Alan

No it’s been an idiocracy since Regan. And English speaking countries have all followed, lagging behind of course, but the UK is pretty close.

 If not attributed to God telling me what other possible explanations could it be?

Like a gazillion billion schmillion other possible explanations…ones that don’t involve an imaginary invisible supernatural being in the sky chatting with you and granting you your wishes. How on Earth does anyone get to the point where the default and only…[Read more]

For a Tarot reading to work you have to hand over your hard earned money AND find some kind of hindsight explanation for how it works. You have to completely ignore and pretend cold-reading isn’t a time honored and very easy tradition. Put faith into a set of printed paper-plastic cards and money making swindlers that there is something more…[Read more]

It all comes down to whether the democrats are willing to give up their chance to win vs. playing dirty. It’s a case of are they willing to give up their principles so they can govern to try and promote their principles.

The Republicans invented modern dirty politics. It ranges from deception to viscious attacks and manipulation to propaganda…[Read more]

It does not seem probable at all

Well throwing a Zucchini seems like the least incredible thing when you wake up the next morning in the festival tent on the floor soaked in beer and other grossness and your friends show you photos (or worse…videos) of what you did that night. If you think stupid vegitable games are ridiculous, the Swiss to…[Read more]

I suck at bowling. I don’t even enjoy it.

No one does bowling like “keggling”. I was born in the Black Forest in Germany a place with gorgeous midaevil villages. They have their own mini-Oktoberfests in early winter. They dress up in their own version of Lederhosen (black without those stupid suspenders) often have free beer and sausages for v…[Read more]

There is barely a vague illusion of democracy these days. Politicians don’t even try to hide it anymore. It’s a bribe competition.

Sadly it is yet one more example of the U.S. forking away from the rest of the Western world and doing the opposite of what is widely seen as progressive in politics. Canada and most of Europe impose strict limits on…[Read more]

Unseen you aren’t making an argument, you are just moaning that it is unfair to introduce fantastical or unknown possibilities to certainty of negation. Using “sane” or “rational” makes no difference. You could be being decieved. You could be a bloody simulation on someones computer and there actually is a hayena you are blocked from seeing. These…[Read more]

Re: the half picture ..am I missing something?

What did our ancient ancestors actually witness, before the word ‘god’ even existed?

So much stuff wouldn’t have made sense and would be pretty terrifying. Without a broader picture of climate…a freak hurricane or natural disaster or Vulcano going off (with no clear repetition or seemingly random) simply couldn’t have been a meaningless eve…[Read more]

Think of it in terms of the oft-heard “You can’t prove a negative.” Can’t I prove that there’s no hyena on my couch?

Unseen, please you have a masters in philosophy. You cannot have forgotten metaphysics 101. The only thing you prove is that there is or is not a hyena on the couch based on your frame of reference, your particular view, what you…[Read more]

I do think that evidence is a whole picture, and sometimes a bit of it can be missing.

Yes. Luckily humans can and always do fill in those blanks with their imagination and a dose of reason here and there. Luckily that has led to a lot of discoveries and progress. It also created the endless horrors of religion that still involve ruthless…[Read more]

extraordinary evidence

Simon, I think unseen’s pedantic side is rubbing off on you. By extraordinary evidence, I’m pretty sure Strega means strong reliable evidence. As in: “it’s written down in an old book” isn’t going to cut it if the claim is “a unicorn will grant anyone three wishes”. If the claim was “This book was written by me Mr. X” then…[Read more]

“The absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence….”

It’s an extremely important point when it comes to existential reality (metaphysical realism). Just because no evidence cannot be found doesn’t mean that something somehow exists in a way that hasn’t revealed itself yet or is inaccessible to you. That means certainty is, as far a…[Read more]

God bless your pedantic side Unseen

I am way too anti-social to be bunked-up like that, even in my youth.

To be honest there wasn’t any time for thinking about the realities of sharing a room with three other guys (we are talking four beds, a closet and a sink with almost all your things stored under your bed). When you work in London you work hard (and the over time) plus the…[Read more]

Ahhh those times dossing or squatting in London 🙂

My first year in London I lived in a house where there were 40 of us (35 Australians). We were three or four to a room. And we paid 360 pounds per person each a month for the privilege (which was a lot 20 years ago) but the only way you could possibly afford to live in the centre. It was, without…[Read more]

the universe [simply] happened

This is pretty much the default explanation. And it isn’t an incredible claim. It’s the most succinct. And there is nothing inherantly irrational about it. But then the human brain is built with every mechanism possible to resist this and fight it through bad reasoning as well as deeply, passionately and emotionally.

Then we will have to wait a very long time to confirm anything.