if there were no need for 'engineers from the quantum plenum' then we should not have any unanswered scientific questions.
Quote from: Tank on May 08, 2024, 07:34:11 AMQuote from: Recusant on May 08, 2024, 03:49:41 AMI don't think the "knitting tool" hypothesis is conclusive. Some of those dodecahedrons are only about 4 centimeters tall (1.5 inches). Seems unlikely that they were knitting gloves for infants (or toddlers for that matter). Some of them are made of stone and solid as well--would not work for the purpose. Then there are the smaller versions made of gold that were found in Asia.
Similarly enigmatic ancient objects: the carved stone balls from the British Isles.
Damn! Spoil sport!
Quote from: hermes2015 on May 08, 2024, 04:58:26 AMQuote from: Recusant on May 08, 2024, 03:49:41 AMI don't think the "knitting tool" hypothesis is conclusive. Some of those dodecahedrons are only about 4 centimeters tall (1.5 inches). Seems unlikely that they were knitting gloves for infants (or toddlers for that matter). Some of them are made of stone and solid as well--would not work for the purpose. Then there are the smaller versions made of gold that were found in Asia.
Similarly enigmatic ancient objects: the carved stone balls from the British Isles.
Thanks for the link; those stone balls are wonderful. They are quite inspiring and I shall look at more examples to use as seeds for my concrete spheres.
QuoteThe number of individuals in the United States who do not identify as being part of any religion has grown dramatically in recent years, and "the nones" are now larger than any single religious group. According to the General Social Survey, religiously unaffiliated people represented only about 5% of the U.S. population in the 1970s. This percentage began to increase in the 1990s and is around 30% today.
At first glance, some might assume this means nearly 1 in 3 Americans are atheists, but that's far from true. Indeed, only about 4% of U.S. adults identify as an atheist.
As sociologists who study religion in the U.S., we wanted to find out more about the gap between these percentages and why some individuals identify as an atheist while other unaffiliated individuals do not.
[. . .]
[R]ejecting a belief in God is by no means a sufficient condition for identifying as an atheist. So why do some individuals who do not believe in God identify as an atheist while others do not?
Our study found that there are a number of other social forces associated with the likelihood of an individual identifying as an atheist, above and beyond their disbelief in God – particularly stigma.
Many Americans eye atheists with suspicion and distaste. Notably, some social science surveys in the U.S. include questions asking about how much tolerance people have for atheists alongside questions about tolerance of racists and communists.
This stigma means that being an atheist comes with potential social costs, especially in certain communities. We see this dynamic play out in our data.
[Continues . . .]
Quote from: The Magic Pudding.. on May 08, 2024, 12:43:57 PM...
Does each of those chimneys represent a separate dwelling, and your daughter's place is three normal people's (whose dogs don't have gardens) houses wide?