h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thank you Clare. have u read his reply? Do you think he knows what he's talking about? i tried not to get worked up. thanks for joining in.
see u
Jemima

Oo-er, scary isn't he?! I can see what he's saying, but I don't agree at all, and I'm not sure he really knows what he's talking about. I think you've rather hit on his hobbyhorse though! Thanks for taking my advice about keeping your head down, you have been the soul of inoffensiveness (with I cd say the same about yours truly, tough if i *will* keep sticking my neck out like that!). I've posted again, but I reckon if it gets much more heated you and I unsubscribe quietly and find a more friendly thread. It's a shame though; I'm right against people just swallowing mindlesly what they are told, but I'm just as against them spitting it out mindlessly and believing the exact opposite. Chew it over carefully, savour it, then spit out the bits you consider wrong or irrelevant, And there's no accounting for taste, so other people might spit out different bits.

Ah well young Duckie, I think we may have bitten off a bit more than we can chew here.......

Can you come to the fair tomorrow btw?

probably not.
The chances are minimal seeing as my dad can't take me as he's at Kentwell, and i shouldn't think my mum will enjoy running me in. ring me if u desperately would aime moi to be there tho!
yes, this lies thing is a bit wierd isn't it? Hoovooloo is scary, is he a he tho?! i thort the other personage was a man, but turns out she's a lady!
see ya,
love Duckie xxxx

Hi there. I see you've met Hoovooloo, then.

He's not as scary as he sounds, but yes, this is his hobby horse (although that phrase undervalues his commitment to his principles).

And yes, he DOES know what he's talking about. And has little patience with those who don't - unless they're up front about it, and are willing to learn. And if you read and think carefully at the points he makes, and can make a good, reasoned reply he'll respect you for it.

If, as one of you suggested, you chew something over, and spit out the bits you don't like, what you're left with is your own personal philosophy. The reasons you spit some bits out must come from outside whatever you're chewing on.

Sorry for butting in.

Noggin

Fine by me for your butting in. Thanks for the advice about Hoo.
Why are you called Noggin the Nog?! sounds like Thea + Hele from school - clare'll know who i mean. They are the people who stick pictures of aardvarks around the formroom!
J

Noggin the Nog is a childrens' cartoon from... rather a long time ago. Your parents may remember. If not, ask your grandparents.

Noggin

Aardvarks? Why Aardvarks?

no idea. one of them is supposed to be an aadvark for some unknown reason. They also dreamt up a school fun run which:
everyone must do and ENJOY THEMSELVES
it involved having a talk on contraception and then putting the skills u have learnt to use in the dt room with the dodgy dt teacher!
hmmm....
They also ran off a load of photos of class members in year 3. Aaah!
We also did a wierd assembly with them. I was one of the three little pigs. Hele was the big bad wolf. Thea read the story.
Not sure pink suits me. Not to mention mauve!
J

My, my! What a protected life I had as a child.

What's dt?

Noggin

I remember Noggin the Nog! He was a king who had storks living on his roof, am I right?

And yes, Thea and Hele are live classic comedy from 8:35 to 4:10 on weekdays. Unfortunately not available in my classroom though, except for german.

Look, I'm sure Hoovooloo knows what he is talking about really, it's just that the rest of us (well Jem and me anyway) don't, and we don't really know what he's saying. What stands out to me as the synopsis of his argument is:
We don't know there is a god, there is no proof there is a god, therefore there isn't a god and we shouldn't tell people there is; anyone who believes there is a god is stupid, anyone who tells other people there is a god is evil.
Now I may have got this completely wrong, in fact I probably have, but if you or he could just explain (in words of not more than two sylables, preferably with no silent letters) what it is that he is saying, then maybe we shall be able to challenge him about it if we still don't agree. In the meantime, we stand around looking confuzzled and saying vaguely, 'but surely...'

We din;t mind you butting in at all noggin the nog. Just out of interest though, how did you find this conv?

ps Jemima, 'salvete' from the ancillae! they heard me talking to you and remembered you from the party

I'd forgotten about the storks! As I said it was a long time ago.

I found this convo because I was subscribed to the Lies, Damned Lies etc, forum, so the "lies" convo came up in my space. I went to your space to see if there was any clue to your age there, and saw this one on your conversation list and guessed it was related.

I'll try and summarise what Hoo was saying for you, but I've got some other things to do just now. Check this space, say, tomorrow, and I'll try to have it done by then.

Catch you later

Noggin

Hi, it's me again.

I went back and reread the lies thread again, and there's too much there to comment in detail.

However, Clare asked

I can't answer this definitively, of course, (not my prerogative) but I'd honestly be surprised if he didn't say yes. He'd want some evidence that you HAD thought long and hard, and that your decision was rational, of course, and we all have a natural inclination to think that if someone agrees with us they do so for similar reasons (unless we're given cause to think otherwise).
We do have a number of mutual friends of various religious persuasions on this site, including Christians, Buddhists, and a Druid (among others), so that's not the main point of his remarks.
Stay calm, bear this in mind, and reread what he wrote, and you may understand it better.

But as an exercise to warm you up for it:-

Do you have any reaon for believing that God exists, OTHER than that someone told you this?
Do you have any reason for NOT believing in the toilet unicorn, OTHER than that nobody told you it did exist?

We can't believe or disbelieve everything everybody tells us (not practical), but we can be pretty sure that some will be true, and some false, and we have to learn to discriminate critically between the two. Sure we all get it wrong sometimes, but that's ok so long as you learn by it.

Noggin

PS If you need me you can reach me at my personal space by clicking on my name at the top of this post.

hello
thanks for the advice. Hoo is hard to understand. What about u, what do u think? Do u believe in anything? And what about hoo, does he? he said only people who lived u to their ideals were buddhists.
spose it isn't that easy to tell. clare only realised i was a christian a month or so ago when i put my necklace on after games! not that i mind.
clare, say salve to the puellae for me. seemed very sweet at the party. i'm surprised they remembered me to be honest! was i that noticable?! hope minnow's all right and your bro's still happy shooting cap pistols!!
by the way i won't be around much tommorow. i'm out being a tudor all day! best excuse yet!!
J

What do I think? That's a big question. Too big for this time of night.

If you're interested there are some convos on my space where i discuss things with (relatively) like minded people - God: Fact or Fiction, and Veeery Interesting are active at the moment, but beware - Fact or Fiction is a veeeery long thread - nearly 8000 (that's right, eight thousand) posts and counting. But worth dipping into if you want to get the flavour.

I'll be back sometime soon, though.

Goodnight young ladies

Noggin

As you may have discovered by now Hoo has answered your question as I thought he would. And it's a big clue to what makes him tick.

Think for yourself.
Check the evidence to the best of your ability.
Take responsibility for your own actions.

Which is pretty much what I think, too, even if I don't always live up to it.

Noggin

Danke sehr, Noggin. I think I get what he's on about now!

Canarde,
Shame you couldn't come, Jenny didn't either in the end, so just the two of us. Nice to have a chance to talk to Becca though And we went on the twister and the waltzer and the spinning teacups and the dodgems and I was GOING to go on the 'terminator' (to hell and back!) but we had run out of money by then! Oh, and then smorning we built a campfire down at hte orchard and cooked second breakfast on it! Funny we thought coz you'd probably just be cooking on a fire too! Anyway, hope you had a good time at Kentwell and a good swim yesterday
see you tomorrow
Clare

ps the puellae remember you from Chariot racing silly