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HIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So awesome to hear from you - FACEBOOK FRIEND ME NOW! ( wendy.in.neverland@gmail.com) haha :P Dude, 90 - that's freaking awesome!!! How's music working out for you? Do any busking? Hope you've had a great holidays, loads of pressies for christmas, and big NYE plans...

No. Please don't say things that are patently NOT TRUE. I know FOR SURE - she was in my year at school and one of my classmates, a girl who got 99.95 with both histories. She also didn't get state ranks either. (Though of course she did exceptionally well). This debunks your statement...

Yeah but his name goes down in history as the person who proved Poincare's Conjectore (now Theorem?). Plus he apparently has made more than enough to live on. He's fine. (if highly anti-social).

Probably THE most compelling book I have read all year (and I have read prolifically through the year) Perfect Rigor: A Genius + the Mathematical Breakthrough of the Century by Masha Gessen Its the biography of probably the top mathematical mind of the decade (century?), Grigory Perelman...

Oh my god, you're freaking awesome. Go Russian literature!!! If you're familiar with Dostoevsky at all, did you notice the parallels between the Grand Inquisitor from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov and the characters in Master and Margarita? Solzhenitzyn is also in the penguin series -...

No tutoring for me. Wouldn't have worked for my subjects anyway. I know quite a few 99.90/5ers who DIDN'T have tutoring, so its definitely possible. I think if you do the subjects you love, put in enough work into them for it to be a real passion - natural talent will win out.

Just a minor point though, Liberalism doesn't have much to do with atheism OR deism. Liberalism is generally speaking a belief in rights - the inalienable rights inherent to human beings. It really doesn't have much to do with religion (perhaps apart from the "right" to practice one's preferred...

Why be a dick though, when the option is there to argue reasonably, and to exchange those arguments in a way that is polite and doesn't resort to ad hominems or generalisations/assumptions that would undermine your credibility? My reference to the liberal party was Howard's ill-fated attempts...

+1 Yes I thought that was rather odd as well. lol. Tony Abbot, the liberal party, and being "australian" *snickers*.

The question of where our ethics come from is another issue really. Not the topic anyway. But while we're here.. While some people feel that religion (not necessarily Christianity - but Islam etc) instills ethics and values, this is not necessarily true. I'm quite taken with Plato/Socrates'...

Exactly. Based on my understand of Mr Abbot's position on a number of other issues- homosexuality, abortion etc, etc, I DON'T think he is going to be pushing for a secular, critical approach to the Bible. And all those things- biases, wrongful ways of teaching, especially to kids who may be...

Lol. Immigrant AND Asian. ;) I'm insulted because I am in fact widely read, and HAVE studied the bible. Therefore I feel insulted that someone feels that I SHOULD be told to read something. If I am interested, I will read it and assess it on my own terms, not on Mr Abbot's. In fact, nowhere...

Well, Mr Abbot is being unhelpful in that he doesn't say a whole lot. I'm cynical enough to think that he's probably sh*t-stirring. But here's what he does say. Ok. Fair enough. But define "great texts" please. And "civilisation". I suspect he's referring to Western civilisation - that is...

Sure, but does it need to be compulsory? The very idea insults me tbh. I went to a religious school (not an OVERLY religious one mind you) - and found that the way the school taught and wove in religious issues were fantastic. Yes, we had Chapel every week, but never did I feel that religion...

Tbh. Dear. Talking about some interesting thinkers and making a non inflammatory or highly ignorant/biased post is probably more useful than some of the more red-neck posts around here. ETA: And you think you're full of *actual* content - O profound one. *snickers*

Oh good god. Here we go...an internet catfight. Well merry christmas to you too. Maybe I'm using the wrong language here - but (In my opinion) or rephrasing - TO ME. He's taking the side of pro- God/ pro- teaching the bible in schools. That would tend to be the argument of Christians (or...

I don't know (and don't care) if he is or if he's not. But he IS giving Christians a bad name, unfortunately. In fact, I don't even know WHAT he's advocating for. Presumably trolling. I stand for indoctrination free schools and respect for both deism and atheism. (Or Agnosticism as the case...

Hey, hey - i don''t know if its PC to be posting my rep messages, but this is too funny to pass up. So, I got this from a poster named Planck this is what he/she said: Now really? Anyone else see the irony in that 1. He/She is gramatically incorrect, writes incoherently, and is using...

^ You should read Paul Davies - "Mind of God" Michael :D I've just finished that and I'm onto "The Fabric of the Cosmos" by Brian Greene atm.

I like what Jetblack says - was it Paul Davies you read? I also found him immensely compelling, and tbh his thoughts on intelligent design and the nature of the universe (as having a pattern and structure and as being somehow tied to the human mind) is quite eloquent. I'm not an atheist, I do...