Joined Oct 2016
11,628 Posts | 3,749+
Australia
And his comment was to me . So .... ???
Errrmmm ... welcome to internet forums .
Eh ?
And his comment was to me . So .... ???
Errrmmm ... welcome to internet forums .
Eh ?
Joined Sep 2012
10,148 Posts | 703+
India
What is wrong in being brief ? A Niagara of words and words does not prove that Science in the last word on anything .
Joined Oct 2020
4,688 Posts | 2,406+
Peabody, MA
My last comment - you can have the last word or words - but this comment is in itself brief, no comment at all on the actual subject. Also, note the subject does not have to do with the initial origin of life.
Joined Oct 2016
11,628 Posts | 3,749+
Australia
Of course it does .
How can you examine why something stopped happening without looking at the theories about why it did happen in the first place ?
especially when the answer to the OP question considers how much the situation has changed since the initial conditions where in place for the initial origin .
How can you examine why something stopped happening without looking at the theories about why it did happen in the first place ?
especially when the answer to the OP question considers how much the situation has changed since the initial conditions where in place for the initial origin .
Last edited:
Agree with you up to the point where someone brings a supernatural intervention into the discussion. That in not a "theory" in the scientific sense of the word, as there is zero scientific evidence of that being the case.
The fact that we do not know the specific answer yet is no reason to throw up one's hands and proclaim "well, it must have been God". That is not testable, nor provable, therefore not a valid arguement in a scientific context.
That's no different than Georgio going on about aliens to explain anomalous artifacts without evidence.
Do ppl realize how many things once attributed to a "creator" have now been explained by the sciences?
Yair, text book argument from ignorance. Effectively saying " I lack the knowledge, the imagination and the wit to think of anything else, therefore god(s)/aliens did it"
Why are people so afraid of saying " I don't know?" I'm perfectly happy to admit ignorance, although I usually mean "I/we don't know--yet"
I suspect more than a few have managed to work that out. I also suspect that demonstrates the danger of teaching the working classes to read.
As far as I can tell, the level of religious beliefs in a country is strongly correlated with poverty and lack of education. Conversely, developed , affluent nations with good broad education standards tend to have much lower levels of religious beliefs. Now I'm not claiming there is necessarily a causal connection. I'm most interested in an alternative explanation.
I would suggest that those with a higher level of critical thinking skills, such as those that are necessarily developed in learning mathematics and the sciences, are less succeptable to indoctrination.I suspect more than a few have managed to work that out. I also suspect that demonstrates the danger of teaching the working classes to read.
As far as I can tell, the level of religious beliefs in a country is strongly correlated with poverty and lack of education. Conversely, developed , affluent nations with good broad education standards tend to have much lower levels of religious beliefs. Now I'm not claiming there is necessarily a causal connection. I'm most interested in an alternative explanation.
As an adult, probably. However, religious beliefs are usually an accident of birth. Children are taught very youn, I was five when I attended my first religious lessons at the Catholic school I attended. . We simply absorbed what adults told us, trusting them implicity. Like a bunch of little sponges. Such beliefs are accepted on faith, not reason, and can be very hard to overcome with facts.
Seems to me relatively few people ever seriously childhood religious beliefs, world views and prejudices. If this was not so, there would probably be a great many more atheists, not to mention far fewer haters.
Thought for the day "If you could reason with religious people there wouldn't be any" (Gregory House)
Joined Sep 2012
10,148 Posts | 703+
India
Reason and logic are of no use ; not only in Religious practice but in human behaviours like Love ,Trust , Kinship , Patriotism et al. Animals live by instinct alone . Of course human beings are far superior to animals , true, but then they are more miserable .
Human beings are only animals too (primates) I see us [at our worst] as animals with delusions of grandeur. At our best, we are quite wonderful creatures. Mostly, we're a bit of both, but more devil than angel imo.
You're right though in that according to Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, almost human beings suffer. We struggle to be with the godhead, over perhaps thousands of years of birth and rebirth.
From Hamlet (Act II,Scene 2)
"What piece of work is a man, how noble in reason,
how infinite in faculties, in form and moving,
how express and admirable in action, how like an angel in apprehension,
how like a god! "
Can't say I agree in principle, but if a person is lucky, he may meet a few people like that in a lifetime . So far I've met three; My late darling mother, a Passionist priest I met here in 1988, and a lovely Sufi man I met in London in 1985..
Joined Oct 2016
11,628 Posts | 3,749+
Australia
And who did that ? Not me nor the poster I was referring to ; he actually said " Life is a kind of Energy not yet possible to be manufactured in a laboratory or workshop . "
Please explain the 'supernatural nature ' of this comment .
peabody started this by going on about the supernatural , now you have popped your head up .
How can the claim that science has not completed step 2 in a lab be bringing in the supernatural ????
Obscure ... what does this mean and what is it in relation to ?
It reads as if ' there is zero scientific evidence that ' there is no scientific evidence (of step 2 )
CONTEXT people !
And where did you read someone saying that ... or are you somehow referring back to Ficino ?
Wot ?
Look , you seem to have run off on some strange tangent . have you just entered the thread and not read back and are responding to .....
oh wait .
You are on a mobile phone arent you ?
I swear , those things are ruining peoples brains , the ability to hold a consecutive logical and in context conversation and .... 'debilitating communication '
Joined Oct 2016
11,628 Posts | 3,749+
Australia
Manufacture wot ? Life ? We can manufacture life .... if we so choose ?
So, we can do it .... but we choose not to .
.... you are on a phone aren't you ?
My cranky old man's opinion is that mobile phones have helped produce a generation of illiterates.
Joined Oct 2016
11,628 Posts | 3,749+
Australia
Their use .... or I should say, their popularity combined with their LACK OF FUNCTION is impacting on this very site , the way people communicate and contributing to the breakdown of mental rationale and logic .
Joined Oct 2016
11,628 Posts | 3,749+
Australia
'Life Companion' .... OMG !
When I step back and think about it, I can't help but wonder why I spent $450 of a phone.----Of course that's the point; this device which fits in my pocket isn't a phone. It's a small computer ,with far more computing power than my first computer, in 1999. It also makes and receives phone calls.
I don't spend all that much time making and receiving calls.However, I'm an old bloke living by myself. Absolutely need a phone I can reach if I have a fall and need an ambulance. Last time that happened was about three months ago.
Some of the functions I use regularly: pretty good camera, voice and text messaging, a diary, timer (useful in cooking) calculator and flashlight. Use Google occasionally. Also use voice command for Google on this device.
As far as I can tell, all of those functions are available on far cheaper phones. I do like the 'bigger' screen but still don't like the keypad; it's too small.The one on my tablet (another small computer) is much larger.
Mobile phones with more functions than most people will use is very much a case where I think "We've been conned" (again)
PS I do have a Facebook account. I have five friends. This is because I learned to only link with people I've actually met. I access it once or twice a month. I do not use Twitter or other social networking platforms, apart from this forum. At worst they can be social evils which cause a lot of harm. This is why we have moderators.(imo) EG We usually manage to avoid thoughtless and hurtful ad hominems, but not always. Usually stops me saying unkind things, but not always.
Joined Oct 2016
11,628 Posts | 3,749+
Australia
My first one was a forced buy ... I had held out but the world caught up with me : my boss ; " There are over 600 people on the call list .... only two on the whole job do not have a phone number shown, you and the director .... get a phone if you want to keep your job .
Last one I got (due to old one failing ) , I went in and picked out some cheap one . Later people seemed impressed with it, how much did that cost you ? Then they go, that was really cheap, how did you do that ?
Then I tell them it was a second hand one and they scowl ..... what's so good about having a new expensive one ???
Its not like I am buying underwear .
Last one I got (due to old one failing ) , I went in and picked out some cheap one . Later people seemed impressed with it, how much did that cost you ? Then they go, that was really cheap, how did you do that ?
Then I tell them it was a second hand one and they scowl ..... what's so good about having a new expensive one ???
Its not like I am buying underwear .
Depends. These days very few phones have removable batteries,although they're still around if you really look. I exceeded my usual limit at $450 for my Galaxy A50. Won't do that again.
Buying a second hand phone with a battery which cannot be removed isn't a good idea for that reason. You might get 12 months or more or you might get 12 weeks . That's why they're cheap. I'd buy a second hand phone with removable battery if I could find one. New batteries are reasonably priced on Ebay.
What do you call "cheap" ? I think around $US130 is pretty cheap for a decent new phone. I can point you to a reliable site if you want. (and if it's allowed)
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