Blasphemy Day: Free Speech Zone.

It's that day that is no different than any other day- Blasphemy Day. However in the spirit of it here are a few words I wrote some months ago:

Warning: Free Speech Zone 

Ideas are offensive. Every idea is offensive to someone somewhere. Whenever you express an idea publicly be prepared to be offended. Be prepared to defend your idea or walk away. You do not have the right not to be offended. All ideas must be open to criticism no matter how sacred if we are to live in a free society. Also, when someone criticizes your idea they are not disrespecting your rights, and they are not necessarily criticizing you. Calling an idea absurd, stupid, bad, idiotic, etc. is not the same as calling the person who expresses it those things. Good, smart people can have bad ideas. Vice versa.  

Note: There are places where this is generally not appropriate; the workplace, and in some limited sense, public school where a free exchange of ideas is only acceptable as long as it is not threatening, hateful, or disruptive of the learning process.

 ... and because for me no Blasphemy day is complete without a little Sagan:

Facebook Credulity

Foods that look like the organs they supposedly treat:

 First off, this is an obvious case of pareidolia. Does a sliced carrot look like an eye? Well sort of but it also looks, upon my first glance, like an anus. Does it prevent or treat rectal cancer? Not to be crass(that's fun of course) but it makes the point. Walnuts may look sort of like brains, but they also resemble testis. What does this tell us about the benefits they afford to them? Apparently nothing. How many foods can we find that resemble organs or body parts but don't do much to aid or improve function? Is this any different than eating rhino horn because the horn vaguely resembles a penis? A banana also shares this resemblance or a carrot for that matter.

The title suggests that this is God's way of telling us which foods are good for us. As if this in itself is evidence for God. Is this really evidence for God? If it is, God sure has a confusing way of getting ideas across. Couldn't he just have implanted the idea in our brain rather than making us do all this research on these fruits and vegetables so that we find that some that resemble organs also have nutrients that benefit those organs and then use post hoc reasoning to decide that's why they looked like those organs in the first place. Whew! Thanks God!

Symphony Of Science Does Climate Change

A new Symphony Of Science just released covering a more specific topic this time around:

This is one of those science topics, like evolution, that has become a controversial political issue whereas in the scientific community(you know, the community that discovers things using that method that is the only reliable way we have of actually knowing things) is not controversial at all. 

Faith Page on Friday

Sally Quinn writes on "God" in politics and comes to a surprising conclusion. Not surprising for heathens of course who believe religion and politics are like oil and water, they don't mix well, but to those who believe religion and politics are like peanut butter and jelly.

The political left are not the muslim loving atheists that the right so wishes them to be, but rather they are nearly just as willing to insert God in their politics to pander to a primarily Christian base. It's gets me all riled up when I hear someone like Rick Perry claiming that Obama is leading a war on religion as this is far from the truth. Just look at his faith based initiative continued from the Bush administration, albeit with an overhaul to avoid church state conflict(perhaps not enough by some). At the very worst, from the Christian Right's perspective, Obama is more inclusive with his religious language and on a rare occasion mentioning non-believers(as if we are deserving of citzenry) unlike conservatives such as Marc Rubio who seem to make a conscious effort to exclude anyone but Christians in their language:

And we're special -- we're special because we are united --
we're united not as a common race or ethnicity, we are bound
together by common values.  The family is the most important
institution in society.
   (APPLAUSE)
   And that almighty God is the source of all we have.
   (APPLAUSE)
   We are special.  We are special because we have never made
the mistake of believing we are so smart that we can rely solely
on our leaders or on our government.  Our national motto, ``in
God we trust'', reminding us that faith in our creator is the
most important American value of them all.
   (APPLAUSE)

So, the surpising conclusion that Quinn comes too:

When you add “God” to the Democratic platform you are essentially ignoring the fact that some 15 percent of Americans are either atheists, agnostics, secular humanists or simply say they don’t believe.

That doesn’t make them less good than those who believe. Osama Bin Laden, for instance, believed in God. What it does make them is disenfranchised. It says, this is a party and a country that doesn’t include you. They may not believe that their potential is God-given. Those who do must know that it goes without saying. So why does it have to be shoved down the throat of the nonbelievers?

She is right on target. This is something I can say amen to. God does not have a rightful place in politics. It is put there at the peril of believers and non-believers alike. I'm glad DNC had so little of it this year and hope that continues in the future. The right will continue to bemoan the lack of God and let them. I think there will come a time when the majority is no longer on there side.

Offensive Ideas Revisited: A facebook Note

 I have come to realize over the course of the last decade or so that I am an argumentative person. I love to argue. Most people who know me know this. In fact, some of them would exclaim it loudly.  I don’t argue to be hostile, to disagree for the sake of disagreement, or to be “right”. I don’t always go into a situation with the intent to argue, rather the contrary, argument is often thrust upon me. I also don’t discourage argument and on some occasions I seek it out, but only when I feel it necessary to defend a position that needs defending. I’m not one to keep my mouth shut. It used to bother me that people thought that I was argumentative. It bothered me because I, like anybody else, want to be liked. I don’t want people to push me away because I am too argumentative. I have great friends so most of the time this isn’t the case. Now, however, what really bothers me is that some people don’t understand why argument occurs in the first place. I think that there are at least a couple of reasons for this misunderstanding:

First, I find most people feel the need to express their beliefs to others. This is natural of course and I fully support that need where appropriate, but this can cause problems once someone else, who also feels the need to express themselves, does so. This seems to me to be the cause of many of the arguments I have with others. The scenario goes something like this:

 Person 1: I think it’s a shame that some people don’t go to church. They are going to hell. 

 Person 2: Uh, I don’t agree with that…

 Person 1: Why are you so argumentative all the time?

 It’s a bit over simplified, but I have been in similar situations many times. What happens is that some people feel it is okay to tell others how they feel but once they do so they do not want feedback unless it is positive. I cannot, in good conscience, go along with this when I feel the topic is important. In my opinion, not speaking up is a tacit agreement and simply by saying “I disagree” is considered argumentative to these sorts of people. (I do however, dismiss statements on occasion because I don’t feel an argument at a certain time, place or with a certain person will be a productive one.)

 Second, people often think that because there is argument, there is necessarily hostility, hatred, disrespect, etc. There is no reason that this should be so.  I have had many disagreements with many people who I am still very close to, people for who I have an incredible amount of respect. The only time that I feel anger towards someone is when they don’t allow me to express myself after they have already freely done so. 

 The thing is, argument is important. It helps you decide what kind of person you are. What you believe. It can help you come to new conclusions, to learn new things, to realize that sometimes you are wrong or that you believe more strongly than you had before. It can help you think more critically. If your beliefs are never challenged you will never learn how to defend them when you really need to. Even more importantly, it helps you understand others and what they believe. Not everybody thinks like you. The world is bigger than you. 

 I guess, after all this rambling, my point here is: If you have a problem with others disagreeing with you I suggest you let sleeping dogs lie and keep your mouth closed.

Don't Believe Teh Facebook

Facebook is not only a place to share your daily thoughts, ideas, and interests. It is also a place to express your credulousness. Here are a few of the worst items I came across in the past week and a half:

Sooo, does that staple of a college dorm room cause cancer thanks to a delicious wax coating? A quick Snopes search says no.

I also saw this:
 
on the "Wellness Uncovered Health Forum" which is a facebook page that claims:

"This page was created to help spread natural health and wellness knowledge on vaccines, GMOs, diet and nutrition to live a blissful co-existence with nature."

 Knowledge on vaccines and GMOs? Sounds informative... except its completely anti-both of those things without providing substantive evidence to justify that stance. Probably because there isn't any. It's also anti-Big Pharma as well as Big Farma, but lets get back to the point. The photo has a caption which says:

"Reason umber 4359 to go ORGANIC. Humans are still the only species that completely poison their food, the earth and each other for less crop yield."

Giving the misleading impression that the chart shown above, made by research from Firman E. Bear at Rutgers University, supports organic foods as more nutritious than conventional foods. In truth this study was not looking at organic vs. conventional food production at all but rather organic and inorganic soil types and so says nothing about the nutritional value of crops from using organic production methods vs. conventional.

Another one bites the dust. Then there was the Bill Nye quote:



Oh, that Bill Nye. First bashing creationism and now Todd Akin. Except... this isn't actually a quote from Bill Nye. It's pure fiction from a satirical news site called The Daily Currant. Thanks again Snopes.

... And one last bit of credulousness before I pull my hair out. The just plain crappy photoshop shop of Earth seen from mars. I'll simply send you to Bad Astronomy for that one as Phil Plait does a wonderful job.

The lesson of the day here is: Before you "like" or "share something on facebook at the very least google the damn thing. Just because you agree with it doesn't make it true.

A New Bloggy Thingy. This is what people do now right?

 Why am I writing a blog? Who am I? Why would you want to read any of this? Well, maybe you won't want to. After all, who is this guy? What does he know about anything? Why should I care about his opinion? I answer that with, "maybe you shouldn't care", but that is not why I am writing. I am writing because sometimes I see things that I believe are just well... irritating, wrong, things with a deep lack of forethought and just plain lazy thinking. This will be a place for my rants so that my girlfriend, who so patiently listens to them, will perhaps have some reprieve.

I am a skeptical person. I try to live my life with skeptical values in mind. This means that my beliefs are based on evidence to as much of a degree as is possible for me within my practical limitations. I am also an atheist. For a little more detail here is a note I wrote earlier this year:

I write this because I am often told that, because I am an atheist, I don't believe in anything. This is absurd and flatly untrue. Every person capable of thought believes in something.

What do I believe? I should first start but telling you what I don't believe. I don't believe in ghosts. I don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in Big Foot or the Loche Ness Monster or Chupacabra. I don't believe in UFO alien spacecraft from other worlds and the associated conspiracy theories. I don't believe that Lizard people are controlling the world. I don't believe in qi or meridian points. I don't believe that homeopathy is medicine. I don't believe that vaccines cause autism. I don't believe in a god or many gods or any god whatsoever. Especially not "one true god". I could go on indefinitely, but that's not the point of this post. 

I don't not believe these things because I don't like them(some I do and some I don't) or because they make me uncomfortable(some certainly do), but because there is no good evidence that would support a belief in them. You may say there is evidence and sure, I'll grant you that, but any evidence does not equal good evidence. For instance, a story told by a drunkard of seeing a dog driving a car is evidence, but would you be inclined to believe him? No, of course not because beyond it being implausible, which is not proof against it by itself, it simply isn't good enough evidence. You might ask him: Do you have a picture? A video? Can I see the dog? Can I inspect the vehicle?, etc.  Also, as a crucial point, the standards of evidence are higher the more unlikely an event seems. "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

 But these non-beliefs don't define me. I am the sum of my parts. I have many beliefs. Atheism is not my defining characteristic but simply one way of categorizing me. I choose to use it because atheism is in dire need of addressing in our society currently. I am also a skeptic, humanist, freethinker, nerd, liberal, brother, son, friend, boyfriend and on and on.  

What do I believe? I believe in science. More specifically, the scientific method. This is the basis of skepticism. Skepticism is what led me to atheism. Because of science I believe in many things. I believe the earth rotates and is round and revolves around the sun. I believe in evolution by natural selection and that humans share a common ancestor with chimpanzees and that all life on earth is related. I believe all matter is made of molecules which are made of atoms which are made of subatomic particles such as protons, nuetrons, and electrons which are made of even smaller particles. I believe that the Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old and the universe is around 13.7 billion years old. I believe these things not only because scientists say they are true but because they show me how they know them to be true. They give good evidence.

 I believe in love. I believe that love is caused by chemicals in the brain. I believe that this doesn't make it any less valid or true.  I believe that family and friendship is important. I believe that a purpose to life is important. I don't believe that purpose is innate or "god-given" but is given by ourselves. I believe that as individuals we decide what our purpose should be. I believe that causing harm to others should be avoided if at all possible. I believe that people should be able to love whoever they choose and believe whatever they wish so long as they cause no harm to others.

I believe that we can only know things to be true in any sense by looking for evidence. Faith is detrimental to truth. That is my belief. 

This is my belief system in a nutshell. I may elaborate further sometime in the near future. To answer that earlier question: I don't know much. I have no formal degree. I have a serious bent for skeptical issues, however, and for those unfamiliar perhaps I can clue you in on what that means. 

This blog is an exercise in creativity and for improving my writing and critical thinking skills. It might also be a release valve for my pedanticisms(is that a word?), rants, interesting sciency bits I find on the webbertubes, things that make my blood boil and my brain curdle and things that make me feel all warm and squishy with joy.

If you readers ever exist, super! if not I will be enjoying writing to myself over here in the corner.