October 29, 2006

Worldview Quiz

I've been avoiding taking and posting quizzes lately, but when I saw the Worldview Quiz on The J-Walk Blog, I had to participate.

The quiz measures your worldview based on two comparisons:

Science vs. non-science: The position on the vertical axis represents consistency with science, as opposed to non-science (superstition/supernatural).

Value of humankind: The position on the horizontal axis indicates the value one places on humankind and its descendants.


Here are some famous people's worldviews (click the graph to enlarge it):




Now mine. Probably most Atheists will wind up very close to where me and Carl Sagan wound up. I know why I didn't score exactly the same as Mr. Sagan and I'll explain it at the bottom of the post as opposed to right here, because I don't want to influence anyone who decides to take the test.




Take the quiz


Note: Take the test before reading the following:

I think my answer to question 4 made me a 9 in science instead of a 10. I admit that I'm not sure about ESP or psychic phenomenon. Yes, I know Randi has a going reward to anyone who can prove they have psychic powers in a scientific setting, but I really think the brain is capable of a lot more than most of us give it credit for. Or at least I am unsure. I do think a lot of what we think is psychic power is are evolved or innate ability to read body language in a subconscious way. I like using dogs for this example. Dogs seem to have a knack when it comes to anticipating a house dweller's arrrival. But I think it is mainly that they pick up on the person's body language who most likely is expecting the arrival of the other family member at a specific time.
Dogs also have a tendency to be able to weed out either other aggressive or passive dogs. Again, I attribute this to their ability to read other dog's body language. I think this is an animal thingy that has evolved in all of us. But our minds are so all over the place, we aren't too aware when it is happening to us. Also, we don't need this ability as much now that we have made it to the top of the food chain.
On the "psychic" side, animals have been known to anticipate bad weather situations, and humans with arthritis have been known to be able to predict rain or cold weather, but this again is most likely due to environmental factors and their affect on our physiologies. Some of us are more aware than others, and again, this is something that has evolved in us. It is good for survival of the species to be able to anticipate really bad weather that could result in floods, tsunamis, tornados, etc.
Of course, my possible acceptance of ESP has nothing to do with a deity, but all to do with evolution and the abilities of our brains that are unknown as of today.

43 comments:

  1. I got a 9,9. I think because I don't necessarily want humans to go into space, and a few 'none of above' answers because I didn't like the questions. Other than that, yeah, I probably would have scored exactly the same as Carl Sagon.

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  2. I was the same as carl sagan. Ner ner nerner.

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  3. I got 9, 10.

    Interesting. I have done a similar quiz with politics and came up more liberal than I thought I was.

    Interesting to see where the different religious leaders fell on the chart too. It never occurred to me that George W and Osama have so much in common.

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  4. CCP, if we can only send around 1.6 billion humans in space, mankind may have a chance.

    Beep Beep, that is just a guess as to what Carl Sagan would answer. Unless you believe that the quiz master contacted Carl during a seance. Then you wouldn't get a 10,10.

    BJ, again those are only speculations as to how the world figures appear to think. I have a hard time believing any president would be as religious fundamental as Bush appears. I think a lot of lip service is going on. But I could be wrong.

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  5. I got 10/10!

    Away with all spooks and ghosts!

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  6. I got a Carl Sagan - although I always thought his writing was dull in a literary sense.

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  7. > I think a lot of lip service is going on. But I could be wrong.

    Well, there must be. But why play lip service to people who do believe that stuff, that's what I want to know. Well, I do know why really. But anyway.

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  8. 10/10 Sagantastic!

    Very interesting comments about ESP, I would like to note one alternative way of looking at it:

    All of your examples of ESP seem to be things that have plausible physical explanations, which you yourself note (body language, the effect of (e.g.) air pressure on rheumatic joints).

    Although all these ways of percieving are not 'standard' manifestations of our five senses they, at least in my opinion, fall firmly in the realm of SP. No E.

    Reminds me of the recent stories about people who embedded tiny magnets in the tips of their fingers in order to be able to 'feel' magnetic fields. Different, sure, but it's just the sense of touch used in a slightly different way.

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  9. I got a 7,6. What I'm wondering about is since Bush, OBL and Robertson are the complete other end of the scale what does that say about them? Sort of seems if you are willing to live your life like everything is some sort of delusion or unexplained mystery then you get the money the power and the women just like Tony Montana mang.

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  10. THIS GUY NEEDS TO BE REPORTED


    Official Web site of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command This is an official U.S. Army website. You are entering

    an official U.S. Government system, which may be used only for authorized purposes. Unauthorized modification of any

    information stored on this system may result in criminal prosecution.
    www.cid.army.mil

    http://360.yahoo.com/profile-HIv6GjokaKfxBWRzKtdAvEKYXWuoyQ--

    You guys fear Jews
    by: usarmorsoldier (41/M/Mob Station) 10/30/06 12:10 pm
    Msg: 2959354 of 2960047
    2 recommendations

    That's the only explanation to why to hate so much.

    What are you people afraid of?

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  11. Hi Beaj,
    I'm working on my story for you.
    I'm putting it down on a wordperfect document in case i screw it up somehow.
    Which leads me to confess that i can't type or spell worth a s#%t.
    Please be patient with me and the time it takes for me to get back to you, cause i only have access to the a computer when i'm at work.

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  12. Damn
    sorry that was me
    Dougman

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  13. Well, what the hell, I'll be the one token religious dude who shows up to get attacked... +2,-1

    I have to say that seeing Pat Robertson rated more extreme than OBL made the projection portion of the test entirely discredited as far as I'm concerned.

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  14. Dougman, good luck, the crowd here won't be easy.

    AA, you should know from your pals at One Cosmos that us Atheists are limited writers.

    Craig, true. I described SP, not ESP, but I am still not convinced that possible thought connection can be completely ruled out for people who are separated by many miles. There have been a lot of coincidences when something bad happens that I've heard of. Of course, we never hear from someone who feels something bad happened and was wrong. Maybe the examples we hear of are just by pessimistic worry warts who are just throwing mud against the wall.

    MZ, you are brave. But if you can't see Pat Robertson being in OBL's zone you need to be reminded of some of his statements about Hurricae Katrina, or what he said God would do to Dover because they voted against ID in the classroom.

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  15. Brave or stupid? Not sure which, Bacon.

    As far as Pat Robertson goes, he may not be the most liberal secular humanist to walk down the pike, but BIN LADEN?! Come on...his comments are one thing, but saying you want to KILL everyone in the world who doesn't believe exactly as you, then go about making it happen, well that is something completely different.

    Pat doesn't care that you are an atheist, or at least he doesn't think you should be tortured and killed for it, but bin Laden wants you dead meat, infidel breath.

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  16. I got a 9,10. I feel comfortable with the results

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  17. I'm 8,7 Upper right corner.

    I picked none of the above on a couple of questions just because the answers were a little too narrow.

    I don't know about Carl Sagan though..I was watching the revamped Cosmos series and he was talking about Whales and dolphins being equal in value to humans.

    Matter of opinion and taste I guess.

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  18. RE:AJ

    God Is For Suckers has been supposedly hacked and has been down for a couple of days.

    It might be a good idea to encourage other atheist/agnostic blogs to use comment moderation.

    I add, there is a suspicion that it was hacked, they are not sure of this.

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  19. MAD ZIONIST:

    I wipe my ass with your blue and white piece of shit flag.

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  20. I’m having trouble with the words on the left and right sides of the graph. Does it mean that Clinton and Deepak are the ones going in the right direction? Why is it necessarily so that Bush’s and Bin Laden’s are heading to extermination? It seems to me that the opposite may be true. Religious folks are having way more children than the atheist/agnostic/functional atheist types in the West. Somali family’s average 9 or ten or something ridiculous. Bin Laden has heaps of children I believe or at least heaps of wives.
    The few rationalists and free thinkers left in two generations are just going to plunge into the gaping maw of religious extremism and fascism.

    BEAJ-
    AA, you should know from your pals at One Cosmos that us Atheists are limited writers.


    Sagan was no Frederick Nietzsche that’s for sure. It’s going to be a bit dull if we all sing from the same song sheet – I miss Mad Zionist comments for instance when he’s not around. I feel I tripped the ‘Doctor’ up yesterday with a metaphor comment. I do suspect that a lot of his followers are a bit fundamentalist but are hiding it and probably wince when evolution is mentioned. I still feel he is more metaphorical minded than his flock.

    My beef with militant Atheism at the moment is that they have succeeded in killing God and now they are strangling ideals and the very notion of God or absolutes. I se Ka and Choosedoubt in this camp. I’m also a rare right wing Atheist.

    Take a look at this song. It impressed me very much yet an Atheist couldn’t have created it. How can God lead my soul? There are no dragons in my brother’s room! Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you The Sleepy Jackson!

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  21. Argh!
    I'm not having any luck trying to make this in to a story-like tale.
    I'll just wing it and hope for the best.

    Me in the fall of 2003-42 yrs old, married, Father of three small children ages 5,3 1/2, and 2.
    Out of work for a year. 401K retirement cashed in and used up. declared backruptcy two years earlier. renting a small three bedroom house in a small town in central MN. diagnosed depression and taking prescription Zoloft.
    McDonalds wouldn't even hire me because i told the Truth on the application of my back problem, no one would hire me. Too much of an insurance liabilty i guessed.
    When the Zoloft ran out i did my best to keep a cheerful outlook for my wife and kids sake but i just wanted to die. Then sometime in August or September my copy of The Book Of Colors,from Poetry Dot Com, came in the mail. The only reason i bought this book was because they used a short poem that i wrote,(the only poem i've ever written in my life), the very first one as i later found out.
    So, i take this book over to a friends hobby farm where he is hosting a graduation party for his stepson.
    After i congradulated the boy and wished him luck i passed around the Book and everyone thought it was really cool that i was published. I thought "Cool, it may not be much but, if i died right then, at least i made some kind of a skid mark in the world".
    Then i felt myself getting weak and i ducked into his pole-barn and completly broke down into a puddle of tears, broken.
    I cried and cried and asked to no one there, because no one was there, "What do you want me to DO"?
    Then i put my head in my hands, closed my eyes and was immedietly released from that torment. Just then another friend walked in and saw me crying. At this time i was crying because i was happy, really very happy. I remember thanking jesus, but i didn't see anyone, but i do remember seeing for just a split second something like a forest or more specifically alot of green leaves. (But i was raised in the lutheran church so it just felt natural to thank jesus).
    Anyway, a few more people came it to see what the hell was going on with me and i told them then as tell you now that it is all for a reason. everything was happening for a reason. I didn't have much of a clue as to what that reason was but i was just so happy to be happy again.
    Within a week or to my wife became worried enough about my sudden change in beha

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  22. (continued)
    Within a week or to my wife became worried enough about my sudden change in behavior that she talked me into talking to a phyciatrist who put me back on Zoloft, but at a reduced level than what i was taking. I had an allergic reaction to the first pill i took, shaking, sweating, i even lost control of my bowels for a time. It struck me like poison.

    There is a bit more to this but i'm gettin' behind in my work.
    For what it's worth.
    Dougman

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  23. I was having trouble getting to Stardust and Irreverent. Aparently there is some hacking going on. A coincidence after the One Cosmos episode?

    Atheists have killed god? If were only true!
    One really can't kill something that doesn't exist.

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  24. Sorry AA, we are all born with the same potential morality. Everything else is how we use our innate urge not to kill, rape, or steal from others within our species.

    And Remy, I agree, Atheists can't kill something that doesn't exist.

    One Cosmos definitely has some bright kooks there. Could be someone from the Atheism Sucks crowd as they are more juvenile and deceptive. OK, more juvenile for sure.

    Dougman, thanks for the story, but it doesn't move me at all towards a belief in God. Not at all. I'm happy for you not depending on drugs, but you did it on your own, you just don't realize it.

    And I'll ask the big question, what is the purpose? If God exists and lets say we live forever, what is the purpose of living forever?

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  25. Rickey, you seem to be a very charming lad. Thanks for that deep intellectual commentary you contribute.

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  26. I got a 6,2 - which is disturbing for my inner theist.

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  27. Beaj
    Like i said, i know it's not proof.

    "And I'll ask the big question, what is the purpose?"

    For me it would be just 'being' in the flesh. My own flesh, or vehicle,with the ability to make my own choices with the freedom that is left to us humans after so many years of service to the Truth.
    To me the truth is just a selfish entity that doesn't give a crap about how we feel about it. Truly a 'selfish God'.
    But then there is Love.
    That to me is the pay-off.
    With the ability to use our six senses, (if we are lucky enough to have them when we are born. Then hopefully we live long enough to develop our seventh sense).
    The love between two that are in the flesh that can't be done anywhere else except while we are in the flesh. And where does love come from? An ideal? Regardless, love put in the flesh is love put to the test.
    Then there is the love that comes with the birth of a child, most revealing with the first born. It's awesome.
    That's why to me all religions fall short. Paradise is being in the flesh because after this we are ...what?

    Okay, i'm starting to ramble on.
    As far as living forever, i'll have to give that some more thought.

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  28. Doug, you don't need God to have purpose of the flesh or love.

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  29. I agree, i don't need 'God'.
    What i'm trying to say is to me Truth is God, and 'God' is truth, (as the STORY of santa claus is truth). But we all need Truth, or there would be no foundation to build on.
    I gotta go now.
    Dougman

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  30. THE BLOG HOST IS A BEFORE POSTER BOY FOR JENNY CRAIG & ROGAINE

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  31. Subj: Some People Don't Like Me
    By: bacon_the_messiah
    Date: 10/31/06 05:05 pm

    # arthurdecco Says:
    July 18th, 2006 at 7:02 am | |

    If we ever needed proof that the Atheist Jew is a murderous, racist, Zionist punk, here it is:

    "I see all you assmonkeys crying about the innocent dead Israelis….not

    You people are a piece of work. You Arab asslickers are garbage. Luckily you are politically impotent.

    PBUYA

    Peace Be Up Your Ass "

    http://myblahg.com/?p=1056

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  32. Dougman, you are just making God truth by changing the definition of both.

    Truth is truth, and there is no God or need for God.

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  33. This dougman/anonymous is annoying.

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  34. mad zionist:

    Shove your settlements and your blue and white piece of shit flag up your ass.

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  35. I meant 'killed God" in the same sense as Nietzsche's famous "God is dead" or Lennon's "we're more popular than Jesus" comment.

    Jeeez... we all have to talk like computers now do we?..where's the poetry?

    Actually that illustrates exactly the point I was trying to make.

    God still exists!...not as a literal figure but a literary one. Or is ridding the language of the word God on the agenda? If so, how delightfully Orwellian.

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  36. AA, I knew where you were going, but because of the experience with One Cosmos, I'm still naturally on the defensive more than I should be. I'm assuming some of Godwin's cult may be lurking here and thus acknowledging your comment may show to them that Atheists were out to murder God, as a lot of them are closeted literalists.

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  37. Beaj
    Fine, figure it out for yourself.
    You can disable the anonymous button, i won't be back.

    Mad Zionist
    Those vile comments from the other anon were not from me, and i don't agree with them in the least.

    Dougman

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  38. BEAJ,
    I understand. BTW I'm having second thoughts about infiltrating their world. Doing the test reinforced just how completely secular I am.

    I like Bob's writing style but frankly it's all just pruddy words that elevates euphoric feeling to ultimate truth. There is no practical benefit to it all except to provide a comfort to those who believe.

    They cant fathom (I use their words) the fact that if you look really hard for something you will no doubt find it. The mind is a wonderfully malable thing but it is often misused and abused.

    It's ironic that people use doubt to come to transcendence by thinking something along the lines of, "I doubt the world could exist without God" but then throw doubt out as a tool of the devil. It's doubt that brings change and assists with discovery. They should bow down and worship doubt.

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  39. ...and furthermore, lol

    we were never really thanked for our contribution at One Cosmos. We generated an awful lot of thought provoking stuff. The last six posts are devoted to answering our challenges.
    The first lines of todays post would not have been written if it were not for me the mighty AA. It was I who inspired a reader to claim that Bob was not a christian. Bacon and Renaissance Man has been mentioned so many times too.

    I think the flock over there are really jealous at how we engaged the mind of their master. If you read a comment thread that has no contribution from the dwellers of the abyss it's extremely silly and dull - just yes, yes Yes! and boring chitchat. I guess I just cant fathom it.

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  40. I know that his flock is secretly made up of evangelicals. They probably aren't taking the Haggard news too well.

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