Comments by Apathy personified

101. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227335 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 5:37 pm

NewEnglandBob,
I'm ashamed at myself for laughing, a little, at that - were that the case then a proportion of the people on the london underground shouldn't have survived.

whitepearl,
Never been to any of them - but NY if you want a shopping trip and oregon for some quiet time (i think/hope that's right) - sounds good though.

And what do you mean you aren't sure?

PM in a minute might explain

102. An atheist plays God's advocate

Comment #227322 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 5:19 pm

dhamma,
Hey - i help where i can :).

whitepearl,
Hee hee good response.
However, Dhamma, whitepearl - The winning video

articulett,
I agree - it really annoys me when people don't argue with what RD says, but just say 'Oh, he has an opinion different to mine - how strident, let's ignore his point and talk about how rude we think he is'

103. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227321 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 5:12 pm

mordy,
No worries - i certainly got it (the joke that is). In a similar vein to the two ronnies 'four candles' and 'fork handles' sketch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz2-ukrd2VQ

104. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227314 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 4:55 pm

mordy,
Haha - i guess it is. I of course could not comment on *ahem* hair pieces, or love.

kkelly,

Isn't the leading theory that homo sapiens simply out-competed them?

I think it is, but there could have been other factors - think colonisation of North American, sure we had guns, but we also had germs.

I guess you are probably right about not being able to extrapolate from the sequence though.

whitepearl,
I know what you mean, any ideas where you want to go?
Me - to be honest, not sure, but thanks for asking:).

105. An atheist plays God's advocate

Comment #227310 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 4:44 pm

dhamma,
Would this link here explain?

whitepearl,
I'm touched :)

106. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227303 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 4:29 pm

whitepearl,
Thanks for the link. How are you btw?

kkelly,
Oh, now i get it. You cheeky bastard - address the rest of my initial post on this thread if you don't like the plagiarised joke i posted.
dora the explorer indeed - my posts are at least up to pokemon standard

107. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227294 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 4:06 pm

WTF?
Who the hell is Dora the explorer? What the hell is a fanfic?

You did say please though, well done.

108. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227292 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 3:58 pm

You could be - i seem to remember you have made various references to herpes in a few previous posts, you were also complaining about not understanding the RD.net humour - so i thought i'd tell a fairly harmless joke about herpes.

109. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227286 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 3:44 pm

It'll be good when they get the neanderthal genome sequenced - hopefully it may give some clues as to why our ancestors survived and they went extinct, maybe things like susceptibility to certain types of bacteria that humans are immune or unaffected by, crazy shit of that nature. (Not a biology person so i hope that makes sense and is not some hocus pocus sci fi muppetry)

kkelly,
In reference to a previous discussion, i heard a joke today that you may find funny, though i don't think it's offensive enough for your tastes.

-'What's the difference between love and herpes?'

-Herpes lasts forever

110. Novel on prophet's wife pulled for fear of backlash

Comment #227266 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 3:06 pm

Regardless of the quality or historical accuracy of this book - fear of violence is not an acceptable reason for not publishing it. There have been countless crap books about the christian icons, all published, all lacking any shred of truth - but they were still published.

Nobody wants to be bullied into self censureship by the islamic fundies, but no one wants to stand up against it and be counted.

Ah well, in the interest of fairness - any future books that shed what is considered an unfavourable light on all other religions will have to be declined for publication, no more da vinci codes then......

111. An atheist plays God's advocate

Comment #227256 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 2:56 pm

you couldn't put Dawkins in a Narnia book or he'd be forever lecturing the Pevensie children about the non-existence of Aslan.

RD would probably advise the kids that if they did see a fully grown male lion on the prowl they should run for their lifes (literally) - but that's besides the point.

This whole incident has really shown up a lot of british journalism for what it is - cheap gags about famous people without any real analysis or substance and certainly no room for accurate facts.

112. Father, son and holy toast

Comment #226863 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 7:17 pm

kkelly,
Carto does have a wonderful way with words (hmm, alliteration)
whitepearl is right, we try to keep humour not so personal - in the case of the comment you mentioned most people didn't see the original thread you were quoting from, so thought you were just being offensive.

Laurie,
Haha

113. Father, son and holy toast

Comment #226841 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 6:47 pm

kkelly,
I'm you could find some of the jokes funny.

Oh, yes, that comment - i seem to remember some protests of outrage at that - i think it got marked as offensive as well as troll.

114. Father, son and holy toast

Comment #226825 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 6:29 pm

chuckgoecke,

I've heard, that if you get baked, that kind of thing can happen.

LOL - never thought i'd hear a joke about stoned biscuits.

115. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #226812 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 6:10 pm

mordy,
I totally agree - No doubt she'll be claiming, 'Clever me, am I someone and I rattled Richard Dawkins - i must be as intelligent as i think i am'

116. Bill Maher hates your (fill in the blank) religion

Comment #226810 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 5:58 pm

Thanks Maxamillion - i've seen so many clips of interviews that some of them seem to melt into one.

Good morning Laurie, btw.

117. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #226803 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 5:35 pm

From the reply Robert_S posted

I assume he means the 1976 Horizon poll asking 2000 respondents

Emphasis mine.

Does she honestly think he is using that poll? I don't know what poll he has used, but i'm pretty certain that RD would have used a recent one.

Just wait for what she says after the next episode - bet she has already written her comment about it, just left a few blanks like 'When Dawkins BLANK, he was ramming atheism down peoples throats'

118. Bill Maher hates your (fill in the blank) religion

Comment #226779 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 4:42 pm

I haven't seen expelled, but i thought they also edited the interviews? like adding long pauses to pretend RD didn't have an answer and things of that nature - Or was that something entirely different?

Let us also remember the clear distinction here, expelled set out to lie and attack the reputation of many scientists - Religulous is a comedy film that seems to be having a go at people who take myths seriously.

Having said that, should he have told them the truth to start with? Probably - Would any of them agreed to do it? Doubt it

119. Father, son and holy toast

Comment #226773 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 4:32 pm

Meh.
If someone wants to EAT THE FACE OF JESUS for breakfast, that's up to them.

120. Evangelically Serious Science

Comment #226765 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 3:57 pm

Quetz,

You guys are ruining all the fun. :(

Sorry, but for me the joke stopped when it was pointed out there would be no arguments and i'd be totally in charge.
Could not handle that, need excitement, not cold predictability.

Also,

Indeed, damn uppity yahoos. It's about time someone put them in their place.

Hee hee, thanks for joining me on death row when NZ and Australia wake soon :).

121. Why Islam Is Unfunny for a Cartoonist

Comment #226759 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 3:46 pm

Bonzai,
I never got the impression that Jung Chang was claiming to know what Mao was thinking - she might have inferred a few things, but i thought that was quite common when writing about someone who has been dead for over 30 years and you have no official help from those with the info (CCP).

Most of the sources she did use are likely to have been eye witness accounts and i think some stuff from the old soviet archives - there are plenty of them, though i agree that you can't take everything written in them as gospel, but you can certainly see trends.
I won't disagree about her opinion of Mao being made up before she wrote the book - but after the accounts in 'Wild Swans', how could it not?

I thought Maos wondering libido was quite well documented? - I agree it isn't the worse thing he did, or strictly important - but i think she's trying to paint a picture of how he lived compared to the rest of the population at the time.

It is not even a good fiction, let alone a serious scholarly work. It is more like the National Inquirer but dripped with venom.

I think that is harsh and over the top, it was never meant to be a thoroughly rigorous historical treatise - but it certainly wasn't that bad.

122. Evangelically Serious Science

Comment #226737 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 2:55 pm

Quetz,

Er, right. So, erm, what about those cricket scores, old chap?

Simply splendid my good man - gave those colonials a damn good thrashing! (I'm gonna get it for that, oh dear)

whitepearl,

The sexbot would have let you win.

Which is why i'd never ever have anything to do with them - give me a real woman any day of the week

123. Evangelically Serious Science

Comment #226718 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 2:36 pm

Hmm, i was hearing a technology inspired montage of uplifting music when -

You do realise don't you that the sexbots will eventually overcome their programming, stop having sex with the ugly people and start having sex with each other instead

The music abruptly stopped.

They'll become self-aware? Fuck that - i've seen terminator.

*Sigh* I guess i'll have to interact with human females then.

quetz,

Er, yeah, that's right. - Shuffles feet, looks around -

Quick - put on a bowler hat and talk about the weather!

Edit: whitepearl beat me to it, curses!

124. Evangelically Serious Science

Comment #226706 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 2:24 pm

whitepearl,
*ahem* We English gentlemen would be aghast to hear a lady, robot or not, say naughty things. *cough*

Personally, dirty talk - not for me - unless it's a critique of string theory .......

edit:
Haha - good point, but i'd choose 'interesting' models for them.

125. Why Islam Is Unfunny for a Cartoonist

Comment #226701 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 2:17 pm

Bonzai,
I'm sure she got it published on the back of the success of her previous book, 'Wild Swans'.

What did you think of that book?

What claims do you think were outlandish in 'Mao'?

Btw, not being confrontational, just curious.

126. Evangelically Serious Science

Comment #226700 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 2:14 pm

Quetz,
Hee hee - it's your robot, she can do anything you want/program her to do. :)

Edit:
whitepearl,
Ha - might aswell get 4 if they are on special offer. :)

127. Evangelically Serious Science

Comment #226680 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 1:54 pm

Men on the thread,
We are missing a trick - sex robots can be switched off afterwards. :)

128. Evangelically Serious Science

Comment #226669 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 1:39 pm

ShadesofGrey,
The transport will be provided by sex powered robots.

Edit: Ok, everyone beat me to it.

Edit(2):
whitepearl (post 162),
Indeed.

129. Evangelically Serious Science

Comment #226652 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 1:21 pm

Teratornis,
'Sex robots'? - In my opinion, you need to find a partner who challenges you in every single way, yet you enjoy the experience of just spending time with them - For the record, i don't have that, so i'm not preaching or gloating, just something to think about.

I may have got the wrong end of the stick, but it seems you are implying that all humans want EVERY need taken care of by, what is essentially, slaves - not all of us want that.

Imagine what it would be like to meet the most attractive person you can imagine, and have that person dedicate his or her entire existence to catering to your needs. I don't see how average people will resist well-engineered robots.

Where's the challenge, the hunt?

Also, maybe some people see sex as more than just wanking into a computer.

130. Camp Offers Training Ground For Little Skeptics

Comment #226637 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 12:59 pm

First - It's excellent that there are opportunities for kids to enjoy a more interactive form of education and the challenge to stretch their minds.

However, i'd like to take a big, wild swing at the education system. The kids shouldn't have to be taught to think sceptically, as if it is some rarefied technique - it should be an integral part of any school curriculum.
Learning facts is easy, the real trick is to teach them how to go about thinking about all the available evidence in any given situation and making their own minds up.

Anyway - the more kids that are here and not at jesus camp can only be good for America.

131. Why Islam Is Unfunny for a Cartoonist

Comment #226629 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 12:47 pm

Oh bloody hell - Chomsky again.
I haven't read any of his writings - don't intend to.
In some respects he seems like marmite - you either love him, hate him or have never tried him.......

132. The best way to undermine the jihadists is to trigger a rebellion of Muslim women - and establish energy independence

Comment #226054 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 4:38 pm

whitepearl,
Ah, i see - that one is livening up now.
No worries, it's not your fault i'm suffering from a cronic case of summer laziness :).
Ha - you wait until i'm angry and not just bored.

Goldy,
Aren't fridays supposed to be a wind down for the weekend anyway?

Morning Laurie
mord,
We'll keep the party going until you get here, we may be slightly drunk though...

133. The best way to undermine the jihadists is to trigger a rebellion of Muslim women - and establish energy independence

Comment #226036 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 4:18 pm

whitepearl,
Hee hee, will you learn from it though, or could she use the trick again?
I 'nothinged' the time, didn't really see it pass until it was, well, now.

Oh? Which thread?

134. The best way to undermine the jihadists is to trigger a rebellion of Muslim women - and establish energy independence

Comment #226027 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 4:02 pm

Hee hee - All in favour of going to Goldys for an 'atheist convention' (please read as huge piss up and bbq - homebrew always adds the danger of, 'will i go blind this sip?')? A show of hands will suffice :)

whitepearl,
What did your mum do?
Haha - sounds like it's been a fun day.

Me? Well after my early morning taxi service (the damn lazy git...), i set about to do loads of project work today - i accomplished nothing, all in all a wasted day, but at least i have Orwells 'Animal farm' to look forward to.

Edit: Good spot - maybe the 'fat chance' remark is his cynical view on us ever reducing or removing our oil dependence? - But i'd raise the alert to whacksmack level, just in case

135. The best way to undermine the jihadists is to trigger a rebellion of Muslim women - and establish energy independence

Comment #226020 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 3:42 pm

whitepearl,
Well, that's plan A out the window. Plan B is 'Work very hard and go beg some rich people and organisations for grants and scholarships'
See why i wanted plan A.
Oh, btw, how are you? How's your day been?

Goldy,
Party at yours then!

136. The best way to undermine the jihadists is to trigger a rebellion of Muslim women - and establish energy independence

Comment #226001 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 3:16 pm

Fanusi,
Can any real parallels be drawn between christian sectarianism and islamic sectarianism, or they essentially different, even if they superficially appear similar?

Edit:

Hopefully it'll not be too dismantled and under construction, so yes :-)

Excellent, if it isn't working i'll just try what Fred Flintstone does :)

137. The best way to undermine the jihadists is to trigger a rebellion of Muslim women - and establish energy independence

Comment #225995 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 3:04 pm

whitepearl,
I'd rather be somewhere else too. How many graduate schools in US give full scholarships to 'plucky Englishmen' with courage in their heart and hope in their eyes? (No worries, i can fake the last few parts)

Edit: Goldy, if i happen to be in the neighbourhood when you are away, can i take your Alfa for a spin?

138. Why (Almost All) Cosmologists are Atheists

Comment #225980 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 2:51 pm

hoops,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_space

A Hilbert Space is a vector space with some special features.
Why it is important is because 'proper' QM is all formulated on vector spaces, but specifically on Hilbert spaces.

But, if you want a full mathematical description of them.....well, my only answer is pray to Quetz.

139. The best way to undermine the jihadists is to trigger a rebellion of Muslim women - and establish energy independence

Comment #225974 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 2:44 pm

Goldy,
Good morning to you sir :).
The problem is that it's your winter and our summer - yet the weather patterns are fairly similar, except we have (annoying) humidity, not cold and as of last night - thunderstorms.

Ok, so not that similar.

140. The best way to undermine the jihadists is to trigger a rebellion of Muslim women - and establish energy independence

Comment #225964 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 2:36 pm

Goldy,
I read that earlier - it's about bloody time they came out and said something like that - though i'm not sure if it'll have much effect on the 'current lot' (the ones still travelling to Pakistan and joining the radical mosques).

Btw, are we talking thunderstorm rain, drizzle rain or just average rain?

141. The best way to undermine the jihadists is to trigger a rebellion of Muslim women - and establish energy independence

Comment #225951 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 2:25 pm

Sounds like a quote from a scary movie

Ok, we'll all split up and go and hide in remote, dark places where nobody can hear us scream, that's the sensible thing to do.

whitepearl,
No, nobody who deserves a whacking, you could hit a few people for fun though.
There is a subtle difference - surveillance implies you are using ninja like skills in order to search for any possible stupidity but whacksmack alert is when you are SURE stupidity is imminent.

142. The best way to undermine the jihadists is to trigger a rebellion of Muslim women - and establish energy independence

Comment #225939 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 2:11 pm

You still on high 'whacksmack' alert whitepearl, or are you on stupidity surveillance?

143. Richard Dawkins, the naive professor

Comment #225928 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 2:01 pm

Richard,

Does anyone understand that? I'm far from sure that I do.

It could be just - 'Bullshit baffles brains' - i'm afraid.

Or, it could be that by declaring your atheism you are implying that the series is biased against creationism (by definition evolution IS very much biased against creationism) - thus relieving you of the 'multicultural correctness' of having to explain the tenants of creationism - rubbish, i know, but the rubbish lawyers like to peddle.

I'm sticking to the former.

144. Richard Dawkins, the naive professor

Comment #225838 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 12:25 pm

Peace,

What the fuck can they possibly mean by something 'out there'?

Clearly she has had her head warped by watching the latest x-files film, titled - 'i want to believe' - how appropriate for these plastic religites.

Edit: Clarity

145. The best way to undermine the jihadists is to trigger a rebellion of Muslim women - and establish energy independence

Comment #225810 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 11:53 am

Well thank fuck.
Finally, an article that admits that the current ideology is a major, if not THE major problem and gives a very good idea as a solution.

Until we stop being addicted to the petrol and the status quo in the Middle East, we are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Indeed - But we are probably decades from having a real alternative, especially at current funding levels.

146. Richard Dawkins, the naive professor

Comment #225782 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 11:24 am

Talk about siege mentality - 'Boo hoo, he said God doesn't exist, and that makes me a sad panda'
These people have already made up their mind about what RD has said, before he even opens his mouth.

I have a challenge for her -
'Clever lady who has brought to Richards attention that some people can and do believe in god and accept the fact of evolution (a point he has, of course, NEVER EVER heard before) - Can you explain the mechanism by which your god created life please? So it's about, what, 5 billion years after the universe was created that primitive life first appeared? - So how does your non- interventionist god intervene, then disappear?'

147. Dawkin 'bout a revolution

Comment #225777 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 11:13 am

You've been on quite a ramapage this week. Comes with the taxi service apparently. Have a cup of tea, step away from the ant farm, and spend some time with your pets. Maybe that'll help.

Ha - and i thought i was being charmingly charismatic and nice. I tried your prescription Doctor - it didn't work.

148. Dawkin 'bout a revolution

Comment #225713 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 9:29 am

Quetz,
Ha - if the guy or girl with the sandwich board gives an accusational look to everyone who reads it then that should hopefully get at least some guilty or ashamed looks.

149. Dawkin 'bout a revolution

Comment #225666 by Apathy personified on August 7, 2008 at 7:22 am

Meh, it's a nice attempt and i'd support pretty much anything, as long as it gets rid of religious ads or ads for the latest putrid, vile and vacuous 'teen comedy' from the sides of buses.

Quetz,
I'd take a slightly 'evil' approach to the sandwich board idea -

'It's your fault they are not here anymore'

Simple, fairly vague - yet it can set off so many guilt spirals.

Edit: Ok, i stole the basic idea from an XKCD comic - Also, this is probably boardering on what i'd call cruel, ah well

150. Why Islam Is Unfunny for a Cartoonist

Comment #225403 by Apathy personified on August 6, 2008 at 2:29 pm

whitepearl,
Well done, you are actually helping and doing some good. (I genuinely mean that)

[Too much info about me]

The negatives outweigh the positives i'm afraid - although i do get to see my cat and dog.

Peak Oil is a myth - in fact i burn whole tankers of fuel - just for fun (oh dear - now i've done it)

Edit: Good morning Goldy

Edit(2): Removed pointless personal info