As much as I dislike metaphors, this sounded reasonable to me. Just don't go poking holes in the metaphor instead of the real argument.

Indeed, poking holes in the metaphor is like putting a pin in a balloon, rather than knocking it out of the park by addressing the real argument.

If intelligence is a measure of problem solving, then politeness should not affect outcomes one way or the other.

But how do you measure intelligence or problem solving without language? It seems like an unavoidable and non-trivial parameter.

If software allows changing install location, it should work from everywhere. And there's no excuse for hardcoding Program Files anymore with multiple package managers on windows.

I feel your pain as a developer but as a user, sometimes I need the choice. Try to hide it so non-techies people can click Next Next Next but put it in advanced options somewhere.

  If software allows changing install location, it should work from everywhere

So, we're saying the same thing, what you said is the Contraposition of what I am saying, they are equivalent

This is why we need to teach critical thinking o everyone. Not to help those people but to stop them from harming us by making stupid decisions.

Everybody used to believe in gods, some people still do, the predisposition to beliefs in illusory protective father figures is still present in our genomes.

Uhh, there is no used to (past tense). Its important to have a faith-based belief system you can fall back on when you are subjected to torture.

I'm with the greeks on this, which is what they try to communicate in and through their stories.

TL;DR

The gods exist, they walk among us, they are powerful, they look just like humans, they are intelligent cruel deceptive and capricious. They are not there for your benefit.

You survive your encounters with them by being observant and measured, and follow a framework based in objective reality which could be intelligence and a fair bit of luck; or you don't.

Not all religions have all powerful protective father figures that will shield you from everything stunting and coddling you. Most in fact don't if you pay attention.

This gem is littered throughout greek mythology especially heavily in the Odyssey.

Sexual orientation cannot be changed as far as science knows.

I was thinking about cognitive therapy to decrease the likelihood they would harm people as a result of the proclivities they cannot change. Some people have a natural urge to murder people all the time, if they learn to control it there is no reason they cannot contribute to society.

There's a program in Germany related to this, called Kein Täter Werden (to not become an abuser / don't become an absuer). I think it's controversial because the therapy is confidential, even if the participants have committed abuse.

Honest but hard question: do you believe evolution applies to humans.

I am worried what happens when those people who would otherwise be in prison instead have children and those children don't get this kind of therapy.

Do we have any evidence that sexual preference is genetic? My understanding was that it was primarily based on hormone levels during pregnancy, kind of like handedness. Some amount pf experience also certainly plays a factor when it comes to abusive behavior, people can turn people into abusers via abuse.

Any software mandated by the government should be required to be open source to diminish the incentives for big spyware firms lobbying for their product.