Sunday School

Sunday School October 6th 2024

This topic contains 28 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by  Reg the Fronkey Farmer 1 month ago.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 29 total)
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  • #54870

    The UK now has more atheists than people who believe in God. How much is religion fading in other countries?

    How some Americans are finding community in secular spaces.

    Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters wants to waste €3 million on Bibles to put in public schools but Texans won’t stand for having their children indoctrinated.

    The new faces of unbelief for Generation Z: the rise of the British social media atheists.

    Atheists applaud Colorado’s implementation of Patients’ Right to Know Act.

    Blasphemy is a catalyst for progress. Let’s celebrate it.

    World of Woo: Are psychic fairies prone to ontological confusion?

    Environment: Is climate really on the ballot?

    How Jefferson and Madison’s partnership shaped America’s separation of church and state.

    Cooperation and shared thinking helped shape human intelligence.

    To combat misinformation, start with connection, not correction.

    The seven “irrational” habits of highly rational people.

    The earliest galaxies formed amazingly fast after the Big Bang.

    Long Reads: We are family: Tracing the evolution of animals. Rudy Giuliani’s daughter – Trump took my dad from me. Please don’t let him take our country. J.D. Vance and America’s Anti-Democracy activists. The 50 most banned books in America. Trump’s transformation into a religious totem turns Christian nationalism toxic. What would Project 2025 do for (or to) journalism?

    Sunday Book Club:  On the Origin of Time: Stephen Hawking’s Final Theory.

    Some photographs taken last week.

    While you are waiting for the kettle to boil……

    Coffee Break Videos:  Why are you trying to hold on to a belief? The expansion of the Universe explained. Would zombies ever consider the hard question of consciousness? A look behind the scenes of the high-security facility monitoring digital threats ahead of the US election. Mogi’s life on the Mongolian steppe.

    #54872

    Have a great week everyone!

    For ages, a deadly conflict has been waged between a few brave men and women of thought and genius upon the one side, and the great ignorant religious mass on the other. This is the war between Science and Faith. The few have appealed to reason, to honor, to law, to freedom, to the known, and to happiness here in this world. The many have appealed to prejudice, to fear, to miracle, to slavery, to the unknown, and to misery hereafter. The few have said “Think” The many have said “Believe!”

    –Robert Ingersoll

    #54873

    Simon Paynton
    Participant

    Cooperation and shared thinking helped shape human intelligence.

    This author, Cody Cottier, does a good and competent job of summarising Michael Tomasello’s work on the evolution of human cognition.  He also misses out some important stuff like cooperative breeding, which allowed a greater brain size (increased help for mothers meant they could have more than one child at a time, thereby giving them more time to grow big brains).  All in all he shows the difficulty of summarising this stuff.  You summarise the details to make a summary, yet the summary doesn’t make too much sense without the details.  I’m on my third or fourth reading of “A natural history of human morality”, and only now have I finally got a handle on it.  But summarising “regulation in large groups” for my book on morality is not easy at all.  The more detail there is, the easier it is to get lost in it.  The less detail you put into the summary, the less understandable it is.  There has to be a balance somewhere.

    #54876

     

     

    #54882

    Strega
    Moderator

    Thanks, Reg!

    #54883

    Thanks Strega!

    #54884

    jakelafort
    Participant

    Strega, is Strega an acronym? Stop thinking, reacting, engaging…go away!

    What is it?

    #54885

    unapologetic
    Participant

    The ‘more atheists in the UK’ article said “most atheists and agnostics express some type of supernatural belief.”
    Well, I don’t, but…
    The more I hear about quantum mechanics, pre big bang, multiverse theorys, etc. The more it sounds like magic rather than science.
    But ‘a god did it’ or even saying there is intelligence behind it is just anthropomorphizing it.

    Re. Sunday Assembly: No thanks. I am pretty antisocial. For community I have Sci-fi fandom, and I come here on weekends.

    After the Oklahoma bible newsclip there is a newsclip about 460k voter registrations purged. Most from changing counties or inactivity since 2016. I do not think 4 years is very long.

    God Dam. I missed blasphemy day again!

    “Is climate really on the ballot?” Very much so. Crib Sheet 2025 would eliminate the Enviromental Protection Agency.

    Of the 50 most banned books, I have only read ‘Watchmen’. I don’t understand why it would be banned. I have owned several ‘banned’ underground comix. and read a few other banned books not on this list. (without paying attention to bans)

    Sabine Hossefelder’s speech pattern is a little stiff, but she’s fun to listen to.

    #54886

    Strega is a very bewitching nom de plume.

    #54887

    Strega
    Moderator

    Ah there’s no missing that Irish charm there, Reg 😘

    #54888

    jakelafort
    Participant

    I guess i should have searched it. Sometimes i understand Italian words because of Spanish. Strega does not take me to bruja.

    #54889

    @unapologeticRe. Sunday Assembly: No thanks. I am pretty antisocial.

    I went to one out of curiosity but it was more of a “I am not-religious but I am very spiritual” gathering. I asked if they could be more specific as “demons are spirits too”. They were not happy with that.

    Then I noticed it. There, resting against the back wall. It was grotesque. An acoustic guitar with a missing string!! (cue the Psycho shower scene sounds).

    I made my way as quickly as possible to the bathroom before I had a chance to channel my inner Gary Oldman in “The Book of Eli”. Unfortunately I must have channeled that Regan girl from ‘The Exorcist’ instead. It was not pleasant.

    I think it is easier to herd cats than to organize a meeting of atheists on a Sunday 🙂 What ya reckon? @jakelafort

    #54890

    Simon Paynton
    Participant

    @unapologetic – Re. Sunday Assembly: No thanks. I am pretty antisocial.

    Those things sound pretty strange to me.  Everyone’s there to worship nothing?  What’s the point?

    #54891

    Simon – Those things sound pretty strange to me. Everyone’s there to worship nothing? What’s the point?

    Exactly the same as what happens in every other church, I guess.

    #54892

    Simon Paynton
    Participant

    Lol, that’s true

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