DrBob

Hi @Davis…  OK, I didn’t really get that.   Who did Simon think I was?  I suppose I appreciate the condolences.  I’m sure I’ll need them some day.

Tell me, what happened to Unseen?   He seems to have been replaced by a Republican doppleganger.  Now he thinks that scientific debate happens on YouTube and Twitter (and Lord help us, Facebook!).

I don’t think I’ve passed away… not quite yet anyway.   Happily fully vaccinated and boosted to try to keep it that way!

I do think that the COVID pandemic will be an abject lesson for the next 50 years on how not to do scientific communication with the public.  Sadly, part of that is because the public turns out to be far more ignorant than we thought.

Hi @Autumn,

The issue with agricultural methane is that it comes from renewables.  The cows eat plants; those plants got the carbon out of the air.   Left on the ground, bacteria would turn the same biomass into the same amount of methane.  In fact, that’s used for fuel in some 3rd world countries as “biogas”.  The problem with the cow farts thin…[Read more]

Aw, shucks, @Belle Rose.  Glad you’re still here and doing well.   And always glad to see the Fronkey Farmer!

Hi @TheEncogitationer (that’s a mouthful!)!

Here in the U.S. we’ve seen Catholic Churches & youth programs, then Boy Scout programs, then other church youth programs, then college and university programs, then youth sports programs.   And always, everywhere, the foster care and K-12 systems here.  The story is always the same… years of se…[Read more]

Good heavens, @jakelafort!  That’s quite a Gish Gallop.   I fear I would take up 20+ pages of prose trying to address each accusation flung my way.

Suffice to say that both as a scientist and as a Catholic I’m all for the mass-education of “heathens” as you put it.  Education is a good thing.  Leaving behind indigenous health care in favor of s…[Read more]

@Reg, it’s sometimes hard to tell whether you take yourself seriously.

I once had a European friend who would come over for American football games.  After a few beers he would delight in tormenting the rest of us with questions like “Why do all the big guys in armor take orders from the little guys who look like Zebras?  Do the zebra guys have g…[Read more]

As a fellow Christian, Michael…

WTH?

Oh, I don’t think we’re any more schizophrenic than anyone else.

For the record, Dia de Los Muertos is not a Catholic holiday or celebration, official or otherwise, and some practices are discouraged by the Church.   It’s a cultural celebration, much like the 4th of July or Memorial Day is in the U.S.  Priests may visit cemeteries with par…[Read more]

Why do you think there is no explanation for quantum entanglement?  Seriously, quantum theory is older than I am, and I am an increasingly Old Fart.   What you are likely trying to say is that quantum entanglement doesn’t comport with our often naive views of the universe, and you’re therefore confused.  It happens to all of us!  The universe is b…[Read more]

Good heavens.  I seem to have replied to Page 1 and missed this was on Page 7 (and now seems to be a debate about economic systems).  My apologies.

Hmmm… yes, some group seems to be feeding the YouTube algorithm to make this nitwit show up in a lot of feeds.  I found it largely incoherent.

There is something to be said for criticizing the left for not really understanding the science and focusing on stupid stuff like cow farts or grocery bags when discussing the climate emergency.   The ma…[Read more]

Wow, you guys have really degenerated quite a bit, eh?  And here I thought atheists were supposed to be rational sorts.

Kudos to @Robert for trying, but trying to reason with anti-mask, anti-vax, anti-public health folks who’ve been sucking down Russian propaganda is just a never-ending Gish Gallop.   One is left trying to explain all of mi…[Read more]

Actually, I think what the research actually showed was that a particular type of penetrating traumatic brain injury is associated with cognitive impairment.  No surprise there.

Being cognitively impaired is then associated with higher scores for fundamentalism on some instrument for this very small sample size.  That can be spurious, it can be t…[Read more]

Why would anyone assume that God had a physical brain?

That just shows limited imagination!

Since @David Boots asked me to comment in the other thread, I’ll offer this to help continue the conversation and then bow out:

I think the fundamental problem with setting an absolute “follow the law” ethic is that it absolves people of the individual obligation to use their own brains, to think for themselves, to be rational or com…[Read more]

PopeBeanie wrote:

Twas but a scratch. Please don’t give up, Dr. Bob.

I was amused when checking the Guidelines again that 2+ years later they were still written with me in mind.  Complete with the reference to that one cartoon I contributed over on TA to the thread asking for mocking cartoons 😉 .  I thought it fit with the theme, in a rev…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:

I should last a little longer.

Glad to hear it, mate.  You had me concerned for a moment there.  Take care of yourself, and have fun at the new job.

Bob