This is just an overview, but I thought it was quite interesting to take a world tour, especially ...

AnonySchmoose comments on Jul 15, 2019:

Ecocide has occupied my thoughts a lot in recent years. I've always been aware that monoculture crops and cattle grazing lands are parts of ecocide. It is frightening how difficult it is to overcome the perpetuation of such destructive industries.

Fernapple replies on Jul 15, 2019:

@AnonySchmoose One of the main uses of palm oil, the plantations for which are major sources of deforestation, is in soaps and cosmetics, it is also used in a lot of foods as well, so perhaps it would be good to check the contents of your margarine icecream etc. as well.

This is just an overview, but I thought it was quite interesting to take a world tour, especially ...

AnonySchmoose comments on Jul 15, 2019:

Ecocide has occupied my thoughts a lot in recent years. I've always been aware that monoculture crops and cattle grazing lands are parts of ecocide. It is frightening how difficult it is to overcome the perpetuation of such destructive industries.

Fernapple replies on Jul 15, 2019:

The only thing you can do at a personal level is to eat less meat, and use fewer beauty products, most of which have no proven effect anyway, while eating less meat and wearing a hat in the sun are proven to benefit.

Come fill the cup, and in the fire of spring, Your winter-garment of Repentance fling: The bird of...

bobwjr comments on Jul 14, 2019:

The rubaiyat of Omar khayyam read in the service

Fernapple replies on Jul 15, 2019:

Interesting but I would love to know which service ?

So do we atheists, agnostics, own the privilege to examine others negatively, own the privilege to...

Katsarecool comments on Jul 14, 2019:

Since you asked, here goes... In my experience of almost 70 years I 've found agnostics and atheists much more intelligent than Christians We are More tolerant, kinder, less judgemental, more fun to hang out with, generous, great love of children and animals. They (us) make great neighbors, ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 14, 2019:

Yes I agree with you in general. For although I have met some good Christians, on the whole I have found that they are usually arrogant and unkind. Perhaps in part it is because humans tend to have only so much good will, and if they use that up on the rest of the congregation, and on showing off with extreme demonstrations of goodwill to that congregation, as they are expected to, then there is very little left for anyone else they may meet. I have encountered many examples of this, but just for an example and fun. One day in Greece, after a long walk, I sat down by a country road to eat my lunch and drink some much needed water. I did not know that the village had a festival of some sort that day, and as I sat there a long stream of people came down the road. All of them said hello and smiled as they passed me, despite the fact that I was obviously a foreigner. It actually became quite hard to eat and reply to so many at the same time. Only two people walked past and offered no greeting, and they were of course, the priest and his attendant. So just to be snotty, I said good day to them. They turned away without a word.

A woman was trying to shoot someone in a road rage incident, police say, but shot her husband ...

AnneWimsey comments on Jul 8, 2019:

So, hopefully, before they reproduced?

Fernapple replies on Jul 9, 2019:

@1of5 Oh I was caught when I was a kid, but I hope I grew up and learned better.

A woman was trying to shoot someone in a road rage incident, police say, but shot her husband ...

AnneWimsey comments on Jul 8, 2019:

So, hopefully, before they reproduced?

Fernapple replies on Jul 9, 2019:

@1of5 It does not seem to work the other way round. I was a really bad, no make that nasty, kid, and I am not in jail. LOL

Peterson thinks we got our ethics from our Judeo-Christian heritage.

KKGator comments on Jul 9, 2019:

Jordan Peterson is a twatwaffle.

Fernapple replies on Jul 9, 2019:

New word thanks.

of course we're all addicts anyway...

yamaha45701 comments on Jul 8, 2019:

If I comment, and no one reads it, did I still comment?

Fernapple replies on Jul 9, 2019:

Only if you were clapping with one hand when you did it.

Arctic Fox Traveled More Than 2,700 Miles From Norway To Canada : NPR

LiterateHiker comments on Jul 8, 2019:

My hero! Hope she found what she was looking for.

Fernapple replies on Jul 9, 2019:

She. It was a female.

Eremurus, the fox tail lily is just coming to its peak now, the grass to the side is the Giant ...

Carin comments on Jul 7, 2019:

OOooooh! I think I need to grow those!

Fernapple replies on Jul 8, 2019:

They like a free draining soil and a bit of sun.

Could this be the beginning of low carbon flying. [youtube.com]

chilehead9 comments on Jul 8, 2019:

That just pisses me off: diStributed. Why pull a letter out of the middle of the word, just to make your acronym work? If you need an acronym, pick better words and/or a better acronym.

Fernapple replies on Jul 8, 2019:

Yes I do agree with you about that. It really gets me pissed off, when companies, who must employ expensive advertising people and P. R., use misprints and spellings for 'joke' names and logos, such as. "Boots R Us." What really annoys me about it, is that, it may have been a funny joke the first time someone used the idea, but after the possible customer has seen the first ten thousand bad spellings and puns or so, the joke gets a bit thin. The whole thing is tired, but it is especially bad when using worn out old ones, such as using "4" to stand as "for", the same old puns used over and over by many different groups. What makes people think that using someone else's worn out old joke is going to impress, and what are their P.R./advertising people being paid for, if they don't stop them.

" Anyone who tries make a distinction between education and entertainment, doesn't know the first ...

Realist9 comments on Jul 7, 2019:

I find most of my learning entertaining 🙂

Fernapple replies on Jul 7, 2019:

And it is very hard to learn anything if you do not emotionally engage with it, I think that was his intended instruction to teachers, that they must try for an emotional reaction in their pupils.

Eremurus, the fox tail lily is just coming to its peak now, the grass to the side is the Giant ...

JackPedigo comments on Jul 6, 2019:

Interesting and reminds me of a neighborhood garden show I once attended. There was a very tall plant similar to this one but it had a star shaped bulb. I bought one of these bulbs but didn't have any luck. This flower has a normal bulb with trailing arms. Now I'm curious to find the plant I w=once ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 6, 2019:

Not sure the bulbs of Eremurus could be described as star shaped so it is possible that it is your plant, and there are a number of colour forms.

Nature and Science made me more spiritual (by that I mean attuned to myself) than any religious ...

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Jul 5, 2019:

Same here--it is why I call myself a pagan atheist.

Fernapple replies on Jul 6, 2019:

@Tyrantmike Especially a perfect god who still makes mistakes ????

So apparently 45 said that the the airforce (correction) won the Revolutionary War?

Fernapple comments on Jul 5, 2019:

You have three choices. Either he is speaking deeply metaphorically and trying to engage the young with a deep feeling of the commonality of all history, or he is a complete idiot with no sense of history, or he needs several drinks before he speaks.

Fernapple replies on Jul 5, 2019:

@larsatrg That the three were not exclusive had occure to me too, but not until after I logged off. Well pointed out. LOL

Maybe I'm looking for the impossible.

Fernapple comments on Jun 29, 2019:

There are I think two things to keep in mind. The first being that it may be a mistake to ask for a simple understanding, biological evolution is a run away self feeding cascade, with nothing to limit its complexity, therefore even at the most basic level there may be no simple answers. And the ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 5, 2019:

@Piratefish Good luck with your quest.

I was not raised in a religious environment.

Amisja comments on Jul 4, 2019:

I know very few religious Brits. In fact weirdly, this came up this morning. We are getting a new colleague who is apparently religious. He is literally the only person I know in my place of work who is. I went to a CofE junior and high school and never felt preached at.

Fernapple replies on Jul 4, 2019:

@Allamanda Yes true, though this was a mixed school and one of them was at college.

I was not raised in a religious environment.

Amisja comments on Jul 4, 2019:

I know very few religious Brits. In fact weirdly, this came up this morning. We are getting a new colleague who is apparently religious. He is literally the only person I know in my place of work who is. I went to a CofE junior and high school and never felt preached at.

Fernapple replies on Jul 4, 2019:

@Allamanda Yes I think that is true. Ten years make quite a difference though, and when you combine that with a poor choice of school, and of course it is all about individuals, three in particular stand out for me. One fundamentalist who was a creationist and swore that aninals could not feel pain since they had no souls or minds but only acted like robots. One who stood me against the wall so that he could use me as a punch bag, and carefully targeted the soft areas so that the briuses would not show. And one who preached the religion had never done any harm, could not do harm, and that stories that were just begining to come out of the near east then were just lies.

I was not raised in a religious environment.

Amisja comments on Jul 4, 2019:

I know very few religious Brits. In fact weirdly, this came up this morning. We are getting a new colleague who is apparently religious. He is literally the only person I know in my place of work who is. I went to a CofE junior and high school and never felt preached at.

Fernapple replies on Jul 4, 2019:

I may be a generation older than you, (I think, tell me if its two.) and I caught the British education system at a stage when it was still very theistic. The nausia at the sham hypocricy of it still wakes me at night.

For the life of me i don't understand how in this day and age there are still, Flat Earthers, moon ...

mischl comments on Jul 3, 2019:

A lot of the deniers are just looking for attention.

Fernapple replies on Jul 4, 2019:

@TristanNuvo A lot of it may just be anti-establishmentism, on the part of those who resent being excluded from the establishment.

For the life of me i don't understand how in this day and age there are still, Flat Earthers, moon ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 3, 2019:

I think that a lot of flat earthers are simply indulging in an elaborate joke, some may be serious but not all. Here is quite a good overview of the history, if you forgive the annoying add at the start. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4l9Y5OHqpk

Fernapple replies on Jul 4, 2019:

@backwardsman Fine with me.

Donations to 'religion' declined $2 billion in 2018 after years of growth: study - The Christian ...

bobwjr comments on Jul 3, 2019:

As long as it is evangelical Christians declining not the few who actually do charitable work

Fernapple replies on Jul 4, 2019:

You never know, but almost certainly some of that spare money that went into the collecting boxes, will now be going to charities.

You just have to be amazed at the places robot get to go these days. [youtube.com]

RoyMillar comments on Jul 3, 2019:

Hope i am around to see all this ,very excititng

Fernapple replies on Jul 4, 2019:

Yes me too, Will be seventy six by then.

HOW NOT TO FIND A PARTNER -Lessons from an old man I have a friend whose wife died a year ago.

Fernapple comments on Jul 3, 2019:

It may be well to tell your friend not to be so hasty anyway. I know that life is short and he is not young, but you are not yourself after loosing a partner for at least a year, ( The old idea of mourning for twelve months at least, had some wisdom. ) your judgment is very impaired by grief for a ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 3, 2019:

@Ms_McSteven You are very wise. I have no real experience of divorse, my wife had been divorced for a while when we met, but any sort of trauma like that will spoil your judgement for a long time. When my wife died I had several quick and foolish relatoionships in the following couple of years, fortunately in all cases they came to nothing due to cirumstaces, or we could have made very silly mistakes that would have taken a lot of getting over.

This nails the current state of medicine, at least in the US and much of the western world.

Geoffrey51 comments on Jul 2, 2019:

That sounds in line with other globalised industries. Unfortunately we no longer have room for the entrepreneurial spirit unless you are self-funded. The days of philanthropic sponsorship for science has probably faded away as the bottom line seems to be return on investment rather than beneficial...

Fernapple replies on Jul 3, 2019:

Things may of course be far worse in the US (US centric article I think. ) where medicine is a for profit industry and nothing more, than it is in Australia and here in the UK, where it is mitagated to some degree by the health services.

if there is not God, I would like to know where did everything come from?

Fernapple comments on Jul 2, 2019:

Not all questions can be answered, but because there is no proven answer that does not mean that any answer that someone can imagine, like god for example, is therefore by default the correct one. And since there are tens of thousands of such invented answers, it would be a very long shot to pick ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 3, 2019:

@OwlInASack Thank you, that is I have no doubt very good advice. I have not so far used the block, since being curious about what is out there is one of my main reasons for being here, and so far there have been no problems. Though I have been blocked once, but only by a very boring snob, for telling him he was a boring snob, sometimes I am a bit too hasty, but that is his loss. I think that this person left long before I posted the comment anyway, which is kind of sad because everyone should welcome exposure to alternative views even if they can't change their minds.

Survey: As many Americans claim no religion as there are evangelicals, Catholics - CNN

IamNobody comments on Jul 1, 2019:

We don't need a black president, we don't need a female president, etc etc etc... What we need is a hard core truly secular president.

Fernapple replies on Jul 3, 2019:

@IamNobody You could have a black female atheist. The three in one, was a joking reference to the holy trinity.

Visit to the Edinburgh Royal Botanical Garden

Robecology comments on Jul 2, 2019:

Did you intend to post images? None here...(edited)...yay! fixed!.

Fernapple replies on Jul 3, 2019:

They are showing now.

if there is not God, I would like to know where did everything come from?

Fernapple comments on Jul 2, 2019:

Not all questions can be answered, but because there is no proven answer that does not mean that any answer that someone can imagine, like god for example, is therefore by default the correct one. And since there are tens of thousands of such invented answers, it would be a very long shot to pick ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 3, 2019:

@OwlInASack True, its just me giving everybody the benefit of the doubt as usual.

Survey: As many Americans claim no religion as there are evangelicals, Catholics - CNN

IamNobody comments on Jul 1, 2019:

We don't need a black president, we don't need a female president, etc etc etc... What we need is a hard core truly secular president.

Fernapple replies on Jul 2, 2019:

Don't you think that this is a case where the three in one priciple would be good.

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 2, 2019:

So they want the impossible then, that's a good money spinner, the churches made a fortune out of that one.

Fernapple replies on Jul 2, 2019:

@Marionville I am sure it is well meaning, now, but like the US when they wrote the 'pursuit of happiness' into the constitution, it can become a monster, which can never be met but by feeding mass poplulist expectation and by being miss read, it becomes the justification for every form of abuse, and the promotion of hate.

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 2, 2019:

So they want the impossible then, that's a good money spinner, the churches made a fortune out of that one.

Fernapple replies on Jul 2, 2019:

@Marionville Sorry to be cynical but it is the oldest trick in the world used by the ad industry especially, set up impossibly high expectations, which could never be filled, then tell people their present product is not giving it to them, and of course it is not, but then tell them ours will. And we have to be very wary, as the grip of the churches, over at least the mildly gullible, fades, there will be plenty of institutions ready and willing to step in and take up the mantle.

The unusual long flower spikes of Ligularia przewalskiae are coming out now in the garden down near ...

ShadowAmicus comments on Jul 1, 2019:

looks attractive and unusual - it growing up from that toothy palmate leaf at the bottom right of pic?

Fernapple replies on Jul 2, 2019:

Yes the foliage is worth having on its own.

The unusual long flower spikes of Ligularia przewalskiae are coming out now in the garden down near ...

glennlab comments on Jul 1, 2019:

nice, do you have any close ups of the individual flowers?

Fernapple replies on Jul 1, 2019:

May post some soon.

What does Religion fear?

Jolanta comments on Jul 1, 2019:

And nobody putting any money into the box.

Fernapple replies on Jul 1, 2019:

Free church, now that is scary.

WARNING! WARNING! DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER! So I had a desperate thought today.

Fernapple comments on Jun 30, 2019:

The churches will always have the advantage of ready made community, at least until there is a Humanist coffee shop on every high street. And sadly that will not happen, since most of sceptical people are only linked to each other by a negative view. (Not a Humanist myself.) There are in most parts ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 1, 2019:

@patchoullijulie Good luck.

“Culture – the way we express ourselves and understand each other – can bind us together as ...

Fernapple comments on Jun 30, 2019:

Love the music, but can't agree with the headline. It is culture which more than anything drives people apart.

Fernapple replies on Jun 30, 2019:

@MissKathleen Not sure, there are cultures in the world, more than one, who believe that music is evil and that people who listen to it should be punished. They are valid and widespread cultures.

I went off to a 40's & 50's singles group yesterday afternoon.

IamNobody comments on Jun 30, 2019:

Wish I had a group like that here, the most boring place in the whole freaking world !!!!!....

Fernapple replies on Jun 30, 2019:

If it is more boring than my village you have my sympathy.

I went off to a 40's & 50's singles group yesterday afternoon.

Bungaloebob comments on Jun 30, 2019:

AND THAT SHOULD BE YOUR MOTTO...growing old following my passions. You can't go wrong there...i totally agree with your entire post here. Most singles AREA BORING...talking about stuff that matters to NOBODY. Good luck to you Ma'am.

Fernapple replies on Jun 30, 2019:

If they wern't boring they would have found a friend.

I went off to a 40's & 50's singles group yesterday afternoon.

Fernapple comments on Jun 30, 2019:

Beach is the usual hang out for boring people, to find interesting ones climb a mountain.

Fernapple replies on Jun 30, 2019:

@Remi Yes I am sure there are interesting people on the beach, but the beach certainly attracts the boring ones in droves, hardly ever met a dull one up a mountain.

What do you think about Deism?

Fernapple comments on Jun 23, 2019:

A god who hides, is from a practical point of view, exactly the same as one who does not exist; therefore its a none issue.

Fernapple replies on Jun 30, 2019:

@Liam Yes I am familiar with the history of Deism, but I think that the poster was more interested in the popular modern meaning. Please note the phrase, 'from a practical point of view'. A god who can be understood only through the mechanics/practicallities of the universe leaves nothing for us to study except the mechanics of the universe, and if there is no god then the only thing we have to study are the mechanics of the universe, therefore they are equal. The slight nuance that you may be able to read some intent in the mechanics of the universe, such as, 'god was very fond of beetles,' is not really relevant.

Compassion is the basis of morality.......Arthur Schopenhauer.

brentan comments on Jun 30, 2019:

I'm not sure that's true. I think survival of the tribe is the basis for morality.

Fernapple replies on Jun 30, 2019:

There may be more than one cause of course.

I firmly believe this

Amisja comments on Jun 29, 2019:

I must a bloody stunner then..Thing is it never got me anywhere

Fernapple replies on Jun 30, 2019:

Must be the Lancastrian accent.

It must be summer at last, not only is this the first warm weather here in the UK, but the bowlers ...

bobwjr comments on Jun 28, 2019:

Beautiful picture

Fernapple replies on Jun 28, 2019:

Thank you.

It must be summer at last, not only is this the first warm weather here in the UK, but the bowlers ...

thinktwice comments on Jun 28, 2019:

What is it that they are playing? This picture is gorgeous!!

Fernapple replies on Jun 28, 2019:

Lawn Bowls, it is a popular sport here in the UK, especially with older people. You have a small white ball called the jack and you try to roll your bowls, which are not quite as big as skittles bowls, to be as near the jack as possible. Complications include the fact that the bowls are wighted so that they bend as they go, trying to knock your opponents bowls away and trying to move the jack or block the path in.

Lao-Tzu, from the Tao Te Ching Translated by Stephen Mitchell We join spokes together in a ...

Fernapple comments on Jun 27, 2019:

Every quarry is a cathedral in the negative. ( I like quarries. )

Fernapple replies on Jun 28, 2019:

@DonFallon I wrote that. We used to visit quarries collecting stone for rockery work in gardens, often the limestone was filled with quite beautiful fossils, yet much of it was just used for building blocks or even fed into grinders to make lime. I thought at the time that it was a waste and a failing of appreciation, since surely the buildings built with it could not realy be half so beautiful. Yet having said that at least some of it would be appreciated, and some of its beauty would be seen, and it was then that the thought occured.

Serendipity.

thinktwice comments on Jun 27, 2019:

That is a bit creepy! ha ha ha

Fernapple replies on Jun 27, 2019:

@thinktwice Thanks.

Serendipity.

thinktwice comments on Jun 27, 2019:

That is a bit creepy! ha ha ha

Fernapple replies on Jun 27, 2019:

Congrates on spotting it right away. If it was Jesus on a piece of toast, I could have sold it for money, but stalkers are not so marketable. LOL

Serendipity.

ToolGuy comments on Jun 27, 2019:

She is looking at it?

Fernapple replies on Jun 27, 2019:

No away. for a clue look at the little drawing I did for Kynlei below.

Serendipity.

Kynlei comments on Jun 27, 2019:

I'm stumped.

Fernapple replies on Jun 27, 2019:

@Kynlei There is a crab there too, so award yourself double points if you spoted that.

Serendipity.

Kynlei comments on Jun 27, 2019:

I'm stumped.

Fernapple replies on Jun 27, 2019:

Perhaps this little drawing will help.

Hello to all my Agnostics friends.

Fernapple comments on Jun 27, 2019:

Have a great day, well done for keeping your interest going.

Fernapple replies on Jun 27, 2019:

@Marionville Yes I thought so, I remember that you posting about your loss was one of the first things I came across when I joined about nine months ago.

How do you teach your teenagers ethics and values?

frisbee212 comments on Jun 27, 2019:

Begin teaching ethics and morals and empathy, when they are babes.... children are smart... if you're asking about your teenagers, well..you missed the boat. It's too late for you... have a nice Wal-Mart

Fernapple replies on Jun 27, 2019:

It is sad that we concentrate education in the teenage years, since according to some very good neurological science, the human brain melts down during the teenage years as in converts from the childs brain to an adults, so that those are the worst years for learning.

Serendipity.

Cast1es comments on Jun 27, 2019:

There's a , " face , " on the rock .

Fernapple replies on Jun 27, 2019:

And a hand and and shoulder maybe ?

Serendipity.

Lincoln55 comments on Jun 27, 2019:

I like it. now that I found the crab, I like it even better.

Fernapple replies on Jun 27, 2019:

The crab is cute but not what I was reffering to. Clue look at the rocks coming out of the sea and start by looking for eyes.

Is the universe infinite?

Fernapple comments on Jun 26, 2019:

The correct answer and the one which truly separates the rational from the theist is. 'Don't know.' Almost all cosmologists accept these ideas only at the level of hypothesis not theory, and all of them are considered to be highly speculative. There is no written promise which says that the human ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 26, 2019:

@greyeyed123 Because space is expanding all over. Therefore the farthest things are moving away faster even without moving.

Is the universe infinite?

Amisja comments on Jun 26, 2019:

This makes my little brain pop

Fernapple replies on Jun 26, 2019:

Don't worry, I just posted this below and it may be interesting to youa as well, if only in humour. There is no writen promise which says that the human brain has to be able to understand everything. The human brain evolved as a survival tool on the plains of Africa, that we can understand more than we need just to survive is mere accident, and another thing we do not know is the limits of what we can understand.

Is the universe infinite?

WilliamFleming comments on Jun 25, 2019:

According to quantum gravity theory space is not the smooth infinite expanse that we think. Space consists of a finite number of granules of planck length size. Whenever we formulate questions involving distance or location we are basing our questions on our limited way of perceiving reality, the ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 26, 2019:

It bis not just the senses, there is no writen promise which says that the human brain has to be able to understand everything. The human brain evolved as a survival tool on the plains of Africa, that we can understand more than we need just to survive is mere accident, and another thing we do not know is the limits of what we can understand.

Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.....Helen Keller.

Fernapple comments on Jun 25, 2019:

No don't agree with that one, that way lies folly, the danger, interest, humanity, and wisdom is often hidden in the shadows. To work with the metaphor. Keep your face to the sun, and you will trip over the kerb.

Fernapple replies on Jun 25, 2019:

@Marionville Of course, but my comments are metaphors too. And you have to admit that both metaphorically and in reality she did pull a lot of good stuff out of the shadows.

Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.....Helen Keller.

Fernapple comments on Jun 25, 2019:

No don't agree with that one, that way lies folly, the danger, interest, humanity, and wisdom is often hidden in the shadows. To work with the metaphor. Keep your face to the sun, and you will trip over the kerb.

Fernapple replies on Jun 25, 2019:

@Marionville Oh of course the name rings a bell now. Still its a good way to damage your eyes as well.

Yeah, I think so. Someone who values me.

dare2dream comments on Jun 24, 2019:

I believe our lives take on additional meaning when shared. Every thing matters more.

Fernapple replies on Jun 25, 2019:

The older you get the more you see that sharing is the only really worth while thing.

I'm definitely a skeptic of the Bible, but there is an interesting phenomenon regarding the first 5 ...

BestWithoutGods comments on Jun 24, 2019:

I read about the Bible Code, and applied it to various non-religious texts, including a legal disclaimer having nothing to do with religion, and Edgar Allen Poe's poem about the Raven. I found that it works just as much outside the Bible as it does within the Bible. It's a scam.

Fernapple replies on Jun 25, 2019:

Yes I have seen demonstrations of the 'bible code ' methods aplied to others books, and it does seem that you can use the method on any text you like and get results.

I have started a new group called "Taboos" = [agnostic.

PBuck0145 comments on Jun 24, 2019:

Discussing how human overpopulation is the root cause of global warming (climate change).

Fernapple replies on Jun 25, 2019:

It is true that if the human population world wide was only, say, ten thousand, the estimated world population when we first left Africa. Then it would not mater if we all had four cars the effect would be virtually nil, population is a contributing factor in every environmental issue.

Ok today's minor feature.

IamNobody comments on Jun 24, 2019:

Yeah, IamPrettyMild most of the time... I don't think I made the cut in any category !!! 😂😂

Fernapple replies on Jun 25, 2019:

You came third on my list, so you certainly get the bronze medal for stalking. LOL

Elite Runners' Gut Microbe Makes Mice More Athletic — Could It Help The Rest Of Us? [npr.org]

LB67 comments on Jun 24, 2019:

Interesting. I have no need to start running in marathons, but gut bacteria appears to be an important part of general health and weight. I find these studies intriguing.

Fernapple replies on Jun 25, 2019:

@MojoDave We may have evolved a gut based neurons before those in the head, since the gut predates the sense organs like eyes and therefore the need for a brain.

Just a quick one about huge things, I enjoyed the presentation. [youtube.com]

Robecology comments on Jun 22, 2019:

And can we "shut up about Mars"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrGFEW2Hb2g

Fernapple replies on Jun 23, 2019:

If you have time my comment on Dhiltongs post may amuse you. https://agnostic.com/group/ScienceHealthHistoryBits/post/362998/new-mars-curiosity-rover-pictures-https-www-youtube-com-watch-v-yl-5yqqgjc0?aid=1832416

I’ve been claiming to be Agnostic for over a year and a half now, but I’m leaning more towards ...

Fernapple comments on Jun 22, 2019:

A lot of people have taken that route before you, you are far from alone. I always regard myself as an agnostic atheist, since I can not prove that something supernatural does not exist, therefore atheism is a belief. But it is not hard to prove that the god of the bible or any other religious ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 22, 2019:

@EvoApe On the whole yes, but the final detail of, hard atheism, as it is called, is unprovable. Not really a hard atheist anyway.

We have just reached the top of the analemma.

Fernapple comments on Jun 21, 2019:

Speed at which day length changes.

Fernapple replies on Jun 22, 2019:

@GuyKeith Thanks thats lovely, will make a copy. Is it latitude specific ?

Latest on Tory leadership contest .

Fernapple comments on Jun 20, 2019:

Come on, I come to this site to escape the news about these sad b-------s. Having said which maybe all the anti Boris will get behind Gove.

Fernapple replies on Jun 20, 2019:

@Marionville No prob, don't take me too seriously, I don't.

An old story which you probably know quite a bit of, but this is a refreshing new look, with some ...

Haemish1 comments on Jun 20, 2019:

I love these old stories:)

Fernapple replies on Jun 20, 2019:

Yep, me too.

I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers which can't be questioned.

IamNobody comments on Jun 19, 2019:

One of a kind, Mr Feynman. This quote encapsulates his very own way of thinking.

Fernapple replies on Jun 20, 2019:

Not just his, but in theory at least, the basic philosophy of science.

Everything in the garden seems to be coming up pink.

dede18 comments on Jun 18, 2019:

how heavenly they must smell together! I've had that specific peonie in the past, I think its name is Festiva Maxima? just gorgeous with the dramatic dash of red in its heart

Fernapple replies on Jun 19, 2019:

I think this one is 'Bowl Of Beauty'.

Everything in the garden seems to be coming up pink.

itsmedammit comments on Jun 18, 2019:

Love pink. Not familiar with Phuopsis. Has it another name?

Fernapple replies on Jun 19, 2019:

Sometimes known as Caucasian Crosswort, or Creeping Crosswort. Very fast ground cover, some people say it smells of skunk, others that it smells nice, I can not smell anything.

Everything in the garden seems to be coming up pink.

Alvinsmama comments on Jun 18, 2019:

Peonies are my favorite. I miss them. They don't grow well on the coast of North Carolina because of our hot, humid temps and our short winters. I think they are one of the most beautiful flowers.

Fernapple replies on Jun 18, 2019:

They are not easy even here. Worth trying to find that one special spot, with its own microclimate if you can.

“If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities“ — Voltaire (1694-1778) ...

brentan comments on Jun 18, 2019:

I think there is so much good in many religious concepts. They go beyond logic and rationality because they are aspirational. I don't believe the glue that will bring different cultures together will be education. Education quite often does the very opposite. So far, secular humanism only holds ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 18, 2019:

To be fair to Voltaire, Nietzsche and Dostorvsky, came nearly a century later.

What is happening in America to stop Female Genital Mutilation these days?

bobwjr comments on Jun 15, 2019:

Religion of anti christ primitive horrendous acts if it was penectomy would be banned immediately

Fernapple replies on Jun 15, 2019:

@bobwjr If it succeeds that is doubly horrendous, but even if it does not, the intention to turn a human into a passive beast of burden, by mutilating them, as you would when castrating a donkey is bad enough. Then to do it without any form of pain control or antiseptic, as it often is, goes quite beyond all reason; and that is without its intended consequences.

“The All Scripture Baptist Church includes its belief in the death penalty for homosexuality in ...

MayQueen comments on Jun 13, 2019:

Many religious people invent their own doctrines under the guise of "interpreting the scripture" or "talking with God." They can create whatever they want to fit their agenda.

Fernapple replies on Jun 14, 2019:

Yet they still claim that their views have extra authority, because they come from a higher source, unlike secular views which are just someones oppinion. Case of having it both ways ? And of course it really helps if your book was writen by many people at different times, contains lots of contraditions which need a lot of interpreting, and plenty of vague bits for good measure.

“The All Scripture Baptist Church includes its belief in the death penalty for homosexuality in ...

Fernapple comments on Jun 13, 2019:

The King James is also thought by many, historians especially, to be one of the most dishonest versions of the bible. The editors made large additions and alterations to the texts they were working from, including extra laws and commandments, many extra verses and an extra version of the ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 13, 2019:

@Geoffrey51 Yes that is true, and then of course the Book of Mormon was writen in the same King James English more than two centuries later, which must mean that the all knowing god can't do modern languages.

“The All Scripture Baptist Church includes its belief in the death penalty for homosexuality in ...

bobwjr comments on Jun 13, 2019:

Bullshit Bullshit Baptist church is a fairly recent invention had some friends in high school who claimed that Jesus only drank grape juice not wine . Evangelical Christians are so delusional that they accept Orange Cheeto as a good President. The bible says nothing about homosexuality death penalty...

Fernapple replies on Jun 13, 2019:

@bobwjr Yes, though L.P. also introduced sealed containers for sterilized foods and drinks, the whole system of preserving in fact. He is well worth study, one of the really great creators of the modern world. At least look him up on google or wiki, if you have the time, I think you will find it fun and rewarding.

“The All Scripture Baptist Church includes its belief in the death penalty for homosexuality in ...

bobwjr comments on Jun 13, 2019:

Bullshit Bullshit Baptist church is a fairly recent invention had some friends in high school who claimed that Jesus only drank grape juice not wine . Evangelical Christians are so delusional that they accept Orange Cheeto as a good President. The bible says nothing about homosexuality death penalty...

Fernapple replies on Jun 13, 2019:

Do I wonder do they ever ask themselves how people kept grape juice, two thousand years before Louis Pasteur.

That’s one thing that got me thinking. They can’t all be right so how do we know who is?

Arouet comments on Jun 11, 2019:

While his conclusion may well be true, it does not follow logically from his premise. It is the same sort of fallacy common among Intelligent Design enthusiasts: "There are only two possibilities, X and Y. If X is not true, then Y must be true." Throwing in the word "reasonable" does not make it...

Fernapple replies on Jun 12, 2019:

@Arouet Quite.

Better by far you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad.

bobwjr comments on Jun 11, 2019:

Sadness is reminder of past joy and pain must be remember both to be human

Fernapple replies on Jun 11, 2019:

@Marionville Yes I am sure you are correct, and it is very true. But I was refering more to bobwjr's remark, which is also in a different way very true.

I have noticed that the emails being sent to members often suggesting members people might be ...

Petter comments on Jun 11, 2019:

What e-mails? I've never received one!

Fernapple replies on Jun 11, 2019:

I signed up for the community, and the dating side of the site seems to be invisible if you do that. I keep seeing references like this to it sometimes, but it seems like a ghostly other world that exists in another universe.

“You are not controlling the storm, and you are not lost in it. You are the storm.” Sam Harris

Fernapple comments on Jun 3, 2019:

We are a storm which is doing horrible damage across the face of the planet.

Fernapple replies on Jun 11, 2019:

@mrdunn Yes sorry to start of badly when I said, "of course" it implied more convition than I really have, and it was a flip answer meaning that I usually regard myself as deteriminist in the macro way of most none believers, not that I held to determinsim being proved in every way. And I did not think that it would lead to a conversation, which has been very interesting though. The only real issue being that since the quantum world is usually regarded as a model by most scientists, and subject to possible change as are all scientific theories, that even Einstien got his fingers scorched over it, and that philosophy and neurological determinism may be quite different and come from different fields. It is, I think you will argree, questionable whether you can make really make a jump from one to the others.

Agnostics??

Freespirit64 comments on Jun 11, 2019:

I'm 98% percent in favor of no "omniscent presences". I just can't get over the hump that there's some legitimate reason humans started that nonsense. Was it aliens? Are there entities here we don't understand? The great mystery I don't lose any sleep over!

Fernapple replies on Jun 11, 2019:

There could be lots of reasons, but there is no reason to go for aliens etc.. Sometimes at night when I am sleeping have a dream in which my dead parents play ar part, its just they way the brain works and if you lived before neurology it was reason enough.

Better by far you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad.

bobwjr comments on Jun 11, 2019:

Sadness is reminder of past joy and pain must be remember both to be human

Fernapple replies on Jun 11, 2019:

@bobwjr Or improve yourself if you don't remember your errors.

That’s one thing that got me thinking. They can’t all be right so how do we know who is?

Arouet comments on Jun 11, 2019:

While his conclusion may well be true, it does not follow logically from his premise. It is the same sort of fallacy common among Intelligent Design enthusiasts: "There are only two possibilities, X and Y. If X is not true, then Y must be true." Throwing in the word "reasonable" does not make it...

Fernapple replies on Jun 11, 2019:

No there are not only two conclusions. The analogue is like that of a horse race, horse X may win, one possible outcome, horse Y may win, second possible outcome, both horses may fall and break their legs or fail to arive at the track, no horse wins, third possible outcome.

"Confronting the question most commonly asked of the growing number of Americans who support ...

Fernapple comments on Jun 10, 2019:

As a none American I can not really comment on these issues about which I have only a limited fringe knowledge. But from the outsiders view. Is it not also true, that if you make a huge profit making industry out of medicine, with only a finite number of customers. Will they not then try to sell you...

Fernapple replies on Jun 10, 2019:

@Robecology It is very sad, we have had a few problems over here with pharma companies giving doctors who opt for their expensive named drugs, instead of generic ones, freebees and things for their surguries, and a few other cases of bribery etc. but nothing like you have.

“You are not controlling the storm, and you are not lost in it. You are the storm.” Sam Harris

Fernapple comments on Jun 3, 2019:

We are a storm which is doing horrible damage across the face of the planet.

Fernapple replies on Jun 10, 2019:

@mrdunn On the contrary, there is no connection between a universe which may be deterministic, and the understanding of determinism, which may never exist. But yes I do appologize when I said deterministic I did not state that I hold that as a belief based possition not as one based on evidence based knowledge, which as you will have guessed I hold belief to be a very weak form of truth.

"Think of it as evolution in action..." [facebook.com]

Athena comments on Jun 9, 2019:

How is this evolution in action?

Fernapple replies on Jun 10, 2019:

@Athena I do not know if any bystander actually died, and if they did then the posting was in very bad taste. I was only trying to point the way to, Lizard of Ahaz's reference if you were not familiar with it.

“You are not controlling the storm, and you are not lost in it. You are the storm.” Sam Harris

Fernapple comments on Jun 3, 2019:

We are a storm which is doing horrible damage across the face of the planet.

Fernapple replies on Jun 10, 2019:

@mrdunn I do not see that the statement is in any way a contradition of the hierarchy of understanding, quite the reverse it comes directly from it, and that everyones cave is dimly lit is the whole point of it. ( Even Einstein is said to have gone wrong with the playing dice metaphor.) Especially since there is only a tenuous link between the scientific quantam theory and the popular and philosophical questions of freee will etc.. I did not say that religion contains no truth whatsoever, the statement was "that religion could ever be a way to truth" in the context of the cave metaphor. Of course religion contains some truth, it is hard to prevent truth entering any belief system, if you toss a coin and say heads every time, you will probably be right half of the time, but that does not make tossing a coin is a good way to truth. Please try not to straw man me, that is usually the last resort of the religious appologist when they think they have lost and loose their dignity. As to my interpretation of Plato it was, I admit, speculative, but I am reasonably confident about it , though well prepared to accept correction from historians of philosophy. Though it has to be said it came from a light hearted paying with the metaphor, and it was fifty years ago that I read Plato, so memory fades. (Which is another of the many ways that it is possible to go astray in the search for truth, adding to the dim confusion of the cave. ) I am certain of very little, but two things. One being the uncertainty of nearly everything and the need to hold everything as questionable. And the other being that, the only philosophy which started by accepting uncertainty and the and the need to hold everything as questionable as it first and guiding priciple, science, has because of that, become paramount far above all other philosophies, and yeilded far more worth because of it.

"Think of it as evolution in action..." [facebook.com]

Athena comments on Jun 9, 2019:

How is this evolution in action?

Fernapple replies on Jun 9, 2019:

Its a joke, google Darwin Awards.

As an atheist and raising my sons as such I found the philosophy Stoicism a fantastic alternative to...

KevinMR comments on Jun 9, 2019:

Why can't we just live without subscribing to a philosophy or looking for meaning? We're making life more complicated than it is because our brains are more imaginative than every other creature on Earth, who never contemplate this stuff and get by just fine.

Fernapple replies on Jun 9, 2019:

You may still find that the Stocis still have a lot to offer since they are not really about finding a meaning in life, more indeed the exact opposite, being about practical solutions to living a life without meaning.

I've posted this before but every time I do I get berated for doing so.

Fernapple comments on Jun 4, 2019:

No words have meanings, only usages. They are just tags which we attach to ideas which we can move and change, and do move and change, at will. If we are lucky those tags attach to approximately, ( never exactly ) the same ideas in the minds of others and that helps us to communicate. However ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 9, 2019:

@EdwinMcCravy I can't for the very simple reason that theists do not intend that anyone can. It is the oldest way to sell a con-trick in the book. Never say or make plain what you intend or mean, let the victim work at it and come to their own wrong conclusions, they will then be all the more convinced because they think that they have worked it out for themselves, and if critisism or doubts are offered by anyone, then the conman can simply step back and say. "That is not what I meant." That idea applies whatever name you give to god, and is the whole point of how a good con works. If I wish to be specific then I often choose words such as 'god of the bible' though even that could mean a lot of different things, since it is almost certainly a different god in each book of the bible. But more often I choose an even more vague word such as supernatural, since if you want to combat vague then you must be plain that it is the vague you mean.

“You are not controlling the storm, and you are not lost in it. You are the storm.” Sam Harris

Fernapple comments on Jun 3, 2019:

We are a storm which is doing horrible damage across the face of the planet.

Fernapple replies on Jun 9, 2019:

@mrdunn Sorry but I do not call quantum theory questionable only that use of it. Except of course in so far as all science is regarded by all scientists as questionable, since the phiosophy of science is basically that nothing is ever proven. I can not however ever agree that religion could ever be a way to truth, or out of the cave, since I am sure that it is itself a cave of the very worst sort. Though to use the metaphor as I have little doubt Plato intended it, then religion is almost certainly one, perhaps all, of the shadows on the wall. It would then have been dangerous no doubt to openly address a criticism of religion, especially in the aftermath of what happened to Socrates. So that therefore addressing it indirectly in a cryptic metaphor was the only safe way, and perhaps the reason for inventing the metaphor in the first place, though of course he then ran with it and made it say much more.

What Are Your Thoughts About Spiritualism ?

Paracosm comments on Mar 27, 2019:

As long as they aren't trying to force their beliefs on others, legislate it to deny others rights, or use it to justify harm it doesn't bother me.

Fernapple replies on Jun 8, 2019:

@Geoffrey51 Well taxes certainly make me feel weak and vunerable. LOL. But seriously there is a real problem in many ways. There is in my village a regular meeting held each week by a so called spiritualist, and I know that some of the people who go, and that the spiritualist is preying especially on the bereaved, weak and unhappy, almost certainly picking at the scabs and keeping the wounds open to maximize the profits for as long as possible. Yet it is hard oppose the parish council who voted rent the room for these meetings, because it pays much needed funds into the village, (and no doubt the spiritualist pays taxes). Yet much of these funds come from the poorest people, who are themselves supported by the tax payers and who are at their most vunerable and least able to budget.

“You are not controlling the storm, and you are not lost in it. You are the storm.” Sam Harris

Fernapple comments on Jun 3, 2019:

We are a storm which is doing horrible damage across the face of the planet.

Fernapple replies on Jun 7, 2019:

@mrdunn That's it. Or to use the modern anology, "We would never know if we were a brain in a vat." Our brains have to model truth for us in our heads using the information that our senses provide, and so therefore we are in the cave of our own skulls to a degree anyway, there being no escape from that cave for anyone, even Plato. But there is also the point that, even if there was a second outer cave like Plato's within which we sit, we have no way of knowing of outer reality, or there may even be a whole series of nested caves one within the other, which we have no way of knowing the boundaries of or escaping. ( Except perhaps Plato's alone which we escape when we abandon our belief in human culture as a source of truth.) Therefore the point is that in the end the search for an outer reality is (with the one exception of Plato's cave) pointless and profitless, so that our model of the caves core being our nearest approximation to reality we have, we can only regard them as the equivalent of reality. The search for that outer truth being without profit or point, since we can not even see the caves walls, then it follows we can only then look for evidence based truth about the laws which explain the universe as we see it, be that within or without a cave. And the best evidence based model of how our brains work that has been found so far, to my mind at least, is the view that our brains evolved by mutation and natural sellection inorder to aid survival /reproduction, on a medium sized planet. In which case we can reasonable assume that they are adapted to provide, a model within our skulls, which is a fairly good approximation, to the reality of life on the surface of a medium sized planet. It will of course be an unknown degree short of perfect, and we can also therefore conclude that any talent we have for understanding the greater universe, cosmology or the quantum world is purely an accidental side effect, and must therefore be treated with caution. It is good or wise therefore, to my mind, to regard even sense based perception with care, and then to set a hierarchy to our understanding, with scientifically tested evidence first, the evidence of senses second, what can be logically reasoned from those two third, (Though since the first two are doubtful and logic imperfect it is wise to regard that as unlikely to be good truth. ) cultural information which is the third at second hand with deliberate lying sometimes added may be held very unlikely to contain any truth except by accident. Which is why I tend to regard speculation about things such as determinism, based on things such a quantum physics, about which we have only limited and qualified scientific knowledge, as questionable. Great fun if you are only doing it for fun, but not ...

"An elder is wise, not because they are always right, because they have more experiences of being ...

IamNobody comments on Jun 6, 2019:

An elder is elder...... the end

Fernapple replies on Jun 7, 2019:

And the end is come faster every day.

“You are not controlling the storm, and you are not lost in it. You are the storm.” Sam Harris

Fernapple comments on Jun 3, 2019:

We are a storm which is doing horrible damage across the face of the planet.

Fernapple replies on Jun 7, 2019:

@mrdunn Quite, but how would you know that anything you perceived was anything but an illusion, unless your brain was an evolved structure which evolved by a mechanism such as natural selection, which placed a premium on a brain which could create a good model of that reality, because those with a poor model do not survive and reproduce as well.

“You are not controlling the storm, and you are not lost in it. You are the storm.” Sam Harris

Fernapple comments on Jun 3, 2019:

We are a storm which is doing horrible damage across the face of the planet.

Fernapple replies on Jun 6, 2019:

@mrdunn Of course an illusion can be the equivalence of reality, if you are part of the illusion then without any alternative viewpoint then the illusion has to stand in for reality because there is nothing else.