Comments by ianmkz

51. 'Irrational Atheist' trounces God-deniers

Comment #117535 by ianmkz on January 29, 2008 at 4:26 am

"Dawkins said that it's better to sexually abuse a child than to take them to church"

Was it Hitchens who included the story of the woman who, as a child, was sexually abused by a priest and also had a protestant friend die (who of course went to hell) - who later recounts the more scarring qualities of the latter? (That's the trouble with taking books out of the library - you don't have them on hand when you need them)

I will be downloading this book when it becomes available on February 1st.

I was initially tempted to do just that, but I suspect a successful giveaway might induce a publisher to print more of the damn things in expectation of huge sales to come. Maybe I'll wait and see it the book has any real impact. (waiting... waiting...)

52. New atheists or new anti-dogmatists?

Comment #117121 by ianmkz on January 28, 2008 at 9:52 am

The problem is that this article, like the posts submitted by the vast majority of contributors to this forum, classes as obscurantism any and all belief in a transcendent Creator

When I hear the word "transcendent" I cannot help but feel that you have made the Creator (by fiat) an agency that is beyond the realm of reason or experience -- vague by definition -- obscurantist.

53. New atheists or new anti-dogmatists?

Comment #117070 by ianmkz on January 28, 2008 at 7:47 am

Is Occam's Razor a scientific dogma?

54. 'Telepathic' Genes Recognize Similarities In Each Other

Comment #117013 by ianmkz on January 28, 2008 at 4:35 am

Water is not very good at letting electrostatic charges have influence over long distances.

So presumably the trick is to herd the homologous regions into close physical proximity. In meiosis this is done via intermediary proteins associating with the centromere. Once tethered at a common point, association of homologous sequences seems a slam dunk.
When not mediated by proteins, as in the case of this paper, it does seem to be an impressive trick that homologous sequences can "find" each other - although the homologous sequences were only twice as likely to be found together as non-homologous sequences. This suggests that DNA likes to clump in the test environment, and that homologous DNA is more likely to stay clumped.

55. Loneliness Breeds Belief in Supernatural

Comment #116262 by ianmkz on January 26, 2008 at 4:56 am

I don't claim that this process is always deliberate on the part of the Christians who lure you in in the first place.

I recently read "American Fascists" by Chris Hedges who spends a significant portion of the book talking about the tactics used by evangelicals; tactics practiced in workshops and spelled out in workbooks to bring about a crisis in the victim's life. Then love bombing. Then withdrawal of love for failure to fully embrace the whole mindset of the believer. All very carefully worked out.

Indeed it is not all Christians who work this way, but it is the way of those Christians who are of most concern to us.

56. A Letter From Hell

Comment #115931 by ianmkz on January 25, 2008 at 4:25 am

Stuff like this pushes me from atheist to antitheist. God, you're a mean fucker. You run the afterlife like a concentration camp. You hold a grudge for eternity. And your idea of a reward is letting people praise you. Sick, sick, sick.

57. US scientists close to creating artificial life: study

Comment #115907 by ianmkz on January 25, 2008 at 2:56 am

Venter is not God ... He's a long way from creating life

What is she saying? He's not trying hard enough?

58. The real danger in Darwin is not evolution, but racism

Comment #115164 by ianmkz on January 23, 2008 at 5:26 pm

we should recognize that there is an infinite qualitative difference between the most highly developed ape and each and every human being.

Ah... you lost me there. In fact, given the relative sizes of the populations, I suspect the great apes may have a higher individual value.

59. Florida in the process of approving new science standards

Comment #114941 by ianmkz on January 23, 2008 at 8:18 am

If you get bored of your 72 virgins, can you trade with a friend?

60. New Findings Confirm Darwin's Theory: Evolution Not Random

Comment #114720 by ianmkz on January 22, 2008 at 4:00 pm

So is this basically saying that genetic drift is BS?

No. While most of the developmental features they looked at showed the hallmarks of natural selection , a few did not. So some new characteristics give a selective benefit and are retained through future generations, and others (a significant minority) don't give a selective benefit and are "free" to mutate back to the original form in future generations.

While it may seem a bit of a non-finding, perhaps the point is that this is an examination of a real phylogenetic tree that shows the majority of characteristics studied were arrived at by selection and not "luck". It is one thing to theorize about natural selection, to see how elegant and obvious it all is, but quite a different thing to prove it. I don't know what other proofs (at the genetic level) are out there.

While this summary of the paper is desperately bad the TS-SI one is quite helpful
http://ts-si.org/content/view/2758/991/

61. Honour Killings

Comment #113784 by ianmkz on January 20, 2008 at 2:35 pm

At the risk of being seen to validate any of the ravings of the author - why is it that people who come from the armpit of the world find the West so offensive? Could it be that Westerners are not quite as impressive as we think? Does freedom go hand in hand with vomit in the streets?

62. New Findings Confirm Darwin's Theory: Evolution Not Random

Comment #113451 by ianmkz on January 19, 2008 at 3:22 pm

To be fair to Science Daily, problem seems to be with the American Technion Society press release

63. New Findings Confirm Darwin's Theory: Evolution Not Random

Comment #113447 by ianmkz on January 19, 2008 at 3:16 pm

This is a much more helpful summary of the findings
http://ts-si.org/content/view/2758/991/

with a link to the pdf of the paper
(still don't get it though)

From the intro of the paper

Much of research in evolutionary developmental biology
is concerned with elucidating how divergent and novel
features have evolved or how the same type of feature
has evolved convergently [1�5]. However, there are
many features that have remained largely static, even
over vast evolutionary distances between species [2].
It might be expected that purifying selection would
also prevent change to the developmental mechanisms
that give rise to such features. Indeed, one of the main
architects of molecular evolution, Emile Zuckerkandl,
predicted that stabilizing selection on the phenotype
would be reflected in stability of the underlying molecular
features [6]. Nevertheless, several examples from
a variety of different systems demonstrate that a large
amount of variation has evolved in the development of
homologous, highly conserved features [2].

64. New Findings Confirm Darwin's Theory: Evolution Not Random

Comment #113425 by ianmkz on January 19, 2008 at 2:45 pm

Here is another article on the same subject
http://www.eetimes.com/rss/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=205901264&cid=RSSfeed_eetimes_newsRSS
Seems to say the same thing, though it uses the word "successive" instead of advantageous.

65. Creation 'Museum' honored

Comment #113338 by ianmkz on January 19, 2008 at 10:13 am

I'm currently reading a book by Chris Hedges called American Fascists, about those in the Christian Right who seek a Christian US. Here's a little bit about the Creation Museum.

On an April night at Pennview Christian School in Souderton, Pennslvania,
about a half hour outside of Philadelphia, Dr. Jason Lisle, who works for the Creation Museum, sets up his slide projector for a lecture. He begins his presentation by disabusing his audience of about 150 people, mostly students, teachers and parents, of the notion that dinosaurs were frightful creatures.
"God didn't make monsters," he says, explaining his theory of the dinosaurs' diet. "The first T. rex would have eaten plants. Dinosaurs, along with all animals originally, were vegetarians.
"People say, 'Wait a minute -- but T. rex had those incredibly sharp teeth.' And indeed, T. rex had six-inch serrated fangs -- perfectly designed for ripping and tearing into watermelons and canaloupes and cabbages and all kinds of fruits.
"You see, you think of a watermelon as soft. But in order to get to the soft stuff on the inside, you have to cut through the hard outer exterior. But not T. rex. He was quite ready to eat it off the vine."

It's worth remembering that more than 50% of the US population believe the premise behind this museum - that the world was created in 4004 BCE.

66. The New Theology

Comment #113152 by ianmkz on January 18, 2008 at 5:16 pm

If it's a compromise I guess it must be good.

67. Huckabee Wants A 'Faith-based' Constitution

Comment #113098 by ianmkz on January 18, 2008 at 2:43 pm

So when the US runs out of qualified engineers who can keep the things tip top will they outsource to China I wonder?

Don't confuse engineers and scientists. I work for a university department of engineering and it is thick with religious (mostly Islamic) students. Engineering is a high-end trade, and you can get the job done and believe in the Sky-Fairy at the same time. In my experience university science draws more rational individuals.

68. Ben Stein Bribing Schools to See His Anti-Evolution Movie 'Expelled'

Comment #112775 by ianmkz on January 18, 2008 at 4:23 am

As far as I know the 2 main christian religions in the world , Catholic church and Church of England both fully accept evolution (of course god 'invented' evolution). They must make up 99% of christians worldwide surely?

You forgot the Church of Scotland! That'll probably bring you up to 99%

69. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112756 by ianmkz on January 18, 2008 at 3:49 am

You are merely revealing your own lack of research not only to language utilized, but how then would one even give credit to your ideas on most other subjects.

Never use "utilize" when you can utilize "use" instead;-)
(I always enjoy a good "wont" though)

70. Questions Delay Creationist Master's Degrees

Comment #112668 by ianmkz on January 17, 2008 at 5:55 pm

I could never criticise a country that gave the world Bluegrass music.
And Diana Krall.

Diana Krall is Canadian... so criticize away.

71. Ben Stein Bribing Schools to See His Anti-Evolution Movie 'Expelled'

Comment #112608 by ianmkz on January 17, 2008 at 2:29 pm

I always kinda liked Ben Stein. Reminded me of Clement Freud. Oh well... sniff.

72. Questions Delay Creationist Master's Degrees

Comment #112604 by ianmkz on January 17, 2008 at 2:25 pm

Over there a small percentage is a couple of million people who cna pool together lots of money and resource and infest the media and make their presence felt.

More than 80% of the US population accept creationism or divinely guided evolution. A puny 10-13% believe that a non-divinely guided process of evolution resulted in h. sapiens.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_publi.htm

All very sad and scary.

73. Ben Stein Bribing Schools to See His Anti-Evolution Movie 'Expelled'

Comment #112561 by ianmkz on January 17, 2008 at 1:13 pm

By the way, why don't we make more of the fact that God clearly wasn't thinking straight when he created humans?

That's like asking why it took Him 6 days to create the world, but 190 days to destroy it. (Noah - 40 days of rain and 150 days for the waters to abate)

74. Science, Evolution, and Creationism

Comment #112433 by ianmkz on January 17, 2008 at 5:23 am

I'm for what works, and dislike appeasement policies, which so often allow bad situations to grow

This NOMA thing is not exactly a new idea, though it is a relatively new name. Surely it has been the default polite means of having a quiet life for the last century or so. The question is "has this approach in the past increased or decreased the acceptance of evolution in the general public?" I have no numbers to answer that. Has Creationism seen a revival in recent years, or is it just improved publicity?

As far as Styrer's criticism of the digression goes, I think RD would be in his corner given an early post on another thread

What impresses me about the Pharyngula thread on this very same subject(...) is how most of the Commenters stick to the point, instead of waltzing off into little private conversations that really should be dealt with in private e-mails

Ouch!

75. Science, Evolution, and Creationism

Comment #112252 by ianmkz on January 16, 2008 at 4:16 pm

Red hair is fairly recent - is that more evolved than non red head?

The Wikipedia entry cites a source that suggests red hair comes about through lack of selective pressure, ie as a result of genetic drift. It offers no adaptive advantage, but in certain environments it is not a disadvantage. So is it really more evolved?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_hair

76. Science, Evolution, and Creationism

Comment #112218 by ianmkz on January 16, 2008 at 3:26 pm

But if it is manifest in morphological changes (like size...)

I suspect that you would view a "twice as big" mutant as more evolved than "curly eyelash" mutant

77. Science, Evolution, and Creationism

Comment #112212 by ianmkz on January 16, 2008 at 3:16 pm

Can we say that a "more evolved" form is one which has suffered greater gene attrition?

78. Huckabee Wants A 'Faith-based' Constitution

Comment #112085 by ianmkz on January 16, 2008 at 9:39 am

Or am I just paranoid?

After watching Jesus Camp, I feel the same

79. Huckabee Wants A 'Faith-based' Constitution

Comment #112084 by ianmkz on January 16, 2008 at 9:37 am

With God and Chuck Norris by his side nothing can stop him!

Canadians will always remember Huckabee best for his congratulating Canada on preserving its National Igloo.

80. Science, Evolution, and Creationism

Comment #112018 by ianmkz on January 16, 2008 at 8:07 am

I agree it is difficult. But "more evolved" is probably technically correct.

I suggest that order to gain wider acceptance for evolution we introduce a term to convey this fuzzy sense of "more evolved":better. I think that might go down well with Huckabee and his kind; "I am better than a chimpanzee."

81. George Scales, War Hero and Generous Friend of RDFRS

Comment #111426 by ianmkz on January 14, 2008 at 2:47 pm

Dear Mr Scales,
I read the account of your heroic actions on Juno Beach. We owe so much to men like you. I am sorry to hear that you are having to deal with so many health problems at the same time. You will, I am sure, be relieved to know that I am not praying for you -- but I sincerely wish you a speedy improvement in your health. To better days ahead!
Ian

82. 'Letter to a Christian Nation' now available in paperback

Comment #111302 by ianmkz on January 14, 2008 at 9:00 am

that would be like trying to "herd cats"

It's a bit like all the different atheist/humanist organisations; some will prefer the Rational Response Squad approach, others the BHA or the NSS, for example.

Given the number of organizations it seems that cats can be herded, but for now cat herds can't.

83. Fish out of water: Your Inner Fish

Comment #111067 by ianmkz on January 13, 2008 at 12:23 pm

We've got past the fin rot and gill flukes though;-)

84. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #111056 by ianmkz on January 13, 2008 at 12:08 pm

You can actually cash in on thoughts like that?

If you want to guarantee that your ideas earn you nothing, do nothing with them.

85. The Moral Instinct

Comment #110792 by ianmkz on January 12, 2008 at 2:40 pm

LorienRyan,
don't mind me, I've just been itching to use "what the dawkins...?" for a couple of days now.

86. The Moral Instinct

Comment #110789 by ianmkz on January 12, 2008 at 2:36 pm

A man is driven to steal a loaf of bread to feed his family...

What the Dawkins are you talking about?

87. Carl Sagan's COSMOS begins airing on Jan 8th

Comment #110711 by ianmkz on January 12, 2008 at 5:33 am

If you do not have the discovery science channel there are still options for the motivated.
1) you can buy it
2) you can get your library to buy it (hell, you could even buy it and give it to your library)
3) you could "share" it
http://thepiratebay.org/search/sagan%20cosmos/0/3/200
4) you could listen to an object approximately 13.5 light years (Billions and Billions of miles)from earth and record the echo of the original transmission. Good luck with that one.

88. Why (Almost All) Cosmologists are Atheists

Comment #110635 by ianmkz on January 11, 2008 at 5:15 pm

what the heck is the rest of the universe FOR if it was created for the purpose of housing us humans

The stars are God's daisy chain, silly.

89. Six Reasons to be an Atheist

Comment #110506 by ianmkz on January 11, 2008 at 12:04 pm

Poor old ADH. You shouldn't be so mean to him. I shouldn't like to have to defend a compendium of bronze age scribblings to the last jot and tittle just because I liked the idea of a loving creator. It's a shame that Christians are lumbered with the Bible really.

90. Six Reasons to be an Atheist

Comment #110220 by ianmkz on January 10, 2008 at 4:35 pm

Goldy,
We are also, let's face it, made in His image, so presumably he knew the kind of tricks we'd get up to. I was going to make a smart-ass potty-humour comment about being made in God's image, but I'll let that pass.

91. Six Reasons to be an Atheist

Comment #110212 by ianmkz on January 10, 2008 at 4:20 pm

Goldy,
I'll just bleed quietly on the carpet then.

7. Implausibly Wasteful Workmanship
If Wikipedia speaks true, there are 10^11 galaxies in the observable universe each containing between 10^7 and 10^12 stars (call it 10^8.5 as an average). This is 3^19 times the number of stars necessary to carry out the human experiment.

92. Six Reasons to be an Atheist

Comment #110199 by ianmkz on January 10, 2008 at 3:58 pm

Do we need a good healing because of original sin? Is it because Eve pinched that apple from God's private orchard? Silly cow.

93. Richard Dawkins on The Late Edition with Marcus Brigstocke

Comment #110027 by ianmkz on January 10, 2008 at 10:31 am

Matthew 10:21 Jesus anticipates the effects of his disciples spreading the word
"Brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death."

94. Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up

Comment #110013 by ianmkz on January 10, 2008 at 9:41 am

once you start viewing scripture as a historical source like any other, and get into issues like why they wanted to tell the nativity this way, to me that's far more interesting than the fairy story

I agree that it is more interesting. I also found it as convincing from an atheistic perspective. A background in science kept me immunized against biblical pseudoscience, but it did not kill all susceptibility to gentler religious positions. Learning something about the development of the New Testament, however, the sources, the timeline, the cultures through which it spread, the competing cults of the Jesus franchise... that was the end of religion for me.

95. Richard Dawkins on The Late Edition with Marcus Brigstocke

Comment #110001 by ianmkz on January 10, 2008 at 9:13 am

If RD had any more to say on the topic and chose to write a follow up book, it could be titled (in the manner of the old monster movie sequels)
Son of... God Delusion;-)

96. Could there be a Darwinian Account of Human Creativity?

Comment #109994 by ianmkz on January 10, 2008 at 9:03 am

"Can chimeras bombinating in a vacuum nourish second intentions?"

Epeeist, are you Wooterbaiting in a public place?

97. Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up

Comment #109744 by ianmkz on January 9, 2008 at 3:49 pm

Well I favour the prime mover, all praise to the singularity.

98. Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up

Comment #109741 by ianmkz on January 9, 2008 at 3:40 pm

So do we in practice favour infinite regress or a prime mover in god-free timespace?

99. Did mozzies, not a meteor, do for the dinosaurs?

Comment #109586 by ianmkz on January 9, 2008 at 8:34 am

We do like to think of the human race as all-powerful, but we really aren't.

Then we must double our efforts... triple them! I suggest we send nuclear powered rockets to the asteroid belt and bombard this puny primate plagued planet into submission with a rain of nickel-iron meteors.

100. Could there be a Darwinian Account of Human Creativity?

Comment #109581 by ianmkz on January 9, 2008 at 8:23 am

Has it not occurred to anybody else here that probably wooter is writing his comments in his native tongue (probably Third period Transitional Sumerian with chorizo to go) then passing it through a translator like Google or somesuch?

My money is on him being Chinese, last name Woo.

More Pages: Previous | 1 2 3 | Next