51. The Giant Tortoise's Tale

Comment #155610 by Vadjong on April 5, 2008 at 4:44 am

This is the second of 3 tales to be posted.

52. Cult leader Pyotr Kuznetsov tries suicide after realising he was wrong about doomsday

Comment #155608 by Vadjong on April 5, 2008 at 4:08 am

I have lost my ability to laugh at these tragicomedies, even though I think I maybe should. You always hear about the cases that ended up badly. The eternal question is: could nobody have seen this coming and tried to talk some sense into these people, break through their paranoia ?
Could consistent ridicule and scepsis of such cases prevent someone else from ever stepping on the slippery slope of our human instinct for faith ?
Delusions must be countered by awareness, but the difficulty is always in reaching the hearts and minds of the deluded.

53. I always aim to misbehave

Comment #154076 by Vadjong on April 2, 2008 at 2:20 pm

Just read this great post on Pharyngula :

Yes! We're not saying that Jesusism is WRONG, we're only saying it's clearly not a fact, it's JUST A THEORY, and there are other good theories out there as well. Let the Church set a good example to BIG SCIENCE by TEACHING THE CONTROVERSY.

So I'm saying to the Church, give equal time in your Sunday schools to your Jesusism (how many of you knew that Jesusism was EVEN OLDER than stodgy old Darwinism?) and the MODERN theory of UNITELLIGIBLE DIVINE, based on the theory of IRREDUCIBLE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY.

Unintelligible Divine theorists tell us that concepts such as the Trinity, which are clearly irreducibly incomprehensible, force us to conclude that divinity is unintelligible. Sure, MICRODIVINITY, i.e. the existence of very small gods which are only marginally different from humans, might be possible, but MACRODIVINITY, i.e. the existence of really God-like Gods which are a whole different species, is clearly an entirely different thing.

TEACH THE CONTROVERSY, that's all we're asking. Don't expel unintelligibility from your Sunday schools, and you'll teach big science that they should also welcome unintelligible theories in the science classroom.

Posted by: oriole |

54. Fleabytes

Comment #154070 by Vadjong on April 2, 2008 at 2:02 pm

Call me slo & stoopit, but only now do I see through the Turing Test expert-program currently named Gimlibengloin.
It is the utter stonewalling repetitiveness that finally gives the machine away. No human intelligence has this kind of "Ausdauer" in the face of some good brain cleansing. A real person would by now have picked up something from all the answers and arguments he or she has been exposed to over and over. An open mind would have learned something, at least processed the input.
But, with hindsight now, it's easy to spot the hallmarks of a spam automaton.
The dream of 'hard' A.I. is still a long way of.

And to think of all those complaints it made about ad hominem attacks !
Witty little trick, that.

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

Comment #152783 by Vadjong on March 31, 2008 at 2:37 pm

Let's hear wath Pat Condell has to say :

http://patcondell.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=323191

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3_qelW5qp4

56. Fleabytes

Comment #152763 by Vadjong on March 31, 2008 at 1:40 pm

Mr Robertson said he could have written a better case for atheism and described most of the arguments as "sixth form schoolboy variety".

57. Fleabytes

Comment #152568 by Vadjong on March 31, 2008 at 8:15 am

Don't you worry, David Robertson !

People will come up with even better cases for atheism than TGD. There's plenty of fresh blood where that came from. You won't starve any time soon.

58. In His Name We Pray, Ramen

Comment #151817 by Vadjong on March 29, 2008 at 1:18 pm

10. Comment #151768 by Apathy personified on March 29, 2008 at 10:54 am
Worship of the FSM can not be counted as a religion, because they haven't had a schism yet, as all the good religions do.

59. Fleabytes

Comment #151811 by Vadjong on March 29, 2008 at 12:54 pm

In an ideal world, people would script their own farewell-to-life ceremony. Discuss it with family and friends, go a bit further perhaps than just choosing a few pieces of music.
It's not for everybody, I realize, but past the morbidity and sobering, it can also plant your feet and make you appreciate the hopefully long time you have left.

You may also come up with some limit as to how far you want your life extended, once you no longer are under your own control, due to coma, alzheimer's or some other debilitating factor. Euthenasia and even suicide should be strongly guarded against, but not outright forbidden under superstitious taboo.

My theory of life is that I am absolutely immortal, until proven otherwise. But this proof will be entirely academic to me, so bring on the good times !

PS. If you're interested in the so-called meaning of life, that's simple : it's nothing more than procreation (fun for a bit, then some work raising the offspring, but nothing deeply metaphysical or angsty about it.) The rest of the time you're on vacation, whatever you do.

60. Iowa county board gives initial OK for ghost hunters to investigate asylum

Comment #151613 by Vadjong on March 29, 2008 at 4:08 am

I agree with the county officials.
Let these people have their sleep-over in a spooky place. I'm dead certain they will record at least one inexplicable phenomenon that scares the bat shit out of them. (Any guesses?)
If not, the usual excuses will manifest themselves without fail the morning after (equipment not sensitive enough, the ghost of James Randi lurking, wrong moonphase, joke played on them ...).

61. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #148915 by Vadjong on March 24, 2008 at 3:39 pm

Hitler was (clearly, I hope) a racist.
He and his cronies often talk (shout) about purity and dilution of the Arian master race. This he might have considered micro-evolution. But the whole concept of a master race is incompatible with deeper evolution. Or you should consider Mitochondrial Eve's tribe the master tribe. Hitler would have a fit !
So he still looks like a creationist. (And, yes, they are a product of evolution as well.)

62. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #148913 by Vadjong on March 24, 2008 at 3:01 pm

First of all : Hear, Hear for Hankfox !

Still I'm also a little disappointed whenever (the dear professor [sorry]) Richard says this :

But as a citizen and a human being, I want to construct a society which is about as un-Darwinian as we can make it. I approve of looking after the poor (very un-Darwinian). I approve of universal medical care (very un-Darwinian).

63. Fleabytes

Comment #148353 by Vadjong on March 22, 2008 at 5:43 pm

Yes, ofcourse ! Thanks, mikejswalker. That's what I should have thought of in the first place ! I can go back to sleep now.

edit :
Damn, lights on again. I wouldn't mind being miss-guided, especially if she were Miss Brasil. So it still doesn't work. I'm sorry to have wasted your time. You can shoot me at dawn, Dr. Benway.

64. Fleabytes

Comment #148333 by Vadjong on March 22, 2008 at 4:46 pm

I haven't read the last hundred or so comments on this thread (I will), but I just came up with a little pun that I cann't quite get to work. It kinda pertains to Richard's fleas, so I thought to add a little to Paula's count here. It's this :

People who believe what priests tell them in sermons are MASGUIDED.

(Now, shouldn't that be mass-guided ? Or does that become some technical term used by roller coaster engineers ? Any idea's ?)

65. Fleabytes

Comment #148096 by Vadjong on March 22, 2008 at 3:48 am

It's true. I was that frog.

66. Discussion on PZ Myers being expelled from Expelled

Comment #148095 by Vadjong on March 22, 2008 at 3:42 am

And I do think that laughter is one of our greatest weapons in combating all that is bad in religion.

67. Discussion on PZ Myers being expelled from Expelled

Comment #148087 by Vadjong on March 22, 2008 at 2:33 am

It's not that they shot themselves in the foot. It looks more like a suicide bomb attempt that apparently is all the fashion among certain relinutters.
[made up quote]"See ! See ! Big Science is crushing the poor little god loving guys. What brave martyrs they are !"[/made up quote]

68. First 'Rule' Of Evolution Suggests That Life Is Destined To Become More Complex

Comment #146071 by Vadjong on March 18, 2008 at 3:11 pm

Higher complexity is just an euphemism! I call it tinkering upon tinkering. You'll never down-tinker anything unless you scrap it and start anew.

69. Religion 'linked to happy life'

Comment #146068 by Vadjong on March 18, 2008 at 3:04 pm

Good point, Fedler.
I guess you and I were not among the 'thousands of Europeans'.
As with all these kinds of studies, it's soooo easy to do one that will say the exact opposite and than have the media do their usual distortion.

70. The Great Tantra Challenge

Comment #144889 by Vadjong on March 17, 2008 at 1:30 am

They should let Derren Brown have a go. He'd probably pull it off.

(With Penn & Teller hosting, that should be fun !)

Now who should be the victim ?

71. 'Anonymous' takes anti-Scientology to the streets

Comment #144886 by Vadjong on March 17, 2008 at 1:10 am

My kitchen sink psychological profile of L. Ron Hubbard :
Cynical about the delusions of 'real' religions, he tried an experiment, looking to see how far out he could take utterly crazy myths and doctrines. And then it WORKED on a bunch of nutjobs who offered him the lifestyle of a prophet, so he just thought: "What the hell! I can have a ball."
And now we're stuck with this church his nutjobs built.

72. Two More Fleas

Comment #143015 by Vadjong on March 13, 2008 at 11:08 am

God of the Gaps :

Deus Foramini

(Oh, who am I kidding ? It's all greek to me.)

73. Two More Fleas

Comment #143007 by Vadjong on March 13, 2008 at 10:38 am

"We don't know, therefore God exists."

Ignoramos, Ergo Deo.

74. Fleabytes

Comment #140624 by Vadjong on March 8, 2008 at 3:28 am

Hey, somebody mentioned John Adams !
I really love his piece "Fearful Symmetries".
Also, "Hoodoo Zephyr" (the album) is fun.
I've just stuck "On the Transmigration of Souls" in the tray (his 9-11 piece).
Haven't graduated to his opera's yet, though. (Man, life is too full !)

I once went to a concert where he conducted his own music and I met him at an intimate Q&A beforehand. Very polite and good natured man.

75. Fleas on the Horizon: In Defense of God

Comment #138225 by Vadjong on March 4, 2008 at 4:43 am

I think I spotted a pattern :
Everytime an apologist is asked to explain his/her God, the drivel that follows gets easily reasoned away. Then they claim it's NOT their definition of Scot and they are deliberately or naively misunderstood.
So Richard (among many others) provides his own broadest possible spectrum of what would be considered a divine entity (from Stone Age 'bolt tossing sky daddy' to New Age 'some form of cosmic energy') and then pulls the rug lengthwise and sideways. AND STILL they claim their God is not flying on this carpet.
So they are asked to explain. They twist the emperor's knickers subtly and the whole cycle starts again.
Apologists ! Hah ! I wish they would apologize for wasting those braincells.

76. Please Call Earth. We Still Haven't Found You.

Comment #138179 by Vadjong on March 4, 2008 at 3:17 am

...short science fiction story...

I remember one where it turns out the star of Bethlehem was a supernova that wiped out a highly civilized planet. (It would fit God's M.O.)

WHAT IF ...
... aliens contact us and they say : 'We sent you several of our prophets to help you understand God, but you refused to listen, so DIE !!'
... a spaceship (with a small Ichtus symbol on the boot) lands and out comes Jesus, saying: 'I'm ba-hack !'
... aliens prove Von Däniken right ?

Ah, well, even as S.F. goes, you couldn't make that convincing.

77. Fleabytes

Comment #132820 by Vadjong on February 25, 2008 at 8:36 am

Paula, let me already congratulate you on 1.000 posts to your wonderful article !
I just actually read the entire thing (well, not the posts) and was nodding sagely throughout (even raising and waving my hands about, now and again.)

From now on we can just refer to your clear-cut answers in debates against the same old quasi-arguments.

Thank you.

78. Fleabytes

Comment #132660 by Vadjong on February 25, 2008 at 5:04 am

atheist Oath of Allegiance :

Shame on you for forgetting our battle hymn !

Ok, All Together Now :
...Always look on the bright side of life ...

79. Richard Dawkins on five of his favorite books

Comment #132536 by Vadjong on February 25, 2008 at 12:03 am

It's booktime already again ? Why, you, geeks !
I just finished YOUR INNER FISH (Shubin), MUSICOPHILIA (Sacks), BIBLICAL NONSENSE (Long) and INK (Duncan) and have started MATTER (Banks) and LINGUA EX MACHINA (Calvin & Bickerton)

Ofcourse, Umberto Eco's FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM and FIGMENTS OF REALITY by Stewart & Cohen must always be mentioned at least once in these threads.

80. Missing link found in Sydney Harbour

Comment #131456 by Vadjong on February 22, 2008 at 12:57 pm

I DO NOT agree that scientists need to start being more careful about how their words may be misinterpreted or, more importantly, mis-USED!

In his books Richard always makes it a point to explain why he may use "as if" language now and again. Everybody uses lies-to-children(TM) to explain things a bit simpler and more direct. The difference is admitting this and taking the opportunity to say: 'Well, ofcourse they didn't really ...., but that's what it just looks like in hindsight.' Repeat this enough times and Joe Public will catch on (and hopefully be a bit more savvy against those who tell the really tall tales).
Lo ... it's meme-inoculation !

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

Comment #129674 by Vadjong on February 19, 2008 at 12:56 pm

This thread is already worth a good part of those 2 million. Great work, everybody !
We're entering the Mind's I territory here.

Spirituality and intuition are traits of consciousness, talking about a "cure" for them is just meaningless.
However, through edutainment it will be possible to prune [sorry, Bonzai] cancerous outgrowths like passé (mono-)theism and blasé New Agerism.
We should evangelize our Sagan-tastic sense of wonder at every opportunity. (More Ancestor's Tale than God Delusion, I guess Richard would agree.)

82. An Altar Beyond Olympus for a Deity Predating Zeus

Comment #122506 by Vadjong on February 5, 2008 at 11:11 am

Great news for the Young Earth Creationists :
Science proves God predates the Earth !

83. 'Irrational Atheist' trounces God-deniers

Comment #117641 by Vadjong on January 29, 2008 at 9:34 am

Christians always want to quote the Bible to try to prove a point, but to the atheist, that's no more meaningful than reading Shakespeare at them.

84. Ethical storm as scientist becomes first man to clone HIMSELF

Comment #113596 by Vadjong on January 20, 2008 at 6:35 am

Don't pooh-pooh just a pinhead of cells. State of the art often has a way of exploding in your face after a seemingly trivial breakthrough.

Okay, so what if it became possible to clone, let's say, Hitler ?
You will only get another human being, growing up in the twenty first century, with similar bone structure and eye colour as the infamous Führer, but no way of growing up in 19th century Austria, experiencing WW I and all the things that led to the creation of the monster.
He (or she !) might become a nurse in a old people's home, an archbishop or a contestant on Idols, who is to say ?!
Even if this twin became a miserable git and throw regular tantrums, would you fear the resurrection of the Nazi party and another holocaust ?

I think genetic manipulation will have much more farreaching implications than just simple cloning.

85. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #113584 by Vadjong on January 20, 2008 at 5:46 am

Giving this thread a quick once-over, to me this discussion with scooternyc echoes the whole 20th century debate between Nature and Nurture. Do you make your own destiny or are you born into it ?
Basically, it's two political points of view that, after choosing one fork over the other, appear consistent and logical from each end of the spectrum and then the tempers just fly !
However, both sides are as much right as they are mistaken (not judging morally, but rationaly). There may be no middle ground, but certainly, there is a more accurate meta-level-perpective to be found ? (Not by me, I'm "just visiting" here.)

86. Fish out of water: Your Inner Fish

Comment #111199 by Vadjong on January 14, 2008 at 2:24 am

Call this article "Your Inner Ichtus" and it may reach the audience that needs it most.
Great how accessible and funny it is, and then you realize it is pretty profound in a number of ways.

Now I'm curious about how these design flaws got sorted in cetaceans.

87. The Group Delusion

Comment #110495 by Vadjong on January 11, 2008 at 11:08 am

"God : Or, The Evolution of a Most Selfish Meme"

"God : (Quasi-)Intelligently Designed"

"The Godfather Delusion"

88. Six Reasons to be an Atheist

Comment #108595 by Vadjong on January 7, 2008 at 10:11 am

Since this thread is back to theist debate strategy and the use of logic (and my earlier post was quoted, thanks Jon :-) ), there still is no answer to how we can reach the -alledgedly- unreachable ?
Maybe some fencesitters will quit or not take up smoking by hearing all the arguments against it, but that still leaves the 'true smokers' spoiling the atmosphere and teaching it to children.
My more important point is : can we come up with THE clincher slogan to shake down the throne of God (and his extended family)? Somewhere between scholastic reasoning and abuse heaping ? (Imagine ?)


Oh, and Robotaholic : you feel bad about your christian parents ? Imagine your father is Yoga teacher, foot reflex therapist and Chakra mandala artist ! (He had a bad case of catholic poisoning as a schoolboy, so I try to take the Dennett approach. Besides, he makes a "honest" living out of it and seems to really help vulnerable people.)

89. Six Reasons to be an Atheist

Comment #108124 by Vadjong on January 6, 2008 at 4:30 am

Well thanks, guys !
By blasting ADH clean out of our oasis with your clear-headedness, I picture him/her now somewhere on her/his knees, praying for our souls, as s/he is compelled to love us anyway.
We win every single 'argument' (because that is the easy part), but all it does is strengthen the belief that it's just a test (the more right we are, the more counterproductive).
This 'test of faith' meme always trumps reason, precisely because it is of an anti-scientific mindset. Let's call it the Catch-Mother-Theresa stratagem.
So if we cann't use logic or evidence, how do we unfurl this loop ?

90. Whale 'missing link' discovered

Comment #102211 by Vadjong on December 22, 2007 at 2:37 am

The pinnacle of creation, the perfect Orca came from some cowardly capybara ???
Really, no way ! I'm done with evolution now, thank you.

91. Interview with Richard Dawkins: On Christmas

Comment #100809 by Vadjong on December 19, 2007 at 11:22 am

I like the angle on the bible as fiction (see below).
The obvious response will ofcourse be : "Ah, so 'The God Delusion' is fiction too ?" duh...

Comment #74931 by Vadjong on October 1, 2007 at 6:41 am

Holy scriptures are Sci-Fi from the year zero, so to all Goddies out there : Get A Life ! It's just tired old mythology.

Comment #74928 by Vadjong on October 1, 2007 at 6:35 am

serious academic theologians : God Trekkies.

The Bible belongs on the shelf next to Egyptian, Greek, Hindu, Norse, Mayan, Astrological, Wicca, Vampiric, Tolkien, Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc. mythology.
For people who like that sort of stuff and who enjoy some cosplay to go at conventions and the like, I have no problem. I am a bit of a nerd too.

Just don't claim that anybody else needs to be 'saved' into your fantasy or that it is anything more than a cultish or folkloristic hobby. Thank you.

92. Controversial Anti-Muslim Dutch Film Adds to Already Simmering Tensions

Comment #97586 by Vadjong on December 12, 2007 at 11:58 am

Zainab al-Touraihi :

"The Koran is a matter of interpretation, just like the Bible and the Torah. You need to interpret, not take it literally."

93. Functional Neuroimaging of Belief, Disbelief, and Uncertainty

Comment #97576 by Vadjong on December 12, 2007 at 11:35 am

<3

I see the entire history and sense of the universe behind the deeper meaning of this mystimagical symbol, but then again,
I'm just hopeless (some important man told me recently).

94. Ask The God Delusion author Richard Dawkins

Comment #94351 by Vadjong on December 5, 2007 at 12:34 pm

My (self-answering) question :

Does it not frustrate you that so many nice, decent, often thoughtful modern people are still hopelessly devoted to iron-age belief in some God, even though science and culture have revealed that there is SÓ much more on Earth, in the heavens and everywhere in between ?

95. What's the evolutionary advantage of offering your place to an old woman on a bus?

Comment #83068 by Vadjong on October 28, 2007 at 8:17 pm

At least it's a higher moral than promising her heaven if only she comes to your church (and hell if she doesn't.)

96. Evolution to be taught in SA schools

Comment #83067 by Vadjong on October 28, 2007 at 8:03 pm

This offended some black teachers. They said that evolution was a racist theory.

97. I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist

Comment #81968 by Vadjong on October 25, 2007 at 1:06 pm

The universe is, always has been and always will be, completely atheist (de facto). You're part of the universe, therefore you are atheist, whatever you wish to believe.

98. You can't prove that you love someone, so don't expect proof of God

Comment #81959 by Vadjong on October 25, 2007 at 12:55 pm

You can't prove that you love someone YET[?], so don't expect proof of God EVER.

99. Religion is not incompatible with Science: 'Non-Overlapping Magisteria'

Comment #81951 by Vadjong on October 25, 2007 at 12:46 pm

The only overlap I see is where science explains the occurence and history of religious people, from archeology to cognition.

Axiom :
In the entire Gamut of religious/spiritual experience, from pre-Alpha to post-Omega, not one Iota is above or beyond natural (human) fabrication.

100. Atheists don't believe in anything

Comment #81943 by Vadjong on October 25, 2007 at 12:30 pm

To a believer : As an atheist I do believe in intelligence, even yours.


If there is one thing I believe in, it is intelligence ;
If there is one thing I believe in, even against better judgement, it's human intelligence.