Atheist knowledge

[hihosland]

Someone, I think Jared Diamond, argued that the only two things separated humans from other species was language capable of conceiving and arguing abstract concepts.

 

AND

 

an enthusiastic propensity to kill each other.

 

The fist a prerequisite to inventing the notion of either religion or polity

 

and that a prerequisite for the uniquely human activity of mass slaughter or genocide.

 

 

[turboplanner]

If that's the case we're related to stud rams.

 

 

[Marty_d]

If that's the case we're related to stud rams.

Sheep are capable of conceiving and arguing abstract concepts??

 

 

[hihosland]

Your stud Merino won't head out and smash in the heads of every Dorsett ewe, lamb or ram

 

 

[turboplanner]

Sheep are capable of conceiving and arguing abstract concepts??

If you're talking about: "Listen guys, while he's here let's pretend nothing's happening, that old Rambo over there is just feeling a bit sick, just walk around smiling and munching grass here and there, and as soon as he turns the Ute around, you, Martin will head-butt Rambo as a diversion, and I'll charge in from the side and cave the bastard's ribs in"

 

Yes

 

 

[facthunter]

Would you see that as an abstract concept? More likely instinctive behaviour learned over time to work. Like rat cunning.. Nev.

 

 

[Bruce]

We have three defects which will one day come to bite:

 

Firstly, we are too superstitious. Secondly, our time horizon is way too short to run a sustainable civilization and thirdly, we are too easily tamed. This last one can make us tools of warlords or unreasonably subservient to bureaucracies like CASA.

 

All of these things are obvious consequences of our evolutionary history and could not be otherwise.

 

This is a shame because we face the triple threats of resource depletion, overpopulation and global warming.

 

 

[Yenn]

Overpopulation will be cured, one way or another. We cannot go on increasing in numbers. For years experts have been saying that there will be famines to control population, but at the moment we seem to have such a g;ut of food that farmers cannot get a decent income.

 

With all the travel we do nowadays I can see disease being the big killer, especially as the general health of Western nations is declining.

 

Another epidemic like the flu in 1918 would thin dowm the population numbers.

 

Then again religious zealotry could have some impact. Trumps election may be all it takes. In which case our leaders will be the first to say let Australia fight your wars.

 

 

[Bruce]

I agree Yenn, all my life, food has been so cheap it's almost free. And I expect this will continue at least for my time. But if you have a time horizon of 100 years or more, the lack of sustainability will come to hurt our grandkids.

 

With these threats looming, is it not insane for our government to be spending millions controlling our recreational activity?

 

They would get twice the bang for their buck if they had " Fat pilot police" who came to fine you and worse if you were an overweight pilot. Yes, it is twice as dangerous, mortality-wise, to be 5kg overweight as it is to fly planes.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Overpopulation will be cured, one way or another. We cannot go on increasing in numbers. For years experts have been saying that there will be famines to control population, but at the moment we seem to have such a g;ut of food that farmers cannot get a decent income...

Vast-scale commercial agriculture in developed countries has decimated traditional farming systems across the world. Our food supply is now very dependent on fertilisers and fuel that will eventually run short, but the global famine we fear may still be some way off. Clearing of forest and loss of species is still happening at an alarming rate, but no longer gets headlines. Within a generation we will have lost most of our wildlife and forests, along with the genetic goldmines they contain.

 

Meanwhile, declining birth rates across the developed world means population reduction will probably be a greater concern.

 

...With all the travel we do nowadays I can see disease being the big killer, especially as the general health of Western nations is declining. Another epidemic like the flu in 1918 would thin dowm the population numbers...

Very true Yenn. It took four years of WWI to kill about 8m people. The Spanish flue killed perhaps treble that in less time. Since then antibiotics have allowed a huge reduction in deaths from disease. Unfortunately modern agriculture has squandered our magic bullet by using it to boost animal growth rates. Many bugs are now resistant to our existing antibiotics and little is being spent looking for new ones.

 

 

[facthunter]

Incurable infection is now a distinct possibility with any big operation performed now. TB in PNG is a very strong strain that may not be curable. The world was virtually free of TB at one stage. Polio is re emergent in places like Pakistan, Afganistan where they resist vaccinations as a western plot to sterilise them. You can get across the world in 12 hours. What hope have we got? Nev

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Incurable infection is now a distinct possibility with any big operation performed now. TB in PNG is a very strong strain that may not be curable. The world was virtually free of TB at one stage. Polio is re emergent in places like Pakistan, Afganistan where they resist vaccinations as a western plot to sterilise them. You can get across the world in 12 hours. What hope have we got? Nev

We eradicated killer diseases like smallpox from our planet and came very near to getting rid of perhaps the cruellest of all: polio...and religious nutters stopped it!

 

 

[turboplanner]

We eradicated killer diseases like smallpox from our planet and came very near to getting rid of perhaps the cruellest of all: polio...and religious nutters stopped it!

Pardon? Which "religious" nutters?

 

 

[pmccarthy]

Some die of diabetes

 

And some of diarrhoea

 

Some die from drinking whisky

 

And some from drinking beer

 

But of all the worlds diseases

 

There's none that can compare

 

To the drip drip drip of a syphalitic prick

 

Or a dose of ghonarrhea.

 

Sung to the tune of The British Grenadiers.

 

 

[Bruce]

That TB in PNG is a bit close for comfort. Unlike the STD's, TB is very contagious. Any droplet from an infected person and you can get it. I wonder what the plans are to keep it out of Australia. Prayer has been tried in the past.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Pardon? Which "religious" nutters?

That'd be the Taliban.

 

There's also a bunch of nutters known as "anti-vaxxers", but their religious status probably varies wildly.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Pardon? Which "religious" nutters?

Just one of the attacks:

 

Deadly suicide attack targets polio centre in Pakistan

 

 

[Litespeed]

As a interesting aside, to show the potential of viral warfare or just our luck running out check the series called the "Last Ship"

 

Watch The Last Ship FREE!!

 

A very large % of the world is wiped out and yes some see it as Gods work.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

Just one of the attacks:Deadly suicide attack targets polio centre in Pakistan

What more could describe religious ignorance than this.

 

This is a country that has many schools that teach entirely from a religious book, no science books, no math books, no engineering books, no languagebooks, etc, no books at all other than just the one.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

What more could describe religious ignorance than this.

This is a country that has many schools that teach entirely from a religious book, no science books, no math books, no engineering books, no languagebooks, etc, no books at all other than just the one.

...which was written by a paedophile.

 

 

[dutchroll]

That'd be the Taliban.

There's also a bunch of nutters known as "anti-vaxxers", but their religious status probably varies wildly.

I was going to say the Taliban and most other religious nutters actually appear quite sane compared to the anti-vaxer movement here in Australia.

 

Their Queen of Nuttiness Meryl Dorey has just been advising people who have a bowel or breast cancer diagnosis to adopt a "wait and see" approach because "they almost always resolve naturally", as opposed to seeing a doctor who will just make every effort to kill you.

 

It sort of does resolve naturally with time, because it stops spreading and growing when you die.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

...a bit like "death is nature's way of telling you to slow down".

 

 

[Bruce]

Gosh they are hypocrites to use weapons unknown in the biblical times.

 

 

[facthunter]

They use what Allah gives them. Like Kids from orphanages to kill as many non- believers as they can.. Nev

 

 

[Bruce]

Yes Nev, but in that sense Allah gave them polio vaccine and beer. They get to choose what is endorsed by Allah and what is forbidden huh.