name." May smell just as sweet, but too many words just add to the confusion.

Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it. Christopher Hitchens

Fernapple comments on Mar 20, 2023:

Obvious though true. Hello and welcome to the site.

If someone asked you, as an atheist or agnostic, if you feel that everything is just random not with...

Fernapple comments on Mar 19, 2023:

The fact that there are no big, overarching, or god given purposes, does not mean that there are no purposes. The two are not mutually exclusive. To think that it is so, is a bad example of absolutist thinking, either A. or B. no third alternative and nothing between. Absolutism is a fallacy which believers are trained to think in terms of, because it sets them up to be vulnerable to a lot of other fallacies, such as. "If science can not answer it, then it must be god." But if I go to make my friend a cup of tea, because she likes tea, then I have a purpose, of making my friend happy for a short while, albeit a small purpose. But when you remove the big purposes, then you can see how important the small ones really are. Suppose there is, a hypothetical, creator god looking down. Then what do you think is most likely to meet with its approval; that I pray to it for a place in a better world, which I believe I am owed because I am important, and its spoiled creation is not good enough for me, or that I show full appreciation for that part of its creation which is my friend, by thinking it worth while to make her a cup of tea, and thinking that one of her smallest joys is important ? ( Now forget the hypothetical god, it has served its purpose. LOL )

Are you an absurdist?

Fernapple comments on Mar 19, 2023:

I think that there is little new in the world of philosophy, it is certainly true that Absurdism, is "a philosophical stance closely related to existentialism and nihilism," as you say. But it also has a lot in common with Epicurism, which is as old as the hill nearly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HkQTbJcgBk Its a bit long, you can skip the first ten mins. as they are only a sales pitch for the videos.

A post suggested that the Old Testament 10 Commandments came from injunctions within the Egyptian ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 19, 2023:

I personally suspect that the Exodus did not take place, but there certainly was an exodus of a kind. There was, and we know this because there are historic records, an almost continuing exodus all the time. Since the semi-desert lands of the Sinai to the East of Egypt, were the almost inevitable destination for all escaping criminals and runaway slaves, coming out of Egypt, there would have been an almost endless flow of such people all of the time. It was therefore inevitable that the people, living in the deserts to the east would have come, in the end, to believe that everyone had once come out of Egypt, and would eventually forget that there were originally some natives who had always lived there. Then as always happens, in myths and story telling, most of the real events would fade from memory, and only a single notable event, perhaps not even the biggest, centered on a mythical hero figure, who may have been made up out of the stories of several people, would remain.

Thoughts on this one?

Fernapple comments on Mar 18, 2023:

Having served on a couple of juries, in a country where the justice system is held up to be a subject of national pride. I can assure you that that statement, is literally true, in the most brutal and simple terms.

Why do people use euphemisms like "passed away" instead of saying "died"?

Fernapple comments on Mar 18, 2023:

Or because they are afraid that other people are afraid of the truth. Times change, back in the nineteenth century, death was quite an acceptable subject, but other things were not. So they had a euphemism. "Going to the gates of death." Can you guess what it was for ? Answer. Childbirth.

Questioning Evolution

Fernapple comments on Mar 18, 2023:

Answer. If you are descended from your mother and father, why are there still mums and dads ?

I procrastinated about a report I was supposed to write and turns out there is new report template ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 17, 2023:

And by tomorrow you will probably have thought of a better, and easier, way of doing it.

I wanted to share my joy at finally getting a place of my own.

Fernapple comments on Mar 17, 2023:

Good, that's great. Don't worry about the size, my home is about a thousand square feet, and it is really too big for a single person, I have two rooms that I don't use. Smaller homes mean less cleaning, cheaper heating, and less to repair.

So lost my computer and my password.

Fernapple comments on Mar 16, 2023:

Bad luck. Though they do say that there is little danger in writing them down. Since the people who raid your house, are not likely to be in contact with the people who steel information.

Richest 1% bag nearly twice as much wealth as the rest of the world put together over the past two ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 16, 2023:

Ok why don't you?

Crack myself up.

Fernapple comments on Mar 16, 2023:

And put covers over the holes you dig.

Catch up quick: Long COVID by Katelyn Jetelina YLE

Fernapple comments on Mar 15, 2023:

I have really enjoyed her posts on YouTube over the last few years, that is very sad to hear. It also shows that you don't have to be old with existing health problems to be hit hard.

March Sadness. If there is one thing I hate more than pro basketball, it's college basketball.

Fernapple comments on Mar 15, 2023:

I like a lot of sports, that is why I never watch it. Sport is something you do, not watch, pro-sport is to real sport, what pornography is to sex, its pros turning tricks for the fake enjoyment of couch potatoes.

Here's where we start that...

Fernapple comments on Mar 15, 2023:

That's what people don't understand about introverts.

Iguazu falls, Argentinian side. Hot and sticky.

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2023:

And obviously in the Southern Hemisphere.

As we all know, the equinox is March 21/22nd.

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2023:

Because the light bends, and so the sun is visible for longer than it would be if we took sunset to be horizontal. I think.

Today is international π day.

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2023:

Fun yes, but someone, I hope it is not you, has far FAR too much time on their hands. lol

Can ethics be based on science ?

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2023:

It is a common to the point of banality, for Christian apologists to state that. "You can not derive morality from science and reason." But of course you can quite easily, as my quote below makes plain. What the apologists are actually saying of course is, that you can not derive Christian ethics and morals, from science and reason, which is quite possibly true. But in doing that they are of course confusing the subjective elements of their own peculiar ethics, with ethics, some of which can be objectively derived, as a whole. Or perhaps just as Christians often do, assuming that Christianity is a synonym for good, and all that is not Christian is bad. And it is highly unlikely that you could derive Christian ethics from science and reason, because why indeed would any sane and or reasonable person, want such a set of truly horrible ethics. With their anti-environmental, end of times, next world, position, their promotion of guilt, misogyny, anti-trade, anti-investment and their empirical racism etc. etc. In short, it is wrong to confuse Christian with moral or ethical. My quote which I think that you have had before. "Do I want to be happy, safe, content and enjoy human dignity ? A. Yes. Am I more likely to be those things, if I live in a world where happy, safe, dignified and content, is the general rule for most people ? A. Yes. Then is it worth my while to make some investment in everyone else ? Of course." Plus the thought that even if we are happy and prosperous now, Anyone may one day be at the bottom of the social pile. And therefore it is better for all, as insurance, if the bottom of the pile is not too bad a place to be. A third reason, is simple animal instinct. We are social animals, and therefore things, including others, matter to us. Indeed all the moral systems in the world would not exist unless they were driven by some animal instinct and emotion, since reason alone with nothing to drive it, or aim for, produces nothing. Nobody started cooking because scientific evidence, or religious belief, made them think it made food healthier, or even showed them why they should value health at all. Nor would anybody have invented morality without some motivation, and if that does not come from god or some supernatural origin, then it must be hard wired into us, even though the outputs of that hard wiring may vary greatly between cultures." There are probably hundreds more ways to develop morals and ethics by science and reason alone, but those three will do for now.

Why Poverty Persists in America A Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist offers a new explanation ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2023:

I know little of America, but it sounds highly likely to me. Certainly globally it does seem that the countries who introduce high minimum wages, are rewarded with massive economic boosts.

“Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution.

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2023:

I would think that a fair, if slightly simple minded, quote, if if came from anyone except the man who was perhaps arguably the least ethical human of all time. I suppose though that however unethical you are, there is always someone who seems to represent pure evil even more completely. So I suppose, this is a little like Jack the Ripper saying. "Yes but just look at Genghis Khan."

Daylight Saving Time! New Bill Could Stop The Clocks From Changing

Fernapple comments on Mar 13, 2023:

Or just enjoy the movie. LOL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4EUTMPuvHo

[lifehack.org] Seven signs your a natural born artist.

Fernapple comments on Mar 12, 2023:

Yes, but the cynic in me says. Who is going to answer no, to any of those questions ?

Is there such a thing as "toxic masculinity"?

Fernapple comments on Mar 12, 2023:

Based on the simple fact that almost anything can be toxic in excess, or in the wrong circumstances. Of course. Though I suspect, a lot of so called masculinity, especially the toxic sort, is not masculinity at all, but merely immaturity trying to pose as masculinity. Healthy masculinity therefore would be the opposite of that, and would not show the self centered habits and narcissism, which you associate with youth.

I have a papaya tree which is prolific at bearing fruit.

Fernapple comments on Mar 12, 2023:

I do not think that there are ways to sex seedling plants, at least not without expensive equipment. Perhaps you could grow male and female clones from cuttings.

Your Science is Bought and Paid For [youtu.be]

Fernapple comments on Mar 11, 2023:

It just misses one important point. Which is that. The only reason she now knows that doctors and scientists, were mistaken, or deceptive, about things like the link between smoking and cancer, is because other scientists and doctors discovered it and exposed them. If you distrust all science, then you are guilty of throwing out the baby with the bath water, science is not perfect, nothing in the human world is, but it is your best source of good information. It does revise, which is the all important difference with religion, and it is possible to discover who has paid it of when they do take money. And if you did follow her philosophy, then you would still be smoking forty a day without filter tips.

Spreading the Gospel

Fernapple comments on Mar 11, 2023:

Although perhaps it should be. "Lady and savior." Godzilla, at least the original one, was female.

Depends on one's point of view, I suppose.

Fernapple comments on Mar 11, 2023:

"Life begins after you are dead. " Christianity.

What we’re seeing at Fox.

Fernapple comments on Mar 10, 2023:

"Those who sow the wind, reap the whirlwind."

My nine year old grandson wanted a magic door in outer space quilt with a spaceship.

Fernapple comments on Mar 10, 2023:

He may want to fly the spaceship through the door. He may be smarter than you think.

First the Southern US, now the British isles, having extreme cold weather and snow.

Fernapple comments on Mar 8, 2023:

Yep it is cold here, especially on the east coast where I live.

Surely some have heard of Havana Syndrome. any thoughts.

Fernapple comments on Mar 8, 2023:

I remember that when they first started experimenting with radar, back before WW2, they used to find cooked seagulls dead on the ground. The early prototypes had a very high energy level, and the seagulls liked the fact that it made them feel warm at night, so they came in ever closer, until they got heat stroke, and then it was too late to escape.

Why is a taxpayer-funded tourism group in Kentucky promoting Creationism?

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2023:

Promotion of tourism is promotion, making the best of what you have. It would be better to ask atheists/sceptics not to go along to laugh, because even if you go to laugh, K. H. still gets the dollar in his pocket. And he probably gets more dollars from atheists that believers.

There are two things people can't hide.

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2023:

Being old and having a bad back.

To my surprise, I found a United Arab Emirates coin in snowmelt.

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2023:

Sadly the photo seems to be missing.

Was Jesus Christ REALLY Emperor Titus?

Fernapple comments on Mar 5, 2023:

Anybody who thinks they know with any degree of certainty, what the origins of the new testament truly are, given both the vast gulf of time, and the complete lack of confirming records, is deluding themselves. I have heard a dozen theories, and all of them made sense and fitted the available evidence well. Certainly the idea that the Roman conquerors played a part in inventing an alternate history for the Jewish world, is a very convincing one, and to some degree almost certainly true. But details and certainties such as the Flavians being synonyms for Christ, are pure imagination. That people like Josephus and that very dubious person Paul, may have been working secretly to promote pro Roman ideas, is it is true very hard to doubt, but just what their plan was, or even if they had a single clear plan, is lost forever. It is certainly a work of fiction, or at best reportage far removed from the events described. That the writing makes bad mistakes, not only with the historical events on the margins of the story, and the time line, but even messes up the physical geography of the Holy Land, proves that, they were not first hand accounts, and probably that the authors had never even been to the country in question.

They have lots of new phones and apps now and you need to change, the woman told me.

Fernapple comments on Mar 5, 2023:

I only just gave up on my Blackberry, because the battery was done for. I got a new phone mainly for emergencies, which lives in the glove compartment of my van, and is hardly ever turned on, but I still miss the Blackberry. Like you I use refurbished computers all the time, why can't people understand therefore, that they will get me quicker if they send an email rather than a text to the cell phone ? Plus Agnostic.com works well on the computers, none of the problems most people seem to keep having.

You've probably heard this before.

Fernapple comments on Mar 5, 2023:

Groan.

How much do our lives revolve around weather forecasts?

Fernapple comments on Mar 5, 2023:

Would be difficult to know how and when to use expensive chemicals in the garden. Sorry I am not organic.

Wow, how true! 11 Things That Make Introverts Happy [allaboutintroverts.com]

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2023:

Yep, I will buy into those.

”Life is tragic simply because the Earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day,...

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2023:

Yet for the most part the fear of death, only exists because the theist religions feed the narcissism, which makes people think that immortality is the only way to attain the inflated expectations they are programmed with by that same religion. Fear of death does not seem to exist in many cultures. I remember the anthropologist who asked a tribal group who were unaffected by theism if they feared death. "No." In fact the very idea seemed strange to them. "What then do you fear?" He asked. "Lions."

“I spent half my money on gambling, alcohol and wild women.

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2023:

I have heard that most of his money was lost when he died. Since he was so miserly, he opened a new bank account, under a false name, in nearly every small town he visited, and hid his money in them. And nobody can now find them.

Who of you would self-identify as nihilist?

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2023:

I would yes. Or at least a "happy nihilist" or "post nihilist" . In so far as I have found that ironically, the abandonment of all belief in meaning, is the best route to meaning. If you would like enlargement, here goes, I have put this up here before, but I think before your time. Here for what they are worth, ( Not much.) are my views, which all end in a joke, very like Absurdism which I would perhaps call Appreciateism. 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 weakness that all religions feed off. 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, for a transcendent purpose is just another god, 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 ? Practical 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 ...

Never heard it put that way

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2023:

Some of us have special ears, called leaves, which do exactly that. So he could manage the technology. LOL

".

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2023:

How nice that you linked to an article, which directly contradicts one of your main philosophical views. I quote. "The science of the biological world, for example, is much more than a topic of intellectual curiosity – for some atheists, it provides meaning and comfort in much the same way that belief in God can for theists. "

".

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2023:

Rationality and reason in individuals is not the point, the point is, whether the belief system itself is rational and reasonable. Good people may believe some bad things for the wrong reasons, and bad people some good things for the right reasons. Life is complex, and we all get some things wrong, or just mixed up, but that does not make it right to promote and defend unreasoning, and nor does it justify unreason, that is just being anti progress, anti growth, anti learning and relativist.

Does anyone still have access to a copy of that nasty article Admin wrote about the liberals on this...

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2023:

No, I don't even remember that sorry. But would like to see it, if you find it, please send me a link.

Yeah yeah.

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2023:

You live in a very weird country.

Holy shit! It looks like I am finally over this disaster.

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2023:

Glad you are on an up cycle. And very glad you kept positive, even Social Security Checks arrive in the end, I am waiting for my first pension payment.

I'll get to eight with a little help from my friends😉

Fernapple comments on Mar 2, 2023:

Here you go.

"History is a set of lies that people have agreed upon," Napoleon Bonaparte.

Fernapple comments on Mar 2, 2023:

Yes. I have no doubt that Putin thinks that too.

Priest Says Hell Is Fake And Religion Is About Control! - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Mar 2, 2023:

He's almost, almost here with us. But then so are a lot of priests, who are known to have a low level of belief compared to the people sat in the pews, but who mainly chose to be dishonest.

Stole this from somewhere.

Fernapple comments on Mar 1, 2023:

Here you go. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttevamkS6gw&t=75s

Brandolini's law, also known as the bullshit asymmetry principle, is an internet adage that ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 1, 2023:

Very like the Gish Gallop, which relies on the fact that it takes far longer to refute a false statement, than it does to make it. Quote Wikipedia " The Gish gallop is a rhetorical technique in which a person in a debate attempts to overwhelm their opponent by providing an excessive number of arguments with no regard for the accuracy or strength of those arguments. In essence, it is prioritizing quantity of one's arguments at the expense of quality of said arguments. The term was coined in 1994 by anthropologist Eugenie Scott, who named it after American creationist Duane Gish and argued that Gish used the technique frequently when challenging the scientific fact of evolution. It is similar to another debating method called spreading, in which one person speaks extremely fast in an attempt to cause their opponent to fail to respond to all the arguments that have been raised. During a Gish gallop, a debater confronts an opponent with a rapid series of many specious arguments, half-truths, misrepresentations, and outright lies in a short space of time, which makes it impossible for the opponent to refute all of them within the format of a formal debate. Each point raised by the Gish galloper takes considerably more time to refute or fact-check than it did to state in the first place, which is known online as Brandolini's law. The technique wastes an opponent's time and may cast doubt on the opponent's debating ability for an audience unfamiliar with the technique, especially if no independent fact-checking is involved or if the audience has limited knowledge of the topics."

I got in the pool today! Just so I could say I did it in Feb!! Cold AF!

Fernapple comments on Mar 1, 2023:

Well you can keep using the story next year, so no need to do it again.

There is a church about a mile down the road from me.

Fernapple comments on Mar 1, 2023:

In the UK most churches are open all day, except the J. Ws. which are locked and fenced.

“There is something terrible about reality, and I don’t know what it is.

Fernapple comments on Mar 1, 2023:

There is also a lot that is terrible about unreality, but one of the two you can avoid.

What do y'all think about the strange things going on in the world like the wealther, time speeding ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 28, 2023:

Time can and does speed up, and slow down, all over the place all of the time, that is just called "normal". While in another sense, our local time, is just a function of how we measure it, so that if its speed changed, so would the speed of our clocks, and therefore we would not be aware of it. Yet another case of the Bible getting nearly everything wrong.

Well I never! Stunning images as northern lights glow across UK More images here: [bbc.co.uk]

Fernapple comments on Feb 28, 2023:

Sadly it was dense cloud with me last night. I did see Venus and Jupiter the other night though, and they are said to be at their closest in the next few days.

(Zelensky Says Ukraine Is Preparing to Attack Crimea) He has to be talking through his hat.

Fernapple comments on Feb 28, 2023:

Do you really think that Zelensky would tell everyone his plans in advance. He may not be the best commander in history, but even he would not be that stupid. Deliberate disinformation.

What are you afraid of?

Fernapple comments on Feb 27, 2023:

All emotions, even the negative ones, like fear, hate, hunger, and pain etc. have a good purpose. Even though all emotions, even the positive ones like, love, compassion and honesty, can be distorted through the lens of human culture, to be harmful.

Having been caught with their predictive pants down last week (10+" snow rather than 2), amid the ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 27, 2023:

They seem to be very good at forecasting. "I forecast, we need to cover our asses this week. " Perfect.

When I became convinced that the universe is natural, that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2023:

They really put things well in those days, did they not.

"Telling somebody off for 15 minutes and not giving them an opportunity to respond is an abuse of ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2023:

Depends what they did.

“The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2023:

I think that you can take it back one step further, and say. "Do I want to be happy, safe, and content ?" A. "Yes." "Am I more likely to be those things, if I live in a world where happy, safe and content, is the general rule for most people ?" A. "Yes" " Then is it worth my while to make some investment in everyone else ?" Provide your own answer.

I have a religious friend.

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2023:

Well of course the horse may be at the other end of the cart, he may want to. "dismiss all the scientific knowledge gained throughout history." And the bible is simply his way to do so.

If the story was real, why can't true "christians" see it this way?

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2023:

True in one sense. But you have to remember the reason for which religion is popular, and the main thing which people want it for. Which is that it is the only human institution, that does not include any method of questioning, it is the only resort you have to justify anything which you can not prove by evidence, appeal to majority opinion, natural justice or reason.

...it still makes no sense to me?

Fernapple comments on Feb 25, 2023:

Perfect logic. Especially if you have to sell me as a product to the foolish.

“No one is born with greed, prejudice, bigotry, patriotism and hatred; these are all learned ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 25, 2023:

I will go with that, except perhaps greed.

We've all heard that Hitler wanted to be an artist.

Fernapple comments on Feb 25, 2023:

Churchill however is not technically perfect, but then he never claimed to be anything but a part time for fun dabbler. Granddad's paintings yes, but would you rather hang a happy granddad painting, or a serious study in technical gloom ? https://www.invaluable.com/blog/winston-churchill-paintings/

THIS LETTER WAS PUBLISHED WHEN OBAMA WAS PRESIDENT An open letter to white evangelicals: We’re ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 25, 2023:

The more the crazies take over, the more the moderates and semi-sane leave, which leaves the crazies even more in control, which drives away even more moderates, making the churches more crazy, and so on. Sadly every church ends as a small protest group collecting weapons in a cellar.

I see ospreys dive for fish in the lake all the time.

Fernapple comments on Feb 25, 2023:

Well done, great shots.

If you get rain regularly, this is a great idea.

Fernapple comments on Feb 25, 2023:

Wonderful, what we all should be doing.