Burn stuff
1 million years ago?
Nobody knows when our ancestors learned to control fire. The oldest direct evidence comes from Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa, which contains ashes and burned bones from 1 million years ago. But there is evidence hominins were processing food even earlier, and that might have included cooking with fire.
See other: What Makes Humans Human?
Don: Well, Dick, this is it. The tank.
Dick: Oh. Oh, look at them, their deep-set eyes darting with evil brilliance. What’d they do, Don?
Don: Well, that one’s a loiterer, and that guy was screaming at a fire hydrant.
Dick: You, fresh meat, what are you in for?
Inmate: Up yours!
Don: Don’t rile ’em up. They’re bad news.
Dick: Oh, this place is so creepy, Don. I knew jails had bars, but I didn’t know they were so confining.
Don: That’s kind of the idea.
[…]
Don: So, if he can’t pay his fine, he just – well, he’ll just sit there for a few days and think about what he’s done.
Dick: And that’ll teach him that jail is a dirty, horrible place, and he’ll never want to return?
Don: Exactly. In fact, this is the fifth time he’s learned that very lesson.
Dick: The fifth time? Why does he keep coming back?
Don: Ah, it’s just the way they are.
Dick: Then what’s the point of this place? It’s just a revolving door, a hopeless hotel whose residents check in and out between crimes. And you, Don, you’re nothing more than a bellhop with a badge.
Don: I am not.
Inmate: Hey, can I get a clean towel and a Wall Street Journal?
Don: Will you shut up in there! Now, listen here, Dick, this system is the only way we’ve got to teach these guys a lesson.
Dick: What about giving them a little guidance?
Don: Uh, we don’t do that here.
Dick: Well, maybe you should. Unlike you, I happen to have faith in the human race. I can take any one of these men, rehabilitate him, and make him a productive member of society.
Don: You’re mad, Solomon.
Dick: Am I? Come on, you, you’re coming home with me.
Don: What are you doing?
Dick: I’m going to pay his fine and make him whole again. As god is my witness, nothing will deter me from saving this man.
Don: Ok. His fine is $1,500.
Dick: Ooh. How much for the skinny one?
Don: Uh, 750.
Dick: And the short hair in the corner?
Don: Eddie? 100 bucks.
Dick: Wrap him up. I’ll take him.
– Bonnie Turner, Terry Turner: 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996-2001)
‘You believe that Christianity is an unrivaled source of human goodness. You believe that Jesus taught the virtues of love, compassion, and selflessness better than any teacher who has ever lived. You believe that the Bible is the most profound book ever written and that its contents have stood the test of time so well that it must have been divinely inspired. All of these beliefs are false.
Questions of morality are questions about happiness and suffering. This is why you and I do not have moral obligations toward rocks. To the degree that our actions can affect the experience of other creatures positively or negatively, questions of morality apply. The idea that the Bible is a perfect guide to morality is simply astounding, given the contents of the book.
Admittedly, God’s counsel to parents is straightforward: whenever children get out of line, we should beat them with a rod (Proverbs 13:24,20:30, and 23:13-14). If they are shameless enough to talk back to us, we should kill them (Exodus 21:15, Leviticus 20:9, Deuteronomy 21:18-21, Mark 7:9-13, and Matthew 15:4-7). We must also stone people to death for heresy, adultery, homosexuality, working on the Sabbath, worshipping graven images, practicing sorcery, and a wide variety of other imaginary crimes.’
– Harris. S. 2006. Letter To A Christian Nation p. 5
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