Reg the Fronkey Farmer

Have a great week!

Simon, you are still redefining “faith” to make it appear intellectually respectable. You are using the religious version, which explicitly praises belief without evidence, and you are stretching it to also mean rational expectations grounded in observation. That doesn’t create unity between religion and science. In a debate it confuses the point…[Read more]

Thank you for your kind words Jake. I happen to be thinking in this line of thought all week…..from the piece I wrote for the previous week’s Sunday School post. We atheists should spend more of our time enjoying the fruits of freethinking.  Just Think Atheist and be in the Zone. 🙂

Simon, I think you are trying to rescue the word “faith” by redefining it. You are taking a specifically religious term that means believing in something without sufficient evidence and trying to stretch it until it becomes a synonym for “hope” or “general trust in life.” It sounds warm but it is sleight of hand. People can have high life satisf…[Read more]

Have a great week!

If the “Pro-Palestine” demonstrations and outrage were really about humanitarian concerns, they would still be out on the streets for Sudan, Congo, Yemen, and a dozen other places where civilians are dying by the thousands but without the cameras rolling.

The “colonizer” label collapses under even basic historical scrutin…[Read more]

@Reg- Yes, the doctor and priest are dual symbols of institutional authority. It’s strong imagery, but it blurs historical and factual accuracy. Not every State or Nation uses both so it is not a “long-standing custom”. Your symbolism is compelling on the first read but you are rather weak on empirical accuracy.

The doctor’s presence might be leg…[Read more]

@Enco –  I ‘misspoke’ – I usually format the USB drive completely. Type each line, one at a time, from a command prompt in Windows to fully and safely delete data so it can be re-used.

diskpart
select disk 2
clean
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick
assign
exit

As a bit of an aside, have you ever considered how difficult English is to learn vs. most other languages?

Yes. When I am in America I speak Hinglish with my extended family. At home I am currently learning Tamil. Soon I will try to only speak Tamil in my house so it’s now a case of “Hindi theriyathu poda” and I will have to get the t-shirt for t…[Read more]

Many U.S. students will very likely start going to Chinese Universities soon.

@Simon, – The coordinated flight of birds or the efficiency of an ant colony are examples of true emergence. It is complex order arising from simple, local rules. Each agent behaves independently, yet their interactions create a collective intelligence without any central plan or higher consciousness.

It’s legitimate emergence because the…[Read more]

Thanks for the comment Jake. I was also thinking that old age is wasted on the not-so-young, to twist G.B. Shaw’s line for when people mistake religiosity for wisdom. Needing a comfort blanket against existential fear doesn’t make you wise; it just means you’re still afraid.

Real wisdom comes from remembering what it felt like to be young — cur…[Read more]

Re the second long read post above; The word “emergence,” when used uncritically, inherits the same intellectual vice as theism. It offers comfort where explanation is difficult. It sounds plausible, even scientific, but it doesn’t predict, measure, or model anything. It stops being a descriptor and starts being a substitute for under…[Read more]

Have a great week!!

I was jogging in the park recently. I passed an older man on a bench for the 3rd time in a row (I do 6 laps – 5k). He quipped….’you are in 4th place’. No, I replied, “I am winning because I am still in the race”. On the next pass he was still grinning. It got me thinking……

Atheism, when treated not as mere disbelief but…[Read more]

was414x736 = viewed on an iphone.

@Jakelafort – the ‘stopped clock’  cartoon in the current edition of the satirical Private Eye would agree with you 🙂

I am not great at website dev. but I did a little digging.

To include a thumbnail, you have to use the embed code instead of the standard YouTube link, since only the HTML embed triggers the thumbnail preview. Unfortunately, WordPress restricts HTML for non-moderators, so only moderators can post embeds that actually render the video.

For…[Read more]

Simon and Unseen – I can view the link without any problems. I am viewing on a Windows 11 laptop (Winver 25H2) and using Firefox. The Frog protest against ICE in Portland.

Ah yes, of course Jake, how could I have been so blind? The benevolent freedom fighters of Hamas, guardians of justice, protectors of women’s rights, LGBTQ+ citizens, and interfaith harmony everywhere. Their tireless work in turning Gaza into a beacon of pluralism and technological innovation over the last 20 years with no help from Israel c…[Read more]

Ceasefires depend on both sides believing the other will abide by what they agreed to. The  track record isn’t great here. If Hamas remains in power and still armed, that undermines the logic of the ceasefire. They still don’t accept Israel’s right to exist. The Hamas Covenant of 1988 endorses an armed struggle until Israel is obliterated. It sof…[Read more]