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Month: September 2016
What is your favorite passage from the ‘Gnostic’ gospels?
Gospel of Thomas for me as well: Parable of the assassin: The kingdom of the father is like a certain man who wanted to kill a powerful man. In his own house he drew his sword and stuck it into the wall in order to find out whether his hand could carry through. Then he […]
What are the cultural differences between different countries’ versions of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette?
Why yes, I do watch The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. Why do you ask? … Yes I am male and straight. Where are you going with this? Only the Australian versions though. I find the US originals boring. Hence me asking the question. A few things that stand out for me with the Australian versions, […]
(Australia) Hypothetically, Would having an Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander Prime Minister make any noticeable changes to Australia?
Adam Giles: Adam Graham Giles (born 10 April 1973) is an Australian politician and former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (2013-2016) as well as the former leader of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) in the unicameral Northern Territory Parliament. Giles was the first head of government in Australia to have Indigenous Australian ancestry. Royal […]
Is the abolition of Games by Christian Emperors proof that the naked body was not associated any more with divine beauty?
I don’t know the answer, OP. But the attitude of Christianity towards eroticism is indeed on the ascetic side, and has been since St Paul, and arguably Jesus himself (if you look on someone with lust, poke your eye out). The attitude towards the naked body would follow suit; and of course the Games were […]
Can the wonderful people of Quora upload a picture or two of themselves?
I am a wonderful person of Quora. I see three or four people I know on this thread. The network graph must expand! Me 10 years ago, with my sister: Me as Dr Nick, 7 years ago (at my future best man’s graduation): With my then girlfriend, 4 years ago: Close to two years ago: […]
Julia Gillard has become much hated (perhaps unfairly) in Australia. Has she discredited the idea of a female Prime Minister of Australia?
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/dazed-gillard-gang-leads-with-its-chin-20110515-1eo7n.html#ixzz1MSMzKRF1 Tough question. Gillard herself, in her farewell speech, displayed a salutary self-awareness when she said: I do want to say the reaction to being the first female prime minister does not explain everything about my time in the prime ministership, nor does it explain nothing about my prime ministership. There was sexist venom around […]
Why do we romanticise last words?
Once more, I’m going to cite the renowned Greek humorist Nikos Tsiforos. It worked for me quite well with Nick Nicholas’ answer to What do Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland think of each other? Ελληνική Μυθολογία του Νίκου Τσιφόρου (Μέρος 1) Once upon a time, there was a guy called Goethe. A German and a […]
Would you take a DNA test to see your origins?
https://youtu.be/tyaEQEmt5ls Some fascinating answers here. For me, no, and that’s about different attitudes to ethnicity and history. My no is for the same reason as User’s (answer stupidly collapsed by mods) or Feifei Wang’s. My skepticism about the methodologies in pop DNA tests is the same as Madelene Zarifa’s, my skepticism about the utility the […]
What are the greatest expressions, phrasal verbs or quotes from other languages you know (not your mother tongue)?
The best saying of Ancient Greek ever comes from the very end of Ancient Greek. When Julian (emperor), last Roman advocate of paganism, was asked what he thought of Christianity, he said: ἀνέγνων. ἔγνων. κατέγνων. It’s a truly magnificent pun. Literally, it means: I up-knew, I knew, I down-knew. “To up-know” is the Greek for […]
Does Knowledge require denotation?
An interesting question, Anon. Denotation means many related things, in different disciplines, and in all of them, I believe the answer is no. Denotation is a not a sufficient prerequisite for knowledge. Going through Denotation: In linguistics and semiotics, knowing the denotation/sense of a word is knowing only a narrow subset of its meaning: you […]