Fundy twat

[Rum]

We don't get too many fundies in Britain - well compared to the USA anyhow though I am sure we have our share. And I unexpectedly had 'dealings' with one at work this very morning.

Some other part of the organisation has brought in a retired head teacher to cover a post for a few months and he had arranged a meeting with me as part of his induction.

He came to my office this morning and we were chatting about retirement - pleasantries before getting down to business and he confessed he hated it and had not realised what a huge change it would be. 'But', he said' 'I prayed long and hard when I was 59 and I received the answer that I had one year of good health left if I stayed in the job'.

I was silent for a moment and slightly appalled. Then, not being able to resist it I asked him if he had been told what would have gone wrong if he had stayed on. He gave me a slight sideways look at that.

What a twat.

[klr]

Good one. The subtle comebacks are often the best.

[Rum]

Good one. The subtle comebacks are often the best.

This guy had been the head teacher of a special school for kids with moderate to severe learning difficulties for 21 years. Apparently, I learnt later (after the above post) he used to ask parents to pray for their kids in the hope of god lifting the condition (from their souls presumably).

What a twat.

[GenesForLife]

Good one. The subtle comebacks are often the best.

This guy had been the head teacher of a special school for kids with moderate to severe learning difficulties for 21 years. Apparently, I learnt later (after the above post) he used to ask parents to pray for their kids in the hope of god lifting the condition (from their souls presumably).

What a twat.

The fact that neurobiological objectivity can now define "soul" subjectivity is perhaps going to be more worrying for the creationists than evolution in the days to come, methinks.

[Rum]

The fact that neurobiological objectivity can now define "soul" subjectivity is perhaps going to be more worrying for the creationists than evolution in the days to come, methinks.

Could you say more on this? Is there some development in biology concerning this I missed? ..or are you just saying that biology indicates that there is no such thing as the 'soul'?...which of course it does.

[GenesForLife]

The fact that neurobiological objectivity can now define "soul" subjectivity is perhaps going to be more worrying for the creationists than evolution in the days to come, methinks.

Could you say more on this? Is there some development in biology concerning this I missed? ..or are you just saying that biology indicates that there is no such thing as the 'soul'?...which of course it does.

Well, creationists have always argued (and even the Pope, subject to his acceptance of evolution) that God injected the soul into humans et cetera et cetera, also, the requirement of a soul would necessiate that consciousness (and "free will") be separated from a strictly biological basis.

Studies so far have shown that...

1) Neurons grown in culture can learn complex behaviour (a mouse neuron array can learn to fly a flight simulator)
2) Similar emotions evoke similar responses (fMRI visualization) in different animal brains, and in humans too (check Pubmed for Helen Fisher for more, I will post you a few links if you are interested) , which means that articulation and emotions need not have a soul to take place, occam's razor renders that concept superfluous, and also indicates shared ancestry.
3) Feral children fail to develop language and other "higher" cognitive functions if not exposed to a human environment (in other words, human intellectual development is not due to an inherent special level of free-willed (or would it be free willied) consciousness but rather dependent on environmental stimulus. Basically - human specialty and "souls" are bunkum ideas.

How do we know that thinking can be objectively explained?
Someone built a computer that can recreate images of what people were saying, which means thinking has to follow neurologically pre-defined rules, and that leaves no room for a soul.
Ditto with the development of interfaces which enable control of machines by thought alone, complete subjectification would have rendered that impossible.