I've always liked Joy Behar (even though she is adamantly against the Iraq war). She seems to be one of the most vocal agnostic voices on television. She has to deal with two Rapturists on The View daily in Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherry (I don't know if the world is flat) Shepherd.
Last week, she let the cat out of the bag when it comes to Saints, prophets, and other biblical characters. Well, watch for yourself:
She pissed off a lot of people with her comments. The one that was most typical by theists, the old hole poking technique was used to discredit her. Apparently, not all Saints heard voices (did you know there are over 10,000 of those critters recognized by the Catholic Church including Moses?), and hearing God isn't a prerequisite when it comes to achieving Sainthood. Uppity theists like Father Jonathan Morris (he is the asshat who is a regular of sorts on Fox News) just doesn't realize exactly what Joy was getting at:
The reality is that what Joy was really saying is that drugs like Thorazine prevents any new bibles from popping up.
The Catholics are taking this as a personal insult. Some Catholics are saying if this was said about Muslims, there would be an immediate apology issued to prevent riots. NEWSFLASH: Joys comments here should insult Muslims too. Didn't Mohammed regularly talk to Allah? And Jews too, Moses and God were really tight. Well, of course Moses most probably didn't exist, but if he did, Thorazine could have helped him immensely:)
If God talks to you in 2008, you are nuts. And if God talked to someone 500 or 2000 or 4000 years ago, they were nuts too. Except if realized by the masses, all biblical texts could be converted into psychiatry case studies.
January 9, 2008
Blondes For Dummies
Rondi (Begin Each Day As If It Were On Purpose) recently linked a story about a study which concluded that males become temporally more stupid in the presence of blondes.
The question I have is whether this is predominantly an innate (evolved) reflex or a subconscious reflex that is based more on cultural upbringing.
When thinking of the innate instincts that are apparent in the animal kingdom, like how apes treat babies for example, I tend to believe it is mostly an evolved phenomenon.
From the article, idea of a dumb blonde is recent. This may or may not influence how males react in the presence of blondes. We would have to know how males reacted to blondes prior to the 18th Century.
I'm sure, that just like most everything, it is a mix of nature and nurture. More examples when it comes to humans:
'The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, is not the first to suggest that human behaviour is strongly influenced by stereotypes, according to the Daily Telegraph in London.
Scientists have found people walk and talk more slowly in front of the elderly while other studies revealed female leaders were evaluated more harshly than male ones.'
What I found most interesting when doing further research for this post is that blondiness is a very recent phenomenon:
...blond hair originated in the region because of food shortages 10,000-11,000 years ago. Until then, humans had the dark brown hair and dark eyes that still dominate in the rest of the world. Almost the only sustenance in northern Europe came from roaming herds of mammoths, reindeer, bison and horses. Finding them required long, arduous hunting trips in which numerous males died, leading to a high ratio of surviving women to men.
Lighter hair colours, which started as rare mutations, became popular for breeding and numbers increased dramatically, according to the research, published under the aegis of the University of St Andrews.
“Human hair and eye colour are unusually diverse in northern and eastern Europe (and their) origin over a short span of evolutionary time indicates some kind of selection,” says the study by Peter Frost, a Canadian anthropologist. Frost adds that the high death rate among male hunters “increased the pressures of sexual selection on early European women, one possible outcome being an unusual complex of colour traits...”
Kind of like with birds, humans may in fact be attracted to brighter colours. Brighter hair colours could be responsible for an innate belief that the woman is more fertile (blonde hair may be an indicator for high estrogen levels in women), or at least we innately believe they like to do it more:)
Eventually through more and more breeding this becomes an evolutionary characteristic that could be true today. Maybe blonde women attracted dumber males to begin with. Perhaps, blondes are slightly dumber today because of it. Do we have an IQ study that compares blond males with bald brown haired males like myself?
In todays world, really good looking girls in general are in such great demand that they don't need to be that bright to get by. And they can easily find a mate to procreate with. Down the road or maybe even what we see today, is good looking dumb kids.
But back to the findings, I think it is a pretty simple explanation why men get dumber in the presence of blondes. Man sees a blonde (our innate attraction to fertile women kicks in and/or our innate belief that blondes are dumber/easier kicks in), blood rushes from our default head (where our brain is located) to our primitive head (you know what I'm talkin bout Willis).
One more thing, I wonder what the evolutionary benefit becoming temporarily stupider has. Possibly, when it comes to procreating, it might be beneficial to drop our defenses a tad. It is a cost benefit thingy, where the act of mating is more important to species survival, than worrying if a predator is going to get you while you are having sex. Maybe someone should do a study to see if our IQs drop while we are doing the nasty. My first thought is of course it does, probably 30 points or so.
Obligatory Dumb Blonde Joke
Three blonde friends died together in a car wreck. They found themselves standing in front of the pearly gates with St. Peter. He told them that before they could enter heaven, they had to tell him what Easter was about.
The first blonde said, "Easter is a big holiday where we give thanks, have a big feast and eat turkey."
"Nooooo," said St. Peter. "You don't get in."
The second blonde said, "Easter is the holiday that we celebrate Jesus' being born of the virgin and give gifts to each other."
"Nooooo," said St. Peter. "You don't get in, either."
The third blonde said, "Well, I know what Easter is all about. Easter is a Christian holiday which coincides with the Jewish Passover. After Jesus celebrated Passover with His disciples, He was betrayed by Judas and turned over to the Romans. They crucified Him on a cross. After He died, they buried him in a tomb and put a huge boulder in front of it."
"Very good!" said St. Peter.
The blonde continued. "Now, every year, the Jews roll the stone away and Jesus comes out. If He sees his shadow, we have 6 more weeks of basketball."
January 1, 2008
Even The Media Is Starting To Get That A Historical Jesus Is No Fact
I'm sure I could find more examples, but I did see this one that is found at CBS News, courtesy of AP:
OK, outside of the humour of picturing to robed priests whacking each other with brooms, there is something that probably wouldn't have seen print in a newspaper even 5 years ago: The implication that Jesus may not have been born in Bethlehem at all, and stretched even further, that Jesus may not have existed at all.
The headline of the article doesn't make the distinction, but the second paragraph definitely does put a question mark on Jesus.
I blame Mel Gibson. He was the one who got me questioning the historical Jesus, when I started looking for pictures of him a few years ago when his Passions movie was being filmed. The reality is, that if you search for a historical Jesus, and you don't need Jesus to exist, chances are, you are going to wind up thinking like me; Jesus was invented sometimes between 50-90 AD.
Atheist Media Blog (Check it out) just found this video comparing the Jesus Myth with the Krishna myth:
For more on theories that help me be convinced that Jesus never existed, check my sidebar for links under the heading "Jesus Never Existed."
For starters check out The Bible and Christianity-The Historical Origins. It is a very quick read, just a page, but very enlightening. And of course, if your curiosity has started up, you could be ready for the Jesus Never Existed website.
Happy New Year:)
Priests Brawl At Holy Church In Bethlehem
Rival Greek Orthodox, Armenian Prelates Fight Inside Church Of The Nativity, Christ's Birthplace
BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Dec. 28, 2007
(AP) Robed Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests went at each other with brooms and stones inside the Church of the Nativity on Thursday as long-standing rivalries erupted in violence during holiday cleaning.
The basilica, built over the grotto in Bethlehem where Christians believe Jesus was born, is administered jointly by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities. Any perceived encroachment on one group's turf can set off vicious feuds.
OK, outside of the humour of picturing to robed priests whacking each other with brooms, there is something that probably wouldn't have seen print in a newspaper even 5 years ago: The implication that Jesus may not have been born in Bethlehem at all, and stretched even further, that Jesus may not have existed at all.
The headline of the article doesn't make the distinction, but the second paragraph definitely does put a question mark on Jesus.
I blame Mel Gibson. He was the one who got me questioning the historical Jesus, when I started looking for pictures of him a few years ago when his Passions movie was being filmed. The reality is, that if you search for a historical Jesus, and you don't need Jesus to exist, chances are, you are going to wind up thinking like me; Jesus was invented sometimes between 50-90 AD.
Atheist Media Blog (Check it out) just found this video comparing the Jesus Myth with the Krishna myth:
For more on theories that help me be convinced that Jesus never existed, check my sidebar for links under the heading "Jesus Never Existed."
For starters check out The Bible and Christianity-The Historical Origins. It is a very quick read, just a page, but very enlightening. And of course, if your curiosity has started up, you could be ready for the Jesus Never Existed website.
Happy New Year:)
December 26, 2007
An Atheist Jew On Christmas
Yom Kippur is supposed to be the date of intensive reflection for Jews. But the real time for that, at least for secular Jews, is Christmas Eve and Christmas day.
It really is the time of the year that Jews don't feel part of Western culture. It doesn't last long tough. I remember as a kid feeling like an outcast of sorts during Christmas. The majority of kids seemed to have something on me. It caused an empty feeling, though I had the same feelings after summer holidays when my Jewish friends came back from Jew camp (I never went to Jew camp. I never got to experience a Jewish campfire where Kosher marshmallows were roasted and eaten, and then washed down with the blood of gentile babies).
As I grew older, company Christmas parties at first made me feel like I was some sort of alien observer, but after a couple of drinks, the thought disappeared. I've since rationalized that Christmas parties are all about a free buffet and getting hammered, something that can be enjoyed by all faiths and the faithless.
But even today, going to my Christmas celebrating neighbour's homes for a Christmas visit, makes me feel like Mork from Ork. I just don't belong. And I have a paranoid feeling that my hosts don't feel I belong either.
This year was really good for reflections because my wife volunteered to work on Christmas day, leaving me in solitary confinement.
Now for my 2007 Christmas Day reflections:
1. Do most people who celebrate Christmas realize that even if the Jesus myth was even close to being accurate, Christmas could not have possibly be Jesus' birthday? Not that Jesus ever existed anyway.
2. I keep hearing about a War on Christmas, but I don't see any casualties. Christmas came and went like it does every year. Everyone who wanted to celebrate it, did so.
3. Why in the hell did I get married? What was I thinking? (Actually this reflection occurs a few times a day, not just at Christmas)
4. I spent some time on the Liberty Forums. Not only is the Forum filled with Islamic sympathizers, it also has many Jew haters, as well as moon landing deniers, 9/11 conspiracy theorists and creationists. Why can't most creationists who "debate" evolution on the internet just be honest? Why can't they admit that they have no science that backs up what they believe, and the best they can do is poke holes in real science? Why can't they say that they just don't accept evolution because it doesn't fit in with their literal interpretation of their little book of myths? Do they realize that they are being as dishonest as they really are?
5. Will my voice ever come back? It has been 9 months since my vocal cords apparently got abused to the point that they won't touch much anymore. I really don't want an operation to repair them where they have to go in through the neck. I'll wait until they perfect laser surgery in this field, or until my voice comes back to normal on its own.
6. Since this is all there is, why am I not having a multitude of extramarital affairs going on endlessly? What horrible innate genetic defect is giving me such high ethics and strong moral compass?
7. I'm running out of time to be really famous. I'll be 47 in a month.
8. Despite the emptiness and alienation Christmas brings to me, I think it is a fair trade off for not having to be compelled to shop and act like a phony. I'm sure Christmas is a stressful time of year for many.
9. Of course, I watched some TV. One type of commercial really bugs me. That is the one where they try to sell a TV screen that is supposed to be of higher quality (I know they are of higher quality), but they show you their screen as if I'm supposed to say "Wow, look at the quality of that picture I'm looking at right now (on my inferior TV), I'm going to get one, the quality of that picture was amazing."
I just find that commercial to be a complete insult to my intelligence.
10. Why do I feel compelled to finish this with a number 10? Forget it, not going to happen.
Thanks to my Communist blog buddy Renegade Eye for alerting me to this video (How can anyone be a Communist? Really?):
It really is the time of the year that Jews don't feel part of Western culture. It doesn't last long tough. I remember as a kid feeling like an outcast of sorts during Christmas. The majority of kids seemed to have something on me. It caused an empty feeling, though I had the same feelings after summer holidays when my Jewish friends came back from Jew camp (I never went to Jew camp. I never got to experience a Jewish campfire where Kosher marshmallows were roasted and eaten, and then washed down with the blood of gentile babies).
As I grew older, company Christmas parties at first made me feel like I was some sort of alien observer, but after a couple of drinks, the thought disappeared. I've since rationalized that Christmas parties are all about a free buffet and getting hammered, something that can be enjoyed by all faiths and the faithless.
But even today, going to my Christmas celebrating neighbour's homes for a Christmas visit, makes me feel like Mork from Ork. I just don't belong. And I have a paranoid feeling that my hosts don't feel I belong either.
This year was really good for reflections because my wife volunteered to work on Christmas day, leaving me in solitary confinement.
Now for my 2007 Christmas Day reflections:
1. Do most people who celebrate Christmas realize that even if the Jesus myth was even close to being accurate, Christmas could not have possibly be Jesus' birthday? Not that Jesus ever existed anyway.
2. I keep hearing about a War on Christmas, but I don't see any casualties. Christmas came and went like it does every year. Everyone who wanted to celebrate it, did so.
3. Why in the hell did I get married? What was I thinking? (Actually this reflection occurs a few times a day, not just at Christmas)
4. I spent some time on the Liberty Forums. Not only is the Forum filled with Islamic sympathizers, it also has many Jew haters, as well as moon landing deniers, 9/11 conspiracy theorists and creationists. Why can't most creationists who "debate" evolution on the internet just be honest? Why can't they admit that they have no science that backs up what they believe, and the best they can do is poke holes in real science? Why can't they say that they just don't accept evolution because it doesn't fit in with their literal interpretation of their little book of myths? Do they realize that they are being as dishonest as they really are?
5. Will my voice ever come back? It has been 9 months since my vocal cords apparently got abused to the point that they won't touch much anymore. I really don't want an operation to repair them where they have to go in through the neck. I'll wait until they perfect laser surgery in this field, or until my voice comes back to normal on its own.
6. Since this is all there is, why am I not having a multitude of extramarital affairs going on endlessly? What horrible innate genetic defect is giving me such high ethics and strong moral compass?
7. I'm running out of time to be really famous. I'll be 47 in a month.
8. Despite the emptiness and alienation Christmas brings to me, I think it is a fair trade off for not having to be compelled to shop and act like a phony. I'm sure Christmas is a stressful time of year for many.
9. Of course, I watched some TV. One type of commercial really bugs me. That is the one where they try to sell a TV screen that is supposed to be of higher quality (I know they are of higher quality), but they show you their screen as if I'm supposed to say "Wow, look at the quality of that picture I'm looking at right now (on my inferior TV), I'm going to get one, the quality of that picture was amazing."
I just find that commercial to be a complete insult to my intelligence.
10. Why do I feel compelled to finish this with a number 10? Forget it, not going to happen.
Thanks to my Communist blog buddy Renegade Eye for alerting me to this video (How can anyone be a Communist? Really?):
December 21, 2007
Thoughts On The Destructive Black Hole Galaxy
I'm not an astrophysicist, I'm just a layman. Astronomy theory makes my head hurt, so pardon my simplistic interpretation of the news that a bully black hole is blasting a nearby galaxy.
I tend to accept all real evidence. From there, I usually compose, in my mind, the simplest theory to explain the evidence, as long as it has nothing to do with accepting something supernatural happened. This is how my mind rationalizes things. I'll also note that I've yet to run across any event or piece of evidence that needed a supernatural explanation since becoming a full fledged atheist. My simplistic understanding of science covers all the bases.
Now this Islamic Jihad-like black hole which is wreaking havoc on an innocent neighbour, for no real valid ethical or moral reason, has opened the door to my imagination.
I'm a very strong believer that life exists on countless other planets and were most likely formed the way life was formed on earth. Of course, there has to be many earth like planets, and it is highly probable that life evolved on them much like it evolved here. Given the laws of science that make our universe work (I do believe in other universes, most failed universes, that have physical laws the same or similar to ours), and looking at the intelligent life forms on our planet, I'm pretty confident that most intelligent life forms have anything from four to eight limbs, a head, eyes, and ears, as well as a respiratory system, and yes, a brain.
That being said, I doubt very much we are alone in our own Milky Way Galaxy, and the Galaxy being attacked, most probably has, or until this recent attack that started 1 million years ago or so, had intelligent, self aware life.
One thing that I haven't quite figured out is light year stuff. I've read that this homicidal black hole is located over 1 billion light years away from us. Does this mean that the devastation is happening now, or did it happen 1 billion years ago? That makes a difference because it might limit how much life evolved in the attacked galaxy. I'm going to assume we are talking real time for the rest of this post.
Think about it. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of earth like planets in that attacked galaxy. What are they thinking? Many of the planets probably have life forms intelligent enough to realize what is happening (their scientific communities), but what about their general populations?
I have to add, I'm also a strong advocate in the belief that susceptibility to believe in a higher power, or the supernatural, evolved in any self aware intelligent beings ancestral past. There is a point when the being has evolved to become self aware and understands the idea of mortality, but doesn't have the scientific understanding to explain many every day things. For our ancestors, I like using the example of lightning. In order to stay sane and live to procreate, these unscientific self aware beings need to invent a reason for unexplainable events, of course, this goes hand in hand with the evolution of our imagination, something that is evident when it comes to man and the strides we made when it came to invention and innovation. Note: I got a lot of these ideas reading the God Part Of The Brain. I recommend the book strongly, though I don't agree with the author when it comes to his over emphasis on the specialness of humans.
Back to the galaxy that is being clobbered with death rays. I have a strong feeling that most of the intelligent beings on an earth like planet are freaking out right now if they are still alive, or they at least freaked out for as long as they could breathe once they found out what was happening. It must have terrible. Kind of like what would happen here on earth if something doesn't get us before the Sun burns out. How will those doomed humans handle things? By then, the idea of God will be deader than dead despite our evolutionary susceptibilities. Most likely a large Exodus would abandon Earth by then.
The earth-like planets in Galaxy 3C321 are probably full of Fundamentalists, who are blaming the destruction on God's vengeance. Maybe they have too many gays, or too many atheists. God is very angry. Lets say they have TV's and newspapers. Debates are going on with the Fundies pleading to everyone to come to God so he might stop his wrath, or more probably stating "The End Is Near," while the Secularists are telling them to "shut up already, if you didn't waste the resources of so many beings who bought into your crap (the possibly smarter ones who were brainwashed to deny science), we might have figured out a way to get the hell out of this galaxy by now."
I still can't get away from another analogy. If this was happening to us right now, the Palestinians would still be lobbing bombs into Israel from Gaza.
I tend to accept all real evidence. From there, I usually compose, in my mind, the simplest theory to explain the evidence, as long as it has nothing to do with accepting something supernatural happened. This is how my mind rationalizes things. I'll also note that I've yet to run across any event or piece of evidence that needed a supernatural explanation since becoming a full fledged atheist. My simplistic understanding of science covers all the bases.
Now this Islamic Jihad-like black hole which is wreaking havoc on an innocent neighbour, for no real valid ethical or moral reason, has opened the door to my imagination.
I'm a very strong believer that life exists on countless other planets and were most likely formed the way life was formed on earth. Of course, there has to be many earth like planets, and it is highly probable that life evolved on them much like it evolved here. Given the laws of science that make our universe work (I do believe in other universes, most failed universes, that have physical laws the same or similar to ours), and looking at the intelligent life forms on our planet, I'm pretty confident that most intelligent life forms have anything from four to eight limbs, a head, eyes, and ears, as well as a respiratory system, and yes, a brain.
That being said, I doubt very much we are alone in our own Milky Way Galaxy, and the Galaxy being attacked, most probably has, or until this recent attack that started 1 million years ago or so, had intelligent, self aware life.
One thing that I haven't quite figured out is light year stuff. I've read that this homicidal black hole is located over 1 billion light years away from us. Does this mean that the devastation is happening now, or did it happen 1 billion years ago? That makes a difference because it might limit how much life evolved in the attacked galaxy. I'm going to assume we are talking real time for the rest of this post.
Think about it. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of earth like planets in that attacked galaxy. What are they thinking? Many of the planets probably have life forms intelligent enough to realize what is happening (their scientific communities), but what about their general populations?
I have to add, I'm also a strong advocate in the belief that susceptibility to believe in a higher power, or the supernatural, evolved in any self aware intelligent beings ancestral past. There is a point when the being has evolved to become self aware and understands the idea of mortality, but doesn't have the scientific understanding to explain many every day things. For our ancestors, I like using the example of lightning. In order to stay sane and live to procreate, these unscientific self aware beings need to invent a reason for unexplainable events, of course, this goes hand in hand with the evolution of our imagination, something that is evident when it comes to man and the strides we made when it came to invention and innovation. Note: I got a lot of these ideas reading the God Part Of The Brain. I recommend the book strongly, though I don't agree with the author when it comes to his over emphasis on the specialness of humans.
Back to the galaxy that is being clobbered with death rays. I have a strong feeling that most of the intelligent beings on an earth like planet are freaking out right now if they are still alive, or they at least freaked out for as long as they could breathe once they found out what was happening. It must have terrible. Kind of like what would happen here on earth if something doesn't get us before the Sun burns out. How will those doomed humans handle things? By then, the idea of God will be deader than dead despite our evolutionary susceptibilities. Most likely a large Exodus would abandon Earth by then.
The earth-like planets in Galaxy 3C321 are probably full of Fundamentalists, who are blaming the destruction on God's vengeance. Maybe they have too many gays, or too many atheists. God is very angry. Lets say they have TV's and newspapers. Debates are going on with the Fundies pleading to everyone to come to God so he might stop his wrath, or more probably stating "The End Is Near," while the Secularists are telling them to "shut up already, if you didn't waste the resources of so many beings who bought into your crap (the possibly smarter ones who were brainwashed to deny science), we might have figured out a way to get the hell out of this galaxy by now."
I still can't get away from another analogy. If this was happening to us right now, the Palestinians would still be lobbing bombs into Israel from Gaza.
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