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There are a couple of reports out there: Vallès, H., J. Walcott and H.A. Oxenford. 2023. Assessment and Management of Lionfish and Status of Other Marine Invasive Species of Threat to High Biodiversity-value Reef Ecosystems. Draft Final Report. Preventing Costs of Invasive Alien Species (IAS) in Barbados and Countries of the OECS Project. CERMES, UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados, 53pp This doesn't seem to include significant post-COVID data from skimming, but from the executive summary: From: Finch, M.W., Ballenger, J.C., Bacheler, N.M. et al. Tracking an invasion: how the distribution and abundance of Lionfish (Pterois spp.) has changed along the U.S. Atlantic coast. Biol Invasions 26, 1669–1683 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-024-03248-y

That is three times in a row now that you've sidestepped a response. No one asked you to define 'torment' or for your convoluted thoughts on martyrs. Simply throwing out a lot of words that are peripherally related to the topic is not the same as reasoned debate.

I believe so, yes. All elements equivalent to a given element are equivalent to each other. Thus, the set X is partitioned into subsets of elements that are equivalent to other elements of the same subset but not equivalent to any elements of the other subsets.

^^^^ fact, but ^^^^ speculation.

Well welcome to both of you. Keeping an open mind is what is necessary. Science is all about evidence, and weighing carefully that evidence. One thing that means is making the appropriate reactions and changes when new evidence come in (which also has to be weighed against the existing). A great deal of very solid Science has been carried out at the behest of one religion or another, but Science as a whole has yet to find any evidence of a deity. Meanwhile many religions offer a worthwhile code of conduct.

I also agree that these are interesting proposals. However, the devil is in the details, because it seems these models need to make a number of their own assumptions to actually work, and it also seems that it is not at all clear that they actually really do produce the correct effective dynamics. Here are some more technical details about inhomogenous cosmologies in general: https://ncatlab.org/nlab/show/inhomogeneous+cosmology Maybe it can work, but I just think this requires more study before jumping to any conclusions.

I’m currently reading “ Southern Rivers “ by Dr. Scot Duncan. A really good book focused on ecology and environmentalism in the southeastern fresh water systems and some about brackish waters and the Gulf of Mexico. It’s also available as an audiobook on Hoopla Digital.

And on what is that based on? There is plenty of evidence of neutral mutations, there are established models suggesting why they stick around and on top it is well-known that they are key drivers of evolution, as they expand the genetic space for traits to develop. This is all well-documented under the neutral theory of evolution. In fact, I recommend to read literal book on that matter (Motoo Kimura, The Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution). It is the pretty much the de facto model in molecular sciences since the late 80s. You will need significantly more than just a different perspective to overthrow the massive mountain of literature that is based on it.

Why, do you think we know all the Laws of Physics ? And what about other Laws belonging to other Sciences ? Which conditions are ? Agreed, but that does not mean it is the only one. But it decidedly didn't. Life on Earth emerged in an anoxic atmousphere or ocean. We have moved on a very long way since 1859. Equilibrium ?

I'd be tempted myself to take a more direct approach. First, who deems life to be "impossible" without supernatural intervention, and on what basis? There are many highly complex structures in the universe, both at macro and micro scale, for which we have good models accounting for their formation. Why should life be uniquely different? Is there a logic to this judgement, or is it just the Argument from Personal Incredulity? Such statements are normally made by people without any knowledge of the relevant pre-biotic chemistry, so there is at the very least room to question whether they should think themselves authorities on the matter. Second, science is in fact making a lot of progress in understanding how life may have arisen. So, although abiogenesis is probably the hardest unsolved problem in modern science, it has by no means met a brick wall. There is every reason to have faith that science will in time uncover one or more likely pathways by which life may have arisen. Unlike people promoting a naïve religious agenda, science is patient: the fact we have no answer yet does not mean there won't be one in time.

Whatever for ? The statistical improbability argument has been a non-starter since the day we became aware of the existence of other planets. Plus, of course, you can always shove it up one decimal point and argue the statistical improbability of god/s.

Salutations, mes amis! [I probably conjugated that wrong, sorry]. My name is Hank, my pronouns are "he/they", I was born in New Orleans in the 20th century, and I am quite unsure whether I am qualified to be here [I'll stick to my lanes like psychology, history, anthropology, music, language learning, communications, poli, earth sciences, etc. oh, the humanities] I tell people who inform me that I'm intelligent that "the best thing we can know about ourselves is that we know nothing. none of us will ever be fully educated, so we must face every day as a new learning experience.... even if we just veg out and watch something fun or meet up with friends or new folks!" I started college at a very young age, waayyy too young, I went in for communications and my field has been decimated by Sincl- er... a big media company with deep pockets and lucrative government connections which swallowed the FCC whole shortly after I graduated. I have worked in various fields since school, but never lost my lust for learning about the world and everything in it. my biggest barriers were socioeconomic, [major, major] family issues, and serious problems with autism, dyslexia, and particularly with mathematics. word problems and geometry...? YES. Algebra.... er, please no. Trig.... wh-what is that, exactly...? [no seriously, I wanna know!!] my flexes are being the inaugural president of my school's first communications honor's society, sigma cum laude, Eagle Scout [Boy Scouts of America], and I have lived through a LOT of stuff that gave me... heaps of survivor's remorse. think of me as an allegedly highly intelligent Acadian [Cajun] Creole who passes for a normal southerner when I have to. ANYWAY, I am caretaking for my mother at the moment, who was a registered nurse for over 40 years, retiring in the first wave of the SARS COV-2 pandemic in 2020. because I am an american living in a region which enshrines anti-intellectualism, xenophobia, nondenominational small "c" christianity, unfounded conspiracy theories which would make Charles Fort blush, and good ol' white nationalism [weapons grade sarcasm]; it has always been difficult for me to be myself, and even moreso to engage the more academic leanings of my personality and interests. while I have worked a lot of white collar jobs in positions ranging from academia to media production to politics [but not for HIMself]; most of my life experience during and after college lies in blue collar work. if salaries were better around here for college grads, I would 10/10 find a way to go back to school but.... I can make just as much as a bartender than I could as a civil engineer. also madre has a nice home here, and the region is currently experiencing rapid growth, so even if I don't live here forever, my current plans mostly involve getting used to being in the 40 and older set in this exurbanish suburb. so far so good. like most in my demographics, I have never married and have no children. I am pretty open minded [sometimes to a fault], and although I can be silly, I always attempt to remain serious when it comes to academia, tolerance, and mutual respect of my peers; whomever they are that day, be it somewhere like this among academics, a romantic date, or a music festival. I spent far too much time cloistered as a child [I... still do] but I love interacting with people. IRL, one will usually find me working a counter, a bar, a front desk, a kitchen, the floor, the stage, or, well.... here. on my rare sojourns out; expect me in a bohemian lounge somewhere between East Tennessee, North Georgia, or North 'bama; a foreign family owned restaurant [or hookah joint]; or a hike in the woods [I come for the exercise, but stay for the botany, wildlife, and geology. I was born on an alluvial plain, the Delta... the geology around here, omg.... I literally find tiny fossils in my yard here, haha! the local mountains do not guard their secrets in this geologic age.] among other personal interests are acting, comedy [I am not above doing standup], light video gaming [I am NOT a gamer, the gamers would quite agree with this sentiment], culinary arts, rescuing pets, medical discoveries, psychology, music, and [fiction] writing. I am published, but my latest is gonna be a lot MORE fun to write! I'll stop now, but I am glad to be here!!

I think it's unethical to use legislation to ban lab grown meat because rich people in the cattle and ag-community pay off and heavily pressure their congress people to do so (not due to any genuine health risks). Same for the treatment of nut milks bc the dairy industry doesn't like it.

Or, we can believe that behaving kindly to others brings inherent benefits. There's no need for consequences, other than not gaining the benefits of fair treatment. Reduce the friction and the whole system has less stress and functions more like it's supposed to.

Are you going to be sidestepping all responses like this? I, for two, would like to hear your excuse for your god purposely creating an imperfect species he was always planning on tormenting for eternity. Is this the perfect father we're supposed to emulate?

Straw man. I did not claim people should not be created with the ability to choose. I said god is a dick for knowingly creating people he is going to later torment for eternity. If I hate cats due to their nature and would torture any that were in my house, then I too would be a dick for purposely bringing a cat into my house knowing what was going to happen to it.

I think, especially in the way that @Night FM formulates it, it is even worse: obviously only the most terrible threat, burn eternally in hell, works to keep religious people on the right moral path. Just contrast this with Zen-Buddhist ethics: there morality is a consequence of real insight in who we are. It leads to friendliness and compassion with other living beings. To say it very simple: we are all living in the same boat. @Night FM: would you, personally, misbehave, when heaven and hell would not exist? If not, why? If yes, then I consider you as a morally bad person, because you only behave morally under the biggest threat possible. Do you really need that, just to be kind to others?