Comments by notsobad

51. Turek vs. Hitchens Debate: Does God Exist?

Comment #274152 by notsobad on October 29, 2008 at 4:48 pm

Turek is an example of a more sophisticated but still deluded theist. You throw science at him, he will listen and study, but will eventually say, 'See that only reinforces what we were saying all along!.' Except it doesn't and his understanding and explanation of scientific facts is skewed towards his beliefs, not reality. His understanding of chemistry and biology was outright laughable.

He has no new arguments, because there are none and won't be any unless someone finds empirical evidence. And they were unable to do that for thousands of years.

52. Why We Believe

Comment #274135 by notsobad on October 29, 2008 at 4:27 pm

see:
Ghost Lusters: If You Want to See a Specter Badly Enough, Will You?
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=ghost-lusters-if-you-want

53. Dole Ad Fabricates Audio Of Opponent Yelling 'There Is No God'

Comment #274132 by notsobad on October 29, 2008 at 4:24 pm

So it turns out that the Republican candidate is an atheist.
Would you dare misuse god if you believed in it?

54. Countdown: Palin Wants To Help Special Needs Kids By Doing Away With Science

Comment #273842 by notsobad on October 29, 2008 at 10:46 am

Bonzai:

So GDP growth is wealth creation? ...

Yes, it is. The problems you mentioned are incentives for people to work more, harder and come with new ideas.
We can talk about an ideal world where people would be motivated enough just by being able to do so, but it doesn't and won't exist because of human nature shaped by evolution. A good practical example is planned economy used in communist countries.
You may use wealth in an ideological sense, but that's technically inaccurate when you want to debate economics.
For example, to me, diamonds used as trinkets do not represent wealth and have almost no value, but I recognize their value in general.

55. New Simonyi Chair appointed

Comment #273836 by notsobad on October 29, 2008 at 10:38 am

The problem of maths is that it's far less attractive than biology, geology, astronomy, physics or chemistry.

56. Why Children Like to Share

Comment #273661 by notsobad on October 29, 2008 at 4:44 am

Also:

Ghost Lusters: If You Want to See a Specter Bad Enough, Will You?

57. Premier debates with Dawkins

Comment #273258 by notsobad on October 28, 2008 at 11:39 am

Whether Moral absolutes actually exist (in which case they seem to be depednent on something beyond nature, therefore I infer a moral law giver)

They seem to be dependent that way to you.
And where did the sense upon which you figured this dependence come from? Did it evolve or is it also god-given?
Turtles all the way down?

Also, most other animals do not rape. Do they also have god-given morals or is it evolutionary in this case?
If it's god-given, why are humans special?
If it's not, how come animals without these morals from god are better at not raping others than humans with these morals?

58. Premier debates with Dawkins

Comment #273078 by notsobad on October 28, 2008 at 5:14 am

justinbrierley:
Why does rape even exist when a supposedly omnipotent god doesn't like it? (That is not even true if you actually read the Bible.)
Where was god for about 198,000 years of homo sapiens existence?

59. Premier debates with Dawkins

Comment #273028 by notsobad on October 28, 2008 at 3:47 am

He, like any atheist, has to admit that there is no absolute moral values that exist on this or any other issue.

Yes, human life is what we make of it. Why is it hard to believe?

Our morality is simply as random

Evolution is not random.

and purposeless as the evolutionary process itself.

Define purpose.

Had we evolved into a species where rape was not immoral, then that would just be that. End of story.

But some people do rape. I recall a certain institution headquartered in Vatican that has quite a few members who don't mind raping children. But maybe their problem is that their morals are supposed to be god-given.
Evolution gives us the basics. The rest is for us to decide.

The problem is that that just doesn't sit well with our innate (and in my opinion God-given) sense of what is right and wrong.

You don't need to go any further than the Bible to find out that it's not just innate but it depends on current culture and society, or shifting moral Zeitgeist as Dawkins calls it.

As for our innate features, here is some recent material:
Ghost Lusters: If You Want to See a Specter Bad Enough, Will You?

60. Premier debates with Dawkins

Comment #272676 by notsobad on October 27, 2008 at 5:15 pm

"simple idea ... creative god"

So simple it's silly.

61. Interview with Richard Dawkins on fairy tales and retirement

Comment #272635 by notsobad on October 27, 2008 at 4:49 pm

Using religious titles for atheists is cheap, lazy and stupid. Find something new, copy-cat "journalists".

Anyway, one of my favourite fairy-tale books was a compilation of Greek mythology. Great stories, creatures, heroes and everything.
It is also beneficial to tell the kid that the Ancient Greeks considered the stories real, just like theists today think of the Bible or Qur'an.

62. May your god go with you

Comment #272178 by notsobad on October 27, 2008 at 4:42 am

For those that diss the book, the book may be good, the review is lame.

63. May your god go with you

Comment #271913 by notsobad on October 26, 2008 at 6:32 pm

Zappi:

the AGW militants

Did you borrow this from apologetics?
Because they call people who have a different opinion, based on facts too, militant just because of that.

64. May your god go with you

Comment #271818 by notsobad on October 26, 2008 at 3:49 pm

The article ends with the usual don't blame the system, blame the individuals message.

While individuals are responsible for their actions, it's also meaningful to blame the system.

Or is someone suggesting that African children are genetically more prone to become soldiers than other children?

65. Countdown: Palin Wants To Help Special Needs Kids By Doing Away With Science

Comment #271615 by notsobad on October 26, 2008 at 5:33 am

Republicans need at least one idiot in the race. Last time it was the president, now it's the VP. Idiot voters usually want to vote for one of their own.

As for the book, how about the classics we used to read, from Jules Verne to Arthur Conan Doyle's the Lost World.

Mark Smith:

Would that be the free market the government just propped up with 700 billion dollars?

Is this sarcasm or are you really ignorant?

Don't Blame Capitalism By Peter Schiff

Peter Schiff, June 26 2008

66. 'People say I'm strident'

Comment #271611 by notsobad on October 26, 2008 at 5:19 am

"We've all been brought up with the view that religion has some kind of special privileged status. You're not allowed to criticise it. And therefore, if you offer even a fairly mild criticism, it really does sound strident, because it violates this expectation that religion is out of bounds."

This is an observable fact.
It's the same with other topics people are brainwashed to consider untouchable, such as patriotism.

Interestingly, that is a local problem. Try being a patriot in germany, for example, and you'll most likely wake up in a hospital.

From one extreme to another, eh.

But yes, my example is more suited for the USA than Europe. So Germany is a good example that this can change and religion too can lose its privileged status. Another good example is smoking.

67. 'People say I'm strident'

Comment #271171 by notsobad on October 25, 2008 at 11:25 am

"We've all been brought up with the view that religion has some kind of special privileged status. You're not allowed to criticise it. And therefore, if you offer even a fairly mild criticism, it really does sound strident, because it violates this expectation that religion is out of bounds."

This is an observable fact.
It's the same with other topics people are brainwashed to consider untouchable, such as patriotism.

68. No-God squad climb aboard the atheist bus

Comment #270512 by notsobad on October 24, 2008 at 8:31 am

Those without belief in God want it to be known that they have as strong a moral framework as those who follow ancient biblical texts and commandments laid down long ago by desert tribes.

The same framework? Have you read the Bible?

69. All aboard the atheist bus campaign

Comment #270086 by notsobad on October 23, 2008 at 4:22 pm

Main impact of this campaign won't indeed be the ads, but reporting in the media.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5003070.ece
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Atheists-plan--There-s-no-God--message-on-London-buses/377174
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/world/europe/23briefs-RILEDATHEIST_BRF.html?em
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gRSp5QYL4UULZupCtHk-8vRx1Ogw
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h5dT9_Mfzt50a2hTXDwEg0nhJweAD93VME6O0

etc.

70. Memories Selectively, Safely Erased In Mice

Comment #269516 by notsobad on October 23, 2008 at 5:11 am

So if this is applicable to humans, and that's only a question of time, where is the space for soul?

71. All aboard the atheist bus campaign

Comment #269488 by notsobad on October 23, 2008 at 3:57 am

Betrothed at 7, completed at 9.

72. All aboard the atheist bus campaign

Comment #269468 by notsobad on October 23, 2008 at 3:11 am

Here is a segment specific slogan:

What would you call a man who married a 9-year old?
In Islam, they call him the prophet of God.

73. All aboard the atheist bus campaign

Comment #268852 by notsobad on October 22, 2008 at 10:49 am

Why not a magazine ad? It would contain much more information.

74. All aboard the atheist bus campaign

Comment #268585 by notsobad on October 22, 2008 at 2:27 am

How about:

How much can you believe without evidence?
and
Ready to go one god further? or just Go one god further, since it advertises the website.

or something positive

We are good because we want to, not god.

Go one god further is a good slogan for the entire campaign anyway.

75. All aboard the atheist bus campaign

Comment #268274 by notsobad on October 21, 2008 at 4:08 pm

I still don't like the message and agree with mismos00's criticism.

It should be something in form of a question to make people think about the answer, or just something funny. Or it could target religion.

All this ad will do is brighten atheists for a few seconds and make theists ignore it.

76. Bill Heine interviews Richard Dawkins

Comment #267728 by notsobad on October 21, 2008 at 2:57 am

The holocaust was all about anti-semitism, which was entirely the product of Christians who blamed the jews for killing Christ.

It had a lot to do with cohesion among Jews and their commercial success, even though most were just common shop owners and not super rich magnates. The they killed Jesus argument was used as propaganda to get support from brainwashed Christian masses before Holocaust too.
The Chinese have similar problems in countries around China, where a lot of them belong to business elites even though they are just a minority.

77. The soul? It may all be in your mind

Comment #267725 by notsobad on October 21, 2008 at 2:46 am

Would be an interesting research project to see if this is really what Descartes intended.

It would for it would involve a time machine :)

78. The Joke's on Him: Bill Maher could use a lesson in civility from Michael Moore

Comment #267723 by notsobad on October 21, 2008 at 2:41 am

NightHiker:

I'm done with you, "Ohsobad".

Changing someone's name into a supposedly offensive one ... what are you, ten?

79. Bill Heine interviews Richard Dawkins

Comment #267556 by notsobad on October 20, 2008 at 5:03 pm

I dread these call-in shows, you all know why...but here goes.

Hey, everybody knows that those people are caricatures of believers and not true Scotsmen, I mean Christians.

80. The soul? It may all be in your mind

Comment #267549 by notsobad on October 20, 2008 at 4:42 pm

May?

Eduardo Punset: The soul is in the brain

All right, we knew it. But now we have the whole picture of the molecular process through which past and future link; how the germinal soul, rooted in brain matter and memory, allows for new perceptions, for the future, to emerge. It is both simple and terrifying at the same time.

When the mind is challenged from the outside universe, it searches in its accumulated archives in order to make sense of this new stimulus. This screening of our memory -of our past- produces an immediate answer: the new stimulus either leaves everyone indifferent, or else it blooms into an emotion of love, of pleasure or of sheer curiosity. These are the three touchstones of creativity. So basically, science has discovered that at the very beginning at least, only the past matters. And that holds true also of our future creativity.

Then a process more akin to alchemy than science sparks off and develops into social intelligence. The imitation process, based on mirror neurons, interacts with the corpus of accumulated knowledge -of one´s own species, and of others- which, combined with a good stock of well preserved individual memory, explode into new thinking.

Until very recently, we were missing a fundamental step in the process of knowledge- namely, how to transform short term memory into long term knowledge. At last we are taking into account the detailed contents of durability, specific proteins without which there is no learning and affection in childhood, no schooling at a later stage, no socialization in adult life. The roots are in the past; but there is no knowledge if we hide in a cave alone, with no windows to peer from and no shadows dancing outside.

The past has to be worked upon from the outside in order to transform into the future, and this has brought about the second main discovery in the molecular process of creativity. The so called "technology transfer" from old to new generations is a two-way process: matter, mind, soul, past, memory, future, and also startling new ways of looking at old things, are all marvellously intertwined in the evolutionary process.

http://www.edge.org/q2008/q08_9.html#punset

81. The Joke's on Him: Bill Maher could use a lesson in civility from Michael Moore

Comment #267541 by notsobad on October 20, 2008 at 4:33 pm

Was Maher also using exaggeration for comedic purposes all the times he said vaccines do more harm than good and polio was not erradicated by vaccines?

poisoning the well with a red herring, eh

Do you really think that a guy who is capable of defending such completely stupid beliefs as "vaccines are bad" is not capable of having another stupid belief?

I never said I thought that in the first place.

And those "some cases" where supposedly religion becomes a neurological disorder, can't that be because those people are insane to begin with, no matter if religious or not?

Yes, but it's also often triggered by the simple fact that children are brainwashed before they develop critical thinking. E.g. Jehovah's Witnesses.

Can't it be that the mystical feeling that religious people have is more easily triggered on people who are already mentally ill to begin with?

Maybe, but that doesn't mean that it can't be triggered in others.

I get it. In the end you are not any diferent from moderate religious people. You are a nice, usually rational and socially capable person, but becomes an irrational troll when someone offends your dogmas and your deities.

If you think that I presented a personal dogma or defended a deity in this discussion, then you are more confused than I thought before.
For example, Maher's support of PETA is irrational, but that, like his stand on vaccines, is not the point of this debate.

82. The Joke's on Him: Bill Maher could use a lesson in civility from Michael Moore

Comment #267166 by notsobad on October 20, 2008 at 10:01 am

No. You said Bill Maher said that.

In the video you posted, Bill Maher was talking about children indoctrination and fanatical believers. Watch the whole video, not just a selected quote. Sure, he said all people, but he is a comedian and exaggerates for this reason.

Because paedophilia includes the prospect of hurting innocent children

So do other sexual and romantic desires.

83. The Joke's on Him: Bill Maher could use a lesson in civility from Michael Moore

Comment #266975 by notsobad on October 20, 2008 at 3:17 am

never defended that being credulous awas an absolute good thing, or that it could not mean our demise, just tried to demonstrate how it developed on us as to become "natural", and why "religion" does not qualify as "neurological disorder". This is another strawman of yours.

And I never claimed you did.
Also, I said several times 'some aspects of religion and in some cases' and not all of religiosity.
Talk about straw men.

Then add some real arguments, not just stubornly try to mislead and distort my own.

Your definitions were weak, as proven by your enlarging them in every post, which was my point.
Again (since the page doesn't display some characters correctly) paedophilia does not equal child molesting so your basic definition fails here.

To other: why do you always feed the trolls like PoliticallyIncorrect?

84. The Joke's on Him: Bill Maher could use a lesson in civility from Michael Moore

Comment #266683 by notsobad on October 19, 2008 at 3:03 pm

NightHiker,
I am a little tired by your ad hominems and snobbish tone by now.
In the long run, humans can die out because of their gullibility and irrationality (lack of critical thinking...), so it will be a losing strategy and not a good selection.

The only difference about paedophilia and homosexualism is not "consent", as I clearly explained, but also the deleterious effect it has on both the victim and the perpetrator. What brings it right to the point of the definition I offered.

paedophile /= child molester
And it's homosexuality since you seem to be so keen on your use of language when writing...

85. God is not the enemy of reason

Comment #266479 by notsobad on October 19, 2008 at 3:31 am

In fact, we are living in a deeply irrational age, where millions are putting their faith in such mumbo-jumbo as astrology, parapsychology, paganism, witchcraft or conspiracies between sinister groups and extra-terrestrial forces. All of which goes to prove the truth of the old adage that when people stop believing in God, they will believe in anything.

I bet only a minority of people believing in such things are atheists.

86. The Joke's on Him: Bill Maher could use a lesson in civility from Michael Moore

Comment #266394 by notsobad on October 18, 2008 at 9:02 pm

NightHiker,
the trap is on you because I knew you will start explaining that homosexuality and paedophilia differ because practising paedophilia involves involuntary relationships.
But that was not in your original definitions so they fail. As you demonstrated, they needed to be expanded.
Your lengthy response also shows that you thought necessary to explain to me the differences between the two. That's cute.

87. The Joke's on Him: Bill Maher could use a lesson in civility from Michael Moore

Comment #266229 by notsobad on October 18, 2008 at 12:29 pm

Not at all. Does homosexuality impairs an individual's metabolism or behavior in any way? Not at all. They are still perfectly able to procreate, and often choose to. It just happens that they prefer the company of people of the same sex when having sexual pleasure.

The same can be said about paedophiles when you exchange "company of people of the same sex" for company of children. You need better definitions.

And what you are ignoring is that people cannot make up their own definitions for already very well defined concepts, unless they are adept of equivocation.

To avoid ambiguity, Maher didn't redefine the definition of what disorder is.
My point is that he doesn't call all of religiosity a mental disorder, but only certain aspects of it. I mentioned some of them.
see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGGvC-6NZII
starts at 2:38

88. The Joke's on Him: Bill Maher could use a lesson in civility from Michael Moore

Comment #266211 by notsobad on October 18, 2008 at 10:57 am

NightHiker,
you ignored the definition of what Maher calls a disorder, which is why I used those examples. And you still ignore it. You also seem to forgot that he uses exaggeration since he is a comedian.
Also, by your simple definition, homosexuality shouldn't have been taken off the disorders list.

When an uneducated peasant somewhere in Africa believes in daemons and gods, it's understandable. If you are an average educated intelligent person and believe against evidence, it's on the border of being mental.

89. The Joke's on Him: Bill Maher could use a lesson in civility from Michael Moore

Comment #265954 by notsobad on October 17, 2008 at 4:25 pm

To say that inclination towards religion is a neurological disorder...

Maher says this about people who believe in miracles, voices in their head and imaginary friends, things for which you would be called crazy if it was something else than religious faith.

Paedophilia and Down syndrome are innate and natural, are they not disorders then? Sure they are.

90. Faith Attack

Comment #265951 by notsobad on October 17, 2008 at 4:22 pm

boring
I am going back to eating babies.

91. The Joke's on Him: Bill Maher could use a lesson in civility from Michael Moore

Comment #265442 by notsobad on October 16, 2008 at 6:18 pm

It's funny how these reviewers complain that Maher acts like a smart ass, while at the same time also call all the presented believers crazy, caricatures and such.
Pretending that your version of faith and god is truer or better than theirs is the ultimate self-righteous narcissism, Podhoretz.

92. Ricky Gervais and The Archbishop Of Canterbury

Comment #264998 by notsobad on October 15, 2008 at 4:02 pm

Church Pastors Dismiss Mental Illness

In a study of Christian church members who approached their church for help with a personal or family member's diagnosed mental illness, researchers found that more than 32 percent were told by their pastor that they or their loved one did not really have a mental illness.

http://www.livescience.com/health/081015-church-mental.html

93. Ricky Gervais and The Archbishop Of Canterbury

Comment #264533 by notsobad on October 14, 2008 at 5:14 pm

Belief in god doesn't generate a moral code.
It's just people writing down stories and, more importantly, rules to command others.

94. Religion vs science: can the divide between God and rationality be reconciled?

Comment #263641 by notsobad on October 12, 2008 at 7:12 am

"The new atheism completely misunderstands the way that human beings experience the poetry and narrative of life."

95. Religion vs science: can the divide between God and rationality be reconciled?

Comment #263628 by notsobad on October 12, 2008 at 4:03 am

can the divide between God and rationality be reconciled?

Hey, Thor is not irrational.
What is the debate about anyway? You can't disprove Thor, so there.

96. Leading geneticist Steve Jones says human evolution is over

Comment #262823 by notsobad on October 9, 2008 at 2:03 pm

Financial crisis may increase mental health woes

The global financial crisis is likely to cause increased mental health problems and even suicides...

What was it about natural selection not working in the West? :)

97. YouTube Reinstates Pat Condell

Comment #262352 by notsobad on October 8, 2008 at 11:32 am

Stephan,
you didn't watch that video, did you?

And even though you try to sound polite and friendly, calling Condell a xenophobe and comparing him to Nazis (right-wing radicals...) and saying that Styrer may be sympathizing with Nazis makes you a dick.
Talk about rational positions...

98. Leading geneticist Steve Jones says human evolution is over

Comment #262204 by notsobad on October 8, 2008 at 5:36 am

Not the end of evolution again!

at

scienceblogs.com/evolvingthoughts

99. The camp that 'cures' homosexuality

Comment #262127 by notsobad on October 8, 2008 at 3:06 am

What IS it about religions, that almost every one, and certainly all the abrahamic ones, that they insist on trying to control the natural sexual behaviour, not just of themselves, but of others, even those of a different faith, or no faith ?

Controlling sexuality and reproduction is the basic tactic to control people and their children and their children and...

100. The camp that 'cures' homosexuality

Comment #262094 by notsobad on October 8, 2008 at 1:38 am