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Comments by Azven


51. 'Irrational Atheist' trounces God-deniers

Comment #117560 by Azven on January 29, 2008 at 5:39 am

But what is Day's argument?

My book doesn't rely on the Bible or theological gymnastics or emotional appeals; it simply makes use of detailed historical and scientific evidence in order to expose the logical and factual flaws in every atheist argument you're likely to encounter.


I read this entire article, even though after two paragraphs I wanted to stop, because I thought he might actually have something to say. But if he does, where is it? Am I supposed to go to the blog and trawl through his book (free, though it is) for his pearls of wisdom?




He [Richard Dawkins] only finds Darwin useful insofar as his theory of evolution by natural selection can be used to eliminate the basis for a belief in a Creator God. As Dawkins states in his own words, he's "a passionate anti-Darwinian" with regards to the proper conduct of human affairs. Dawkins thinks humanity should follow Darwin just long enough to cast off Jesus Christ, then ditch Darwin in favor of following Richard Dawkins' opinion on life, the universe and everything.


He has either entirely misunderstood this or (and I suspect this is in fact the reason) he is purposely joining two arguments that both have Darwin in common to create a straw man to knock down. Just for the record, Darwinian evolution explains the apparent creative process in bio-diversity, but human behavior that mirrors evolution is to be discourage because it 's wasteful, has no direction, and most solutions DIE.


Just like philosophers, you can always count on a scientist to come around eventually to the concept of rule by scientist-king.


What? Can anyone explain this to me, please?


I also suspect he knows the difference between difficult concepts like "counties" and "states."


Again what? What is Day saying here? Can anyone explain?

52. Scientists want rewrite of Earth's time line

Comment #117549 by Azven on January 29, 2008 at 5:08 am

Opisthokont

The only comparable event that I can think of was the Polynesian expansion throughout the Pacific


Apologies to Opisthokont! My eye must have skipped over this sentence on first reading. I still disagree with yo* and assert my own argument (above) but I see now that yo has considered the first human migrations over sea.


*Yo = sex neutral, personal pronoun (I'm trying it out for a couple of months to see how I feel about it!)

53. Scientists want rewrite of Earth's time line

Comment #117546 by Azven on January 29, 2008 at 4:58 am

Opisthokont

I considered the pivotal event … the discovery of the New World


How about the invention of the sea-faring boat (as opposed to a simple coracle, or the like) as a pivotal point? I bit hard to pin-point in time but nevertheless significant. Not only did this change the world but it also effectively stopped our species from diverging into many species. Both biotic and abiotic!

PS; An epoch can't be recent for ever. You have to call it something that makes sense no matter what age you're looking back at it from.

54. The real danger in Darwin is not evolution, but racism

Comment #115380 by Azven on January 24, 2008 at 5:51 am

Does Tony Campolo really believe that if evoloution is taught is schools it will be 150 year old science?

I believe that biology students should read OTOOS, such racist presumptions that it contains are few and mild and should not distract the reader from Darwin's message. However, when taught in modern schools by a modern teacher he/she should use modern evidence and modern examples.

The social implications of Darwinian evolution exist, but nevertheless it has been proven to be a robust theory and so why would you you be reticent to teach it?

55. Death Sentence for Afghan Student

Comment #115372 by Azven on January 24, 2008 at 5:26 am

So, Allah cannot mete out his own punishments, He has to rely on a Council of Clerics to do it for Him? Or, is it that He cannot be offended by human blasphemy? Or, is it that He doesn't exist.

56. Three Little Pigs 'too offensive'

Comment #115365 by Azven on January 24, 2008 at 5:17 am

I think the real insult to Muslims is to believe that they are so narrow minded that they would be offended by this. (And I mean the real 'offended' where you insult ME based on YOUR opinion, not the wimpy 'offended' where your opinion clashes with my opinion).

57. Mixing Mammals

Comment #115358 by Azven on January 24, 2008 at 4:58 am

It may be the article's fault here (which I think is quite badly written) but where is the real science here? Does this tell us anything that we didn't already know about evolution?

How does a 6% increase compare with normal variation amongs mice?

And surely "...mutant mice that lacked the mouse Prx1 enhancer..." are normal, un-mutated, mice!

58. What Religion's Blind Stranglehold on America Is Doing to Our Democracy

Comment #113957 by Azven on January 21, 2008 at 4:47 am

Here's a question for candidates:
"If the American people democratically demand that you do something but God tells you to do the opposite, what will you do?"

A. Ignore the people;
B. Ignore God;
C. Seek medical help.

59. New Findings Confirm Darwin's Theory: Evolution Not Random

Comment #113954 by Azven on January 21, 2008 at 4:40 am

I'm glad I'm not alone in being confused by this article. Either they are explaining the obvious (that successful traits become successful in successful generations) or else they've proved something, but haven't explained exactly what!

I suspect that this article was chopped up before publication to make it shorter and to take out all that too confusing scientist talk that we folk just won't understand!

60. Ben Stein Bribing Schools to See His Anti-Evolution Movie 'Expelled'

Comment #112797 by Azven on January 18, 2008 at 5:28 am

Whose pocket is this offered bribe coming from?


An excellent question, indeed!

61. Ben Stein Bribing Schools to See His Anti-Evolution Movie 'Expelled'

Comment #112793 by Azven on January 18, 2008 at 5:17 am

If I owned a movie theatre I think you'd find that this film is sold out every performance.

62. Canadian fossil makes waves in Huckabee's presidential run

Comment #111969 by Azven on January 16, 2008 at 5:26 am

Question: Why would fish want to leave the water?

Answer: Because fish schools were teaching creationism!

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2006/04/might_as_well_stay_missing.php

I forgot to say what a beautiful fossil it is. Stunning!

63. Huckabee Wants A 'Faith-based' Constitution

Comment #111965 by Azven on January 16, 2008 at 5:11 am

Exactly what would Huck change the wording of the Constitution to? It's one thing to talk of 'copying and pasting' from the Bible and of "amend[ing] the Constitution so it's in God's standards", but which standards? What parts of the Bible? Is there any block of text in the Bible as good as the Constitution for the same purpose as the Constitution? (No!) So what would be the point?

64. Canadian fossil makes waves in Huckabee's presidential run

Comment #111961 by Azven on January 16, 2008 at 4:53 am

Scooternyc
What about 50 humans and 50 lions? I bet it'd be lion burgers all round.

65. Canadian fossil makes waves in Huckabee's presidential run

Comment #111960 by Azven on January 16, 2008 at 4:51 am

If you want to believe that you and your family came from apes, I'll accept that


Mr. Huckabee has, as usual, missed the point. It's obvious that he's soft-pedaling here (if not actually back-pedaling) because of the interviewer and the audience du jour, but he's well known for a harder line on the Creationism/Evolution question – and anyway, as Athegan said, "It was enough when he raised his hand on that question about evolution".

But the point he's missed is that it doesn't matter what I believe about where I and my family came from, what matters is what does the evidence tell us?

I've always wanted to be descended from a dinosaur, but, hey, I go where the evidence leads…

66. Whale 'missing link' discovered

Comment #101893 by Azven on December 21, 2007 at 5:16 am

The stable-oxygen-isotope composition of its teeth suggest that the animal spent much of its time in water


Don't-cha just love science. No amount of prayer would ever have told me this!

67. Happy Newton Day!

Comment #99332 by Azven on December 16, 2007 at 10:33 am

Happy Noel Edmond's day!

68. 'Jesus loves you' email

Comment #67059 by Azven on September 1, 2007 at 4:19 pm

Jesus' love is scary love.

It's the love a stalker.

You want to say... "don't love me so much; go and find another occupation and let me live my life".

69. Shop targets U.S. hunters with camo Bibles

Comment #65709 by Azven on August 25, 2007 at 11:51 pm

I want my Bible to be camouflaged as a Harry Potter book so that I can read the good word on the tube without being attacked by fundamentalist atheists.




OK... Joking!!!

70. Researchers find fossils of 10-million-year old ape

Comment #65405 by Azven on August 24, 2007 at 4:27 am

Some one once described the Earth of 10 million years ago as the planet of the apes.

I imagine a vast forest that covers the whole of North Africa and Saudi Arabia and further west to India, with apes of hundreds of different species coming and going, East to West, unconcerned as to how complicated they're making their family tree look to us!

71. Researchers find fossils of 10-million-year old ape

Comment #65403 by Azven on August 24, 2007 at 4:17 am

It's the out, in-and-out, in-and-out, in-and-out of Africa theory.

72. Heliocentrism is an Atheist Doctrine

Comment #44629 by Azven on May 25, 2007 at 5:53 am

If this is not a joke then does Sisyphus believe that the moonwalkers could feel the Moon moving through space? When they looked at the Earth and saw it moving and reported back to Huston which was correct (a) the stationary Moon; (b) the stationary Earth; (c) both; (d) neither; (e) any one body?

73. Lightning damages Jesus statue

Comment #44410 by Azven on May 24, 2007 at 2:55 pm

Where was the lightning conductor? They probably decided not to attach one so as not to stain that lovely white stone with the green stains of copper.

74. Would the World Be Safer Without Religion?

Comment #43471 by Azven on May 21, 2007 at 2:46 pm

My spouse once asked me if I would believe in God if an angel appeard to me. I said I wouldn't believe in God if God appeared to me.

After a bit of thought I said if He appeared to me plus some other witnesses and a camera and was prepared to answer some questions and then afterwards the camera and the witnesses all agree with each other then I might have some doubts.

75. Cult leader sparks Sikh riots with 'guru' stunt

Comment #43334 by Azven on May 21, 2007 at 6:13 am

I think I'm going to look up some confirmations of this story as I find a lot of its elements unbelievable. I also picked up on the ceremonial dagger comment. It's well known that Sikh's carry daggers as one of the five Ks, but all the dagggers I've seen are less than an inch long and less sharp than a ball point pen.

Who benefits from this strory? A government that can point to 'those Sikhs, fighting amongst themselves again' perhaps!

I'm off to Google...

76. Would the World Be Safer Without Religion?

Comment #43326 by Azven on May 21, 2007 at 5:58 am

Let's say one position was arbitrarily designated "Orange" and the other "Green." Do you think the conflict would instantly end? No, it would continue as before, if not worsen


This question of what would happen if all religion disappeared is often raised (usually by the theists). But as Easterbrook says, above, it will imediately be replaced by a new in-group/out-group characteristic. However, it seems to me that this is yet another example of faith. I have 'faith' that we Orange-men are better than you Green-vermin!

What is missing is critical thinking and this is suppressed during childhood by religious indoctrination. If curiosity were taught instead of religion then there might be less in-group/out-group thinking.

But I'm not going to hold my breath...

77. Christopher Hitchens Is a Treasure

Comment #43314 by Azven on May 21, 2007 at 5:21 am

— that there is a living intelligence deep down in everything on earth and in the skies above. All earthly things are alive with reasons, connections, and also with oddities yet to become better understood, puzzles yet to be solved.


Novak is using the worf 'alive' in the sense of abundant, but in this context (after using the expression 'living intelligence') he is [purposely?] mixing the meanings.

He starts off with a living God and ends up with an Einstienian God. As others have commented here, he is getting his Gods mixed up.

78. Manufacturing belief

Comment #42393 by Azven on May 18, 2007 at 6:40 am

Perhaps we are soft-wired to find causes not necessarily look for them. If a cause is not immediately evident then make one up!

79. Antarctic 'treasure trove' found

Comment #42080 by Azven on May 17, 2007 at 3:17 pm

I knew that sponges would attack each other; is this what's meant?

80. The Colbert Report: The Intolerant

Comment #42061 by Azven on May 17, 2007 at 2:46 pm

"Gay-bashing bashing"; priceless!

81. The Official Infidel Guy Podcast Page

Comment #40613 by Azven on May 14, 2007 at 3:29 pm

I've been a fan of Reginald Finley Sr for about four months now. He seems to achieve a great deal with what seems to be very little money. He is very much on the front line in the fight against all kinds of crazy, uncritical thinking.

Catch the Bible Geek podcasts. They're gems...

82. A Split Emerges as Conservatives Discuss Darwin

Comment #38281 by Azven on May 7, 2007 at 12:02 pm

If an experiment in social Darwinism goes wrong it will have a backlash on actual Darwinism.

In any case, evolution is extremely wasteful and should not be used in social situations.

At this point I was going to say something about Thatcherism, but I don't want to give myself a stroke...

83. Unholy row at clergy soccer game

Comment #38278 by Azven on May 7, 2007 at 11:32 am

So who won? That is, who pulled out first and let the other team win by default?

(The tactical thing to do would be for the Christian team to be all women and have the Islamic team refuse to play and therefore lose)

84. Those fanatical atheists

Comment #38112 by Azven on May 7, 2007 at 2:29 am

Maybe this is a bit long for a T-shirt but this sentence stuck out for me as I think it expresses how we (atheists) feel...

If you claim that something is true, I will examine the evidence which supports your claim; if you have no evidence, I will not accept that what you say is true and I will think you a foolish and gullible person for believing it so

85. My response to the GOP evolution question

Comment #37728 by Azven on May 5, 2007 at 2:39 pm

If a mind-reading robot (F Giskard) can miss that point then you can bet a Creationist will.

86. 'No proof Jesus heals Aids'

Comment #37713 by Azven on May 5, 2007 at 2:07 pm

(and for the older, British members of this site)

I don't believe that Jesus can heal Aids. Once a slimming biscuit is broken it stays broken...

87. God Exists. A Formula Proves it.

Comment #37711 by Azven on May 5, 2007 at 2:00 pm

GBile, I expect the Self replicating Robots (SRRs) will report back that the universe is full of SRRs!

At least when local popuations of SRRs become dense it will become obviouse that evolution is true.

88. God Exists. A Formula Proves it.

Comment #37703 by Azven on May 5, 2007 at 1:43 pm

"Oh! That was easy", says man, and goes on to prove that black is white, and gets killed on the next zebra crossing...

89. My response to the GOP evolution question

Comment #37694 by Azven on May 5, 2007 at 1:22 pm

Friend Giskard, I agree that science didn't stop the practice of slavery; nevertheless, technology eliminates slavery for all of us in the 1st world everyday.

90. My response to the GOP evolution question

Comment #37684 by Azven on May 5, 2007 at 1:06 pm

Oooh... Ooooh...

I saw my avatar! Am I famous???

91. Huge rally for Turkish secularism

Comment #35966 by Azven on April 29, 2007 at 3:27 pm

Assination?

92. Mormonism: A Racket Becomes a Religion

Comment #35624 by Azven on April 28, 2007 at 1:33 am

Mrs Harris was a hero. She should be long remembered by sceptics.

93. One Hell of a Religious Read

Comment #34452 by Azven on April 24, 2007 at 5:40 am

Is the bit about Sai Baba a joke that's gone over my head? Because I don't get it!

Prema Sai Baba is supposed to be born in the 21st century so unless Hitchens is under 7 years old I think he's out of the running.

Seriously! Can anyone explain?

94. Medicine without Evolution Make Sense?

Comment #32785 by Azven on April 18, 2007 at 8:52 am

The system for resisting disease in humans is itself an evolutionary process seperate from the genetic one that created it (different anti-bodies are tried, the best ones are stepped up the not so good ones stepped down).

I'm not sure how a creationist medical student can be aware of this and not realize the power of evolution as a creative process. Do they think each anti-body is a new [God initiated] creation event?

95. The God Delusion is one of the Ten Best Audiobooks

Comment #31352 by Azven on April 12, 2007 at 5:27 am

nickthelight: £11.21 on Amazon

96. Planting the Mammalian Supertree

Comment #29689 by Azven on April 4, 2007 at 6:04 am

I expect the first 10 million years after the asteroid were not a lot of fun for any species that was there.

Also, lets not forget that mammals were not the only group around 65 million years ago to fill in the niche left by the dinosaurs, there were the birds (great big flightless giants) and the reptiles.

Either of these reasons could explain low diversity 65 to 50 million years ago.

97. Researchers find 6,000-year-old fossil evidence

Comment #22472 by Azven on February 19, 2007 at 6:22 am

By the way the figure of 6000 years compares well with the "Out Of Africa -- Bacteria, As Well: Homo Sapiens And H. Pylori Jointly Spread Across The Globe" article.

98. Researchers find 6,000-year-old fossil evidence

Comment #22471 by Azven on February 19, 2007 at 9:18 am

This suggests that these groups might have had some type of contact with each other


Or that different groups found out seperately that with chillis they could eat slightly off or less flavoursome meat and therefore include more protein in their diet - and the people with more protein survived! The tools on the other hand might tell a different story. How similar (or different) were the tools between different peoples?

99. Out of Africa, in the Gut

Comment #21788 by Azven on February 11, 2007 at 5:29 am

This supports the in-and-out-of Africa theory. See "Eve's Tale" in "The Ancespator's Tale" (page 44). In particular see the diagram on page 53. It seems that the H pylori out-of-Africa is the same one as the Haemoglobin out-of-Africa.

100. Did humans wipe out Australia's big beasts?

Comment #19828 by Azven on January 30, 2007 at 4:59 am

I don't find this a smoking gun at all. Having said that, there is probably a great deal of truth in this article. I think that all we can say at this time is that we need more evidense. It may be that climate change killed [some of] these animals; it may be that human migration affected their populations; it may be that climate change made (or aleast allowed) the humans to migrate.

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