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Comments by phil rimmer


451. Beware the Believers

Comment #155492 by phil rimmer on April 4, 2008 at 2:58 pm

You can take knowledge of conception as a cutoff point if you wish, but if you do this you still have the problem of deciding what to do in the case of non-viable conception. (I am talking about eptopic pregnancy and cases of severe disability here).


But isn't the range of other factors to be considered wider than this?

If, let us say, the Balance of Harm is the deciding factor, there may be quite other Harms to be considered. In a wealthy society, the Harms to the mother and the family and society as a whole might rightly be judged negligible and the Potential Person for all their current non-sentient existence might be judged in danger of the greatest harm.

But consider a society living on the brink of extinction through the paucity of resources. A birth may prove catastrophic for the survival of other youngsters....There is always a scenario...

The fact is we don't do judging net harm well (like being able to push the one person off the bridge to save five others.) and we'd not be human if we were good at it...we'd be Vulcan.

(No offense Enlightenme..)

452. Beware the Believers

Comment #155476 by phil rimmer on April 4, 2008 at 2:26 pm

Burning widows on a funeral pyre is still wrong


And should be avoided at all costs, providing that is the lesser of two evils...

But, there is always a worse scenario possible, at least in the mind of a Hollywood producer.

EDITED

453. Dawkins warns of human extinction

Comment #155259 by phil rimmer on April 4, 2008 at 9:29 am

I don't think you can attribute Newton's passion for theology only to the fact that Darwin was not around yet to remind him of the fact that it was not actually intellectually respectable any longer to study such a non-subject


My understanding of Newton's Christianity was that he was one of the first to start to unpick it. He was an anti-Trinitarian and had to keep his heretical views strictly to himself for fear of censure. Like Priestley after him, he was well on his way to becoming a Unitarian.

It seems to me that the Gospels represented to him a great, juicy puzzle that was full of inconsistencies. He started on a journey that took him in the right direction. Alas, the sheer isolation such a journey forced on him, probably slowed him down. On this matter, at least, he could not "stand on the shoulders of giants".

EDIT. Looking at the religious affiliations of the great minds of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries reveals an astonishing number who counted themselves Dissenters and Nonconformists. A key group were the Rational Dissenters. (I rather liked the sound of them.) There's a good book to be written about this. Any takers? John Gribbin? Jenny Uglow?

454. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #153318 by phil rimmer on April 1, 2008 at 11:36 am

The point was that inaction may lead to the death of citizens of our countries and/or the deaths of many Muslims


But this is not the big issue! I believe Brian is right about the numbers give or take an order of magnitude. The big issue is the creeping loss, through accommodation, of freedom, democracy, human rights, creativity, happiness.

455. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #153303 by phil rimmer on April 1, 2008 at 11:15 am

You qualified for the al-Rawandi Genius medal of freedom and honor.


I'll wear it with pride, even though you're frightening me and the kids a bit at the moment....

456. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #153296 by phil rimmer on April 1, 2008 at 11:07 am

I particularly like these paragraphs...

Begin supporting genuine development in the Muslim World. End one sided support of the Israelis. Call for independence for Chechneya. Deal mercilessly with the Serbs (neo-Nazis for the most part). This will show our commitment to justice and self determination for Muslims, and will make it harder to call us hypocrites.

Turn our military into an instrument of relief not oppression. Assist suffering peoples.


Positive reinforcement is more powerful than negative reinforcement. (Always a problem for libertarians and those on the right to understand, despite B.F.Skinner's evidence...I have that problem myself...)

So, to add to our "To Do" list

Reduce our dependency on oil THEN
Help well-behaving Muslim countries invest in Solar Energy Plant.
Put in HVDC long distance power lines so they can sell their power throughout their own country and over their borders.
Find any and every reason to invest in them.
The Chinese will, otherwise, with zero collateral gain.

457. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #153238 by phil rimmer on April 1, 2008 at 9:14 am

Doc.Benway

By "challenge" I meant suppress via threats of criminal and civil litigation. It's seriously no fun being charged with a crime. Legal fees can bankrupt you, even if you're innocent.


Point taken.

I've since researched hate speech legislation and found it wanting. It seems to contain far too many elements. Incitement to harm can be the only test. And does this not already exist in most country's laws already? (Your point I think).

458. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #153236 by phil rimmer on April 1, 2008 at 9:03 am

The method I propose:
1. We give more confidence to propositions that can be corroborated as opposed to those that can't be corroborated.
2. We seek alternative hypothesis, and we try to falsify our hypotheses.
3. We reject propositions that lead to self-contradictions or otherwise violate logic.
4. When several explanations fit the data equally well, the simpler explanation is preferred.


These fabulous time bombs are the sure solution to our problem, if only we could find a way to smuggle them into everyone's head. Leaving them casually by the wayside on RichardDawkins.net isn't a good plan.

I'm not sure, but I feel the first part of the solution is somehow to separate (if only briefly or a little) the religious Exploiters from the Exploited. (The Exploiters can spot the time bombs a mile off.) The Exploited may then innocently pick them up and find them quite useful for all sorts of things. Tick, tick.

459. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152845 by phil rimmer on March 31, 2008 at 4:14 pm

Muslims have used anti-hate speech laws to challenge criticism of Islam.


Bring it on! Another challenge, another opportunity to make a reasonable case.

460. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152844 by phil rimmer on March 31, 2008 at 4:11 pm

Incitement to what? To hate? To riot?


To harm.

461. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152828 by phil rimmer on March 31, 2008 at 3:45 pm

The religious groups would fight such measures


But they seem to smile on the income stream each pupil represents....(those cheques stapled to the application forms...)

462. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152822 by phil rimmer on March 31, 2008 at 3:33 pm

Steve

It seems to me that ensuring churches and mosques are given a legitimate (in secular eyes) task involving education might allow quite a few quid pro quos. But it also begins a gentle redirection. Best of all (in the UK, at least) it involves the nosy participation of OFSTED. (School inspectors.)

463. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152815 by phil rimmer on March 31, 2008 at 3:17 pm

Follow Dan Dennett's ideas, and make sure all children are taught the facts of all major religions.


Elsewhere I proposed that churches should be encouraged to lay on general religious and moral education for children during their normal service and that the presence of children (for the bulk of?) these services should be viewed as inappropriate.

Maybe some of the education budget could be alternately applied to this end?

464. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152808 by phil rimmer on March 31, 2008 at 3:04 pm

Oops!

Edited as, very necessarily, required.

465. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152799 by phil rimmer on March 31, 2008 at 2:55 pm

Secular Western values and Islam in its current form cannot peacefully coexist


And Islamic values are those best able to survive an eco-catastrophe.

Sad that we shall be plunged into a new dark age, when collective wealth and creativity will be decimated and our ability to survive (as the human race) the really big threats that are out there, will be brought back to near zero.

EDITED

466. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #150100 by phil rimmer on March 26, 2008 at 1:00 pm

an enlightened church might be a good idea but if they can't recruit or indoctrinate they eventually go to the wall surely?


Sshhh!

467. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #150089 by phil rimmer on March 26, 2008 at 12:52 pm

In fact, I've just been reminded that Sunday School in my village was run after the service so junior could do bible studies whilst mum and dad nipped home and got biblical in peace and quiet....(shudder)

468. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #150079 by phil rimmer on March 26, 2008 at 12:45 pm

Prankster

Sunday school classes were rarely (in my experience) offered as specific alternatives to the church service itself and run at the same time. (Presumably because the opportunity for exposing impressionable young minds to the theatre and music was too much to pass up for the vampiric classes.) Nor were they of a general religious and moral nature.

An enlightened church (Stop laughing at the back!) might be persuaded that they have a duty to enlighten and not indoctrinate....

469. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #150049 by phil rimmer on March 26, 2008 at 12:18 pm

And I have to agree with prankster the chances of legislation are very slight. Even in somewhere like Sweden where it stands a glimmer of a chance it would probably be shot down by the Vegan lobby.

However, I feel RD's meme, about the abuse of labeling children, is key to the problem.

Aside- Wouldn't it be nice if churches didn't allow children in under (say) 14 but instead laid on general religious and moral education separate from the main congregation? Wouldn't it be nice if even one church did it, claiming it to be a more moral and respectful treatment of children?

470. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #150014 by phil rimmer on March 26, 2008 at 11:56 am

I wonder if such monstrous derelictions of parental duty might not be prosecuted under a new law? Such a law could be based on Richard Dawkin's profound and subtle point that labeling your child as a follower of your own faith is an abuse of that child's rights.

Creating a legal principle that a belief, and the practices that flow from it, are not to be forced on others against their will, whilst in the abstract unenforceable, may nevertheless create the opportunity for an intervention by a concerned doctor or a relative.

Simply knowing that others are watching critically may be sufficiently effective in deterring such behavior in people prone to looking over their shoulders anxiously.

471. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #149939 by phil rimmer on March 26, 2008 at 10:47 am

In early 2001-FEB, Amanda Bates, 13, died from diabetes in Grand Junction, CO. Her parents withheld medical treatment. Her death was ruled a homicide by the Mesa County coroner, Dr. Rob Kurtzman.


Her parents were from the "Church of the First Born".

From Double Bass's link

472. Happy Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #149916 by phil rimmer on March 26, 2008 at 10:29 am

Happy birthday, Prof.

You have achieved a huge amount in the past year, and I, for one, am sincerely grateful for all your hard work.

Might I also sneak in here birthday wishes for Steve Zara?? Prodigious effort too! Courteous, helpful and always a good read.

473. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #149883 by phil rimmer on March 26, 2008 at 10:14 am

The mother believes the girl could still be resurrected


Prosecute by all means, but I fear they might get off on the grounds of diminished responsibilities.

474. Gay scientists isolate Christian gene

Comment #149862 by phil rimmer on March 26, 2008 at 9:58 am

Now if they can find the gene that makes people muslims...


or Welsh.

475. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #149295 by phil rimmer on March 25, 2008 at 12:05 pm

I know its not focussing cold. I meant that bit as a joke. But I did mean that you could use reflectors to create an image of a low temperature surrounding and thereby alter the net flux.

EDIT- And just to be clear, you can't lower the temperature by use of the reflectors alone, given a uniform ambient temperature environment. A reflector will substitute equivalent energy (temperature) irradiation to before, wherever they are placed. (However, if the body's own radiation is returned to it, it will heat up.) If, on the other hand, the (colder) ice is placed at the focus of a collimating reflector and the parallel (focussed!)beams of lower energy (colder!) radiation directed towards an identical collimating reflector, at whose focus is the hotter body, then (and only then) will the hotter body cool down. The ice will, ipso facto, melt faster due to the higher than ambient radiation from the hotter body.

There adding it after means no-one need ever know how nerdy I can be....shhh!

476. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #149286 by phil rimmer on March 25, 2008 at 11:49 am

Just to be utterly nerdy and not to in anyway increase Steve's abject humiliation, cold can indeed be focussed.

Considering heat transfer by radiation only, an objects temperature is regulated by the net flux of photons to/from it. Replacing irradiation of the object from ambient sources by lower average energy photons from say a block of ice will improve net outward flux pretty nicely, thereby lowering its temperature. Two parabolic reflectors of polished copper (so as not to add much of their own radiation)will allow a block of ice to become a virtual icy shell around the object to be cooled....

I know...I should be ashamed...

477. The Emptiness of Theology

Comment #149028 by phil rimmer on March 25, 2008 at 1:54 am

Could these be completely dispersed into social anthropology, history, sociology and psychology?


Include philosophy, literature and politics and the answer is yes.

478. It looks like Man crucified

Comment #148934 by phil rimmer on March 24, 2008 at 5:08 pm

and that is why it pains me to see it bastardized...


But in fairness people who stick around this site do seem to want to learn. (I had my wrist fairly "slapped" just the other day.) And there are patient teachers here too...

EDIT I don't think you intentionally restricted the discourse, but I do worry that our various potential objectives frequently get muddled here.

479. It looks like Man crucified

Comment #148929 by phil rimmer on March 24, 2008 at 4:43 pm

Spinoza-

There are two possible objectives here-

1) Demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that an interventionist, rule-making God is highly unlikely and

2) Demonstrate believers in the same are transgressing the rights of non-believers or alternate believers.

The first is possibly an endless task requiring great finesse and subtlety of thought, in other words, a perfect pastime for academics. The second is a problem requiring political action. With the latter, the problem is plain to any of us Plebs. Our rights have been compromised by others who make claims without proof, (or, at least, proof that could stand up in a court of law) and then seek preferential treatment for those claims.

The offence in item two is largely independent of item one. (OK, he may exist but what ARE His rules? How do you know? Why not those rules or those rules?) The offence of item two must be incontrovertible with all except the fundamentalists. And yet this is not seen. This is a howling political injustice obvious to any with a little political nous.

The point is, nothing political will happen without a large enough collective howl of injustice creating the pressure for change. Finesse, precision are not what is needed for this.

Sure, finesse is needed later in the political process if change is ever to occur. Like Gerry Adams talking down the maddest of his gunmen/freedom fighters with the blandishments that their pride is intact and their goal achieved. Some of us must engage fully and earnestly with the Bishops (or whomever) who (for the last 200 years) have been slowly coming down from their lofty sniper's positions, doing God's punitive work. We must acknowledge how they have helped steer us to the necessary end state of moral self-sufficiency as, variously, the politics and the truth of the situation demand. But that now it is time for faith to be a truly personal matter, etc, etc.

Restricting discourse to item one (as it seems to me you've done) and ivory towers is a pants idea. That our collection of folks is no different to their collection of folks, it would also seem to me, is a strength. No one is afraid of the ivory tower set. Their squabbles carry on ineffectually for centuries.

480. It looks like Man crucified

Comment #148433 by phil rimmer on March 23, 2008 at 4:27 am

The guy wants salvation....

One of yours I think, Plagio.

481. The atheist delusion

Comment #144774 by phil rimmer on March 16, 2008 at 5:52 pm

The various implementations of democracy, in all its forms, are pretty neat experiments in managing societal structures. Our feelings about the various outcomes inform us about how we wish our local experiment to be tweaked.

And I won't be taking the bait about being non-democratic, thank you. As a useful comment I would rate that as "over-egged".

482. The atheist delusion

Comment #144762 by phil rimmer on March 16, 2008 at 5:37 pm

Ok, ok...its democracy. There! A rational (sic) process dealing with feelings.

483. The atheist delusion

Comment #144748 by phil rimmer on March 16, 2008 at 5:15 pm

Ask the question. What's the best way to organise society? You cannot apply the scientific method to this question because the desired result is a value judgement.


Well the answer is pretty scientific-

1. an accurate understanding of reality
2. feelings


We could probably manage all that fuzzy stuff in item two if we could get some sort of corroborative evidence for what the average feeling of the typical citizen might be about the matter. Gosh, I don't know, there must be some rational process by which this could be achieved....but it just eludes me at the moment.

484. The coming religious peace

Comment #132112 by phil rimmer on February 24, 2008 at 7:46 am

Gordon's linked article is a cracker. The essence of its argument for the aberrant positioning of the US in the graph above is this-

America has a large, well educated middle class that lives in comfort�"so why do they still believe in a supernatural creator? Because they are afraid and insecure......

....Rather than religion being an integral part of the American character, the main reason the United States is the only prosperous democracy that retains a high level of religious belief and activity is because we have substandard socio-economic conditions and the highest level of disparity.


I subscribe to this view also like Titus. We have debated this on the site many times before and I don't believe this article offers any more proof about its suppositions than the current article does. But as circumstantial evidence it sure makes you think.

It would seem then that the current US religious malaise may be rooted in a unique socio-political mindset (capitalism in the hands of the self-reliant) to which most, religious and non-religious subscribe. Americans are right to be cautious about disturbing a formula that has been hugely beneficial for their country in the past century. There are solutions other than "going the Swedish route" and I think the US will find one.

The US government has been shameless about using public money to support its private industry through, for instance, its military budget. A way could be found to invest in the removal of the worst excesses of fear from its people....

Perhaps properly taxing religious institutions to raise the cash could prove a win win for US physical and mental health???

485. The coming religious peace

Comment #131829 by phil rimmer on February 23, 2008 at 12:00 pm

But places with a free religious marketplace witness something very different:


If this is truly the only reason for the ludicrous position of the US on the graph, then I must start to re-think my position about the Church of England. My puerile dream will be realized. I shall reverse my thinking and become-

An Antidisestablishmentarianist....

486. My Argument With God

Comment #131777 by phil rimmer on February 23, 2008 at 9:21 am

Re- Adam Bloom

Not exactly Christian, but definitely religious...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBY15jQaAag

Note how the Canadian audience go right off the boil at the God bit.......

Any other Godly comics?

487. Why do we believe in God? 2m study prays for answer

Comment #129702 by phil rimmer on February 19, 2008 at 1:31 pm

I wonder how much of a part language plays in this tendency to over identify "agency".

Our vocabulary is wildly rich in nuanced words relating to humans and human behavior and notably poor in words relating to things and the things that things do. Do we anthropomorphise the dumb and the inanimate so we can co-opt a richer language to describe them?

488. Why do we believe in God? 2m study prays for answer

Comment #129630 by phil rimmer on February 19, 2008 at 11:48 am

I too must congratulate Bonzai on his stonking posts. His views just seem to fit the evidence of my personal experience. I'm delighted to see others think likewise.

On the issue of "curing" people- curing individuals would be catastrophic. Of all the Flaky people (Colin Wilson coined the term Outsiders) 99% of them produce cultural dross. One percent, however, produce most of society's cultural gold.

It is society itself that needs curing, not its members.

[EDIT] Just to expand a little, having just read a fictionalised account of Gaugin's life and taken the kids to see some of his and van Gogh's paintings I was forcibly struck by the sheer "pantheism" of their work. The tendency to discern agency in the inanimate seemed e3xactly at the thrilling root of their respective visions.

489. Bill Moyers Interviews Susan Jacoby

Comment #129019 by phil rimmer on February 18, 2008 at 1:56 pm

Hundreds of TV channels and billions of internet pages shore-up the walls of ignorance. Once you have decided what you think you can go and live there indefinitely, watching Fox News and the God channel and networking on Creationist websites or whatever. The only nasty thing you might encounter is the unsettling stuff your kids might bring home from school. But then maybe you can put a stop to that too.

The only chance, the ONLY chance, of fixing this is in education at school. Children educated in the value of seeking out real information are the only ones likely to find it in future.

OK, so. educated and inspiring leaders would help too.

490. A match made on RichardDawkins.net?

Comment #128992 by phil rimmer on February 18, 2008 at 12:40 pm

...It made me realise the value of love.


Yorker, Veronique.

Such beautiful news, and such sad news.

I wish you all the happiness that love and life together can bring.

491. Why Darwin matters

Comment #128952 by phil rimmer on February 18, 2008 at 10:54 am

Has wooter ever told us what his native tongue is or what his educational experience has been?

I think wooter only continues to be interesting if he represents a group of similar thinkers with comparatively normal educational experiences.

Can wooter enlighten us?

Can anyone else?

Otherwise, I've got the uncomfortable feeling wooter is another of Sacha Baron-Cohen's creations....

492. Smaller Version of the Solar System Is Discovered

Comment #128084 by phil rimmer on February 16, 2008 at 4:19 am

This is one I made earlier...

http://www.google.com/patents?id=-FUVAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=gravitomagnetic

However, my favourite massless thruster is the asymmetric microwave, very high Q, resonant cavity. This stands a good chance of working. Whilst superluminal travel isn't on, given a Duracell Casimir Ultra battery it will go the distance. We'll need lifespans of tens of thousands of years, however, and a lot of patience.

493. Smaller Version of the Solar System Is Discovered

Comment #128080 by phil rimmer on February 16, 2008 at 3:49 am

it's hard to see at the moment how we'll get around the practical problems with it.


Nah! I got some power tools for Yule and my trusty soldering iron still works, and best of all I have the plans here-

http://www.google.com/patents?id=oH2bAAAAEBAJ&dq=Alcubierre

494. Sharia law in UK is 'unavoidable'

Comment #123615 by phil rimmer on February 7, 2008 at 12:06 pm

He knows that defiantly placing his deckchair in the sand will be useless against the tide of reason, therefore he is trying to engineer a multi-faith pile of deckchairs in order to create a little breakwater that he can shelter behind.


Dr Williams added: "What we don't want either, is I think, a stand-off, where the law squares up to people's religious consciences."

Like with the homophobia of Roman Catholic adoption agencies, perhaps?? I think the Dismal Doctor, given his recent disgrace in failing to condemn his own churches homophobic faction, needs to sell us the "morality" of "live and let live" as a screen for his own moral cowardice.

495. Blasphemy

Comment #122518 by phil rimmer on February 5, 2008 at 11:33 am

Styrer, your distaste helps no-one.

If we respect the sanctity of what any of us may hold in private and judge only what is transacted in public, then we may find we have friends and allies aplenty to fix things.

The fact that I believe a load of bollocks is no matter for you so long they never pass my lips....


Erm... not a good image that last one...sorry.

bluehillside.

Good stuff. Its worth adding that there is an e-petition to sign at the end. 30 seconds of anybody's time well spent.

496. Blasphemy

Comment #122510 by phil rimmer on February 5, 2008 at 11:17 am

You can help

Read this-

http://www.newstatesman.com/200802050001

And go here if you can-

"Join a demonstration to demand the freedom of Parwiz Kambakhsh on Friday, February 8, 2008, 12.00 to 2.00 pm at the Afghanistan Embassy, 31 Princes Gate, London, SW7 organised by the Iranian Secular Society and endorsed by the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain."

497. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #111125 by phil rimmer on January 13, 2008 at 4:38 pm

I'm so sick of the French. They're so laid back about everything. And most of them have more interesting lives than me....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKS0yISz6xQ

498. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #111118 by phil rimmer on January 13, 2008 at 4:19 pm

(Sighs) if only I found money interesting. My bank manager would be so happy...

499. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #111112 by phil rimmer on January 13, 2008 at 4:13 pm

This is all a mystery to me. I don't want to earn loadsamoney. I don't really care that others earn more than me. But I do want an interesting life. There has to be a reason to get out of bed in the morning. I need life and work to be INTERESTING.

500. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #111108 by phil rimmer on January 13, 2008 at 3:55 pm


"reason and rationality are trumped by emotions and feelings."


There's nothing more to add to that.
But people will.
That's what people do.


So let me not disappoint.

But knowing how we are "wired" gives us more choices. We've overcome some of our wiring before now, albeit in patchy ways.

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