Its cold and damp here today in the UK, was yesterday, will be tomorrow.

Marionville comments on Nov 26, 2019:

Beautiful...but the snow is hardly going to warm you up.....could you not have found one of him playing in an orange grove?.

Fernapple replies on Nov 26, 2019:

Not yet.

One thing that puzzles me about believers in any religion is the conviction that it’s their God ...

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Nov 25, 2019:

Because Satan is deceiving everyone else. People want to be right.

Fernapple replies on Nov 26, 2019:

To which the next question is of course. Why does an all powerful all knowing god allow satan to decieve people ? And then. Surely if people are to be saved or punished for their sins, then they need to be fully informed about the nature of sin, or how can they be held responsible ?

With the recent death of my dog I've been thinking about death more than usual and something ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 23, 2019:

No one can prove it does not happen, or that we don't have another life, everything is complicated and very little known. Another idea some people had was that the universe as a whole reincarnates, goes back the big bang, and starts all over running the same stories. Lots of things possible.

Fernapple replies on Nov 24, 2019:

@JackPedigo Yes I wholly agree, all I am saying is that I can not disprove amny speculation, such as the post, and that I observe that there are, at this time and perhaps always, limits to knowledge.

With the recent death of my dog I've been thinking about death more than usual and something ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 23, 2019:

No one can prove it does not happen, or that we don't have another life, everything is complicated and very little known. Another idea some people had was that the universe as a whole reincarnates, goes back the big bang, and starts all over running the same stories. Lots of things possible.

Fernapple replies on Nov 24, 2019:

@JackPedigo My common sense tells me that you are right, and that is what I think. But my common sense also tells me that the universe is probably a lot more complex and difficult to understand than most people think, and that the underlying truth about it is probably something no one has even thought of yet.

Abusive Buddhist no better than any catholic clerical abuser

Jolanta comments on Nov 23, 2019:

Not only Catholic priests abuse children but Protestants and religious leaders from all other religions do it to.

Fernapple replies on Nov 23, 2019:

@girlwithsmiles Yes but religion does provide a very easy route for those who want to abuse power, to obtain that power, and one with, by its very nature, no filters to prevent them doing so.

I can no longer post pics from my Android phone to this site.

Fernapple comments on Nov 22, 2019:

A lot of people are finding it difficult now. There has for one thing been a size limit put on how big the photos put on this site may be, you could try making them smaller.

Fernapple replies on Nov 23, 2019:

@kjsgenie Yes I think that would be too big, I go for 1500 x1500, and they go up no problem, remember the size of the file has nothing to do with the size of the screen you view it on.

Guerrilla Gardening

glennlab comments on Nov 22, 2019:

What is guerrilla gardening?

Fernapple replies on Nov 23, 2019:

Gardening in public spaces, yes, but especially without permission.

"Race is the child of racism, not the father." Ta-Nehisi Coates

IamNobody comments on Nov 22, 2019:

Child, father, third cousin removed......does it really matter???

Fernapple replies on Nov 22, 2019:

@IamNobody I know that, that's why its fun fencing with you.

"Race is the child of racism, not the father." Ta-Nehisi Coates

IamNobody comments on Nov 22, 2019:

Child, father, third cousin removed......does it really matter???

Fernapple replies on Nov 22, 2019:

@IamNobody Here you go. https://www.ashg.org/education/pdf/geneticvariation.pdf and, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve , can supply more and less scholarly articles too. It is of course subjective what you don't call a race, but it is also subjective what you do call a race. But since we usually use terms like 'breed' instead of race for creatures like cattle, which are far more genetically diverse than us, and reserve 'race' for creatures which border on splitting into subspecies, the assumption seems to fit.

By Any Other Name Literalists, both theist and atheist, hold God to be a supreme creative ...

AnneWimsey comments on Nov 22, 2019:

Ignoring everything else posted, What would be the point of naming my chief interest, or desire (your post was very unclear about that!) "Stephanie" or whatever?? Why not just call it what it is, World Peace or Money or whatever its actual name is, and in My language, not Sanskrit, too........ I ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 22, 2019:

I think that the intention. (as I am sure you understand.) Is that the list is cut short at 'Clark... or Stephanie.' The intention being that it should read. "Clark... or Stephanie, or God." That God can and should be used as just a symbolic word for a nebulous unknown, this being one of Skado's things. But. It ignores the fact that God, is not a neutral name, with no other remembered meanings like Clark or Stephanie, and that by using it in the secular world, you at the very least appear, and appearances are everything here, to extend, the bounaries of religious empirialism. Which brings comfort even to the most extreme of religious funadamentalists and criminals, by giving those sharks a bigger pond to swim in, a bigger recruiting ground, and a greater illusion that they are respectable and mainstream, as well as helping to convince their victims of the same.

“To a philosopher all news is gossip.” Henry David Thoreau

brentan comments on Nov 21, 2019:

I wonder what he meant.

Fernapple replies on Nov 22, 2019:

@Freedompath Yes I do think that he was slightly exagerating his case. But of course he was especially talking about the poplulist press, and the common fallacy of reading the general from the particular. Especially as he elsewhere put it, the popular idea that the gutter press absorbed without thought, counted as education. Or as Henthabox put it above. "I guess I had/have been assuming he meant the particular in relation to the general."

"Race is the child of racism, not the father." Ta-Nehisi Coates

IamNobody comments on Nov 22, 2019:

Child, father, third cousin removed......does it really matter???

Fernapple replies on Nov 22, 2019:

Yes it matters if the horse is in front of or behind the cart. To use another metaphor. Science tell us that there are no human races, in the same way as there are races of tigers or seagulls, since, as we nearly went extinct only a few thousand years ago, we are actually very inbred, one family really.

Hello.

skado comments on Nov 22, 2019:

Yes, apparently so. I see her name about in that context. You're ahead of me; I haven't read any books about it. I just now discovered it. What did you think of her book?

Fernapple replies on Nov 22, 2019:

Its a lovely book, quite short and an easy read. Plus I would always recommend it to anyone who did not get the basics of biology, bio-chemistry and evolutionary theory etc. at high school level. Since, she takes each of the science subjects, gives a very clear account of the basics, and then describes what for her is the 'spiritual' meaning of them.

There are no things could, so much enduring give, As fragile things, that swiftly die; and live.

skado comments on Nov 22, 2019:

Beautiful; thanks for posting. Your writing?

Fernapple replies on Nov 22, 2019:

Thank you. Yes mine.

Well, there are 100,000 members now according to the top level stats.

JimG comments on Nov 21, 2019:

100,000 members? Sounds good, but there are still only one or two who might not dislike me. :D

Fernapple replies on Nov 21, 2019:

Well work harder, it should not be difficult to annoy just a couple of people.

“To a philosopher all news is gossip.” Henry David Thoreau

brentan comments on Nov 21, 2019:

I wonder what he meant.

Fernapple replies on Nov 21, 2019:

He expanded on it, if I remember rightly, in this way. To the philosopher, by which he really meant student, it is useful to understand general laws, such as. More lives are lost at sea in shipwrecks than plane crashes. However details of any single plane crash, are of little value in formulating a philosophy. Likewise to the voter and the citizen, who has the job of electing government on issues, like air safety, only the stat's really matter. Therefore our lust for news about personal details, of say crash survivers, is only a voyeuristic lust for gossip of the lowest sort.

OK this is one for the record books.

Benjamin1 comments on Nov 20, 2019:

He may have done that on purpose.

Fernapple replies on Nov 21, 2019:

Don't you mean 'porpoise' .

Watch this young woman destroy the ark encounter: [youtube.com]

Varn comments on Nov 20, 2019:

Fabulous ...and hideous.. Would or do other civilized/ industrialized nations allow for such public brainwashing outside of ‘churches?’ Or is this another ‘only in America’ type situation..? Honestly, I couldn’t finish - but very much appreciate her efforts to educate & enlighten our ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 20, 2019:

@Happy_Killbot Wow, I feel so sorry for him. Never make a profit.

Some may think this a little sentimental but I like it.

Allamanda comments on Nov 20, 2019:

author? and I think the . at end of line 4 should be a ,?

Fernapple replies on Nov 20, 2019:

@Allamanda That's very kind thank you. But I am always wanting to learn.

Some may think this a little sentimental but I like it.

Allamanda comments on Nov 20, 2019:

author? and I think the . at end of line 4 should be a ,?

Fernapple replies on Nov 20, 2019:

The author is me. And yes, a full stop may work better, my language skills are not great. But it is the turning point of the poem and could be a second verse, long pause certainly.

Hello.

Allamanda comments on Nov 20, 2019:

Sacred, not scared?

Fernapple replies on Nov 20, 2019:

Thanks for the typo correction.

I'll be laughing at this one all day!

St-Sinner comments on Nov 19, 2019:

Once a woman said during sex... "Oh my God, life is beautiful".

Fernapple replies on Nov 19, 2019:

Yes I have heard that story to, but I could never find out who she was having sex with at the time. Don't suppose you know?

Philosophy vs. Religion

Cecilia2018 comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Thanks for an interesting topic. I'm not sure if you believe the description in your post but I believe in logic with my feet on the ground. Religions are full of misery, torture , fears and lies. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z9j7g1dfxIo

Fernapple replies on Nov 19, 2019:

@skado Thank you for the book, but I finished late last night and am working one step behind, here is my answer to your last. If you understood the scientific evidence that I provided, then the rise of superstition is easily understood. The biological value of favouring false positive over the risks of false negative, for example. If I think I see an eye looking at me from between the leaves, it is better to treat it as such than to ignore it, and therefore I hide. If it is not an eye but only a glint on the leaves, then all I have wasted is a little energy and a few seconds, but if I ignore it then I could risk loosing a valuable meal or being eaten by a predator. So a false positive carries less cost than false negative, and as this is so for all species it is hard wired into our minds. There is also animism, it is easier to explain strange things that happen sometimes in terms of a metaphor, in which things are given anthropomorphic intentions, which being human ourselves and lacking the resources of science are easier to understand. If the rains always come in spring, then it is much easier to understand that the rising sun wakes the rain god in spring, than to try to understand global weather systems. And perhaps many other reasons. So if we take the rise of superstition as a given, then for whatever reason some people will one day get the idea that they are controlling or influencing the supernatural forces, which are apparently produced by superstition. And since humans are hard wired for false positives, it is easy to see how they may get the idea that when some coincidence happens, perhaps several times, that correlation equals causation as they say. We went to the river and bathed, and the following day the rain came, that happened last year as well, therefore going to the river and bathing pleases the rain god and causes the rain. It being human nature the idea soon comes that some people are better at certain aspects of this than others. When we went to the river this year it did not rain. What was different? The one with three fingers was not with us this year, maybe it is only the one with three fingers bathing that pleases the rain god. So next time the group make sure the one with three fingers goes too, and it does rain, and to make the one with three finger go they offer rewards, even perhaps just praise and flattery, but rewards none the less. And it does rain. The next year they do the same but the rains do not come again. But it is hard to turn people from a path which brings them rewards, even just praise and flattery. So the one with three fingers has to invent an excuse. “Yes but it is only when I bathe three times.” And sooner or later it will rain, so that the three times excuse will seem to work. Now here we come...

‘It’s Really Refreshing And Relaxing’: College Students Say Ditching Their Smartphones For A ...

LucyLoohoo comments on Nov 18, 2019:

Imagine that? They can communicate ORALLY?

Fernapple replies on Nov 18, 2019:

That's very cynical and ageist. I love it.

Hi I have just joined so i thought I would say hello from the isle of wight.

AnneWimsey comments on Nov 18, 2019:

Wow, Isle of Wight...wasn't there an Agatha Christie book set there?

Fernapple replies on Nov 18, 2019:

Don't know but the country home of Albert and Victoria, Osborne House is there and so is Carisbrooke Castle where Charles the first was held before his trial. It is quite close to the mainland and is therefore the venue for the Cowes sailing regata.

Philosophy vs. Religion

kasmian comments on Nov 13, 2019:

It's not liberation if you're permanently unaware of how caged you are in the first place. Using the "Allegory of the Cave", what's basically being said here is that one is only truly free by not escaping the shackles and venturing out of the cavern simply because becoming more and more aware of...

Fernapple replies on Nov 18, 2019:

" Both require your effort." Yes but I do not think that the effort is equal, and I do think that the avoidance of effort especially, is a big temptation of religion, as in, you only need to master staring at the caves wall once, and the skill will last a lifetime.

Philosophy vs. Religion

Cecilia2018 comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Thanks for an interesting topic. I'm not sure if you believe the description in your post but I believe in logic with my feet on the ground. Religions are full of misery, torture , fears and lies. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z9j7g1dfxIo

Fernapple replies on Nov 18, 2019:

@skado Not at all, I certainly have not lost interest, and I know enough of you by now to know that you do not debate for egotistical reasons. But you asked for scientific proof and I gave you what there is. Had I lost interest, I would have brushed you of with the "What can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence." quote. As I see many here such as Atheist3, have effectively done at the top of this page. As for religion that comes not within the business of science, but within the discipline of history and the interpretation of history, which is largely subjective and therefore not scientific. However I am more than prepared to continue with that. While still standing by my point that, demanding scientific proof for the argument against religion, while supporting the argument for it with unqualified assertion, is a prime example of the double thinking, and double standards, which a sentimental attachment to such discredited thought systems is bound to lead you to. I too find a attraction to the great confidence tricks of history, the con-man always has an appeal if only because of the swagger, and the great subtlety required to carry it off, as the layers of deceit build up in ever increasing complexity. But there comes a time to put such immature attachments behind you. Because you eventually understand that they can only be harmful to your character and integrity, when once you start accepting double standards, the erosion of intellectual honesty, and all the better qualities of character and judgement begins to slide at an every increasing pace. And the corrosive effects of religion are all too often to be observed in, people who once had their chance to be good and honest. PS. Don't worry too much about the others who may be viewing this debate, I think that most people lost interest in our debates long ago. We are quite alone.

Myth and magic - the first feminists? [theguardian.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

Interesting, and a new piece of literary history to me. But I do think that they are straw-manning the brothers Grimm, since they were not really on the same page or the same place at all.

Fernapple replies on Nov 18, 2019:

@Allamanda Yes it seems that may well be correct. I googled it and quite soon came up with this, from a creditable source. "The brothers gained a reputation for collecting tales from peasants, although many tales came from middle-class or aristocratic acquaintances. Wilhelm's wife Dortchen Wild and her family, with their nursery maid, told the brothers some of the more well-known tales, such as "Hansel and Gretel" and "Sleeping Beauty". Wilhelm collected a number of tales after befriending August von Haxthausen, whom he visited in 1811 in Westphalia where he heard stories from von Haxthausen's circle of friends. Several of the storytellers were of Huguenot ancestry, telling tales of French origin such as those told to the Grimms by Marie Hassenpflug, an educated woman of French Huguenot ancestry, and it is probable that these informants were familiar with Perrault's Histoires ou contes du temps passé (Stories from Past Times). Other tales were collected from Dorothea Viehmann, the wife of a middle-class tailor and also of French descent. Despite her middle-class background, in the first English translation she was characterized as a peasant and given the name Gammer. It seems that the brothers were either deluded or dissembling, yet I can not really see it as a feminist revision, since the brothers still always stated that there main sources were female. It just seems that they were upper class rather than working class females.

Myth and magic - the first feminists? [theguardian.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

Interesting, and a new piece of literary history to me. But I do think that they are straw-manning the brothers Grimm, since they were not really on the same page or the same place at all.

Fernapple replies on Nov 18, 2019:

@Allamanda I don't think that the Grimms addressed them at all, not to write them out, but because as collectors of folklore, ( and they did credit their female sources, ) they were not in the same literary world as writers of imaginative fiction living in another country and another era. That would be like asking a writer of science fiction today, to credit A, Conan-Doyles, Shelock Holmes books. It is posssible that modern views of litrary history have made the Grimms into an elephant in fairy tale the room, but that is hardly their fault.

Philosophy vs. Religion

Cecilia2018 comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Thanks for an interesting topic. I'm not sure if you believe the description in your post but I believe in logic with my feet on the ground. Religions are full of misery, torture , fears and lies. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z9j7g1dfxIo

Fernapple replies on Nov 18, 2019:

@skado Here you go. On the origins of superstition. Skinner, B. F. "'Superstition' in the Pigeon", Journal of Experimental Psychology #38, 1947. Haselton, M.G.; Buss, D.M. (2003). "Biases in Social Judgment: Design Flaws or Design Features? Haselton, Martie G.; Nettle, Daniel; Andrews, Paul W. (2005). "The Evolution of Cognitive Bias" On the relations of superstition to culture historically. Henrich, Joseph; McElreath, Richard (2007). "Dual-inheritance theory: the evolution of human cultural capacities and cultural evolution" There is lots more and I am sure that following these leads will soon provide you with masses of data. However if you need more please ask. But for my part I consider that your request for scientific proof on a philosophical post, that was an assertion with out any, fully exposes the complete invalidity of your claim, and the double values which support it. I therefore regard this debate as finished and won, at this point.

Philosophy vs. Religion

Cecilia2018 comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Thanks for an interesting topic. I'm not sure if you believe the description in your post but I believe in logic with my feet on the ground. Religions are full of misery, torture , fears and lies. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z9j7g1dfxIo

Fernapple replies on Nov 18, 2019:

@skado I do not claim to be a scientist, and I think that the demand for scientific evidence begins to sound like clutching at straws. There is probably scientific evidence, and if I have the time I will search for some for you. However there are many true things for which there can never be scientific evidence, and I would hold that long forgotten attitudes are one such. Yet some things are so banal that we can accept them as true anyway. Such as. There is no scientific proof that my front door exists, yet since I walk in and out through it every day, I am sure it does. And the the idea presented I would hold to be at least that banal in its nature. However as I say I will spend some time doing your research for you. Though why someone who glorifies the " metaphorical" truth of his main sources should require scientific proof, is beyond me, unless double standards are being employed. I am certainly not using the god of the gaps argument however, since that can only be used by those who have the burden of proof, and since the debate started with your assertion, ( made without scientific proof, ) that religion not philosophy is the best control of fear. I am merely offering an alternative, with the assertion that it is the only possible route, and requiring a disproof of my alternative or a proof of your original position. The videos certainly do offer evidence of greed and the transfer of power, they show little else, since I have no doubt that all of the shaman are being paid for their services. And since greed and power are a proportional, and as the services are of doubtful real benefit, beyond perhaps a minor placebo effect, any monetary charge or prestige gained is unjust, and therefore greed, even if the shaman is quite genuine in his beliefs. The young sales-person who sells second hand cars on the forecourt, may be unaware that their employer turns the mileage back, and genuinely believes that the customer is getting a great deal. Yet the customer is still being cheated.

Philosophy vs. Religion

Cecilia2018 comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Thanks for an interesting topic. I'm not sure if you believe the description in your post but I believe in logic with my feet on the ground. Religions are full of misery, torture , fears and lies. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z9j7g1dfxIo

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2019:

@skado Correct. The bottom line is that people sometimes have irrational fears, especially of the unknown, which they will often attribute to the supernatural. That is called superstition. And when some people find that they can exploit other peoples superstition for profit and power, that is called religion. There simply can not be any other possible history which fits the facts, and it must go back to the very beginings of superstition and language. That is not to say that all religious leaders are evil exploiters. Cognitive dissonance and our ability to self delude meant that those doing the exploiting of others, often thought they had the best of intentions, ( our shaman are surely genuine ) whilst many people in the past within religion really did have good intentions but were forced to work within the evil system, or were unwitting victims themselves, because it was once the only system there was.

Just posted a Tom And Jerry, but here is another unusual rendering, which is fun in a quite ...

Marionville comments on Nov 17, 2019:

This is delightful....but you’ll have to remind me about the Guinness ad.

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2019:

@Marionville Yes it was not Guinness but here it is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSZES6e8d0w

Most of the world now thinks religion is the cause of the world's problems! [usnews.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2019:

Religion is merely a symptom of greed, the lust for power and the willingness to use deceit for selfish ends, as many here have said. Yet it is perhaps the most dangerous symptom, because it allows those who use it, to claim extra supernatural authority, beyond that which they themselves could ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2019:

@Storm1752 Generally I agree with that. And I certainly include deciet as an alternative not a necessity, but I think there are a lot of exceptions to any rule which says that you have to be a true believer to use religion to advantage.

Did Islam cause the Dark Ages?

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2019:

Classical culture was largely destroyed by Christianity, long before the barbarian, or the Islamic invasions began. Though in truth it was a long slow decline which went back as far as the Punic Wars at least. This is a simplistic view at best.

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2019:

@OwlInASack Yet it would be wrong to see any religion as harmless, and ones which include incitements to violence in their basic tenents especially. Education is spreading as never before, and slowly all religions are sinking, it is unlikely that any one will every establish anything near a global theocrasy. But like tigers they can be at their most dangerous when wounded and dying, especially they are all well capable of striking out in many small mean and vengeful ways.

How is intelligence measured?

EdEarl comments on Nov 17, 2019:

IQ tests measure ones ability to do well in school, not intelligence. AFAIK intelligence cannot be measured, partly because it cannot be defined.

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2019:

No intelligence can be measured, but I think that you can say, that the abilty to do well at school, in other words perform low level clerical tasks repeatedly, is about the worst way to try and measure it.

Just posted a Tom And Jerry, but here is another unusual rendering, which is fun in a quite ...

Marionville comments on Nov 17, 2019:

This is delightful....but you’ll have to remind me about the Guinness ad.

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2019:

Actually I think it may have been, Stella, but it was very irreverant about the church and featured preists on a frozen lake.

Most of the world now thinks religion is the cause of the world's problems! [usnews.com]

Grahame comments on Nov 17, 2019:

What an odd generalisation without foundation. Most of the world may believe that greed and corruption are the cause of the worlds problems.

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2019:

Religion is simply one of the main symptoms of greed and power.

Is it too early to make fun of Winter?

Jnei comments on Nov 16, 2019:

I adore winter. It's by far my favourite season, with autumn in second place (because autumn means winter is coming) and spring a very distant third - summer isn't on the list, I loathe summer. You're fortunate to get proper winters. Here in the UK, with the exception of some parts of Scotland, ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2019:

@Jnei You are either young and hot blooded or you had a good year. LOL No of course our cold is not often on the scale that they get in Michigan, but I get a plant killing June frost here in most years, and I often envy what they can grow on the west coast, even Stranraer, where they grow things like cabbage palms and pensitimons out side, which we could not even dream of.

Is it too early to make fun of Winter?

Jnei comments on Nov 16, 2019:

I adore winter. It's by far my favourite season, with autumn in second place (because autumn means winter is coming) and spring a very distant third - summer isn't on the list, I loathe summer. You're fortunate to get proper winters. Here in the UK, with the exception of some parts of Scotland, ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2019:

@Jnei Well then you know the winters are more than half the year.

Is it too early to make fun of Winter?

Jnei comments on Nov 16, 2019:

I adore winter. It's by far my favourite season, with autumn in second place (because autumn means winter is coming) and spring a very distant third - summer isn't on the list, I loathe summer. You're fortunate to get proper winters. Here in the UK, with the exception of some parts of Scotland, ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2019:

@Jnei No just the north east.

How true this is!

Fernapple comments on Nov 16, 2019:

I don't know about read, but understood cover to cover yes.

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2019:

@BestWithoutGods Well done.

Is it too early to make fun of Winter?

Jnei comments on Nov 16, 2019:

I adore winter. It's by far my favourite season, with autumn in second place (because autumn means winter is coming) and spring a very distant third - summer isn't on the list, I loathe summer. You're fortunate to get proper winters. Here in the UK, with the exception of some parts of Scotland, ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2019:

In my Britain you get seven months of cold and damp, with regular frosts up to late June. Want to swap houses ?

OK so we all get bored to death with the meaning of 'spiritual' question.

Benthoven comments on Nov 16, 2019:

I don't use that term... It comes across as "non-thinker" or "emotional based thinking." I'm not into that. In fact, I find that most of these labels do great injustice to who we are. The challenge I see over and over again is that "free thinkers" all tend to think alike... which suggests that this ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2019:

That is my thought, and why I posted this for a little fun, though I have had some good serious replies.

Philosophy vs. Religion

Cecilia2018 comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Thanks for an interesting topic. I'm not sure if you believe the description in your post but I believe in logic with my feet on the ground. Religions are full of misery, torture , fears and lies. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z9j7g1dfxIo

Fernapple replies on Nov 17, 2019:

@skado Yes here you go some literal proof. A documentary on a traditional shaman, note especially the use and promotion of the fear of spirits, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4zdIQqxzIU Here is another one. Note please the promotion of invisible spirits, who control everything, even the engine and the fish. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd4ylTSUQjQ

Philosophy vs. Religion

Cecilia2018 comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Thanks for an interesting topic. I'm not sure if you believe the description in your post but I believe in logic with my feet on the ground. Religions are full of misery, torture , fears and lies. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z9j7g1dfxIo

Fernapple replies on Nov 16, 2019:

@skado Yes it is a made up story to further the world view of the writer, a metaphorical story, I wrote it especially for you since you seem to like to read the bible that way, for metaphorical evidence in made up stories, designed to further the views of the writers. Though as you know, I think that there is a lot more complexity to the bible than that. But please do not straw-man me, at no time did I say that I was talking about 'organized' religion. Quite the contrary, my points are about religion as a whole, including pre-agricultural religion. Since the true evils of religion, as I thought the story would at least made plain, go back deep into its roots far beyond that, and the horrors that it causes were already age old long before Göbekli Tepe (which predates agriculture ) was a dream in an achitects mind, and the beginings of organized religion.

On the afternoon of August 1st, 1979 I received the most profound phone call of my life: I was ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 16, 2019:

Very sorry for your lose. But you are not alone, everyone in the world knew someone, now gone, who they never said, I love you, to often enough and hard enough. But we tend to know when we are loved, by the things which are not spoken.

Fernapple replies on Nov 16, 2019:

@Deiter Yes it is.

Philosophy vs. Religion

Cecilia2018 comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Thanks for an interesting topic. I'm not sure if you believe the description in your post but I believe in logic with my feet on the ground. Religions are full of misery, torture , fears and lies. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z9j7g1dfxIo

Fernapple replies on Nov 16, 2019:

@skado For evidence there is the activities of almost all religions, which may be freely observed, and you will find a huge range of accounts, and videos of shaman without looking any further than the net. In for now while you look them up, here is a short story about the fear of want. : One day a large gang of apes were hunting in the forest when they came to a tree, which fruited only rarely, but they always looked for it when they passed, because the fruit though uncommon was especially delicious. This however was a good year, and there was a small crop of fruit on the tree. The apes soon had it all picked, and then shared it out according to their custom. Then suddenly, just as they were about to start eating, the the son of the fairly clever ape, who was also very selfish and greedy like his father, stood up and said. “I think that I should be given three extra of the finest and best fruits from this tree, as well as my normal share.” Naturally all the others wanted to know why they should do this, and so, after a suspiciously long pause, he began to speak. “You should give me this extra fruit as my payment, for talking to this tree with a special kind of secret talk, which only I know. Because inside the tree there is hidden a tree spirit, which only I can see and speak to, and if I speak to the tree and say just the words, then you can be sure that it will yield more fruit next year.” “In fact, it is because in the past the correct words were not always said to it, that this tree has not always given us all the fruit we could have wanted. And moreover the tree would wish that because I am its friend I should be rewarded” Most of the apes thought that this was just too silly an idea, and they laughed at him and called him foolish. There were however among the band just a few who thought that, just in case he was telling the truth, it might be worth a small number of fruit; but since most of the apes were not in favour and mocked them for agreeing with the son of the fairly clever ape, they did nothing. The son of the greedy and fairly clever ape was however very persistent, and kept on repeating his request every time they came to a new tree. After a while, when they saw how determined he was, more and more of the apes began to waver, and soon some of them did indeed start to give him part of their fruit. Even though it often meant that they went hungry themselves. And in that day was religion born.

Gardener friends--any favorite crops or varieties that are vaguely obscure and you think everyone ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 16, 2019:

Angelica, just chop the young tender stems in spring into any fruit you are cooking, no need to preserve it. Lovage for a rich celery type flavour in soups and stews. Angelica is a biennial but self sows and lovage is a tall herb, neither are difficult to grow.

Fernapple replies on Nov 16, 2019:

@DavidDuhon Could be lovage, does it grow to four feet plus ?

brand new on here trying to get to level 2.

EdEarl comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Grats, you are level 4 ATM. You will find level 7 comes fairly fast.

Fernapple replies on Nov 16, 2019:

@lakota_5 1992, did you keep the steampowered attic filler when you traded up to a modern device. It will be collectable now.

The religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their ...

Mofo1953 comments on Nov 16, 2019:

In the US or the world?

Fernapple replies on Nov 16, 2019:

@Mofo1953 Wish I had one of those, some of the pages people on this site send you to, not just the adds but the cookies and requests to add you to lists !

The religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their ...

Mofo1953 comments on Nov 16, 2019:

In the US or the world?

Fernapple replies on Nov 16, 2019:

It says US as its headline.

The religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their ...

EdEarl comments on Nov 15, 2019:

Good news. Why do we have so few members? My city has more than a million people, there could be a quarter mollion agnostics, yet worldwide there are fewer than 100,000 members here.

Fernapple replies on Nov 16, 2019:

Most perhaps do not know of this site or care to be active. Most people who ride in trains are not members of commuters unions, and most people with old things in their houses, are do not subscribe to antique dealers publications. And especially most people, in the UK anyway , who say they are christians don't go to church.

"My magnificent master and great friend of many years ago, Heinrich Zimmer (1890-1943), had a ...

Moravian comments on Nov 16, 2019:

Did Lastman give his painting that title ?. or was it added later ?. The painting is not of a whale but a large fish as stated in the biblical story. Did they even know that whales were mamals in the early 17th century ?.

Fernapple replies on Nov 16, 2019:

No I think that they became mammals much later, probably about the time Darwin published, but there is certainly a really fun chapter about the issue, probably a spoof, in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, 1851. So the debate about whether they were fish or not, was certainly on going then.

Philosophy vs. Religion

Cecilia2018 comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Thanks for an interesting topic. I'm not sure if you believe the description in your post but I believe in logic with my feet on the ground. Religions are full of misery, torture , fears and lies. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z9j7g1dfxIo

Fernapple replies on Nov 16, 2019:

@skado No that is incorrect, because most of the fear and psychological suffering are the creation of religion in the first place. Things such as our, perhaps genuine but naturally very slight, fears are exaggerated vastly by religion in order to pose wrongly as a saviour. And that began even in the days of the very early shamanistic religions, around the nomadic hunter gatherers camp fires. The shamen and witch doctors were the first aristocrats using fear to control, long before technologically advanced societies developed military and secular aristocratic structures. Religion was not corrupted, because religion was and is the origninal form of corruption, the first major confidence trick.

Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision. Winston Churchill

Jolanta comments on Nov 16, 2019:

Did Winston actually ever really fight or was he in the background pulling the strings while others fought?

Fernapple replies on Nov 16, 2019:

No he was a soldier in youth and fought in the Sudan for one, taking part in the last mass cavalry charge made by British troops.

Philosophy vs. Religion

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

This came up on another post but it works here too. No religion does not provide answers, religion provides pseudo answers , because if it provided truthful honest answers, such as. "Nobody knows learn to live with that." Then people would not keep coming back for more, like any pedaler it is part ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2019:

@skado It was Allamanda who said rare, not me.

Philosophy vs. Religion

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

This came up on another post but it works here too. No religion does not provide answers, religion provides pseudo answers , because if it provided truthful honest answers, such as. "Nobody knows learn to live with that." Then people would not keep coming back for more, like any pedaler it is part ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2019:

@skado Granted yes. Shinto and Animism.

Philosophy vs. Religion

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

This came up on another post but it works here too. No religion does not provide answers, religion provides pseudo answers , because if it provided truthful honest answers, such as. "Nobody knows learn to live with that." Then people would not keep coming back for more, like any pedaler it is part ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2019:

@skado Secular philosophical Buddhism.

The latest glitch doesn't allow people to post high resolution pictures.

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

Having said that it may be true. But it is also true that 99% of the people viewing this site will be looking at it on either smart phones or laptops, neither of which will show high res anyway.

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2019:

@WonderWartHog99 To a degree I had noticed that the chat rooms don't really do anything, but on the other hand the groups and forums are so like chat rooms why bother. Having said which. Yes I would happily put up with a few adverts or even pay a token amount for a few improved features.

Largest U.S. Christian Charity Reportedly Donated $56.1 Million to Hate Groups

Fernapple comments on Nov 15, 2019:

Link does not seem to work sorry.

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2019:

@BestWithoutGods Yep that's what I got too. Thanks.

Largest U.S. Christian Charity Reportedly Donated $56.1 Million to Hate Groups

Fernapple comments on Nov 15, 2019:

Link does not seem to work sorry.

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2019:

@Grahame Thanks will try again.

Food Budget

sewchick57 comments on Nov 14, 2019:

I don't really eat a lot so I can afford fruit all the time. I don't eat nuts on a regular basis but if I want some I can afford them. What I don't buy a lot of is meat. I usually spend around $50 a week for groceries.

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2019:

It may well be different in the US but certainly her in the UK a veg based diet is very affordable, and perhaps the cheapest. I spend about fifty US per week as well, including a few meals out.

Philosophy vs. Religion

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

This came up on another post but it works here too. No religion does not provide answers, religion provides pseudo answers , because if it provided truthful honest answers, such as. "Nobody knows learn to live with that." Then people would not keep coming back for more, like any pedaler it is part ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2019:

@skado Well some forms of Buddhism don't.

The very early dawn of perhaps one of the world great thought systems, and a beautiful couple of ...

JeffMesser comments on Nov 14, 2019:

We already view the buddha as the ninth avatar of vishnu so the tie between buddhism and sanatan dharma old hat. In many academic circles Buddhism, Jainism and a couple of others are said to comprise the "nastika" theology of Hinduism (opposed to parts of the vedas) while others form the "astika" ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2019:

To some it will be new. To me, though I know a little of the history, I am no expert, and am glad that it stimulated inputs like yours.

The latest glitch doesn't allow people to post high resolution pictures.

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

Having said that it may be true. But it is also true that 99% of the people viewing this site will be looking at it on either smart phones or laptops, neither of which will show high res anyway.

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2019:

@WonderWartHog99 True. While this site works well just because it is small for a social media site, yet we could really do with a few more active members.

I think this is a lovely overview, much more interesting than it sounds. [youtube.com]

Robecology comments on Nov 14, 2019:

More than a "lovely" overview (I get it....you're a romantic) It's an important one. I volunteer for a botanical garden....and it's a common unawareness... that many make about plants...that they too, went through an evolution...only many of the "dinosaurs" of the plant world...the Cycads, the ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2019:

Yes, that is profoundly true. Though you are preaching to the converted since my job is that of nurseryman, and especially, a specialist fern grower. If anything I think that the video skipped over the plants a bit quickly, would have liked more on them, since they are the producers, and animals only consumers.

The very early dawn of perhaps one of the world great thought systems, and a beautiful couple of ...

Allamanda comments on Nov 14, 2019:

what this says about the cross-over, absorption and links between Hinduism and Buddhism, is also most amazing!

Fernapple replies on Nov 15, 2019:

@DavidDuhon That's it.

In what order do you say your cardinal directions?

LatentumCattus comments on Nov 14, 2019:

I say it N-E-W-S, because the news all comes from the north, the east, the west and the south.

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2019:

I was taught the old saying. "When facing North, East and West spell we."

The very early dawn of perhaps one of the world great thought systems, and a beautiful couple of ...

Allamanda comments on Nov 14, 2019:

what this says about the cross-over, absorption and links between Hinduism and Buddhism, is also most amazing!

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2019:

The Buddha was of course born into the Hindu world, and a lot of his teaching was criticism of Hindu thinking and ideas. Though of course the religious were not going to give up easily, but having no planned strategy they used both methods of attack, trying both to absorb and undermine the new teaching and to crush it. Eventually they succeeded in driving Buddhism out of India, but not before they had also infected it with a lot of religious woo as well.

The latest glitch doesn't allow people to post high resolution pictures.

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

Having said that it may be true. But it is also true that 99% of the people viewing this site will be looking at it on either smart phones or laptops, neither of which will show high res anyway.

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2019:

@WonderWartHog99 Well yes, but then it is a free site, as the old saying goes about gift horses mouths.

Article about when the concept of homosexuality was actually introduced into translations of the ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2019:

I am no expert on old languages , but the tone of the article makes it sound like contrived revisionist spin to me. Note that it starts by talking about German and other central European languages, why not Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic ? They must know that the original bible was not writen in German, so...

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2019:

@Allamanda Yes. That is true. And of course a lot of cultures allowed female homosexuallty, in the past. But not because they were liberal and tolerant, but often because they believed so strongly in a male centred world, that as far as they were concern sex was something only men could do, something that took place between women and other livestock was not trivial, it was simply beneath notice, even to ban it.

Article about when the concept of homosexuality was actually introduced into translations of the ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2019:

I am no expert on old languages , but the tone of the article makes it sound like contrived revisionist spin to me. Note that it starts by talking about German and other central European languages, why not Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic ? They must know that the original bible was not writen in German, so...

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2019:

@Allamanda Even if it did enter the bible later (I think unlikely.) it was almost certainly there much earlier than that. Because for example, the Koran which largely takes its morality from the bible certainly includes it.

Article about when the concept of homosexuality was actually introduced into translations of the ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2019:

I am no expert on old languages , but the tone of the article makes it sound like contrived revisionist spin to me. Note that it starts by talking about German and other central European languages, why not Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic ? They must know that the original bible was not writen in German, so...

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2019:

@Allamanda If it is only about their collection/geographic area, why does the article not talk about the German Bible or the European Bible. as I say I am no expert but LenHazell53 below sound much more authoritive to me.

This past summer I did about 250 miles of the Camino de Santiago, much/most of which followed the ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Sounds like a wonderful trip it is on my bucket list. In Britain we have a weed commonly called Ground Elder, Aegopodium podagraria, which is a widespread menace. It is not however a native, but is believed to have been brought here by the Romans as a medicinal plant, thought to cure gout ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2019:

@DavidDuhon Yes I know books are heavy to carry, and smart phones have tiny images. The best thing that I have found is a tablet, which gives you the net and good images, and of course something to do in the room at night.

brand new on here trying to get to level 2.

EdEarl comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Grats, you are level 4 ATM. You will find level 7 comes fairly fast.

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2019:

@lakota_5 No people tend not to use the chat rooms, the way the site works you can have a conversation quite well in the groups and forums, so why bother with the chat rooms.

The Curiosity rover detects oxygen behaving strangely on Mars (this webpage has lots of ...

WilliamFleming comments on Nov 13, 2019:

Very interesting. Back in 1976 the first Mars lander detected life but the finding was pushed aside. https://www.space.com/41689-nasa-viking-mars-life-search-gil-levin.html

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2019:

Yes I remember that at the time it did seem to be taking healthy scientific scepticism to an extreme level. But I could not see any motive for that, then it has occured to me that NASA has long had the idea of a manned mission. Could it be that the proof of life on mars is being held back, to provide a justification for and a triumph for a manned mission ?

What are your thoughts? [enotes.com]

WilliamFleming comments on Nov 13, 2019:

Some people seem to need and want religion, and for various reasons. If religion had been serving no purpose it would have long since died out. Live and let live.

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2019:

Some people need and want to self harm.

OK so we all get bored to death with the meaning of 'spiritual' question.

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Nov 12, 2019:

I Googled "freethinker" and the definitions are much the same: someone who bases truth on logic and reason and are free from dogma, especially religious dogma. However, I have met or read posts by very few "true" freethinkers. Being an agnostic or atheist does not make one a freethinker. It's...

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2019:

@Gwendolyn2018 And what is common sense except the view that objective truth may exist, which comes from the other factor, contact with nature ? How can you know anything to be false without an alternative to compare it with, and what alternatives are there to human culture, save the objective observation of nature or science.

The latest glitch doesn't allow people to post high resolution pictures.

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

Having said that it may be true. But it is also true that 99% of the people viewing this site will be looking at it on either smart phones or laptops, neither of which will show high res anyway.

Fernapple replies on Nov 14, 2019:

@WonderWartHog99 Yes they will show them but you do not get any benefit on such a small screen, to get any value from high res you would have to be viewing on a 36 inch screen at least.

OK so we all get bored to death with the meaning of 'spiritual' question.

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Nov 12, 2019:

I Googled "freethinker" and the definitions are much the same: someone who bases truth on logic and reason and are free from dogma, especially religious dogma. However, I have met or read posts by very few "true" freethinkers. Being an agnostic or atheist does not make one a freethinker. It's...

Fernapple replies on Nov 13, 2019:

@Gwendolyn2018 You say that. "God believers are not necessarily lying when they insist that the fantastical events in the The Bible are correct, but they are factually incorrect." Which is very true, but how would you know that they are factually incorrect, unless science had provided you with an alternative. Without that you would believe it too.

OK so we all get bored to death with the meaning of 'spiritual' question.

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Nov 12, 2019:

I Googled "freethinker" and the definitions are much the same: someone who bases truth on logic and reason and are free from dogma, especially religious dogma. However, I have met or read posts by very few "true" freethinkers. Being an agnostic or atheist does not make one a freethinker. It's...

Fernapple replies on Nov 13, 2019:

@Gwendolyn2018 By nature I mean the natural world, and also personal experience when that intrudes into life in none cultural ways. (They are the same really.) For example when watching a loved one die of disease, these are real experiences which often can show human culture to be the sham it is. While science is anti-culture because it grew from the realisation that recieved culture information was, usually in error, and that it was needful to find an alternative path to understanding based on experimental testing. Though of couse in some ways science is a culture itself, but an alternative culture, and of course it only offers value and is useful when it is and alternative to mainstream culture. If mainstream culture always told the truth, then there would be no need for or value in science.

Philosophy vs. Religion

David1955 comments on Nov 13, 2019:

Religions offer liberation? From what, thinking?

Fernapple replies on Nov 13, 2019:

Yes exactly.

Tiny deer-like species spotted for the first time in 30 years

Haemish1 comments on Nov 12, 2019:

I’ve think they’ve mis-identified a Chupacabra - perhaps they’re calling it a “mouse deer” to avoid panic in the general public? 😉

Fernapple replies on Nov 13, 2019:

@Sealybobo You will have to catch one to be sure. Maybe that is why they are rarely seen, people are using the wrong bait. You need a healthy well endowed male running naked through the woods.

Tiny deer-like species spotted for the first time in 30 years

Haemish1 comments on Nov 12, 2019:

I’ve think they’ve mis-identified a Chupacabra - perhaps they’re calling it a “mouse deer” to avoid panic in the general public? 😉

Fernapple replies on Nov 13, 2019:

@Sealybobo Only female humans have boobs when not feeding infants. And the fur is very thick, because its cold where they live and blue nipples would make them easy for the unicorns to spot.

Tiny deer-like species spotted for the first time in 30 years

Haemish1 comments on Nov 12, 2019:

I’ve think they’ve mis-identified a Chupacabra - perhaps they’re calling it a “mouse deer” to avoid panic in the general public? 😉

Fernapple replies on Nov 13, 2019:

@starwatcher-al Has big cold feet, women have big cold feet, (Never shared a bed with one ? ) therefore bigfoot is a woman. Perfect logic according to my religious friends.

OK so we all get bored to death with the meaning of 'spiritual' question.

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Nov 12, 2019:

I Googled "freethinker" and the definitions are much the same: someone who bases truth on logic and reason and are free from dogma, especially religious dogma. However, I have met or read posts by very few "true" freethinkers. Being an agnostic or atheist does not make one a freethinker. It's...

Fernapple replies on Nov 13, 2019:

Yes but there are other inputs we can obtain besides culture, for example, nature, personal experience, and the phiosophy of anit-culture we call science. ( For although science is a culture, the useful bits of it are the bits where it opposes accepted culture. )

Every so often the old question crops up.

Pralina1 comments on Nov 12, 2019:

Or ,

Fernapple replies on Nov 12, 2019:

Yes that is the other reason, though they kind of link.

George Bernard Shaw, "The English & Americans are two peoples divided by a common language"

Cutiebeauty comments on Nov 11, 2019:

Yes, America was started with criminals from Britain?

Fernapple replies on Nov 12, 2019:

@altschmerz Yes I think they were only imprisoned on religious grounds, but in Boston, Lincolnshire, you can still see some of the cells where they were held. Plus of course there were also the Rowenoak (hope that's the spelling) people, who were effectively pirates.

OK so we all get bored to death with the meaning of 'spiritual' question.

MichaelSpinler comments on Nov 12, 2019:

i see xians try to say they are freethinkers, on the dating sites. free thinking is free of indoctrination or authorities. the ability to research and derive opinion based on the facts without emotional attachment to an idea. especially when it comes to woo. which i see on this site.. sadly

Fernapple replies on Nov 12, 2019:

Yes that's a good one, free thinking is only useful if you include a critical view otherwise you are just dreaming up dross.

So if you or I come to something which we find dull and uninteresting, but other people seem to ...

Geoffrey51 comments on Nov 12, 2019:

It’s the dull and boring thing. I have no interest in golf, which I find dull and boring, and see no need to change that. No one is dull and boring in their element, but we do not need to chastise ourselves if we do not find another’s interest riveting!

Fernapple replies on Nov 12, 2019:

@Geoffrey51 "No one is dull and boring in their element," You say , but what about those sad individuals who find nothing interesting, were they born to be just life long social problems, or is education at the core of apprieciation, and if so are they therefore victims of a failed education system which failed to find them a direction.

So if you or I come to something which we find dull and uninteresting, but other people seem to ...

Geoffrey51 comments on Nov 12, 2019:

It’s the dull and boring thing. I have no interest in golf, which I find dull and boring, and see no need to change that. No one is dull and boring in their element, but we do not need to chastise ourselves if we do not find another’s interest riveting!

Fernapple replies on Nov 12, 2019:

Funny that of all things, the only thing that any commentators on this post mentioned by name is golf, and that was at least three of you. LOL

George Bernard Shaw, "The English & Americans are two peoples divided by a common language"

Cutiebeauty comments on Nov 11, 2019:

Yes, America was started with criminals from Britain?

Fernapple replies on Nov 12, 2019:

@altschmerz No the pilgrim fathers. Criminals from England.

George Bernard Shaw, "The English & Americans are two peoples divided by a common language"

Remiforce comments on Nov 12, 2019:

I don't think G.B. Shaw was right. After all Ol' Blighty & America were allies in the World Wars, NATO, & have a special relationship. Of course relations would greatly improve if England would stop sending us those damn dramas they show incessantly on PBS

Fernapple replies on Nov 12, 2019:

You should try watching the stuff we get from the US on nearly all our freeview stations, it is nearly a bad as the stuff from Australia !

We get too soon old and too late smart. —Unknown.

Allamanda comments on Nov 11, 2019:

Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. Francis Bacon

Fernapple replies on Nov 12, 2019:

Old cheese to eat, old buildings to marvel at, old dogs to stroke, old stories to hear, old forests to walk in, old tunes to hum and best of all old ladies to squeeze gently.

OK so we all get bored to death with the meaning of 'spiritual' question.

BrianFinn comments on Nov 11, 2019:

"Freethought (or free thought)[1] is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that positions regarding truth should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism, rather than authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a freethinker is "a ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 12, 2019:

Thank you good background.

OK so we all get bored to death with the meaning of 'spiritual' question.

KittensandSage comments on Nov 12, 2019:

Nice threads, I wondered too, it seems to vary a little bit from person to person who see self as freethinker. I feel free to think for myself, but I don’t want more labels. It might be more PC to say “Freethinker” to theologists or persons in places of power when discussing religious or ...

Fernapple replies on Nov 12, 2019:

My thoughts too. but I had not thought about the historical origins. Thank for that.

OK so we all get bored to death with the meaning of 'spiritual' question.

Flowerwall comments on Nov 11, 2019:

I really like that question.

Fernapple replies on Nov 11, 2019:

@Flowerwall No but I think that Geoffrey -51 below gives a really good serious answer, and Owlinasack the ironic one.

OK so we all get bored to death with the meaning of 'spiritual' question.

Flowerwall comments on Nov 11, 2019:

I really like that question.

Fernapple replies on Nov 11, 2019:

It raised some wonderful comments, some serious and some funny.

OK so we all get bored to death with the meaning of 'spiritual' question.

PBuck0145 comments on Nov 11, 2019:

A "free-thinker" has the ability and confidence to evaluate based on evidence and reason, and accepts the consequences of that evaluation.

Fernapple replies on Nov 11, 2019:

Accepting the consequences of your own thoughts rather than accepting given thoughts, so that you do not need to address the consequeces is key to it, yes I think so too.