[Back to Healthcare]

Introduction

On 16 October 2024, the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater presented a Private Members’ Bill to Parliament, the "Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-25".  The long title states it will “allow adults who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided with assistance to end their own life”.  The text of the bill was…

[Back to Christianity]

Introduction

I talk with a lot of people, and - possibly as a consequence - I am asked this question on a fairly regular basis: why don't people join the church?  On the basis of no formal research whatsoever, but simply looking back at conversations over the past decade or two, it seems to me that there are three main reasons, all relating to massive cultural changes…

[Back to Religion and Spirituality]

When talking about a religion or belief system, please be particularly careful to ensure that any comments are fair and helpful.

There is a common assumption in many Western countries that if you are religious, then you 'believe in God', and that your choice of religion…

[Back to Social Challenges]

Introduction

This is just a placeholder: a proper article is required here.

But one quick point about the UK National Health Service (NHS): almost everybody agrees that it is in need of radical reform, so let's start to spell out what that reform might look like.

For a start, we need to change the primary aim.  The NHS currently aims to deliver…

[Back to Improving Ourselves]

Introduction

Even more than most pages on this site, this is not intended as the 'last word' on the subject.  But we do need somewhere to record the most important principles we have learned, to help people make better choices in their lives.

Enjoy, Don't Postpone

Enjoy the ride: take joy in the here and now, don't wait until you have…

[Back to Improving Ourselves]

Introduction

This is just a stub, a short placeholder piece as a reminder that something more detailed is needed.

Most people recognize honesty as a virtue, but there are several different forms of honesty, each with their own challenges.  Most obviously, there is honesty about the external world - "I stole the tarts."  But there is also honesty…

[Back to Spiritual Challenges]

This is the place for contributions about religion and spirituality in general, as opposed to any specific religion or spiritual tradition.

• Spirituality
• Religion…

 [Back to Social Challenges: Politics]

Introduction

The term ‘democracy’ appeared in the 5th century BC, in the Greek city-states, most notably in Athens.  ‘Democracy’ referred to a ‘rule of the people’ (δημοκρατία: dēmokratía – dēmos means ‘people’ and kratos means ‘rule’) as opposed to the traditional system of aristocracy, or ‘rule of an elite’ (ἀριστοκρατία: aristokratía –…

[Back to Searching for Truth]

Introduction

Andy Pettman recently wrote an article entitled, "Two sorts of knowledge" and I think he is half right, or maybe two-thirds.  He says:

In English, the word “know” can be used for both a fact and a person.  You can know that the Battle of Hastings was in…

[Back to Computing and IT]

Introduction

Artificial Intelligence is not intelligent, but it is changing the world.  It certainly poses a risk to some - perhaps many - jobs, but does it pose a risk to the human race, as some have claimed?

One of the significant risks is that AI models need to be trained on large amounts of data - so they will reliably reproduce any bias and injustice which…