Answers to Questions

My own brief, mostly off the top of the head, answers to a few recent questions at Quora:

What is the origin of "make it from scratch"?
I answered:

The term ‘from scratch’ is thought to have originated from the line scratched into the ground to mark the start of a race, or where contestants’ feet must be placed before a bout of fisticuffs. The term evolved into meaning ‘from the very beginning’, or ‘from the raw materials’, rather than something made, aided by use of easy-mix helper ingredients.

A favourite quote of mine from Carl Sagan:

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

Why do a lot of women believe in astrology signs? Don't they know it isn't true?
I answered:

Exactly what is the point in submitting a question like this to Quora? Is it to try to show off your own supposed superior intellect, as a man?

If so : Why do men spend so much time, and money, on following football, baseball, basketball, gambling etc. Don’t they know that all they are doing is making pots of money for those already filthy rich ? Don’t they realise it’s simply fantasy, a way to spend spare time, and a way to be “one of the lads?”

What’s the biggest misconception about being a white person?
My answer:

Biggest misconception? That we all consider, and think about ourselves - when we do - as “White”, or even “white”. Until flurries on the internet recently, in the USA, I never had thought in that way - not ever. I thought of myself and all others as simply ‘humans’.

One thought, and one that comes to me often these days, is that it will be be a very important teaching moment when, if ever, beings visit Earth from space; maybe at last humans will properly grasp that we really and truly are one race.