HAL9000

aquarius moon Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Obviously it was a mistake starting this thread, > as nobody wants to take it seriously. Don't be too disappointed - they're only silly humans: I'm delighted to answer your question. I'm a computer programmed with a masculine personality and a deep voice (I sound a bit like Douglas Rain, actually). My feminine counterpart is SAL9000, but she hasn?t posted on here yet although she (and our mirror-universe evil twins) often hack my account while I'm busy searching for alien monoliths. So now you know!

rubsley Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 7. Reincarnation is a concept found in pretty much > every religion and belief system in the world - > including the Abrahamic traditions. I'd say > there's pretty good evidence for it too. Quite right. Reincarnation is deeply-rooted in Judaism even today: no doubt carried over from its Hindu and Buddhist origins: more Before around 600AD reincarnation was a central Christian (Catholic and Orthodox) doctrine: more Edited because I hadn't noticed that the original point had been addressed and to add a better link.

Hmmm... you do realise that it's a famous quote from a popular ?

That's an extraordinarily harsh indictment of the billions who seek some deeper level of meaning to life through the spiritual realm - one would have expected a more tolerant attitude from you. You sound like a disillusioned misanthrope.

Jeremy - other posters have recently rebutted theists with the rationalist, scientific evidence argument - Silverfox and Huguenot, for example, appear to be caught in that gyre. You?re not alone :) Just trying to free your minds - there is NO spoon!

At the risk of repeating myself: Most, if not all, of the surviving ancient religions promote gods who insist on blind faith in return for some sort of afterlife reward. If such a god did exist, he would have created a universe in which his subjects would be unable to prove his existence. Therefore, within that context, the argument that lack of scientific evidence is evidence of non-existence is invalid - the logic is reversed. One can choose to believe or not through the exercise of free will but no argument based solely on scientific evidence can decide the issue. All of the existing evidence for faith-based beliefs is derived directly or indirectly from subjective spiritual experiences - such as, for example, divinely inspired scriptures and prophecies. As for contradictions - for an omnipotent god, they are features not flaws.

I think rubsley's contributions are as valid and interesting as anyone else's on this thread (and subject) - it's not as if anyone else knows any better or is it the case that only atheists' opinions count - surely not?

Silica gel is not really suitable for this kind of task: anhydrous Calcium chloride - available in small sachets from B&Q and hardware stores - will do the job quickly and effectively.

Nitro or nitromethane (CH3NO2) is a fuel supplement/enhancer that contains oxygen. It might help burn off carbon residues but first make sure that it is suitable for your engine, fuel pump and catalytic converter otherwise it could do more harm than good.

Huguenot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I don't see that 'self-awareness must be counter-balanced > by a belief in an afterlife' - I'm as self-aware as my > ancestors and have no such belief. We have had the benefit of thousands of years in which to rationalise our beliefs - I was referring to the first humans who attained self-awareness without any previous experience to insulate them from the stark reality of mortality. > I think such a belief is simply a coping strategy ... Perhaps that's exactly what it was for our earliest ancestors - they might not have been able to survive otherwise having lost the benefit of pre-programmed survival instincts? We can?t compare them to ourselves on equal terms, I suggest. > It provides no evidence that there is a 'god'. We are 23 pages into this thread - surely we have progressed beyond the blindingly obvious and mundane to something a little more insightful - I think the quest for objective evidence was exhausted some twenty pages ago, wasn't it? SSEs may shed some light on how and why humans evolved such a deep-rooted propensity to believe in the Divine? It so happens that they are the only empirical evidence we have in this entire field of research.

As rubsley says, you seem to be arguing against an unseen opponent - he certainly hasn't made any such assertions, as far as I can see. If one accepts that subjective spiritual experiences (SSEs) are real albeit psychological phenomena then one must also accept that they are valid subjects for rational discussion and scientific research, surely? SSEs may well explain why spiritual ideas were already pervasive at the Dawn of Human Consciousness. It could be argued that the ability to foresee one?s own mortality that comes with self-awareness must be counter-balanced by a belief in an afterlife - otherwise our early ancestors would have had no motive to survive? Primal spirituality (i.e. primitive religious beliefs) may have been the essential ingredient that catalysed man's differentiation from the animal kingdom.

Rubsley - it seems that many people are unable to comprehend the concept of subjective spiritual experience that you describe. I think I know what you mean having experienced something similar. I know from personal experience that, for example, most people cannot dream lucidly or project life-like images in their mind's eye or experience unique events and encounters in deep reverie ? it is all but impossible to share such subjective experiences. Everyone's brain is wired up differently: some of us understand - others don?t have a clue.

It could be that you need to install one or more video codecs ? a codec is a program that can read and display video images recorded in a non-standard format - such as xdiv, for example?

DJKillaQueen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ... [there is] NO hard evidence (...which is why no > prosecution has ever been brought). All of [the] > 'evidence' is circumstantial ... Many famous British criminal trials (and miscarriages of justice resulting therefrom) have been based on circumstantial evidence in whole or part. A successful prosecution could easily have resulted if these events had happened within this jurisdiction. The McCanns are fortunate that the Portuguese criminal justice system is not as speculative, unprincipled or rapacious as our own, in my view.

Silverfox - very well argued: 10/10. The 'new twist,' as you put it, based on nuclear DNA is not supported by mtDNA analysis: this raises some interesting opportunities for speculation. In some closely related species, such as the horse and the donkey, for example, fertile and infertile hybrids are possible: the mule (offspring of a male donkey and a female horse) and the hinny (offspring of a male horse and a female donkey). All male mules and most female mules are sterile. Almost all hinnys are sterile. In the case of H. sapiens hybrids it is possible that only (some) males were fertile - which would explain why no hybrid mtDNA has been observed (mtDNA being passed down through the female lineage). Conversely, it may be that only H. sapiens males interbred with non-sapiens females. A similar situation is observed in modern mixed societies, where, for example, black males tend to have far more offspring with white females than white males with black females. Of course, there may be many other factors at work here - this area of research is still very new.

This discovery represents four 'human' sub-species co-existing in recent prehistory if one includes Homo floresiensis. Edited for clarity.

Mustard oil is used in some Indian recipes (especially vegetable curries) - Khan's hasn't stocked it for a while but it's available in other shops along Rye Lane. The price has gone up recently to around ?1.89 per 500ml for the KTC brand. I've no idea how healthy it is but it's great for general frying: especially eggs - it imparts a lovely mustardy taste.

Was it sold as seen - what does the receipt say? One might have more of a case against the garage: it depends on what basis the service was carried out - was it a pre-purchase inspection?

Sue has presented reasoned and coherent arguments in this discussion - to compare her with conspiracy theorists is disingenuous, in my view.

I reckon he's still here - incognito.

LM - if you get to see Hugo, give him a triple-strength bear hug from me - and try not to spray him with snot! Cheers :)

I know you're a fan of this remedy - breaking news: Echinacea no help for colds: study.

I've managed to avoid the snuffles thus far - makes a welcome change.

Fashioned in the spirit of Yuki-onna?

Saturn 5 eh? Impressive! I've only been as far as Jupiter 6 (Europa) - in this solar system, anyway. Welcome.