tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post3757594644313918976..comments2024-03-27T00:26:19.644+00:00Comments on Rosa Rubicondior: 20 Questions Atheists Have AnsweredRosa Rubicondiorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06063268216781988588noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-72144585952144260322016-08-30T15:01:12.276+01:002016-08-30T15:01:12.276+01:00Thanks. You're right of course, I'll make...Thanks. You're right of course, I'll make the correction.<br /><br />Thank you for the compliment. I hope you continue to enjoy this blog.Rosa Rubicondiorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06063268216781988588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-35328253545541527392016-08-30T10:10:55.401+01:002016-08-30T10:10:55.401+01:00Hi Rosa - I've come to your blog for the first...Hi Rosa - I've come to your blog for the first time via a link in a recent post by Jerry Coyne on his web-site WhyEvolutionIsTrue. Loving what I've read so far, and there's so much of it! You have such an engaging style of writing and a great sarky dry sense of humour, ideal for dealing with faithists.<br />One minor point: you refer to the 'recurrent pharyngeal nerve' in your reply to question 6 above. But isn't it called the 'recurrent laryngeal nerve'?<br />regards, Chris G (Sussex, UK)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-31941958122074899492012-12-07T22:10:08.342+00:002012-12-07T22:10:08.342+00:00Rosa Rubincondior, you passion is amazing. Please ...Rosa Rubincondior, you passion is amazing. Please dont waste your precious time by answering their stupid questions. while they are claiming supernatural than how can supnatural can interact with natural. it is self contradictory itself. nothing to be discussed further. even a junior school kid can understand this. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-14330564700103741462012-11-11T05:05:15.814+00:002012-11-11T05:05:15.814+00:00Thankfully, these are very busy areas of research....Thankfully, these are very busy areas of research. Abiogensis is an interesting topic. <br /><br />We know of certain bacteria which use a slightly different genetic code (yes, EVERYTHING within living creatures evolves). We also know of self-replicating proteins (prions). Amino acids and the four bases in RNA can be created by throwing basic molecules together and zapping them with lightning; there's something similar with fatty acid formation (used in cell membranes).<br /><br />There is a gap in our understanding between there and a loose soup where RNA molecules self-reproduce and proteins self-reproduce. There is a further gap in our knowledge between there and the formation of RNA which codes for protein (transfer RNA + ribosomes). There is one more gap between there and the creation of cell membranes encapsulating this stuff; without those we don't exactly have organisms.<br /><br />There is a final and very important gap in our knowledge, in that we don't yet know exactly how chemosynthesis (the predecessor to photosynthesis) got started: without that, there's a lack of energy input to allow reproduction.<br /><br />After that, you have bacteria and we're off to the races with evolution.<br /><br />Now, here's the interesting part. Some biochemists have worked out, statistically, how long it would take, starting with the "primordial soup" with the various amino acids and so forth created by lightning, in the amounts which we think were present, to generate all of these bits necessary for reproduction of organisms, all in one place, by pure chance. It's a humungous, unimaginable number of years.<br /><br />...but it's something like half the actual numbers of years between the geological appearance of "priomordial soup" conditions, and the first appearance in the fossil record of bacteria. So it's possible that these gaps were filled by pure chance -- enough chemicals in the ocean for long enough, some of them have to get lucky.<br /><br />Sorry about the absence of citation, I lost it. But if you learn the chemistry, you can run the numbers yourself. (That's the scientific way, always reproduce the work.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-40625304873560946912012-10-20T19:01:51.483+01:002012-10-20T19:01:51.483+01:00Great work. At first I thought I'd use this as...Great work. At first I thought I'd use this as my one response to all christians who keep asking these questions while claiming no one ever answered them. But then I remembered they would never read a response that would prove them wrong. They like their life of lies.@shasarazadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-71371676221745469952012-08-20T06:22:57.150+01:002012-08-20T06:22:57.150+01:00In my view , many answers are satisfactory, but on...In my view , many answers are satisfactory, but only because I want to know more about them.<br /><br />For example, in (5) : I'd really like to know more about how DNA formed, and earlier replicators, just as I want to know more about (1) how the universe formed.<br /><br />Isn't consensus dangerous in that case ? : If we start 'believing' something because there is consensus about it, we risk not investigating it further.Kennynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-36632213015574845032012-07-13T14:53:58.975+01:002012-07-13T14:53:58.975+01:00"if I were to set out to prove that an occure..."if I were to set out to prove that an occurence was an answer to prayer, the ideal would be to compare the same situation, at the same time in my life in the instance when I did pray and in the instance when I didn't."<br /><br />That's true of drugs too. So, we use many people to test on and have control groups and double blind trials.<br /><br />Prayer can be tested in exactly that way, and when it has been, the group that are prayed for do no better than those who are not prayed for.Stooshiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09541609914500686900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-75692717440838752052012-07-13T14:50:37.065+01:002012-07-13T14:50:37.065+01:00You realise, JP, that data from people's perso...You realise, JP, that data from people's personal accounts of something are not evidence of anything. Any time that prayer has been tested, the people who are prayed for don't do any better than a control group.Stooshiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09541609914500686900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-22716952655195941832012-07-13T14:22:53.788+01:002012-07-13T14:22:53.788+01:00OK, back to basics. For the theists to answer: Can...OK, back to basics. For the theists to answer: Can a supernatural god interact with the natural world?Stooshiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09541609914500686900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-73959892225973990362012-06-17T15:30:37.182+01:002012-06-17T15:30:37.182+01:00JP 8 June 2012 11:11: "we do have free-will&q...JP 8 June 2012 11:11: "we do have free-will"<br /><br />"If possible, please provide a citation for any substantive claims or at least give a cogent reason why you accept it as factual. A quote from a book held to be holy by a minority of the world's people is not a scientific argument."<br /><br />...cue more weeks of trolling to justify this unsupported assertion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-31344103835813055222012-06-08T17:19:12.326+01:002012-06-08T17:19:12.326+01:00I see your point, I'm just questioning the und...I see your point, I'm just questioning the underlying assumption that it was God who made it available to them. But thanks for the responses anyway. I find the bigger discussion on this blog really interesting but feel a bit too out of my depth to form an opinion on whether a supernatural force could/n't interact with nature.JoMWhitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01365993923803220108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-71134917729040773792012-06-08T11:11:35.998+01:002012-06-08T11:11:35.998+01:00To clarify, I am not saying that its as simple as ...To clarify, I am not saying that its as simple as if it's good we should thank God and if it's bad we should blame humankind.<br /><br />I do, however, think that we need to be aware that we do have free-will and with that comes responsibility. Going back to the example of praying and shunning the health service, I wouldn't say that it was God's fault if someone willfully ignored that which was available to them.JP...https://www.blogger.com/profile/00951577183105761317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-37331049611124266542012-06-07T21:35:51.067+01:002012-06-07T21:35:51.067+01:00So let me get this straight. If people ask by pray...So let me get this straight. If people ask by praying for good things (like good health), God is responsible for this - not supernaturally but through the actions of humans developing said healthcare system over a period of time. But if the development is uneven or has downsides,or is lacking, that's down to humanity's own decisions and actions?JoMWhitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01365993923803220108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-86157677471353851002012-06-07T16:38:23.832+01:002012-06-07T16:38:23.832+01:00There are two separate issues here. The first is ...There are two separate issues here. The first is the point I made, that an answer to prayer does not have to be apparently supernatural.<br /><br />The second is how much control God has over the decisions we make and the actions we take; is God to blame for the imbalance in the world?JP...https://www.blogger.com/profile/00951577183105761317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-83420328614270513762012-06-07T14:51:38.356+01:002012-06-07T14:51:38.356+01:00"This is why I generally disagree with Christ..."This is why I generally disagree with Christians who decline medical care on the basis that they are praying for healing - I believe that God has given us the ability to develop a medical system"<br />Interesting that He favoured the global North/West in allowing them to develop their medical systems faster than the poorer South.JoMWhitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01365993923803220108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-77927087980575300262012-06-07T12:54:45.030+01:002012-06-07T12:54:45.030+01:00More to the point, you've been doing anything ...More to the point, you've been doing anything and everything to avoid paying attention to and engaging with my rationale for my claim to have detected God. You can continue to put your fingers in your ear and scream "dishonesty" all you like but it doesn't make me dishonest and it doesn't dismiss the answers presented.JP...https://www.blogger.com/profile/00951577183105761317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-20318600077197289482012-06-06T17:25:00.632+01:002012-06-06T17:25:00.632+01:00Except, of course, that you claimed to have a dete...Except, of course, that you claimed to have a detectable god and have since been doing anything and everything except answer my challenge to explain how it can be detected so we can examine it to see if it's what you claim.<br /><br />Keep up this display of dishonest doublethink. You're one of the most practised in the art of self-delusion that I've had on here for many weeks.Rosa Rubicondiorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06063268216781988588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-13638752172522930222012-06-06T10:11:23.354+01:002012-06-06T10:11:23.354+01:00I refer you to the explanations I have given throu...I refer you to the explanations I have given throughout this thread for my position. The problem is not that I have avoided answering but that you have a blinkered view that anyone who entertains the possibility of theism is deluded and therefore not worth listening to.<br /><br />The anonymous commentator below is correct in the observation that you appear closed-minded, and I am disappointed that you seem unwilling to engage rationally with the points I have raised.JP...https://www.blogger.com/profile/00951577183105761317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-22347439563938455472012-06-06T10:04:50.966+01:002012-06-06T10:04:50.966+01:00"I'm sorry about your difficulty with com..."I'm sorry about your difficulty with comprehension"<br /><br />You'd be better apologizing for your own difficulty with comprehension-I never claimed anything about a supernatural god which is unable to interact with the natural world.JP...https://www.blogger.com/profile/00951577183105761317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-64192787560522584942012-06-06T08:50:49.071+01:002012-06-06T08:50:49.071+01:00The reason this thread is so big is because it has...The reason this thread is so big is because it has exposed the necessity of religious people to hold two mutually contradictory views simultaneously in order to delude themselves that their imaginary god can influence things but remains undetected and is undetectable, as was hilariously highlighted by your blunder of claiming to have a detectable god, then needing to spend weeks trying to wriggle out of explaining how it can be detected - an explanation which is still awaited, by the way.<br /><br />Of course, to defend the god delusion, you and others have no option but to continue in your state of denial so you have no option but to try to hide behind a smokescreen of semantic quibbles and desperate attempts to change the meaning of words rather than admit to yourself that your superstition has been exposed as bogus and based on impossible, mutually contradictory, assertions and for which self-delusional psychological processes are needed.Rosa Rubicondiorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06063268216781988588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-14944358137635270352012-06-06T08:35:47.395+01:002012-06-06T08:35:47.395+01:00I'm sorry about your difficulty with comprehen...I'm sorry about your difficulty with comprehension. Even your definition places supernature outside nature.<br /><br />Is it genuine or feigned as part of your process of self-delusion or are you as embarrassed as JP obviously is about claiming to have a supernatural god which is therefore unable to interact with the natural world whilst claiming it interacts with the natural world, in other words, to have been shown to be holding two mutually contradictory views simultaneously as part of your evident god delusion?Rosa Rubicondiorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06063268216781988588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-42227681000548850562012-06-06T01:31:46.416+01:002012-06-06T01:31:46.416+01:00Nothing. The problem is that neither definition lo...Nothing. The problem is that neither definition logically explains what you claim.\<br /><br />Need me to cite? From Dictionary.com:<br /><br />Supernatural = su·per·nat·u·ral [soo-per-nach-er-uhl, -nach-ruhl], adjective: "of, pertaining to, or being above or beyond what is natural; unexplainable by natural law or phenomena; abnormal."<br /><br />Natural = nat·u·ral [nach-er-uhl, nach-ruhl], adjective: "existing in or formed by nature."<br /><br /><br />You still have yet to qualify the statement: "[a supernatural God] by definition cannot interact with the natural universe."<br /><br />Why do you keep avoiding an answer? <br /><br />Which dictionary did you use? When was it published?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06995127515630853940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-80977812735396725112012-06-05T23:18:00.914+01:002012-06-05T23:18:00.914+01:00"I have referred you to a dictionary before&q..."I have referred you to a dictionary before"<br />The irony is, of the people who have referenced a dictionary in this thread, you are not one of them. The reason this thread is so big is because you repeatedly failed to reference a dictionary - or other suitable source - when the basis for your claim was questioned.<br /><br />"Is there an adult there who can help you work out how to use one, or are we to be treated to several days more of you trying to wriggle round the absurd claim that you have a detectable god which, it turns out, can't be detected?"<br /><br />Are you not adult enough yourself to help me? Is that why you have not demonstrated the maturity in discussion I might have hoped for? Rather than wasting everyone's time accusing me of wriggling around a claim, why not engage with the answers I have actually given you? If you struggle with the anecdotal side of things re: prayer, or don't want to try prayer for yourself (but really, what have you got to lose?) then I provided various links about the person of Jesus Christ. If you want to engage rationally with such material then please, be my guest.JP...https://www.blogger.com/profile/00951577183105761317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-82303823562766203842012-06-05T22:22:04.156+01:002012-06-05T22:22:04.156+01:00I'm sorry you couldn't think of a better, ...I'm sorry you couldn't think of a better, more grown-up excuse.Rosa Rubicondiorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06063268216781988588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-68816167716836310172012-06-05T12:49:46.074+01:002012-06-05T12:49:46.074+01:00Judging from what you say below, no reply I could ...Judging from what you say below, no reply I could give would be accepted anyway. You are closed minded and not open to any evidence therefore your blog is totally pointless.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com