Discussion (27)¬

1. Laripu says:

   January 22, 2020 at 3:31 pm

   Until they start killing each other in the name of their respective truths.

2. Paul T Seed says:

   January 22, 2020 at 4:50 pm

   Those of you who think you know everything are extremely annoying to those of us who actually do.

3. Forteatwo says:

   January 22, 2020 at 5:06 pm

   There is a popular saying that today’s religion is tomorrows entertainment. Thank you author, for giving us a another tidbit of that tomorrow, today.

4. Pliny the in Between says:

   January 22, 2020 at 5:48 pm

   My new personal favorite.

5. Son of Glenner says:

   January 22, 2020 at 5:53 pm

   Brilliant!

6. Jesus F Iscariot says:

   January 22, 2020 at 6:19 pm

   Vilification in the West. Whipping and jailing and stoning and beheading in Mo’s home town. For a chuckle, go to Mecca for the Haj wearing a Mohamed cartoon T-shirt and send us a video of your reception.

7. Chiefy says:

   January 22, 2020 at 7:49 pm

   That last panel, though. Maintenance work is the source of all kinds of evil. One of your best works, Author.

8. Michael says:

   January 23, 2020 at 3:44 am

   “Religion is an insult to human dignity. Without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” –Steven Weinberg

9. Jerry Coyne says:

   January 23, 2020 at 4:32 am

   Awww. . . . you’re too kind. Awesome strip this week!

10. Darwin Harmless says:

    January 23, 2020 at 8:12 am

    There has to be something here appropriate for a T-shirt. Brilliant punchline as always, Author.
    Hey, we just bought an EV. Now I can feel good about driving again, if I just ignore the carbon footprint of making the thing.

11. M27Holts says:

    January 23, 2020 at 2:25 pm

    There was an argument on morning tv about whether plans to use polygraph tests on releasing terrorists was useful or not…I was suprised that any presenter with any brain would realise that voltair’s razor is enough to keep most terrorists in jail until they die….”Those who can be made to believe in absurdities can be made to.perform atrocities”….

12. Deimos says:

    January 23, 2020 at 2:28 pm

    Author – please do some t-shirts for spring time, I think many of your readers cheering up, I certainly do.
    They will need to be subtle and only obvious to J&M readers or those of similar bent.
    Mo will obviously need his sunglasses to avoid recognition.
    I already have far too many t-shirts but will happily make room for some J&M.

13. Walter says:

    January 23, 2020 at 6:33 pm

    In Reply to:Harmles Darwin

    And the fossile fuel burned to make the electricity to charge the batteries.
    (Unless you are making your own solar electricity, and then there is the
    environmental impact of making the photo cells. !

14. Son of Glenner says:

    January 23, 2020 at 6:59 pm

    DH: Enjoy your EV, but note comment by Walter! I know you live in Vancouver; I see you are now going to have some new (ex-Brit) neighbours across the water on Vancouver Island. I hope these immigrants do not cause you any trouble.

15. mpsi says:

    January 23, 2020 at 6:59 pm

    I’m not against science, but let’s not make claims that can’t be true. Science is unable to uncover the truth because the truth is unknowable. Check the black swan problem: I can’t say that no black swans exist after having seen only white swans all my life – there always is a possibility that there are some black swans somewhere, only I am unaware of that fact. All science can do is establishing provisional “truths” as accurately as possible. Claiming that it can find the truth makes a religion of it, and that’s something we would rather avoid, wouldn’t we?

16. M27Holts says:

    January 23, 2020 at 8:57 pm

    Deimos. I reckon a JezMo Tshirt in mancunia would get you stabbed or arrested for a hate crime…

17. Someone says:

    January 24, 2020 at 11:38 am

    Mpsi, not to be too literal but if you want to see a black swan, visit Australia. They’re commonplace, even more than white ones. Or just look them up online.
    Science can prove a probability, or disprove a myth. It is thanks to science that we know that the world isn’t flat, we are not the centre of the universe and vaccines aid rather than ail. Science is also, unlike religion, able to evolve and take new shapes when new evidence is presented and proven upon testing.
    The “unknowable” truth being dismissed as just that is a very narrow-minded point of view, and I find that blind, stubborn speculation of faith proves only that arrogance and ignorance go hand in hand. There is no benefit to submitting one’s self to faith without question, to assuming a truth must be true because there is no other way to prove it beyond arcane word of mouth spread by both the gullible and power-hungry alike. There is especially no benefit to doing so under fear of eternal punishment, incentivized by an ideal (speculative) paradise.
    To put it another way, I would sooner accept the widely observed fact that we all have one life to live, and live it to the best of my ability, than live one shackled in confusion and constraints in the hope that after I die nothing bad happens to me.

18. jb says:

    January 24, 2020 at 4:13 pm

    The great claim of Science is not that it delivers “truth,” but that it works! Airplanes actually fly. Antibiotics actually cure infections. Your GPS doesn’t drive you into a lake. If mystics could levitate, priests could heal by laying on hands, and witches could cast guidance spells, then I would take religion and the supernatural a whole lot more seriously.

19. helenahandbasket says:

    January 24, 2020 at 5:50 pm

    And a very warm welcome to Jerry Coyne, who very rarely ventures outside of his own Evolution is True homepage to comment

20. helenahandbasket says:

    January 24, 2020 at 5:57 pm

    Mpsi. As Indian Jones notes at the beginning of Last Crusade, archaeologists (who are type of scientist) are in the business of establishing facts. “If its truth you are interested in then Dr Tirees philosophy class is right down the hall”
    Facts are just things that have undergone sufficient testing that no reasonable person can doubt them. Note, not a majority, not someone with a hunch, and not “true in all possible worlds”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6he6yrUqm8

21. Jim Baerg says:

    January 24, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    Walter: re, Darwin Harmless’ possible EV
    IINM he lives in British Columbia where the electricity is all hydro power. Negligible CO2 emissions. Where there isn’t enough hydro geothermal etc. we should (be / have been) replacing coal with nuclear.
    See https://www.electricitymap.org/ & check what the green regions use for electricity generation.
    Also see:
    https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2020/01/german-nuclear-phase-out-boosted-emissions-by-5-and-caused-over-10000-deaths.html

22. M27Holts says:

    January 24, 2020 at 6:59 pm

    Mpsi. See. Bertrand Russell and his imaginary teapot….

23. Walter says:

    January 25, 2020 at 2:10 am

    Dams are not all that environmentally harmless. To generate power they withdraw water which allows vegetation to grow in the exposed area. When the dam refills this is submerged drowning the plants which are fermented by bacteria which release methane. TANSTAAFL!

    Sorry there is no magic solution to man’s pitiful plight; the only way out is despair.

24. Darwin Harmless says:

    January 25, 2020 at 7:34 am

    Walter, I’m well aware of the argument and agree that no technology is totally benign. Even fusion, should we ever achieve it, will cause heat pollution.

    We bought an EV for a lot of reasons, with saving the earth way down on the list. There is no question that hydro is better than fossil fuels. But beyond that, the simplicity of an EV beats the crap out of an ICE vehicle. It’s downright elegant. No pistons, no cam shaft, no valves, no lifter, no tapits, no cylinders and cylinder rings… the list goes on and on. Beyond that, the performance is incredible. Acceleration that pins you to the seat. Great handling. just fun to drive.
    I’m well aware that the best thing I could have done for the environment would have been to keep our beloved gas guzzling van on the road until we couldn’t any more. The decision was mostly economic.
    Our van, which I loved and deeply grieve scrapping, had 226,000 klicks on it. I intended to drive it to 300k and beyond, but it was starting to nickel and dime us to death. It broke a front strut last week and we were facing a $1500 repair bill on a vehicle with a $1000 trade in value. The feds offer a $5000 subsidy on an EV and the Province offers $3000, plus the province offers $6000 if you take an ICE vehicle off the road, which means crushing it. These are limited time offers, and may not be renewed as the money gets claimed. We did not make this decision lightly, and it was a close call.
    I woke up this morning with a lot of buyer’s remorse. I really loved my Toyota Sienna van. It was the best vehicle I ever owned. We used it like a truck, and just last week brought home 5 4X8 sheets of heavy OSB plus 3 sheets of drywall. Inside the van, not on the roof rack!!! It was an incredible traveling machine, with great highway power for passing and a true joy to drive. We drove it to Minneapolis once, and recently to my son’s wedding when we slept on a futon in the back because the local motel was booked up. I really miss it. But it’s gone and I’m okay with that. Time passes and things change. Sigh.

25. Troubleshooter says:

    January 28, 2020 at 3:36 pm

    Maintenance work … right … like jaw-boning everyone within range of your voice into “BELIEVE OR DIE!” Sorry, fellas, not having any.

26. Troubleshooter says:

    January 28, 2020 at 3:42 pm

    And as it comes to tools and technology:

    A sword may strike friend or foe; the difference depends on the one wielding it.
    — me

27. samhuff says:

    October 23, 2020 at 10:05 pm

    IRT: DarwinHarmless

    Seems like a well reasoned argument for the electric car, in your case.