Jan

31

Which Is More Likely?

January 31, 2009 by Brandon | 6 Comments

I was reading an article that speculated on human evolution, specifically the future of humanity itself. The article is lengthy, and is divided into five different possibilities for human evolution. Rather sci-fi really, and there’s even a nice part in there quoting Dawkins as saying that it’s stupid to speculate on this.

Regardless, it’s not really the article itself that caught my attention, but the survey on the last page. The survey asks which possibility for human evolution do you find more likely… but it also gives another possibility: “None of the above; the Second Coming is more likely”.

For realsies. Not for play play.

Even more mind-blowing is that 27% of people taking the survey answered with just that. They thought Jesus was coming back. More than a quarter who answered. In fact, the Second Coming option was the highest rated, with just slightly less than a quarter coming in for the flavor of “unihumans” at 24%, which is the most plausible outcome for human evolution, if you ask me, as we can actually see it happening right now.

That’s sad. I know that in the grand scheme of things, you still have 73% of those who took the poll saying that they think humans will evolve into something new, but it’s scary that the most united front was those saying Jesus was a comin’ back any day now.



Jan

24

In an absolutely shocking rebuke, the Vatican says it is “disappointed by President Barack Obama’s decision to end a ban on federal funding for international groups that perform abortions or provide information on them.”

Like we’d expect anything less. One Vatican official went as far as saying it is arrogant of Obama. “[T]he arrogance of those who, being in power, believe they can decide of life and death,” said Monsignor Rino Fisichella, who heads the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life that no one cares about.

Well gee, isn’t that exactly what the Vatican is trying to do? Decide who gets to live by banning abortion? I mean, let’s be logical here. Your God, so you claim, is the only one who can decide who gets to live or die. If God really wanted these unborn children to live, I’m sure they’d survive any attempt at abortion. It’s obviously God’s will for this to happen. Surely if he can save a bunch of people in a plane, he can keep a uterus from getting vacuumed.

Seriously though, the Vatican needs to get over themselves. This isn’t 1209. They do not get to dictate the policies of other countries, nor should they even think their opinion matters.



Jan

24

Ted Haggard Needs To Come Out

January 24, 2009 by Brandon | 1 Comment

The disgraced Ted Haggard is at it again. Well, not really, but new allegations are being brought forward by his old church. Back in 2006, it seems a young man came forward to the pastor who took over Haggard’s mega-church and revealed more “misconduct”.

Haggard has been spending a lot of time trying to repair his image with the conservative, religious right. He’s preparing a high-profile documentary detailing his time in exile for his deeds, and has lined up interviews with Oprah and King.

Recently Haggard was quoted as saying that his sexual orientation couldn’t be placed inside a stereotypical “box”.

To steal a great Fark headline from the past: We already know Haggard doesn’t put things in boxes.

Seriously. I feel bad for Haggard. The man should just admit he’s gay, or at the very least bisexual, and be done with it. He needs to realize that it’s not some sort of sin, and that people are, generally speaking, born that way. He has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of regarding his sexuality… just the years of hypocracy demonizing homosexuality. That’s epic fail-worthy.



Jan

24

Movie Review: City of Ember

January 24, 2009 by Brandon | Leave a Comment

I just finished watching a recent release called City of Ember, based on the 2003 book of the same title. It’s a relatively entertaining, steampunk-ish story following two young, unlikely heroes in a post-apocalyptic underground refugee city called Ember. About 200 years prior to the story taking place, the world on the surface was coming to an end, leading the top minds of the day to create this subterranean city to preserve humanity. A special box was locked for 200 years that contained the instructions for exiting to the surface, and it was passed from mayor to mayor for safe-keeping. Except upon the untimely death of the city’s seventh mayor, who happened to be one of the main character’s great, great grandfather, the box was lost and forgotten… that is until she stumbles upon it, setting off a chain of events.

What the fruit does this have to do with atheism, you ask? Well, it’s what I took away from the film. Certainly this is a family movie, geared specifically at younger audiences, and it drives home a very poignant message: skepticism is a virtue.

You see, throughout the movie, the two heroes are consistently accosted with demands to cease their search for the truth and to follow the status quo. Even in the face of evidence proving that they are right, that the massive generator powering the city is doomed to fail and was designed only to run the city for 200 years, and that there was an exit plan to deliver the residents of the city to the surface. Even more astonishing to the kids, was that the people in charge were corrupt and didn’t care; they only stood to gain from the suffering of the city-folk by stealing food supplies, pacifying their concerns with lies and brushing off the severity of the situation.

Even more humorous was the little cult which had formed in the city, much like a church choir, that would go around singing. The lady whom the one main character was staying with, after her grandmother passes away, was part of the cult. The girl expresses her concerns about the blackouts plaguing the city, and the woman says everything with be fine, placing her faith in the “second coming” of the builders who constructed the city 200 years ago. The point of this was not lost on me, and I certainly knew what was being satirized.

I had no idea that I was in store for this when I picked the movie up, in fact it’s totally not what I had even expected it to be. From the previews I had seen when it was still in theatres and from what I gathered on the cover art of the box, I imagined I was going to see a movie where some children found some lost underground city, which is totally not what it was at all. In any case, it was a good film. I’m generally not very harsh on movies, though, and as long as it keeps me entertained I’m happy enough. But I’d definitely recommend this. I don’t have children of my own yet, let alone kids from 8ish to mid-teens, but I think it might be a good film to show that age group if you’re looking for something that promotes the pursuit of truth over blind faith.



Jan

22

No, global warming isn’t a religion. But it does seem to go hand in hand with conservative Christians. Well, the denial of it at least. However, a recent survey has confirmed, again, what most of us have already known. Out of the scientists that matter, that is, climatologists, 97% agree that not only is global warming very real, but humans have an impact on it.

3,146 scientists total were surveyed, but it should be noted that not all of them actually study the climate. 90% of all the scientists agreed that global warming is a real phenomenon. 82% of all the scientists that were surveyed agreed that global warming is influenced by humans. The numbers don’t lie, even when we’re surveying scientists that don’t study the climate.

Not surprising, only 47% of petroleum scientists think that humans have something to do with the climate changing. But guess what? Their opinion means squat. What a lot of people might be influenced by, however, is the opinion of the meteorologists. Only 64% of meteorologists think that humans are influencing the climate. Contrary to popular belief though, when it comes to the climate, meteorologists’ opinions also mean squat.

Meteorologists only study very short term phenomenon when it comes to the weather. Meteorology and climatology are two completely different fields of study. It would be like going to a vascular doctor when you’re having a heart problem. Sure, they probably have a basic understanding of how the heart works, but the person you really want to be seeing is the cardiologist. Because they are experts in that area and it’s what they study.



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What is Fractal Wrongness?

The state of being wrong at every conceivable scale of resolution. That is, from a distance, a fractally wrong person's worldview is incorrect; and furthermore, if you zoom in on any small part of that person's worldview, that part is just as wrong as the whole worldview.

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