But Bering, now a professor in his own right at the University of Arkansas, sounds ready to burn down a cathedral. His hunger for the answers to his mother's questions barely sated, his goal is nothing less than to prove to the world, once and for all, that God is a "cognitive illusion" — a figment of our imaginations.
"My meaning in life is to illustrate that there really is no meaning," he says matter-of-factly from his cabin in the Ozark mountains. "I feel that, for the first time in the history of science, we've been able to answer these questions.
"We've got God by the throat, and I'm not going to stop until one of us is dead."
[...]
Bjorklund calls creationism the "species default." "The notion of creationism is intellectually easier to understand," he says. "It's been only very recently that we get to understand how things emerge without a creator, and it's hard to really live that way. Our minds did not evolve for this."
As famous biologist Richard Dawkins suggests, "It is almost as if the human brain were specifically designed to misunderstand Darwinism and to find it hard to believe."
Bering agrees. "It is clear that when it comes to the big questions in life, our brains have evolved so that science eludes us but religion comes naturally," he writes in American Scientist.
And Bering is the first to admit that this is true even for scientists. "Even for me, it's inescapable. Life may very well be purposeless. All the evidence at this point suggests that these are cognitive illusions."
The irony is, Bjorklund and Bering know that even if they are right, we are all hardwired to disbelieve their results. "There will never be a day when God does not speak for the majority," Bering wrote recently. "As scientists, we must toil and labor and toil again to silence God, but ultimately this is like cutting off our ears to hear more clearly. God too is a biological appendage."
- link to full 'The God Fossil' article]]>
One of Pianka's earliest points was a condemnation of anthropocentrism, or the idea that humankind occupies a privileged position in the Universe. He told a story about how a neighbor asked him what good the lizards are that he studies. He answered, “What good are you?”
Pianka hammered his point home by exclaiming, “We're no better than bacteria!”
Pianka then began laying out his concerns about how human overpopulation is ruining the Earth. He presented a doomsday scenario in which he claimed that the sharp increase in human population since the beginning of the industrial age is devastating the planet. He warned that quick steps must be taken to restore the planet before it's too late.
- link to full article
- link to a more detailed exposition on Pianka's own website
- some myths about Ebola are outlined here
- Do you agree with (at least some) of Pianka's arguments?
- Is it possible to reject his opinion without falling back on the obvious position that 'all human life is sacred'?
"The minds of geniuses are full of copious and original associations." ~ William James
"Genius is a promontory jutting out of the infinite." ~ Victor Hugo
Have you ever been lucky enough to be close to someone whom you considered a genius?]]>
This unexpected connection with physics has given us a glimpse of the mathematics that might, ultimately, reveal the secret of these enigmatic numbers. At first the link seemed rather tenuous. But the important role played by the number 42 has recently persuaded even the deepest skeptics that the subatomic world might hold the key to one of the greatest unsolved problems in mathematics....
- link to full article]]>
A growing suspicion is coalescing among some transhumanists, futurists and cosmologists about how the finely tuned aspects of the universe seem to implying that something great awaits humanity in the future. The sense of there being a cosmologically prescribed mission for intelligences is derived from the eerie results coming out of virtually all the sciences which show how absurdly specific the laws of the universe actually are. Further, technosociological observations like Moore's Law make it appear as if even humanity's inventions are part of some cosmologically divined plan.]]>
[...]
Of course, the only evidence for this is purely conjectural and based exclusively on the circumstantial cosmological parameters that we observe.
I say circumstantial because the anthropic principle is in effect only insofar as it tautologically "explains" how observers have come to exist only at this particular place and time. The anthropic principle and the fine tuning argument do not imply or guarantee future gain. It explains the here and now and makes no predictions about our ongoing presence into the future.
Because of the growing feeling that humanity has a built-in modus operandi for the future, a certain aloofness has arisen among some futurists and intellectuals about our existential chances in the coming decades. Should the idea that we are a 'chosen species' disseminate into public opinion, we may run the risk of becoming even more complacent and unconcerned in the face of catastrophic risks than we already are.
And worse, the trouble with this theory, it would seem, is that it is likely wrong.
[...]
To my mind, a finely tuned universe in which advanced intelligences play an integral cosmological role would preclude the intelligences from becoming self-destructive before their mission was safely under way. If some sort of cosmological eschatology were in effect in which we are responsible for spawning baby universes, we would be in a place right now where our ongoing existence would not be hanging by a thread and getting worse by the minute (mature nanotechnology, SAI and advanced bioweapons come to mind).
Consequently, those who argue that we are headed for cosmological greatness are welcome to keep making their case, but not at the expense of perpetuating the sense that humanity is invincible.
- link to full article
The £5 million centre will bring pioneering embryo screening techniques for the creation of "saviour siblings" to Britain.
Dr Simon Fishel of the Care at the Park clinic
In addition, it will offer testing for up to 100 inherited gene disorders such as muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis.
Embryos found to be carrying rogue genes will be discarded and only "healthy" embryos implanted into their mothers.
- link to full articleOK, so we could get into debate here about the moral implications of consciously altering the gene pool. We could talk about the gaps that may arise between an elite who will have access to this technology and and underclass who won't.
What interests me though is the implications such private commercial enterprises will have on the status of the human.
Of course the example given in the story is the first in a long line of overblown moral outrages to hit our headlines, but inevitably, just as the contraceptive pill, the heart transplant, the test tube baby became integral parts of our modern health system so too will health 'services' far exceeding the present power of this one.
It is naive to believe that mankind will fully control the future evolution of our species. Matters beyond our understanding, beyond even the minute extent of our mortal lives, will eventually carve the species of homo sapien new furrows down which it will run. Yet here, for the first time in history, those furrows will be carved, in part, by the hand of capitalistically governed enterprise.
History is replete with conscious control over the direction of the species. Whether through religious inclination (i.e. Jews may only have children with other Jews), social alienation (the upper classes and lower classes of Europe generally breeding separately for thousands of years; the slave labour of the colonial era; the eugenics movement of early 20th century America), dictatorship (Hitler's extermination of the Jews) or otherwise, man has pushed its genetic development, at the most basic of levels, in consciously dictated directions.
Now it is the turn of big business to wield this control.
Economic venture, capitalistic gain, globalised interests, the whim of the consumer, of fashion, of the stock market - could these be the new influences on the human species? And if so, what implications does this have for the identity of mankind?]]>
You awake tomorrow only to discover that you now inhabit an alternate, parallel universe.ONE thing is different:
What is it?]]>
What enrages you?
What fascinates you?
What bemuses you?
Who are you?
This forum is yours to make your own.
Make haste....]]>
All the while, little or no attention is paid to religious zealouts in America who, as we speak are:
-Succesfully campaigning for creationism to be given equal footing with Darwinism in schools as viable theory
-Succesfully campaigning against abortion through Pro-life groups, effectively outlawing it in some areas through threats of violence and repercussion.
-Started sending modern day disciples around the world to spread its pro-life message/anti abortion
Are we blind to America's behaviour? The stories of the east fill our newspapers with horror and condemnation whilst the behaviour of the west slips neatly under our radar. We consistently repeat our disgust of nations who use religion to guide their politics whilst bizarrely remaining quite friendly with the worst perpertrator of all.
Who should worry us more? Both east and west have immeasurable influence on world politics - or should we just let em fight it out.
Or am I just talking shite?]]>
I Am a Strange Loop
Douglas R. Hofstadter (2006)
ISBN: 0465030785
This fascinating book tackles the weighty question of what we mean when we refer to “I.” Douglas R. Hofstadter, College Professor of Cognitive Science and Computer Science at Indiana University, poses controversial questions on consciousness that are liable to toss all your preconceived notions of self around your head like mismatched socks on a spin cycle. If you feel like you’re falling down the rabbit-hole when you try and comprehend a concept of “I,” it’s probably due to what the Pulitzer Prize winning Professor calls the “strange loop.” According to Hofstadter this term refers to a special feedback loop that incorporates several levels of cognition within the brain. He describes the brain as working on a hierarchy, with a lower, primordial mass of freewheeling particles all the way up to the higher levels dominated by abstract “symbols”. Among the symbols, says Hofstadter, “I” is the most central and complex symbol of all and acts as a nexus between the different hierarchies. But, asks Hofstadter, do these symbols - or thoughts - defy physics? Is it a situation of mind over matter? This is one of the most interesting aspects of I am A Strange Loop, as it raises the question of whether thoughts push particles around and cause action and movement, or vice versa. Of course, this concept could raise all sorts of possibilities relating to souls, spirits and the like, but Hofstadter doesn’t take this path. Instead, he takes a scientific approach in the hope of discovering the mechanisms behind consciousness. Are our thoughts derived from particles that follow deterministic physical laws, or are we missing something? In either case the question of what a thought actually is, and how it relates to a continual concept of “I,” is sure to keep the strange loop working overtime.
Taken from Science-a-gogo.
Link: http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/books.shtml]]>
Scientists have previously simulated small pieces of living cells, but researchers say this is the first digital simulation of an entire life form.
The achievement could lead to a better understanding of the inner workings of viruses and improvements in human health, the researchers say. It could also be used to help build nanomachines surrounded by shells similar to the protein capsid shell that protects viruses and helps them determine when to latch onto potential host cells.
- link to full articleFascinating simulacra.
- The American Scholar: My God Problem, by Natalie Angier
- The New Yorker: Hollywood Science, Connie Bruck
- The New York Review of Books: Out, Damned Blot!, Frederick Crews
- The New York Review of Books: Twilight at Easter, Jared Diamond
- Popular Science: My Little Brother on Drugs, Jenny Everett
- The New York Review of Books: Stumbling Into Space, Timothy Ferris
- The New Yorker: Getting Over It, Malcolm Gladwell
- The New Yorker: Personality Plus, Malcolm Gladwell
- The New Yorker: The Grief Industry, Jerome Groopman
- The New York Times: Keeping the Faith in My Doubt, John Horgan
- Wired: The Homeless Hacker vs. The New York Times, Jennifer Kahn
- Discover: 20,000 Microbes Under the Sea, Robert Kunzig ($) The Atlantic Monthly: A Two-Planet Species?, Wililam Langewiesche ($)
- The New York Review of Books: Crossing the Red Line, Bill McKibben
- Esquire: Please Stand By While the Age of Miracles Is Briefly Suspended, James McManus
- The New York Review of Books: Getting in Nature's Way, Sherwin B. Nuland
- Wired: To Hell and Back, Jeffrey M. O'Brien
- The New Yorker: The X Prize, Ian Parker ($)
- The New York Review of Books: In the River of Consciousness, Oliver Sacks
- The New Yorker: Miracle in a Bottle, Michael Specter
- Scientific American: The Curious History of the First Pocket Calculator, Cliff Stoll ($)
- The American Scholar: Dining with Robots, Ellen Ullman ($)
- Popular Science: 106 Science Claims and a Truckful of Baloney, William Speed
- Discover: Whose Life Would You Save?, Carl Zimmer
LOTS of reading to keep you occupied...
Thanks to SnarkMarket!]]>
Cockroaches govern themselves in a very simple democracy where each insect has equal standing and group consultations precede decisions that affect the entire group, indicates a new study. The research determined that cockroach decision-making follows a predictable pattern that could explain group dynamics of other insects and animals, such as ants, spiders, fish and even cows.
- link to full articleIt appears that swarm consciousness is inherent in all life to different extents. How about the human entity?
Where do the lines between the superorganism of society and the unique, 'self aware' individual begin and end?]]>
The increase in life expectancy enjoyed by many societies is a triumph of modern science. Our understanding of the human body and how to repair it when it breaks down have continued to push "old age" into the distance - and researchers intend to keep pushing.
But the claims made by Dr Aubrey de Grey, a scientist at the University of Cambridge, UK, that lifespan can be increased by over 1,000 years, have proven too much for some; and a dispute has now broken out within the gerontology community.
The argument, which has been played out through academic journals, and most recently at a "life extension" conference, has culminated in the unusual step of a cash prize on offer for anyone who can disprove de Grey's science.
- Link to full articleMore on the long bearded de Grey can be found here...
A Nation of Guinea Pigs
There's a new outsourcing boom in South Asia - and a billion people are jockeying for the jobs. How India became the global hot spot for drug trials.
By Jennifer Kahn
The town of Sevagram in central India has long been known for three things: its heat, which is oppressive even by Indian standards; its snakes, which are abundant; and its ashram, a derelict and increasingly malarial retreat preserved as a tribute to Mohandas Gandhi, who lived here and was known for tenderly relocating the poisonous vipers that slithered into his shack.
Despite this intemperate setting, Sevagram's hospital has a good reputation. Though the power fails often, forcing medics to use the backlit screens of their cell phones for illumination, the standard of care is higher than at many of the country's public hospitals, and the facilities are comparatively plush. At the nearby government medical center in Nagpur, for instance, patients sometimes have to sleep on mattresses on the floor.
Last year, Sevagram began garnering even more cachet. A German pharmaceutical company called Boehringer Ingelheim, whose latest stroke-prevention drug was making its way through the clinical pipeline, approved the town's hospital as a trial site - one of 28 in India recruiting stroke victims to round out the company's 18,500-person study.
The drug regimen, known as Aggrenox, was being tested for its ability to forestall a second stroke. S. P. Kalantri, the doctor tapped to lead the trial in Sevagram, quickly grasped the offer's appeal. Patients in Sevagram are poor enough that the benefits of taking part in the study would amount to a health care windfall; among other things, Boehringer Ingelheim guaranteed participants two physicals during each of the three years that the trial would run. For each person enrolled, moreover, the hospital would receive 30,000 rupees (about $665) - no small amount, given the puny budget of the center's stroke ward, a single room of eight pallet beds. Kalantri talked the matter over with the chair of the hospital's ethics committee, and the two concluded that the trial drug itself, with its possible side effects and limited efficacy, would provide little benefit to their patients. Then they went ahead and signed up.
[...]
full here
]]>- link to full essay here (sorry, in PDF format)Wowzer!]]>
Now, im no religious zealout, in fact im an atheist, but there are similarities to story in the world today. The Bible, whilst mostly a load of tripe, does have some stuff within its vast pages that ring true. In the story of Noah, the world was corrupt, full of evil and generally a pretty bad place to be. Out of the context of my own life, I think this is an assertion that could be widely recognised today, especially by the 90% (or so) of people who live on about $1 a day.
In the story of Noah the world flooded and wiped it all out - a clean slate if you like. Now the very same thing is happening today - its almost the worlds self defense mechanism - when populated by twats, flood yourself and start again. In a sense therefore, if we were really thinking about the world long term then we would encourage global warming, recognising it as a force for good - much like the body rids itself of a virus, the world is casting aside its own infection. No doubt Microsoft would build a bloody big barge and weather the storm, but the world can but try.]]>
Stem cells hold great promise for new treatments for many conditions as they have the ability to become many different types of adult tissue.
But at present the most flexible type is found in human embryos - and their use is mired in controversy.
- link to full articleWooooaah there! Did they say 'the human testicle'?
And here was I thinking science had enough horizons to cross already.
If it came down to it, would you let your bollocks, or the man in your life's bollocks, be harvested for stem cells?]]>
- Read more here...]]>
Sun Mar 26, 2006
By Krittivas Mukherjee
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Think Bollywood, and what usually comes to mind are
kitschy, megawatt musicals with lavish song-and-dance sequences
largely disconnected from the plot.
In a three-hour film -- it could even be a grisly thriller -- there
may be as many as 10 songs with leading men and women strutting their
stuff in settings as diverse as idyllic mountain meadows and grimy
city streets.
And every time the music starts, the storyline comes to a halt as the
hero and heroine dance in gaudy attires that change with dizzying
frequency.
The sophisticated decry them and Western audiences hardly know them,
but for the vast crowds who pack the cinemas in India's teeming towns
and cities, and the travelling screens that take the country's dream
factory to its villages, the songs are the chief attraction.
But change is in the air for the country which leads the world in
movie production, with a growing band of filmmakers replacing
"interruptive music" with a soundtrack that blends with the plot
rather than dominates it.
"New directors are now making shorter films where heroes and heroines
don't lip-sync songs," said Shankar Mahadevan of the popular Bollywood
music director trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.
"Music happens in these films as background tracks."
[...]
full at Reuters
]]>
The Red Pill is a project to catalogue all of those things on the stranger side of reality, from new paradigm science to alternative history and the mysteries of consciousness. This grew out of Wikipedia's tendency to avoid 'fringe' issues. Additionally, this gives community members a place to browse through the collective thoughts and interests of those who like the taste of the proverbial 'red pill'.....- link to the Red Pill Wiki...
What article would you like to see on this site (considering the criteria given above)?
I think Wikipedia has a fair degree of 'fringe' already...]]>
It's rare that The Huge Entity gets world wide attention, especially of such a high calibre nature, but the million blogger page appears to fulfill these categories.Could the blogging world, once content to wallow in the shadows of internet ubiquity, be about to make itself known?
The varierty of blogs on show at the million blogger page is impressive, and since the money made will be donated to charity who am I to argue with its authority?
Know any blogs that should be added to the list? Go tell em…]]>
Many would say that a book far exceeds a movie in the amount it can alter your perceptions, but in many ways that 2 hour cinema epic tends to hit every sense in your body in ways the book could only dream of.
What films have shifted your perspectives and why?]]>
Snails with left-handed shells can have a big advantage in life - predators may find it impossible to eat them. That is the conclusion of research just published in the Royal Society's journal Biology Letters. Scientists from the US examined whelks and cone shells preyed on by the crab Calappa flammea.
They found the crab is unable to open left-handed shells because it only has a tool for peeling them on its right claw; so it discards them.
- more on this story here...
Left / right handedness in nature is fascinating. I'm tempted to go dig up some further info on this, but it's bed for me.
Feel free to post away ;-)]]>
I wonder what Unzie the Albino (the guy on the first T-shirt) would think if he knew that a hundred years after his death people all over the world would be vying to buy clothing with his image plastered across the front...
Unzie rules by the way...]]>
Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him.Speak of the moderns without contempt, and of the ancients without idolatry.
It's depth of insight far exceeds the majority of none spam mail I have ever received.]]>