cofty

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Posts by cofty

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  67

  Japan On High Alert

  by snowbird in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my g'daughter and her hubby are stationed in okinawa.. i talked with her a few hours earlier today, and she stated they're preparing for the worst.. young people are remarkably resilient, aren't they?.

  sylvia.

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  cofty

  Yeah that's just what the world needs. Somebody who gets their geopolitics from an Iron Age book.
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  67

  Japan On High Alert

  by snowbird in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my g'daughter and her hubby are stationed in okinawa.. i talked with her a few hours earlier today, and she stated they're preparing for the worst.. young people are remarkably resilient, aren't they?.

  sylvia.

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  cofty

  Bohm I agree with your observations although some analysts are not as optimistic as your estimate of 5+ years.

  I have no idea how you do diplomacy with Kim Jong-un. China will have to step up. If NK carry out a sixth nuclear test - any day now - then China be forced to make a stand. Will Kim Jong-un listen to them?

  NK must be prevented from having nuclear weapons at any cost but that cost might be massive.
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  46

  THIS MAN proved that God exists and he did it effortlessly!

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  meet a really smart fellow named anselm 1043--1109 a.d.. .

  he was elected abbot in lombardy in 1078 a.d.. .

  that than which nothing greater can be thought exists in the understanding.

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  cofty

  Perhaps an argument could be made that God intervened in the evolutionary process and bestowed consciousness on man?

  But why would we resort to supernatural explanations at all? It's ok that there are things we still don't know. Maybe it will be solved in our lifetime; maybe not. There is a lot that is known about the brain that was mysterious just a few decades ago.

  Every mystery ever solved so far has turned not to be magic.
  
  
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  67

  Japan On High Alert

  by snowbird in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my g'daughter and her hubby are stationed in okinawa.. i talked with her a few hours earlier today, and she stated they're preparing for the worst.. young people are remarkably resilient, aren't they?.

  sylvia.

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  3. 
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  cofty

  North Korea doesn't have a viable nuclear weapon yet. To be useful it has to be small enough to be delivered on a missile. That is one of the challenges they are making progress with. The other is developing a missile (ICBM) capable of delivering a nuclear missile to a distant target. They are making rapid progress with that. They could already hit some of the neighbours and it won't be long before they could hit the USA.

  The history of it is that Russia gave them nuclear reactor technology that can be used to produce weapons-grade material. Pakistan sold them missile technology.

  Something has to be done. Kim Jong-un is unhinged. The whole country is one big personality cult. He is surrounded by yes-men and anybody who disagrees with him is publicly executed. Hatred for the west - USA in particular - is the central tenet of the cult.

  China was the "honest broker" but there are reports that the Chinese ambassador was refused an audience with his NK counterpart this week.

  NK cannot be allowed to possess a viable nuclear weapon. They danger that they will use it preemptively is too great.

  Nobody seems to know how to prevent it though. It is estimated that a conventional military intervention against NK could cost a million lives. There is no easy answer. I also grew up during the Cold War. We have seen all manner of crises come and go. This one actually has potential to be different.
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  46

  THIS MAN proved that God exists and he did it effortlessly!

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  meet a really smart fellow named anselm 1043--1109 a.d.. .

  he was elected abbot in lombardy in 1078 a.d.. .

  that than which nothing greater can be thought exists in the understanding.

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  cofty

  Anslem has been refuted so many times in antiquity and in modern times.

  One objection is that he is guilty of equivocation. A real god is not greater than an imaginary one it is a completely different class of thing. He slips between one definition of the word god and a totally different definition.

  Another objection is that the argument doesn't get us to the god of Christian theism. The sort who is active in the physical world.

  Thirdly something that can be argued for through deductive argument is useless unless it can then be shown to actually exist in reality.

  These are only three very brief objections. Many more detailed refutations can be found with a little research.
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  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

  if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

  followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

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  cofty

  John_Mann - I'm sure you know how to use Google, do your own research. That article I linked for you will give you lots of material to research.

  The point is that there are plenty scientists who are researching morality using the tools of science.

  For you to dismiss that as "scientism" is nothing but a cheap insult. What are you afraid of? Roman Catholic dogma and superstition is not the arbiter of the limits of science. You lost that argument centuries ago.
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  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

  if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

  followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

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  cofty

  The New Science of Morality...
• 
  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

  if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

  followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

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  cofty

  Morality is a philosophical subject not a scientific subject.

  That is only your subjective opinion.
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  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

  if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

  followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

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  cofty

  If somewhere somebody exists who thinks that science can tell us whether we ought to prefer chocolate ice cream or pistachio then that theoretical dullard is guilty of "scientism".

  On the other hand, science can inform us about objective morality and consciousness is probably nothing more than a function of the brain.

  That does not make Harris and Dennet guilty of "scientism". To sustain that accusation you have the burden of proof to show the evidence that they are wrong.

  P.S. Go fuck yourself with your accusations of trolling SBF.
• 
  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

  if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

  followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

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  cofty

  Yes

  Perhaps

  Absolutely not