Iwish I could say it as well as this cove :-)

Ry, so many questions... And all sooo predictable.

Please stop quoting Einstein as I have already pointed out he was an atheist.

So is Hawkings, by the way, even tho' those of faith have tried to go "Ah-HAA!" when he concluded his book with "then we'll know the mind of gawd" or suchlike.

Hawkings' and Einstein's gawds are the same - just a word to describe the amazing mystery of the universe. Not a divine cove in any shape or form.

So, you reckon you've found a scientist who does believe in a full-on gawd? Good for you. One is bound to exist. I'll check him out and feel his credentials - ooh-err, missus...

And, again tediously, you resort to the 'explain how everything came from nothing' naughtiness. I'll resist the obvious retort - where did your gawd come from first? (Oops - soz, I asked it.)

Ry, ONLY science will provide the answers, but of course we are nowhere near having them yet. Half the reason is that the level of understanding required is beyond what the human mind needed to evolve for in the first place; quantum physics means next to bog-all to me.

But there are some astonishing things that have been evidenced - paired particles which exist in two different parts of the universe which spin in unison. When one changes direction of spin, so does the other - at exactly the same time. And yet there is no connection betwixt them.

Now that is amazing. Almost magic, but not - it's physics.

And see that wall you strike your head against repeatedly? Most of that - the VAST majority of it - is space. Each atom in there resembles - in terms of space - a golf ball (protons & neutrons) sitting in a football arena (the outer wall being the electrons) with the whole arena's space in between.

The answers to the universe's formation will likely lie with dark matter -again, something waaaay beyond my understanding.

But what is pretty certain is that it's 13.8 billion years old since its creation.

QUESTION FOR WRY - how old do you think it is...?

 

That's not it at all. All I'd like to see on here is the 'real' you. And that - I think - is the person we are all seeing now.

I was very uncomfortable with the previous 'you', and hated seeing the implosions. They may have been entertaining for some (and I think some may even have referred to them as 'personality'), but I disagree completely. It was false-bonhomie. A cover. And that simply makes me keep away - I find it very unnerving.


Yes, in some ways I give little on here, but that's because I recognise that this is a cyber forum, and not the real world. I think, to a greater or lesser extent, peeps on here are a reflection of part of what they are in real life, but not 100% the 'real thing'. (With some exceptions - Mr Plum being an obvious one.)

And also, to be frank, my contributions to this forum is not about 'me' (I can hear Wry splutter at that one...) - it's about discussion and argument and seeking practical help, and offering it. Me as a 'person' is chust not relevant. What I have to say hopefully is. So I will always keep me to me on here

But no other reason - I have been very fortunate in my life, have had no especially traumatic experiences, have not been 'hurt' any more than should be expected from the growing process. My only minor trauma is that I was a hugely, painfully self-conscious child completely devoid of confidence. A sweating stuttering wreck. Even doing teacher-training, I had to force myself to speak in front of my colleagues. Quite incredible.

 

Deluded.

You are lying to yourself, Wry. If you wanted to, you could find the truth out there in a few seconds.

But, that doesn't suit your purpose.

 

You reckon 18% of scientists believe in a higher power?

Treat what 'higher power' means with caution. Many are happy to be agnostic - they will say things like I cannot disprove there being a gawd. But if you check any further, asking what sort of gawd they are prepared to acknowledge, one that created the universe, for example, or who guides us humans, or who will reward us in heaven after we're dead, they will tell to to go take a hike, y'ejit.

Try asking a proper question that properly tests their theism - like "Do you believe in a divine creator of the universe, who made everything you see and who guides us?"

Any who say 'yes' to this will be treated with great caution by their colleagues. And rightly so.

 

Ouch, Wry - don't be so nasty. It's not very christian...

 

Pure unadulterated fantasy. There is nothing you can cite to back up that ridiculous statement. Absolutely nothing.

(And plenty current affairs to suggest the opposite).

And it also sums up perfectly why I have a 'go' at religious belief - it makes people say nutty things like wot have just done.

 

Oops - thanks for pointing out my typo, JJ.

It should have been: "And it also sums up perfectly why I have a 'go' at religious belief - it makes people like you (Wry) say nutty things like wot you have just done."

Hey, I'm not the nutty one

Much.

As someone else so eloquently said; "Without religion good people do good things and bad people bad. It takes religion for good people to do bad things."

 

It was Steven Weinberg, a Nobel prize-winning physicist.

And his actual quote was; "Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

On a slightly lesser scale, religion just makes people like Wry look stupid.

In many ways it's not his fault. That is why I think religious belief is so foul - Wry was almost certainly brought up immersed in this belief, and - as we know - that is very hard to shake off.

(Tho' I don't respect his intellectual cowardice - not even prepared to look and consider at evidence.)

No-one should be exposed to this loonacy until they are 20... That would, I think, make quite a difference.

And that is why the church catches them young and pliable .

 

At our last governor meeting we reviewed the absence policy and checked out the latest 'leave application' form we were given by the LA. It's stern stuff, citing the law and what could happen if you take your kids out of school.

Maaaan, there is just no excuse for taking your kids out of school during term time - you'll get yer *** kicked.

Unless it's for 'religious observance'...