cofty

Joined

• started 464 topics
• posted 24,957 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by cofty

• 
  41

  Latest UPDATE UK Charity Commission investigation

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  good afternoon,.

  i am writing to give you a quick update about our ongoing statutory inquiries into safeguarding and charities linked to jehovah’s witnesses.. as you may know, one of our inquiries is into watch tower bible and tract society of britain.

  we opened this inquiry in 2014. watch tower then initiated what turned out to be protracted litigation against us.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  Outstanding!
• 
  532

  I conclude evolution is guided

  by KateWild in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  your qualifications are way above mine so i'd love to hear more about the specifics of what you have researched and how that supports the existence of a deity.

  k99, i am not really convinced that you're interested in my conclusions.

  in nature amino acids formed to then form dna.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  That's because you're too narrow minded to consider the imbalance of enantionmers racemic mixtures where autocatalysis doesn't occur. - Kate

  Throughout this thread and all my evolution threads I explain challenging scientific concepts in ways that my granny could understand.

  You have done the exact opposite. You think this allows you get away with writing nonsense. It doesn't.

  Apart from spelling enantiomers wrongly the sentence I quoted makes no sense. Even if I take the most likely meaning of your word salad it has nothing at all to do with the debate.

  I suspect you don't grasp autocatalysis. In your OP you said, "Autocatalysis means that the reaction is being guided automatically." It is difficult to imagine a less accurate definition of autocatalysis. Coming from somebody with a background in chemistry it is bizarre.

  Here is my challenge - Rewrite the underlined portion of the sentence I quoted above in very simple language and explain how it refutes my explanation of the significance of Kenso Soai's experiment.

  I predict you will refuse the challenge, respond with more insults and then claim you are being bullied.
• 
  75

  I came here three years ago for support and to make friends

  by KateWild in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this site is such a great and valuable resource and simon is to be commended for running it for so long.

  when i first came i was in such a bad state and really needed support and friendship.

  so many posters commented on my threads and showed genuine care some are real life friends, some are facebook friends, some i talk to on the phone and some are forum friends.. i have just realised though that everyone online is not your friend.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  Rebelfighter - You know absolutely nothing about life in the cult or the cost of leaving it. Don't presume to lecture those of us who do know on what ex-JWs need or how they feel.

  Also don't try to pigeonhole me as being uniquely focussed on science. My posting history contains lots of advice about all sorts of issues faced by ex-JWs. I am extremely proud of the breadth and depth of my posting history.

  Your favourite topic seems to be yourself. You are right, the chances of us agreeing about anything is vanishingly slim.
• 
  75

  I came here three years ago for support and to make friends

  by KateWild in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this site is such a great and valuable resource and simon is to be commended for running it for so long.

  when i first came i was in such a bad state and really needed support and friendship.

  so many posters commented on my threads and showed genuine care some are real life friends, some are facebook friends, some i talk to on the phone and some are forum friends.. i have just realised though that everyone online is not your friend.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  RebelFighter - I never call people names or even get close to anything that could be characterised as bullying.

  I have respectfully disagreed with you a few times so that makes me fair game to be slandered.

  Meekly agree with everything self-appointed victims say or be targeted by the keyboard warriors.
• 
  75

  I came here three years ago for support and to make friends

  by KateWild in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this site is such a great and valuable resource and simon is to be commended for running it for so long.

  when i first came i was in such a bad state and really needed support and friendship.

  so many posters commented on my threads and showed genuine care some are real life friends, some are facebook friends, some i talk to on the phone and some are forum friends.. i have just realised though that everyone online is not your friend.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  Outstanding use of the victim card Kate - well done.

  I know how frequently I post supportive comments to new and troubled posters on the forum and by PM. I have no interest in your approval or that of anybody else. Popularity is not high on my agenda - and yet I find in real life I have lots of friends. In life and on the forum I aim to be authentic. I don't pretend to agree with error, or be amused at things that bore me or approve of things that I dislike. If you need those you interact with to flatter you, I'm not that person.

  I have been nothing but congenial and supportive of you Kate. Then you start a science thread in which I respectfully post some facts that were crucial to the discussion. I supported all my comments with verifiable facts and respectfully pointed out when you were being intellectually dishonest. In response you are insulting and condescending to me and everybody else that disagrees with you.

  Now you start a new thread characterising me as somebody who has been mean to you. This thread is all the confirmation I need that I was right to keep my communication with you at a formal distance.

  I wish you nothing but happiness and success.

  
  
• 
  532

  I conclude evolution is guided

  by KateWild in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  your qualifications are way above mine so i'd love to hear more about the specifics of what you have researched and how that supports the existence of a deity.

  k99, i am not really convinced that you're interested in my conclusions.

  in nature amino acids formed to then form dna.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  Kate - I made the mistake of engaging with you in this thread on the basis that you were conversing in good faith.

  You clearly were not.

  I stand by the scientific accuracy of everything I have written in this thread regarding the purpose and implications of Soai's experiment. His work is one of the great achievements of science. It is sad that you have tried to discredit him for reasons of ideology.

  Some of your attempted rebuttals are as bizarre as they are dishonest.

  "Life is nothing but an electron looking for a place to rest" - Albert Szent-Gyrgyi
• 
  532

  I conclude evolution is guided

  by KateWild in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  your qualifications are way above mine so i'd love to hear more about the specifics of what you have researched and how that supports the existence of a deity.

  k99, i am not really convinced that you're interested in my conclusions.

  in nature amino acids formed to then form dna.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  Inventing supernatural beings is the exact opposite of using Occam's Razor.
• 
  532

  I conclude evolution is guided

  by KateWild in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  your qualifications are way above mine so i'd love to hear more about the specifics of what you have researched and how that supports the existence of a deity.

  k99, i am not really convinced that you're interested in my conclusions.

  in nature amino acids formed to then form dna.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  cofty if this is the case then why are you bringing ontology into the mix. - Ruby

  I'm not. Please stop making things up.

  Soai was not making conclusions about ontology for example was he?

  Of course not.
  
  
  
• 
  532

  I conclude evolution is guided

  by KateWild in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  your qualifications are way above mine so i'd love to hear more about the specifics of what you have researched and how that supports the existence of a deity.

  k99, i am not really convinced that you're interested in my conclusions.

  in nature amino acids formed to then form dna.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  I'm off to bed but just a quick response for now.

  Science is founded on a commitment to "Methodological Naturalism". This means that supernatural answers are off-limits.

  This has nothing to do with any bias or personal beliefs of individual scientists. Even christians who are scientists begin with the working assumption that there are unguided, naturalistic causes for the phenomena they investigate. That is what it means to do science as opposed to theology.

  Please note that "methodological naturalism" is not the same as "ontological naturalism". The former is a practical working assumption, the other is a philosophical position. Christians working in science all commit to the former.

  As soon as a scientist does what Kate has done in this thread they cease to do science. It amounts to an intellectually lazy surrender to superstition. Further progress becomes impossible. Even Isaac Newton compromised on methodological naturalism when he was unable to work out why all planets revolve on the same plane around the sun and declared that god-did-it.

  From the time it was first discovered that some molecules were either "left handed" or "right handed", and that all the amino acids in living things were only of one sort, it has been a matter of considerable mystery why this should be so.

  Creationists lazily and dishonestly declared that god did it. This was one of the arguments in the old Creation Book. I have never understood why it should be a sign of divine guidance but it was certainly an interesting puzzle.

  In 1995 Kenso Soai was able to solve the mystery. He showed that the situation where all the molecules are of just one sort is exactly what happens under natural conditions.

  I will post a thread on it in my Evolution is a Fact" series later but here is a very brief summary of the facts.

  The key to Soai's discovery was the fact that the process that produces the molecules in question are "autocatalytic".

  Molecules often need a bit of help to get together. The matchmakers are called catalysts. Imagine the result though if the end product ALSO has the right properties to catalyse more molecules. Each generation not only produces more end product but also more catalysts to facilitate even more reactions.

  The result is exponential growth.

  If there is a very small difference in the balance of the right and left types of molecule in the early stage of the process then that difference also grows exponentially. When both types are competing for resources one will win the contest by orders of magnitude.

  Soai demonstrated exactly this outcome in his lab. It was one the great experiments of science.

  It is not the burden of anybody to show that any process could NOT be guided by a supernatural source. That is a fool's errand. It is the task of science to show that it is entirely possible for unguided naturalistic processes to accomplish each task. The puzzle of why the stuff of living things is all made of left-handed molecules is now no more of a mystery than the path of the planets.
• 
  39

  Possible Military Coup in Turkey!

  by cofty in

  1. social
  2. current

  if this does turn out to be the case it could have very serious implications.... turkey hovers between western freedom and democracy and an islamic hell.

  europe has been bending over backwards to keep turkey on-side and promising it fast-tracked entry to the eu in return for it's cooperation in controlling mass migration from the east.. the situation is unclear at the moment but there are tanks on the streets....

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  do you not think it's more probable the innocent people you want to protect from an evil president will be killed as the attacks are indiscriminate, especially air strikes, - Kate

  The RAF have launched hundreds of air missions in Syria and Iraq with zero reported civilian casualties. Modern weapons are very expensive for humanitarian reasons. In the 1940s we would have carpet bombed ISIS territory with not a moment's thought for the ethics.

  But let's keep it on topic. Events in Turkey are developing by the minute.