gsk

Oh my! That was harsh and cleverly concealed too! My observation was lost in translation. I have nothing against Africa. I read Achebe and consider Things Fall Apart to be one of the best books I have read along with Hundred Years of Solitude.

Yes, If I may: in countries like Africa, dogs are usually on their own (even if they are nominally someone's pet) and quite often get run over on the road. They are left there to rot before someone buries them or throws them over to rot elsewhere without affecting traffic or roadside business. It is undignified for dogs, especially so for humans.

"This is, I recognise, a romantic view of dying, but it is achievable with love, morphine, and whisky."

Oh, tell that to a 7 year old who has terminal cancer. What an amazingly blinkered view this guy has!

They are talking about helping blind people and you are talking about terrible scrolling and closing the website?

What's bus factor?

I assume it was unintentional. Your last paragraph appears rather opaque to my tired mind.

This is very well said. Thank you for posting.

Of course, it's quite important that you are not made to spit on your keyboard. Shame on Bill Gates.

>Bacteria don't desire anything, and they don't seek out anything or plan anything.

When you say this, aren't you are making precisely the same mistake you claim the expert was making?! I am sure Dr Arjun knows very well that evolutionary goals are local and specific to the circumstance a creature finds itself in.

>The intelligence that the hominid lineage has evolved gives human beings advantages that bacteria will never possess.

:-) how anthropomorphic! Intelligence may not be a survival trait as you seem to assume. We simply don't know that. Btw, bacteria has been a lot longer on this planet than primates. We are way out of our depth when it comes to understanding how they work (I am simply paraphrasing a friend's statement, he is doing fundamental research on biochemical pathways)