Just because a person is agnostic doesn't mean that they have to believe in evolution and the same ...

MakeItGood comments on Dec 6, 2020:

You mean the theory that was proven three different ways not only through observations by Darwin of modern creatures, but through paleontology, and through genetic analysis? The theory that also has been proven through documented animal and plant farming of us breeding dogs vows chickens goats ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 6, 2020:

Don't forget, morphology changes over continental climate zones, comparative anatomy, (important before genetics ) embryology, ring species, and observed modern adaptions, including things like antibiotic resistence in disease organisms. Not being pedantic, just throwing more fuel on your fire.

Is being agnostic more positively correlated with intelligence than being theistic?

snytiger6 comments on Dec 5, 2020:

I've posted several studies on this site about how that correlation is true.

Fernapple replies on Dec 6, 2020:

I have read some of those posts. To a degree, I think that, as we learn more from such things, then judging by the replies this time, the usual tsunami of modesty, which used to always greet this question when it was asked is fading.

Is being agnostic more positively correlated with intelligence than being theistic?

TheMiddleWay comments on Dec 5, 2020:

On the whole, the answer is "no". Evidence for this is the preponderance of science nobel science prizes that have gone to theist as well as the majority of medical doctors and scientists worldwide that are theists. But to best answer that question, one needs to properly define terms, ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 5, 2020:

@Canndue Certainly counting Nobel prizes is a very bad way to measure it, but I think that Middleway is being tongue in cheek there. Though I remember the flak a well known atheist got when he used that measure to compare Jews with Mohammedans. LOL

Almost All COVID Transmission Is Happening in These 5 Places, Doctor Says

Julie808 comments on Dec 3, 2020:

My weakness is my friendly neighborhood open air restaurant, where my safe social circle and I bring our own beverages, listen to live music and dance under the stars. Have always felt safe there when we had zero cases on the island, but 6 weeks ago we opened up to visitors, and our cases shot up ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 4, 2020:

The one small point is, that outside should be safer than a typical indoor restaurant.

Making a life, and a walk with Rose.

Wangobango3 comments on Dec 3, 2020:

Why is this on my home page and why can't I delete it?

Fernapple replies on Dec 4, 2020:

No idea, strange things happen on this site, sometimes. Do you mean your home page, aor the Agnostic front page ?

Some thing you don't think of as a climber, but animals alway throw out something new.

Wisterious comments on Dec 3, 2020:

That was cool. Agile.

Fernapple replies on Dec 4, 2020:

@Wisterious I wonder where it thought it was going, and if it had a plan.

Hi - I'm not sure what to do about something.

273kelvin comments on Dec 3, 2020:

If you think that is bad? Try writing a little satirical humour. A couple of years back I wrote about women who sit on their boyfriend's shoulders at festivals. The gist being, that if you're gonna block everyones view then at least take your top off. Like I said it was an attempt at humour but so ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 3, 2020:

You should know the first rule of Agnosics, is. Don't try humour. And the second rule is. Especially not irony.

I was trying to figure out who actually wrote the books of the bible and everyone thinks its these ...

DenoPenno comments on Dec 2, 2020:

In our time today there is very little of anything left to actually hint at original authorship. We have pieces and fragments and everything is a copy of a copy of a copy. You cannot tell the religious this however. They think the gospels were written by those who's names are on them. They ask why ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 3, 2020:

Its interesting to note, that the bible passages we know the most about the origins of, are the forgeries, such as the many parts added, including Maths account of the resurection, the eleventh commandment, and the last verses of Song Of Solomon, which were added by the King James editors. (King James being the fundamentalists favourite of course, as well as the most inaccurate.)

Virtually every agnostic lives like an atheist, living completely irreligious lives Dennis ...

David1955 comments on Dec 2, 2020:

I can't agree. One thing i have learnt in recent years is that the term agnostic covers a very wide group of people, from some who state their agnosticism well and are on a similar irreligious plane as atheists, to those agnostics who hang on to a lot of religious folly and pseudo religion but no ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 2, 2020:

@JeffMurray Yes but David has been around a bit, you have to assume he has already been there many times.

A slightly old "Good Morning Britain" pre US election segment with John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten of ...

LenHazell53 comments on Dec 2, 2020:

Yeah Johnny Rotten is work class. He's been filthy rich since the 1970s, and only a few years ago copped out and started advertising butter on ITV TV in a hypocritical display of two facedness of the Punk ethic he practically figured headed. What a fucking dildo.

Fernapple replies on Dec 2, 2020:

@LenHazell53 Perhaps I was misinformed, thank you.

A slightly old "Good Morning Britain" pre US election segment with John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten of ...

LenHazell53 comments on Dec 2, 2020:

Yeah Johnny Rotten is work class. He's been filthy rich since the 1970s, and only a few years ago copped out and started advertising butter on ITV TV in a hypocritical display of two facedness of the Punk ethic he practically figured headed. What a fucking dildo.

Fernapple replies on Dec 2, 2020:

He was also born into a privilaged middle class family.

Virtually every agnostic lives like an atheist, living completely irreligious lives Dennis ...

David1955 comments on Dec 2, 2020:

I can't agree. One thing i have learnt in recent years is that the term agnostic covers a very wide group of people, from some who state their agnosticism well and are on a similar irreligious plane as atheists, to those agnostics who hang on to a lot of religious folly and pseudo religion but no ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 2, 2020:

@JeffMurray Depends, the two types of atheist are usually called, soft and hard atheists. Though soft atheists could also be defined as being on the agnostic spectrum.

Favorite philosopher?

Word comments on Dec 1, 2020:

Me

Fernapple replies on Dec 1, 2020:

We know.

What’s round and nasty? A vicious circle.

Fernapple comments on Dec 1, 2020:

Groan. Not you too, it was bad enough when the Americans did it, but it seems its catching and the Atlantic is no barrier.

Fernapple replies on Dec 1, 2020:

@girlwithsmiles Oh dear. Yes I think I shall go to bed now.

What’s round and nasty? A vicious circle.

Fernapple comments on Dec 1, 2020:

Groan. Not you too, it was bad enough when the Americans did it, but it seems its catching and the Atlantic is no barrier.

Fernapple replies on Dec 1, 2020:

@girlwithsmiles OK, so you are forgiven. But what is brown and sticky ?

I mentioned the verse that says it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than ...

Organist1 comments on Nov 30, 2020:

A Presbyterian minister once told me it was the name of a small alleyway or city gate in Jerusalem, which would be difficult for a camel to pass through. At least, that was what he was taught in divinity school.

Fernapple replies on Dec 1, 2020:

Still means the same thing though.

I mentioned the verse that says it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than ...

resserts comments on Nov 30, 2020:

I was told by a fundamentalist Christian that the passage actually refers to a "Needle Gate" that was very difficult for a camel to pass through. The problem with this explanation is that a) the Bible passage doesn't say that, b) it would require that people from outside a very particular locale ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 1, 2020:

Yes it does not matter if the eye of the needle was a gate, or the camel a rope. The whole point of the story, for once in the bible, is quite plain. One of the people who wrote the Jesus story, was simply well to the left of Marx, and its lovely to watch the entitlement christians try to squirm their way round that.

December 4th is Saint Barbara's Day.

Cast1es comments on Nov 30, 2020:

My neighbor came over one day to ask me why my forsythias bloomed every spring , but theirs never did . I pointed out to her that I pruned mine in the fall . Her man pruned theirs in the spring and was , therefore , pruning off all the buds .

Fernapple replies on Nov 30, 2020:

The best rule of thumb for all flowering shrubs, to ensure you get flowers the following year is. 'Prune immediately after flowering.'

I’m an atheist, but I can’t wait to get back to church

Fernapple comments on Nov 29, 2020:

I don't think that the article is really pro-religion, she no where says that she is giving up atheism. It is only really in praise of medieval architecture.

Fernapple replies on Nov 30, 2020:

@Triphid Yes that is very true, and generally I see them as monuments to exploitation. The church after all demanded a tithe, one tenth of everything from everyone, and of course it was as always the poorest who had the least opportunities to avoid paying. Then it accepted and demanded gifts on top of that, plus its own property and rents, and its own merchant activities. It was a huge drain on the resources of the time. Just imagine what could have been done with all that wealth, had it been spent on canals, roads, better housing for the poor, harbours, sewers, irrigation and dams, all of which were known and technically possible at the time. ( They did spend a little on hospitals. Putting on a show. ) The catholic church may be a charitable institution, when it has to be, or when it gains credit from doing so, but perhaps no institution has done more to create poverty in the first place. Though I do not think, as I have been informed, that it is true that, poor peasants, were forced to actually work on building the cathedrals. Most of the work was done by skilled masons, and builders, who were actually part of the church establishment, and usually very highly paid, by the standards of the day. So much so, that membership of the trade guilds, was very carefully controlled and only members of the builders and masons guilds, which were themselves powerful and wealthy, could work on the sites. I have heard that, even unskilled labour on the cathedrals earned one shilling and six pence, increasing with their rank and skill level, which was an undreamed of wage then, a hundred times the earning of a peasant. Cathedral building was the 'oil boom', industry of the day. So much so that there was vast and aggressive competition for the church jobs, and in part it was no doubt the ambition of the powerful and influential masons, within the church establishment, which drove the church building programs. Health and safety was however as you say quite unknown. And a lot of lives were lost during the building. Indeed it is not unknown for even master masons to die, in falls from, or the collapsing of scaffolding etc. But then no doubt, the church said that, if you died helping to build the church, then you gained a great blessing (sic).

Always wondered.

Fernapple comments on Nov 29, 2020:

It is a mistake to associate the idea of God with any particular qualities. Some gods, such as the Abrahamic god may well be associated in our culture with certain qualities, such as jealousy, but the issue of gods, is a philosophic one, is outside of any individual culture. There is nothing ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 29, 2020:

@Joanne My view exactly. I think little of the view that the universe, needs or is in any way intelligent. But at the same time I am tolerant of a wide range of opinion even deism, because I have no time for dogma.

Is it ok to affirm someone's untrue beliefs?

Fernapple comments on Nov 29, 2020:

Mostly in the UK it is only the very old who cling to such beliefs, you get used to finding ways of evading such questions, because it is hard to burn an old persons walking stick. But generally they know you don't agree anyway, and avoid it themselves, evangelizing has never really been socially ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 29, 2020:

@FrayedBear Yes Johnson is, but that is what makes him a laughing stock.

Is it ok to affirm someone's untrue beliefs?

Fernapple comments on Nov 29, 2020:

Mostly in the UK it is only the very old who cling to such beliefs, you get used to finding ways of evading such questions, because it is hard to burn an old persons walking stick. But generally they know you don't agree anyway, and avoid it themselves, evangelizing has never really been socially ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 29, 2020:

@FrayedBear Yes but politicians are no very popular here, and even they have to tone down the evangelizing. If a British politician came up with something like MAGA, they would be a laughing stock, even among their own party.

What number are you today?

Fernapple comments on Nov 29, 2020:

5

Fernapple replies on Nov 29, 2020:

@MsHoliday I was thinking more, really grumpy. But tomorrow is another day.

It is not for all men actively to practice a science and advance it.

yvilletom comments on Nov 28, 2020:

Donald Culross Peattie (June 21, 1898 – November 16, 1964) American botanist, naturalist and author. Joseph Wood Krutch described him as "perhaps the most widely read of all contemporary American nature writers" during his heyday. Source: Google search.

Fernapple replies on Nov 29, 2020:

I find that his works, especially 'Flowering Earth' from which this is taken, read wonderfully well, and are great favourites, especially because of the charmingly old fashioned writing style. Though of course the science is completely out of date, but if you allow for that, then well worth a read.

Posted this in Natural History as well, but it goes well here too.

Lorajay comments on Nov 28, 2020:

Page not found

Fernapple replies on Nov 28, 2020:

Think that fixed it.

Posted this in Natural History as well, but it goes well here too.

Lorajay comments on Nov 28, 2020:

Page not found

Fernapple replies on Nov 28, 2020:

Sorry will try again.

Imagine if people knocked on your door to talk about science...

Happycanuck comments on Nov 28, 2020:

Yeah. Science,sex,good whiskey, good craft beer, good sex,sex.

Fernapple replies on Nov 28, 2020:

WHAT ALL AT ONCE !!!

It is not for all men actively to practice a science and advance it.

AnonySchmoose comments on Nov 28, 2020:

Those suspicious of real science tend to be backward.

Fernapple replies on Nov 28, 2020:

Yes though I do not know which are the most sad, those who willfully wish to face backwards, or those who have never been shown the way forwards, due to contaminated or failed education.

The Koprulu Canyon, (Kanyon) in Turkey.

Gmak comments on Nov 28, 2020:

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recording/sahalie-falls-to-blue-pool--2 There’s a place in Oregon where I used to like to hike that was blue like this. I’ve included a link with photos so you can see. I believe the water is blue not because of its purity, but rather it’s because the river...

Fernapple replies on Nov 28, 2020:

Yes. Thank you I will look into that. Though of course a lot of the colour is just the reflection of the sky, which I had assumed , was less affected by greening when the water contains no alga or mud.

When he leaves office, can ex-President Trump be trusted with America's national security secrets?

AnneWimsey comments on Nov 27, 2020:

Pray tell, when, exactly, could he be trusted with them?

Fernapple replies on Nov 28, 2020:

Yes, but when he leaves , they will be the only thing he has left to bargin with.

Although getting quite rare in many parts of the UK, hares are still fairly common near me, and in ...

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Nov 27, 2020:

Wow! Someone is aspiring to be a 🦘.

Fernapple replies on Nov 28, 2020:

Very similar in many way, they fill much the same ecological role.

What is knowledge?

Fernapple comments on Nov 27, 2020:

Does light, 'know' that it has to bend to just such a degree, when pacing through a dense or less dense medium, as when going through a lens, to achieve optimal speed ?

Fernapple replies on Nov 28, 2020:

@Word It is said that, green light is the wave length within the usable range, which has the least energy, and therefore is of the least use to the plant. So they don't bother going to the expence of making pigments to capture it. Some plants do however use different pigments, especially reflecting purple, but they are rare and usually live in low light environments where only blue green light remains. The rest having been filtered out by other plants and deep water etc.. Some people say that the earliest photosynthesising plants were purple, because the colour of sunlight was different on the early earth.

What is knowledge?

Fernapple comments on Nov 27, 2020:

Does light, 'know' that it has to bend to just such a degree, when pacing through a dense or less dense medium, as when going through a lens, to achieve optimal speed ?

Fernapple replies on Nov 27, 2020:

@Word No. There is I think a separation there. Colour is not a truly real thing, but only a code which our brains use to represent, wave length, which in itself is only a hypothetical property of light, awarded to it by science because the true properties of it are only understood in metaphorical form. So you have two metaphorical codes for a property of light , one by our hard wired instinctive brains, and one by our rational science brains. Niether of which tells us what light is only what it does.

FIFTY WAYS TO LEAVE THE WHITE HOUSE - a Parody | Don Caron - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2020:

Nice song, horrible wig.

Fernapple replies on Nov 26, 2020:

@Freedompath Where is that nausia emoji.

holidays and other shit

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2020:

I love the last one. Imagine trying to explain in the garage that. "My car was hit by a flying toilet."

Fernapple replies on Nov 26, 2020:

@whiskywoman No I would not. Not that big a danger to me. But then I do find, that if you leave a safe distance between you and the next vehicle, then someone, (usually in exactly that sort of truck), overtakes you and fills the gap.

(This space NOT intentionally left blank).

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2020:

OK, so here is a photocopy of some notes in my notebook, that I am going to write next week.

Fernapple replies on Nov 25, 2020:

@Word Yes I got one of those too somewhere. Trouble is I put it in with some blank sheets of paper, and now I can't find it.

It has been a mild Autumn, just turned cold now.

Heidi68 comments on Nov 24, 2020:

favorite.! I have some winter Jasmine - it is not real happy in its current location so I think I will move it - hopefully I won't kill it...

Fernapple replies on Nov 24, 2020:

Mine does very nicely here in the UK on a south wall.

It has been a mild Autumn, just turned cold now.

Cast1es comments on Nov 24, 2020:

Are these all in your garden ? Very colorful for winter .

Fernapple replies on Nov 24, 2020:

Yes all within ten yards, except the Pyracantha, which is in the next village.

It has been a mild Autumn, just turned cold now.

Spinliesel comments on Nov 24, 2020:

Those bushes and flowers look lovely and make me happy to look at. Here, by Lake Ontario, all is in winter sleep mode already. I tried growing Mahonia one year, but the conditions are too harsh.

Fernapple replies on Nov 24, 2020:

Yes, that is tough, some Mahonias are hardier than others, but sadly only the dull ones are really tough. This one was cut down to the ground, even here in the UK, in 2010/2011 when we had a very, for us, cold winter.

11/22/2020 The Year of Five Emperors or whatever one wants to call 2020 continues.

Fernapple comments on Nov 23, 2020:

Wonder how much they have to pay that golf club ?

Fernapple replies on Nov 23, 2020:

@Druvius Yuk.

What would you define the word agnostic to be?

creative51 comments on Nov 22, 2020:

Been posted once, do not reply to this duplicate post.

Fernapple replies on Nov 23, 2020:

@AmyTheBruce Or both, the two are not mutually exclusive. Just look at the POTUS. LOL

I am in a small, local discussion group (mostly family) and, if I might, I would like to share your...

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2020:

I would go with both three and four. You can also ask the reverse question. Is nothing possible ?

Fernapple replies on Nov 22, 2020:

@Wallace Yes, except that of course. There is a big gulf, massive and almost impossible to cross, between a, something existing, and a thinking planning god, and then a second one between a thinking god and a creating one.

A good overview perhaps of anti-science/reason and its basic methods. [scientificamerican.]

Mooolah comments on Nov 22, 2020:

Denialists do not read Scientific American. Denialists often receive their history from movies. Many did not vote.....until President Ray Gun. I recall an incident when a conspiracy doc appeared for $14.99 on television. A co worker had it & distributed it "confirming" the Clinton's were operating ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 22, 2020:

The whole point of science of course is that everything is open to questioning, a lot of questioning takes place, and there is alway debate. Which is a great way to approach finding truth, and the wisdom to know the limits of your knowledge. But it is more or less the best way to leave yourself completely defenceless in the face of absolutists and fundamentalists.

The times in which we felt the most intensely alive, even if those times were stressful, are the ...

barjoe comments on Nov 22, 2020:

We should look back so fondly on this pandemic. If we survive it.

Fernapple replies on Nov 22, 2020:

I will pass on that one thank you. In Berlin in 59 everyone was pulling together to make it work, in the present pandemic...........

A good overview perhaps of anti-science/reason and its basic methods. [scientificamerican.]

barjoe comments on Nov 21, 2020:

Shocking with what this planet has been though with this pandemic, that people are against taking this vaccine. Right now in the USA, even though we have insufficient testing, yesterday reported over 200K new cases with 2K deaths.

Fernapple replies on Nov 21, 2020:

@barjoe I would have put myself forward for the trials. Nothing to fear, the stats on drug/vaccine trials are very clear, the risks are tiny, and anyway I am a single male no children so expendable anyway, the perfect subject.

A good overview perhaps of anti-science/reason and its basic methods. [scientificamerican.]

barjoe comments on Nov 21, 2020:

Shocking with what this planet has been though with this pandemic, that people are against taking this vaccine. Right now in the USA, even though we have insufficient testing, yesterday reported over 200K new cases with 2K deaths.

Fernapple replies on Nov 21, 2020:

You have to ask what is the prime killer, virus or stupid.

Animal psychologists have been trying to determine if animals are self aware for quite some time.

Fernapple comments on Nov 20, 2020:

To a degree that is true perhaps. But what is curiosity, if not asking questions, none verbally perhaps but still asking questions of the environment ?

Fernapple replies on Nov 21, 2020:

@EdEarl Yes but that is very unlikely within a clade, since that would involve regressive evolution or successful macromutations.

Some days are just outstanding in history: today is one of those days.

Fernapple comments on Nov 20, 2020:

I think that most, if not all of them, survived, by taking to the boats, but it was a long hard voyage in the boats.

Fernapple replies on Nov 20, 2020:

@actofdog Thank you.

Today's hike: Don't lace your boots too tight.

Fernapple comments on Nov 20, 2020:

It is of course best practice, to shed some clothes before you start to sweat. But you know that. You just need to ask Karen to slow down while you do so. LOL

Fernapple replies on Nov 20, 2020:

@LiterateHiker Karen sounds sweet.

Animal psychologists have been trying to determine if animals are self aware for quite some time.

Fernapple comments on Nov 20, 2020:

To a degree that is true perhaps. But what is curiosity, if not asking questions, none verbally perhaps but still asking questions of the environment ?

Fernapple replies on Nov 20, 2020:

@EdEarl Yes we are perhaps delving into, "what is a question". And the first thing that I would say is that it is important not to confuse the verbalising of a thing with its actuality. But mainly, as with all human exceptionalism it is needful to answer the question. If nature had evolved in cats, dogs apes, and other animals, a mechanism which served the same purpose as question asking or curiosity, why then would it need to evole a new mechanism for humans ? Especially given that adaptive evolution can be dangerously expensive, and that nature almost always therefore reuses and adapts existing mechanisms. ( A fishes fin becomes an amphibian leg, then a leg becomes a whales flipper. ect.) It is a question you may find useful in other places. For the same question may be asked of the fundamentalists, who claim that animals can not feel pain etc.

“A man with a club is a law-maker, a man to be obeyed, but not necessarily conciliated.

yvilletom comments on Nov 19, 2020:

“... a man to be replaced and his laws repealed.”

Fernapple replies on Nov 20, 2020:

@yvilletom That was his seculation, I am fairly certain that it is from 'The Call Of The Wild'.

A wise person once said, "Life is not happening to you.

barjoe comments on Nov 19, 2020:

That's what slave owners used to tell slaves.

Fernapple replies on Nov 20, 2020:

There is no. "used to"

In response to all the events that are happening lately Im re-posting a post of mine from a week and...

barjoe comments on Nov 19, 2020:

@t1nick 1971 when they tried to assassinate George Wallace but succeeded in keeping him from running, sabotaged Ed Muskie, hired Ex CIA goons, broke into DNC headquarters. So 50 years. That's if you don't include nominating Nixon in '60, Goldwater'64. If you include Joe McCarthy hearings1952 and the...

Fernapple replies on Nov 20, 2020:

Good history.

“A man with a club is a law-maker, a man to be obeyed, but not necessarily conciliated.

yvilletom comments on Nov 19, 2020:

“... a man to be replaced and his laws repealed.”

Fernapple replies on Nov 20, 2020:

True. Though in context, I think that J. L. was framing this idea from a dogs point of view.

President Trump is a religious leader

t1nick comments on Nov 18, 2020:

No a cult leader.

Fernapple replies on Nov 20, 2020:

@t1nick Some people say that the only difference between a cult and a religion, is about a hundred years.

Those of you who greatly fear that the idiot Trump is successfully emulating Adolf Hitler in Germany...

Fernapple comments on Nov 19, 2020:

Plus you are dealing with quite a different order of man. Despite mad crazy ideas, and a total lack of true moral judgment, Hitler, did have a brain, the ability to speak his own language quite well, could read and write, and had some tactical ability.

Fernapple replies on Nov 20, 2020:

@anglophone Amazing how an advanced country could ever fall for it.

President Trump is a religious leader

wordywalt comments on Nov 18, 2020:

I disagree. All religions have an ideology. Trump is making it up as he goes.

Fernapple replies on Nov 19, 2020:

@HippieChick58 Muhammad also, even his wife is said to have said, that he seemed to make it up as he went along.

President Trump is a religious leader

t1nick comments on Nov 18, 2020:

No a cult leader.

Fernapple replies on Nov 19, 2020:

Don't all religions start as cults ?

What's your attitude about eating?

HippieChick58 comments on Nov 18, 2020:

I used to eat chocolate when I was stressed, or happy, or lonely, or whatever. It was my drug of choice. In the past few years I have gone mostly vegetarian, and this year I have had to give up chocolate, sugar, and caffeine because it causes anxiety. I can see changes in my resting heart rate and ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 19, 2020:

I like the taste of chocolate, but have to avoid it, because I react very strongly to it. I can not sleep at night, I can feel my heart pounding, and I get nose bleeds from the raised blood pressure.

It is SO sad that the majority of Americans were not able to hear and accept the opinion of hundreds...

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2020:

This is in quotation marks, who are you citing please ?

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2020:

@mischl Well done, I am sorry to be a pedant, but as you know, we are sometimes pestered here by people who post quotes, as if it is their own. Mostly but not always by accident.

It is SO sad that the majority of Americans were not able to hear and accept the opinion of hundreds...

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2020:

This is in quotation marks, who are you citing please ?

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2020:

@mischl Thank you.

How about a vote on these two pieces? Is this a Rorschach test?

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2020:

Number two I think. What is the band round the middle ?

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2020:

@PondartIncbendog No, have not tried it, how does it work ?

Is trump our Henry the VIII.

Fernapple comments on Nov 15, 2020:

It would seem that he may have a very similar path, especially an unexpected lucky rise, (Henry was second born and never was to be king.) and a very bad end, with a shambolic legacy. But Henry is thought to have died of sepsis, possibly made worse by obesity and scurvy, that he had syphilis is ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2020:

@t1nick Yes it is also said that his sepsis, came from a wood splinter, which got into his leg while jousting, and which festered away over many years.

The every popular dolphins, being very smart. [youtube.com]

Wisterious comments on Nov 15, 2020:

Hmmph. I've never heard of this. Dolphins are brilliant. Any idea of location?

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2020:

Not really a certainty of location, but I seem to remember that it is part of a BBC document, which I have seen before, and that it was somewhere in South America.

“True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 15, 2020:

Trouble is, when you are stuck at home, under a travel ban....... What a good thing the inter-net is.

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2020:

@Marionville When you are stuck at home under a travel ban, it is much harder not to think of anything else but yourself.

6 Stops on the Hunt for the Holy Grail - Atlas Obscura

skado comments on Nov 15, 2020:

Theists and atheists alike are somehow committed to the idea that myths are to be taken literally, with the former believing they are true and the latter convinced they are not. But they equally miss the true meaning of the stories by refusing to consider a symbolic interpretation. The grail...

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2020:

It is also a mistake to think that the two are mutually exclusive.

THE GREAT TEACHER OR EDUCATOR,POST 2 Next, what are the elements of such an instructional ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2020:

Is there any more to come or have I missed it ?

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2020:

@wordywalt Sorry to hear that. I do hope it is nothing serious, best wishes for recovery.

Hey folks.

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2020:

Nice to hear that people return, but sorry the videos don't work, not in the UK anyway.

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2020:

@MyLiege That's right, just blank.

Today at the lake.

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2020:

Makes me wish I could be there with you. Great photos.

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2020:

@Gmak Yes sadly, we have a very high rate here in the UK , and a travel ban as well because of it. Getting out into nature on foot and by bike, has been one of the few chances to leave the house I have enjoyed. Though sadly for people like my friend who is elderly and infirm, it is virtually a prison sentence.

You may not agree with all of this, I don't.

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Nov 14, 2020:

Some good food for thought. I heard him speak of the blind self-delusion of patriotic arrogance and failure to self-reflect. Check. I heard him speak to processes that lead to totalitarianism and fascism. Check. And I heard him speak of the dangr of unfettered capitalism, which ultimately ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2020:

@MikeInBatonRouge You were very lucky, my own education is almost completely self won, as far as it goes. Very few get such a wide ranging and liberal education as you had. Fortunately in the UK we do not have to pay quite so much, in my day it was all free, but the deep influence of the state church, did, and does still render a lot of it worthless.

You may not agree with all of this, I don't.

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Nov 14, 2020:

Some good food for thought. I heard him speak of the blind self-delusion of patriotic arrogance and failure to self-reflect. Check. I heard him speak to processes that lead to totalitarianism and fascism. Check. And I heard him speak of the dangr of unfettered capitalism, which ultimately ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2020:

That was my take on it exactly. I guess that it is impossible for anyone still trapped in the religious mindset, to acknowledge any secular route to fulfilment. Even though he sees so well through the failings of other systems. Though I differ with you in that, I do not think that there is no hope for the whole human race, these issues are not that difficult. I think that even the least intelligent can be provided with an understanding, and an escape via good education, but that is in part why I suspect, governments and commerce are so opposed to education. Because they understand perhaps openly, perhaps subliminally, the dangers to them, of the self reliance that education brings. So that the poor in intellect, cooperation and wealth, are only educated to the point where they are good consumers. While the more pliant, are then educated to university level, where they are required to specialise, to make them good servants. A good general education, intended to make them better and happier humans is not given to anyone.

Can anybody inform me as to why posts to the "Conservative Atheists" group never appear on the main...

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2020:

The creators of a page, get to decide where the content appears, to a degree.

Fernapple replies on Nov 13, 2020:

@PBuck0145 I think that the way posts are spread though the site may have changed, in the last week or two. My group Natural History, did seem to have a fairly good profile, and got quite a bit of use then suddenly a few weeks ago, it just sort of disappeared into Limbo, without anything within the group changing.

Question: How do you start an argument, on a social media site.

of-the-mountain comments on Nov 12, 2020:

Depends on how stupid and moronic they are!!!

Fernapple replies on Nov 13, 2020:

Great memes. I especially like 2 and 3.

39 comments on a post of a believer?

Fernapple comments on Nov 12, 2020:

Yes but the poster only made one post on a lot of different groups, so that may have attracted a lot of attention. But they got fed up with the replies and left anyway. Plus why should we not talk to believers, they are human, and if there is a chance they will learn something, why not. I do not ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 12, 2020:

@creative51 True, so I just had fun with him/her while it lasted. Gone now anyway.

Lets talk about christmas.

Fernapple comments on Nov 12, 2020:

We celebrate the fact that in the northern hemisphere, the shortest days are passed, and we can start to look for spring. That's the origin of it, anything else is smoke and mirrors. Personally. I like to bring some real live evergreens into the house for decoration, greet friends, take a walk in...

Fernapple replies on Nov 12, 2020:

@James121 Yes I can do all of those things any time, but I do it at Yule, to celebrate the return of the sun.

Are we becoming a Banana Republic and getting set up for a coup? [cnn.com]

Sticks48 comments on Nov 11, 2020:

It is would be almost impossible to pull off a coup in this country. Even if you had the military behind you, that in itself would be impossible, we are so large and diverse I don't see how it could be done.

Fernapple replies on Nov 11, 2020:

Yes but being large and diverse, also means that the opposition is divided. Many dictators are there because they played, literally, divide and rule. Personally I thgink that the one uniting force in America is your respect for democracy and that that will win in the end. But you are very close to a major upset.

Portrait of a village.

Robecology comments on Nov 10, 2020:

Wow; strikingly beautiful...I give a vote for best pic to the tall green mossy trees lining the road. What is that....just moss - or a small leafy vine?

Fernapple replies on Nov 10, 2020:

Just moss, its very damp in the UK. If you look at 2, you will see it there too, and it is on the path in 3.

Portrait of a village.

Boomtarat03 comments on Nov 10, 2020:

1️⃣, 5️⃣ & 7️⃣ for me ☺ I like the shots of these.

Fernapple replies on Nov 10, 2020:

Yes 5 is a favourite with me.

Amazing post borrowed from Facebook.

CuddyCruiser comments on Nov 10, 2020:

Very well put........but you should publish this on religious sites also.

Fernapple replies on Nov 10, 2020:

It comes from a religious site, but I don't think it will get spread very far.

Deer Republican atheists,if you received an email requesting donations for a defense fund for Donald...

David1955 comments on Nov 9, 2020:

Surely no atheist would be that stupid? (Still an idealist, I guess).

Fernapple replies on Nov 9, 2020:

Deer are not noted for being the brightest animals, though generally they are flight rather than fight creatures.

Shall we start a pool bet on how long it's going to take Melania to file for divorce?

Pralina1 comments on Nov 7, 2020:

She ain’t going anywhere . She will put him in the grave b4 she gets a divorce , she did the math long ago , aint gonna be that long of a wait . Her son is the ticket to security as well , And she will stay exactly where she is w a huge smile on her face too . Husband will be medicated and let ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 8, 2020:

@phoenixone1 My, "he is broke," information did come from the fairly credible source of Sky News. Who said that his assets did not equal his debts, and that a lot of debtors would real him in as soon as he was out of the White House. Also adding that he is considered a, flight risk, in some legal quarters, in part because of the debts.

Shall we start a pool bet on how long it's going to take Melania to file for divorce?

Pralina1 comments on Nov 7, 2020:

She ain’t going anywhere . She will put him in the grave b4 she gets a divorce , she did the math long ago , aint gonna be that long of a wait . Her son is the ticket to security as well , And she will stay exactly where she is w a huge smile on her face too . Husband will be medicated and let ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 8, 2020:

@Marionville Maybe its because of her, that he has hidden it in overseas banks.

We R - Creature Creators - in - Time & Space - Eternal Beings - Divinely being - a Person - thru ...

Rufus_Maximus comments on Nov 8, 2020:

This looks like computer generated text.

Fernapple replies on Nov 8, 2020:

No. Most random text gererators write far better than that. (Could be a very old one, but who still uses Windows-95 ? )

We R - Creature Creators - in - Time & Space - Eternal Beings - Divinely being - a Person - thru ...

DenoPenno comments on Nov 7, 2020:

Maybe it is because I am older now but I have a hard time understanding this. Sorry.

Fernapple replies on Nov 8, 2020:

Don't book yourself into the nursing home yet, get a second oppinion first.

Shall we start a pool bet on how long it's going to take Melania to file for divorce?

Pralina1 comments on Nov 7, 2020:

She ain’t going anywhere . She will put him in the grave b4 she gets a divorce , she did the math long ago , aint gonna be that long of a wait . Her son is the ticket to security as well , And she will stay exactly where she is w a huge smile on her face too . Husband will be medicated and let ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 8, 2020:

No he is broke, she would be much better off grabbing a share, before all the other debt owners strip him of everything.

What were the consequences of the religious upheavals of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

linxminx comments on Nov 7, 2020:

Sounds like you're trying to find the answer to an essay question on a test you're taking. Lol.

Fernapple replies on Nov 7, 2020:

Hey, ten out of ten for imagination though. She could have just gone to Wikipedia like all the other students.

Dreadful puns again. Why can't Trump get in the White House anymore ? Because its FOR-BIDEN.

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Nov 7, 2020:

Where is the proper groan emoji that a pun deserves?

Fernapple replies on Nov 7, 2020:

Sorry no the emoji list is not great and you would need several for that I think anyway. LOL

Why was the popular vote so close in the US presidential election?

Fernapple comments on Nov 6, 2020:

All democracies become split down the middle. Because each side coming from one direction, tries to grab as much of the demographic as it can, by appealing to the centre but starts to loose support from its loud outer fringe as it moves into the centre. Forcing a state of balanced halves, with no ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 7, 2020:

@itsmedammit Yes, that is mainly what I meant by "damages institutions". Though trying to keep it short, I had to use that difficult phrase and could not put it so well as you do.

@SiteSupport When I edit a post that is "Show on my profile only," the category "Show on my profile...

FrayedBear comments on Nov 6, 2020:

I've always been curious why people would want posts to only show on their profiles. Can others please enlighten my sleep enshrouded brain on this grey Saturday morning?

Fernapple replies on Nov 7, 2020:

No I have not the foggiest either.

lets be Friday silly

girlwithsmiles comments on Nov 6, 2020:

Wow, I didn’t know about the buffaloes, that’s awful 🙁 but some good funnies 😊 Happy Friday!

Fernapple replies on Nov 6, 2020:

I am told that they would send out trains full of riflemen. Which they would park across the buffaloes migration paths, so that they could cut them all down before they reached the native hunting grounds. Creating vast piles of corpes, and so destroying any market for meat and hide, that they were just left to rot.

Often, I'll write a post, and find later that some numbers have been removed, and I have to edit ...

Krish55 comments on Nov 4, 2020:

Can the folks who are doing that remove some numbers from my age?

Fernapple replies on Nov 5, 2020:

No sorry. They are carved in stones: kidney stones, bladder stones, pancreatic stones, etc.

Top 10 Controversial Quran Verses - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Nov 3, 2020:

Video says blocked in my country, by Channel 4. Interesting, what's behind that I wonder ?

Fernapple replies on Nov 3, 2020:

@Hages Thank you.

Lindsey Graham Says Young Women Can 'Go Anywhere' If They're Pro-Life and Embrace Religion, Points ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 2, 2020:

Nice to know that totalitarian restrictions on travel, both social and geographical, are not in place in the USA. ( Sorry I wrote that sentence wrong, I meant to add 'YET' on the end.)

Fernapple replies on Nov 3, 2020:

@dermot235 Yes I forgot that. OK add 'was not' and 'are now' instead.

How Humans Domesticated Themselves [npr.org] .

ZantiMisfit comments on Nov 2, 2020:

Good article. There's a lot to think about. "humans are far more cooperative than most other species"- Makes me wonder if we're devolving.

Fernapple replies on Nov 3, 2020:

It could be so, though we will not see the effects for centuries. In the last hundred years or so, a new factor, effective modern medicine, has entered into the equations, removing a lot of the personal costs and dangers of violence, and therefore possibly upsetting the balance once more, in favour of greater violence. Especially as many females still have more babies with aggressive males.

How many of you curse like a sailor?

Fernapple comments on Nov 2, 2020:

You could say 'fart', since that is a synonym for 'Trump' in England, or the other way round. But maybe that is a bit strong in the US right now.

Fernapple replies on Nov 2, 2020:

@TheoryNumber3 Yes my mother always used to say. "I just trumped." Maybe its only in the north east.

Some words or phrases are nearly universal across a language, but some are used only by certain ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 1, 2020:

Lots in and around North East England and Yorkshire. I especially like nesh, meaning, over sensitive to the cold. Sometimes used judgmentally, and sometimes not, as in. "I was feeling nesh this morning, so I put on an extra coat." Often also used to describe a symptom of illness. And 'clarty'...

Fernapple replies on Nov 1, 2020:

@Omnedon I like them especially because, they are both really useful words, with no equivalents.

For those of you who went from being religious to atheist, have you noticed that philosophy has ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 1, 2020:

Yes perhaps. But you also have to put it against the law of diminishing returns. That each new advance in technology changes life slightly less for us, than the one before, until you reach a point where you can have massive technical advances, which have no practical value at all.

Fernapple replies on Nov 1, 2020:

@RoboGraham Good thought, yes. Though it could be that while they have effects on human life, they may not be beneficial effects always. Perhaps the biggest technical change ever, was the agricultural revolution, but many people would argue that it actually made people a lot less happy. I guess that technical advance can have negative results too. Who knows but that we may invent a technology which turns round and kills us, a doomsday machine whose ultimate effects can not be forseen until it is too late.

Anyone ever remember praying over your food and asking god to "use it for the nourishment of your ...

DenoPenno comments on Nov 1, 2020:

I believe that modern prayer over your food is an aberration of what original prayer of this type would have been. Place yourself in a world with no refrigeration. Praying over your food then takes on a whole new meaning. People in our modern times seem to let this go right over their heads.

Fernapple replies on Nov 1, 2020:

Perhaps, but I think that it may originally have been even more basic than that. Place yourself in a world where there could be, no food at all, refridgerated or otherwise.

WHAT’S ONE THING PEOPLE WOULD NEVER KNOW ABOUT YOU JUST BY LOOKING AT YOU?

dalefvictor comments on Nov 1, 2020:

I have almost died, bled to death, ran out of blood platelets. Have never bought illegal drugs. I am Dyslexic and have a mild form of Tourette's, one would have to look for a time to see this.

Fernapple replies on Nov 1, 2020:

That's odd. I could have writen that, and it would be true.

If we have learned nothing these last four years it that Republicans have proven we are not a ...

prometheus comments on Nov 1, 2020:

I live in a condominium - that may not be not familiar to people outside of the US but is basically a shared living situation where you are subject to some rules and regulations that determine how you may use your property and behave. For people who live in condos the rules and regulations it has ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 1, 2020:

That's very much the same all over the world, not just the USA. We don't have many condos here, but the law is used in much the same way. You also have to remember the old quote, from A.T. "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."