Category: General

What Phil Plait had to say at the Hadron Collider.

Science Is Not A Book

Here’s my favourite superhero in a rare appearance!

Found on seanbaby.com

Last year for the very first time I saw Bob Clampett’s “Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs” cartoon from 1943.

Ruth Clampett’s daughter Ruth has started her own blog and has some interesting things to say about the history of the cartoon. If you read it, continue on to the comments, they’re insightful.

But don’t read the comments on youtube, they are decidedly not insightful, in the way that only youtube can be.

Flight Of The Conchords
The Centre In Vancouver For Performing Arts
Vancouver, BC
Sun, May 10, 2009 07:30 PM
$49.50

I’d go if I had the dough.

From Skeptic Etiquette:

What exactly is the polite response when someone at a dinner party asks, “What’s your sign? I bet you’re a Taurus!”

The last time this question came up was at birthday celebration with my neighbors, at the bottom of the third bottle of wine at a tapas bar.

After listening thoughtfully to my dinner companions each explain how they were like their signs, it was my turn to answer.

I said, “You do realize that Jupiter and some random stars have no effect at all on you, right? I mean, why is it that you’re protected from the magical personality rays of the constellations when you’re buried a few inches deep in flesh and fat, but the second you come screaming out of your mom, the magical personality rays pierce through the brick, mortar, insulation, tile, and electrical wiring of to the third floor maternity ward of the hospital in which you have emerged to touch you with the magical essence of “Taurus,” you stubborn little baby bull!”

I am a bummer at parties.

Actually what I usually do is lie about what sign I am and wait for the person to say “oh yeah that makes sense because blah blah blah!” Because as we all know everything about horoscopes and the zodiac is so vague that chunks of any one sign can apply to anyone. Simple confirmation bias and pattern recognition.

I wonder if someone has made up an internet quiz that tells you what astrological sign you SHOULD be based on your personality? That would be a good one.

My Political Views
I am a far-left moderate social libertarian
Left: 7.62, Libertarian: 1.94

Political Spectrum Quiz

Foreign Policy:

On the left side are pacifists and anti-war activists. On the right side are those who want a strong military that intervenes around the world. You scored: -8.44
My Foreign Policy Views
Score: -8.44

Political Spectrum Quiz

Culture:

Where are you in the culture war? On the liberal side, or the conservative side? This scale may apply more to the US than other countries. You scored: -7.54
My Culture War Stance
Score: -7.54

Political Spectrum Quiz

The brain is a stubborn organ. Once its primary set of beliefs has been established, the brain finds it difficult to integrate opposing ideas and beliefs. This has profound consequences for individuals and society, and helps to explain why some people cannot abandon destructive beliefs, be they religious, political, or psychological.

We are not born with a specific belief in God, or for that matter, any religious belief. Instead we learn to believe or disbelieve in God. As Richard Dawkins aptly puts it, children are not Jewish or Christian or Muslim. Rather, they are taught to believe in one set of ideas and they are taught to disbelieve in others. With enough repetition, these beliefs asd disbeliefs become neurologically embedded in memory, from which they influence future behaviors and thoughts. Thus the more time you devote to believing in God–or making money or waging war–the more those beliefs become an integral part of your reality.

Fortunately, the neural plasticity of our brains allows us to make subtle (and sometimes dramatic) alterations of our systems of belief. Thus, when we are exposed to new ideas, we have the biological ability to alter our earlier beliefs. But we rarely abandon them fully. For Francis Collins, author of the recent book The Language of God, Christianity held great meaning and value in his life, but his research as a geneticist required him to immerse himself in naturalistic explanations of the universe. The result was a transformation–an evolution of sorts–of his religious beliefs. Collins maintains his faith in God, but it is not the biblical God of his childhood.

Vote “I’d Wear It” or you’re no friend of mine!

http://www.typetees.com/score/1097914/Every_week_is_shark_week