cofty

Joined

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

Posts by cofty

• 
  34

  Found Another Medieval Coin This Evening

  by cofty in

  1. social
  2. physical

  i got in an hour metal detecting this evening and found this almost immediately.. it is a silver penny of henry ii minted in london by "davi" between 1180 and 1189. this adds a king i didn't have in my collection.

  i now have the series of henry ii - john - henry iii - edward i - edward ii - edward iii.. i now need richard the lionheart to fill in the gap.

  he was the brother of john and reigned after the death of henry ii.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  Very interesting episode in the life of Henry II involved his relationship with Archbishop Thomas Becket. Henry appointed his friend because he thought he could control him, but Becket turned out to be his own man.

  After one altercation on Christmas Day 1170 Henry uttered the words "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" Four of his knights failed to recognise this as a rhetorical question and went off and murdered Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.

  Henry spent most of his life doing penance for this crime. To pick up a coin that nobody has touched since those times is a real buzz.
• 
  34

  Found Another Medieval Coin This Evening

  by cofty in

  1. social
  2. physical

  i got in an hour metal detecting this evening and found this almost immediately.. it is a silver penny of henry ii minted in london by "davi" between 1180 and 1189. this adds a king i didn't have in my collection.

  i now have the series of henry ii - john - henry iii - edward i - edward ii - edward iii.. i now need richard the lionheart to fill in the gap.

  he was the brother of john and reigned after the death of henry ii.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  I got in an hour metal detecting this evening and found this almost immediately.

  It is a silver penny of Henry II minted in London by "Davi" between 1180 and 1189. This adds a king I didn't have in my collection. I now have the series of Henry II - John - Henry III - Edward I - Edward II - Edward III.

  I now need Richard the Lionheart to fill in the gap. He was the brother of John and reigned after the death of Henry II

  It's a great feeling to pick up a coin that nobody has touched for well over 800 years in a world that was so different. Even more so as it was only about 200 yards from my front door.

  

  
  
• 
  52

  how can navigate if our desire is for absolute truth...

  by Ruby456 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  or do we give in to social constructivism?

  to relativity?

  or is there a way to be real and then to say whats real that everyone agrees to?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  You are totally misrepresenting Nick Lane for the third time. He specifically rejects the "metabolism first" position and the alternative and lays out at great length why it is a "barren debate".

  You claimed before that he said religion is of the greatest inventions of evolution - he did not.

  Then you claimed that "the black hole at the heart of biology" is a metaphysical one about what makes us human - he says no such thing.

  Now you have made it a hat trick by distorting the central premise of his ideas.
• 
  52

  how can navigate if our desire is for absolute truth...

  by Ruby456 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  or do we give in to social constructivism?

  to relativity?

  or is there a way to be real and then to say whats real that everyone agrees to?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  He specifically states that 'metabolism first' versus 'replication first' is "a barren debate".

  His entire book is a resolution to this false dichotomy.

  If you don't get that you might as well have not opened the book.
• 
  52

  how can navigate if our desire is for absolute truth...

  by Ruby456 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  or do we give in to social constructivism?

  to relativity?

  or is there a way to be real and then to say whats real that everyone agrees to?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  regarding the origin of life biologists like Richard Dawkins are committed to genetics first as explanatory tools

  Where has Dawkins shown a commitment to "genetics first" in regards to origin of life?

  while biochemists are committed to metabolism first explanations

  What do you base that on?

  I tend to favour the latter like Martin and Lane do.

  Once again you are misrepresenting Nick Lane on a very important point of his book. One of the most important insights he presents is that the metabolism first - replication first debate is a false dichotomy.
• 
  52

  how can navigate if our desire is for absolute truth...

  by Ruby456 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  or do we give in to social constructivism?

  to relativity?

  or is there a way to be real and then to say whats real that everyone agrees to?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  Ruby - Your thread title implies that "we" have a desire for something called absolute truth.

  I have never come across the idea outside of a religious context. I'm just asking what you mean.
• 
  52

  how can navigate if our desire is for absolute truth...

  by Ruby456 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  or do we give in to social constructivism?

  to relativity?

  or is there a way to be real and then to say whats real that everyone agrees to?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  Page 2 and you still haven't defined "absolute truth".

  The only claims for absolute truth I have ever heard have come from religion. Can you think of a secular example?
• 
  48

  "Mother" Teresa—a Fraud?

  by Saename in

  1. social
  2. current

  i often comment in threads that interest me on this forum.

  moreover, some of you may know that i study the history of early christianity.

  i once wrote an extensive comment on the historicity of jesus' existence in one of the threads.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  "It's so beautiful to see the people die"

  MT boasts about 29,000 deathbed conversions.

  ...
• 
  52

  how can navigate if our desire is for absolute truth...

  by Ruby456 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  or do we give in to social constructivism?

  to relativity?

  or is there a way to be real and then to say whats real that everyone agrees to?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  dawkins only represents one side of this fascinating debate - I tend to favour the other side - the self organizing complexity side - Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby

  Doesn't sound as if you have ever read Dawkins then. - Cofty

  i'm always open to being proved wrong, cofty. where's your evidence - Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby

  Self organising complexity is a major theme of all of Dawkins science books. From memory the chapter in "The Greatest Show on Earth" called "You did it yourself in nine months" is all about self organising complexity. It's literally all over his writing.
• 
  58

  Reading The Bible Again After Leaving

  by pale.emperor in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  at the moment i dont beleive in anything.

  im pretty much an open book, but my critical mind is very alert to bullshit.

  but anyway i decided to re-read the bible with a non jw filter.. i researched online first which is supposed to be the best translation out there.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  Hiemere - I think you missed my point. It's hard to tell when you write such wordy replies.

  I don't care for the label of atheist because it tells us absolutely nothing about a person except the trivial detail that they don't believe in the god of theism. So what? Why should anybody be defined by one thing they don't believe? There are lots of things I don't believe in but none of them come with a label.

  I am FOR reason and science and rational thinking and an evidence-based worldview. Stalin was against all of those things. The fact that he also did not believe in god is as irrelevant as the fact he had a mustache. He was an ideologue. For you to even raise the name of Stalin in this context demonstrates a basic misunderstanding.

  I am rational because of my worldview and that leads me to do good things. You are irrational by definition and yet despite that you also do good things. Well done. Now if you could just get over your superstitions!