Tag: Formspring
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What is your view on psychics who claim to be able to relay messages from dead relatives?
I don’t believe in it. I don’t know what I think about the afterlife entirely—it’s not something I feel I can know; but everything I have experienced, read and encountered leads me to believe that it’s the end of (at least) communication. I don’t believe mediums can communicate with the dead, nor that they can…
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what is the point of decaff?
Clearly, the point, is for people who are negatively affected by caffeine to be able to enjoy the taste of coffee or tea. Decaffeination leaches much of the flavour from tea or coffee, though, leaving it tasting washed out and watery. Decaff tea, to me, tastes papery and flat. Decaff coffee loses many of the…
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Is there something that US have and the UK should have/do it too?
I’m not entirely sure I understand the question. It’s pretty broad. I think the US has things that make it what it is, some of them good, many poor; but a direct one-for-one swap would not—from my perspective—necessarily bring the benefits they might have in the US. There is, for example, a culture of respect…
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As a sort of foreigner, what do you think of this election campaign?
I’m not sure how to frame a response to this one… I’ve lived in the UK for all but a few months of my voting-eligible life, and this is not the first general election I’ve been present for. I remember watching the Swing-o-meter and wrapping my head around marginal constituencies, door-to-door canvassing, and the implied…
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The Enlightenment was centuries ago. Why do you think people still cling to outmoded ways of explaining the world, such as religion?
I don’t see history as linearly-progressive. I believe we learn much from our past, and value history. Our story is an accumulation of our thoughts, our lives and our predecessors’ ways of living: and it contains many, many truths. We don’t always learn from the past, and often forget what used to be known. There…
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What thing or things can a religious person do that an atheist cannot?
I don’t know, sounds like a clinical trial might be in order? I’m uncomfortable with the idea of religion, and that discomfort is growing into something akin to distrust. I sort of see “religion” as a way to organise faith and belief into a structure. Traditionally, this structure has been a default in many cultures—because…
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How badly do you want an iPad?
The iPad is something I’m more curious about than lustful for. I want to see how it works, how it feels to use and what difference it’ll make to the way I do things. I’ll be interested to see how it does at conferences, for example. Whether the format of a tablet is a useful…
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Emotions, intuition, consciousness. Which is the better guide?
Guide to what? Emotion is for interactions with people and yourself. I feel a certain way, and I have to question why and to what extent. I feel a reaction to or perceive the emotions of another, and I modify my behaviour. Intuition, I don’t understand completely. I see it almost as an inclination, a…