Thank you all for the nice welcome!
So I feel safer already aboard this Ratskep lifeboat. It's kind of like Noah's ark, but without the stench of animal faeces, without the mythology, and with
GREAT and knowledgeable company
Spearthrower wrote:
And thank you so much for your kind words! It does get a little tiring sometimes to face mindless regurgitation, but I think many of us keep in mind the wider audience when we post! It's always great to hear that it's appreciated though!
Doubtdispelled wrote:
Welcome, MeCagoEnCristo! A great intro post which goes a long way to support something which ST and I were talking about the other day, i.e. the value of remembering that discussions here are much more widely read than might at first be apparent, and that, as you say, there are probably many people like you who benefit from the efforts put into dismantling the same tired old arguments.
Exactly! Whenever you guys start getting annoyed about repeating the same arguments over and over, please remember there are lots of people reading behind the scenes, and learning a lot from your writings.
For instance, some of my favourite threads are those where Creationist non-sense gets debunked. I love them because it's like
killing two birds with one stone: I get to read both sides of the arguments. This means I learn lots of science and killer rational and scientific arguments, but I also hear what Creationists think, so when I talk to Mexican Cretinists, I already know their pseudo arguments in advance, so they don't take me by surprise, and I also have awesome facts to debunk their claims.
I think debates, formal and informal, and as long as the parties know their material (as it's the case in this place), are one of the best learning tools there are. One gets to read about the best of both sides in one place. Also, since a lot of the topics and discussions are repeated ad nauseam, readers benefit from this repetition with all the different styles from the participants. Some are rough and edgy, some bombastic and to-the-point, some are calm and polite, etc. But repetition is extremely useful for easy memorising and learning, especially when delivered with so many different styles!
I still remember some of those threads where (now banned) member Mick participated, for instance. Wow! You guys really brought the big guns in those threads and kicked some major arse! Those were some of my favourite ones because I really got to learn so much just by reading your arguments and debunking. Because of this, now my supernaturalist acquaintances seem so predictable to me and easy to debunk!
This is really incredible. A few years ago, before the internet, this was not possible to do... At least not as easily and conveniently done from one's couch!
Onyx8 wrote:Glad to have you aboard. Whereabout in Mexico are you? I have a daughter near Cabo, and an ex near Puerto Vallarta.
I am from México City (México D.F.). It's one of the biggest, most polluted and probably ugliest cities in the world.
Cabo is one of México's
last relatively safe places to live. Puerto Vallarta is Ok, I suppose. As long as they stay near the tourist areas, they should be safe and able to enjoy the beauty of those places. As for the rest of the country.... Well, these days no one should go anywhere near the states of Guerrero, Michoacán, Tamaulipas, Morelos, etc. I don't know if you've been following the news from this country, but they are not very encouraging. They are actually quite shocking and scary in so many ways
Nevertheless, I'd like to have a toast with you all to celebrate this place, knowledge and science. Let's have some
tequila shots!
And then a few more...