Will Trump win again???
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deleted171991
Back to the books. 😳 Some cultures do eat fertilized eggs, AFAIK.
Still, I just love all those anti-abortion enthusiasts who eat young animals all the time, but make a world of fuss over a 10 week-old human embryo. Or a human egg. I get it: if one can think that one is superior to a different looking human, one can easily think that one is better than any animal, too. (Maybe even the other way round?)
I would have a ton more respect for them (and their opinions) if they weren't quoting story books, and would stop eating meat.
I will be OK with interdicting abortions when all of us go vegan (i.e. killing animals will be outlawed, except for self-defense). Until then, the fewer humans on the planet, the better for the planet (and its other inhabitants).
P.S. I am a meat eater, just not proud of it.
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deleted643396
There was the “self defense” stipulation, so I imagine mouse traps and bug zappers are acceptable.
We’ll probably go down in earth’s history as the biggest failure as a dominant species. The dinosaurs lasted something like 180 million years and it took a catastrophic event to knock them out. Homo sapiens have been around maybe 200,000 years and signs aren’t looking good that we’ll hit that million year milestone. We’ll be a loud, noisy flash in the pan in the grand scheme of earth’s existence.
Humans 10,000 years from now, let alone 100,000 years, will be a multiplanet species s/p a whole bunch of genetic engineering. We may well be seeding the galaxy with life of our choosing and construction by then.
We might destroy human civilization before then with a global nuclear exchange - we've come close before, people are people, and those weapons are still hot in the silos - but this notion that climate change is going to scour humans from the earth is ridiculous.
Mice in the US aren't a threat to life nor are bugs.
I prefer quality over quantity for species dominance.
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deleted643396
Someone has been reading a few too many sci-fi novels, but if enough genetic engineering is done to ease our existence in space, are we still Homo sapiens? Are we essentially engineering a new species and engineering the extinction of Homo sapiens? One way or another, Homo sapiens will be extinct. I didn’t say all life on earth will be extinct.
I also didn’t say climate change will be to sole cause of human extinction. My money is on war...possibly ignited by the effects of climate change.
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deleted643396
Quality is completely subjective. I like objective measures of success.
We will never indefinitely colonize another planet/moon/asteroid/comet. The human body has been evolving for millions of years to live on this planet. Just look at what low earth orbit does to muscle mass, hormones, and bones. It's just physics.
Edit: OK, let me dial that back a bit. I shall say, on reflection, that, say, 10000 years from now, we will be able to surmount those issues.
So, I'll eat **** and agree with you.
"I eat pieces of **** like you for breakfast."
"You eat pieces of **** for breakfast?"
That was exactly my point. Humans will change, not go extinct, like dinosaurs.
Sorry, I misunderstood. Thought the doomsday boogeyman of the day (climate change) was implied. Nothing short of global nuclear war would crash civilization, and climate change isn't ever going to be an existential threat to the nuclear powers who could make it happen. They're the ones who'll come out on top.
Then what objective measures did the dinosaurs beat us at other than merely length of time (and as we're still here that's a meaningless one)?
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deleted87051
It’s not just a question of survival but also a question of suffering.
Will the US Be a Dystopian Hellscape in 2100 if Emissions Keep Rising?
The US is on a path to an unrecognizably hot future. Here’s what that looks like and how to change course. Last week, UCS released Killer Heat, a report analyzing how the frequency of days with a dangerously hot heat index--the combination of temperature and humidity the National Weather Service c
blog.ucsusa.org
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deleted643396
I would say length of time in existence is a pretty big measure of evolutionary success.
Well, technically dinosaurs changed too. Most of them went extinct, but a few went on to survive as birds...not to forget crocodiles and alligators. Humans will have to do a heck of a lot of evolving if we are going to survive the challenges of space...without ever really being exposed to those hardships. I’m not so sure an “intelligent creator” (us) will ever do as good a job as natural selection and survival of the fittest in pushing forward evolution. Natural selection works because it is unbiased in totality, which is something that we cannot claim. That is the one of the reasons for my skepticism at our ability to “engineer” our evolution into space survival.
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It’s not just a question of survival but also a question of suffering.
Will the US Be a Dystopian Hellscape in 2100 if Emissions Keep Rising?
The US is on a path to an unrecognizably hot future. Here’s what that looks like and how to change course. Last week, UCS released Killer Heat, a report analyzing how the frequency of days with a dangerously hot heat index--the combination of temperature and humidity the National Weather Service cblog.ucsusa.org
Thanks for sharing, skimmed it, will read more later.
For people who don’t believe that the climate is increasing do they just not believe temperature measurements are accurate? Do they think glaciers melting is really not happening and is made up? Do they think the reports in India for example are fake news? I honestly haven’t read much about why people don’t think the climate is increasing so really should educate myself more!
Its not hard to maintain in a static world. Had humanity stalled out 200 years ago and stopped progressing we'd be able to make it that long easily (since this whole thing started with us destroying the world, 1800 humans couldn't do that). And again, we have no proof that we won't make it as long as the dinosaurs did.
Beyond that, we're the only species that has made significant progress a) in any form at all and b) in such a short time.
Dinosaurs didn't have language beyond what any run-of-the-mill animal does (and I'd wager cetaceans have more), they didn't consciously alter the environment beyond what was needed for things like nesting, they weren't able to leave the planet and return safely, they didn't have any understanding of how the universe works.
Let's compare that to, say, a stegosaurus. That species lasted for roughly 60 million years. In those 60 million years, did it accomplish anything?
I'm intrigued by this line of reasoning: Thinking that the consumption of animal meat/eggs is incompatible/contradictory to one being pro-human life.
How do you explain the carnivorous diet of our ancestors? Humans of all locales, cultures, religions ate some meat.
How do you explain the existence of human incisor & canine teeth, designed for the ingestion of meat?
Do you think eating animal meat and human meat is the same thing?
Do you think canabalism (outside of 1846 Donner Party survival canabalism) is ever ok?
Do you equate animals with humans with respect to such things as having a soul or having equal protection to people under the law?
Personally, if you eat meat, I don't think you should feel unproud. You are carrying on a species-long tradition. If there are issues to do with farming or slaughtering that you dislike, then it is well within your right to advocate for change or boycott those products until changes are made. But this hooey about cow farts and climate change is a farce.
It’s not just a question of survival but also a question of suffering.
Will the US Be a Dystopian Hellscape in 2100 if Emissions Keep Rising?
The US is on a path to an unrecognizably hot future. Here’s what that looks like and how to change course. Last week, UCS released Killer Heat, a report analyzing how the frequency of days with a dangerously hot heat index--the combination of temperature and humidity the National Weather Service cblog.ucsusa.org
Except cold weather is more deadly than hot weather.
Study: Cold kills 20 times more people than heat
The study analyzed over 74 million deaths across 13 countries.
www.usatoday.com
Implications of Trump Derangement Syndrome:
www.washingtonexaminer.com
Job discrimination: 1 in 5 won’t hire Trump supporters
It’s not legal in most cases, and certainly not right, but 1 in 5 left-leaning bosses “will not hire” supporters of President Trump, and huge majorities
www.washingtonexaminer.com
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deleted87051
Except cold weather is more deadly than hot weather.
Study: Cold kills 20 times more people than heat
The study analyzed over 74 million deaths across 13 countries.www.usatoday.com
For sure. I prefer neither which is why I live where I live. I can only take 1 week of cold at a time.
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deleted643396
Who knows what would have happened to Stegosaurus if his existence wasn’t so rudely interrupted by whatever asteroid or massive volcanic eruption led to his demise? The earth could be colonized by some Type III lizard civilization.
Life doesn’t have a goal...beyond reproducing and continuing the cycle of life. The universe doesn’t care about your accomplishments or the fact that you built a skyscraper. It is insignificant. Evolution doesn’t care either. That’s why this debate is somewhat silly and was originally meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek. There really are no “winners” other than the life forms that are currently in existence at the present moment. At some point the species we know as Homo sapiens will cease to exist. Will that be in 10,000 years or 10 billion years? Who knows? Will it be because evolutionary changes altered our DNA in such a way that the creature we once knew as Homo sapiens no longer exists or will it because we lost the cosmic lottery and fell victim to some cataclysmic event?
It’s also human folly to think of intelligence as the pinnacle of evolution. It’s not. It’s our adaptation for survival, but not every successful species needs the energetically costly intelligence to survive. Mosquitos are pretty darn successful and I would hardly call them intelligent.
They are aware that the surface gathering temperature stations data is quite flawed. That NASAs temperature adjustments are largely responsible for the so called hockey stick. That atmospheric temperatures don't line up with surface temperatures and don't show the same warming that the adjusted surface temperature data does. They know that while arctic sea ice is decreasing, antarctic ice has been increasing since the 70s. They don't believe that the predictive climate models that are calling for disaster are accurate. How many climate predictions based on modeling have ever come true? Maybe ask Al.....
They believe that the climate is too complex and has too many factors that affect warming and cooling to attribute everything to CO. And they don't believe that a rise in temperature means the death of the planet, that there have been plenty of temperature oscillations throughout history that haven't caused disaster yet, and whatever warming we are having now is no different.
Additionally, most people, even so called 'deniers' don't deny some evidence of warming currently, its just not the hysterical disaster its being portrayed to be.
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deleted87051
Speaking of dinosaurs, I love brown pelicans. They remind me of living dinosaurs. Watching them is like going to Jurassic Park.
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deleted643396
That’s not a bad idea. There is something comforting about an unbiased, non-judgmental “selector.” There is also something comforting about a definite ending. No one wants to leave loose ends. The idea of existing for eternity with some level of consciousness sounds like cruel torture to me.
If they couldn't accomplish anything beyond survival in 60 million years I feel pretty sure they never would have.
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deleted643396
Who knows? All it takes is a couple of fortuitous mutations. Primates have been around 55-85 million years or so and humans have been around a miniscule fraction of that time.
That is the concern about climate change. It’s not that the climate is changing. The earth has had some wild swings in climate through its history. It’s the rate at which the climate is changing that is the concern. When you realize how quickly we have altered the environment in such a microscopic portion of time relative to the earth’s history, you realize how serious that is. The natural forces of evolution cannot keep up and as a result we are losing genetic diversity every single minute. No one knows what effects that will have on us and the surrounding environment because we have never seen anything like this in the course of earth’s history. It will be interesting to see what emerges from this extinction event.
Are you suggesting that climate has only changed at a rate in the past that allowed evolution to somehow adapt to it? And that if the overall climate changes a degree or two now it’s problematic because it’s not letting evolution change life on earth to adapt now?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Oh well if we're doing that than dinosaurs we're around for almost 200 million years with no major advances to show for it
This seems promising for federal workers!
"The White House and Congress have reached a tentative agreement to grant 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all federal workers, according to a congressional source, in what would be a historic deal"
So are Republicans only problem with paid leave due to the cost? Or is it just philosophically they don’t believe paid leave is necessary? Why are they ok with it for military families?
"The White House and Congress have reached a tentative agreement to grant 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all federal workers, according to a congressional source, in what would be a historic deal"
So are Republicans only problem with paid leave due to the cost? Or is it just philosophically they don’t believe paid leave is necessary? Why are they ok with it for military families?
White House, Congress near deal to give 12 weeks paid parental leave to all federal workers
The White House and Congress have reportedly reached a tentative agreement to grant 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all federal workers, in what would be a historic deal.
thehill.com
"if it aint my view, its irashinil"
Kind of sums up this whole thread. everyone thinks their 100% right and are unwilling to give consessions on any single argument. Sad that one could deliberate and argue so much but still leave with exactly the view had when they came in.
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deleted480308
“different looking human”? What specifically are you referencing
My main argument to this would be that the federal govt has too many employees, they should be shrinking the task list and therefore the number of employees.This seems promising for federal workers!
"The White House and Congress have reached a tentative agreement to grant 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all federal workers, according to a congressional source, in what would be a historic deal"
So are Republicans only problem with paid leave due to the cost? Or is it just philosophically they don’t believe paid leave is necessary? Why are they ok with it for military families?
White House, Congress near deal to give 12 weeks paid parental leave to all federal workers
The White House and Congress have reportedly reached a tentative agreement to grant 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all federal workers, in what would be a historic deal.thehill.com
federal workers already have a better employment deal than a lot of private employees so adding to the expense line per employee is going to be unpopular. The military just straight up gets different considerations given the fact that they can be ordered to war. They are not comparable to civilian federal employees
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deleted480308
Just nit picking here, but if your original view is actually correct it is not “sad” to have that view remain unchanged
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deleted50478
It’s irrational if it is believed without convincing evidence. What I believe has nothing to do with it.
There’s very little in this thread that is irrational. People have different opinions because they prioritize some things over others- none of that is irrational.
Believing in any religion is irrational. If there was a rational reason to believe, you’d be able to convince everyone else. The exception is if you had personal experience with a god, but it’s fair to assume that hasn’t happened.
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[QUOTE
Believing in any religion is irrational. If there was a rational reason to believe, you’d be able to convince everyone else. The exception is if you had personal experience with a god, but it’s fair to assume that hasn’t happened.
[/QUOTE]
I'd argue that Newton's third law of motion may support a belief in a benevolent higher power and why one might ask that power (pray) to intercede for the good. Others may disagree with this theory. That's ok. Just putting this out there for thought.
I'd argue that Newton's law of conservation may support a belief in life after death, as energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed into another type of energy. Others may disagree with this theory. That's ok. Just putting this out there for thought.
Believing in any religion is irrational. If there was a rational reason to believe, you’d be able to convince everyone else. The exception is if you had personal experience with a god, but it’s fair to assume that hasn’t happened.
[/QUOTE]
I'd argue that Newton's third law of motion may support a belief in a benevolent higher power and why one might ask that power (pray) to intercede for the good. Others may disagree with this theory. That's ok. Just putting this out there for thought.
I'd argue that Newton's law of conservation may support a belief in life after death, as energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed into another type of energy. Others may disagree with this theory. That's ok. Just putting this out there for thought.
You, sir, are a much needed breath of fresh air in this thread. Logical, thoughtful, articulate. Bravo! Please, carry on!
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deleted171991
People who feel superior to other people, just because the latter have black/brown/yellow/whatever skin.
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deleted171991
It's one thing to be Muslim in America, it's a different story to call your kid Muhammad:
www.thesun.co.uk
Muhammad makes list of 10 most popular baby names in the US for the first time
THE most popular baby names this year have been revealed with Muhammad making the top ten in a coveted list for the first time in the US. According to BabyCenter’s list of 100 most popular ba…
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deleted126335
It's one thing to be Muslim in America, it's a different story to call your kid Muhammad:
Muhammad makes list of 10 most popular baby names in the US for the first time
THE most popular baby names this year have been revealed with Muhammad making the top ten in a coveted list for the first time in the US. According to BabyCenter’s list of 100 most popular ba…
I'd be more interested in how popular "Osama" and "Adolf" are in the US these days.
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deleted171991
That's the next level of dumb.
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deleted87051
It's one thing to be Muslim in America, it's a different story to call your kid Muhammad:
Muhammad makes list of 10 most popular baby names in the US for the first time
THE most popular baby names this year have been revealed with Muhammad making the top ten in a coveted list for the first time in the US. According to BabyCenter’s list of 100 most popular ba…
And some people name their kid Jesus.
I’m surprised to see Liam is number 1. And Grayson is number 5? Really?
Whatever happened to good old Tom or John?
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deleted50478
That’s not a theory. Your claim about Newton's Law is an assertion with no basis. If there’s a rational connection there, explain it.
You make your assertion weaker by slipping in the word benevolent with even less basis than your trying to invent god out of laws of motion (that aren’t even considered true post-general relativity).
You make it worse still by mentioning prayer. There is no evidence whatsoever that prayer works. On the contrary there is evidence that it doesn’t work.
Conservation of mass/energy also doesn’t in any way argue for life after death. Yes everything that makes you continues to exist after you die, it may become part of another life (like whatever consumes your corpse, but it isn’t you. As far as I can tell, correct me if I’m wrong, there’s no argument you can even make suggesting that you continue to exist just because your atoms don’t vanish from the universe.
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deleted50478
Well Liam is a nickname for William. I prefer the name be the name and the nickname the nickname, but not everyone agrees. At least it isn’t made up and doesn’t have an apostrophe. Some names I hear could be considered child abuse.
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You are correct in saying that there isn’t evidence per se that prayer works, as you could indeed chalk up even the most miraculous things to mere chance or coincidence. However, i think by the same token you cannot say there is evidence it doesn’t work. I don’t think anyone claims that prayer means you get whatever you ask for. So you can’t claim that because someone prayed for healing, for example, and that healing didn’t occur that you now have evidence that prayer doesn’t work. I’m assuming that’s what you meant. If that’s not what you meant, do you have other evidence?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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deleted171991
I am saying that I expect racists not to respect animals (or other non human-life) either.
If one can look down on another intelligent being just for having a different packaging, there is no limit.
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deleted171991
Except that Christians are not discriminated against in this country.
It takes a true idiot of a parent to name a kid Muhammad in America. Also the kind of religious nut that I am not happy to have here, given how "modern" that religion is.
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