Comments by Brian English

301. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #229058 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 3:47 am

Any of them in the unholy trinity. The Father, The Son, The....

But Denis seemed so nice. :)

302. On TV: The Genius of Charles Darwin: Presented by Richard Dawkins

Comment #229051 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 3:39 am

Boulat, check out Levy's What makes us moral It runs the gamut of evolutionary theory and philosophy of morality. Fantastic book.

303. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #229048 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 3:36 am

Quetz, I see nothing wrong with defending someone you like or admire. So, I say this, Wooter fuck off you misogynistic wanker. :)

304. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #229043 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 3:29 am

Just restarted Firefox, and still had to wait a long time. I only got ADSL2 a week or so ago. The text appears instantaneously, then you get 'waiting for reddit.com' message. The site has been struggling lately with 404 errors, 'comment text-->' errors and delays. I wonder why? Josh does a sterling job. Perhaps it's because there's too many atheists, or too many comments or the system has moved to a new database/language....

305. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #229040 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 3:21 am

I know twp can handle it herself, but even so.

Good point Quetz. I look for the logical arguments and generally let the insults slide. I do this because I've found that generally when I argue emotional stuff I get caught in a vicious cycle. Perhaps I let stuff slide that I shouldn't, but give the internet is such an alien medium I'm not sure of the best approach. Forgive my fumbling.

306. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #229038 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 3:17 am

This site seems extremely slow posting. Or my brain is imagining that it's fast under the influence.

307. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #229037 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 3:13 am

Sorry, my fault, you're right Quetz. Gillipollas would be pronounced 'Hilyipolyas' whereas the correct 'Gilipollas' would be 'Hilipolyas'. This relates to the slang word for penis. Polla = cock or dick and always in Spanish it's put in plural in a compound of this type, e.g. Matamoros = moor killer (nickname given to patron saint of Spain). From my understanding Chupapollas = Cock sucker, so Gilipollas = dick head or cock head. anyway......

308. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #229034 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 3:08 am

White Pearls seems fluent, so anyway, she'll tell me if my Spanish (from Spain of 2000/2001) makes no sense to someone living near Mexico of 2008.....

309. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #229031 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 3:06 am

My translation: White Pearl I know you can handle it yourself, therefore I didn't flag the jerk-off Wooter.

D'Oh. OK, I've had a beer or two. So just ignore. :)

310. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #229028 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 2:59 am

Not at all Steve, I just like the sound of my fingers hitting the keys signifying that I think I have something worth typing. :)

311. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #229027 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 2:55 am

Perla blanca, se que puedes arreglartelas sola. Por eso, no trato de hacer 'bandera' contra el gillipollas 'wooter'. :)

EDIT: shit, wooter can speak Romanian, so Spanish may not be too difficult for him (given the assumption that he pays more attention to language than logic).

312. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #229022 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 2:53 am

As far as I can tell, universes aren't make of bricks and mortar, and don't require reliable electric supplies and decent plumbing. This one certainly seems to lack central heating.

No argument here. I'm just asking our wooter to justify how his arguments don't get hoisted on their own petard....

313. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #229013 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 2:42 am

Isthatclear, you say that we can know that a house is designed by a person because we have seen the designer. How can you say the universe is designed if we have not seen a person designing it?

314. Defend the Individual and So the West

Comment #229009 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 2:37 am

Although, I don't want to say Rousseau was bad, just that some of his less than useful ideas are still with us, but that's a value judgment on my part.

Unfortunately (in my opinion) he tried to rescue religion in the Savoyard Vicar and in doing so made religion more obscure (because he realized that science had made God run for the shadows/gaps).

315. Defend the Individual and So the West

Comment #229008 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 2:35 am

From ye venerable Wikipedia: Rousseau saw a fundamental divide between society and human nature. Rousseau believed that man was good when in the state of nature (the state of all other animals, and the condition humankind was in before the creation of civilization and society), but is corrupted by society. This idea has often led to attributing the idea of the noble savage to Rousseau, an expression first used by John Dryden in The Conquest of Granada (1672).

316. Defend the Individual and So the West

Comment #229006 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 2:32 am

Romanticism often refers to the heart's feelings; Hearts do not have feelings; Romanticism is to blame for arresting the development of heart-surgery by teaching people false ideas.

And you would be saying that Rouseau et al. were only an artists, instead of philosophers, and didn't influence the anti-Enlightenment sentiments of those who didn't want to leave religion behind. This is demonstrably false. Romanticism influenced a lot of art, but it didn't start out as an art movement, but an anti-reason movement and it continues that way.

317. Evolution as Described by the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Comment #229001 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 2:14 am

I hope it starts to blur the boundaries between evolution and abiogenesis.

PZ Myers reckons that saying evolution is separate from abiogenesis is a cop out. He argued (too lazy to link) that the formation of life is part of the same process that includes evolution.....

318. Judge says UC can deny class credit to Christian school students

Comment #229000 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 2:11 am

Religion is destroying education.

Dogma, call it faith or religion, is anathema to learning. What they call learning some would call indoctrination.....

319. Defend the Individual and So the West

Comment #228997 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 2:07 am

Usually its proponents have no idea what it entails, having lived quite 'well-to-do' lives.

From my admittedly biased sample of media reports it seems it's only the 'well to do' who want to leave 'those without doors' (or vaccines) to their own devices. The so called noble savages want to more ignoble, that is, educated, have better health and not watch 10 of their 12 kids die young....Muslims wouldn't migrate to Europe if Europe was no better than the Mid East or Asia. Unfortunately, we don't insist on them accepting Enlightenment values because that would be too colonial. How one can be colonial in ones own country is beyond me....

320. Defend the Individual and So the West

Comment #228985 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 1:01 am

Romanticism commits that naturalistic fallacy that what is natural or unsophisticated is good.

321. Defend the Individual and So the West

Comment #228982 by Brian English on August 13, 2008 at 12:55 am

Romanticism promotes the idea of the noble savage, who if we had only let him/her be would live a better life than what we live. All noble and savage like, unlike us unnatural types. The flip side is that we shouldn't interfere with the noble savage, no matter how savage his/her customs seem. I.e, we shouldn't tell muslims they're worse or savage, because that is anti-romantic and progressive.

322. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228943 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 9:19 pm

Good point. All you UKsians get out your pens and personalized letter pads and compose screeds. :)

323. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228937 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 9:13 pm

Bonzai, if Richard does hit back, it will confirm their bias against him I fear. Not that that should in any way deter him.

324. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228932 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 9:04 pm

Poor old Richard, he'll always be accused of arguing against someone else's religion. I mean, just because he's right doesn't mean he's allowed to say the truth. It's upsetting you know!

325. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228929 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 9:00 pm

No estas por dormir? Que hora es alla?

(accents removed so that it's readable...)

326. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228913 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 7:43 pm

Hasta pronto Perla blanca. Que duermas bien!

327. Common New Atheist Fallacies

Comment #228908 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 7:33 pm

Centralis, when you go around saying that atheists believe in evolution and Richard Dawkins you are accusing atheists of having a faith and prophet. Or something very similar. You can hardly claim to be making reasonable point with such misrepresentations.

328. Common New Atheist Fallacies

Comment #228904 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 7:24 pm

It may be tempting to do so, becasue you "believe" in evolution and Dr. Dawkins.

Nice strawman there.

329. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228893 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 5:56 pm

Ahh, du bist ein grosse Knabe?

330. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228890 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 5:32 pm

Do you mean man boobs?

331. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228889 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 5:31 pm

Was ist ein dicke Bubi? Ich kenne das Wort nicht.

332. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228883 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 5:09 pm

Goldy ist ein Girly Mann. :)

333. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228880 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 5:01 pm

Lo que fuera Goldy ;)

334. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228877 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 4:50 pm

Morning Laurie, Mord. Buenos días Perla blanca.

335. Evolution as Described by the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Comment #228875 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 4:48 pm

Yes, biology was located in Building 12A and Physics down the road at the other campus.

336. Evolution as Described by the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Comment #228866 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 4:14 pm

Fizhburn, stop stealing my order. My world is disordered enough.

337. Evolution as Described by the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Comment #228858 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 4:03 pm

Apologies Phil. It's probably colder where you are. :)

338. Evolution as Described by the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Comment #228853 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 3:50 pm

Phil, give me that heat! Don't you know it's winter here? I want to dissipate more energy and increase the entropy around my toes.

339. Evolution as Described by the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Comment #228845 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 3:39 pm

Steve, if you can't explain the complete history of every particle that's ever been then your explanation is incomplete and god did it. :)

340. Evolution as Described by the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Comment #228837 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 3:33 pm

Hence, are we optimally complex now?

Nope, I've been altering my behavior to not sweat the difficult issues and I just chill these days. See! I've outsmarted thermodynamics....

341. Evolution as Described by the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Comment #228833 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 3:23 pm

OK, the universe is increasing in entropy. One of the processes by which entropy is increased is life. If it weren't for the sun, we'd be up to our eyeballs in entropy.

EDIT: I haven't read the article, so I probably just contradicted it. :D

342. Evolution as Described by the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Comment #228824 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 3:13 pm

Night Quetz. Don't let the christians bite. :)

343. Evolution as Described by the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Comment #228818 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 3:09 pm

Are you suggesting that the plants are growing out of his shirt and obscuring his visage?

344. Evolution as Described by the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Comment #228815 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 3:04 pm

Steve, you've disappeared. The exercise program was too successful?

345. On TV: The Genius of Charles Darwin: Presented by Richard Dawkins

Comment #228517 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 6:24 am

And that Freud was a sexually repressed Austrian who mirrored his time's main interests. Those being shame of shit and sex.

346. Charles Darwin investigated whether blondes have more fun

Comment #228516 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 6:22 am

Bad blonde joke:

A blond walks into an appliance store, walks up to some shelves and starts checking out the gear. A shop assistant comes up to her and asks if she needs assistance. She says 'I was just looking at this washing machine, how do you put the clothes in?' The assistant tells her to leave as they don't serve blondes. The blonde leaves but is undeterred, so she changes her clothes, puts on sunnies and a hat and returns to the store the following day. She goes back to the same spot and starts fiddling with the appliance again. She waits for the assistant, then asks about the washing machine. He yells out 'Look, please leave, I'm not serving no silly blond'. She's not sure how he worked out it was her, but she leaves quickly. The blonde then dies her hair black and returns to the store the next day. She thinks she's got the blonde issue resolved and so waits at the same appliance until the assistant arrives. She asks him about that washing machine again, to which the assistant goes agro and tells her to fuck off. As she's about to leave, she asks 'How did you know it was me?'. The assistant replies 'because that's a microwave your fiddling with!'

OK, I'll get my hat now. :)

347. On TV: The Genius of Charles Darwin: Presented by Richard Dawkins

Comment #228511 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 6:06 am

I'd like to point out that I was wrong, many times in fact. The vexing issue is that I don't know when I was wrong or not. Oh well, ignorance is bliss.

348. On TV: The Genius of Charles Darwin: Presented by Richard Dawkins

Comment #228505 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 5:58 am

Quetz, I regularly saunter past your great blog and when you repost a comment you put on FCOS I sometimes feel the urge to check out the excrement that you receive as recompense for your well thought out arguments. I really don't want to become a poster there. I tried to register when a bit pissed last Saturday night to drop the F-bomb or something but when sober it doesn't interest me. Anyway, I have no desire to converse with DR or the sock puppeteer. Once burned and all that. :)

349. On TV: The Genius of Charles Darwin: Presented by Richard Dawkins

Comment #228503 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 5:52 am

We wouldn't consider for a second to be guilty of worshipping RD.

Awww crap! I spent a heap on Dawkins paraphernalia and created this creepy little shrine to the great man and now you tell me that's not what we atheists do. Won't someone tell me how to be an individual?

350. On TV: The Genius of Charles Darwin: Presented by Richard Dawkins

Comment #228497 by Brian English on August 12, 2008 at 5:47 am

There's not much interesting happening here today. Perhaps I should get back into the sock-puppet business.