And in modern Islam, equal rights for men and women is not a universal belief or anywhere near being so.
Nonsense. Islam has nothing to say about the rights of men and women. It is merely an interpretation pushed by men in power not wanting to lose power.
Christians used religion to suppress women for hundreds of years (including preventing them from being educated). It's been less than 100 years since western women have had the right to vote, and they are still fighting for tryue gender equality. The repression of women in Islam is not based in religion and will eventually come to an end, just like it has (mostly) in Christianity.
Einstein did not have some intimate insight on how the universe worked, he made mistakes on even basic principles (heat capacity comes to mind).
Really? In what way. Wiki states:
But experiments at low temperatures showed that the heat capacity changes, going to zero at absolute zero. As the temperature goes up, the specific heat goes up until it approaches the Dulong and Petit prediction at high temperature.
By employing Planck's quantization assumption, Einstein's theory accounted for the observed experimental trend for the first time. Together with the photoelectric effect, this became one of the most important evidence for the need of quantization. Einstein used the levels of the quantum mechanical oscillator many years before the advent of modern quantum mechanics.
Seems like it was mostly correct to me.
He made some great discoveries, but also had a wasteland of failed ideas.
Dolphins certainly do have both neurons and glial cells. A dolphins DNA is about 98% identical to ours.
Dolphins are extremely social animals. They can also do things with their brains that we cannot, like independently shut one side down to sleep while the other stays active for swilling, breathing and watching for predators.
They are also extremely creative. When trained for tricks, its been shown the the trainer can tell one dolphin to 'make up a trick'. That dolphin then goes out to the other dolphins, they 'communicate' for a while, then they synchronously perform a new trick that they've never been taught. Seems highly intelligent to me.
I don't necessarily equate culture with religion, but ok.
First, it is well known that the birth of Christ almost certainly didn't occur anywhere near Dec 25, it probably happened in the spring.
So the cultural traditon of Christmas varies wildly among even Christians (some non-Christians also celebrate Christmas, but I'll leave that out of here). Some groups say Santa Clause has nothing to do with Christmas, while others know that Santa Clause is derived from Saint Nicolas, a Turkish Catholic bishop.
In the west Christmas gift giving is on the 25th, while in other Christmas areas it varies from Dec 12th to Jan 1st.
The yule log, Christmas tree and caroling are all pagan traditions adopted by the Catholic church to gain more acceptance of the holiday.
And what the heck does this have to do with Islam??
Yes, but you have to remember that Christianity was used to stop slavery and persecution of gays as well. Christianity is a two edged sword, and the edge of Christ the redeemer usually wins out in the long run.
Basically no matter what religion you believe in, it can be twisted to support any point of view. Thats the problem with trying to interpret and do what God wants when God isn't actually telling anyone to do anything.
The world will be a lot better place to live when everyone realizes that different religions are just various interpretations of the SAME THING, and the only thing people are fighting about are their own human-based ideals.
So yeah, the muslims are pissed off about the Crusades, but what about the part that the Levant was actually CHRISTIAN LAND FIRST
How could the lands possibly be Christian when the land and its people PREDATE Christianity? That whole area was under Egyptian Pharaoh rile 1500 years before Christ. And the Egyptian people were in that area as far back as 3000BC. Wouldn't it then rightfully belong to them?
You seem to think nerds are the intelligent ones. Social ineptitude does not translate into intelligence, and physical ability does not mean stupidity.
I think your sense of ridiculousness stems from the idea that islam taking over the earth is undesirable.
No, I would have said the same thing if you said Christianity, or Buddhism or Atheism will take over the world. It's a silly statement to make.
It would be the same as if someone said 'Murder rates are up 4% this year. If trends continue, the entire city will be dead in 12 years'
Christianity swept most of Europe at one point looking to be the dominant world religion. Of course that also plunged us into several hundred years of what we now call the 'dark ages' where science was deemed to be against god and those practicing it were killed in the name of the church. Of course we know how that turned out.
Sure, he wasn't that good at math, but his understanding of the universe and how things work is unparalleled. Many of his theorys could only be proven years after his death when technology finally caught up to a level capable of testing them.
it's easy to defend Christianity from interpretations and practices incompatible with the Western world.
Really? How about using the bible to justify persecution against gays or blacks? The killing of abortion doctors. The near eradication of the native peoples that were here long before us.
How about the Salem witch trials, or the crusades? Are these all compatible with the 'western' world?
OK, then. What IS socialist? If charging anyone who pays taxes to fund a government program that gives services to all, regardless if they pay for it or not is not socialist, then what is?
You are confusing a social program (a program or benefit for all paid from tax dollars) with socialism which is an economic organization. Both the military and police are paid for from our tax dollars, but I doubt you will find any sane person that would call these 'socialist'.
Social program and 'socialist' are not the same. It would be like saying 'since Republicans are not Democrats, then they must be anti-democratic'.
People who interpret Islam incorrectly repress women. Just like some Christian fundamentalists insist the women should stay home and look after the children (and not use birth control cause thats killing babies). Same thing.
I agree with the last two statements, but that is independent of religion.
I agree - you cannot point to any one thing to say this is what makes someone smart. Genetic factors, upbringing, education, opportunity all play major roles.
Oh,and universal health care is Socialist.
No it is not socialist. Unless you also consider publics schools, the court system, police and military to also be socialist. Just because it is a social program, or publicly funded does not automatically make it socialist.
I think the fundamental limitation of other animals demonstrating their intelligence (regardless of whether they are smarter or not) is that they didn't evolve opposable thumbs like we did. This severely restricts the amount of invention you can do.
If 10,000 years ago a bunch of rock throwers witnessed the "magic" of these smarter people, they too might have believed they were evil or a threat to be destroyed.
Even in recent history, the Romans had far more knowledge and were more cultured than anyone else on the planet. However they eventually fell because of repeated invasions over many years by the barbarians. A shining example of the stupid overtaking and destroying the smart.
while cortical structures such as those controlling sensory and motor mechanisms stay unchanged.
Exactly how much more evolution do you need for motor function?
Actually in these areas, if you look at human MRI scans, the motor control areas can vary wildly - I've seen about a 30% difference in volume from one subject to another.
For example, we may deplore Islamic sexual repression of women, but evolutionarily speaking, unless we nuke them, they are going to take over the earth.
What a ridiculous statement. Why would you say that?
There is 10 metric tons of atmosphere over every square meter of this planet at sea level. The solar winds, even with a CME will not increase radiation levels down here at all, cus they just don't have the energy.
Do you have a reference to back this up? The atmosphere does provide some protection, but I don't think it is as much as you think. Sure the atmosphere is 1000km think, but even now when you take a flight at 10km up, you are getting the equivalent radiation dose of a medical X-Ray.
long term exposer to the solar wind will tend to reduce the life of many (and for some it will make little difference at all, and some still are outside anyway)
There are NO earth orbiting satellites currently outside the magnetosphere. Even GEO satellites are well within the magnetospere boundary. Some satellites in elliptical orbits pass through the Van Allen belts (inside the magnetosphere), but many of these simply turn off their electronics while passing thorough as it is very difficult to shield the electronics.
The Apollo missions went outside the magnetosphere (obviously). The only reason the astronauts were not killed was because there was no solar flare activity while they were in space. There was a solar flare between the Apollo missions 16 and 17; they now estimate that if the astronauts happened to be in space during that event, they would have absorbed a lethal dose in about 10 hours.
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And in modern Islam, equal rights for men and women is not a universal belief or anywhere near being so.
Nonsense. Islam has nothing to say about the rights of men and women. It is merely an interpretation pushed by men in power not wanting to lose power.
Christians used religion to suppress women for hundreds of years (including preventing them from being educated). It's been less than 100 years since western women have had the right to vote, and they are still fighting for tryue gender equality. The repression of women in Islam is not based in religion and will eventually come to an end, just like it has (mostly) in Christianity.
Einstein did not have some intimate insight on how the universe worked, he made mistakes on even basic principles (heat capacity comes to mind).
Really? In what way. Wiki states:
But experiments at low temperatures showed that the heat capacity changes, going to zero at absolute zero. As the temperature goes up, the specific heat goes up until it approaches the Dulong and Petit prediction at high temperature. By employing Planck's quantization assumption, Einstein's theory accounted for the observed experimental trend for the first time. Together with the photoelectric effect, this became one of the most important evidence for the need of quantization. Einstein used the levels of the quantum mechanical oscillator many years before the advent of modern quantum mechanics.
Seems like it was mostly correct to me.
He made some great discoveries, but also had a wasteland of failed ideas.
Thats a bold statement. Back this up please.
Dolphins certainly do have both neurons and glial cells. A dolphins DNA is about 98% identical to ours.
Dolphins are extremely social animals. They can also do things with their brains that we cannot, like independently shut one side down to sleep while the other stays active for swilling, breathing and watching for predators.
They are also extremely creative. When trained for tricks, its been shown the the trainer can tell one dolphin to 'make up a trick'. That dolphin then goes out to the other dolphins, they 'communicate' for a while, then they synchronously perform a new trick that they've never been taught. Seems highly intelligent to me.
Ah. That was a lion, not a puma. (and yes I know that a puma is a mountain lion - mountain lion and lion are not the same).
I don't necessarily equate culture with religion, but ok.
First, it is well known that the birth of Christ almost certainly didn't occur anywhere near Dec 25, it probably happened in the spring.
So the cultural traditon of Christmas varies wildly among even Christians (some non-Christians also celebrate Christmas, but I'll leave that out of here). Some groups say Santa Clause has nothing to do with Christmas, while others know that Santa Clause is derived from Saint Nicolas, a Turkish Catholic bishop.
In the west Christmas gift giving is on the 25th, while in other Christmas areas it varies from Dec 12th to Jan 1st.
The yule log, Christmas tree and caroling are all pagan traditions adopted by the Catholic church to gain more acceptance of the holiday.
And what the heck does this have to do with Islam??
Yes, but you have to remember that Christianity was used to stop slavery and persecution of gays as well. Christianity is a two edged sword, and the edge of Christ the redeemer usually wins out in the long run.
Basically no matter what religion you believe in, it can be twisted to support any point of view. Thats the problem with trying to interpret and do what God wants when God isn't actually telling anyone to do anything.
The world will be a lot better place to live when everyone realizes that different religions are just various interpretations of the SAME THING, and the only thing people are fighting about are their own human-based ideals.
So yeah, the muslims are pissed off about the Crusades, but what about the part that the Levant was actually CHRISTIAN LAND FIRST
How could the lands possibly be Christian when the land and its people PREDATE Christianity? That whole area was under Egyptian Pharaoh rile 1500 years before Christ. And the Egyptian people were in that area as far back as 3000BC. Wouldn't it then rightfully belong to them?
You seem to think nerds are the intelligent ones. Social ineptitude does not translate into intelligence, and physical ability does not mean stupidity.
I think your sense of ridiculousness stems from the idea that islam taking over the earth is undesirable.
No, I would have said the same thing if you said Christianity, or Buddhism or Atheism will take over the world. It's a silly statement to make.
It would be the same as if someone said 'Murder rates are up 4% this year. If trends continue, the entire city will be dead in 12 years'
Christianity swept most of Europe at one point looking to be the dominant world religion. Of course that also plunged us into several hundred years of what we now call the 'dark ages' where science was deemed to be against god and those practicing it were killed in the name of the church. Of course we know how that turned out.
I'm missing something - what do pumas and riddles have to do with each other?
I would think it is more accurate to say that religion influences culture, then culture in turn reinterprets religion.
Not all Christians share an identical (or even similar) culture.
Sure, he wasn't that good at math, but his understanding of the universe and how things work is unparalleled. Many of his theorys could only be proven years after his death when technology finally caught up to a level capable of testing them.
it's easy to defend Christianity from interpretations and practices incompatible with the Western world.
Really? How about using the bible to justify persecution against gays or blacks? The killing of abortion doctors. The near eradication of the native peoples that were here long before us.
How about the Salem witch trials, or the crusades? Are these all compatible with the 'western' world?
Don't confuse religion with culture.
OK, then. What IS socialist? If charging anyone who pays taxes to fund a government program that gives services to all, regardless if they pay for it or not is not socialist, then what is?
You are confusing a social program (a program or benefit for all paid from tax dollars) with socialism which is an economic organization. Both the military and police are paid for from our tax dollars, but I doubt you will find any sane person that would call these 'socialist'. Social program and 'socialist' are not the same. It would be like saying 'since Republicans are not Democrats, then they must be anti-democratic'.
Islam does repress women.
People who interpret Islam incorrectly repress women. Just like some Christian fundamentalists insist the women should stay home and look after the children (and not use birth control cause thats killing babies). Same thing.
I agree with the last two statements, but that is independent of religion.
I agree - you cannot point to any one thing to say this is what makes someone smart. Genetic factors, upbringing, education, opportunity all play major roles.
Oh,and universal health care is Socialist.
No it is not socialist. Unless you also consider publics schools, the court system, police and military to also be socialist. Just because it is a social program, or publicly funded does not automatically make it socialist.
What makes you think dolphins are not smarter than humans?
I think the fundamental limitation of other animals demonstrating their intelligence (regardless of whether they are smarter or not) is that they didn't evolve opposable thumbs like we did. This severely restricts the amount of invention you can do.
No, I assume you were referring to the section:
If 10,000 years ago a bunch of rock throwers witnessed the "magic" of these smarter people, they too might have believed they were evil or a threat to be destroyed.
Even in recent history, the Romans had far more knowledge and were more cultured than anyone else on the planet. However they eventually fell because of repeated invasions over many years by the barbarians. A shining example of the stupid overtaking and destroying the smart.
while cortical structures such as those controlling sensory and motor mechanisms stay unchanged.
Did you also know that 86% of all statistics are completely fabricated?
while cortical structures such as those controlling sensory and motor mechanisms stay unchanged.
Exactly how much more evolution do you need for motor function?
Actually in these areas, if you look at human MRI scans, the motor control areas can vary wildly - I've seen about a 30% difference in volume from one subject to another.
For example, we may deplore Islamic sexual repression of women, but evolutionarily speaking, unless we nuke them, they are going to take over the earth.
What a ridiculous statement. Why would you say that?
What he world needs is an advanced predator species to thin the idiots out of the herd. Maybe a robotic puma or something.
Exactly how many paper hats did you keep trying on until you realized you would break them, genius? ;-)
And Einsteins prefontal cortex was much smaller than average. However he is arguably among the smartest humans to have ever lived.
There is 10 metric tons of atmosphere over every square meter of this planet at sea level. The solar winds, even with a CME will not increase radiation levels down here at all, cus they just don't have the energy.
Do you have a reference to back this up? The atmosphere does provide some protection, but I don't think it is as much as you think. Sure the atmosphere is 1000km think, but even now when you take a flight at 10km up, you are getting the equivalent radiation dose of a medical X-Ray.
long term exposer to the solar wind will tend to reduce the life of many (and for some it will make little difference at all, and some still are outside anyway)
There are NO earth orbiting satellites currently outside the magnetosphere. Even GEO satellites are well within the magnetospere boundary. Some satellites in elliptical orbits pass through the Van Allen belts (inside the magnetosphere), but many of these simply turn off their electronics while passing thorough as it is very difficult to shield the electronics.
The Apollo missions went outside the magnetosphere (obviously). The only reason the astronauts were not killed was because there was no solar flare activity while they were in space. There was a solar flare between the Apollo missions 16 and 17; they now estimate that if the astronauts happened to be in space during that event, they would have absorbed a lethal dose in about 10 hours.