Interesting Stuff Thread

Hotblack Desiato

The very concept that life has a higher purpose / we were put here for a reason / etc is very symptomatic of the theistic mindset.

robindch

didn't the unlovely Thiel leave PayPay when it was sold to eBay quite a long time ago?

Yes - I think it was around 20 years ago when he and his co-founders sold out to ebay for what sounded then like a lot of money.

The very concept that life has a higher purpose / we were put here for a reason / etc is very symptomatic of the theistic mindset.

It's so common that it has a name - the "Teleological Fallacy" 🤣

https://logfall.wordpress.com/teleological-fallacy/

robindch

btw, happy Towel Day everybody!

http://towelday.org/

Hotblack Desiato

We don't seem to have a dedicated euthanasia thread* so this seems as good a place as any.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/0423/1378439-assisted-dying-committee-analysis/

TL,DR: the Oireachtas joint committee on assissed dying meets again tomorrow but has yet to decide when public hearings will begin. Once the first public hearing takes place the clock starts ticking and they have nine months to produce a report, to include any recommendations on legislative change. Depending on when they get started it's quite possible that there will not then be time to draft legislation and get it through the Oireachtas before the next general election. Some want the process to start ASAP while others don't want the clock to be ticking over the summer when nothing can happen anyway.

[*] Maybe we did and the mods euthanised it? 😁

Hotblack Desiato

Well, this isn't what I expected.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANGELUS

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120599561#Comment_120599561

What is the connection to A&A?

Hotblack Desiato

I wanted to look up Angelus but caps lock was on and ANGELUS on Wikipedia redirects to the article above

robindch

Here are the ever-fresh Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey talking about the history of atheism in their (rather excellent) Origin Story podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/atheism-no-god-what-now/id1624704966?i=1000614587134

Hotblack Desiato

Enjoy the solstice everyone! (and those bright evenings while they're still here...)

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2023/10/02/courts-have-key-role-to-play-in-protecting-rights-in-in-current-era-says-chief-justice/

The Chief Justice stressed the importance of open, efficient and independent justice in what was the first secular ceremony to mark the start of a new legal year.

The decision to move away from the traditional two religious services that have opened past legal years came following a report by a committee chaired by the Supreme Court’s Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne.

Mr Justice O’Donnell said the previous Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic services have been “valuable and often beautiful”, but there has always been “some discomfort” with the idea of the legal year being “associated, almost by default, with religion”.

About time.