JHAQ

To me the following argument seems air tight logical but I never seem able to convince anybody as to is correctness . Any inputs from readers would be most appreciated . I tend to be pro choice on the abortion issue because I feel the act of termination in a sudden & painless manner and w/o anticipatory FOREKNOWLEDGE on the part of the victim does in fact do no harm or cause any suffering to that victim . Even if somebody suddenly killed me in a similar manner , they would have done no harm to ME . To believe otherwise is to ASSUME that one enters another realm of conciousness wherein one experiences everlasting regret at having been deprived of life . They may have hurt those who care for me , offended society at large & created a precedent of sorts but no harm or hurt to ME . As Samuel Johnson said -- If a man KNOWS he is going to be hanged on the morrow , it fixes his attention wonderfully . To add. I believe we have been dead in the sense of non-existence for all eternity before we were conceived and when we die we return to that state of non -existence wherein we miss nothing and suffer nothing --why then do we try to stay alive at all costs . It is because we are programmed to do so by our genomic DNA which not only defines us but also , for its “own” interests , mandates our survival as we are ITS way of making another genome and once we have done that we are expendable . If we were not so programmed by millions of years of natural selection , then we would have become extinct . In effect we are CONTROLLED by our genomic inheritance to an extent which exceeds even our drive for sexual interaction & to replicate .IF we can overcome that innate drive , we become free in the sense that dying holds no terrors & becomes an option when overwhelmed by problems of one sort or another . Is living then really worth the cost of suffering beyond a certain point AND , bearing in mind the above re - anticipatory foreknowledge , can such life termination be extended under certain circumstances to other people . Death is the price we pay for the ability to reproduce sexually .Sexual reproduction ( essentially universal in all life forms ) is to shuffle the genetic pack of “cards “ so to speak to produce variability for the selective action of the environment to work on ( not DNA identical clones as asexual reproduction gives ) which cannot adapt as well or quickly to environmental changes . The only immortal entities are clones or amoeba like organisms which just undergo binary fission . DNA , however IS potentially immortal ( though with different encoding & we are just expendable “machines “ for its perpetuation )

The Complete Idiots Guide series have one on Understanding Einstein & many other topics . May be too elementary for you though

Has any entity theorised about what Earth would be like now IF the moon had never become detached ? I know the moon is essential for how life originated & survived on earth but would the added gravitational field of Earth changed much on its own

If so then WHY are not the killing grounds of the Nazi Einsatz gruppen & Waffen SS not the most ghost ridden places on earth ? Also WHY are ghosts always clothed if only living material can come back as a ghost ?

Who designed the designer ?

What does one do when confronted with a "Jack Bauer" situation ( from TV series "24" )ie When one KNOWS with a fair degree of certainty that the unsub KNOWS where the nuclear weapon is hidden ?

The Bush Presidency represents what happens when primitive religiosity is confounded with policy making . Tragic results .

The A & H bombs were created in other countries because they KNEW it could be done by the example of US precedence . In the same way we KNOW it can be created in & by biological life forms so given enough time it can be done by a machine . All it will take is sufficient advances in technology . To say otherwise is to say life is unique & a special creation

Tell him he believes in the nonsense he believes in because he cannot accept the concept of a benign & loving "God ' with the harsh reality of natural selection as the cutting edge of evolution --- death by many unpleasnt & often horrible ways ( predation , starvation , climate change & the ultimate horror parasitism by an organism like Sacculina spp )

Thank God for rationality & that the lunatic leaders affiliated with religiosity are gone . How one can equate a bunch of non -sentient cells with a fully aware individual is beyond me . What we fear is the anticipatory foreknowledge of death & if that is absent no harm or hurt is done to the entity terminated .

What do candidates mean by " change " .To me that is not the fundamental problem in political discourse because what they are really referring to is the give & take of pro vs con of a variety of issues . This will always be with us no matter what & the only way to ameliorate it is to have an overwhelming majority of one party & a president of the same party . In this respect a parliamentry system may have significant advantages over our US system where we have to let an incompetent president run out his time in office w/o significant results & propositions which result in gridlock .

Human races are an initial stage in speciation . Speciation has not had enough time to result in any new "species" of human who cannot replicate with different variants in terms of race because of the historical consequences of race mixing . Of profound interest is whether Neanderthals could cross breed with H. sapiens .

How do you prove a negative ?

Dear John -- You have lost me by choosing a creationist as your VP candidate . A person who is not pursuaded by the strength of the science behind evolutionary theory is not one who would get the facts straight on any other issue . Re abortion ; bringing to term with a mongloid child may be excuasable as the child is maneageable but would she do the same if the fetus was afflicted with spinal bifida-- which would result in a lifetime of suffering for the victim .

Would it not be due to the electronegativity of the oxygen inducing higher positivity on the N or S etc which allows easier ionization of H+ ? Surely pH which is log base 10 of the reciprocal of the H+ ion concentration ( g mol / liter ) is the relative measure of acidity ? HF may be an exception due to the extreme electronegativity of the F - entity

Are any readers knowledgeable about effect of ethanol in gas on small carburetted engines -- even after non use for a few weeks ? I have a small motor scooter ( 249 cc ) & if such gas is present have great trouble starting it due to EtOH hygroscopicity & gum formation . Small engine dealers ( scooters , boat outboards , generators ,etc ) dont seem to want to admit this problem until it is too late . Is it not a pending disaster for sales of such engines ?

Why is it that in all the talk about reaching tipping points in both subject events , very little mention is made of the effect of relentless & exploitive population growth & the "footprint " each new individual makes on the environment & any attempts to control this ? Is it because of such debate is considered being politically incorrect as it would arouse the ire of pro life , pro euthansia or certain religious entities ?

Yes ; absolutely.

Read "The Selfish Gene" Also by the same author-- a classic . How do Theists reconcile a benign & "loving " God with the cold indifference & harsh reality of natural selection ? All I am is a puppet controlled by my genome to be what I am without any choice in the matter -- beyond , perhaps a degree of "free" will .

Referring to Obelix---- One can give an infinite amount of energy, but this will add to the MASS of the moving object, not to its SPEED.------- Wont this give rise to the Higgs particle & a mini black hole as per proposed experiment in Switzerland using the supercollider under construction ? ______________

Has the trial introduction of penguins into the arctic & polar bears into the antarctic ever been considered . Since both maybe threatened species could it not be a way of expanding their range ? Any speculations on how they might ( or might not ) survive ?

Try carbonated water .I find tonic water an excellent thirst quencher.

Being overwhelmed by the ( sometimes ) huge number of replies to questions .

The uncertainty principle as it relates to wave-particle duality prevents a true pictorial representation of an atom -- at least insofar as "orbiting " electrons are concerned

If any object hits the event horizon of a black hole , on a relativisyic basis its mass becomes infinite ( at c ) hence the energy release becomes infinite . Infinity is infinity so how come the universe is stll here ?