1. Male circumcision is a weapon in the sperm wars

Comment #189678 by Steve19 on June 7, 2008 at 1:04 am

Yeah I don't think it's really an evolutionary phenomenon in the biological sense, although it does have some biological connection. It's definitely more of a cultural evolutionary phenomenon.

It makes sense to me though - the powerful men who demanded that the boys in their tribe be circumcised would father more children than those powerful men who didn't make such a demand. It was then in the interests of the lesser fathers to have their boys circumcised so that they could potentially gain more powerful positions in the tribe.

It doesn't need to involve any real understanding of fertility by anyone, if you have enough tribes and enough time, effective strategies that may initially develop randomly can become widespread.

I guess there could be a bit of a genetic aspect though - a gene that makes parents to want their child to conform to the desires of the high-status members of their tribe/society???

2. Physicist Claims First Real Demonstration of Cold Fusion

Comment #187895 by Steve19 on June 3, 2008 at 2:07 am

Ian

Cold fusion isn't bollocks, it happens all the time. Just not on Earth.

Are you sure you don't just mean fusion? I'm not aware of any known cases of cold fusion occuring elsewhere in the universe.

3. God Talk on 'The View'

Comment #71555 by Steve19 on September 19, 2007 at 2:56 am

That was so difficult for me to watch... I had to pause it constantly and reassure myself there is still sanity in the world by reading everyone else's responses.

The thing is, they all occupy different positions on the spectrum (from Whoopi to the middle one) and only two of them I wouldn't be embarrassed to be in the same room as. I can completely understand if it was even less for other people.

4. Interview with Richard Dawkins about 'The Enemies of Reason'

Comment #63086 by Steve19 on August 13, 2007 at 4:48 am

I noticed that Judy managed to drop in the idea that the rise in superstition is due to the loss of faith (belief) in God. Well ignored btw :)

She is obviously ignorant of the fact that no matter how many people leave religion for these wacky beliefs, there will be no net increase in superstition.

5. Proboscidean Mitogenomics: Chronology and Mode of Elephant Evolution Using Mastodon as Outgroup

Comment #58914 by Steve19 on July 26, 2007 at 4:41 pm

I agree it's very exciting how thorough our understanding of evolution and the world's ecosystems is becoming. I'm looking forward to that global species database that will be on the internet eventually (next few years maybe?). Hopefully it will include information on the divergence of each species from its related and more distant cousins, too.

Wouldn't it be great if we had a massive tree diagram, which was totally accurate, representing the genetic divergence of every species ever found in fossil form or alive today? Sort of like in "The Ancestor's Tale" but a million times more detailed?

Also, this article brings up the question: Will we ever be able to create a real Jurassic Park? And, could an elephant give birth to a Mastodon if we implanted a synthetic fertilized Mastodon egg?

6. Borehamwood eruv granted planning permission

Comment #56152 by Steve19 on July 14, 2007 at 5:09 am

"I really thought Douglas Adams' light switch on a saturday joke was just a satirical exaggeration!
My ignorance obviously respects no boundaries."

I used to be the same, but my girlfriend, who is a non-practicing Jew, has taught me all the quirks of Orthodox Judaism. For instance, did you know that a husband is not allowed to touch his wife (anywhere) when she is menstruating?

7. Borehamwood eruv granted planning permission

Comment #56092 by Steve19 on July 13, 2007 at 5:48 pm

This reminds me of a story ages ago from Bondi in Sydney, which has a large Orthodox Jewish population. Apparently they were lobbying the council to install motion censors at pedestrian crossings since they were 'not allowed' to press the button and so were 'forced' to cross the road illegally. I guess these are the same people who hire non-Jewish housekeepers to turn the lights on in each room before they enter.

8. The US map of faith

Comment #56000 by Steve19 on July 13, 2007 at 6:54 am

I just read the subtext on the map, which says:


"Country percentages based on the total number of adherents reported by the 149 religious bodies that participated i a study sponsored by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies divided by the total population in 2000 reported by the US Census Bureau."


I expect that these 149 religious bodies would include all of the major denominations, but in the US I would expect there to be thousands of different faiths, including those distinguished by seemingly trivial titles (e.g. Southern Baptist vs. Northern Baptist). Are there any states or regions (e.g. the Bible Belt) that are known for having a massive variety of types of Christianity? This might explain why some areas are 'yellower' then expected, like West Virginia.

9. The US map of faith

Comment #55612 by Steve19 on July 11, 2007 at 5:12 pm

I lived in Salem, Oregon for a while when I was younger (now in Brisbane, Australia), and it didn't seem that irreligious. Is it considered a little more religious than other cities such as Portland? Well done anyway, it was a nice place to live and I hope to visit there again some day.

What I'm particularly interested in are those little patches of pale yellow in otherwise red states, such as Texas and North Dakota. Are there particular communities or regions within those states that are known to be filled by heathens or something?

10. Messiah

Comment #52372 by Steve19 on June 26, 2007 at 10:10 pm

I'm generally not too good at figuring out how magicians do things, but do you get the impression the people in the second scene (on evangelism) were pretty much asking for conversion (i.e. they feel lonely and confused etc)?

All in all I found it fascinating. I like him better than David Blaine.

11. Bengali Translation of The First Chapter of The God Delusion

Comment #49643 by Steve19 on June 12, 2007 at 5:24 pm

Wow! I've never learnt Bengali, but some of the words just seemed to jump out at at me and I understood them completely!

But seriously, I think this is great. I hope more of these books get translated into Asian (and other) languages, such as Mandarin, Cantonese, Sinhalese and Hindi etc. The Christian and Islamic missionaries have had such a headstart in spreading their ideas across the world and it would be a shame if the works of Richard Dawkins et al are limited to circulate only within Western nations. A large proportion of Indians and Chinese whom I've met are sitting right at the level of religiosity that Richard would like - considering themselves vaguely religious but unlikely to be offended by having their beliefs challenged.

12. Manliness is next to godliness

Comment #49150 by Steve19 on June 10, 2007 at 4:25 pm

I agree, it's very manly to surrender independent thought because of the irrational fear of an angry man in the sky. It's very manly to need a community-support network because of a fear of the unknown, and it's very manly to constantly need reassurance and be comforted by an old-fashioned belief system.

I shouldn't be too critical - hopefully all these insecure men will be made to feel better about themselves and their shortcomings.

Oh, and by the way: "BattleZone Ministries" ?
hahaahah aha haah ah ahahah ahahhaaa

13. Aiming for knockout blow in god wars

Comment #45235 by Steve19 on May 27, 2007 at 12:27 am

I agree that having Professor Dawkins on Philip Adams' show would be a good idea. Organised Religion doesn't have as strong a hold on Australian society as it does in Britain or the US, and some healthy debate at this stage might be a positive step in preventing it from becoming more influential - especially with Rudd likely to become Prime Minister. Philip Adams is an atheist, and while he seems much more sympathetic to religion and supernatural spirituality, I could guarantee it would be a high standard of interview.

Even though we're probably more religious than the Brits, there are also an awful lot of people here who Richard refers to as 'seeing themselves as being vaguely religious.' In fact, I know personally a number of people, albeit in fairly accepting, liberal families, who have come out of the closet after reading 'The God Delusion.'

14. Atheism in America

Comment #40265 by Steve19 on May 14, 2007 at 4:03 am

That was a really sad story - I can't imagine how tough that would've been on her. I consider myself lucky (unfortunately) that I didn't really have that problem where I grew up, even though I went to a Christian not Public school. Looks like she has a good family and lots of talent though, so hopefully she can still go places despite such a traumatic experience.

The interviewer (with the mustache) seemed fairly biased but the voice-over wasn't, which seemed kind of strange to me.

Oh, and thunderous applause is definitely due to the Pastor's wife's defense: 'Our kids are good Christian kids - they wouldn't do that...'

15. Doctors Opposing Circumcision: An Appeal for Misha

Comment #32661 by Steve19 on April 18, 2007 at 12:00 am

Beth,

I apologise for overstating the similarities between male circumcision and FGM. While I knew that in parts of Africa the practice was similar to what you outlined, I didn't realise that it always involves regular unstitching and restitching, and everything else you mentioned. I assumed that in more developed parts of africa and the middle east it was performed as an elective medical procedure, and while still immoral would not involve the complications you listed. Bare in mind that I am strongly opposed to both involuntary male circumcision and FGM and I'll try not to make the same mistake again.

16. Doctors Opposing Circumcision: An Appeal for Misha

Comment #32416 by Steve19 on April 17, 2007 at 3:14 am

I used to live in Oregon when I was very young before moving back to Australia, and it's disappointing that this is even happening in probably the second least religious state (behind Washington).

It's also surprising how many people can't understand that by circumcising anyone, infant or otherwise, you are denying them a choice with regard to their own body. No one is prevented from getting a circumcision voluntarily when they're older, so why not wait and let the child make up his own mind? My girlfriend, who is a non-practicing Jew and generally a bleeding-heart liberal still spouts the whole 'Tradition' line, even though she is vehemently opposed to female circumcision. Yeah male circumcision isn't as bad, but really what else is the difference?

17. The Age of Darwin

Comment #32123 by Steve19 on April 15, 2007 at 8:55 pm

Well I enjoyed and largely agreed with that article (a pleasant change), but there was one statement that seemed a little suspect:

According to this view, human beings, like all other creatures, are machines for passing along genetic code. We are driven primarily by a desire to perpetuate ourselves and our species.

I have no problem with the first sentence, but I disagree with the second. As RD outlines in the Selfish Gene, the driving force of evolution is not centered on the species or even the individual, but on the replication of genes. Not many people I know are really driven to perpetuate themselves by having heaps of children. We have desires to do things that may result in producing many offspring and perpetuating the species, but these developed as a means to perpetuate our genes. And I think caring about the fate of the species is simply a human cultural trait, which I guess you could argue is still a result of Darwinian evolution. I think, depending on the person, we are driven more by a lust for things like pleasure, knowledge and power, rather than propagation.

18. The Salem Hypothesis

Comment #27034 by Steve19 on March 23, 2007 at 12:51 am

If engineers ARE more religious than scientists, which I don't think there is any conclusive evidence to suggest, I think it's most likely just because scientists tend to be EVEN MORE familiar with and respectful of the scientific method and science in general.

I'm studying an engineering course, and I think that learning about good design has made me even more doubtful of a designer than I was before (as well as fueling a greater passion for science in general).

In engineering, a lot of emphasis is put on achieving the most effective or efficient solution to a problem, and it has only taken us a few thousand years of engineering to achieve multitudes of things nature hasn't and will never be able to. One by one, many of the wonders of nature have been surpassed by human ingenuity - we can now see further, move faster and fly higher than anything that has been produced by nature. Either God was a terrible engineer or those 'designs' arose through a non-intelligent mechanism.

Moving on to the low opinion some of you have of engineers, bare in mind that in different parts of the world being an engineer can mean different things. Some tradespeople consider themselves engineers, and they may not have had any scientific education. In Australia it is generally understood that to be an engineer requires completing a four year university course containing science, maths and statistics, as well as more engineering specific subjects.

In fact, I found this petition near (above) the faith school one complaining about the ambiguity of the term 'engineer' in the UK:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Engineer-Status/

Also, in my opinion anecdotes (and I have many) should not be required to disprove a correlation that hasn't been proved yet. The null hypothesis should be that there is no correlation!