All Good Wishes to You

6·3·09
I pray to all powerful Atheismo.


6·4·09
Looks like I should move west, since I'm already an 18-49 year old male liberal democrat who never attends church.

Having a bit of a listen.

The catholic church is very thorough.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?"

To you and me.

What's your emergency?

Religion Poisons Everything. No, that doesn't mean that everything poisonous is religious. It doesn't mean there aren't religious people and doctrines and efforts and results, that have done good in the world. What it means is that everything religion is involved in, is worse off because of it; everything would be improved by religion's absence.

We should all ask ourselves, at all times: how do you know that?

Which bible verse does jesus say where life begins? Which book explains jesus' preaching as relates to stem cells? How about nuclear, biological and chemical weapons? Why didn't moses' commandments mention anything about these issues? Which commandment says homosexuals can't marry? When did jesus say that? How about mohammed? Did any of these three people ever mention how to deal with assault rifles? Or drugs?

"Science is interesting, and if you don't agree you can fuck off."
Darwin unified organic matter with physical law.
"Yeah, we have souls. But they're little neurons." -Daniel Dennett

Consciousness, IS NOT, and NEED NOT be a fundamental quantity. Why has it taken us so long, (including myself) to realize the obvious, that a large number of simple interactions can lead to the complexity we observe in ourselves? You always hear the same old criticism: if humans are just a collection of electrochemical signals and patterns evolving with respect to their external stimuli, how can we love, and think, and make mistakes and predictions and build and destroy stuff, along with all the other beautiful behavior we exhibit? But the burden is on the questioner. One might ask the same question of computers: how is it that computers can make decisions, and respond to stimuli in seemingly 'intelligent' ways? No one objects to the simple explanations involving electrons flowing through conductors and semiconductors, with holes and junctions and billions of switches flipped per second, and yet if we apply the same description to humans, it is argued that we have omitted something. But what? Why is it so hard to believe that simple phenomena can lead to such incomprehensible results? In quantum mechanics, even a small number of particles, (less than 100 even), can be COMPLETELY unpredictable just a short time in the future. In fact, 100 particles on the quantum scale require more computational power than the entire universe can provide (in classical computing, all bets are off if we can build a quantum computer).

So I've been working for a couple of years to become more forward, and confrontational and outspoken, and maybe I have succeeded too much, it is an interesting balance to seek.

"We don't need a middle man." –Dennett (21+ minutes in?)
"There's nobody to accept our thanks." -Dennett

How does our predilection to believe in deities relate to our desire to have someone to tell us what to do when we feel directionless, or to thank when we are especially pleased or lucky? Or to forgive us when we feel guilty and alone? Is that why we have jocks and kings and clergy? Some remnant of our alpha male centered ape ancestors?

"On the other hand, infinite power might be nice!" -Zoidberg (kind of?)


6·5·09
We can fear the worst.

If you look carefully, you can see it playing out already. You can see it is happening already. The internet is displacing the newspapers and television. It wreaked havoc on the music and movie industries already. Computers have always improved in every way: speed, capacity, price, efficiency, capabilities. There may be ends to these trends, though it's not clear if they are yet in sight even.

All show and no go.
"If I ever get to sleep, I'll be deep, in my dreams, just you and me."
Ya'll are brutalizin me!


6·6·09
Become the havoc in heaven.
All politicians are scum, and they ought to understand that. The smaller the politician, the less scummy they are.
"The answer was grow by six inches. It was, agony, to watch."
"If there is anyone, here, who thinks we're going to fail, they better leave now. Before they infect everyone else."
-Frost Nixon


6·7·09
All good wishes.
Time is the hero.

The greatest shortcoming that science has with respect to the public is the omission of the uncertainty in scientific statements. And not just the uncertainty in measurement, but the uncertainty in experiment. Physics is one area in which this uncertainty is extremely small, so small that it can neglected without harm. Cosmology may not be quite so solid, though I suppose most cosmologists would say it is similarly well verified as physics, but I disagree. Though I should really talk to a cosmologist about this.

"What are miracles? Miracles are not impossible, I won't say they're impossible...
Miracles are so highly improbably that they they are the least possible occurrence in any given instance. They violate the way that nature works. "

Hey, if you think that freaks you out, just think about what kind of person it takes to discuss it so openly.
Nolo contendere
We prefer to be in a constant state of crisis.
She takes notes.
In the end, it was all about who gets what. Ivory, oil, gold. Diamonds.

Interesting.
Neato.
Compare with the next link.
Are we ready to end our nonsense yet?
Ice.

Almost martyrs don't count.


6·8·09
This makes me wonder if anyone has looked for something that is highly correlated with murder rates. Unemployment? Wealth distribution? Health care? Family size? Education? Blue or white collar? Politics? Religion? Crime? Gambling? Prostitution? Drugs (including alcohol)? Weed (it's an herb man...)? Climate, sunlight, temperature, mood, disease, stress... Wait, can wolfram alpha do any of this? Apparently no.

Punitive figure.

Oh crap, I just resolved my problem. Consider every re-awakening that follows a state of complete unconsciousness to be like a 're-birth' of your 'soul'. That is, a clone of you, with your exact conscious memory, waking from unconsciousness, would not be able to detect the difference between themselves and you. So then, "you" clearly involves your specific state of consciousness, and when you are asleep that state is typically suspended, and any interruption that occurred during that time would only be detectable if it lead to obvious changes of state (like waking up many days after falling asleep).

Some people fight for or against abortion rights. Some people fight against war, genetically engineered food, for and against drugs. I fight against religion, because I see it as antithetical to science. And I see science as the only path by which we can resolve the truth, make good decisions that help people, and ultimately both minimize the suffering in the world and maximize the joy.

People are so proud to be what? Born somewhere? I just don't get patriotism.


6·9·09
You think it's all my fault. I think it's all your fault, but we were never so together.
We do what is required of us to survive.
Belligerent and numerous.
They bought and sold you.
We've got the same heart.
Invisible star sing me to sleep. Telling secrets, sing me to sleep. Sing me to sleep.
I hope for the best but nothing changes I'm sorry.
It is we that actually provide the purpose, in a universe that would otherwise have none.
She should be pure by now.
I hang out with all the pariahs.