...this is still surprising to see this coming from someone with a D after their name. This is not because they are fundamentally more decent, but their usual constituency doesn't really seem to buy the "blame the middle class" argument, at least not as much. This seems like a really, really dumb idea, if for no other reason than the political fallout it will create.
Don't know about this one, but several Democrats are indistinguishable from Republicans - other than the 'D' after their name.
It takes more faith to believe in evolution than it does to believe in God. We can't see either, true, but believing in some kind of order and divine infrastructure is easier to comprehend than a godless, hopeless, universe where eventually all life will cease to exist leaving nothing but a cold, black, empty void.
Personally I think anyone who believes in evolution is a total f*cking idiot.
And most f*cking likely they don't f*cking give a f*ck what anyone as f*cking out of f*cking touch with f*cking reality as you f*cking are f*cking thinks.
I am not sure about the intricacies of their arguments, but perhaps they are right? I do not mean to say that there are not clearly established patterns of scientific knowledge, but perhaps there is a God who has an active role in the guidance of evolution.
The problem with that line of thinking is that you can apply it to *anything*.
"Perhaps there is a God who has an active role in the weather."
"Perhaps there is a God who has an active role in a bird's ability to fly."
"Perhaps there is a God who has an active role in nuclear fission."
"Perhaps there is a God who has an active role in moving the electrons around to get this message from my computer to yours."
Perhaps the universe is *utterly* different from the way it seems, but God is faking things to make it look like it seems.
genetics research. She worked with a geneticist (PhD) who was a fundamentalist, bible-toting Christian who didn't believe in evolution. She said he was absolutely brilliant when it came to genetics. No one who worked with him could ever figure out how he squared his genetics knowledge with his religious beliefs. Evolution is at the very core of genetics, or is it the other way around? Anyway, he was a very strange person.
Members of our species are adept at compartmentalizing their values and beliefs.
I guess you could call me an optimist or idealist, but I always thought that when you went to college or any university of repute where you CHOOSE to study something like the science of evolution, or you CHOOSE to go to a lecture about evolution, why would you bring your religious baggage with you? I thought the idea of attending a lecture or university was to expand your mind, not defend your beliefs.
Again, maybe it's because I'm an optimist, but shouldn't these "scholars" behave a little more... I don't know... scholarly?
In my experience, most students just want the degree and enough knowledge to pass a job interview. Everything else is pedantic over-elaboration.
During orientation for one of the university programs I entered, a Dean told us that their worst problem with cheating wasn't the slackers, but the pre-med students, because there's so much competition for getting into med school.
Religion also serves as a method of self-governance. Totalitarian regimes don't like this. So, they address it in one of two ways. Either they restrict the freedom of religion as do most Communist regimes do. Or, they lead the religious movement like Iran does though a theocratic system. But above all, the final say-so is with the government, not society when it comes to totalitarianism.
Lots of political leaders of every stripe are on record saying something equivalent to "religion is great stuff for controlling the masses".
Even in our "enlightened" society, politicians use religion to get people to vote according to which way their knee jerks, and to get foolish young men to travel across the world to die for dubious causes.
I still remember GWB consoling the relatives (and public) over some of the early deaths in the Iraq war by straight-facedly proclaiming that "they're with their maker now". WTF does he know about it? Do rulers have some special insight into which people go to Heaven/Paradise and which don't? Or maybe a hot-line to God, so they can just ring Him up and ask?
I don't think many of the people who peddle or practice religion are in it for a scam, but in many cases it works that way all the same. Especially when politicians or autocrats start invoking it.
Depends if they end up praying for you as a treatment... here in the UK we've had some nutjob christian church telling people here to stop their AIDs treatment and god will cure them, 6 have died so far -
Imagine one of the pastors retraining and becoming your doctor
No. As a doctor you only have to know that some medication doesn't work anymore so you have to use something different or hope the patient gets better by him/herself.
Just what we need: doctors that work in ignorance.
If a 'cookbook' sufficed, we wouldn't need doctors.
They're refusing to "believe" in evolution in favor of a mythical man living in the sky who created the universe. That ought to be classified as a mild form of psychological illness, but sadly it isn't.
What does evolution have to do with medics? I bet most doctors in the world know very little about evolution theory.
Every single fact about how our body works is the product of evolution.
Also, doctors work by drawing conclusions from evidence. If they're willing to reject a theory that's supported by vast amounts of evidence, are they qualified to work in medicine? (Or any other field that requires practitioners to draw conclusions from evidence?)
"a carefully-timed attempt to reignite controversy."
No, it's just more confirmation that these guys don't know why things are but are far more concerned that the number deliver the right message. Anything for the religion of Global Warming.
Actually the claim is very plausible, given that both releases were before big climate conferences. Sure sounds like an attempt to shape opinion.
Here is what our favorite badass tronomer has to say about it.
It is clear that this is not a "first" strike weapon. The summation is correct, it is simply a "surprise" strike weapon. Which is OK, because, hey, who does not like surprises!?
Like Jesus said, "Do unto others before they do unto you."
Slashdot Mirror
I'm an English professor.
And if you're an Assistant Professor in a tenure-track job, you probably work more hours than any IT person you've ever met.
...this is still surprising to see this coming from someone with a D after their name. This is not because they are fundamentally more decent, but their usual constituency doesn't really seem to buy the "blame the middle class" argument, at least not as much. This seems like a really, really dumb idea, if for no other reason than the political fallout it will create.
Don't know about this one, but several Democrats are indistinguishable from Republicans - other than the 'D' after their name.
Explain again how toads can be used to detect earthquakes?
Predict, not detect.
And the answer is: you tell your haruspex to cut them open and examine their livers.
I'd rather hear a fat man fart than a rich man whine about money.
"this idea" is hardly an important consideration for people who are running scams^w clinics for as for-profit ventures.
There's plenty of crazy fundy christian doctors out there too. Ron Paul is a doctor.
A gynecologist, if you must know.
He's also a nutcase that
... named his son after Ayn Rand.
It takes more faith to believe in evolution than it does to believe in God.
We can't see either, true, but believing in some kind of order and divine infrastructure is easier to comprehend than a godless, hopeless, universe where eventually all life will cease to exist leaving nothing but a cold, black, empty void.
Personally I think anyone who believes in evolution is a total f*cking idiot.
And most f*cking likely they don't f*cking give a f*ck what anyone as f*cking out of f*cking touch with f*cking reality as you f*cking are f*cking thinks.
I am not sure about the intricacies of their arguments, but perhaps they are right? I do not mean to say that there are not clearly established patterns of scientific knowledge, but perhaps there is a God who has an active role in the guidance of evolution.
The problem with that line of thinking is that you can apply it to *anything*.
"Perhaps there is a God who has an active role in the weather."
"Perhaps there is a God who has an active role in a bird's ability to fly."
"Perhaps there is a God who has an active role in nuclear fission."
"Perhaps there is a God who has an active role in moving the electrons around to get this message from my computer to yours."
Perhaps the universe is *utterly* different from the way it seems, but God is faking things to make it look like it seems.
The problem with this is that evolution has no conscience.
Which fits what we see in the world really well.
"If He is God, He is not good; if He is good, He is not God."
*That* observation, more than lack of evidence or evidence for contradictory facts, is what should put people off religion.
genetics research. She worked with a geneticist (PhD) who was a fundamentalist, bible-toting Christian who didn't believe in evolution. She said he was absolutely brilliant when it came to genetics. No one who worked with him could ever figure out how he squared his genetics knowledge with his religious beliefs. Evolution is at the very core of genetics, or is it the other way around? Anyway, he was a very strange person.
Members of our species are adept at compartmentalizing their values and beliefs.
...it's "mysterious ways".
Indeed. God moves in so mysterious a way that our universe is indistinguishable from one without any gods.
Preface: I am not religious.
I guess you could call me an optimist or idealist, but I always thought that when you went to college or any university of repute where you CHOOSE to study something like the science of evolution, or you CHOOSE to go to a lecture about evolution, why would you bring your religious baggage with you? I thought the idea of attending a lecture or university was to expand your mind, not defend your beliefs.
Again, maybe it's because I'm an optimist, but shouldn't these "scholars" behave a little more... I don't know... scholarly?
In my experience, most students just want the degree and enough knowledge to pass a job interview. Everything else is pedantic over-elaboration.
During orientation for one of the university programs I entered, a Dean told us that their worst problem with cheating wasn't the slackers, but the pre-med students, because there's so much competition for getting into med school.
Religion also serves as a method of self-governance. Totalitarian regimes don't like this. So, they address it in one of two ways. Either they restrict the freedom of religion as do most Communist regimes do. Or, they lead the religious movement like Iran does though a theocratic system. But above all, the final say-so is with the government, not society when it comes to totalitarianism.
Lots of political leaders of every stripe are on record saying something equivalent to "religion is great stuff for controlling the masses".
Even in our "enlightened" society, politicians use religion to get people to vote according to which way their knee jerks, and to get foolish young men to travel across the world to die for dubious causes.
I still remember GWB consoling the relatives (and public) over some of the early deaths in the Iraq war by straight-facedly proclaiming that "they're with their maker now". WTF does he know about it? Do rulers have some special insight into which people go to Heaven/Paradise and which don't? Or maybe a hot-line to God, so they can just ring Him up and ask?
I don't think many of the people who peddle or practice religion are in it for a scam, but in many cases it works that way all the same. Especially when politicians or autocrats start invoking it.
Depends if they end up praying for you as a treatment... here in the UK we've had some nutjob christian church telling people here to stop their AIDs treatment and god will cure them, 6 have died so far -
Imagine one of the pastors retraining and becoming your doctor
"Think of it as evolution in action."
No. As a doctor you only have to know that some medication doesn't work anymore so you have to use something different or hope the patient gets better by him/herself.
Just what we need: doctors that work in ignorance.
If a 'cookbook' sufficed, we wouldn't need doctors.
They're refusing to "believe" in evolution in favor of a mythical man living in the sky who created the universe. That ought to be classified as a mild form of psychological illness, but sadly it isn't.
"Physician, classify thyself" ?
What does evolution have to do with medics? I bet most doctors in the world know very little about evolution theory.
Every single fact about how our body works is the product of evolution.
Also, doctors work by drawing conclusions from evidence. If they're willing to reject a theory that's supported by vast amounts of evidence, are they qualified to work in medicine? (Or any other field that requires practitioners to draw conclusions from evidence?)
woooosh
Well, dark matter *is* hard to detect.
Until My Kingdom cometh.
Ah, so when he wrote "supreme beings (any Slashdot reader)", you must be the reader he had in mind.
I thought the general view is that dark matter doesn't even interact with itself, except gravitationally.
"a carefully-timed attempt to reignite controversy."
No, it's just more confirmation that these guys don't know why things are but are far more concerned that the number deliver the right message. Anything for the religion of Global Warming.
Actually the claim is very plausible, given that both releases were before big climate conferences. Sure sounds like an attempt to shape opinion.
Here is what our favorite badass tronomer has to say about it.
Surely you don't expect people to let a little thing like "crimes against humanity" stop someone from making a buck.
In the end your own talent matters more than where you go.
True, but having a degree from a prestigious university will open doors that talent won't always open.
It is clear that this is not a "first" strike weapon. The summation is correct, it is simply a "surprise" strike weapon. Which is OK, because, hey, who does not like surprises!?
Like Jesus said, "Do unto others before they do unto you."
Well, Mandrake, you're a good officer, and you have the right to know. I've been pissing in your soup for weeks.
Ah, I thought the gazpacho was warmer than it should have been.