Viewing Recommendation: TED talks

http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/

I came across these a few months ago and try to sneak in a couple when ever I can steal a few minutes. I've never heard of the TED conference before but it sounds fascinating. I haven't regretted watching a single one of these so far. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. Talks range from computer visualization of world poverty data to Tony Robbins' mini pep rally to Al Gore being pretty hilarious to a detailed discussion of how the Seattle Library was designed. Anyway it's a banquet of geek heroes and arts and entertainment. Give a few a try. For what it's worth I've been watching from the bottom of the page up to try to follow the chronology, but I'm not sure that is necessary.

Probably my favorite so far is watching Rick Warren of the "Porpoise Driven Life" fame followed by a "rebuttal" of sorts by Daniel Dennett.

Infidel Links - 2007-02-15

NPR asks: Is america too damn religious?

How atheists and Christians see each other

So seriously, do you have to be retarded to run for office?

The Hillbilly Atheist gives a presentation

Shoot, and I thought this was my year to win

Finally a conservative alternative to wikipedia (NOTE: this used to be a short hilarious diatribe, but has since been updated. I imagine it will flip back and forth.)

I'm sure this won't be a controversial book

For the record, I *am* this evil

Spain loses God and doesn't seem to mind much

Your chance to talk to god directly

God made me do it

Salvation Economics

According to Christian theology, Jesus paid the price for our sins. In the spirit of Freakonomics, then, we might be inclined to ask: how much does it cost to redeem a sinner?

In the Old Testament there is the notion that a certain amount of sheep or other animal blood can wipe away a given sin. In fact the rules are pretty specific. Apparently there aren't enough sheep around to permanently wipe out the sins for one person or at least the absence of this formula in the OT would lead us to this conclusion. But Jesus comes along and his blood is enough to cover the whole of humanity (or at least the predestined few - depending on who you are talking to).

Mathematically then we have the following equation:

souls * cost_per_soul = total_price

where
- souls is the number of people who are going to get into heaven
- cost_per_soul is how many sacrifice units are required per soul (generally measured in blood volume)

total_price can be further broken down as:

total_price = blood_volume * coefficient_of_atonement

Clearly sheep have a pretty small coefficient_of_atonement, whereas Jesus has a very large one. We assume it can't be infinite since if it was then he would have only had to shed, let's say, 1 drop of blood and suffered for less than a second and would have easily accounted for all souls for all time.

Now the problem is that we have too many unknowns in:

souls * cost_per_soul = blood_volume * coefficient_of_atonement

We don't know how many souls have or will be redeemed. But still we have the take home message here that every moment Jesus was on the cross he was loosing blood and saving more souls. I can't help wonder if this makes Jesus like Schindler in "Schindler's List". If he had been able to loose more blood he could have saved more souls. Does Jesus regret not spending more time or suffering more so that more could have been saved?

Of course we also need to consider that compared to someone dying of cancer or someone living in a torture camp he really didn't suffer that much. One day of pain with the foreknowledge that you will rise again and rule in heaven is not such a big price. I think a lot of people would be willing to pay that one time price for an infinite reward like that. I for one would be willing to give it a shot. And this considering that I'm allergic to thorny crowns.

Theology: God == Noise

God is perfect	(given)
Being perfect, God contains no redundancy	(a less redundant being would be more perfect)
Being devoid of redundancy there is no other entity with the same attributes as God that can be fully described with [or which represents] less information	(definition of non-redundant)
Therefore God is incompressible	(compressibility would imply redundancy)
If something is incompressible it is functionally equivalent to perfect noise/mathematical randomness	(dude, it's all about information theory)
Therefore God is indistinguishable from perfect mathematical randomness (noise).	(QED)

[This may explain a few things....]

The Great Transformation: Chap 06 - Empathy

(c. 530 to 450 BCE)

Confucius is a more interesting character than I expected. I guess in the west he sounds like some sort of pez dispenser of wisdom ("Confucius say ..."). Instead, like many of the Axial Age sages, he was dedicated toward the cultvation of empathy. In general he eschewed metaphysics and recommended absolute sacred respect towards everyone. If you followed this path you'd have all the enlightenment you'd ever need. Enlightenment is more of a by product of living a good life rather than a thing to seek in itself.

Our friends the Jews continue to be everyone's bee-hatches (or byatches). Cyrus of Persia conqueors the Babylonians and allows the Jews to go back to their home land. Of course after 50 odd years of abandonment Jerusalem is just a big weed patch. "Second" Isaiah is now Yahweh's spokesman and he is all about a return to the old time religion of a warrior Yahweh fighting sea dragons and what have you. Second Isaiah declares that anyone who gets in the Jews way will be obliterated. How did that turn out in reality, Mr Second Isaiah? I can't wait to find out! P (priestly) authors rewrite history somewhat so that North/South kingdom rivalries are deemphasized in order to facilitate the reuniting of all the Jews as one people. People are a little bummed at how crappy their little temple rebuild is, but at least they are home again.

Meanwhile the Greeks become more rational. Yet even at this early date philosophers like Parmenides are becoming aware that even this powerful tool of reason has some limits. Also during this period drama becomes this powerful tool for helping the audience empathsize with others and strengthen social bonds. In one fascinating episode a play showed the Persians (who had recently exacted terrible losses on the Greeks) in a sympathetic light. This was a fairly sophisticated example of empathy and this from an increasingly rationalistic and skeptical society. Take that cult of Yahweh!

The Indians continue to fast and meditate. I'm having trouble chapter to chapter keeping track of what their latest Axial Age development is since it always seems to come down to fasting and mediatating. Of course having said that in this chapter the Jains are introduced. In a sense they seem like the perfect and logical final progression of the Axial Age: pure, total and unflinching empathy for all things. Of course when this leads to the point of only eating fruit that has fallen off of a tree of it's own accord it's not hard to see why this has not been a runaway success. But if you believe that the Golden Rule is the greatest insight into ethics ever then these guys win the award for application of this philosophy.

Infidel Links - 2007-02-18

Best computer games ever.
atheist
buddhist
christian

Colbert: American Fascists

The language of god (OK, this is pretty geeky)

Let's make sweet, sweet ocular intercourse

Science and faith flow charts

Atheists on CNN redux

Oh, sure, Isaac Asimov, you're real brave taking from beyond the grave

Am I Going To Heaven?

It's not looking good. I really need to study before taking these quizzes....

You have a 0% likelihood of going to heaven.

 

Sorry this is sort of an all or nothing thing. Either you follow all the rules or you don't go to heaven. Sorry. The big guy is a stickler for rules.

Am I Going To Heaven?
Take More Quizzes

Soul Drive

I know the whole Blasphemy Challenge is really popular with the kids these days, but if your soul is truly expendable then I would ask you consider donating through my charity Souls for Slides. Operating on the same principle as the Labels for Education charities, Souls for Slides collects unwanted souls and builds colorful, safe play areas for underprivileged kids. Why trade your soul for a movie that you could have seen for free on Google video?

Please make a difference in a child's life today. You may not be going to heaven, but you could make it heaven on earth for some lucky child. Donations accepted via PrayPal®. Thanks for your consideration.

Godless Code 0.2

[You may be interested in the newest flavor: godless code 0.3]

---

[Superseding godless code 0.1]

Thanks to nullifidian and cats owner for ideas.

REFERENCE: (godless code 0.2)

The first entry of the godless code is always your disbelief path, the rest of the items are optional and may appear in any order. ":" is used as a delimiter between terms.

Belief path: each step of your disbelief journey, separated by "->". You may prefix a node with a number in parentheses to indicate at which age a transition occurred.

Protestant
------------
P++ : The bible is 100% true and I spend much of my life studying/evangelizing
P+ : I really believe, but I could be more involved
P : I call myself a Christian but I'm not on fire for it.
P- : I attend church but some of the ideas don't really hang together

Catholic
-----------
C
[use +/- as above]

Atheist
-----------
A++ : I'm very convinced, very vocal. I am defined by disbelief
A+ : I'm convinced and and active but it's not everything to me.
A : I don't believe, but I don't really think about it too much.
A- : I don't believe but I'm still pretty uncomfortable with disbelief

agnostic
--------------
a+ : I really don't think you can know either way. Also, there might be a tea pot out there. Who can know for sure?
a : The word atheist make people uncomfortable and we don't want anyone to be uncomfortable.

and so on:

B : Buddhist
H : Hindu
I : Islam
M : Mormon
7 : SeventhDay
W : Jehovah's Witness
J : Jew

The above single character codes may be used or if you are feeling fancy go ahead and use the following 3 digit codes:

ADV Adventist
ALL Alliance Church
AMI Amish
ANI Animist
ASA Ásatrú
AOG Assembly Of God
BAH Baha'i
BAP Baptist
BUD Buddhist
CAT Catholic
CHR Christian
CMA Christian Mission Alliance
COC Church Of Christ
COG Church Of God
CON Congregational
CSC Christian Science
DCD Christian Disciples Of Christ
DST Diest
EPI Episcopalian
FRE Free Church/Independent
GRE Greek Orthodox
HIN Hindu
ISL Islam
JAN Jainism
JEH Jehovah's Witness
JEW Jewish
LUT Lutheran
MEN Mennonite
MET Methodist
MOM Mormon (Latter-Day Saint)
NAR Native American Religion
NON Non Denominational
PEN Pentecostal
PRE Presbyterian
PRO Protestant
QUA Quaker
SAT Satanist
SCI Scientology
SHA Shamanism
SHI Shinto
SIK Sikhism
SPI Spiritualist
TAO Taoism
UCC United Church Of Christ
UNI Unitarian
WIC Wicca/Druidry


Religions I find tolerable:

TR(x,y,...)

A tuple of religion codes from the religion path section. The tuple
may be the empty set, e.g. TR().


Holy Books read:

r({B|K|BoM}%XX[, ...]) # one or more holy books you've read and how much

B : Bible
K : Koran
BoM : Book of Mormon

eg. r(B%20,K%10)


Religious instruction: How much religious instruction have you received
in your life?

RI(pX,sY,uZ)

pX : years of primary school
sY : years of secondary school
uZ : years of university


Exposure: How many people know you are a non-believer?

ex(XYZ(x)[, ...]) or ex(ALL)

Fam - Family
Wk - Co-workers
Fr - Friends

values can range from 0.0 (no one knows) to 1.0 (everyone knows)

e.g. ex(Fam(.54),Wk(.5),Fr(1.0))

ex(ALL) indicates you're godlessness is known 100% to the world.

Religious affiliation of significant other(s):

SO([X, ...])

Where X is one of the religion codes from above. Empty set means no SO. :(


Fanboy (or girl): What non-believers inspire you? And how much?

FB(X[,...])

Currently available non-believer codes:

RD : Richard Dawkins
SH : Sam Harris
DD : Daniel Dennett
SB : Susan Blackmore
BF : Brian Flemming
RC : Richard Carrier
MS : Michael Shermer
JS : Julia Sweeney
CS : Carl Sagan
JR : James Randi
RI : Robert Green Ingersoll
PJ : Penn Jillette
PZ : PZ Myers

You may include as many as you want to. You may also add a "+" (e.g. DD+) to show special approval of or "-" if you don't really like them (opposite of fanboy appreciation)

Getting the message out:

What do you do to share the news and/or stir up conversation?

M(X[,...])

Blg : blogging
Auth : writing books
D2D : door to door evangelization

What godless memberships do you have?

MS(o,l,n,i)

o Online atheist related groups.
l A member of a local atheist group
n A member of a national atheist group
i A member of an international atheist group

a plus can be used for additional groups up to 2...a single * can be used to denote that the person is active in the leadership of the group(board member, webmaster, etc.)

An example...

MS (o++,l+*,i*)

For member of at least 3 online groups, at 2 local groups and is in the leadership of at least one of them, and is a leadership member of an international organization.


Development of the godless code:

GCD : godless code deity - they who develop the code and/or have
suggestions incorporated

optional "+" if it was your idea in the first place. :)


Version: As the code evolves need to know what version to use for decoding.

[gc-0.1] = Use version 0.1 for decoding this


This coding system is new so if you have suggestions for additions,
clarifications, etc please let me know and I'll try to address for
gc-0.2

Salvation Matrix

Religion / Discipline	Saved from what?	Method
Yoga	the sin of inflexibility	stretching
Kamasutra	not enough interesting sex	put everything into every orifice from every orientation
Taoism	being out of sync with "The Way"	realizing that being out of sync is actually just being in sync
Voodoo	zombies	something to do with chicken blood... I need to check
Buddhism	suffering	fast and sit until suffering doesn't seem so bad anymore
Zen	illusion of self	ponder riddles until illusion of self implodes
GTD	disorganization	focus on efficiency
Judaism	losing Jewish identity	focus on your Jewish identity
Christianity	hellfire	simulated cannibalism and devotion to torture devices

Any I forgot?

Infidel Links - 2007-02-11

Let me be the first to wish you a Happy Darwin Day! (if you didn't already start the celebration at your church today)

CNN: "unbiased" discussion on how atheists aren't being persecuted by a bunch of people who really, really hate atheists: (the 2nd video is the one where things fly off the rails pretty quickly). Nice remix with commentary.

I had never considered anti-semitism as a lifestyle choice but having read Debbie Schlussel's blog regarding the above video I'm willing to give it a try

This just in - Bin Laden is a strict Darwinist. Maybe Debbie was right?

In related news: if you have imaginary friends this may correlate with your inability to filter out BS and think logically

Verses from the Qur'an. (Interestingly the creator of this video was permanently banned from youtube.)

Movies: Jesus Camp

This finally got to the top of our netflix list. I'd love to do the outraged response thing but this has already been done. Watching the movie now I'm sure the impact is different than when it was released, knowing that the camp has closed and that Haggard has been outed as gay and removed from his ministry. While I think the abuse they are heaping on these kids is really atrocious, they *are* doing it out of love, as sad as that might be. And in both of these cases these people are going to have their whole world come crashing down. So, while I think all these people deserve a good boot to the head I actually found myself feeling a bit sorry for them as well.

If anything I wanted to have a conversation with the "moderate" Christian radio host. You really think your beliefs make more sense than than these evangelical nut cases? Really? How do you decide which parts of the Bible to ignore? Dude, you still believe in an imaginary friend....

This is probably why I have never produced an award winning documentary.

One other thought struck me. While I was raised to believe the Bible is 100% true and has all the answers, I didn't really know what it meant to be a hard core believer before watching these kids. I don't envy them the process of trying to get their heads screwed on right, if they ever get the chance.

Godless Code 0.1

The godless code allows for the compact and precise representation of your disbelief attributes and history. This can be used as an email signature, a blog profile feature or as your tattoo in the non-believer camps when we are rounded up.

As an example, my code:

P++->(18)A++->A->A+ : TR(B,T,FSM) : r(B%33) : RI(p5,u4) : ex(Fam(.5),Wk(.5),Fr(1.0)) : SO(A) : FB(RD,SH,DD+,BF,SB,RC,JS) : M(blg) : GCD+ : [gc-0.1]

decodes to:

P++->(18)A++->A->A+ : path to disbelief:

I was raised a hardcore protestant. At age 18 I become a hardcore angry atheist. Then I was just a mellow atheist. Now I'm an atheist who is active but not necessarily consumed.

TR(B,T,FSM) : religions I find tolerable

Buddhism, Taoism, and Pastafarianism.

r(B%30) : how much of the Bible (or Koran, etc) have you read?

I've read 30% of the bible (this feels low, since I've read more than most but there is a lot I've gotten only second hand.

RI(p5,u4) : religious instruction

p5 : 5 years of primary school
u4 : 4 years of religious based university (Jesuit).

ex(Fam(.5),Wk(.5),Fr(1.0)) : "exposure" - how many know your non-believer status?

50% of my family
50% of my co-workers
100% of my friends

SO(A) : religious affiliation of significant other

wife is an atheist

FB(RD,SH,DD+,BF,SB,RC,JS) : fanboy (which celeb. atheists inspire me)

I'm a fanboy for Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett (extra for him), Brian Flemming, Susan Blackmore, Richard Carrier, Julia Sweeney

M(Blg) : how do you get the message out

I blog

GCD+ : created (or added to) the godless code

Just me for now :)

[gc-0.1] : what version of the godless code to use for decoding

Use version 0.1 for decoding this

---

REFERENCE: (godless code 0.1)

The first entry of the godless code is always your disbelief path, the rest of the items are optional and may appear in any order. ":" is used as a delimiter between terms.

Belief path: each step of your disbelief journey, separated by "->". You may prefix a node with a number in parentheses to indicate at which age a transition occurred.

Protestant
------------
P++ : The bible is 100% true and I spend much of my life studying/evangelizing
P+ : I really believe, but I could be more involved
P : I call myself a Christian but I'm not on fire for it.
P- : I attend church but some of the ideas don't really hang together

Catholic
-----------
C
[use +/- as above]

Atheist
-----------
A++ : I'm very convinced, very vocal. I am defined by disbelief
A+ : I'm convinced and and active but it's not everything to me.
A : I don't believe, but I don't really think about it too much.
A- : I don't believe but I'm still pretty uncomfortable with disbelief

agnostic
--------------
a+ : I really don't think you can know either way. Also, there might be a tea pot out there. Who can know for sure?
a : The word atheist make people uncomfortable and we don't want anyone to be uncomfortable.

and so on:

B : Buddhist
H : Hindu
I : Islam
M : Mormon
7 : SeventhDay
W : Jehovah's Witness
J : Jew


Religions I find tolerable:

TR(x,y,...)

A tuple of religion codes from the religion path section. The tuple
may be the empty set, e.g. TR().


Holy Books read:

r({B|K|BoM}%XX[, ...]) # one or more holy books you've read and how much

B : Bible
K : Koran
BoM : Book of Mormon

eg. r(B%20,K%10)


Religious instruction: How much religious instruction have you received
in your life?

RI(pX,sY,uZ)

pX : years of primary school
sY : years of secondary school
uZ : years of university


Exposure: How many people know you are a non-believer?

ex(XYZ(x)[, ...])

Fam - Family
Wk - Co-workers
Fr - Friends

values can range from 0.0 (no one knows) to 1.0 (everyone knows)

e.g. ex(Fam(.54),Wk(.5),Fr(1.0))


Religious affiliation of significant other:

SO(X)

Where X is one of the religion codes from above


Fanboy (or girl): What non-believers inspire you? And how much?

FB(X[,...])

Currently available non-believer codes:

RD : Richard Dawkins
SH : Sam Harris
DD : Daniel Dennett
SB : Susan Blackmore
BF : Brian Flemming
RC : Richard Carrier
MS : Michael Shermer
JS : Julia Sweeney

You may include as many as you want to. You may also add a "+" (e.g. DD+) to show special approval of or "-" if you don't really like them (opposite of fanboy appreciation)

Getting the message out:

What do you do to share the news and/or stir up conversation?

M(X[,...])

Blg : blogging
Auth : writing books
D2D : door to door evangelization


Development of the godless code:

GCD : godless code deity - they who develop the code and/or have
suggestions incorporated

optional "+" if it was your idea in the first place. :)


Version: As the code evolves need to know what version to use for decoding.

[gc-0.1] = Use version 0.1 for decoding this


This coding system is new so if you have suggestions for additions,
clarifications, etc please let me know and I'll try to address for
gc-0.2


Inspired by The Geek Code

Are you an atheist?

Take my quiz to find out:

Am I An Atheist?

I did pretty good!

You are 100% atheist!

 

Hooray you are an atheist with respect to most or all gods. Good work. Hope you aren't disbelieving in the wrong one...

Am I An Atheist
Create a Quiz

Bible Quiz Scores: A public service announcement

Bible Quiz

As many of you non-believers are aware it is only a matter of time before *they* start rounding us and putting us in camps. To keep yourself from being too easily identified as a non-believer I strongly encourage you *not* to score well on tests such as the above. A score of 80% or more will flag you as a seminary student or as an atheist.

Remember: we need to have some people out side the camps to help coordinate tunnel building and inter-camp communications. So keep those scores down in the "sheep" range. Your cooperation is appreciated.

The Golden Rule

I'm reading "The Great Transformation" (Karen Armstrong) and am currently learning about Confucius (some where in 530 BC to 450 BC). Not surprisingly his teachings contain a variation of the Golden Rule: "Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you." So this makes me wonder: Is there ANY religion that didn't come up with this formulation before Jesus?

A few minutes of googling later

Infidel Links - 2007-02-04

Imaginary friends

Finally a parenting book that ensures your children will go directly to hell

Apparently if you offer basketball it's not really brainwashing

One nation under Allah...

Dinosaurs were made on the 6th day

The Blasphemy Challenge on Nightline

Add this to your places not to go for a blaspheming holiday

Always nice to see people taking their religion to it's logical conclusion

First Chuck Norris and now Pat Boone

Well, I got 93% (with no peeking). How'd you do?

A Zen Parable

student: O Master, I have succeeded in the ways of the world (money, respect, love) but still I find my life is vaguely unsatisfying. Now I want, no, need, to follow the spiritual path. I have come to you to seek true wisdom.

master: This is a laudable goal. The Path is arduous and will push you to the breaking point. Do you think you are able to work diligently and follow my teachings without question?

student: Yes!

master: I estimate it will take you about 20 years to complete the training. You may begin today.

student: Thank you!

... 20 years ...

master: You have proven to be one of the most dedicated and disciplined students I have ever worked with. Never before have I seen someone so thoroughly grasp the great teachings and apply them with such relentless honesty. Truly you can perceive the world without delusion. You are indeed enlightened.

student: Master, it is true. I understand now what it means to see things as they truly are. Without arrogance I will agree with you that I am truly enlightened. There is just one thing.

master: Yes?

student: When I came to you to seek the spiritual life I was vaguely unsatisfied with my life. Now that I'm enlightened I find that I'm still vaguely unsatisfied. Since I see without delusion, I know that I am, in fact, vaguely unsatisfied.

master: Yes, you see without delusion and what you see is that your life is vaguely unsatisfying. So it follows that your life is vaguely unsatisfying.

student: But I already knew that 20 years ago!

master: You were right.

Christianity is my koan

Satori here I come.

mu