pears

The OP assumes Christ is a historical figure, and makes certain assumptions about his character. Is this discussion making those same presumptions or is this about whether he existed at all? Because that sounds like another topic to me.

Before a sensible discussion can take place first one must define "superior".

Rotating relative to what?

My understanding of the Turing test is that it is about conversation. Fully human intelligent behaviour is more than that.

I'm not sure passing a Turing Test is the same as having the equivalent capabilties of a human doing a desk job.

Provided those two or more people themselves exist

So it's wrong by an absolute and universal standard of morality that is not subjective, and is therefore external to humanity?

No I'm asking you by what standard religion gets it utterly wrong. It sounds like an appeal to a universal. Is it?

Well theoretically one could have the ultimate choice. No-one can ever know if they are truly exercising free will about anything. I don't believe it's possible to know for certain one way or the other.

You still have the ultimate choice

By what standard is it utterly wrong? How does defining a moral code but allowing people to go against it not free will?

Are there any taster courses you can do? Or you could get hold of a text book and start working through it (bearing in mind that attending a class and having a teacher will probably be easier than study alone). I kind of did something similar in my twenties where I was looking for a change of direction (from admin). I got a high school level chemistry text book, and one on maths and studied them at home. It could be a good indicator of how much you'll enjoy it. I ended up going back to college to study maths and ended up working in software (which I enjoy). So it's not exactly your scenario but similar. I think your attitude is the most important thing, and if you have a desire to learn which it sounds like you do, then why not go for it? Perhaps you just need to build your confidence a little?

Would quakerism be the kind of thing you are thinking of? http://www.quaker.org.uk/quaker-beliefs

Doesn't look boring to me!

Haha great strategy. I always found my room becoming cleaner than ever round exam time and I never used to like cleaning!

When I was in school I was a terrible procrastinator and left all my major homework assignments to the last minute, often working until 4am to get them done. This was a terrible way to work, reflected in my results and I could have done a lot better than just scraping by as I was doing. I went to university a little later than most, in my early twenties, having worked in office jobs for three years. At university I was much more organised, did my work on time and got practically straight As. I don't know if I learned organisational skills on the job or if I was just a bit more mature by then (I suspect it was both). I'm very much a believer in habit. I think we can develop good or bad habits, and the more we behave in a certain way the more we entrench those habits. I think working in offices got me into the habit of getting things done on time so time management really was second nature to me by then. Breaking bad habits and devloping good ones takes a little effort but its certainly achievable. I think the key really is the thoughts you have about the task you want to achieve. Instead of sitting down and thinking, I must do X, on I'll just do Y first, oh bother now it's late, I'll do X tomorrow. Instead say I must do X, right let's do X and don't let Y even come into your head. Also they say visualizung yourself doing something makes you more likely to do it. I don't know the science behind that but have certainly found it's true for me. If I know I ought to be mopping the floor and I'm sitting down watching TV, sometime all I need to do is tell myself to do it, then picture myself doing it, and then I'm doing it. Also planning in advance can help. If you set aside time (maybe a day or two ahead) to do the task, and keep thinking to yourself, right wednedsday evening before dinner (or whatever) is the time I'm going to do X, then you will have reinforced the idea in your own mind and it may help you to stick to it. Or you could create a timetable for yourslef and keep reinforcing in your mind the items in it. Changing ingrained behaviour won't happen overnight but hopefully you can take small steps to get where you want to be. Good luck

Peadophilia is not a symptom of being single. I think peadophiles target roles of power and trust to get themselves into situations where abuse is possible. This is why institutions such as churches, children's homes, hospitals, schools etc have all found themselves at the centre of abuse scandals.

Haha love it!! I say do it. I remember hearing about the experiment when I was young and wondering what it would feel like. Only one way to find out!

Well like Hypervalent_Iodine I would prefer to report them to the police (out of interest why is that not a viable option?) but given the choice presented I think I would want the suicide of the killer. It's interesting because it's almost a variant of the trolley problem and in that case I think I would save the many for the few (if it comes down to simple numbers)

A rather cynical viewpoint. It is their job to educate and exams are there to rate students. Employers select. Colleges select. But everyone gets an education. If a teacher is boring it's not because its a conspiracy to put barriers in your way, perhaps they are simply not an engaging teacher or their style doesn't suit every student.

If I remember correclty C++ was always seen as better than java for real-time programming (hence why it was popular for gaming, but it is (was?) also used by the defence for programming of aircraft and missiles I believe and considered safe to do so. Java was seen as a bit too slow for such things and always used to come with a caveat that it should not be used for such things as air-traffic control etc. I don't know whether this is still the case.

Well the main one really was when I was praying (actually ranting and complaining quiet fiercely to God) and I heard a reply, a sentence that spoke so strongly in my mind, that it stopped me in my tracks and stopped my own (very strong and angry) thoughts. I do not believe it came from me because it was so surprising and so forceful (Like being shaken or slapped but without it being harsh) and just did not feel like any other thought I'd ever had. There are 2 other times that when I was praying (wordlessly) really just showing God some dark emotional pain, and I was overwhelmed with a sense of comfort. And one other time where and I just had a powerful sense that God was looking right at me, which was really like being utterly known and at the same time utterly loved. Those last three probably sound quite vague and woolly but they are experiences I will never forget, particularly the last one.

Yes I've had a few experiences when praying I could not explain rationally. It is these really I suppose, one in particular, that keep my faith going.

I agree to a point with the first point. Some are simply deceivers. Perhaps some from this group are also deceiving themselves. As for your second point: I definitely agree with this. There is also a strong cultural influence (sub-cultural). If you are surrounded by people who all believe the same things and constantly reinforce it and don't really engage with people of differing viewpoints, it can be very difficult to see that there is a problem or that one's thinking is faulty.

That's alright. It's happened before. It'll happen again