Mr Rayon
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Posts posted by Mr Rayon
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Moderator Note
OK - we need a citation, preferably from a journal but otherwise from a reputable news source for your initial claim. There are too many highly speculative and potentially divisive questions being posted which the cynical might see as trying to advance an agenda without providing any proof. topic moved to speculations till some form of citation or evidence provided.
!Moderator Note
and stop posting everything in the lounge - we will start locking topics again if you continue.
Hi,
I didn't mean to place it in the wrong place.
I was just interested in what is already established as scientific fact in the link between race and intelligence.
I started this thread because I am currently reading 'The Malay Dilemma' by Mohathir Mohamad as he discusses racial identity in his book.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/339251.The_Malay_Dilemma
Though it was first written many years ago so scientific progress may have changed significantly since then.
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What studies have been done on this?
I have heard that people who have blue eyes are smartest when compared to people who have other coloured eyes.
Are there physiological benefits to being a particular race for every race?
For example, Africans having higher muscle density than non-Africans and Africans generally having high melanin concentration in the skin. etc.
Are some races more intelligent than other races or are we all roughly equal/the same?
Are the differences negligible or worth looking into?
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“I feel sorry for the church next door, waiting for their three people to trickle in,” says Nick Julius, glancing at the small adjacent hall which will shortly be hosting its own gathering. There are still 40 minutes before the Sunday Assembly, an atheist service run by two standup comedians, is due to begin, but a queue of eager congregants is already forming outside a grand but crumbling former church in Islington, north London, hands shoved deep into pockets against the cold.
Julius arrived an hour early, just to be sure of a place at the service, which is described by its organisers as “a godless congregation that meets … to hear great talks, sing songs and generally celebrate life”. But why? “I came last time and really enjoyed it. It’s got all the good things about church without the terrible dogma. I like the sense of community – and who doesn’t enjoy a sing song?”
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2051730
Atheists going to church...a good idea?
What is your opinion?
If you are an atheist please state why you would or would not attend church services?
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Mr. Rayon, since you got the list on a UCG link would you mind if I asked, are you a member?
lol, no.
still I'm not convinced yet that agnosticism/atheism is a good way to live one's life.
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In fairness to Mr. Rayon, if he did actually post where his threads belong they would all begin in the trash can.
How come?
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Egypt's new constitution “prepares the way for an Islamic caliphate”,
according to the acting leader of Coptic Catholics, who is among three
bishops to condemn the document as a fundamental attack on human rights.
Expressing their profound disappointment with the constitution signed
into law on 26 December, the bishops said only extremist Muslims’
rights were guaranteed by the new document and that at particular risk
were women, young people and religious minorities....
Do you think an Islamic caliphate will ever be re-established?
What are some obstacles for the unification of the Muslim world today?
What are the pros and cons?
Is it desirable for the rest of the world that an Islamic caliphate be created?
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What is your opinion?
Are there any good people left in this world?
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It has been stated by many that the US war in Iraq and Afghanistan were illegal wars.
What could have ordinary citizens who didn't want war done to prevent the US-led war?
What was it that fueled the wars? Was it 9/11? Fear of nuclear weapons or desire for oil?
What could have ordinary Iraqis, Afghans and Americans done to make sure war did not take place?
What could the UN have done?
It has now been confirmed that the wars were a big mistake.
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"THE ELEVEN KNOWN FACTSScience has established eleven facts concerning the probable effectof premarital sex on your marriage.FACT 1. Premarital sex tends to break up couples. Other things being equal, couples who engage in sex are more likely to break up before marriage than those who do not.FACT 2. Many men and women do not want to marry a person who has had intercourse with someone else. Fear of AIDS is another factor now. Also, the more sexual experience the other person has had, the less desirable that person is.FACT 3. Those who have premarital sex tend to have less happy marriages. On the whole, your chances of being happily married are better if you wait till you're wed to have sex. And the more premarital sex you have, the less likely you'll be happy in your marriage.FACT 4. Those who have premarital sex are more likely to have their marriage end in divorce. This follows from Fact 3. If a couple is unhappy with their marriage, they're more likely to get a divorce. And again, the more premarital sex the individuals have had, the greater the chance of divorce.FACT 5. Persons and couples who have had premarital sex are more likely to have extramarital affairs as well. That is especially true of females. The Kinsey report showed that women who had sex before marriage were more than twice as likely to cheat on their husbands as women who were virgins at the time of their marriage. The same is true of men. The more premarital sex a person has had, the more likely he or she is to commit adultery. The reason is, once a couple have had sex with each other, it is much, much easier to do the same thing again, married or not. Also, indulging in "forbidden fruit" brings special pleasure and excitement. After marriage, sex is no longer forbidden. Couples accustomed to the excitement of forbidden fruit may find married sex to be a bit dull. Might this tempt a spouse to try to find greater excitement outside the marriage bond - which is another kind of forbidden fruit.FACT 6. Having premarital sex may fool you into marrying a person who is not right for you. Sex can blind you. You may believe you've found real love, when in fact it is only sex that has held you together. If you wait for sex until you're quite sure you have a sound relationship without sex, you can avoid this tragic error. Once your relationship is firmly established, then your married sex life becomes a beautiful, wondrous bonus. It will tie you together even more completely in your marriage.The next two facts are best taken together. The first is a short-term plus, but the second a long-range minus.FACT 7. Persons and couples with premarital sex experience tend to achieve sexual satisfaction sooner after the are married. However ...FACT 8. They are likely to be less satisfied overall with their sex life during marriage. That is, they adjust to sex more quickly, but their overall adjustment is less satisfying than it is with couples who wait for sex until after they wed. One reason is that their premarital sex experience can rise to haunt them. People differ widely in their sexual nature and skills. They tend to compare their sexual satisfaction with previous partners if they have other partners and they tend to get disappointed. Married Sex Is Best Almost any wife and husband can work out a happy sexual adjustment if they love each other. Any loving couple's sex life is likely to be fine. When they have a warm, compatible relationship, they can with very few exceptions work out a good sex life. Sex in the context of a meaningful, lasting relationship is by far the best sex. Total Sex No matter how skilled and exotic and explosive a merely physical sexual experience may be, it cannot begin to match total sex. Total sex involves the completion and conjoining of total personalities. It merges the minds, the emotions, and the social and spiritual selves of a couple, as well as their two bodies. The two truly do become one. They can actually be worshipping God in the act of having sex. No sensible person should want to settle for anything less than that kind of sex.FACT 9. Poor premarital sexual habits can be carried over to spoil sex in marriage. Since premarital sex is still a social and religious no- no, illicit sex acts usually produce some degree of guilt, fear, and loss of self-esteem. This can apply to both partners, but it is especially true for women. They feel guilt, since they are doing what they feel they should not do. They lose self-respect, since they are not living up to their own ideals. And they are afraid of three things: getting caught in the act of sex, getting pregnant, and perhaps contracting a sexually transmitted disease. Whether you're engaged or not, each time you have premarital sex, you will get into a pattern of feeling guilt and fear and loss of self-respect. Over and over again this happens. You have sex, you feel fear and guilt and remorse. In time, all of these negative feelings become associated with the sex act itself. Now suppose you do get married. To the extent you learned to associate sex with guilt and fear and shame before the wedding, you will in some measure feel that way afterward. Still, every time you two have sex, that guilt and fear and shame will come back to haunt you. It may take months or even years for you to recondition yourselves. Only then can your sex life be full and free.FACT 10. Guilt may push a couple into a bad marriage. Many persons (especially those with a deep religious faith or background) will feel that they should have sex only with the person they wed and no one else. So they may feel duty-bound to marry a person they have had sex with. As a result, this guilt and sense of obligation may push them into a poor marriage.FACT 11. Premarital sex robs a couple of "sexual cement." The sex act is the most intimate of all human behaviors. If done with love, it bonds a couple together in a unique way. It is so wonderful that it keeps them coming back to each other even though there may be real problems - like money, in-laws, etc. - to be worked out in their relationship. This bonding can be called "sexual cement," since it is so strong that it can hold a couple together for up to three to five years. Here's why it is of vital importance to hold off having sex until after you're wed so it can help you make your marriage work out."
http://www.bayarea.net/~fonniepi/sharing/pete18.html
Hold on, while researching 'sexual cement' I bumped into the above website. It seems to be a the same 11 facts as before but with explanations and further it is entitled 'THE ELEVEN KNOWN FACTS'. What does this mean?
"Science has established eleven facts concerning the probable effectof premarital sex on your marriage."
Still don't like the word probable there. I guess we will never know then...
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Now I just made the above up - as I expect Dr Rev Strong did his list. There is nothing to say his is more likely to be true than mine - frankly I think my list is better.
Are you saying that it depends on the individual and their mindset?
Would the article generally apply more to christians and not other people? Is that what you're saying?
Is that why you can't give a definite answer?
What are the variables that need to be considered to determine what is right?
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Now I just made the above up - as I expect Dr Rev Strong did his list. There is nothing to say his is more likely to be true than mine - frankly I think my list is better.
"In 1935, Kinsey delivered a lecture to a faculty discussion group at
Indiana University, his first public discussion of the topic, wherein he
attacked the "widespread ignorance of sexual structure and physiology"
and promoted his view that "delayed marriage" (that is, delayed sexual
experience) was psychologically harmful."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Kinsey#Early_life_and_education
Is the above true?
That delayed sexual experience is harmful?
I understand Alfred Kinsey died long ago so his field may have progressed quite a bit since his death in 1956.
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They are from the United Church of God website. Now do they strike you as a disinterested observer who have no axe to grind?
They seem pretty convincing 'facts'. I don't know how to look the other way.
FACT 4: Those who have premarital sex are more likely to have their marriage end in divorce.
FACT 11: Premarital sex robs a couple of "sexual cement."
Out of the above, I think fact 4 and fact 11 sound the most convincing to me.
What are the latest statistics suggesting?
Does premarital sex really rob a someone from having "sexual cement" with person they end up marrying in the future?
Does premarital sex diminish one's ability to form stable relationships with the opposite sex in the future?
What are the latest scientific evidence suggesting, if there are any?
I think there should be some sort of scientific data for fact 11.
Would strength of sexual cement between a newly wed couple be weaker relative to the situation had they not had premarital sex before having sex with each other?
I have heard anecdotal evidence that casual sex can lower libido and quality of sex.
Though I'm not sure whether previous physical/emotional attachments would hamper future relationships.
What are the latest scientific evidence suggesting?
Why are some atheists today choosing not to have casual premarital sex? Are their reasons logical?
From experience when it comes to the non-religious, people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds tend to lose their virginity more frequently at a younger age than people higher up. Higher socioeconomic status can be a indicator of success and people from this class tend to lose their virginity at a slightly older age and in some cases still be a virgin while marrying.
Or does it differ depending the mindset of individual?
But I am guessing one who has casual sex will have more trouble committing in the long-run and giving up the promiscuous lifestyle. I have no data to back this up though, just bias opinion probably.
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FACT 1: Premarital sex tends to break up couples.
FACT 2: Many men and women do not want to marry a person who has had intercourse with someone else.
FACT 3: Those who have premarital sex tend to have less happy marriages.
FACT 4: Those who have premarital sex are more likely to have their marriage end in divorce.
FACT 5: Persons and couples who have had premarital sex are more likely to have extramarital affairs as well.
FACT 6: Having premarital sex may fool you into marrying a person who is not right for you.
FACT 7: Persons and couples with premarital sex experience tend to
achieve sexual satisfaction sooner after they are married. However…
FACT 8: They are likely to be less satisfied overall with their sex life during marriage.
FACT 9: Poor premarital sexual habits can be carried over to spoil sex in marriage.
FACT 10: Guilt may push a couple into a bad marriage.
FACT 11: Premarital sex robs a couple of "sexual cement."
http://www.ucg.org/commentary/11-known-facts-about-premarital-sex/
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Absolutely not. Faith wanes and waxes, so what happens when a person who's morals are based on their faith suddenly doesn't believe anymore? People can be taught morality without it being contingent on what's going to happen to them after they die.
Do you think morality ought to be included as part of the elementary and highschool curriculum for children and teenagers? If so, what if they don't take it seriously? How could one enforce good morality upon the population of a country? Are there other more effective ways to go about doing this?
Do you think teaching people morality would make a big difference in the behaviour of people in the long run?
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Is religion an effective way of creating moral human inhabitants of a society (e.g. by lowering crime rates if it does etc)?
I have heard people say in the forums that it is like a placebo which doesn't work in actuality.
In your opinion what is a better way to make people become 'good' people?
Is religion the only way?
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There has been a lot of criticism lately of the government’s proposal to
radically change the elementary school curriculum and reduce it to six
subjects: maths, Indonesian, religious studies, Pancasila, sports and
art. However, critics have put forward some very weak arguments and have
failed to see how the proposed curriculum would help Indonesia — much
more effectively than at present — establish a first-class educational
system.
One good a priori reason for thinking that the government
is right and the critics are wrong is that the proposed curriculum
looks very much like the curriculum taught in primary schools in England
and universally admired in educational circles throughout the world.
This is a system with which I am familiar, having had four children go
through primary education in Canterbury and having observed practice in
schools as a parent governor. The reason why the English primary
education is so admired is because it does precisely what the critics of
the Indonesian system wish for elementary education: to develop
children’s sense of wonder and curiosity and encourage critical thinking
and creativity. And it does this through not burdening them with too
many set subjects but using the time available to integrate teaching
according to various topics.
...
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/commentary/indonesian-government-is-right-to-change-curriculum/551844
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdLjBHMCqvM
Should science be taken off the curriculum in primary education (in Indonesia)?
Please share us your thoughts!
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Hi everybody,
I was just wondering whether anybody knows whether virgin marriages last longer than non-virgin marriages.
I have heard that it is better to not have pre-marital sex so that when you do get married, your chances of divorce will be lower.
Is there any truth behind being a virgin and your marriage going longer?
Please show your opinion with evidence.
Thank you!
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Yes, the whole world is becoming more religious.
What are your speculations for this religious revival phenomena?
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Hi everybody,
I was speaking to a very intelligent friend of mine many months ago and he said that there will always be wars and that there is nothing we can do to prevent wars from taking place. It is all part of being human, right?
Anybody got any ideas on how we can prevent wars from happening in the future?
Furthermore, is my friend right?
Will wars take place forever in our history from time-to-time?
Is it inevitable that we as a human race keep hurting each other?
The world now is becoming more globalised. International trade has made it possible for countries to obtain essential resources without going to war.
But as people die, the younger generation will forget about the pain/suffering brought by war. How can our children be taught to avoid war at all costs? They won't remember the pain/suffering brought because of the crusades/colonialism/the great world wars of the 20th century etc.
Is there anyway to make our children remember the dropping of the nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and many other horrible things like that brought about in war to instill in our children a natural sense of disgust and dread of war, so as to avoid it at all costs?
Should we make more movies about pain/suffering brought about by war and force our children to watch it as part of the education system? Should we teach them 21st century morality as part of the education system?
Lessons about morality could be taught to children about real horrible things that happened in history to further their moral values.
Is it possible?
What can we do to stop people from fighting against one another?
Should we teach our children 21st century moral values or more religion?
How effective would this be in preventing countries from trying to build nuclear weapons for "defensive purposes"?
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http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/09/study-castration-adds-years-to-mens-lives/262778/
the above article suggests that there is a trade-off between reproduction and longevity. Men pay a big price for male hormone.
Anybody got any other alternative suggestions why this is the case?
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hi,
im planning on starting my own personal private blog just for myself, sorta like a diary to keep track of what I have done throughout the day.
I plan on spending about 30 mins a day on it starting tomorrow. gonna try it out for 30 days and if I enjoy it, it might become a continuous future hobby of mine for many years to come.
Does anyone have any tips/advice on whether I should include spelling mistakes/incorrect grammar in it?
Its just that it might make it seem more personal if I read/write it like that but secretly a small person inside of me secretly disapproves of when I do things purposefully incorrectly.
thanks guys, your opinions.
also, no one will probably see the blog accept me. I will set it to private and the public wont' see it.
hopefully, i wont get urges to make it public ><
got the idea from here:
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If you shave your eyelashes does it grow back?
Has anyone ever tried doing this as an April fool's joke to a friend?
Is it a good joke to use do you think?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim_scientists
Why are there so many religious scientists/doctors?
What makes these people immune to intellectual criticism from the scientific atheist community?
Furthermore, if it's good enough for these brainiacs why are there so many anti-religious bigots in the world?
Would you ever consider changing your stance in whatever your current spiritual belief system is now?
Do you expect religion to ever disappear from the world? If so, when?
Also, in your opinion, what is the correlation between religiosity and intelligence?
As people become more intelligent, will they only become more religious or the other way?
Do you have an interest in religion?
Why is there so many religion-related threads in SFN?
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Why is East Asia becoming more religious?
in Speculations
Posted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tohhSz53Vo