Lacessit

IMO I will not be able to discriminate between the two, except perhaps on patterns of discursiveness and brevity. I can't see humans entrusting themselves to AI tools, such as driverless cars. Any more than I trust much of the information vouchsafed to me by politicians.

My GF is a happy soul, very few grizzles from her. Like many northern Thais, she thinks Prayut, the junta, and the police are all criminals.

Good question. IMO being across a number of fields helps. Most of my work was in the steel industry. However, I did find my previous experience in fields as diverse as detergents, polymers and glass gave me a considerable edge over fellow scientists who had worked solely in the steel industry, in narrow specialties. IIRC it was Edison who said genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.

One of these days, you may realize the most important things in life are time, and good health. Money is secondary.

Yes. I don't need pats on the back.

Not in the way you are.

If you can make the airline mileage etc work for you, fine. I simply can't be bothered, and prefer the mindset of knowing I don't owe anybody else on this planet anything. There's no such thing as a free lunch, someone pays for your rewards.

So do I. My GF gives me what I want, I give her what she wants. The love part is a bonus. It's in her interest to keep me alive for as long as possible. If I am an ATM, please explain why I still have 70% of my assets in Australia, and untouchable by anyone but me. Maybe you'll get to more than one-night stands with sex workers, but I doubt it.

I suggest you watch the film "The Flim-Flam Man" starring George C Scott. From your posts, IMO you will die alone. I won't.

Rationalize your actions any way you please. There's a saying among grifters, you can't cheat an honest man. I can't say I have never been cheated, I can say I have learned enough not to let it happen again. You are quite right, it is a hustler's world. I choose to stay away from infantile payback, life's too short. I'm to blame for you being hassled by hustlers? How does that logic work?

I dispute this proposition, on the basis of personal experience. IMO scientific breakthroughs are made by individuals, not committees. The seminal thought or idea that forms the basis of a big project, if one looks closely enough, almost always comes from a single creative person. Said person may be part of a scientific group, drawing on their assembled information. The group gets the credit, sometimes the person with the flash of insight does not. During my working life, I had about a dozen insights. Some were published, others were kept inside the organization either because they gave a competitive advantage, or were embarrassing. I called them my eureka moments. I certainly was not in an armchair, more often at a laboratory bench.

I have no idea if I have a credit score, and don't care. The last time I had a credit card was back in the seventies of the previous century. An Amex card, which I soon realized I did not need, and cost money to maintain. I pay with cash or a debit card. My father taught me to avoid debt like the plague.

I am not aware of the individual name. I am aware there were leading scientists who were Muslims a thousand years ago, and more. What surprises me is the fact that, in modern times, there seems to be no scientists of note among Muslims. Given there are about 1.4 billion followers of Islam, I have to wonder why.

Just as well so many of you leave the UK, then. Otherwise, you'd have nobody to talk to.

Some of us prefer to stay out of the narcissist haven. With responses like that, I'm surprised all nationalities are not ignoring you, let alone just Brits.

Guilt and sin are the coercive instruments religions use to cement their claims to a higher morality. If you can explain to me how a new-born babe has a "fallen nature", I'm all ears.

There's some law that says I have to be the same age as my GF? A pathetic attempt at trolling.

Let's be clear, I am not defending the hustlers who are trying to scam you. I am questioning your copying of them. To the detriment of other expats who are not dishonest. When you scam someone, do you have a divining rod or crystal ball that tells you whether they are a hustler, or an honest person? Or do you opine every Thai here is a scammer, so it's open season on all of them? Maybe your actions will have consequences, maybe not. You obviously did not understand what I meant by turf encroachment. I have no interest in wasting my time explaining any further. Have a nice life cheating other people - while it lasts.

You obviously don't read the Murdoch press in Australia when elections roll around, please point me to when they have ever failed to support the Liberal-National coalition in the editorials.

One can argue there are both religious people and atheists who do evil, as well as good. Socialism does have values of fairness and equality, although those are perverted by some leaders. Australia has had a number of socialist governments, which historically have been much more progressive and kind than the conservative ones. It always amuses me when Americans start frothing at the mouth at the mere mention of socialism, as if it is evil incarnate. They are blissfully unaware one of the pillars of their society possesses many socialist features. It's called the US military.

In my only experience with a publishing company, I found myself correcting the spelling mistakes proofreaders had inserted into my original text. IME programmers are equally capable of making mistakes, therefore I have no interest in the systems you espouse.

What I am saying is one can develop moral and ethical values without the involvement of religion. You seem reluctant to accept that point of view. There are plenty of people who lead law-abiding and moral lives without ever setting foot in a church, synagogue, mosque, or temple. They may have done it as part of the brainwashing many children are subject to. My assessment of the Australian PM is based on the outcome of a Royal Commission. Multiple individuals have been referred under seal to various government bodies for civil and criminal proceedings. Based on the remarks of the Commissioner, there is little doubt the former PM will be among them. https://theconversation.com/robodebt-royal-commissioner-makes-multiple-referrals-for-prosecution-condemning-scheme-as-crude-and-cruel-209318 The question of abortion is a thorny one. The Roman Catholic Church regards it as a mortal sin, I understand abortion is permitted under Muslim law up until a certain number of weeks after conception. As a male, I don't presume to tell a woman what she should do with her body. Bringing a child into the world with no hope of quality of life IMO is not rational.

Give most of it to family and friends, I have everything I need. I would fly business class, that's it.

I hypothesize Muslims are so busy steeping themselves in religious dogma, so they can go on pilgrimage to Mecca, that there's not much room for other forms of learning.

In Australia, we got Robodebt. The Prime Minister of Australia was the architect of that scheme, which caused several people to commit suicide. It was basically war upon the poor. Said Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, is a devout Pentacostal Christion. In Afghanistan, explain to me how prohibiting the education of women enhances any of the values you mention. You are laboring under the delusion humility, compassion, kindness, honesty and the importance of truth are the exclusive preserve of religions. They are not, and there is ample evidence of that being the case. You want truth? Celibacy in priests has nothing to do with enhanced holiness or moral authority. It was formulated by the Catholic Church to protect church property from inheritance claims. Any psychiatrist will tell you when natural human sex drives are suppressed, it is statistically inevitable a proportion of persons under interdict will develop perversions. There are quite a few examples before the courts, of senior church officials who covered up for priests who were sex offenders, by shifting them between parishes. In Russia, the Orthodox Church supports the genocide of Ukrainians. How do you reconcile that with religious values?