GammaGlobulin

This topic is NOT about religion. This topic is about SCIENCE, and the SCIENTIFIC METHOD, and also about super-smart people who demand evidence before forming opinions, and about Feynman. How did you like the Feynman video, by the way?

As for Einstein: When he uttered, "God does not play dice with the universe.", he was NOT speaking of GOD in the "literal sense", and ALL scientists realize this. "One of Albert Einstein's most famous quotes is, "God does not play dice with the universe." But there are two huge errors in the way many people have interpreted this quote over the years. People have wrongly assumed Einstein was religious, believed in destiny, or that he completely rejected a core theory in physics. First, Einstein wasn't referring to a personal god in the quote. He was using "God" as a metaphor." (https://www.businessinsider.com/god-does-not-play-dice-quote-meaning-2015-11) It's just INCREDIBLE how NAIVE some people (so many people) can be!!!!

Your statement is COMPLETELY FALSE!!!!!! Bohr was a complete atheist! "Bohr enjoyed Kierkegaard's language and literary style, but mentioned that he had some disagreement with Kierkegaard's philosophy.[87] Some of Bohr's biographers suggested that this disagreement stemmed from Kierkegaard's advocacy of Christianity, while Bohr was an atheist." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niels_Bohr#:~:text=Bohr enjoyed Kierkegaard's language and,while Bohr was an atheist.)

I stated: 'As everybody knows, there is still great stigma attached the word "atheist"' Do you disagree with my statement? I do not see how you can. There is stigma attached to self-identifying as an atheist. Everybody knows this.

This is sometimes true, and religiosity in China during the past years, since 1949, is just one example of what you suggest.

I am suggesting NOTHING, REPEAT NOTHING, of the kind. There are PLENTY of dumb atheists, one can reasonably assume.

By "people", do you mean "super-smart" people and/or scientists? Because we are not talking about religion, belief in god, and the opium of the masses.

Please feel free to present your EVIDENCE for your statement in your next comment. Thank you!

This topic is really NOT about the general population, as should have been CRYSTAL clear from the Topic Heading: "Why IS It That Super-Smart People, Almost INVARIABLY, Turn Out to Be Atheists?"

Please clarify what you mean by "physical", because otherwise your question is impossible to address.

This OLD DEBATE about there being any SIGNIFICANT difference between an agnostic and an atheist is already just pointless. As everybody knows, there is still great stigma attached the word "atheist", and therefore it is just a matter of convenience for some to admit to being an agnostic when, actually, they DO NOT BELIEVE in a god, or gods... But of course, we know their true position.

Well, PLEASE do not tell me that you are agnostic about the TEAPOT, too! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell's_teapot

Do you admit that Entropy exists? If so, then science tells us that NOTHING can be eternal.... And, although it's off-topic... I do NOT believe in evil as you seem to use the term.

Well, I guess most guys on this forum are old enough to clearly recall this great article published in the journal, Nature, in 1998: "Sir The question of religious belief among US scientists has been debated since early in the century. Our latest survey finds that, among the top natural scientists, disbelief is greater than ever — almost total." You can find all the above in the Nature article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/28478 And, My Fellows... This article is 25 years OLD! Obviously, the trends are going in just one direction, as you can plainly see. These days, among scientists, it's about 99% agnostic/atheist, if I am not mistaken. I will post the corroborating newer article as soon as I find it.

Where??? Someplace down south, maybe? 55555

Are you saying that belief in that for which there is no evidence is "super-smart"? And then, what about the Teapot? Belief in teapots in space is "super-smart"?

It is my opinion that any scientist who truly believes there is a god is ipso facto NOT a scientist, but something else. And that, furthermore, that "something else" is a stain upon the very name of Science!

"Fellows of the Royal Society of London were invited to participate in a survey of attitudes toward religion. They were asked about their beliefs in a personal God, the existence of a supernatural entity, consciousness surviving death, and whether religion and science occupy non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA). Overwhelmingly the majority of Fellows affirmed strong opposition to the belief in a personal god, to the existence of a supernatural entity and to survival of death. On 'NOMA’, the majority of Fellows indicated neither a strong disagreement nor strong agreement. We also found that while (surprisingly) childhood religious upbringing and age were not significantly related to current attitudes toward religion, scientific discipline played a small but significant influence: biological scientists are even less likely to be religious than physical scientists and were more likely to perceive conflict between science and religion." All the above is taken from: https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1936-6434-6-33#:~:text=Interestingly%2C this difference is far,in God or higher power.

Why (Almost All) Cosmologists are Atheists Sean M. Carroll, California Institute of Technology https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/writings/nd-paper/ "Given what we know about the universe, there seems to be no reason to invoke God as part of this description. In the various ways in which God might have been judged to be a helpful hypothesis — such as explaining the initial conditions for the universe, or the particular set of fields and couplings discovered by particle physics — there are alternative explanations which do not require anything outside a completely formal, materialist description. I am therefore led to conclude that adding God would just make things more complicated, and this hypothesis should be rejected by scientific standards. It’s a venerable conclusion, brought up to date by modern cosmology; but the dialogue between people who feel differently will undoubtedly last a good while longer."

Feynman on....THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD!

My Dear Fellows, Here is a rare opportunity for you to watch an informal discussion with the Late GREAT Richard Feynman. I have watched his lectures on UTUBE, and Feynman was not only a great theoretical physicist, but he was also a glorious human, too, one who knew how to teach like no other. I would be somewhat taken aback if you had never heard of Richard before this moment, but just in case you have been hiding under a rock, please refer to this short Wikipedia blurb: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman And, now that you know who he is, you will find this UTUBE video highly enjoyable and intellectually stimulating. I was so happy when I found this video on UTUBE, just this evening. It is a well known fact that ALL scientists are atheists; they just dislike publicly admitting the fact. Keep in mind that Feynman was a very happy guy who even enjoyed playing the bongos, I am told. So, what are your thoughts about Feynman’s point of view? And, how do we KNOW that true scientists are…INVARIABLY…..ATHEISTS? Best regards, And always thinking of you all….. Ablooming Gull

I will try the brands you suggest, while keeping in mind that, according to the King Arthur bread-machine site I linked, I should use "instant yeast" for bread-machine baking.

Reading what others have written about the Swan brand of flour, it seems that this brand is still as good as it ever was...which is QUITE GOOD, and it is offered at a good price, as well. I have used this brand, exclusively, for 10 years, and have always been pleased with the results. Here is the link to the Swan Bread Flour product, and here you can see that the gluten content is very good for bread baking: 13.5% to 14.5% https://ufm.co.th/product/แป้งหงส์ขาว-สำหรับทำขนม/ As to where the wheat is sourced, I don't think this information is listed. Just how much (or if) the price of Swan flour has been affected by the problem in Ukraine is also not stated. However, "even in the 2022-23 season — the first full year under Russia's invasion — Ukraine has held as the sixth-largest wheat shipper and third for corn. As the season came to a close at the end of June, Ukraine's grain exports were more than 48 million tons , about steady with the 2021-22 season."(https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-19/what-end-of-ukraine-grain-export-deal-means-for-the-world#xj4y7vzkg) All that I do know is that I once purchased 1 Kg of Swan for Bt35 during a period of at least five years, and up until about February of this year. And then, last time I purchased 20Kgs of Swan, the price rose to Bt42 per Kg. (I am not that price sensitive, and I do not care about a 7 baht increase per Kg.) After reading the helpful comments here, it seems that the bread-machine's recipe is calling for what has been referred to in a comment above as a "TON of sugar", and this seems to be the culprit. Interestingly as well, some here have stated that adding sugar to the recipe is just not necessary when baking bread using a conventional oven. But is this true when using a bread machine? Apparently, yes, it is true, as I found when referring to this website's discussion of bread-machine baking and sugar: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/guides/bread-machines#:~:text=Although yeast makes its own,'t brown as well). King Arthur states: "If you need to avoid sugar, just leave it out; your bread will be just fine, although you may find it doesn’t brown as well." Well, I will see tomorrow when I try again, but this time with ZERO sugar added to the recipe. But then, why does this recipe call for a TON of sugar? My only thinking is that this bread machine was made in China. And, I wonder if this recipe might be more suited to places in China (especially Taiwan) where people prefer bread which tastes like cheap cake. If you have ever been to Taiwan, then you know. The bread there is almost inedible if you are used to the taste of bread in some western countries. I still have a full uncut 1.5Kg loaf of bread that I baked this afternoon. I will NOT eat it myself because it is really that disagreeable. It's for the birds, in my opinion. And, therefore, I now have 1.5Kgs of bread which I will feed to my bird friends here, especially the Thai Myna birds, but not the pigeons. As for the "low sugar yeast", I might search for that, too, if it's easily available where I live, and if necessary. And, I will try the other suggestions made here for brands of yeast. I am sure that what I have read is true that bread flavor can be easily altered by choice of yeast, and hopefully enhanced in my case. Thank you for the advice!

a. Actually, as you can see from the attached "basic bread" recipe that came with the machine, it calls for only 1 Tsp of yeast (for a 1.5 Kg loaf)...However, as I posted in the OP, I decided to use 2.5 Tsp, since the old machine's recipe called for 2 Tsp of yeast for a 1 Kg loaf. I did this because I thought that I was using the wrong type of yeast, actually. b. I will certainly try your recipe when I am able to by the spelt and also the whole-wheat flour. I don't care what happens, anyway, and success will depend on the timing and the temperature of the machine. c. If the machine fails, then I will try your recipe in my convection oven. d. I am VERY interested to know what kind of, and what brand of, yeast you are using for this. (This is the question that ALWAYS puzzles me. The packaging of yeast here in Thailand is not always crystal clear! NEW BREAD MACHINE_13 recipes.pdf

Thank you....! Any suggestion about brand of yeast? (Also, for those who are not using a "bread machine", there are probably a thousand proven recipes for bread on the internet. However, since I happen to be using this particular bread machine...I had been under the impression that I should use one of the recommended recipes that came with the machine.) Note: While I do not have a true baking oven, similar to what is installed in most kitchens in the US, I do happen to have the largest Electrolux convection oven sold here in Thailand, which might be adequate for baking bread dough produced in the bread machine.. And then, I could use your suggestion of using no sugar, and 'low-sugar yeast'.