I came into existence by happenstance with an indeterminant probability and I will die by ...

Amisja comments on Mar 31, 2019:

Virgin births are actually fairly common

Fernapple replies on Mar 31, 2019:

Only in Accrington.

When David Cameron allowed the 2016 Referendum to go ahead he did not realize that it would release ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 31, 2019:

Sadly whatever happens the one thing that will not happen is better democracy.

Fernapple replies on Mar 31, 2019:

@Mcflewster If you would like to know about my thoughts on science a other things a good way would be to look at my debate with Skado on this post. Warning it is a long debate so sit back for a good read. https://agnostic.com/post/316388/as-an-atheist-this-is-something-i-enjoy-so-dont-bust-my-balls-i-like-things-to-be-logical-and-co?cid=1187018

When David Cameron allowed the 2016 Referendum to go ahead he did not realize that it would release ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 31, 2019:

Sadly whatever happens the one thing that will not happen is better democracy.

Fernapple replies on Mar 31, 2019:

@Mcflewster You misread me I am sorry to say, science is my greatest passion and the way that I see the world. If anything my view as presented here was mainly influenced by chaos theory, which deeply affected my thinking many years ago partly because of events like the one described. Part of my point was that we were told that he was a very top government employee, though certainly no scientist, or a very bad one since I would hope that no scientist would have the dishonesty to speculate like that about the future, since that would be the very opposite of true science.

When David Cameron allowed the 2016 Referendum to go ahead he did not realize that it would release ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 31, 2019:

Sadly whatever happens the one thing that will not happen is better democracy.

Fernapple replies on Mar 31, 2019:

@Mcflewster But iI will quote you a post I made the other day. It may happen, it may not happen, if it does it will most likely be all of the above working together, plus some others like resource exhaustion, grid breakdown etc. Few things in history occur for single simple reasons, historians have found forty plus reasons why the Roman Empire ended, most of which could never have been foreseen and all of which contributed. But if you want to know the future then you can try a fortune teller, or a futurologist, neither work but they are your best shot. When at college forty years ago we went to a lecture given by a government advisor, very senior, who job was to predict future trends for the government, we were told that it was very special that he agreed to talk to us. Over the years I remember how many of the things he said came true; exactly none. History is chaotic and all attempts to foresee it are doomed to fail.

When David Cameron allowed the 2016 Referendum to go ahead he did not realize that it would release ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 31, 2019:

Sadly whatever happens the one thing that will not happen is better democracy.

Fernapple replies on Mar 31, 2019:

@Mcflewster No just a sad old bloke.

As an atheist, this is something I enjoy, so don't bust my balls.

skado comments on Mar 23, 2019:

OK, I’ll give it a try. If, on a rainy Monday afternoon, I write in my diary “It’s raining.” I would be telling the truth. If later that week, on Thursday, the sun is out and I write in my diary “It’s not raining.” I’m also telling the truth. After I die, somebody picks up my ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 31, 2019:

@skado Yes I do see hope, but first it is needful to outline the problem clearly. Richard Dawkins famously was the first to propound the idea that religions are infections of the mind which grow, reproduce and evolve, just like organic diseases. I think that he failed however to see the extent to which that is true of all human culture, and the way in which a culture is able to evolve to improve the way in which it does that. When two cultures merge, or one is absorbed by anther, sometimes without conflict but sometime in the most violent way such as by physical conflict and imperialism; the winning culture will often then absorb parts of the other. But of course it will always take the best bits, which means the bits which enabled the loosing culture to most successfully infect other minds, and the parts most used by the dominant humans within it. This is very like bacteria exchanging genes, or sex in plants and animals. Successful cultures therefore gradually gain more powers which they can use to control people and to compete for that control with other cultures. At this time there are many cultures competing for territory, or in other words control of humans. For example American capitalist imperial theist culture, is in sharp conflict as we all know with Islamic medieval capitalist culture, and socialist culture, though there are many others. At some stage in human development, the biological and evolutionary ground work needed for the development of human language and culture had been completed, and since that day most of our growth and evolution has been of a technological form, language and culture being themselves only technologies in the broadest sense of the word. Nor would I think that many would argue when I say that it is technology which has created almost all that we have gained since then. It is a fashionable worry for many people, that the new computer technology might prove to be dangerous to the human mind. Especially in danger are the minds of the young. Who it is thought, will be easily seduced into an alternate world, where they would loose all contact with what is called objective reality. Yet, the people who attach themselves to this new fashionable “worry” miss something vital, and are at least ten thousand years too late. Since humanities really serious loss of contact with reality may well have occurred long centuries ago, soon after we first began to do no more than tell tales around the camp fire. If culture is a disease of the mind, it is an intellectual infection to which humans have no pre-evolved resistance in our biology, for evolution has no foresight and only works retrospectively. There is a common theme in the popular imagination, especially expressed in science fiction, which sees human technology as...

Apart from the Daffs everything seems to be blue in the garden now.

Zoohome comments on Mar 30, 2019:

I love blue flowers

Fernapple replies on Mar 31, 2019:

@Zoohome With you anyway.

Some people think that Forsythia is a bit vulgar if not overdone, but it could just be a case of ...

Carin comments on Mar 30, 2019:

Very sweet.

Fernapple replies on Mar 30, 2019:

Maynbe even bordering on twee, but what the hec I am old enough to make a fool of myself and not care who sees it.

As an atheist, this is something I enjoy, so don't bust my balls.

skado comments on Mar 23, 2019:

OK, I’ll give it a try. If, on a rainy Monday afternoon, I write in my diary “It’s raining.” I would be telling the truth. If later that week, on Thursday, the sun is out and I write in my diary “It’s not raining.” I’m also telling the truth. After I die, somebody picks up my ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 30, 2019:

@skado History is as the saying goes, written by the winners. And since we are cultural creatures living in a cultural environment controlled by people who are culturally successful, and culture itself controls even those who think they control it, we are therefore bound to over estimate the value and goodness of culture. Culture is a living thing which evolves, and what it evolves to do is to exploit humans, the most successful cultures are those who can manipulate humans the most successfully., Cultures which can get people to die, slave and kill for them the most, win over those that can't. Yet especially it is the things which seem like the bests bits, which have to be distrusted the most, the best bait always covers the most deadly hooks. The finest arts are used to draw people into the temples where the most evil of crusades are preached.

Apart from the Daffs everything seems to be blue in the garden now.

Zoohome comments on Mar 30, 2019:

I love blue flowers

Fernapple replies on Mar 30, 2019:

Me too.

Apart from the Daffs everything seems to be blue in the garden now.

Lllewis comments on Mar 29, 2019:

Lovely colours

Fernapple replies on Mar 29, 2019:

Thank you, just natural no filters or cromatic changes in photoshop.

Like a shag on a .......

ToolGuy comments on Mar 29, 2019:

What kind of bird are we looking at?

Fernapple replies on Mar 29, 2019:

@JustRyan adjectiveBritish adjective: twee; comparative adjective: tweer; superlative adjective: tweest excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental, especially when used as a euphemism. "although the film's a bit twee, it's watchable" synonyms: quaint, sweet, bijou, dainty, pretty, pretty-pretty;

"Mercier and Sperber (in their book Enigma of Reason) proposed a novel theory of human ...

mordant comments on Mar 28, 2019:

The problem of course is that one can appeal to *faulty* reasoning or even quasi- or false-reasoning. And many forms of religion are ripe for such fallacious appeals (as are politics and various claims of superior reasoning by peoples, clans, families, races or tribes). More generically, we are less...

Fernapple replies on Mar 29, 2019:

@mordant My thoughts exactly, although meant to be true my comment was half joke, but you nail it eloquently. At the end of the day, anyone in any sphere who does not assume but tests, is doing science, it is not much more complex than that..

Conservative Bible Project aims to rewrite scripture to counter perceived liberal bias - New York ...

AnneWimsey comments on Mar 29, 2019:

But, it says right there, in several places, that altering the words of the Babble will condemn the alterer-er to fiery Hell for eternity. These people either got Huge balls, or do not believe their Babble....

Fernapple replies on Mar 29, 2019:

A lot of them tend to love the King James best of all, which is known to be one of the most heavily edited and rewritten of them all, with many extra verses, one or two whole extra chapters, and an extra commandment for good measure.

"Mercier and Sperber (in their book Enigma of Reason) proposed a novel theory of human ...

mordant comments on Mar 28, 2019:

The problem of course is that one can appeal to *faulty* reasoning or even quasi- or false-reasoning. And many forms of religion are ripe for such fallacious appeals (as are politics and various claims of superior reasoning by peoples, clans, families, races or tribes). More generically, we are less...

Fernapple replies on Mar 29, 2019:

@mordant Citing an authority on sociology, which is either a science and therefore science exists, or a pseudo-science in which case you can not cite it against the real thing. QED

Conservative Bible Project aims to rewrite scripture to counter perceived liberal bias - New York ...

The-Krzyz comments on Mar 29, 2019:

Only god can change the bible! Put a double-spaced copy on top of a rocket with a red pen. If it comes back with edits, well, there we go!

Fernapple replies on Mar 29, 2019:

That's what they think anyway.

Apart from the Daffs everything seems to be blue in the garden now.

btroje comments on Mar 29, 2019:

I saw someone's lawn covered with scilla once. so beautiful. love the blue of the first pic

Fernapple replies on Mar 29, 2019:

Wow that musyt have been a sight. Some people just get lucky.

Apart from the Daffs everything seems to be blue in the garden now.

CeliaVL comments on Mar 29, 2019:

I love blue. One day I will have a blue and pink garden.

Fernapple replies on Mar 29, 2019:

@CeliaVL The most famous white garden of course was the one at Sizzinghurst, and that gave rise to a lot of the others, but even that was white, green and silver if you read V .S.-W. original writings about it. And though it works well I have not seen any other that does. To pull off themes you really do need at least V.S.-W.s tallent, themed gardens rarely work because you start by restricting what you can use, and for ordinary mortals that is just an extra difficulty to overcome.

Apart from the Daffs everything seems to be blue in the garden now.

CeliaVL comments on Mar 29, 2019:

I love blue. One day I will have a blue and pink garden.

Fernapple replies on Mar 29, 2019:

Nice idea, though colour scheme gardens can be hard to do, especially if you don't want to end up with something dull.

A woman is like a tea bag - you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot ...

Lllewis comments on Mar 29, 2019:

Very true ?

Fernapple replies on Mar 29, 2019:

@Marionville That sounds like a toilet paper add.

Apart from the Daffs everything seems to be blue in the garden now.

Spinliesel comments on Mar 29, 2019:

That is so pretty! I have real challenges with growing blue flowers. Most come up white and orange and purple.

Fernapple replies on Mar 29, 2019:

Sonmetimes soil chemistry can alter flower colour, usually cleated iron, or lime can help, depending if you are acid or alchaline.

Just read this bit of Woooooo..En.joy!

Sticks48 comments on Mar 29, 2019:

Who the hell are Sara, Joy, Hope, and Mellisa. I have dated White Angelica (and Black Angelica as a matter of fact), Harmony, and Ruta VaLa. Ruta was a little crazy, but she was a sweetheart. Yes, a few drops here and a few drops there from these ladies, and I would feel MUCH better. :)

Fernapple replies on Mar 29, 2019:

@Sticks48 Watching strippers would do you more good.

Not sorry for posting something on this group mainly because I think its cute.

Robecology comments on Mar 28, 2019:

So...in effect...we don't become fully human...homo sapien...until we've aged 2-3 years! Wow!

Fernapple replies on Mar 29, 2019:

Yep, I think I managed that stage, not frightened of mirrors anyway, but I'm still working on the rest.

Like a shag on a .......

ToolGuy comments on Mar 29, 2019:

What kind of bird are we looking at?

Fernapple replies on Mar 29, 2019:

Shags in England. I guess the Australians are trying to be twee, which is odd because that's not like them usually.

I'm wondering about something which is going to cause me to post this same question twice, once from...

Fernapple comments on Mar 28, 2019:

Where do posts from people on this site appear on Humanist.com I can't find them ? Or is there more than one Humanist site ?

Fernapple replies on Mar 28, 2019:

@1of5 Thanks that explains it.

They taught us to postpone judgments, to acknowledge mistakes, to mistrust your own work and give ...

Marionville comments on Mar 28, 2019:

Yes! It’s a pity our politicians didn’t seem to have any of these good teachers,

Fernapple replies on Mar 28, 2019:

Sadly not all teachers even get that lucky with their teachers in the first place.

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 Mar 27, 2019:

Yes but they may be taking money of the weak and vunerable.

What is worth believing in?

Fernapple comments on Mar 27, 2019:

Can't disagree with any of that, but then can't find much that is new in it either. I think that you will find that on this site you are preaching to the long converted.

Fernapple replies on Mar 27, 2019:

@Caymen True, though such people are unlikely to be reading this site. But for my snobbery I am rightly told off.

What’s the world’s worst religion?

Fernapple comments on Mar 27, 2019:

I would like to add another one to your list if I may, though it is not usually thought of as a religion which is perhaps why it is not on Wiki as such. And that is Art especially with a capital "A", because it is the enabler in manipulating human minds which spans all of the religions. It has a so ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 27, 2019:

@Closeted Yep, of course for some art you really do have to be a believer, to think that there is something specially which makes any painting, even one that seems to say little, art with a capital "A" and a pair of shoes however well made, carefully designed, and crafted with however much creativity, only a work of craft. This is the sort of thing, not possible to define, that you encounter with that other meaningless word "spiritual", which is what makes it religion. And the way it feeds the other religions. Walk into a church and it feels like a special holy place, in a way that impresses the easily fooled, and what makes it so is the art and architecture. Read a good religious poem, and do you not feel that a poet who wrote so well must have a special understanding and is therefore surely right. Even though the craft of putting words together does not enable you to see god, any more than anyone else.

Landscapes — 1: Another view from Mount Sugarloaf, South Deerfield, Massachusetts, taken in ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 26, 2019:

You seem to be very well traveled, I like the first one it is almost a pattern.

Fernapple replies on Mar 27, 2019:

@Coffeo I am sorry to hear about your wife, you must of course limit your travels, and at least if you can still travel in your own country. Any little lane however small, that has not been traveled down before, is a new and fresh sight, and if you drop upon something serendipetus as you often do when traveling. Then you may have the unique chance to apprieciate something no one else has ever seen, and which, unlike the tourist attractions, would go unapprieciated though the whole history of the universe if it was not for you. Sorry if that's a little purple , but I am sure it is true.

As an atheist, this is something I enjoy, so don't bust my balls.

skado comments on Mar 23, 2019:

OK, I’ll give it a try. If, on a rainy Monday afternoon, I write in my diary “It’s raining.” I would be telling the truth. If later that week, on Thursday, the sun is out and I write in my diary “It’s not raining.” I’m also telling the truth. After I die, somebody picks up my ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 27, 2019:

@skado Good list. Tool making is sometimes harmful sometimes not, leaded petrol from example, was I think you will agree, not good, neither are bombs and swords, but smallpox jabs certainly are. Rule of law is generally good, but there can be exceptions, no one would say that the laws which build concentration camps are to be mindlessly respected. Recipes are often neutral sometimes fun, but no one would say that the vast number used to deliberately fuel sugar addiction, especially among the poor, are good things and among humanities greatest works. ( They are also just a sub-set of the arts, see below.) Manners can be good, but formal manners can often be the sticking plasters which violent and unfairly divided societies, used to cover injustice and violent oppression, the most mannered societies are often the most cruel, while truly caring societies, if such things could exist, would not need them. Beauty comes for the most part from nature, and is inherent in us because we are animals, so does not really belong here. Art and style can be wonderful especially if treated as games, and not seen as a source of truth, (especially so called, artistic truth) . But they can also in some ways, especially art with a capital "A", be another form of religion, and are perhaps the greatest of all the evils afflicting humanity. For humans, the word art means using the tools and the skills they learned for presenting and spreading their ideas. There may be some good in this, for if we use all our talents skills and tools to help them, then our ideas will spread more easily and be more fruitful. Yet even so the arts will always be a greater friend to the liar than to the honest, for they work just as well for an untruth which needs them more, as they do for the genuine, making no choice between them and spread untruth as well as good. Will it not always be then, that the deceiver and the tyrant know this, and the false and the vicious will always be the first to reach for these tools? Certainly the biggest investors in the arts have always been the great religions and political tyrants. Part of the problem being that not only are the arts a subculture where the skills of hyper-stimulating human emotions are practised, enabling them to sell anything, however evil, without any checks from objective truth. But the arts self promote creating their own subculture and the artistic truth idea, and since there is in fact no link between the arts and objective truth, the artistic truth idea can the be borrowed and used to validate anything. The concentration camp and the gulag were born on the drawing board and in the editors office. Many people especially in the modern urban world have no contact with anything which does not come to them through the channel of ...

Some people think that Forsythia is a bit vulgar if not overdone, but it could just be a case of ...

Bigwavedave comments on Mar 26, 2019:

My wife hates it.

Fernapple replies on Mar 26, 2019:

@Bigwavedave Oh I am sorry but at least you have a good wife.

I’m noticing a recent influx of followers of Jesus (Harold?

freedom41 comments on Mar 26, 2019:

Block them would be the best to deal with them. Making them see logic and enlightenment would be best arrows we can use. If they are questioning the bs, we can help them journey from ignorance.

Fernapple replies on Mar 26, 2019:

@BohoHeathen Ignore if you want, but just do a little if you like. Remember you are not alone on this site, even if you only deliver a pin prick, a lot of tiny chinks in their armour soon add up.

Fear of Death

KKGator comments on Mar 26, 2019:

Know NO fear. Personally, I think it's pretty fucking stupid to be afraid of something that happens to everyone. I have nothing but contempt for anyone who believes in an afterlife. Except my aunt. I can't with her. She's too dear to me, and I forgive her her delusions. I realize that's a...

Fernapple replies on Mar 26, 2019:

You are lucky to have an aunt who means that much.

Landscapes — 1: Another view from Mount Sugarloaf, South Deerfield, Massachusetts, taken in ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 26, 2019:

You seem to be very well traveled, I like the first one it is almost a pattern.

Fernapple replies on Mar 26, 2019:

@Coffeo You should always have one last big adventure planned, even if you never do it.

Some people think that Forsythia is a bit vulgar if not overdone, but it could just be a case of ...

Heidi68 comments on Mar 26, 2019:

I love it! Hello look at me! Yeah I got your attention. ?

Fernapple replies on Mar 26, 2019:

Certainly shouts, but like several here said, at this time in spring who wants pastel shades.

Some people think that Forsythia is a bit vulgar if not overdone, but it could just be a case of ...

Bigwavedave comments on Mar 26, 2019:

My wife hates it.

Fernapple replies on Mar 26, 2019:

Get a job lot cheap.

As an atheist, this is something I enjoy, so don't bust my balls.

skado comments on Mar 23, 2019:

OK, I’ll give it a try. If, on a rainy Monday afternoon, I write in my diary “It’s raining.” I would be telling the truth. If later that week, on Thursday, the sun is out and I write in my diary “It’s not raining.” I’m also telling the truth. After I die, somebody picks up my ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 26, 2019:

@skado It may be true that science is to a degree just another culture and is infected with many of the evils of culture, it is after all a human construct and could hardly escape being human. But it is certain that the real good and value in science, its practical value above all others, and the thing which makes it possible to say that it supersedes all other cultures, is the fact that it provides a challenge to the great, indeed overwhelming, mass of received folly which is generally described as human culture. I do not like using quotes like this, but if you wish to use quotes and find them amusing here goes. “Science at its best is an open-minded method of inquiry, not a belief system.” Rupert Sheldrake. “A voguish fad sees science as only one of many cultural myths, no more valid than the myths of any other culture. There are even a few vocal fifth columnists within science itself who hold exactly these views, and use them to waste the time of the rest of us.” Richard Dawkins. And here's one from someone who is often seen as one of Dawkins protagonists. “Science is not 'organized common sense'; at its most exciting, it reformulates our view of the world by imposing powerful theories against the ancient anthopocentric prejudices” Stephen J. Gould

Landscapes — 1: Another view from Mount Sugarloaf, South Deerfield, Massachusetts, taken in ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 26, 2019:

You seem to be very well traveled, I like the first one it is almost a pattern.

Fernapple replies on Mar 26, 2019:

@Coffeo Great, more still to come then, good traveling.

Religion. The root of evil?

Pedrohbds comments on Mar 26, 2019:

Religion is a consequence of a biology evolved to recognize patterns and avoid false negatives even at a cost of false positives. Once the patterns are structured and have shown to be efficient (of course our god is true, we grew more than the neighbor group and defeated them), it starts to ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 26, 2019:

@Pedrohbds Agreed, and as I say I do not dispute your main point, only that as writen your final paragraph gave an impression of factual inaccuracy on that point.

Religion. The root of evil?

Pedrohbds comments on Mar 26, 2019:

Religion is a consequence of a biology evolved to recognize patterns and avoid false negatives even at a cost of false positives. Once the patterns are structured and have shown to be efficient (of course our god is true, we grew more than the neighbor group and defeated them), it starts to ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 26, 2019:

@Pedrohbds Yes that is all very true, but there is no evidence of regular hunger. Most of the stone age societies contacted in the last century show no signs of regular famine, or more than occasional disease, before contact. While there is a mass of evidence that the main dip in standards of human nutrition occured just after the adoption of agriculture, so much so that the average size of humans went down as a whole, and skeletons begin to show the signs of malnutrition much more frequently after that. Human history is not just a simple ladder of upward progress on all fronts.

Religion. The root of evil?

Pedrohbds comments on Mar 26, 2019:

Religion is a consequence of a biology evolved to recognize patterns and avoid false negatives even at a cost of false positives. Once the patterns are structured and have shown to be efficient (of course our god is true, we grew more than the neighbor group and defeated them), it starts to ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 26, 2019:

I agree with most of what you say but there is no real evidence that early natural societies resulted in people "fighting for survival, sick, in the brink of subnutrition". Those were, even then, most probably quite rare events, even though they may have been the dramatic events which affected survival and therefore had the greatest effect on evolution.

As an atheist, this is something I enjoy, so don't bust my balls.

skado comments on Mar 23, 2019:

OK, I’ll give it a try. If, on a rainy Monday afternoon, I write in my diary “It’s raining.” I would be telling the truth. If later that week, on Thursday, the sun is out and I write in my diary “It’s not raining.” I’m also telling the truth. After I die, somebody picks up my ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 25, 2019:

@skado Quite the contrary. I define religion in the mainstream way, and do not think that a tiny minority on the fringe of it, who cling to it out of sentiment for lost culture, are of much consequence when addressing it. In any case I regard all culture as potentially a source of superstition and error, the great weakness of religion is that it is a cultural phenomenon, and like all culture can therefore be equally successful at promoting falsehoods as truth. All culture therefore has to be regarded with suspicion. My main reason for being devoted to science as a philosophy as much as a method is that it is anti-cultural. The most important step that anyone can take in life, is to recognize the value of trying to outgrow the culture into which they were born, it is not completely possible but the effort can only be rewarding.

Can I make a small plea and ask PDUA of all members, it maybe a personal thing but I think that I am...

1of5 comments on Mar 25, 2019:

As a dyslexic I'd like to tell you TGFYS about how easy it is to spell things.

Fernapple replies on Mar 25, 2019:

@1of5 That's true, it may in part be due to the fact that it is worst in males, who it seems are fair game for some. But I am of an age, like you perhaps, when there was no such thing as dyslexia when I was at school. In those days the cure was regular punching, slapping and being treated like an idiot, at least I got used to that early on.

As an atheist, this is something I enjoy, so don't bust my balls.

skado comments on Mar 23, 2019:

OK, I’ll give it a try. If, on a rainy Monday afternoon, I write in my diary “It’s raining.” I would be telling the truth. If later that week, on Thursday, the sun is out and I write in my diary “It’s not raining.” I’m also telling the truth. After I die, somebody picks up my ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 25, 2019:

@skado Do you refuse to put a fence round the cesspool because people can always fall into another one ? And mass ignorance is best abolished by education, to which religion is the main opponent politically, and if only because of the time it wastes, QED.

Can I make a small plea and ask PDUA of all members, it maybe a personal thing but I think that I am...

1of5 comments on Mar 25, 2019:

As a dyslexic I'd like to tell you TGFYS about how easy it is to spell things.

Fernapple replies on Mar 25, 2019:

Yes I am dyslexic too, I don't think that most members apprieciate just how much extra effort some people have to put in to making nice posts.

Can I make a small plea and ask PDUA of all members, it maybe a personal thing but I think that I am...

Amisja comments on Mar 25, 2019:

I agree Mr Apple, acronyms can be difficult for the dyslexic or ppl on ASD. I have to say they are endemic in both my professions.

Fernapple replies on Mar 25, 2019:

That is so true, I am dyslexic too so I have an idea. And you also have to remember this is an international site, not all countries share the same convensions.

Can I make a small plea and ask PDUA of all members, it maybe a personal thing but I think that I am...

SkotlandSkye comments on Mar 25, 2019:

WTF? LOL FWIW, IMO, PEBKAC SCNR YMMD!

Fernapple replies on Mar 25, 2019:

Wtf. LOL. to you too. And that is as far as I got.

Can I make a small plea and ask PDUA of all members, it maybe a personal thing but I think that I am...

Allamanda comments on Mar 25, 2019:

so thrilled you said this, (and I clicked on it to say what in heck does that mean and lease don't use acronyms!!)

Fernapple replies on Mar 25, 2019:

@CallMeDave Its a tough old world you are either very fast or very sneaky.

Can I make a small plea and ask PDUA of all members, it maybe a personal thing but I think that I am...

Allamanda comments on Mar 25, 2019:

so thrilled you said this, (and I clicked on it to say what in heck does that mean and lease don't use acronyms!!)

Fernapple replies on Mar 25, 2019:

Made it a longer post than it needed to be to push the answer off the page, so it was only visible when clicked.

As an atheist, this is something I enjoy, so don't bust my balls.

skado comments on Mar 23, 2019:

OK, I’ll give it a try. If, on a rainy Monday afternoon, I write in my diary “It’s raining.” I would be telling the truth. If later that week, on Thursday, the sun is out and I write in my diary “It’s not raining.” I’m also telling the truth. After I die, somebody picks up my ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 25, 2019:

@skado No but the need that some people to feel morally superior, would have to have a morallity justified on an equal playing field with all other ideals, it could not be used to support superstition and ultra conservative Bronze Age systems, be used to obtain money and power from them without proof, ( You may say they deserve it if you wish.) and it would not create a pool through which the fundamentalist swims sheltered by the widespread idea that beliefs unsupported by reason are respectable; indeed ultra respectable.

Why I Love Agnostic.

Fernapple comments on Mar 24, 2019:

What were they thinking of, this site would be a lot duller if it was not for the female input.

Fernapple replies on Mar 24, 2019:

@mzbehavin I love this site and even the techno bumps and crashes seem more fun than anything, Plus the fact that it is fairly large probably means that it would be difficult for a small narrow minded group to dominate it, hopefully.

"Live in each season as it passes: Breathe the air, Drink the drink, Taste the fruit and ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 24, 2019:

Love that and love the seasons, you only get fifty chances perhaps in an adult life to watch that magical cycle, you have to make the most of them all.

Fernapple replies on Mar 24, 2019:

@mojo5501 Thanks, its just the earths wobble, but what a difference it makes.

The secret to scientific discoveries? Making mistakes [ted.com]

Robecology comments on Mar 24, 2019:

A scientist used to be considered a "Conservative"....very skeptical about changes....demanding and expecting many proofs over long periods of time before a theory was even considered valid. But somehow the Strategy of political and fiscal conservatism broke away from scientific conservatism. ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 24, 2019:

The philosophy of science is fairly well documented, and is basically considered to be : that nothing is ever proved beyond all doubt, and everything should be changed if better evidence is found. It has proved to be very successful. So much so, that the reason it is seen to have broken with all other systems of thought is not because it can not be described, but because in the end it has ( by virtue of the fact that it is the only truly progressing system ) superseded all others.

Divine Right: Born to Rule.

Amisja comments on Mar 24, 2019:

I read an article that suggested that if extraterresteral life existed it would so completely alien to us (literally) that we would not be able to recognise it as 'life' consequently it is unlikely that we would be able to create offspring. Think about it, we cannot even create viable offspring with...

Fernapple replies on Mar 24, 2019:

@Amisja True.

The nearby village of Rothwell is well known for its naturalized Daffodils, which grow along all the...

Cast1es comments on Mar 24, 2019:

I wonder who the person was , who planted those ?

Fernapple replies on Mar 24, 2019:

They are not wild as such, but they started with just a small number planted by a local farmer to mark the approach to the farm gates, and they just spread over some forty/fifty years or so.

Divine Right: Born to Rule.

Amisja comments on Mar 24, 2019:

I read an article that suggested that if extraterresteral life existed it would so completely alien to us (literally) that we would not be able to recognise it as 'life' consequently it is unlikely that we would be able to create offspring. Think about it, we cannot even create viable offspring with...

Fernapple replies on Mar 24, 2019:

@IamNobody Yep me too.

Only those who learn to live in peace will pass to the higher realms of spiritual evolution.

IamNobody comments on Mar 24, 2019:

We learn to live in peace at different pace, day by day until the last one

Fernapple replies on Mar 24, 2019:

@CallMeDave Me too.

Divine Right: Born to Rule.

Amisja comments on Mar 24, 2019:

I read an article that suggested that if extraterresteral life existed it would so completely alien to us (literally) that we would not be able to recognise it as 'life' consequently it is unlikely that we would be able to create offspring. Think about it, we cannot even create viable offspring with...

Fernapple replies on Mar 24, 2019:

Respect, you actually read oone of Johns posts.

When you work at a garden center and spend your days trying to remember all the cultivars and one ...

Robecology comments on Mar 24, 2019:

When you try to call a Hibisucus a Bougainvilla (as has happened to me), you know it's time to quit...or at least back off...

Fernapple replies on Mar 24, 2019:

Don't quit, just invent the names like everybody else.

Only those who learn to live in peace will pass to the higher realms of spiritual evolution.

IamNobody comments on Mar 24, 2019:

We learn to live in peace at different pace, day by day until the last one

Fernapple replies on Mar 24, 2019:

@CallMeDave Do some shouting while you can.

I got to change my status! Within a week I will know if it is SLT.?

Minta79 comments on Mar 24, 2019:

Salt licking tarsier? Still lemon tart? We must know!

Fernapple replies on Mar 24, 2019:

Love the first one, that really gives a picture.

Only those who learn to live in peace will pass to the higher realms of spiritual evolution.

IamNobody comments on Mar 24, 2019:

We learn to live in peace at different pace, day by day until the last one

Fernapple replies on Mar 24, 2019:

Then we go real quiet.

As an atheist, this is something I enjoy, so don't bust my balls.

skado comments on Mar 23, 2019:

OK, I’ll give it a try. If, on a rainy Monday afternoon, I write in my diary “It’s raining.” I would be telling the truth. If later that week, on Thursday, the sun is out and I write in my diary “It’s not raining.” I’m also telling the truth. After I die, somebody picks up my ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 24, 2019:

@skadoTrue we are both free to define the word religion as we wish . But there is more to it than that, because if you take the mythic relativist view of religion, then all myths are equal and all can be used equally, but with that the one thing that religion has to offer, from which all its other offerings such as tribal community and moral certainty, stem, goes away. Because what defines religion is the view that its world model and morality, is, both exclusive to its members and specially privy to the authority of god/gods, giving thereby its members extra authority on all matters in turn, and raising them above those not included. Without that there is simply no value to be had from religion, and you may as well study your myths from history books. It maybe that there are many people in the religious world who do see their religion as no more than any other mythology, but I very much doubt they are a large number, in fact in the pews tiny. Yet more importantly, they are not the issue since they do not by virtue of that, fall into any of the evils of religion, which I am sure are what TOMM was addressing. For that type of religion would be harmless, the real harm of religion comes from the belief that you have a specially privileged access to gods wisdom, not owned by others, entitling you to regard your views and morality as being above those of others, even though you may not be aware you do so. And since that is the point at which religion truly makes a difference, I feel that it is by far the best point to draw the line between religion and mere cultural attachment to a social group.

Ever rub your eyes so hard...😅😂😅

ShadowAmicus comments on Mar 23, 2019:

Don't need to rub to get there

Fernapple replies on Mar 23, 2019:

Beautiful dogs on your icon, that's as good as going to another galaxy.

As an atheist, this is something I enjoy, so don't bust my balls.

skado comments on Mar 23, 2019:

OK, I’ll give it a try. If, on a rainy Monday afternoon, I write in my diary “It’s raining.” I would be telling the truth. If later that week, on Thursday, the sun is out and I write in my diary “It’s not raining.” I’m also telling the truth. After I die, somebody picks up my ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 23, 2019:

That is very good and true perhaps. But it is entirely beside Tomm's point, because all of that is very true if you regards the bible as mythology, in the same way that you view the stories of Zeus or Balder, then you may enjoy and benefit from seeing it as part of humanities collective dream, to be interpreted allegorically, or as a dream-time route to deep emotional understanding, but that is not religion. To be religious means by definition that you take your own texts as sources of literal truth, and do not view them in the same light as other mythologies. And religion is what Tomm addresses. One of the greatest falsehoods peddled in the world is that of so called sophisticated theologians who talk of the great allegories among their fellows, but never bother to mention the issue of interpretation at all when preaching to the followers in the pews.

Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be....Abraham Lincoln.

Fernapple comments on Mar 23, 2019:

Only a very few of the privileged, in a very few societies and a very few ages ever enjoyed that opportunity, and that will be coming to an end soon.

Fernapple replies on Mar 23, 2019:

Yes but usually they do not have the luxury, or worry of thinking about it, only those educationally self aware have that problem anyway.

Did Jesus Christ commit sins?

KKGator comments on Mar 22, 2019:

Well, since I don't believe there has ever been any credible evidence of the existence of Jesus Christ as a real person, I'm going to say "no". He didn't commit any "sins", because fictional characters don't actually DO anything

Fernapple replies on Mar 23, 2019:

@KKGator You don't need to say "Oh", you could say what is the dam' use of hypothetical.

[religionnews.

Moravian comments on Mar 23, 2019:

I look forward to the day when "none" is the default position and theists are labeled as such, although it certainly won't be in my lifetime. As for "spiritual". I haven't a clue what that means.

Fernapple replies on Mar 23, 2019:

I think "spiritual" does mean "haven't a clue".

Reasons for not hating those who disagree.

Matias comments on Mar 22, 2019:

What if I have tried to teach but they have failed to listen?

Fernapple replies on Mar 22, 2019:

IN the way that the post was meant, their failing to listen would be my fault, for not making my teaching interesting and compelling enough, But I will accept that that is a very hard judgement only there to make the point, I don't really try to live quite to those standards.

"Standing in a church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a ...

Matias comments on Mar 22, 2019:

That is trivial, and any devout Christian would agree It was Jesus himself who railed against the Philistines

Fernapple replies on Mar 22, 2019:

@Matias Oh sorry I missed that one too. In some ways Pharisees and Hipocrites are viewed much the same since it is for Hipocracy that the Pharisees are mainly targeted.

What do you do when religious people knock?

Redheadedgammy comments on Mar 22, 2019:

I point to my no solicitation sign, say have a good day and close the door.

Fernapple replies on Mar 22, 2019:

You are just a little too sweet, you will get us a good name if you are not careful. LOL

"Standing in a church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a ...

WilliamCharles comments on Mar 22, 2019:

I had some truly wonderful Xian friends at work. One said to me, "You're the most Christian person I know." I told her, "You take that back or I'll report you to HR." We both laughed as she went on to explain, "You do nice things for people just for the sake of being nice." I would often quote ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 22, 2019:

I think that it is somewhere explained in the bible, that one of the pleasures given to those in heaven is laughing at the sufferings of those in hell. Funny idea of fun.

"Standing in a church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a ...

Matias comments on Mar 22, 2019:

That is trivial, and any devout Christian would agree It was Jesus himself who railed against the Philistines

Fernapple replies on Mar 22, 2019:

Do you mean Philistines or Hipocrites ?

Summer solstice 2018, come on 2019!

Fernapple comments on Mar 22, 2019:

Nice photo but lets not wish the spring away yet, the winters here in UK are long and gray.

Fernapple replies on Mar 22, 2019:

@oldFloyd LIke the dog too.

What do you do when religious people knock?

Amisja comments on Mar 22, 2019:

They don't do it here anymore. I have JW friends who said they are guided away from it due to safety reasons. They do stand with posters in the centre of town and generally get ignored. If they did, I'm invite em, make em a brew and offer them cake.

Fernapple replies on Mar 22, 2019:

You are so sweet, cake too ! I am sorry to appear to flatter but this has to be the best answer on the page. xxx

What do you do when religious people knock?

Varn comments on Mar 22, 2019:

I talk till they drop! Remind them how uncomfortable it is being caught in everyday life by ‘people in suits,’ then go on …*and on*.. More so, I make sense. And comfortable around youth, can tell when their upstairs gears begin churning.. Never harsh, or rude. I likely go into ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 22, 2019:

Boy I wish I had those sort of social skills.

Fun facts about the human body.

glennlab comments on Mar 21, 2019:

7 seems really low.

Fernapple replies on Mar 22, 2019:

I was thinking ten or twenty.

Some of the most truly nasty people I ever met, and fortunately there were not many, espoused ...

Moravian comments on Mar 21, 2019:

Yes, hypocrisy is common amongst god botherers but they have a get out of jail free card in that they can always blame the devil for leading them astray.

Fernapple replies on Mar 21, 2019:

Yep that's true. Though I am still hoping that some of them will one day be able to blame me for leading them astray.

Atheism is just another religion.

Amisja comments on Mar 21, 2019:

No I don't!

Fernapple replies on Mar 21, 2019:

My friend was wrong then, when he told me that any girl from Accrington will do anything. Or maybe he was just thinking of a more limited range of activities.

Some of the most truly nasty people I ever met, and fortunately there were not many, espoused ...

Allamanda comments on Mar 21, 2019:

possibly also it's a camoflage for the wicked, they are not suspected when living in and espousing the dogma - and this can apply to minor or major wickedness - the minor types usually have a lot more guilt than the major!

Fernapple replies on Mar 21, 2019:

Yes that was one of the things I was trying to get to. Thanks.

I Have A Dream: What if we (Atheist / Agnostics / Freethinkers / Humanist and Free People of All ...

Biosteelman comments on Mar 20, 2019:

Well I imagine two scenarios they would create one where individuals thoughts,expressions, and beliefs wouldnt be oppressed in which case people of every religion would exist. Or Modern day Russia and China both countries denounce religion publicly and have histories of tearing down churches

Fernapple replies on Mar 21, 2019:

@Biosteelman One factor which leads to that is that in the US where you have separation of church and state the church is very strong. Here in N. Europe where many countries have state churches Xianity is fading fast. There is also I believe a linkage between state welfare and religiocity.

I Have A Dream: What if we (Atheist / Agnostics / Freethinkers / Humanist and Free People of All ...

Biosteelman comments on Mar 20, 2019:

Well I imagine two scenarios they would create one where individuals thoughts,expressions, and beliefs wouldnt be oppressed in which case people of every religion would exist. Or Modern day Russia and China both countries denounce religion publicly and have histories of tearing down churches

Fernapple replies on Mar 21, 2019:

@Biosteelman True, but the church trives on persecution, it is after all a religion that pretends to be a religion of the persecuted. The best way to deal with Christianity is to starve it, good welfare makes it go away.

Who really has the moral high ground . . . . . Fuck American exceptionalism and imperialism.

Pedrohbds comments on Mar 21, 2019:

Why does someone need to have a high moral ground? The USA media created this mith of a power needs to be moral. They never were, they never will be. Countries have interests, united states simply masks them as moral imperatives. The Venezuelan question is to not open the Venezuelan oil to ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 21, 2019:

@Pedrohbds It always has been fake in most countries, and most ages, but fake morality at least does not undermine the feeling for morality. Though it can lead to tribal elitist and racist prejudice, based on feelings of moral superiority.

I Have A Dream: What if we (Atheist / Agnostics / Freethinkers / Humanist and Free People of All ...

Biosteelman comments on Mar 20, 2019:

Well I imagine two scenarios they would create one where individuals thoughts,expressions, and beliefs wouldnt be oppressed in which case people of every religion would exist. Or Modern day Russia and China both countries denounce religion publicly and have histories of tearing down churches

Fernapple replies on Mar 21, 2019:

@Skeptic66 The church grew stronger under communism in the USSR, exactly because it was seen as an alternative to the state.

Who really has the moral high ground . . . . . Fuck American exceptionalism and imperialism.

Pedrohbds comments on Mar 21, 2019:

Why does someone need to have a high moral ground? The USA media created this mith of a power needs to be moral. They never were, they never will be. Countries have interests, united states simply masks them as moral imperatives. The Venezuelan question is to not open the Venezuelan oil to ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 21, 2019:

The US did not create the "mith" (Myth) that counties need the higher moral ground. It is age old. And if there is such a thing as morality then why should it apply any less to a country than a person.

Atheism vs. Scientific Method

Pedrohbds comments on Mar 21, 2019:

The existence of a divinity is a question that can't be falsified, because the gods follow the "dragon in the garage" way of being defined, so you can't use scientific method in them. So it is impossible to demonstrate existence as they have no measurable interaction with reality, and all claimed ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 21, 2019:

I like. "perfectly hides itself to a point that is indistinguishable from a non existent god."

Atheism vs. Scientific Method

BooksCatsEtc comments on Mar 21, 2019:

If someone is actually taking the position that a god or gods cannot and do not exist, *and they can prove it*, then yes, that does go against the scientific method. Just for starters it runs into the problem of the logical impossibility of proving a negative. But literally only one atheist I've ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 21, 2019:

Good summary.

What's your favorite atheist show/podcast?

Elganned comments on Mar 19, 2019:

Mr. Deity

Fernapple replies on Mar 19, 2019:

Yes I really like his humour.

"Einstein and Hawking: Unlocking The Universe" produced by the BBC for the Science Channel.

Fernapple comments on Mar 13, 2019:

Yep, and guess what. The world is flat and only six thousand years old, and he sun goes across the sky in a small boat each day and spends the night in a cave. It may well be that the ideas of Einstein and Hawkins will need to be corrected in the future, that is the way both science and human ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 19, 2019:

@johnprytz Yes but that only accounts for about half of it.

What does the “H.” in “Jesus H. Christ” stand for?

darthfaja comments on Mar 18, 2019:

Fuck I love that picture

Fernapple replies on Mar 19, 2019:

Taken from a creationist leaflet I think.

You just thought your food lasted a long time [smithsonianmag.com]

Charlene comments on Mar 18, 2019:

I'd like a taste..though not the 3,2k stuff..probably rancid by now..lol

Fernapple replies on Mar 19, 2019:

@glennlab I wonder if back in the Bronze Age they had butter snobs who said things like. "You can really taste the peat in this, but I think that it sould have been aged for another couple of years, its still a little bit dairy."

Men are nearly always willing to believe what they wish.

Diogenes comments on Mar 19, 2019:

Are you hitting on "men" now? First thing in the morning even! LOL. Please laugh. Good to see you. Yesterday thought maybe I should have kept my opinions to myself. If something doesn't need to be said: solution, don't say it. 04:00 in the morning here and another sleepless night.

Fernapple replies on Mar 19, 2019:

@Marionville Very true.

Men are nearly always willing to believe what they wish.

Diogenes comments on Mar 19, 2019:

Are you hitting on "men" now? First thing in the morning even! LOL. Please laugh. Good to see you. Yesterday thought maybe I should have kept my opinions to myself. If something doesn't need to be said: solution, don't say it. 04:00 in the morning here and another sleepless night.

Fernapple replies on Mar 19, 2019:

@Marionville Yes I do think that use of England is the older generation mainly though, it is a habit which is fading, and a good thing, but so sadly, as you say, is the education needed to understand that words had different usages in the past, and that is a very bad thing. Sorry but one of my pet hates is linguistic sophistry, and especially the lack of understanding/education which leads people to think that words have meanings rather than usages, and then to the view that language is a font of truth, instead of just the collection of historical accidents which it truly is. But I had better not get started on that. Though, a funny thing did happen to me on this very site, when I used the words, "fairy story" quite casually when refering to some tale from the bible. I was then taken to task, because the lady, (who claimed to have a profesorship in folklore or something like that ) said that it was not a fairy tale because it did not contain any fairies etc.. I tried repeatedly to explain that I was using the term not in the strict sense, but in the common street vernacular, but even after a number of exchanges, she seemed quite unable to understand that a word can have more than one use. Which made me question the value and possiblily the truth of her profesorship. So pedantry can easily become linguistic sophistry and a then a real threat to truth and understanding. Enough said could go on about this for hours.

Men are nearly always willing to believe what they wish.

Diogenes comments on Mar 19, 2019:

Are you hitting on "men" now? First thing in the morning even! LOL. Please laugh. Good to see you. Yesterday thought maybe I should have kept my opinions to myself. If something doesn't need to be said: solution, don't say it. 04:00 in the morning here and another sleepless night.

Fernapple replies on Mar 19, 2019:

I find that if I comment/post late at night, in a temper, after a couple of drinks or all three, people tend to tell me off the following morning. Maybe I'm dim but I just can't understand why they want to pick on me like that.

Men are nearly always willing to believe what they wish.

Diogenes comments on Mar 19, 2019:

Are you hitting on "men" now? First thing in the morning even! LOL. Please laugh. Good to see you. Yesterday thought maybe I should have kept my opinions to myself. If something doesn't need to be said: solution, don't say it. 04:00 in the morning here and another sleepless night.

Fernapple replies on Mar 19, 2019:

@Marionville Yes funny that , thanks to feminism the word "men", has now started to loose its old meaning of humans. I wonder if in the future a point will be reached where people can not understand older texts at all because that meaning is gone. The same thing has happened (not sorry about this either), with "England" which in a lot of old texts was equal to "British Isles" . I encountered at least one example recently when someone quoted an old book, about plants growing in England; and it raised a question from someone who said. "But it grows in Scotland and Wales too."

You just thought your food lasted a long time [smithsonianmag.com]

Charlene comments on Mar 18, 2019:

I'd like a taste..though not the 3,2k stuff..probably rancid by now..lol

Fernapple replies on Mar 19, 2019:

@glennlab Yes I wondered that, then how long before a celeb-chef tries it as a stunt ?

Just a reminder with spring approaching. Plant bee friendly ???????⚘❤

Fernapple comments on Mar 18, 2019:

I always liked wild gardens with plenty of diversity and flowers, including insect plants and if insects eat some I am happy to let them in a mixed garden it is never too bad ad something always replaces the. Lawns are not only low on diversity but also high on labour and have a huge carbon and ...

Fernapple replies on Mar 19, 2019:

@itsmedammit Ah, Glechoma, we call it ground ivy here I had to look creeping charlie up, it is lovely to learn that it has other vernacular names, great name.

Hi all! I tried to share this in the "Gun Control" group".

Fernapple comments on Mar 18, 2019:

Nothing showing here either.

Fernapple replies on Mar 18, 2019:

@Robecology Yep that got me to it, generally I try not to involve myself with US politics on this site, since coming from the UK I don't think it is any of my business. But I will say the Obama certainly can express himself well and put the points over clearly in good plain English, it seems very refreshing. I think you know why.

Hi all! I tried to share this in the "Gun Control" group".

Fernapple comments on Mar 18, 2019:

Nothing showing here either.

Fernapple replies on Mar 18, 2019:

@Robecology Will do.