There are actually people in this country that think climate scientists worldwide are full of shit ...

RichCC comments on Feb 2, 2018:

Hey. Phil is talking weather, not climate. The viewpoints only marginally overlap. So there. Years ago I heard of a statistics professor in Boston that thought it would be a good idea to ask their class each day if it would rain or not then help them keep track. It turned out that the class was more accurate than the local news. But then they thought *Wait a minute, this is Boston. What if we just said rain every day?* It turned out that assumption beat both the class and the news for accuracy. Lol.

Have you ever been told you look like someone famous?

RichCC comments on Jan 31, 2018:

I don't know about famous but many years ago in Tucson I was told by more than one person that there was someone else in town who could have been my twin. I never happened to meet them and I never figured out if my 'twin' should have felt insulted by the idea or I should. HaHa.

What kind of bad manners does your pet have?

RichCC comments on Jan 31, 2018:

We have a relatively new rescue dog that is 11 years old and has arthritis to the point that it is a significant effort for him to go outside for his duty. He wants to be a good boy but especially when it's cold outside, life is difficult for him. The way we look at it, this is one of those things we all go through -- our turns will come. Lol.

Who is your favorite villain?

RichCC comments on Jan 30, 2018:

Cthulhu. No question. The greatest (and sickest) vanity plate I ever heard of:

Are atheists in general, more intelligent than religious people?

RichCC comments on Jan 30, 2018:

I know I am brilliant. You can ask me. I thought I was wrong about something once but it turned out later I was mistaken. So there.

I get the sense agnostics/atheists are thought of as amoral nihilists, but I want to believe that's ...

RichCC comments on Jan 30, 2018:

I admit that I am pretty much a nihilist. I see no ultimate future for our human race. But given that... so what? 1) It wouldn't be the first time I was wrong -- even about big things. 2) What benefit is there in behaving negatively about anything or anyone? I suppose the argument could be made that short term selfish gratification could be a goal but my mind doesn't happen to work that way for whatever reason. 3) I do get a kick out of seeing myself or others succeed. So I enjoy helping various people towards their goals -- short or long term.

Dear Grouchy Feminists (Not all feminists.

RichCC comments on Jan 29, 2018:

IMHO... I don't see many people going around with a chip on their shoulder ready to get offended. When it's convenient both men and women seem to enjoy having doors opened or whatever and doing the same for me when it works out that way. Maybe I'm just getting older and less firm. I heard a comment years ago that a man can tell when he's 'past it' when women start being nice to him again. When he's too young to be a threat, women will be pleasant. When he's at a potentially aggressive age, they keep their distance. When he's too old again they start being nice again. Part of problem is likely the way men are -- when they are most able, they are often by nature a threat.

To meat or not to meat

RichCC comments on Jan 29, 2018:

I'm as concerned about the environmental cost of meat production as I am the ethical considerations. It takes a lot more energy to produce a given amount of animal protein than plant protein. And I don't even want to talk about the damage we're doing to things like the ocean. So far we're still in, but nearing the end of, the period where the earth will support our indulgences like meat eating. As the size of our population gets more and more out of control I don't know how much longer that period will last.

Senate Confirms Anti-LGBTQ Gov. Sam Brownback to Ambassadorship | Human Rights Campaign

RichCC comments on Jan 28, 2018:

From what I've heard, his austerity economy in Kansas was/is tanking so bad that he was about to be turned out on his ear anyway. I suspect that Trump is fulfilling a Republican welfare role for him.

Where do you find community?

RichCC comments on Jan 28, 2018:

Through my Big Brothers/Big Sisters match (I don't like the term they use). I ended up tutoring and starting a chess club at his school and even served a couple of terms on their board after he went on to high school.

Anyone Have An Exotic Animal As A Pet?

RichCC comments on Jan 28, 2018:

We raised ferrets in Seattle for many years but it got frustrating losing them so often -- six is old for a ferret. We took a child's playpen and covered the sides with sort of chicken wire. It made a good small animal environment. Ferrets aren't very social -- they won't come when you call them. But they are great fun as pets. If you do need to call them, a squeaky balloon will work every time. They love to crawl around inside clothes, especially when you're wearing them.

Optimistic Nihilism

RichCC comments on Jan 28, 2018:

Thank you. I very much enjoyed that.

Free choice is a myth. Life has its own destiny. Apart from man.

RichCC comments on Jan 28, 2018:

I've never heard of a test as to whether we have free choice or not. How do we test it? By what conditions do we tell if the test is successful or not? If A happens, we know the world is preordained -- else the world is not preordained. You know what. Since I can't tell one way or the other, I've decided that I get to choose - at least to the limit of my sphere of control. (pretty limiting, I know). I see no benefit to acting any other way. BTW, if it is outside my sphere, I don't worry about it. It's not my fault or concern.

I grew up eating red meat.

RichCC comments on Jan 27, 2018:

We're not vegan but my wife and I have been vegetarian for 15 or so years -- we started because we had a vegan close friend staying with us and it was easier to just not have meat in the house. Both of us stayed with it after she left. We both found food tastes better without the fat taste in your mouth all the time and we stopped worrying about our weight years ago. Now we just make sure our diets include enough vitamins and stuff. Lol. I recommend the lifestyle for various reasons -- first it's an easy way to feel good about yourself.

In a new study, 6 out of 10 racists, when asked, denied that they were such.

RichCC comments on Jan 19, 2018:

My question is how they chose racists to ask. Do they have a blood test? That would be cool.

Gerrymandering! How fucked-up is that shit?

RichCC comments on Jan 14, 2018:

For years I've thought we need a new popular definition of the term 'voter fraud'.

There has been a lot of comments about Trump and his fitness for the office of President.

RichCC comments on Jan 14, 2018:

I've read that Pence is a subject of Mueller's investigation too. But it would (will?) take time. Then there's Paul Ryan, Orrin Hatch then Rex Tillerson. We need to vote in a new Congress.

Does the weather effect your emotions or your mode?

RichCC comments on Jan 12, 2018:

I grew up in Arizona USA. All my life rain or snow has cheered me up -- even when I lived in Seattle. Lol.

Do any of you know the old jokes about how many people it takes to change a light bulb?

RichCC comments on Jan 10, 2018:

An old one: How many Microsoft Engineers does it take to change a light bulb? None. Bill Gates will have darkness declared the new standard.

Anyone else a Charles Howard Hinton (the 1800s mathemetician/sci fi writer) fan?

RichCC comments on Jan 6, 2018:

Thank you very much. I'm not familiar with Hinton but I am a fan of literature from that general period. I'll look it up shortly. Update: I just read your bio and I agree with you. I think the Golden Rule is a little naive and a little selfish. I've heard it called the Platinum Rule where you treat people the way they want to be treated. Lol.

One advantage of getting older is I get less self conscious of sounding stupid.

RichCC comments on Jan 6, 2018:

The moon does spin but it's *tidally locked* to the Earth. It's a common situation when one of a close gravitational pair is much larger than the other. Mercury is tidally locked to the Sun for instance. BTW.. I wouldn't call not knowing that dumb. It's a pretty esoteric detail of astronomy.

In his latest tweets - Trump said he was a "Stable Genius".

RichCC comments on Jan 6, 2018:

Insert many asses live in stables comment here.

Cool video [facebook.com] and do you agree?

RichCC comments on Jan 6, 2018:

Thanks. I enjoyed that.

I love the term Flattards for people who believe in a flat earth.

RichCC comments on Jan 6, 2018:

The curvature of a sphere about the size of the earth only differs from flat by 0.000126 per mile. So they're not wrong all that much. They're wrong socially more than scientifically. Lol. Read Asimov's *The Relativity of Wrong*. It's not like the earth is a sphere either. Ha, ha. http://chem.tufts.edu/answersinscience/relativityofwrong.htm

After you became a non believer, did you also go back through all the other supernatural claims out...

RichCC comments on Jan 5, 2018:

Who me? I've never believed in any supernatural -- knock on wood.

I know of no wars started by anyone to impose lack of religion on someone else.

RichCC comments on Jan 4, 2018:

It might have been here on Agnostic.com that I saw someone comment that no known suicide bomber had ever shouted *All hail the scientific method!* before detonating.

Answered prayers

RichCC comments on Jan 4, 2018:

When you think about it, the fact that you and I are here at all is unimaginably unlikely whether there was some outside agent involved or not. Just to start, what were the chances that your parents got together -- and their parents and so on back through the depths of time? Wow. BTW... That improbability applies whether god or someone decided things or not. A while back there was a comic *Bloom County* where I think it was Bill the Cat who just fell into a numb stupor at the overwhelming wonder of the very idea of it all.

What if the world's worst person said the smartest thing ever said?

RichCC comments on Jan 4, 2018:

It seems to me that Good/Bad and Smart/Dumb are two different dimensions. Why must they be related -- if you'll allow me to conflate *worst* with *Bad*? In our culture we tend to assume there is a correlation between Smart and Good but there's really no requirement.

Do you believe in “free will”? Why or why not?

RichCC comments on Jan 4, 2018:

Maybe we have free will and maybe we don't. You have no way to tell so you might as well act as if you do . Or assume that you don't. It's not like your assumption will have any real world effect either way.

Well, I was glad Clinton lost, and cautiously optimistic that Trump wouldn't be too much of a ...

RichCC comments on Jan 3, 2018:

Sorry if I offend anyone but I never understood why people hated HC so much. On the face of it she must be the most honest politician ever. She went through a 30-year hatchet job from the right including the media and they never found more than rumors and innuendo. I doubt any other politician in American history could have come close to enduring what she did.

Have you ever thought about ( this is paraphrasing a Lily Tomlin routine, but it's a valid question)...

RichCC comments on Jan 3, 2018:

My standard response when someone tells me 'God told them' something is: 'Really? What did their voice sound like? Was it deep? Do they have an accent? Was it a man or a woman?'. *LOL -- honest, I usually do.*

Do you believe in Divination?

RichCC comments on Jan 3, 2018:

40 years ago I used to dowse to choose hiking destinations in the SW USA desert. There were lots of buried treasure stories and I figured what the heck, maybe I'd get lucky. It never worked for me -- I never struck it rich. I guess I didn't believe hard enough. I did get in the good walks I really wanted though. LOL.

Valentine's Day (my birthday) is on Ash Wednesday this year. As well as Easter on April Fool's Day.

RichCC comments on Jan 3, 2018:

When did you post this? I looked for it in my main comment list but didn't see it. Are you glad it isn't the other way round -- that your birthday isn't on April Fool's Day?

Does evolution occur in leaps or slowly, both?

RichCC comments on Jan 2, 2018:

I think 'leaps' is pretty good word. It's been years since I looked at it closely so I hope I'm not speaking too awfully out of date here. But I used to be a big fan of Stephen J. Gould's 'punctuated equilibrium'.

What are views on nationalism? Do you think it is as dangerous as religion and god?

RichCC comments on Jan 2, 2018:

My definition of *nationalism* maps almost directly to *selfishness* and *bigotry/racism* follow closely. So yes, I think it is even more dangerous than *religion and god*.

Did the Trump administration collude with Russia?

RichCC comments on Jan 2, 2018:

Frankly as much as conspiracy and collusion bother me, money laundering and racketeering bother me more. As I watch the players I become more and more convinced that they are a bunch of incompetent, wannabe, mob bosses. Now that the debt killing tax 'overhaul' has passed, Hatch announced this morning that he won't run for Senate reelection in Utah this year.

Does anyone still make new year's resolutions?

RichCC comments on Jan 1, 2018:

Why should New Year's be special? When you want to change, do it. Especially if it is good (for you and/or others).

Please Believe You Are A Valuable Person

RichCC comments on Dec 31, 2017:

Thank you. I enjoyed that.

Life on other Planets? Yes or No?

RichCC comments on Dec 31, 2017:

I've mentioned the *Drake equation* (whichever incarnation you want to choose) and the *Fermi paradox* elsewhere on Agnostic.com. The numbers make very compelling arguments. Now the question seems to be *Why is there no evidence of ET life yet?*. It is becoming apparent that believing we are alone is a step beyond arrogance.

Are there any classical music buffs out there?

RichCC comments on Dec 30, 2017:

I've never taken classes and I can't carry a tune in a bucket but my music player has maybe 20% classical. My favorite composers are Respighi and Debussy. Also I like more modern instrumentals. I'm a big fan of Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre.

I have been a Christian and I wonder how we reconcile the truly loving and life-changing good ...

RichCC comments on Dec 29, 2017:

This is just my personal perspective -- for what it's worth. In my experience Christian charity always comes with a price. For instance after the Haiti earthquake a few years ago, a devout Christian from my office went with a group from his church to do relief work in Haiti. On the one hand that was very laudable. But from the pictures and stories he brought back a couple of weeks later well over half the effort they spent was towards building a church and converting new Christians. Every Church I'm familiar with (a limited sample, I know) seems to be successful because they follow a practice of 'church first' rather than 'do good first'.

Ok, another couple weeks and another list of improvements (hopefully) to the site.

RichCC comments on Dec 29, 2017:

I have a 2nd level request. When I edit a comment then preview it, if I go back to edit from the preview it goes back to the posted text. The only way I can keep my edits is to copy everything to the clipboard before I preview. I have to say though, if that's my biggest complaint, this is an extremely well done package. The look and feel are outstanding and I have yet to come across any bugs. Thank you muchly and thank the other patrons here.

I do envy the community participation and fellowship that Churches provide.

RichCC comments on Dec 29, 2017:

I find it more rewarding to go out and do good -- volunteer. I frustrate myself because I don't move well these days but I highly recommend Big Brothers Big Sisters. One of the things that impressed me about them is that they don't push any belief system -- it's all about the individual. I personally also served on a local school board (I met through BBBS). I think our rampant capitalist extraction economy discourages people from helping each other but I've found if you look there are good folks who will help you help -- including helping yourself.

Does the bible have any ethical principles other than the 'golden rule'?

RichCC comments on Dec 28, 2017:

I don't follow the wholly babble. The golden rule is naive and selfish. The platinum rule is better - 'treat others the way they want to be treated' -- rather than 'the way I want to be treated'. I see no reason others should have to endure my preferences (this comment not withstanding, sorry).

Do you believe in the existence of an historical Jesus?

RichCC comments on Dec 28, 2017:

I keep coming back to all the stuff that was written about him while he was 'alive' or within 80-90 or so years 'following' -- that is to say, nothing. Even the New Testament was written much later. Jesus was a Roman political creation centuries later (think emperor Constantine) to manipulate their population. I'd say it's unfortunate that the world has had to live with it since. But it's clear from the massive proliferation of other gods and superstitions that it's been inevitable because we're cursed with ignorance.

A few years ago a dude wrote a book detailing his child's trip to heaven that the brat supposedly ...

RichCC comments on Dec 24, 2017:

I searched the web and found this https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/01/15/377589757/boy-says-he-didn-t-go-to-heaven-publisher-says-it-will-pull-book It may be what you were looking for -- it's about Alex Malarkey.

I saw this on TV this morning. It's both sad and funny at the same time [youtu.be]

RichCC comments on Dec 24, 2017:

I just looked on the web. They want $40 + $7 S&H for that. That's nearly what my Kindle cost -- wow. I guess it is intended for the cognitively impaired.

Hey, so whats everyones opinion on the "Ancient astranaut theory" ?

RichCC comments on Dec 24, 2017:

I have to admit the numbers in whatever version of the Drake equation and then the Fermi paradox are hard to dismiss. Even at non-relativistic speeds, aliens should have had plenty of time to colonize the galaxy or even the universe. But I guess that's why it's called a paradox -- why don't we have undeniable evidence of their presence?

What religion were you originally steeped in? I was raised Mormon.

RichCC comments on Dec 24, 2017:

I was born in Kanab, UT but grew up in northern AZ -- Tuba City, Page & Fredonia. My mother was only weakly LDS until I was in high school. Then she became much more devout. Later she taught genealogy classes at the Mesa Temple. I was never a believer but many of my family and friends were/are. I remember very well the amount of pressure the Church can put on you. I also knew and was related to a very few 'Jack Mormons' although our definition was closer to the the Spingerville cult group than seems to be the popular definition today. Lol.

Any H.P. Lovecraft fans here?

RichCC comments on Dec 24, 2017:

Yes. I'm pretty sure I've read and very much enjoyed all his stories. These days I carry 'The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft' and 'H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Chulthu Mythos' on my Kindle. Whenever I'm between books or bored with my current read, I get an H.P. fix to tide me over. For a long time I've been partial to semi-older fiction -- James Branch Cabel, Josephine Tey, Mary Shelley, J.R.R. Tolkien, Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, etc. My tastes are fairly broad as long as they're done well. For example I very much loved Tey's 'The Daughter of Time' but I didn't much care for her other stuff like the inspector Grant series (even though Grant is the nominal main character in The Daughter of Time, the books read differently). I'm glad to see another Lovecraft connoisseur -- as popular and influential as he has been, he seems to be a bit of an acquired taste.

What makes SCIENCE so believable?

RichCC comments on Dec 23, 2017:

I read a comment about a year ago and since I'm paraphrasing from memory and I haven't asked her permission to use her thought I won't specify where I got it except to mention that it isn't from me originally. 'All throughout history people have thought they had -- often supernatural -- explanations for things -- the sun was a light being dragged across the sky by Apollo, thunder was dwarves playing ten-pins in the mountains or so forth. But when we were able to get closer looks we realized that there were secular mechanisms that explained things and obviated the supernatural. On the other hand, how many times has it gone the other way? We used to have a secular explanation but now we realize that the thing we see is really caused by that god over there or that magician or that rabbit's foot in our pocket or whatever -- exactly zero!' That's why science is more believable than religion -- science has demonstrated over and over and over to be more correct than religion. Religion has ever only been able to play 'god-of-the-gaps'. When knowledge moves in, religion has to leave.

have any of you studied varies athiestic philosophies ?

RichCC comments on Dec 23, 2017:

Many years ago (as counted by me) my wife read an encyclopedia description of the classic Greek stoics -- Seneca, Epictetus, et.al. She pointed out to me how close their views were to mine and I agreed. I don't believe in the supernatural and only blame myself for things in my life that I can affect. From that base I try to be 'part of a solution rather than part of the problem'. As much as I despair recently about the state of our society, I haven't found any reason to significantly change.