Caveat; coarse language, lots.

” It feels like time is accelerating. What felt like a week as a kid takes up a month..”

–and every time you blink seems like another year has passed.

No, you’re not imagining it.  There’s a scientific explanation for this perception.  It has to do with new experiences and hence new memories.

From The Scientific American, 2…[Read more]

“As an older person, you are not invisible.  Younger folks can always stand to learn of the ways and insights of the youths that came before them.  Please keep us informed. ”

How very kind of you to say. I do my best to contribute.

However, my observation is supported by studies.  I realise this not a universal thing, especially in…[Read more]

Fairly imaginative examples, unless you’ve actually experienced them.

In well into senior’s age and have never witnessed such crass behaviour. I’ve now been waiting for some years just to reply: “Well, I’d rather be an old fart than  a young dickhead”

Arguably worse than having ignorant young shits being rude is becoming invisible. The…[Read more]

I’m a bit behind reading replies, and found this:

” Once, I explained some aspect of the law regarding when it’s necessary to obtain releases when shooting in public ”

Interesting.

A lawyer friend once told me  there are no privacy laws in Australia. This means not only in public but also on private premises.Nobody has the right to te…[Read more]

“And didn’t Jimi Hendrix say, “Excuse me, while I kiss this guy”?”

Close enough.

This bloke seems to have it sewn up.

I empathise. Only recently I’ve discovered how unforgiving a PC can be when I have such a moment

@ Kristina

“But is it the Londonderry Air or the London Derriere?”

That depends on whether one is on the way to, or on the way from the pub and half a do…[Read more]

LMAO

First, it’s “Danny Boy”. T’was my father’s favourite song. Dad had a fine lyric tenor voice and would sing it at parties when he was oiled.

A perfect  example of the word being archaic in describing a geographic feature:

Strictly speaking, is on…[Read more]

“Why can’t it be both a personal name and a name for a something?”

I don’t remember saying it cannot. I simply pointed out that  “Glen” is not a gaelic name. However, in  non gaelic speaking Australia   it is mainly used as a name. The use of  ‘glen’ as a geographic feature is rarely heard.   Perhaps seen as  a little archaic , even flow…[Read more]

@jakelafort

” I was not aware of the Gaelic Glen.”

It’s actually a generic  gaelic suffix  “een” .  It means ‘little’ or is used  as term of endearment.   It can also be used as a pejorative.

Pretty sure ‘Glen’ is not a gaelic name, but comes from the Irish and Scottish gaelic;  ‘gleann’ , a small mountain valley.

Ironically, too true.

At the catholic boys schools  I attended we were actively discouraged  from reading the bible, “lest you become confused.” ( I kid you not)  I was 16 the time ,so of course I went home and read the entire thing. I soon…[Read more]

I was hoping you were joking.

I’m fine with Glen. Also wouldn’t mind the gaelic  “Gleneen” which is  diminutive/intimate. Has never happened.

My Canadian Mother deliberately gave myself and  my brother  4 letter names.  This was because  of the Aussie habit of messing around with names, sometimes longer, shorter, even a new name…[Read more]

“No, not a good video!

If you keep playing redneck videos you might be a redneck.”

In what sense? Morally? Moot.

Informative and reasonably objective?  I thought so,  I thought he made a lot of sense.

Now I’m truly not being sarcastic.  I would like to understand why you thought the video was not a good one. This is cheese and ch…[Read more]

“Hypothetically, everyone is supposed to have the same protections and rights save for when there are bona fide exemptions.”

Oh absolutely! Yet even in my own well developed society and functioning democracy(Australia) this is rarely the case.  Although Oz does have some robust Social Justice policies (in health, education and…[Read more]

First,  I reject cartesian dualism.   IE I’m unable to accept that consciousness/the mind  exists independently of the body due to a lack of  empirical evidence

That consciousness is not an object, rather, it is a process, a dynamic of the living brai…[Read more]

“You know, there’s a lot of fun made of elderly people. It can hurt”

Just so.

It comes as a bit of a shock to realise one has become socially invisible. Not just from being old*** either.  It can also happen to divorced people. The invitations stop coming.

“When was the last time you saw an elderly person as a flight attendant, for ex…[Read more]

“It’s accepted wisdom that the fewer the people who vote, the better GOP does in elections.”

Certainly that seems the intuitive position.  I can’t remember seeing any data to support that claim, but it could be true I guess.

Anyway, it’s been entertaining trying to  predict what Donald will do next.

Read  some pundit this morn…[Read more]

What a romantic view of the legal system, any legal system.

Another perception:  <b>The</b> reason for a legal system is to maintain order and the status…[Read more]

Yeah, Dunning-Kruger is very interesting.

Over my Public Service Career I often had to write performance appraisals.

Part of my process was to sit down with the person first and ask them to evaluate their own  performance.Without exception,each person was far less positive about their performance than I was. No doubt at least some…[Read more]

However, I have no expectations of Joe Biden. I hope I’m wrong, because imo  the US needs some fixing.

I can’t help but wonder if his choice of VP was deliberate .IE  That he’s aware his mental health is failing and picked someone capable of taking over if necessary .OR that he has no intention of r…[Read more]

Even 100% predictable. Seeing as Victor Hugo died in 1885 and Joseph Conrad died in 1923.

“Nowadays, Kristina, people are so ready to be offended or triggered that it’s hard to go through a day without doing or saying something that might, even if only potentially, o…[Read more]

” You are no “ignorant foreigner.”

Kind of you to say so. It’s all relative

In 35 years of international , once I left Australis it was as if my country did not exist. Why should it be otherwise? On the pacific rim with a tiny population (25 million) we are considered irrelevant to the northern hemisphere.

Australia has been und…[Read more]

“Isn’t it ironic that statistics of people killed by socialism (which comes in a wide variety of flavors) is often proffered by people who are ignorant of or are eager to forget how many people historical capitalism has killed. ”

I’m not convinced that Socialism, Capitalism or Socialism have killed anybody. Nor indeed has atheism. None o…[Read more]

OOPS! I knew that, don’t know why I typed the second. What can I say? I’m only an ignorant  foreigner.

“Glen that’s all easy to say when you don’t have to deal with the prejudice, discrimination, aggression, violence and criminal acts of (directly from or encouraged by) racism, homophobia, trans-phobia and other forms of bigotry.”

No offence  mate, but you have been  idea of what I might have faced.

I was explaining my views on free speec…[Read more]

Great. I offer one disclaimer:  I read that book ca 1974. All I can remember is an exercise called “Dance naked with the music”. I remember doing it, alone, in my flat and that it was great fun.

I grew up in a single income family with rigidly defined gender roles.

Then came Germaine Greer, Betty Friedan , Shire Hite and others . Their ideas were dangerous to the status quo of  a patriarchal society.EG equal pay for women, women controlling their own fertility, economic independence of  women.

In the nineteenth c…[Read more]

It is because of our sun that there is life on this planet.

Human beings have little if any impact on the planet long term. Our behaviour is making our planet uninhabitable for our species and probably quite a few more.  We may be the agents of our own extinction. Wasn’t aware ther is still a debated a…[Read more]

“What I am against is overly broad claims (just like your friend said).”

Me too. I’ve run across the odd gem  over the years. Eg “You Are Not The Target” by Vera Huxley. The book is simply a collection of gestalt techniques and they work.

The kind of books I’m agin are the facile crap  often featured by and recommended by Oprah W…[Read more]

My best friend died last year.

He was always reading the latest self help book. One of his cute little aphorisms was:

“If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t you’re right again”

BUT—-when  I met him. He was 17 ,working on the line at Chrysler’s and was homeless.

He then went to a teaching hospital and did his general…[Read more]

My favourite is  Spike Millikan’s head stone :”‘ I TOLD YOU I WAS SICK”–It’s in Gaelic because the English was considered too irreverent.

Will check again this afternoon. I’m going out to buy some peanuts. I think watching Trump’s reaction will be pretty entertaining. I will sit here eating my peanuts and  again give thanks to Joe Pesci that I do not live in America

I can’t h…[Read more]

“especially the: the world wants you to succeed and you can do anything if you just believe in it” .

Yeah, that idea has been around for a very long time.  I first came across it in 1969, in “Bring Out The Magic In Your Mind” by a stagemagician called Al Koran.  He called ‘the magic’ ‘The Law Of Attraction” .It surfaces every now and t…[Read more]

“I am interested in getting into The Rig Vedas.  So I am led to understand, Hindus claim that the book is unauthored.”

I have no idea, don’t quite understand  what you’re asking.  As far as I can tell, the Rig Veda forms part of the mythology of Hinduism.

I dismiss any  claims that any book is written by god or divinely ins…[Read more]

I WAS NOT

I WAS

I AM NOT

I DON’T CARE

Taken from an ancient Roman Tomb on the Via Appia just outside of Rome

” I gave up trying to be liked or even respected and was fine with just trying to be fair and high performing. ”

Me too, once I had been diagnosed with what used to be called Asperger’s Syndrome. (2012)

I don’t so much offend people as bore them rigid.  It’s accurate to say I have the social skills of a turnip. This includes having no…[Read more]

“but the system is still vulnerable to the same type of populism and demagoguery from a leader, even if many in their own caucus absolutely hate the—-”

Yup. That was demonstrated  spectacularly in Australia some years ago by a racist and  anti immigration popularist called   Pauline Hanson . Not only did she win a seat, she…[Read more]

I yeah, I agree in principle.  However I think the more important point is the separation of powers.IE that the judiciary needs to be independent of the political process. Imo making judges at any level political ap…[Read more]

In terms of him telling atheists what they  must do, seems I did. Mea culpa.

Still don’t like him as a serious thinker. Far too fond of facile and gratuitous  ad hominems imo and too short on evidence.

I didn’t allow my parents or teachers tell me that, so I’m hardly likely  to allow Chris Hitchens to tell me either

Reading ” God Is Not Great” simply reinforced my opinion of Mr Hitchens; an ignorant and bigoted polemicist and a weak  philosopher.

I realise my opinion may not be the consensus  here.  It’s only an opi…[Read more]

This came up when I was 16. We were actively discouraged from reading the bible ” Lest you become confused. “(truly) So naturally I went home and read the whole thing as soon as I could. It was a ‘fuck you’ gesture rather than from piety.

I read the Quran as  background for so…[Read more]

I’ve visited the US several times to see relatives and have a holiday. Always had a wonderful time.  A magnificent country and everyone I met treated me with civility and friendliness. (even New Yorkers) Relatives treated me like visiting royalty.

However, h…[Read more]

At 70-ish, unlikely AI will ever have any noticeable effect on me. As for say a person born today? I have no idea and lack the technical knowledge for an informed opinion.

Seems there’s an assumption that sentience for AI is inevitable.  Not convinced that is the case.  However, I’m most interested in learning the basis for s…[Read more]

Below are the few of which I’ve read at least part:

The Old and New Testaments.

The Quran.

Parts of the Mahabharata. Specifically the Bhagavad Gita

Parts  of The Rig Veda .

Parts of the Upanishads.

(the Indian texts are revered. Hinduism h…[Read more]

“A contradiction is false both because it’s evidently false (common sense)”

You mean as self evident  truth?

Bullshit.

That claim is simply a form of argument from ignorance. Often used by theist apologists to prove the existence of God; they intuit such being .

“and because logic is axiomatic, rule-based, and a contradiction is anathema to an…

[Read more]

Is that still around?.

IE. The Nigerian Prince/Spanish Prisoner/Advance Fee Fraud  / Nigerian 419 scam. I’m sure there are other names for it.

Last time I received an email of this scam, I replied :

“Thank you for your advance fee scam email. I have forwarded the details to INTERPOL. With luck you should  be hearing fr…[Read more]

Yet you said:

“I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that I KNOW there is no God. Prove me wrong.”

(1) That’s an affirming claim

(2) You’re the the one making the claim Up to you to prove your claim, not  to me to disprove it***”

“A contradiction, by contrast, is simply false.…[Read more]

You position reminds me of a section in Gulliver’s Travels, in Lilliput I think. The Court philosopher is yelling at Gulliver to go away.  This because the philosopher has just proved a creature such as Gulliver cannot exist.

My point is that logic is a limited tool for arriving at a truth.  Generally speaking rules of inference begin w…[Read more]

I’m back after an hiatus.

My basic position remains unchanged.   Still an agnostic atheist.  To me, that means I do not believe in god(s) due to a lack of evidence.  I do not claim, to know.

My position about the historicity of Jesus is changing. it was my position that at best: There may have been a wondering rab…[Read more]