Pro-choice

Science requires faith?

Someone on my so-called friend's list on facebook posted the old doozy about "Einstein" having an epic rap battle against his "science professor" and smiting him and for once and for all proving that god is real, and that science - especially evolution is as fluffy and as weak-sauce as your lord and savior always told you it was.

I'm not going to reprint it here...although you can hit it from my snopes link in my first comment....

I'm going to copy and paste because trying to read pages of screen-capped facebook text sucks balls.

Ren:    "Pathetic, some people will just post any old bullshit on the internet and attach someone reputable's name on it to try to give it legitimacy" - Mark Twain

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  snopes.com: Einstein Humiliates Atheist

  www.snopes.com

  Did Albert Einstein humiliate an atheist professor by using the 'Evil is the absence of God' argument on him?

  
  

Original Poster - Fair enough Ren lol Einstein aside I liked the argument! I have faith in God & I've never seen, heard, felt, tasted or smelled him. April 16 at 10:11pm

I probably should have asked her how one would go about giving god this blowjob that would make him known to all the senses at once....but decided not to. 


Then one of her friends decided to elaborate on how he liked the argument because science requires as much faith as religion.....

What?  Um...no...... I'll let my next comment do the work here.




Science does not require faith.  Unless you are just playing word games like the student in the story.... (the heat vs cold and light vs dark examples)  I suppose you could say science requires faith if you mean in the sense that you have to trust that the scientists that have done the studies and reported their results and the people peer reviewing them have done so with proper care and attention.  But I don't think that's the kind of faith you're talking about.

As for the professor having no brain ... childish at best and easily tested scientifically.  You could have him undergo a trephination, take a look and observe his brain first hand.  Nowadays you could use an imaging device such as a CT scan or an MRI to visualize the brain.  Or you could take a look through the history of medical pathology and see if anyone has ever been autopsied that naturally did not have a brain but was alive anyway.  You could do experiment on animals that are similar to humans and see if any of them don't have brains...and then perhaps since they do....you could see what happens if you take them out.  Science in a case like this only requires faith if you are too lazy to ask the right questions and do the work necessary to test them.  I suppose that's a little closer to the faith religion requires but since science does not do that it's not a great example.

Not in science class, but I was definitely taught in high school that religion was a way of trying to explain the world around us.  But it was presented with the example of a religion that tried a little harder in this regard than the abrahamic religions.  The greeks.  The world was balanced on the shoulders of Atlas, Thunder was Zeus.  The sun was Apollo riding his chariot across the sky.  The bible doesn't really try to explain a whole lot about how things work....it's more a guide for acting morally (2000 years ago).... There's a kind of generic "god did it" vibe to answer any "how did that happen?" questions....but that's not really an explanation.

The biggest difference between science and religion, is that science does not rest.  Even the theory of gravity....which is pretty well understood....they're still trying to find the particle that may or may not guide it.  That's awesome.  How about the model of the atom?  There was the dalton model, followed by the delicious sounding plum-pudding model, which upon gaining more information was replaced by the rutherford model, and so on.  With new information, data, and evidence, old theories go by the wayside and new ones are made to replace them.  This is not faith.  If you had faith in science you'd eventually say "you know....this is enough...I think we got it this time..." then write it down and burn at the stake anyone who questioned it.  ;)

Religious faith is a bit different.  There is no new evidence.  Unless you're a mormon.... they got a whole bunch of new info relatively recently....but with nothing but faith to back it up, the christian mainstream says they're wrong.  The best faith can do is examine what's they've always had and reinterpret it.... which is where you get the folks who think the bible should be taken literally and intact and is a 100% accurate historical document....and then the others who look a little closer and say....."you know....there's really no way to fit that many animals on a boat".  Or...the protestant/catholic thing.... in the esteemed words of Lisa Simpson It always comes down to transubstantiation versus consubstantiation."..... Or the Jew/Christian/Moslem thing....


I apologize for not addressing the evolution question more directly....my university courses were heavy on the teeny-tiny sciences (chemistry, bio-chem, physiology) and light on the big picture sciences (biology, zoology etc).  However, there is a fairly solid body of evidence supporting evolution and while it is too slow a process for any one person to observe, the evidence is there to support the theory.  And as new evidence is found, the theory will be modified.   That's not faith, that's fact.

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How'd I do?

No....you ignant!

Election day in Alberta on Monday.  It's a little bit terrifying.  People have been clamoring for years for an alternative to our PC party which has been in power for 40ish years.  My more liberal friends probably assumed that this would be a more liberal alternative.  What we have on the horizon instead is the "Wildrose Party".  Some of their ideas are good...others not so much.   They're definitely a few shades further right than the PC's they're neck and neck with in the pre-lim numbers. 

What's most disturbing to me is some of their more right wing social views.  I'm all for fiscal conservatism, but I'm definitely fairly liberal leaning when it comes to the more social aspects of things.  I really don't mind most of our conservative politicians because they have a good grasp of the separation between church and state and have historically been able to govern without forcing their morality on others.  This seems to be slipping the last few years.  Not as badly as in the theocracy to our south, but it's a disturbing trend.


One of the hot-button news items that have come out regards one of the wildrose candidates blogs - he's a pastor in some church and apparently doesn't approve of homosexuality.  They've tried to blow it off saying his personal views are his and not necessarily the views of the party....but it's concerning.  He's not the only one with a questionable moral agenda.  I really think the government should not try to legislate morality.  Things like gay marriage etc should be put to one simple test:

• Does allowing this infringe on anyone's rights? (past the point of minor inconvenience)
• Does NOT allowing this infringe on anyone's rights? (or deny them rights others have)

 Easy.   To stick with my example..... There are only 2 reasons to argue against equal marriage rights for all people.

1. RELIGION: Your religion forbids it
2. EW, Gross!: Gay sex is icky

That's it.  2 reasons that have any basis in fact or reality.  All the other ones like "if you allow gays to marry, people are going to start marrying toasters next" are so ridiculous they border on insane, and a bunch of the other ones: "think of the children" come down to an extension of 1 or 2.  

Neither of which by the way, is an acceptable reason to deny a right to one group of people while allowing it for others. Even if you personally think that homosexuality is a sin or if it's just not your thing you have no right to base any kind of legislation on that. 

Well, happy voting day alberta.

Hockey Playoffs

I know, I know....I'm a couple days late for a pre-playoff prediction post....but we're 3 games in to most of the series and things are starting to take form.

Not going to do a series-by-series breakdown....but a few things I've noticed.

• Holy crap is there a lot of nasty play going on.  The other day I thought I was watching a Philly game from 1974 (you could argue that the Pens were instigating as much as the Flyers...but whatever).  There's been head-shots and fights and controversy in pretty much every series
• Florida vs New Jersey : YAWN!  .... actually...this could be the best series going on this year...but I'd never know it.  I just don't care about either of these teams enough to even check the scores
• Phoenix vs Chicago - Gotta cheer for Chicago for having a) one of the best jerseys/logos in all of sports and b) a fanbase.  I just can't forgive phoenix for getting another city's team and not appreciating it (and the NHL for digging their heels in so hard on keeping them there that a different team has replaced them in Winnipeg).  I know they do have some hardcore fans...but as a percentage of the possible fanbase, it's pretty pathetic.  Also...Mike Smith - career scrub turned number one....has been pretty awesome all year.
• LA vs Vancouver : the battle of the teams who have no idea what their team colours or logo are.....

I especially like the tagline on the Vancouver one "the colour of hockey"....what the hell..  Blue/green/white/yellow/orange/black/red...so ... pretty much every colour except purple?  And depending on your personal colour wheel...some of those stripes on the Orca jersey are pretty close to a purple/burgundy....  so....every fricken colour available.  Seriously.  And 3 different primary logos....none of which reflect the team name whatsoever.  They do have a johnny canuck secondary logo....but I guess they're too good for that. 

Heck...they've gone through more colours/logos as the New Jersey Devils franchise...and they'd been 2 different teams before they ended up in NJ

It actually makes the King's drift from the gold and purple to silver and black to purple and black seem pretty consistent and reasonable.  And a crown....that's even got something to do with a king....wow.  Who-da-thunk-it.

• OVERTIME - there's been a few overtime games but nothing truly epic yet.  That's probably my favourite part of the playoffs and the part I'm looking forward to watching with my daughter the most....the 4OT epic in the western conference late game that goes until 2am.  Nothing quite like it.  Watching two teams with nothing left just trying to put themselves over the edge, but still keep it close to the vest so they don't lose.  These games are possibly the best part of my Flames missing the playoffs year after year....you can just sit back and enjoy without the stress of actually having some emotion riding on the outcome.

Well..that's all for now...maybe more after a few more games.

De-motivation

I'm pretty sure everybody's got one...(oh man...I hope it's not just me...) .. you know.  That person.  The one whose facebook is a constant cycle of "OMG things are so great", then "OMG things are so horrible, people suck" then they post a bunch of superficial, shallow motivational posters and the cycle repeats.....

Yeah...that one.  Can't they figure out that the common denominator is them.  They keep meeting shitty guys because....they make shitty judgments about people.  People talk shit about them behind their back because they deserve it.  They can never find that magical formula that will let them get it all together....because it doesn't exist and they need to stop looking for shortcuts and do things properly.


These are for them.

Thanks for the text XKCD

I really want to put these on facebook...might get rid of some of the dead weight on my newsfeed...

Back To the Keyboard

It's been a while.  Over a year since I posted here.  And probably about 8mos since I posted anywhere.  I had started writing at a grumpy pharmacist blog with a school friend....but then my sister died.....and I just got out of the mood.  That's something I'd like to write about actually....not right away...but sometime.  For a long time it seemed like I really couldn't (shouldn't?) write about anything if I didn't deal with that first....but I've decided I can write about it when it's the right time.....


Okay, so I'm back.

For real this time.

No really.

Okay.  Well...I'm going to try.



Why?

A big part of it is my daughter.  It's still kinda strange to type and read that word...at least in relation to me.  But at the same time it's the most wonderful thing I've ever experienced. 

There's a little person in this world that's made up one-half of me and one-half of my loving wife.  Is there anything more amazing than that? 

So...I just thought I'd try to write some stuff.  Maybe a bit about her, and probably a lot about just this and that.... heck...maybe I'll start a novel.

But...anyway.  I'd like to try to write at least once a week...and keep doing it for a while.

Join the Club!

So, one day you're just sitting on your couch and you think...."Damn!...I'm kinda bored and lonely and I should really get out of the house more....maybe I should join a club".


So what kind of club do you join?  It should probably be one that alligns with your interests and personal goals and beliefs.

If you don't really like snowboarding, it's probably best to avoid a ski and snowboard club.

If playing cards just gives you paper cuts, a bridge club is unlikely to fill the gap.

If you don't think that black people are inherently inferior to whites, you're probably not going to enjoy the KKK much.

If you enjoy drinking beer and playing pool....I bet you could join a pub league.

If you want to get better at public speaking, there's toastmasters that you could try....


See...pretty easy.  If you want to join a club, you pick one that suits you and then you join.

And if you're in a club and it turns out that it just isn't the right fit...you leave.

So....if you don't think birth control is an abomination, do think that it's a woman's right to choose to have a child or get an abortion, and you don't think that "god hates fags" and think they should be allowed to marry.....why do you still identify yourself as a Catholic (or any multitude of other hateful religious groups - just singling out Catholics since they are about half of the "Christians" in this country and it's a whole lot easier than differentiating between 27 different variations of Protestantism)?

I'm not here to say you should walk away from your spiritual beliefs.....but unless you seriously think you're going to change things from the inside you need to back away from these groups that don't meet your needs and don't align with your beliefs.  Maybe you need to find a different church that's a better match.

Most of the power of these groups lies in the number of members they apparently have.  Do you think there would be separate Catholic school divisions all over the country if there were only a few Catholics in each area?  The numbers give the church its power.  But what if their members aren't actually drinking the Kool-Aid?  It doesn't matter as long as they still say they are members.  That's why they never really do anything if you don't practice what they preach.  It only hurts them if they excommunicate you.  If they just tell you you're a sinner and move on they can still count you as one of their unified flock when it comes time to lobby government, or go to the media on an issue. You're allowing your voice to be stolen and used against you.


Un-join the Club!