Old Jules, is atheism a choice or is it a conclusion?
It can be arrived at from a number of directions. A rebellion of youth deciding not to believe what they’ve been taught by their parents or society. Arriving at a conclusion that whatever they know of religion is false and the believers are stupid, giving them a means of bootstrapping their views of their own intelligence by comparison with those they believe are stupid. A line of anger in the sand as a result of ill-treatment by the religious. Those are ‘hard’ atheists, usually aggressive in their atheism, constantly hoping for an opportunity to reinforce and further solidify their positions by demeaning religion, never in danger of learning anything new. ‘Soft’ atheists usually arrived there by logic and believed that, given the two alternatives, atheism made more sense than the explanations offered in religious doctrine. These aren’t locked in a death grip on their opinions and tend to be open to other alternatives.
Old Jules, the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words “human” and “environment” in one sentence is the negative effect humans have on the environment. What do you think?
You pee into a commode containing 3-5 gallons of water, thereby taking a cup of urine and carefully contaminating 3-5 gallons of water. You defecate half-pound of feces into 3-5 gallons of pristine water. You wash your clothing in a washing machine using 30-35 gallons of pristine water, injecting soap and everything on the clothing, then rinse it with pristine water. That’s just for beginners.
Old Jules, do mind powers really exist?
They exist for the rare individuals in the human population who have minds. They don’t exist for the great majority able to say, “Not if they haven’t been proved,” or “How about them Cowboys”. Only a tiny piece of homo sapiens possesses sapience, it appears. Possibly because sapience doesn’t appear on a football field and can’t be proved.
Old Jules, has America lost its way?
No. The US has always followed the way of aggression. It hasn’t lost that direction. It’s just solidified the boundaries, defeated everyone inside the boundaries, and now has the elbow room to look outward without such a scattering of opposing powers. Being the only super-power left besides China keeps America pointed in the traditional direction: Anything not tied down.
Old Jules, is virtual reality ruining the world?
Someone still has to kill the cows, swine and chickens for your supper and grow the grain for someone else to bake into bread for your pizza and sandwiches. They don’t do it on computers.
So Far From Heaven 