Strega

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Finally some white smoke……I was so nervous. Phew!! This guy has a Degree in Math!!

And in fairy tales. Imagine if a pope got elected and then declared; “Sorry folks, it’s all bullshit!”

Finally some white smoke……I was so nervous.  Phew!! This guy has a Degree in Math!!

 If it had not been for the ancient Jews of Israel no Christianity or Islam. How can anyone say what would have filled the void? Some other nonsense but would it have been more tolerant or rational?

I doubt it. The ancient Aztecs sacrificed their children to appease. Practiced slavery as well. Attila The Hun did not follow YHWH. You didn’t wanna…[Read more]

They tortured her. Of course they did.

The train station in Moscow is beautiful and modern! And our dear leader says we can trust Putin.

@_Robert_  Put you and her on an 8:30 AM train and it is a completely different picture…

I agree and it usually was. I had (have) no problem with anyone being a goth. I am all for people expressing their own individuality, especially with a subversive or non-conformist undertone towards “the system”.  I lived in a squat house with 12 people f…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
@strega – Everyone else wrote “Individuality”, and she wrote “Conformity”. I had a summer relationship with a goth girl in the mid 1980’s. My style at the time (if style is the word to use) was t-shirt, jeans, sneakers and a packet of Rizla. She was full goth, all the time. She was trying to persuade me to “change…

[Read more]

@Strega – Everyone else wrote “Individuality”, and she wrote “Conformity”.

I had a summer relationship with a goth girl in the mid 1980’s. My style at the time (if style is the word to use) was t-shirt, jeans, sneakers and a packet of Rizla. She was full goth, all the time. She was trying to persuade me to “change my lifestyle choices” or whateve…[Read more]

I went for an end of term dinner in an Elementary School in the USA for some relations who were probably about ages 910  at the time. I don’t recall the menu but I will always remember the notice at the front entrance over the flowerbeds. It read “No firearms beyond this point”.

The most common reply I get from ChatGPT is “Great catch”. Then I wait for the next reply and check it too……..

Anyone tied to an ideology cannot think critically by definition. The rise of extreme right and left ideologies is why critical thinking is almost dead.

These extreme right billionaires like Musk and Bezos have given up on the Earth’s future and want to fortress the US and switch to crypto-gold while they devise their tech-bro extraplanetary…[Read more]

@strega – isn’t there a difference between individuality, and individualism?  Individualism can be a social situation, the opposite of communitarianism.  People rely on themselves and a small circle of people, while in communal societies, people rely on the whole community.  Community societies are “shame” cultures where the community governs th…[Read more]

What’s the difference between critical thinking skills and conspiracy theorising?  I guess it’s the quality of the evidence, and a willingness to have an open mind.  If you get all your evidence from Youtube, and won’t change your mind no matter what, that’s not critical thinking.

People can use their critical thinking skills to support their unconscious prejudices. Greyhound racing, for example, is quite wisely banned almost everywhere in America and yet horse racing, which is exactly the same thing applied to a different species, persists.

Go figure.

Channeling my anger and ChatGPT updating my rant.

The Benefits of a Society That Values Critical Thinking (Compared to Theocracies)

A society that places critical thinking at its core gains wide-reaching benefits that theocracies — societies ruled by religious authority — struggle to match. Critical thinking involves the systematic que…[Read more]

And would any government today really want critically thinking citizens?

I guess it would if it was a “government of the people, by the people, for the people”.

“Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.”

Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr.

I got my basilicas/cathedrals mixed up. Sorry. My limerick should read…

A PAPAL RHYME OF TRUMPIAN PROPORTIONS

Trump said from his Washington home,
I’d love to be the Bishop of Rome.
Because Pontiffs are fine
Just one Pope at a time
And St. Peter’s has one HELL of a dome.

Trump said from his Washington home,
“I’d love to be the Bishop of Rome.
Because Pontiffs are fine
One Pope at a time
And St. Paul’s has one HELL of a dome.