1. Why we evolved to be superstitious

Comment #245815 by blueollie on September 11, 2008 at 12:44 pm

I think that the gist of the article is something like this: you see a friend eat a black berry and then your friend gets sick.

You conclude that the black berry is bad for you.

But the friend may have already been sick, or this berry might have had something on it, or maybe this friend was allergic to these berries.

But, at that time in our existence, it would be beneficial to conclude that the berry was harmful.

2. Teachers should tackle creationism, says science education expert

Comment #245789 by blueollie on September 11, 2008 at 12:19 pm

Here is the problem: there are many different types of creationism, and science education (training for science teachers) doesn't cover this.

So, which creationism should be discussed? A literal interpretation of Genesis has two contradictory creation stories.

some creationists use 6 24 hour periods, some use 6 "periods", some use the "man out of dirt, woman from man", some use other interpretations.

Also, what about someone from a all-together different religious tradition?

What about us Pastafarians? :-)

3. No credit for creationism

Comment #232617 by blueollie on August 18, 2008 at 11:53 am

As an American this fiasco is so terribly embarrassing.

At times I wish that people had to pass an elementary science quiz in order to benefit from the fruits of science (e. g., modern medicine).

It seems that many who benefit directly from science do everything they can to keep such science down.

4. Poll: Should the motto 'In God We Trust' be removed from U.S. currency?

Comment #230170 by blueollie on August 14, 2008 at 11:46 am

I went and voted "yes, remove it" but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Besides, it would be political suicide for someone in Congress to vote to remove it.

For now, I'd gladly settle for having public schools teach science in science classes.

5. The argument from oranges

Comment #128480 by blueollie on February 17, 2008 at 5:46 am

This is much of what the American public is like.

6. The OUT Campaign has its own Flea!

Comment #106377 by blueollie on January 2, 2008 at 6:54 pm

Why the Christians are acting defensive?

Think of it this way: true, something like 90% of Americans are theists. But, 93% of elite scientists are either agnostic or atheists, and 60% of non-elite scientists are.

In other words, the smarter the person is, the less likely they are to be a theist.

THAT is what makes them feel so threatened; they know that their beliefs are complete nonsense.

7. Survey finds most Americans believe Jesus born of virgin

Comment #102324 by blueollie on December 22, 2007 at 10:54 am

My Jewish friends tell me: "relax. ALL good Jewish boys think that their mommies are virgins!"

In all honesty, this is hilarious, especially when you consider that the "virgin birth" story resulted from the authors of the gospels using the Septuigant (Greek Bible) which mistakenly translated "young woman" as "virgin" in Isiah.

The Roman Catholic Church insists that this was a divinely ordained mistake! :)

8. Atheists are just as dogmatic as theists, and the only reasonable person is an agnostic.

Comment #98332 by blueollie on December 13, 2007 at 1:35 pm

All "atheist" means is a "non-belief" in deities. Technically speaking, no one can prove that Zeus, Thor or the Flying Spaghetti Monster doesn't exist, but most won't say that they have "suspended judgment" on the existence of these deities.

Neither do we claim to "suspend judgment" on the non-existence of the current standard deities.

We need evidence for something in order to "believe in it" and we simply don't see any evidence.

9. An Open Letter to Richard Dawkins

Comment #96600 by blueollie on December 10, 2007 at 6:37 pm

Here is a question: how many were killed in things like the black plague? How might science have averted (or lessened the impact of) such things had it not been strangled by the church?

The church has caused an untold amount of misery by promoting ignorance.

10. Secular Fundamentalists: There is no such thing...and the AAI conference doesn't make atheism a movement, either.

Comment #88337 by blueollie on November 16, 2007 at 4:39 am

I subscribe to TAC (no, I am a liberal but the TAC is very anti-war).

The article being talked about really appears to make the following point: atheists in most ways are just like everybody else.

If the author of the TAC article really wanted to attend an atheist meeting, he ought to go to a science conference. :-)

11. The Fleas Are Multiplying!

Comment #68655 by blueollie on September 8, 2007 at 2:43 am

I think that it is something like this: deep down, many theists know that their "faith" is irrational. The success that the atheist books have had scares them; these "counter books" are more about reassuring the "faithful" that it is still "ok" to be irrational than anything else.

Ok, it is to make a buck too. :-)

12. The Out Campaign

Comment #60042 by blueollie on July 31, 2007 at 4:07 pm

In the past, I have resisted being too foward as, well, to be blunt, I LIKED having some distance between me and the mainstream American "believer".

But that has changed; today a couple of Jehovas Witnesses came to my door (polite folks; actually I liked them) and I ATTEMPTED TO CONVERT THEM!!!

It didn't work; frankly I didn't do a good job of it (I was going to use science arguments which mostly work with those who have had, say, college science).

Still, they weren't angry at all; they seemed pleased to have had a pleasant exchange of ideas.

13. Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour

Comment #59929 by blueollie on July 31, 2007 at 6:31 am

Dr. Dawkins writes:
---------------
Senator Joseph Lieberman, sometime Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate. Not only did Lieberman speak at the conference, he praised the preposterous Pastor John Hagee to the extent of comparing him to Moses. Senator Lieberman is presumably a good specimen of mainstream, sensible, middle-of-the-road, moderate religious opinion.
------------------

Senator Lieberman's domestic voting record isn't that bad. He is disliked by progressives mostly because of his Iraq war support and for his constant attempts to "make nice" to extremists such as those at this conference.

In the United States, any politician who comes right out and says that fundamentalist religion positions are absurd has just about zero chance of getting elected at the statewide or nationwide level.

hence you see people like Barack Obama, who as basically raised as an atheist and who belongs to the most liberal Christian denomination telling us secularists to "back off", all the while saying (very cautiously) that he "has doubts" about many of the theological teachings in his faith!

Many of my friends think that he is a sell-out, but reality is that he is about as close to the line as one can get and still be a viable national level candidate.

14. Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour

Comment #59681 by blueollie on July 30, 2007 at 7:08 am

Take heart: there was a time where I sort of took this stuff as being worth of being considered, and now I am here (on this site).

People do change.

15. The hitch in Hitchens' thinking

Comment #59107 by blueollie on July 27, 2007 at 11:02 am

Dr Benway, thanks!

Yes, I am a liberal (U. S. version) but I too get disguested by some of the knee jerk reactions our groups have.

I remember that I was attending a UU church camp a few years ago and I was asked to sign a petition to ask the federal government to spend more on researching some disease (I forget which one).

I asked: "ok, what is the current funding level? What impact would researching this disease have, in relation to giving that money to another area of research?" Needless to say, the petitioner hadn't a clue as to how to answer any of those questions.

Or, several years ago, there was a "African American Church burning" situation, and the UU general assembly voted for some resolution asking us to condemn this "new" trend. I asked:

"what did police investigations show? Have we experienced a statistically signficicant increase in racist related church arson?" Of course none of those questions had been researched; I was told "if you had heard how PASSIONATE the backers of the resolutions were...." :-)

ARGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

But, I suppose that around here I would be the religious conservative, in that I find that prayer and meditation have "centering" and relaxing effects, in much the same way that yoga does.

No, I neither believe in deities nor in "charkras", etc. But I do believe in the physical effects of a good stretch, or of some calm moments. :-)

16. The hitch in Hitchens' thinking

Comment #58855 by blueollie on July 26, 2007 at 12:18 pm

Hey Rieux, I too am a Unitarian Universalist.

For those who don't know about United States UU's: we are mostly a colletion of people who miss going to church but don't fit in elsewhere. We contain neo-pagans, liberal Christians, liberal Jews, secular humanists, atheists, agnostics, and folks who want to follow the newest new-agey trend (e. g., we have tons of people who like books like The DaVinci Code, The Book of Miracles, etc.)

I do see some value in religious myths and metaphors in my personal life, and I profit from prayer and meditation. I see these practices as the sort of thing that helps center and calm me; I don't believe in any deity who is going to change physics on my behalf. :-)

Unfortunately, instead of saying "these practices and/or myths help my personal life" (that sounds so bland), many try to put such sentiments into new-agey, post-modernist type diction and end up sounding like airheads.

17. Why I Believe Anti-Evangelism Is Wrong

Comment #57547 by blueollie on July 19, 2007 at 6:12 pm

Hey DC runner:


"It's funny, I've never had an atheist knock on my door and try to convince me not to believe in god."

You need to see this: :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V8t_Ux0JPc

18. Why I Believe Anti-Evangelism Is Wrong

Comment #57409 by blueollie on July 19, 2007 at 8:53 am

PeterK: I think that those of us who grew up theists "converted" to atheism "one mutation at a time"; sort of an evolution of thought, if you will.

Here is what I mean: if someone told me that my beliefs were "absurd", I would have gotten defensive.

On the other hand, had someone said "ok, what do you think of that passage in the bible" and i agreed that that passage certainly

1) couldn't be taken literally or
2) was pure fokelore and/or propaganda

Then we have a small crack in the wall.

Then maybe a discussion: "ok, so you think that evolution happened. Good. Why must there have been a designer? Oh, even a designer for malaria? Why would a designer do that?"

Drip by drip, the crack widens.

In short, I think that the author is saying to be a bit less "in your face" so to speak; after all, the eventual goal is to erode support for superstition.

19. Why I Believe Anti-Evangelism Is Wrong

Comment #57402 by blueollie on July 19, 2007 at 7:52 am

Ok, here is a dissenting view: I agree with much of what the author said.

don't get me wrong: I feel duty bound to fight religious influences that step on the rights of others e. g., creationism and/or ID being taught in public schools, bans on federal funding for stem cell research, not caring about global warming due to the expected "second coming" (I wish I were making that up, but in the U. S. there is a faction of fundies that believe this)., etc.

Also, I support the excellent books that have came out (I've bought and read GD, GING, EOF); it is useful to let my fellow non-theists know that they are not alone.

But to seek out and directly argue with theists, well, that just isn't a fruitful exercise. They merely retreat.

Probably the best way to attack superstition is with continued education; IMHO, if one is interested in "converting" a "reasonable" theist friend, a good way to start is to, say, recommend they read a good book on evolution rather than, say, one of the new atheist books.

Eventually, those who can see the light might come around.

But getting in their face and attacking their "sacred superstitions" directly won't work.

20. Before the New Atheists: Confessions of a Lonely Atheist

Comment #56507 by blueollie on July 16, 2007 at 4:51 am

Interestingly enough, an atheist doesn't have to be that lonely, provided that he/she belongs to, say, a mathematics or science department at a university!

Actually, among my academic friends, I am sort of the religious conservative in that I find that prayer and meditation useful in my personal life (to calm and steady myself; nothing supernatural about that)

But the author does bring up something. I think that we should prosletize to a degree; one of the ways to do that is to show things like "Growing up in the Universe" to folks who might be open to it.

Shedding dependence on supernatural beliefs has been very liberating for me!

21. The Republican War on Science Rages On

Comment #55985 by blueollie on July 13, 2007 at 5:09 am

G. O. P. "Grand Old Party", which is the Republican Party (the one that Bush belongs to). These days, it includes large corporate interests, conservative religious types, and some populist cultural conservatives.

There was a time where many of the populists were Democrats, but that changed when many of the liberal Democrats backed civil rights legislation (1960's).

In my cirlces, "GOP" stands for "Greed Over Patriotism" ;-)

22. Sean Hannity with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #54823 by blueollie on July 9, 2007 at 3:40 am

Interestingly enough, Hitchens does quite well (in the eyes of people like us), but the average Fox viewer will have seen Hannity "putting that arrogant egg-head in his place with his "common sense" positions".

23. The new age of ignorance

Comment #53565 by blueollie on July 2, 2007 at 4:27 am

Fact: science is interesting, but it is HARD! Learning anything at all about it requires time and effort and some capability; you can't learn about evolution by reading a book just before bedtime when those eyes are getting heavy... ;-)

And yes, only a handful truly understand; this is indeed the age of the professional scientist.

And frankly, we all have different talents. Not everyone can build a house from scratch, rebuild an automobile motor, do carpentry (I've ruined a door or two trying to "do it myself" ;-) ) or other activities which also take time and effort to learn.

24. Look Forward to Anger

Comment #52682 by blueollie on June 27, 2007 at 6:04 pm

BT, thank you.

Some of us understand that some wars need to be fought (the US should have gone after Al Queda in Afghanastan (sp) ) but this Iraq fiasco was bad from the start.

Yes, there is a war on terror, and no, Iraq is not part of it. I love this line:

Fighting fundamentalism is something we can all get behind. Doing it in stupid and counterproductive ways that actually increase the ranks of the fundamentalists is not.

25. Lecture on Neo-Darwinism

Comment #52681 by blueollie on June 27, 2007 at 5:57 pm

Yes, please, direct us to those shirts!

26. An Inquisition in science's name

Comment #51082 by blueollie on June 21, 2007 at 11:41 am

Ok, I'll attempt to treat this article seriously.

Two huge differences:

1) we aren't attempting to kill anyone or to restrict anyone's right to present their views.

2) our, ok, MY position is this: "I see no evidence for the existance of a deity and I only accept what I have evidence for" and "we don't know all of the answers but are continuing with our search". That is very different from saying "we know the absolute truth".

Why is that so hard to understand?

27. Atheists: stand up and be counted

Comment #50523 by blueollie on June 18, 2007 at 2:47 pm

Steven, thanks for the clarification! ;-)

28. Atheists: stand up and be counted

Comment #50496 by blueollie on June 18, 2007 at 12:59 pm

Compare that to the US, where in 2006 atheists were not represented in Congress at all.

29. Review of 'Growing Up in the Universe' DVDs

Comment #50349 by blueollie on June 17, 2007 at 4:35 am

Kids? These things are wonderful for adults!!!!

Get your copy, now!

(even better if you have kids)

30. The Great Mutator

Comment #49755 by blueollie on June 13, 2007 at 8:52 am

The expected value of the number of rolls to get a 6 is indeed 6; one uses the geometric distribution where p(y=k) = (5/6)^(y-1)*(1/6) and then calculates (where a 6 is obtained on the y'th roll, and the probability of getting a 6 on any one roll is 1/6)

(sum y = 1 to infinity) y*p(y) =
(sum "")(0 + p(1) + 2*p(2) + 3*p(3)....)

which in fact equals 1/6.

31. Religion - our maelstrom of ignorance

Comment #49505 by blueollie on June 12, 2007 at 7:40 am

Since someone brought up Al Gore: he is well known for his concerns about global warming and the enviroment.

There are many right wing folks who are NOT concerned about the enviroment. Why? Because they are convinced that the "second coming" is near; therefore there is no need to worry about what happens in 100-200-300 years from now. No, I am not making this up.

This is changing somewhat
http://www.wie.org/j33/recycle.asp

32. Americans believe in both evolution, creationism: poll

Comment #49093 by blueollie on June 10, 2007 at 9:30 am

by CJ22 on June 10, 2007 at 7:36 am
To be clear, this isn't "20% of Americans believe in an old Earth that was instantiated by God", this is "20% of Americans believe in both a Young Earth AND an OLD Earth".

There are occasions when my mind just gives up and wanders off to think about something else.

33. Americans believe in both evolution, creationism: poll

Comment #49051 by blueollie on June 10, 2007 at 5:12 am

Comment #49048 by _J_ on June 10, 2007 at 4:55 am
avatar14. Comment #49036 by pewkatchoo:

I see stupid people all around, they don't know they are stupid.


Thanks for that. I just spat my tea laughing.

Everyone is incompetent, in one way or another. Psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger supplied scientific evidence that incompetence is bliss, at least for the incompetent person.

Dunning and Kruger wanted to explore human incompetence. They staged a series of experiments at Cornell University. Beforehand, they made some predictions, most notably that:

1 Incompetent people dramatically overestimate their ability; and

2 Incompetent people are not good at recognising incompetence - their own or anyone else's. [...]

Another experiment involved logic questions from law school entrance exams. The logic questions produced much the same results as jokes. Those with poor reasoning skills tended to believe they were Bertrand Russell or Mr Spock.

Overall, the results showed that incompetence is even worse than it appears to be, and forms a sort of unholy trinity of cluelessness. The incompetent don't perform up to speed; don't recognise their lack of competence; and don't even recognise the competence of other people.

David Dunning explained why he took up this kind of research: "I am interested in why people tend to have overly favourable and objectively indefensible views of their own abilities, talents and moral character. For example, a full 94% of college professors state that they do 'above average' work, although it is statistically impossible for virtually everybody to be above average."

Dunning and Kruger are themselves college professors (though at the time they did the experiment, Kruger was still Dunning's student). When they published their report, the concluding words showed a degree of modesty: "To the extent this article is imperfect, it is not a sin we have committed knowingly."

34. If It Feels Good to Be Good, It Might Be Only Natural

Comment #46180 by blueollie on May 30, 2007 at 1:33 pm

Why did this come as a surprise? didn't The Selfish Gene suggest the same thing thirty years ago?

35. Dawkins' Christmas card list

Comment #45944 by blueollie on May 29, 2007 at 5:51 pm

RickM, as someone who lives in the United States, I think it would be a great improvement if we can get the superstition out of our science classes!

Yes, the larger war is against superstition itself, but sometimes the war and the individual battles start small.

So, if the moderate theists help us kick creationism out of the classroom (as they did in Arkansas in 1980; the civil suit was filed by clerics), I am willing to join with them on that.

I am not saying that we should say that we agree with their nonsensical positions no more than I agree with those in my "church" that believe in healing crystals, dousing, and the like.

(no, I am not making that up...I wish that I were)

36. Dawkins' Christmas card list

Comment #45915 by blueollie on May 29, 2007 at 3:40 pm

I still think that people like Dawkins are making a mistake by attacking the religious left. Not all of us believe in miracles; in fact there are many of us at my church (Unitarian-Universalist) who neither belive in a personal god nor believe in supernatural stuff at all (e.g., myself and my minister!)

Many of us go to this church just to better center ourselves for our day to day lives, and many of us learn techniques (prayer and meditation) to help us live our current lives better and more selflessly.

Another example: one religious tradition has provided us with a good exercise (yoga). For example, one doesn't need to believe in "charkas" to practice "down dog" and benifit from it. :-)

Yes, some in our church do believe nonsense and subscribe to post-modernist stuff like agki comments on (e. g., Newton's Principa being called Newton's Rape Manual).

But many of us on the religious left are repulsed by such nonsense.

37. Atheists: Get off of our country!

Comment #44649 by blueollie on May 25, 2007 at 6:23 am

Actually, I agree with Ms. Shannon, and I shall help her with her "kick out the atheists" movement.

From now on, everyone who hates atheists will boycott everything that those atheists come up with.

Since all but 7% of the top scientists (and all but 40% of the rank and file) would fit her definition of atheist, she and those who would agree with her will boycott technology, modern medicine and the like until we leave.

:-)

38. Angry atheists are hot authors

Comment #44442 by blueollie on May 24, 2007 at 6:34 pm

Actually, I think that lots of people say "yeah, sure" because in most communities in the US, that is the "default" response.

Typical might be people like my late Dad or my dear yoga teacher.

My Dad was in no way religuous and didn't believe in Jesus or the Bible. He thought that something was "out there" and that was about it.

My yoga teacher isn't "a beliver" either, but she thinks that something (spirits, ghosts, etc.) exist; "too many coincidences" she says. But she knows little (nor cares that much) about the standard religions.

Truth be told, lots of folks just haven't thought about it that hard, and are more comfortable in saying "yeah, there is some sort of god" to explain what they don't know rather than saying "I don't know the answer to that".

39. Angry atheists are hot authors

Comment #44437 by blueollie on May 24, 2007 at 6:02 pm

The Rev. Douglas Wilson, senior fellow in theology at New Saint Andrews College, a Christian school in Moscow, Idaho, sees the books as a sign of secular panic. He says nonbelievers are finally realizing that, contrary to what they were taught in college, faith is not dead.

40. Lightning damages Jesus statue

Comment #44356 by blueollie on May 24, 2007 at 12:11 pm

I think that Laurence was close to beging correct; what happened is that some from that dreaded Alfredo Sauce sect (the Reformed Church of the FSM) were around, living in sin (by wearing ninja costumes instead of pirate ones).

41. Prayer can improve physical health

Comment #43788 by blueollie on May 22, 2007 at 4:33 pm

Actually, prayer and meditation can help someone in the same way that, say, certain types of yoga can help.

If one is mentally, emotionally and physically relaxed, one is almost always better off. Less muscle tension often leads to less pain; everyone who has had a medical injection (shot) knows that.

As far as aiding in the healing of diseases: why not? More relaxed people have better attitudes and probably better blood circulation. Of course, these effects would have to be proven via a rigorous study.

But, of course, there is absolutely NOTHING supernatural about any of this.

(unless you count being touched by His Noodly Appendage...:) )

42. Hitchens on Falwell, Part 2

Comment #43602 by blueollie on May 22, 2007 at 5:11 am

Just one other note: I wouldn't take this exchange too seriously. For those who don't live in the U. S.: Fox "news" is more of less an entertainment channel for conservative, and to be frank, rather ignorant viewers.

To be blunt: Fox was probably delighted to have Hitchens on their show and that he did as well as he did; this sort of "back and forth" is exactly what Fox viewers want to see. And in the mind of the Fox viewers, Hannity (the star; Colmes is merely a foil) did very well, delivering insults to that "arrogant egghead" Hitchens.

Think of it as professional wrestling (in the US, there are these fixed, melodramatic contests were spandex wrapped, steroid enhanced men get into fake fights, with the "good" guy eventually winning at the end)

43. Hitchens on Falwell, Part 2

Comment #43599 by blueollie on May 22, 2007 at 5:06 am

Sorry, I couldn't make out Hichens' last sentence.
What did he say?
--------------

He said that if you "gave him (Falwell) and enema before you buried him you could have fit him in a matchbox". :)

44. The Cyclic Universe: A Talk With Neil Turok

Comment #42310 by blueollie on May 18, 2007 at 4:00 am

I am going to have to print this out and read it on something other than my laptop. It is so interesting!

You know, of course, that this article would blow Tipler's argument out of the water (Tipler is the one who argued that the singularity of the big-bang implied the existence of god)

45. Pedal power takes Islamic shape in Iran

Comment #42073 by blueollie on May 17, 2007 at 3:03 pm

Oh gosh, this reminds me a bit of the part of "Root of all Evil" where Professor Dawkins interviewed this Muslim guy who converted from Judaism.

The Muslim guy complained about how western women dressed and how it was his (Dawkins) fault (as a male); Dawkins responded something to the effect "where I come from, women dress themselves".

I was ashamed of myself for laughing...

46. Pedal power takes Islamic shape in Iran

Comment #42066 by blueollie on May 17, 2007 at 2:52 pm

What's the point of those long bikerides if you can't see the ladies in their spandex? :)

Just kidding; this does remind me a bit of one of the women sprinters at the Athens Olympic games. She didn't have to wear a burqua, but she did have to have lose shorts with tights underneath and a scarf.

47. Hitchens vs. Hannity on Religion and God

Comment #41051 by blueollie on May 15, 2007 at 12:29 pm

steve99, you aren't a mathematician, are you? :-)

I think that you are right; this is one of the reasons is that belief in a personal god is more prevelant among elite mathematicians than it is among scientists. We are used to doing things like "if we accept the continuum hypothesis and axiom * it then follows that..."

The trick is to attack the belief that it is rational to accept the "god axiom".

(e. g., why not accept the flying spaghetti monster axiom?)

48. Hitchens vs. Hannity on Religion and God

Comment #40960 by blueollie on May 15, 2007 at 8:51 am

For those who aren't familiar with the United States: Hannity (of Hannity and Colmes) doesn't draw from the most intellectual audience. Basically, he uses "arguments" that his fans would approve of.

Think of this more as "entertainment" for "the believers" (e. g., those who still think that Bush is a good president) than anything else.