A Random Walk Through the Bible: Psalm 148:12

Psalm 148:12 (New International Version)

young men and maidens, old men and children.

Using our random verse finder and the basic methodology we begin our adventure.

• discern the spiritual principle in this verse
  
  • no idea
  
  
• ask what was god trying to get across to these people when he spoke these words
  
  • no idea
  
  
• ask how does this apply to me
  
  • no idea
  
  

OK, God is not going to make this easy I see. Perhaps it's more meaningful in the original Klingon.....

I guess I'll meditate on those profound words and try again next week. Let me know if anyone sees the wisdom of these words that I'm missing....

A verse a day keeps the hellfire away...

"When you begin to ask yourself questions you will hear God speaking to you"

As you may have discerned by now I have an unhealthy fascination with Christian radio. On a recent program they were talking about the book "He Speaks to Me" (starts around 1h20m). Among other things they discussed the wonderful efficacy of reading a random verse a day and trying to apply it to your life. Now they suggested that you start with John, but that's not very random. Hence the program I posted yesterday.

Now I'm all about giving God a chance to talk to me. Unlike some religious skeptics I actually have no problem with a universe with a god in it. I just don't happen to think that this is such a place. But if it was I'd rather know. Just for the truthiness if not the eternal life (or at least avoidance of eternal torment).

So on the advice of the above program I will endeavor to occasionally (let's say weekly for now), take one verse completely at random (or by God's influence?) and do the following:

- discern the spiritual principle in this verse
- ask what was god trying to get across to these people when he spoke these words
- ask how does this apply to me

Also I vow not to cherry pick. I will take the very first one I find (ie I will just run the random verse picker once). If God has a message to get thru to me it should be easy enough to direct me to the important bits and show me things that relate to my life right now.

Tune into the next posting for the first episode of this feature.

PS: The random aspect of this experiment reminds of this interesting video series I saw awhile ago with Knuth talking about, among other things, his semi-random exploration of the Bible.

Finding random Bible verses

The code below can be saved in a file (e.g. find_random_verse.py) and run as: python find_random_verse.py. The verse statistics were taken from: http://www.deafmissions.com/tally/bkchptrvrs.html. I was surprised to learn that there are 137 verse that are "unnumbered" (in Psalms). Just assume that those belong to the previous numbered verse.

Why do I or anyone else need a random Bible verse finder? Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion.... (or is it just the beginning?)

verses_data = {
 '1 CHRONICLES': {1: 54, 2: 55, 3: 24, 4: 43, 5: 26, 6: 81, 7: 40, 8: 40, 9: 44, 10: 14, 11: 47, 12: 40, 13: 14, 14: 17, 15: 29, 16: 43, 17: 27, 18: 17, 19: 19, 20: 8, 21: 30, 22: 19, 23: 32, 24: 31, 25: 31, 26: 32, 27: 34, 28: 21, 29: 30},
 '1 CORINTHIANS': {1: 31, 2: 16, 3: 23, 4: 21, 5: 13, 6: 20, 7: 40, 8: 13, 9: 27, 10: 33, 11: 34, 12: 31, 13: 13, 14: 40, 15: 58, 16: 24},
 '1 JOHN': {1: 10, 2: 29, 3: 24, 4: 21, 5: 21},
 '1 KINGS': {1: 53, 2: 46, 3: 28, 4: 34, 5: 18, 6: 38, 7: 51, 8: 66, 9: 28, 10: 29, 11: 43, 12: 33, 13: 34, 14: 31, 15: 34, 16: 34, 17: 24, 18: 46, 19: 21, 20: 43, 21: 29, 22: 53}, 
 '1 PETER': {1: 25, 2: 25, 3: 22, 4: 19, 5: 14},
 '1 SAMUEL': {1: 28, 2: 36, 3: 21, 4: 22, 5: 12, 6: 21, 7: 17, 8: 22, 9: 27, 10: 27, 11: 15, 12: 25, 13: 23, 14: 52, 15: 35, 16: 23, 17: 58, 18: 30, 19: 24, 20: 42, 21: 15, 22: 23, 23: 29, 24: 22, 25: 44, 26: 25, 27: 12, 28: 25, 29: 11, 30: 31, 31: 13},
 '1 THESSALONIANS': {1: 10, 2: 20, 3: 13, 4: 18, 5: 28},
 '1 TIMOTHY': {1: 20, 2: 15, 3: 16, 4: 16, 5: 25, 6: 21},
 '2 CHRONICLES': {1: 17, 2: 18, 3: 17, 4: 22, 5: 14, 6: 42, 7: 22, 8: 18, 9: 31, 10: 19, 11: 23, 12: 16, 13: 22, 14: 15, 15: 19, 16: 14, 17: 19, 18: 34, 19: 11, 20: 37, 21: 20, 22: 12, 23: 21, 24: 27, 25: 28, 26: 23, 27: 9, 28: 27, 29: 36, 30: 27, 31: 21, 32: 33, 33: 25, 34: 33, 35: 27, 36: 23},
 '2 CORINTHIANS': {1: 24, 2: 17, 3: 18, 4: 18, 5: 21, 6: 18, 7: 16, 8: 24, 9: 15, 10: 18, 11: 33, 12: 21, 13: 14},
 '2 JOHN': {1: 13},
 '2 KINGS': {1: 18, 2: 25, 3: 27, 4: 44, 5: 27, 6: 33, 7: 20, 8: 29, 9: 37, 10: 36, 11: 21, 12: 21, 13: 25, 14: 29, 15: 38, 16: 20, 17: 41, 18: 37, 19: 37, 20: 21, 21: 26, 22: 20, 23: 37, 24: 20, 25: 30},
 '2 PETER': {1: 21, 2: 22, 3: 18},
 '2 SAMUEL': {1: 27, 2: 32, 3: 39, 4: 12, 5: 25, 6: 23, 7: 29, 8: 18, 9: 13, 10: 19, 11: 27, 12: 31, 13: 39, 14: 33, 15: 37, 16: 23, 17: 29, 18: 33, 19: 43, 20: 26, 21: 22, 22: 51, 23: 39, 24: 25},
 '2 THESSALONIANS': {1: 12, 2: 17, 3: 18},
 '2 TIMOTHY': {1: 18, 2: 26, 3: 17, 4: 22},
 '3 JOHN': {1: 15},
 'ACTS': {1: 26, 2: 47, 3: 26, 4: 37, 5: 42, 6: 15, 7: 60, 8: 40, 9: 43, 10: 48, 11: 30, 12: 25, 13: 52, 14: 28, 15: 41, 16: 40, 17: 34, 18: 28, 19: 41, 20: 38, 21: 40, 22: 30, 23: 35, 24: 27, 25: 27, 26: 32, 27: 44, 28: 31},
 'AMOS': {1: 15, 2: 16, 3: 15, 4: 13, 5: 27, 6: 14, 7: 17, 8: 14, 9: 15},
 'COLOSSIANS': {1: 29, 2: 23, 3: 25, 4: 18},
 'DANIEL': {1: 21, 2: 49, 3: 30, 4: 37, 5: 31, 6: 28, 7: 28, 8: 27, 9: 27, 10: 21, 11: 45, 12: 13},
 'DEUTERONOMY': {1: 46, 2: 37, 3: 29, 4: 49, 5: 33, 6: 25, 7: 26, 8: 20, 9: 29, 10: 22, 11: 32, 12: 32, 13: 18, 14: 29, 15: 23, 16: 22, 17: 20, 18: 22, 19: 21, 20: 20, 21: 23, 22: 30, 23: 25, 24: 22, 25: 19, 26: 19, 27: 26, 28: 68, 29: 29, 30: 20, 31: 30, 32: 52, 33: 29, 34: 12},
 'ECCLESIASTES': {1: 18, 2: 26, 3: 22, 4: 16, 5: 20, 6: 12, 7: 29, 8: 17, 9: 18, 10: 20, 11: 10, 12: 14},
 'EPHESIANS': {1: 23, 2: 22, 3: 21, 4: 32, 5: 33, 6: 24},
 'ESTHER': {1: 22, 2: 23, 3: 15, 4: 17, 5: 14, 6: 14, 7: 10, 8: 17, 9: 32, 10: 3},
 'EXODUS': {1: 22, 2: 25, 3: 22, 4: 31, 5: 23, 6: 30, 7: 25, 8: 32, 9: 35, 10: 29, 11: 10, 12: 51, 13: 22, 14: 31, 15: 27, 16: 36, 17: 16, 18: 27, 19: 25, 20: 26, 21: 36, 22: 31, 23: 33, 24: 18, 25: 40, 26: 37, 27: 21, 28: 43, 29: 46, 30: 38, 31: 18, 32: 35, 33: 23, 34: 35, 35: 35, 36: 38, 37: 29, 38: 31, 39: 43, 40: 38},
 'EZEKIEL': {1: 28, 2: 10, 3: 27, 4: 17, 5: 17, 6: 14, 7: 27, 8: 18, 9: 11, 10: 22, 11: 25, 12: 28, 13: 23, 14: 23, 15: 8, 16: 63, 17: 24, 18: 32, 19: 14, 20: 49, 21: 32, 22: 31, 23: 49, 24: 27, 25: 17, 26: 21, 27: 36, 28: 26, 29: 21, 30: 26,
             31: 18, 32: 32, 33: 33, 34: 31, 35: 15, 36: 38, 37: 28, 38: 23, 39: 29, 40: 49, 41: 26, 42: 20, 43: 27, 44: 31, 45: 25, 46: 24, 47: 23, 48: 35},
 'EZRA': {1: 11, 2: 70, 3: 13, 4: 24, 5: 17, 6: 22, 7: 28, 8: 36, 9: 15, 10: 44},
 'GALATIANS': {1: 24, 2: 21, 3: 29, 4: 31, 5: 26, 6: 18},
 'GENESIS': {1: 31, 2: 25, 3: 24, 4: 26, 5: 32, 6: 22, 7: 24, 8: 22, 9: 29, 10: 32, 11: 32, 12: 20, 13: 18, 14: 24, 15: 21, 16: 16, 17: 27, 18: 33, 19: 38, 20: 18, 21: 34, 22: 24, 23: 20, 24: 67, 25: 34, 26: 35, 27: 46, 28: 22, 29: 35, 30: 43, 31: 55, 32: 32, 33: 20, 34: 31, 35: 29, 36: 43, 37: 36, 38: 30, 39: 23, 40: 23, 41: 57, 42: 38, 43: 34, 44: 34, 45: 28, 46: 34,
             47: 31, 48: 22, 49: 33, 50: 26},
 'HABAKKUK': {1: 17, 2: 20, 3: 19},
 'HAGGAI': {1: 15, 2: 23},
 'HEBREWS': {1: 14, 2: 18, 3: 19, 4: 16, 5: 14, 6: 20, 7: 28, 8: 13, 9: 28, 10: 39, 11: 40, 12: 29, 13: 25},
 'HOSEA': {1: 11, 2: 23, 3: 5, 4: 19, 5: 15, 6: 11, 7: 16, 8: 14, 9: 17, 10: 15, 11: 12, 12: 14, 13: 16, 14: 9},
 'ISAIAH': {1: 31, 2: 22, 3: 26, 4: 6, 5: 30, 6: 13, 7: 25, 8: 22, 9: 21, 10: 34, 11: 16, 12: 6, 13: 22, 14: 32, 15: 9, 16: 14, 17: 14, 18: 7, 19: 25, 20: 6, 21: 17, 22: 25, 23: 18, 24: 23, 25: 12, 26: 21, 27: 13, 28: 29, 29: 24, 30: 33, 31: 9, 32: 20, 33: 24, 34: 17, 35: 10, 36: 22, 37: 38, 38: 22, 39: 8, 40: 31, 41: 29, 42: 25, 43: 28, 44: 28, 45: 25, 46: 13,
            47: 15, 48: 22, 49: 26, 50: 11, 51: 23, 52: 15, 53: 12, 54: 17, 55: 13, 56: 12, 57: 21, 58: 14, 59: 21, 60: 22, 61: 11, 62: 12, 63: 19, 64: 12, 65: 25, 66: 24}, 
 'JAMES': {1: 27, 2: 26, 3: 18, 4: 17, 5: 20},
 'JEREMIAH': {1: 19, 2: 37, 3: 25, 4: 31, 5: 31, 6: 30, 7: 34, 8: 22, 9: 26, 10: 25, 11: 23, 12: 17, 13: 27, 14: 22, 15: 21, 16: 21, 17: 27, 18: 23, 19: 15, 20: 18, 21: 14, 22: 30, 23: 40, 24: 10, 25: 38, 26: 24, 27: 22, 28: 17, 29: 32, 30: 24, 31: 40, 32: 44, 33: 26, 34: 22, 35: 19, 36: 32, 37: 21, 38: 28, 39: 18, 40: 16, 41: 18, 42: 22, 43: 13, 44: 30, 45: 5, 46: 28,
              47: 7, 48: 47, 49: 39, 50: 46, 51: 64, 52: 34},
 'JOB': {1: 22, 2: 13, 3: 26, 4: 21, 5: 27, 6: 30, 7: 21, 8: 22, 9: 35, 10: 22, 11: 20, 12: 25, 13: 28, 14: 22, 15: 35, 16: 22, 17: 16, 18: 21, 19: 29, 20: 29, 21: 34, 22: 30, 23: 17, 24: 25, 25: 6, 26: 14, 27: 23, 28: 28, 29: 25, 30: 31, 31: 40, 32: 22, 33: 33, 34: 37, 35: 16, 36: 33, 37: 24, 38: 41, 39: 30, 40: 24, 41: 34, 42: 17},
 'JOEL': {1: 20, 2: 32, 3: 21},
 'JOHN': {1: 51, 2: 25, 3: 36, 4: 54, 5: 47, 6: 71, 7: 53, 8: 59, 9: 41, 10: 42, 11: 57, 12: 50, 13: 38, 14: 31, 15: 27, 16: 33, 17: 26, 18: 40, 19: 42, 20: 31, 21: 25},
 'JONAH': {1: 17, 2: 10, 3: 10, 4: 11},
 'JOSHUA': {1: 18, 2: 24, 3: 17, 4: 24, 5: 15, 6: 27, 7: 26, 8: 35, 9: 27, 10: 43, 11: 23, 12: 24, 13: 33, 14: 15, 15: 63, 16: 10, 17: 18, 18: 28, 19: 51, 20: 9, 21: 45, 22: 34, 23: 16, 24: 33},
 'JUDE': {1: 25},
 'JUDGES': {1: 36, 2: 23, 3: 31, 4: 24, 5: 31, 6: 40, 7: 25, 8: 35, 9: 57, 10: 18, 11: 40, 12: 15, 13: 25, 14: 20, 15: 20, 16: 31, 17: 13, 18: 31, 19: 30, 20: 48, 21: 25},
 'LAMENTATIONS': {1: 22, 2: 22, 3: 66, 4: 22, 5: 22},
 'LEVITICUS': {1: 17, 2: 16, 3: 17, 4: 35, 5: 19, 6: 30, 7: 38, 8: 36, 9: 24, 10: 20, 11: 47, 12: 8, 13: 59, 14: 57, 15: 33, 16: 34, 17: 16, 18: 30, 19: 37, 20: 27, 21: 24, 22: 33, 23: 44, 24: 23, 25: 55, 26: 46, 27: 34},
 'LUKE': {1: 80, 2: 52, 3: 38, 4: 44, 5: 39, 6: 49, 7: 50, 8: 56, 9: 62, 10: 42, 11: 54, 12: 59, 13: 35, 14: 35, 15: 32, 16: 31, 17: 37, 18: 43, 19: 48, 20: 47, 21: 38, 22: 71, 23: 56, 24: 53},
 'MALACHI': {1: 14, 2: 17, 3: 18, 4: 6},
 'MARK': {1: 45, 2: 28, 3: 35, 4: 41, 5: 43, 6: 56, 7: 37, 8: 38, 9: 50, 10: 52, 11: 33, 12: 44, 13: 37, 14: 72, 15: 47, 16: 20},
 'MATTHEW': {1: 25, 2: 23, 3: 17, 4: 25, 5: 48, 6: 34, 7: 29, 8: 34, 9: 38, 10: 42, 11: 30, 12: 50, 13: 58, 14: 36, 15: 39, 16: 28, 17: 27, 18: 35, 19: 30, 20: 34, 21: 46, 22: 46, 23: 39, 24: 51, 25: 46, 26: 75, 27: 66, 28: 20},
 'MICAH': {1: 16, 2: 13, 3: 12, 4: 13, 5: 15, 6: 16, 7: 20},
 'NAHUM': {1: 15, 2: 13, 3: 19},
 'NEHEMIAH': {1: 11, 2: 20, 3: 32, 4: 23, 5: 19, 6: 19, 7: 73, 8: 18, 9: 38, 10: 39, 11: 36, 12: 47, 13: 31},
 'NUMBERS': {1: 54, 2: 34, 3: 51, 4: 49, 5: 31, 6: 27, 7: 89, 8: 26, 9: 23, 10: 36, 11: 35, 12: 16, 13: 33, 14: 45, 15: 41, 16: 50, 17: 13, 18: 32, 19: 22, 20: 29, 21: 35, 22: 41, 23: 30, 24: 25, 25: 18, 26: 65, 27: 23, 28: 31, 29: 40, 30: 16, 31: 54, 32: 42, 33: 56, 34: 29, 35: 34, 36: 13},
 'OBADIAH': {1: 21},
 'PHILEMON': {1: 25},
 'PHILIPPIANS': {1: 30, 2: 30, 3: 21, 4: 23},
 'PROVERBS': {1: 33, 2: 22, 3: 35, 4: 27, 5: 23, 6: 35, 7: 27, 8: 36, 9: 18, 10: 32, 11: 31, 12: 28, 13: 25, 14: 35, 15: 33, 16: 33, 17: 28, 18: 24, 19: 29, 20: 30, 21: 31, 22: 29, 23: 35, 24: 34, 25: 28, 26: 28, 27: 27, 28: 28, 29: 27, 30: 33, 31: 31},
 'PSALMS': {1: 6, 2: 12, 3: 8, 4: 8, 5: 12, 6: 10, 7: 17, 8: 9, 9: 20, 10: 18, 11: 7, 12: 8, 13: 6, 14: 7, 15: 5, 16: 11, 17: 15, 18: 50, 19: 14, 20: 9, 21: 13, 22: 31, 23: 6, 24: 10, 25: 22, 26: 12, 27: 14, 28: 9, 29: 11, 30: 12, 31: 24, 32: 11, 33: 22, 34: 22, 35: 28, 36: 12, 37: 40, 38: 22, 39: 13, 40: 17, 41: 13, 42: 11, 43: 5, 44: 26, 45: 17, 46: 11,
            47: 9, 48: 14, 49: 20, 50: 23, 51: 19, 52: 9, 53: 6, 54: 7, 55: 23, 56: 13, 57: 11, 58: 11, 59: 17, 60: 12, 61: 8, 62: 12, 63: 11, 64: 10, 65: 13, 66: 20, 67: 7, 68: 35, 69: 36, 70: 5, 71: 24, 72: 20, 73: 28, 74: 23, 75: 10, 76: 12, 77: 20,
            78: 72, 79: 13, 80: 19, 81: 16, 82: 8, 83: 18, 84: 12, 85: 13, 86: 17, 87: 7, 88: 18, 89: 52, 90: 17, 91: 16, 92: 15, 93: 5, 94: 23, 95: 11, 96: 13, 97: 12, 98: 9, 99: 9, 100: 5, 101: 8, 102: 28, 103: 22, 104: 35, 105: 45, 106: 48, 107: 43, 108: 13,
            109: 31, 110: 7, 111: 10, 112: 10, 113: 9, 114: 8, 115: 18, 116: 19, 117: 2, 118: 29, 119: 176, 120: 7, 121: 8, 122: 9, 123: 4, 124: 8, 125: 5, 126: 6, 127: 5, 128: 6, 129: 8, 130: 8, 131: 3, 132: 18, 133: 3, 134: 3, 135: 21, 136: 26, 137: 9, 138: 8, 139: 24,
            140: 13, 141: 10, 142: 7, 143: 12, 144: 15, 145: 21, 146: 10, 147: 20, 148: 14, 149: 9, 150: 6},
 'REVELATION': {1: 20, 2: 29, 3: 22, 4: 11, 5: 14, 6: 17, 7: 17, 8: 13, 9: 21, 10: 11, 11: 19, 12: 17, 13: 18, 14: 20, 15: 8, 16: 21, 17: 18, 18: 24, 19: 21, 20: 15, 21: 27, 22: 21},
 'ROMANS': {1: 32, 2: 29, 3: 31, 4: 25, 5: 21, 6: 23, 7: 25, 8: 39, 9: 33, 10: 21, 11: 36, 12: 21, 13: 14, 14: 23, 15: 33, 16: 27},
 'RUTH': {1: 22, 2: 23, 3: 18, 4: 22},
 'SONG OF SONGS': {1: 17, 2: 17, 3: 11, 4: 16, 5: 16, 6: 13, 7: 13, 8: 14},
 'TITUS': {1: 16, 2: 15, 3: 15},
 'ZECHARIAH': {1: 21, 2: 13, 3: 10, 4: 14, 5: 11, 6: 15, 7: 14, 8: 23, 9: 17, 10: 12, 11: 17, 12: 14, 13: 9, 14: 21},
 'ZEPHANIAH': {1: 18, 2: 15, 3: 20}
}

import random

def random_verse(data):
    index = 1
    current = None
    for b in data:
        for c, vc in data[b].items():
            for v in range(1,vc+1):
                if random.choice(range(index)) == 0:
                    current = (b,c,v)
                index += 1

    return current
   
def main():
    print random_verse(verses_data)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

There is no polite way to say...

With all due respect, sir, have you considered the possibility that you have blighted your whole life with a fantasy and are polluting the minds of defenseless children with dangerous nonsense?

Quote from Dan Dennett on day one of Beyond Belief 2. That needs to be a shirt.

A revelation.

So I had a revelation the other day. And what's weird is that it's about something I've long believed. It's just that I've never really been satisfied with the belief. It's something that I knew the rational, scientific response for but for some reason it felt slightly dishonest or at least dodgy. But now I find much to my surprise both how much I didn't like my old understanding (I was in a little bit of denial about it) and how clear my new understanding is. In fact my head's been spinning a little because of this even though I don't *know* anything I didn't already. Its sort of like going from using calculus equations and getting the right answers to actually understanding calculus and using the equations to get the right answer. And knowing you are right without needing to check the answer key. And being confident if you spot an error in the given answer key.

Anyway, here's the deal. It has to do with whether morality is truly selfishness in disguise. Discussions of morality from an evolutionary perspective often come down to the fact that our genes are selfish. And we are all the product of evolution, a relentlessly uncaring, and merciless process. Therefore, the reasoning goes, when I do something nice I'm *really* doing it for fundamentally selfish reasons.

Now the response to this (a la Dawkins and friends) is that just because our genes are selfish doesn't mean that I am selfish. That answer has never once felt right to me. It might have had some intellectual satisfaction but it has never really sunk into my bones as obviously and fundamentally true. It always felt like saying that sure this house is made of bricks but the house itself is not a brick. Sure that's true but there are sure a lot of bricks around and it's hard not to think of bricks when looking at the house. And if I want to understand the house I need to understand bricks. So it feels dishonest to pretend that brick houses aren't fundamentally about bricks.

To be more visceral (and disgusting): if I made some jewelry for someone out of dog shit and they complained that I just gave them dog shit I could say that they were focusing on the wrong level since that was merely the building material and they were making a fundamental error regarding levels of abstraction. I'd feel pretty disingenuous about that reply. I guess in this case in particular there is a leak between levels of abstraction. A very disgusting leak.

So what was my magical mystical insight? I'm not sure exactly how it happened but I have finally disassociated the uncaring, selfish process of evolution from the result of that product. It's as if someone told me that sausage was made in steel machines with all sorts of sharp knife blades and I had originally thought that sausage must taste like steel and have knives in it. Then I matured and realized that that of course wasn't true but still had a fear of sausage in almost a superstitious contagion sort of way. That there is still something ineffably steel-like and sharp about sausage. And today I find that it's just obvious that while there might be other valid reasons to not eat sausage, attributing steel flavor and inherent knives to the sausage is just pure silliness. A non sequitur.

I don't know why this insight has landed on me, it just did and it feels like a revelation, and frankly a relief. Undoubtedly a combination of reading overcomingbias.com and chat's with various christian apologists over the last year making me rethink some of my beliefs and the reasons for these beliefs.

Here's an admittedly absurd example that gives the flavor of how I think of things now.

Imagine an evil genius who was hell bent on killing someone. As it happens they are an expert at creating robots that like to hug. (Yes, I really do think like this, why do you ask?). Anyhoo, he only knows how to make (genuinely loving) hug-bots, but the hug-bots aren't (very) intelligent so he can easily make them killing machines by increasing the strength of their hugs and making them suffocate their target or by releasing a huge number of hug-bots at once and achieving essentially the same thing with a herd. Now, from the hug-bot's perspective they are still creatures of pure love but because of their context they are achieving the evil genius's goal. If the hug-bot interacts with someone who is much stronger than the originally intended victim then they will seem completely loving. The hug recipient might even ask how a loving hug-bot could associated with a homicidal evil genius at all. It doesn't make sense. But it does make perfect sense if you happen to have seen the big picture and understand the history of the situation. (And you accept the existence of evil geniuses that use hug-bots to achieve their nefarious ends...).

Just because sausage is made in a steel machine filled with knives doesn't mean there is anything steel-like or knife-like about sausage. The maker and the makee don't necessarily share properties. The agents/processes on one level don't necessarily reflect how things work on another level. Hofstadter's "Aunt Hill" didn't like ants and that's not even remotely contradictory; it just seems that way from how our intuition works sometimes.

Like I said I've known this in my brain for a long time but now I know it in my heart. And the truly funny part is that I don't expect it will change how I live my life at all (probably). It will just feel slightly different. Maybe.

Anyway, sharing time is done now.

Infidel Links - 2007-12-01

Genesis 19 - Total bleep-ing insanity! For my money this is the funniest thing I've seen in a while

Win Ben Stein's Credibility

Your favorite atheist (Sam Harris) in Rolling Stone

Best. Bible Verses. Ever. (#4 is my all time favorite)

Worst. Video Games. Ever.

Pope insists that being an atheist is totally uncool

Academic consideration of the role of the the FSM

Sunday School for Atheists

Micahel Behe (intelligent design advocate) interviewed by an atheist

Jesus loves Osama