1. New Zealand man sells his soul to 'Hell'

Comment #203632 by evolver23 on July 3, 2008 at 9:16 am

I would have settled for a large pizza. Did Hell Pizza place the final bid for $456? Good deal for the seller.

If I read it correctly, I think they offered him $3800. Brilliant. I'm going to start a business selling deeds to invisible things that don't exist. Maybe I'll call it Invisiworld...

2. Pastors Challenge Law, Endorse Candidates From Pulpit

Comment #196957 by evolver23 on June 20, 2008 at 5:13 pm

I still prefer to have churches retain tax exempt status if it also means that they can't endorse political candidates or interfere in government.

This would be fine, if it actually worked in the real world. From my experience with churches (I practically grew up with dual membership as a Missionary Baptist and Southern Baptist), preachers rarely shy away from giving political advice, especially in the more evangelical denominations. If they are too scared to mention any names, they will simply rail against practices that everyone knows are supported by this or that candidate. For instance they might decry abortion, gay marriage, or church/state separation, etc. Most parishioners will never report this type of activity, so unless the IRS sends out the occasional scout, even the more explicit cases will go largely unnoticed and unpunished. I say we just take their money.

3. Astronomers find batch of 'super-Earths'

Comment #194037 by evolver23 on June 16, 2008 at 10:03 am

Question:

Is the word "super-Earths" used simply because of their size? Are the planets known to be rocky, rather than gas giants? Or have the researchers been able to analyze the chemical composition of the planets' atmospheres via spectroscopy? I guess I'm just wondering what exactly the distinction is between these exoplanets and previously discovered ones.

4. Youngest galactic supernova (not aliens) found

Comment #180268 by evolver23 on May 14, 2008 at 12:58 pm

I'm not positive, but perhaps the reason they have a 23 year old picture of it is because telescopes were scanning the sky 23 years ago as they do today, taking pictures of deep space as they went, but there were way too many photos for humans to individually examine (kind of like why thousands of users are helping galaxy zoo find interesting galactic bodies). Then, when someone finally viewed this and knew the exact coordinates, they could look back at past photos of the same coordinate that had always been there but never previously seen by human eyes.

5. Orangutan attempts to hunt fish with spear

Comment #170993 by evolver23 on April 28, 2008 at 8:12 am

That's a beautiful picture. At least for me, it strikes at the heart of what it means to be human, and forces me to realize once again that our empathies should extend far beyond those solely in the human race.

6. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #149773 by evolver23 on March 26, 2008 at 8:13 am

I am sick to my stomach. This is one of the saddest stories I've heard in some time. I can only imagine (and not very well at that) the suffering this poor girl experienced over a period of a month in her parents utterly idiotic and condemnable hands. It reminds me that we are not only fighting for philosophical truths and freedom of speech, but, quite often, for life itself, and the well-being of humankind.

7. Flipping particle could explain missing antimatter

Comment #146521 by evolver23 on March 19, 2008 at 6:58 am

I think it's enormously refreshing and reaffirming when scientists discover new, possibly "earth-shattering" data that have the potential to undermine some of their own theories. In this way, not only do we get to learn more about our very counterintuitive home, but we get to offer up an example (however ignored it may be by religious fanatics) that THIS is how the epistemology of science operates...not dogmatically, but by embracing REALITY whatever change in "beliefs" that may entail.

8. Blasphemy

Comment #122449 by evolver23 on February 5, 2008 at 9:27 am

Amen.

9. 'Irrational Atheist' trounces God-deniers

Comment #117428 by evolver23 on January 28, 2008 at 7:19 pm

I was considering skimming this book for the sake of open-mindedness, but after reading Austin Cline's blog re: this fuckwit, I think I'd rather do something that isn't a complete waste of time, like clipping my toenails maybe.

http://atheism.about.com/b/2003/11/18/the-irrational-atheist.htm

http://atheism.about.com/b/2003/11/22/irrational-atheist-part-2.htm

10. Fox News Attacks 'Godless' Free Thought Radio

Comment #78888 by evolver23 on October 15, 2007 at 9:05 am

From the Fox News website:

"Prior to joining FNC in 1996, Green served as a weekend news anchor and correspondent at WBBM-TV (CBS) in Chicago. From 1988 to 1993, she was a general assignment reporter at KSTP-TV (ABC) in St. Paul, Minnesota. Outside of her career at FNC, Green is well known as a concert pianist with a degree in piano performance...A graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Green was named Miss Minnesota in 1984 and was the third runner-up in the 1985 Miss America contest."

As i suspected her science and religion credentials are impeccable. The only way this could be better is if she had actually won Miss America. Could you please tell me once more, Fox News, why I'm listening to her talk to me about religion?

11. The new age of ignorance

Comment #53429 by evolver23 on July 1, 2007 at 12:25 pm

'There have been a lot of convincing studies recently about the loss of productivity in the Western male. It may be that entertainment culture now is so engaging that it keeps people satisfied. We didn't have that. Science was much more fun than listening to the radio. When you are 16 or 17 and in that inherently semi-lonely period when you are deciding whether to be an intellectual, many now don't bother.'

Does this scare the shit out of anyone else? I'm reminded of Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves To Death."

12. Books on Atheism Are Raising Hackles in Unlikely Places

Comment #23853 by evolver23 on March 3, 2007 at 7:54 am

steindor:

I just finished reading your friend's review; thank you for posting it. Although I do agree with several points he made, I somewhat disagree with the contention that Dawkins views the devoloping brain as nothing more than a blank slate. The brain can be both multimodal and overly trusting in the teachings of elders. For instance, the young child may have an instinctual disposition to believe only in what the elders teach and not simply what anyone (e.g. his peers or younger siblings) teach. This would represent an underlying complexity and ability to distinguish between modes of information that is in theory compatible, and not necessarily at odds, with CSR. Any other ideas/criticisms concerning this?

13. Biology and Bullshit

Comment #22982 by evolver23 on February 25, 2007 at 10:00 am

"However the tensions eventually play out between our opposing worldviews," Wilson observes to his imaginary pastor at the end of The Creation, "however science and religion wax and wane in the minds of men, there remains the earthborn, yet transcendental, obligation we are both morally bound to share."

Maybe I'm off, but I took the word "transcendental" to simply mean "separate" or "important," not anything "supernatural." Science, if not entirely necessary to this end, obviously informs us of the damage we are causing to the environment and what we must do to save it, but the motivation for doing so should be present regardless of your love for science or devotion to religion.

14. Debate between Sam Harris and Reza Aslan

Comment #22060 by evolver23 on February 12, 2007 at 8:48 pm

Riley,

On a lighter (but contributive) note, your second point reminds me of a segment in Julia Sweeney's monologue, "Letting Go of God." She comes to the (short-lived) realization that perhaps the Bible is relevant because it is "psychologically true." However, after reflecting on this, she quickly realizes that Darth Vader and the Little Engine That Could are also psychologically true.

A brilliant piece of work.

15. Debate between Sam Harris and Reza Aslan

Comment #22051 by evolver23 on February 12, 2007 at 7:56 pm

I agree with the above reviews.

Sam makes claims about the nature of reality that are testable and actually MEAN something concrete. Reza, however, is reminiscent of my treadmill. He endlessly rambles, expending far too much energy for the short (in my opinion infinitesimally short) distance travelled. After deriding fundamentalists and literalists for actually BELIEVING in their religious texts, he left me wondering what grounds remained for respecting religious beliefs at all. Much of what he said seemed nothing more than political and sociological sophistry. I've yet to understand why religion is repeatedly ignored by such thinkers. Is it becoming academically chic to deny the grossly obvious variable of religion -- and, more basically, belief -- when discussing motivations of behavior?

16. Federal Way schools restrict Gore film

Comment #17320 by evolver23 on January 12, 2007 at 10:50 pm

I feel like I'm reading The Onion:

1. It's outrageous, comical, and so obviously filled with lunacy,
2. It's making me cry.

Why does the school board cater to this crap? All this for someone who is terrified that an individual might have the audacity to criticize the United States?

Was I drugged? Is this still Earth?