351. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #219814 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 27, 2008 at 3:01 pm

Decius,

PM for you.

Comment #219811 by Scot Rafkin

You should come to Norway and try smalahovud.

352. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #219796 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 27, 2008 at 2:34 pm

Comment #219789 by decius

As it happens I am going to Helsinki for a couple of days in the last week of August. I am not so sure about the harey sin, but if he drinks beer I'll treat him to a pint.

353. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #219781 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 27, 2008 at 2:15 pm

Comment #219774 by decius

He should look in if he ever visits Oslo. Since he has turned to atheism and therefore has given up morality he can have a lot of fun with the cats in my neighbourhood.

354. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #219763 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 27, 2008 at 2:03 pm

Comment #219129 by decius

His name is Jackass M.Div. He is a sophisticated theologian who turned to atheism after reading one of McGrath's papers

355. Write to UCF

Comment #219514 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 27, 2008 at 4:07 am

I would say that the most important idea to challenge is the notion of revealed truth. The irrationality involved in the eucharist is a side issue. That a cracker can become the body of Christ is disputed among the different denominations of Christianity and is, for example, one of the main reasons that Lutherans are not welcome to take part in the eucharist in a catholic church. Both parties claim they have the word of god on their side.

356. Write to UCF

Comment #219508 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 27, 2008 at 3:42 am

Comment #219497 by Allan W

PM for you.

357. Red hot enlightenment led me to believe in one fewer god

Comment #218558 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 25, 2008 at 2:15 pm

Comment #218551 by Vaal

LOL

358. Red hot enlightenment led me to believe in one fewer god

Comment #218544 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 25, 2008 at 2:05 pm

Sciros,

come to think of it I look somewhat like my mother-in-law in that picture. Scary.

359. Red hot enlightenment led me to believe in one fewer god

Comment #218527 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 25, 2008 at 1:54 pm

Sciros,

not even a miracle can produce that much hair on my scalp.

360. Red hot enlightenment led me to believe in one fewer god

Comment #218525 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 25, 2008 at 1:53 pm

Quetz-

better than IKEA, I'm sure ;)

361. Red hot enlightenment led me to believe in one fewer god

Comment #218515 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 25, 2008 at 1:47 pm

From red hot enlightenment to red hot actresses?

362. Red hot enlightenment led me to believe in one fewer god

Comment #217746 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 24, 2008 at 3:21 pm

Muehlenburg's style of arguing is quite common among his kind. For some reason he assumes that atheists know that Christianity is the one true religion (Of course it is! It is obvious!) but choose to reject it because they don't want to give up their sinful lives. Never for a second does he consider the possibility that the main reason for rejecting his religion is that there are no good reasons to think it is true.

363. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #217675 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 24, 2008 at 2:21 pm

After Robert's comments about Richard I think he should show us his CV before we "argue" with him.

364. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #217619 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 24, 2008 at 1:16 pm

Comment #217584 by Robert O'Brien

Don't underestimate the amount of research and thinking that goes into writing popular science.

365. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #217559 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 24, 2008 at 12:35 pm

Comment #217552 by Quetzalcoatl

I promised not to mention the Swedish furniture pushers again. It is a token of respect for my ancestors.

366. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #217548 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 24, 2008 at 12:28 pm

Comment #217546 by decius

Ask him to solve anything, and he will vanish

367. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #217534 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 24, 2008 at 12:19 pm

Comment #1006 by Robert O'Brien

You forgot a sign between x^n and y^n.

368. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #217470 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 24, 2008 at 11:28 am

Comment #217461 by Robert O'Brien

That means that the probability of the resurrection is > 50% for me

369. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #217449 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 24, 2008 at 11:06 am

Comment #217431 by black wolf

I am a novice in philosophy, so I leave it more educated people in this forum to answer your question. However, as a physicist my gut feeling when confronted with these questions is that there is something artificial about them. Take the question of how (if indeed it did, I am not so sure) the universe could pop up out of nothing. What is "nothing"? Our current understanding of the laws of physics suggests that a state of absolute nothingness cannot exist. A quantum vacuum is the closest thing you can get, and it certainly possible for our universe to appear spontaneously out of that. This is just my current and naive opinion.

370. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #217406 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 24, 2008 at 10:16 am

Comment #217376 by aberdeen

Can't you at least come up with something original? *Sighs*

371. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #217148 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 24, 2008 at 1:58 am

Comment #217140 by Roland_F

I am not disputing that the origins of what we call Christianity today are murky and that we have little evidence for the historicity of Jesus beyond the NT. What Steve Zara said in post 808 sums up what I was trying to say. As an aside, Bart Ehrman accepts the historicity of Jesus but argues that he belonged to an apocalyptic movement within first-century Judaism ("Jesus - apocalyptic prophet of the new millenium").

372. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #217134 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 24, 2008 at 1:29 am

I am a bit surprised that so many people on this forum dispute the historicity of Jesus. Although it is impossible to establish beyond doubt that he existed, it is as far as I understand somewhat of a fringe view even among atheist scholars in the field of the NT and early Christianity. There is a long way to go from an eccentric Galielan preacher who was executed for doing the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time to the miracle-working son of god.

373. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #216880 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 23, 2008 at 3:29 pm

Comment #216878 by Dhamma

Yep, that must be the Swedish equivalent. After all the IKEA-bashing I should mention that my wife is 1/8 Swedish and member of the Astrid Lindgren fan club.

374. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #216870 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 23, 2008 at 3:10 pm

Comment #216844 by Dhamma

I only hate IKEA when I have to put their stuff together, about once a year and typically in my summer vacation. My practical skills are well summed up by the Norwegian phrase "ti tommeltotter".

375. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #216861 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 23, 2008 at 3:02 pm

Comment #216842 by Steve Zara

Much appreciated.

I promise never to mention IKEA again after my showdown with "Gorm" tomorrow.

376. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #216835 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 23, 2008 at 2:45 pm

Comment #216814 by Dhamma

I cannot help feeling a bit sorry for him, but the picture is not enough to change my mind.

377. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #216809 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 23, 2008 at 2:27 pm

Joe, do you even know the meaning of the word "proof"?

378. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #216770 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 23, 2008 at 1:51 pm

Dhamma,

I love Sweden. This is strictly between Ingvar Kamprad and yours truly.

Apathy,

"Moses" was a piece of cake compared to the new writing desk my wife convinced me we needed in our living room. The photo was taken after I had emerged victorious after a long battle to assemble it.

Your ant project could easily turn out to be relevant for theoretical physics. Some time ago, a graduate student in the physics department here in Oslo wrote a paper on the movement of pilgrims in Mecca!

379. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #216747 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 23, 2008 at 1:25 pm

Comment #216739 by decius

Yes. My new friend, the electric screwdriver, and I declare jihad against the great satan Ingvar Kamprad and his evil organization.

380. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #216732 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 23, 2008 at 1:02 pm

Comment #216696 by Apathy personified

mathematical analysis of the movement of ants inside their colonies

381. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #215959 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 22, 2008 at 2:57 pm

Comment #215950 by khanzee

why then can the world not be created from nothing

Thirdly, if the universe was created by chance, then obviously it could not be governed by laws

382. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #215949 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 22, 2008 at 2:28 pm

Comment #215939 by Goldy

If I can get a job in NZ I'll move. I thought IKEA was everywhere.

383. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #215937 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 22, 2008 at 2:16 pm

I bet Harun Yahya designs furniture for IKEA. And not very intelligently.

384. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #215693 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 22, 2008 at 9:00 am

Comment #215653 by Quetzalcoatl

Surprisingly there were only 8 stages. I had problems with all of them, so in that respect there was an analogy.

Comment #215677 by irate_atheist

Irate, the chair is for my stepson, but I will make sure that pea soup is on the menu regularly from now on.

385. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #215651 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 22, 2008 at 8:28 am

IKEA adds insult to injury: the chair I'm putting together now is called "Moses".

386. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #215535 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 22, 2008 at 4:34 am

Comment #215530 by irate_atheist

Believing Kamprad to be a fucktard makes me feel better, so it has to be true.

387. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #215517 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 22, 2008 at 3:35 am

Comment #215514 by irate_atheist

Ingvar Kamprad is a fucktard.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingvar_Kamprad)

388. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #215506 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 22, 2008 at 3:14 am

I expect to use a lot of bad language today. In a few hours deliveries from IKEA will arrive at my doorstep and I will have to spend the rest of the day assembling furniture. I hope to come up with a Norwegian equivalent of irate's useful word in the course of the process.

389. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #215492 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 22, 2008 at 2:40 am

Book project: "Cosmology for fucktards: a gentle guide to the universe for creationists".

The astronomer Fritz Zwicky was a shining example of a scientist with an attitude. One of his lasting contributions was the phrase "spherical bastard", referring to a person who is a bastard no matter how you consider him/her.

390. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #215484 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 22, 2008 at 2:13 am

Comment #215481 by irate_atheist

Are you challenging me? I will have to practice. The next time I referee a paper I will begin the report by saying "This paper has obviously been written by a complete fucktard".

391. Stephen Hawking's explosive new theory

Comment #215467 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 22, 2008 at 1:23 am

Comment #215335 by Donald,

no putdown intended, I was just trying to explain (rather badly I can see) why heuristic arguments can give insight in the behavior of physical systems prior to solving, e.g., the equations of GR in gory detail. Your argument seems to me to show that (in Newtonian terms) the gravitational potential energy of a black hole is equal in magnitude to its rest-mass energy. I haven't thought about this point before, and it is certainly interesting.

I don't want to discourage you from exploring your ideas further. All I am saying is that one has to be careful (because in Newtonian theory and in SR you can always shift the zero point for energy, so the sign of the energy has no obvious meaning in itself), and one has to think carefully about where to start, since Newtonian theory is linear and the gravitational field is sourced by mass only, not energy. Maybe you can get some ideas by starting from linearized GR. There one works with gravitational fields in flat spacetime, and can build up systematically better approximation to GR using mostly Newtonian concepts. In this approach the gravitational field is also a source of gravity, so maybe one can then better understand the consequences of negative energies for gravity. There is a good description of this approach in a textbook by Hobson, Efstathiou and Lasenby: "General relativity: an introduction for physicists".

Again, sorry that I came across as an asshole.

392. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #215282 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 21, 2008 at 3:05 pm

Kristopher,

you obviously don't know what you are talking about. Read a book.

393. Surgeon General Nominee Dismisses Homosexuality Paper

Comment #215254 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 21, 2008 at 2:40 pm

I guess timing is of the essence here. In this case I get the feeling that he his trying to distance himself from his earlier views only because they could cost him his career.

394. Stephen Hawking's explosive new theory

Comment #215130 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 21, 2008 at 10:58 am

Donald,

if you construct a length scale from a mass, the speed of light and the gravitational constant, you are bound to end up with the Schwarzschild radius, modulo a numerical constant. It's just dimensional analysis. Your EPNE radius is exactly half the Schwarzschild radius.

Regarding negative energies, as I've said before there is in general no way of defining gravitational potential energy in general relativity. In Newtonian theory the gravitational field is determined by mass density alone, so negative energies play no role. Note that even in the Newtonian case the question of localization of the energy of the gravitational field is a tricky one. If you want to think about cosmology, then you have to do your thinking in terms of GR where there is no such thing as gravitational potential energy.

395. Antony Flew reviews the Index of The God Delusion

Comment #215001 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 21, 2008 at 7:10 am

Comment #214995 by Steve Zara

Well said. I might add that even among the wishy-washy liberal believers I used to hang with there was a widespread sense of being special, and that non-believers lead incomplete lives.

396. Antony Flew reviews the Index of The God Delusion

Comment #214977 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 21, 2008 at 6:07 am

For mental exercise I recommend (for those who have been exposed to calculus) solving integrals by partial fractions without pencil and paper. It is also a good alternative to counting sheep when you can't sleep.

397. Antony Flew reviews the Index of The God Delusion

Comment #214469 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 20, 2008 at 1:54 pm

Where is the documentation for Einstein's alleged views on God? And if Flew is right (which I seriously doubt) what would it prove? Flew's(?) book is full of arguments from authority: famous physicists X and Y believed in God, hence God exists. He can't be at his full mental powers if he wants to take full responsibility for such a crappy book.

398. Jefferson Bible reveals Founding Father's view of God, faith

Comment #214409 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 20, 2008 at 12:10 pm

Comment #214399 by Dhamma

I enjoyed Christopher Hitchens' book on Jefferson. It is called "Thomas Jefferson - Author of America".

399. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #214388 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 20, 2008 at 11:12 am

Comment #214377 by William1w1

In principle you are right. As Steve Zara mentioned earlier, the largest distance we can probe currently is a few times larger than the age of the universe times the speed of light since the universe has been expanding during the time the photons have traveled towards us. But there is a practical limit as well: before the universe was about 400 000 years old it was not transparent to electromagnetic radiation. So we cannot receive light from epochs earlier than this.

400. Jefferson Bible reveals Founding Father's view of God, faith

Comment #214384 by Oystein Elgaroy on July 20, 2008 at 11:05 am

Radesq: Of course.

My copy of the Jefferson bible has more than 100 pages. Maybe he had a bad pair of scissors.