Primary sources? No, but there are independent secondary sources by people with no skin in the game.

Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus (circa 93–94 CE).

Annals by Tacitus (circa 116 CE)

The earliest Christian writings are also more about the teachings of a disruptive Jewish preacher who was then crucified, than they are about magic.

Let’s not do the ‘every Christian’ thing. It’s worth remembering the US has a very ‘unique’ type of Christian.

This. There is evidence that a preacher called Jesus existed, was crucified, and was well-regarded enough to start a following that persisted even after his death.

There isn’t, however, strong historical evidence for any of the magical parts of it.

Is that actually true? I suspect not.

Most people start “enjoying their own company” years before getting to try for real.

If there was a question of insensitivity, then surely problems would be much more prevalent at ages when people are enjoying themselves more frequently. But it’s not the case at all.

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Fact 1 - sexually active people subconsciously look at peoples’ crotches when meeting them.

Fact 2 - evolution doesn’t fine tune things if they’re good enough to get the job done well.

So the fact that pubic hairs are unsightly crazy-looking things might not be because they are fine tuned to be like that - it might just be because they do their job well enough and they just ended up looking like that.

What job could that be?

To confirm visually that you are sexually mature.

That may literally be it - a localised fuzzy indicator of whether or not you’re able to make babies.

I’m not trying to downplay the reality of serious health concerns sometimes being behind food habits, but I think I need to say…

Picky eating is an absolutely normal part of child development. Anecdotally, both of my kids went through two distinct phases of picky eating, at around 3-5 and 8-11.

They gradually grow out of it. All you can do is try to make sure what they are eating is nutritious enough while they are going through it.

Dry cereal always worked (still does!) as a nutritious snack. Granted, the nutrition has all been sprayed on, but it’s still there.

A little mixed tub of Cornflakes/Branflakes/Rice Crispies/Coco Pops always goes down well.

Nerf Herder have a song called Courtney about Courtney Love.

I always wanted a Nokia - I know it was a cliche, but I was amazed at how indestructible they were. Even when they did actually break apart, you could just pick up the bits, clip them back together, and it would just work again - with no visible damage.

Also, SNAKE

I started university in 1999. Pretty much everyone had a mobile phone there. They were fairly new, granted, but they were pretty ubiquitous.

I know it doesn’t help, but Europeans have always been amazed how much you guys were charged for SMS. Even in 1999, over here messages cost a fraction of what you were charged - that you pay for them at all these days is just mind-boggling.

I think it depends on the convention used in each country, so there isn’t one global correct answer.

In Britain the convention is Ground, 1st Floor, 2nd Floor.

I guess the USA famously uses rendition flights and offshore detention centres, so maybe the plot twist is the other ‘US’ is actually the USA?

Just wanted to add another agreement here. It’s like milk at the bottom of a bowl of children’s cereal (er, obviously not Coco Pops).

I’m surprised that there’s a few people saying it tastes salty. I wonder how much it depends on diet - I guess human diets vary more than cow diets do.

Maybe I am being obtuse - but I really don’t see what it is you think you’ve had taken from you.

The conversation, the exchange of information, is intangible and transient by its very nature. You don’t own the conversation. There’s nothing about it to own.

If you think there’s some obligation on the part of the moderator to preserve the transcripts of conversations that you’ve taken part in, even against their own better judgement, then I’m sorry but I don’t see it.

But anyway, like I said - if you set up your own instance, you can keep those threads open for as long as you like.

But they’re not taken from you - they still happened.

No actual harm has happened. Nothing changes the fact that you had a conversation. You are no poorer for it being hidden.

I know it’s said a lot, but if you don’t want to play by someone else’s rules, you can set up your own instance. Every single thing on here is the result of someone just setting up their own instance. Honestly, it’s never been easier than it is now.

Hey, as a former lecturer, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and see this as research.

How would this sudden mass unemployment affect the world? One angle to look at this from is the point of view of the average person.

If people’s needs are still met, then they’ll be able to live happy and fulfilled lives, with more time for happiness and leisure.

If people’s needs are not met, however, they’ll suffer.

It’s probably worth keeping in mind that history has shown that whenever big advances in technology have taken place (the Industrial Revolution, industrial automation, computers) there are people who always jump to the worst possible conclusion. The reality is always that some people are worse off, but most people are better off.

Also, at the time, in the west, Al Qaida were a largely unknown terrorist cell operating in far-away third-world countries. It seemed incredible that such a devastating attack could be carried out on US soil by a small group most people had never heard of.

You could find solace in hard determinism.

This was always going to be the way it happened.

Your actions were determined by your biology and life experience up to that point. Likewise, the other person acted how they did according to their biology and experience.

The gears of the universe turned in the only way they were going to turn, and the outcome you got was the only one that was ever going to happen.

It doesn’t mean that you can’t now act upon it moving forward, but hopefully there’s some calm to be had in knowing that what has already happened was always going to happen. It’s just a tiny artifact of the vast and intricate clockwork of the universe.