Comments for The brainfart factory

Comment on Who would have guessed? by Corlia

Corlia — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:44:53 +0000

Ok, now I understand….this explains everything!

Comment on Meat by Will

Will — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:36:55 +0000

Dave, if we don’t eat all of those cows then they will continue to pollute our atmosphere with greenhouse gasses! It is our duty as global citizens to stop this bovine madness before things get too far!

Comment on Meat by Erwin McManus on Eating Meat on the Streets of Athens

Erwin McManus on Eating Meat on the Streets of Athens — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 08:36:36 +0000

[…] piece was included to gratuitously offend Bertus!, who is a vegetarian. (Dave, you’re more than welcome to be offended as well, if you […]

Comment on Meat by Dave

Dave — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 13:12:38 +0000

Capitalism is only a solution to scarce resources in as much as you can account for the cost of the resource. Unfortunately, government is the only organisation that can enforce the accounting. Yes, it means government policy and associated taxes. The carbon cap and trade schemes are already implementing some of this. As for wiping out 95% of humanity, tempting as it its, I just do not crave meat enough to go to the effort.

As for the road to vegetarianism: After quite a bit of thinking, i discovered that the best route to vegetarianism is to just stop eating meat

Comment on Meat by Hugo

Hugo — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 10:08:18 +0000

Of course, if we just kill off 95% of all humans, we’d be able to eat all the meat we want!

Comment on Meat by Hugo

Hugo — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 07:53:47 +0000

The way I understand capitalism and the free market, and it’s solution to scarce resources, I think taking it to the extreme would require privatising the atmosphere, at least “owning” the atmosphere, where the owners would then sell you the right to produce CO2? (How else do you get people to pay for their ecological impact? Taxation, maybe, which is more along the lines of “government-owned atmosphere”?)

I’m not a huge capitalist/free-market fanatic. Last time I filled in a political quiz, I found myself surprisingly far left. This is why I’m trying to figure out more about the “benefits” of capitalism, and the problems of communism - apparently one of the big problems was the wasting of resources…?

On the meat front: I’m already inspired to be more appreciative of the meat that I eat. (My meat consumption isn’t particularly high, but with this awareness, I might reduce it a little further.) When I have time again, I’ll go do some reading about nutrition, e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarian_nutrition

Comment on Scientific theories are not the same as religious faith by Hugo

Hugo — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 23:10:27 +0000

Thanks! It was an interesting and weird journey. For a very long time I was on the edge of the shadow, not really certain which side of the line I “should be”, or something stupid. This year I was still flirting with the shadow, wondering what lurks there, maybe due to caring about friends and family? The last step was to stop being intrigued, to “stop caring”, to turn my back on shadow, and run free in the sun.

Once I have developed a nice tan, am in good shape, I can still grab a flashlight every now and then, and go for brief excusions in the dark, looking for people that are keen to stretch their legs and run across the sun-lit fields.

Of course, flashlight selection is important. Too bright a light will only scare people away. Sometimes a candle works best, sometimes you need to work in the moonlight…

Hmm, I might be over-extending this metaphor…

(Of course, some people are simply happier in the shadow. I suppose that’s fine, as long as they don’t spread darkness, and allow other people, including their kids, the freedom to go play in the sun…)

Comment on Scientific theories are not the same as religious faith by Dave

Dave — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:59:58 +0000

Hi Hugo
Congratulations on having moved into the light (not this blog!) but away from religion. I have recently become more of the opinion that religion is actually harmful because it really builds an artificial wall in peoples heads that prevents the rather profound and majestic reality of our existence from entering ones conciousness. Denying this majesty is actually evil.

Comment on Scientific theories are not the same as religious faith by Hugo

Hugo — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 16:24:40 +0000

Hi! Great post! This is kinda me saying I discovered your blog.

Yea, the moderates… I have an extended family that I could label “fundamentalists”. My parents might be labelled “moderates”? And the church they attend, is a “good” one (if one assumes there exists “good” churches - “good” churches believe you should doubt, you should ask questions…?)

I also think that “good religion” (again, assuming there exists a “good” religion, else just call it “moderate” religion?), might possibly be one of the best or most successful ways out of fundamentalism, for the fundamentalists. I’m just not convinced that hard-hitting “militant/extreme” atheism is an effective strategy - then again, it differs from person to person, and hard-hitting atheism might just “save” some people. It won’t influence my extended family though… which is why I’ve been pondering what “good religion” would have to be.

On another front, I just cannot decide whether “belief in a higher power” should be considered harmful or not. Some people do derive great benefits from such a belief, it can be a good influence in their lives. OTOH, it can also be dangerous… sigh

Comment on Who would have guessed? by Andre

Andre — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 16:52:02 +0000

Dave, I’m glad to see that you have rised above your roots
Any chance of Vanessa sharing her genealogical tips and tricks?
My one uncle tried researching our ancestry… but gave up for some
mysterious (probably not) reason.