What culture is "cultural relativism" a part of?

"...their belief in the non-existence of God." This is not an accurate portrayal of atheism, but rather: the lack of belief in God. Yes, there is an important distinction. I don't have a belief in the non-existence of Santa Claus, I just don't have the belief in his existence in the first place. Why bother…

Best possible response to this comment.

I think the irresponsible thing is to believe everything you think, not to think. I can't imagine that anyone who would criticize speculation about future science really thinks this through; they're surely speculating. It's like telling people not to think. Of course people are going to think and speculate about…

Exactly why "appeal to tradition" is a logical fallacy. But this is religion, so it gets a free pass from being logical.

So, how long does a set of teachings have to exist before it becomes unquestionable?

We're addicted to oil like we're addicted to food and air. The lives of many, and the entire structure of modern society depend on it. The drug analogy doesn't really work for oil. It's much more serious than a drug addiction. It's obvious that oil dependence is the problem, but we can't just go cold turkey or…

It is for precisely those reasons that there is a need for men to share in the responsibility of birth control. Oral contraceptives for men make it possible for the responsibility (and side-effect risk) to be more equally shared. This way it doesn't always have to be up to the woman to be on the pill all the time. …

Thanks for this. It's inane to think that there is no difference. Evolution is not teleological or guided by purpose.

Yep. Liberals took over the research institutions and the news media, so any "facts" that come out of them are actually liberal propaganda. Pretty tidy conspiracy theory, actually. Great way to get people to narrow their info sources to fewer and fewer channels until you have them exclusively tuned in to the party…

I hope you're right, Nick. I've thought that things would be helped if past music technologies weren't looked at as obsolete, but rather as their own unique ways to make sound. I have also enjoyed experimenting with various effects pedals, but you can probably tell from my previous comment that I prefer solid-state…

Actually, I think that the evolution of processors and other technologies was a major source of the diversity in pop music throughout the 20th century. But with the advent of digital, all sounds are producible;then eventually, no more ways to redefine your sound through technology that haven't been done. Whole…

This seems to be an illogical question, no matter how it is interpreted really. It's like asking: which is bigger: a tree or a leaf on that tree? Nonsense to pluck the brain out of the universe (and all other brains as well) and then compare it to this hypothetical universe devoid of brains and ask which is bigger…

I've thought of this many times myself, and started to realize that the loonies on the left probably don't show up to the voting booth as often as those on the right.

I'm crushed by this news and chilled by the reality of cancer risk for space travelers. :(

Yes! Perfect response.

Actually, in the article on Science Daily, they do mention that health care workers (as well as: "dentists; firefighters; fishermen; car assembly workers; entertainers; smelters and foundry workers; stonemasons and glass blowers/cutters; painters; train drivers/maintenance engineers; soldiers; commercial divers")…

Perhaps those who are genetically endowed in ways that make them more likely to enter the field of mathematics, are also predisposed to passing on these defects. I'm thinking of the case of a likely mutation, not caused by abnormal environmental exposure to toxins necessarily but the particular allele that…

Lol. You're absolutely right. He was pretty hellbent on getting a handle on the population. The stupidity of dictators is just so astounding to me. Though it may look good on paper to just wipe out a bunch of people, the actual process is pretty much always going to cost more than it benefits, even if those people…