Tomorrow (Sunday), from 2-4pm Central time, I’ll be on the League of Reason show. I’m not sure exactly how this is going to work; I’m calling in via skype, the link above takes you to a chat page so you can razz me as I’m talking (I expect all the other panel members will be addressed respectfully, while you guys will be calling me “poopyhead”. Seriously, I can’t take you anywhere.)
It should be fun anyway.
They’re lurking in the Associação Ateísta Portuguesa. We’re everywhere!
Christopher Booker is whining. He went to a meeting of “scientists” and writes up the usual collection of creationist conspiracy theories: they’re oppressed, evolution is in a state of collapse, Darwin himself raised objections to his theory (never mind that he also answered them), complexity, complexity, complexity, famous scientists reject evolution, the scientific establishment is a gang of Lysenkoist bastards, oh, and by the way, global warming is a hoax and smoking isn’t that bad for you. Boring claptrap, all.
The one thing that stood out in his parade of cliches was the fact that he kept quoting these “very bright scientists”, but didn’t name a single one. They were at some secret meeting organized by “a thoughtful and youngish billionaire”…and even he isn’t named. It can’t be fear of retribution in that case — a non-scientist billionaire is simply untouchable by the Science Gestapo, and has no cause for worry at all. He could claim that he was the Emperor of Mars and that he pissed champagne, and the money would still keep rolling in. There is one thing they’re all afraid of, although they won’t come out and admit it.
Laughter.
That’s all it is. The people who come out in favor of such silliness as ID haven’t been oppressed at all, we just stop taking them seriously as scientists, and for good reason. I’d love to know who this billionaire benefactor is, not because I’ll send ninjas after him, or because I’ll somehow wipe out his investments out of spite, but simply because I’d like to point and giggle at the overpaid fool.
Fabulous fashion statement:
I’m thinking I could one-up her if I stopped trimming the beard, too.
Michael Egnor must be fishing for traffic to the graveyard of rotting ideas that the Discovery Institute calls a blog. He claims to honestly want to understand what positive values the New Atheists have, so he posted a quiz for Larry Moran and invited the authors of various blogs — all of which get more traffic and are livelier than his, and also, by the way, allow comments, making his request rather disingenuous.
His questions are so far out of it that I’m not really interested in answering them. It’s like a particularly crusty and dogmatic alchemist stirring beneath the cobwebs of his dead discipline to query a 21st century scientist about chemistry, and all he can muster is quaint questions about platonic solids, the four elements, and the philosopher’s stone.
1) Why is there anything?
2) What caused the Universe?
3) Why is there regularity (Law) in nature?
4) Of the Four Causes in nature proposed by Aristotle (material, formal, efficient, and final), which of them are real? Do final causes exist?
5) Why do we have subjective experience, and not merely objective existence?
6) Why is the human mind intentional, in the technical philosophical sense of aboutness, which is the referral to something besides itself? How can mental states be about something?
7) Does Moral Law exist in itself, or is it an artifact of nature (natural selection, etc.)
8) Why is there evil?
My fast and flippant answers:
1) Nothing is unstable.
2) Nothing caused it.
3) We wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t.
4) Material & efficient. How bizarre to think Aristotle is even relevant, except as a historical factor, or that ancient categories are apposite.
5) An epiphenomenon of the fact of instantiation.
6) Because minds aren’t isolated, but a product of brain+environment.
7) It doesn’t.
8) Evil is simply anti-human, and most of the universe is against us.
Egnor claims to want to learn what New Atheists really believe. He’s lying. He also won’t learn it by simply imposing the cracked and cloudy lens of his superstition to views that are clear and unmarred, and mostly not even concerned with the nonsense that clutters his head.
Go ahead, you can answers his comments in this thread, too. Just keep in mind every time you do that if he were honestly interested, Egnor would have allowed you to comment over there.
Although, if you want to have fun, it might be more entertaining to summarize IDiots. Egnor also writes down his “New Atheism Cliff Notes”:
1) There are no gods
2) Theists are IDiots
3) Catholic priests molest children.
The best three-line summary of Intelligent Design creationists gets its own post with credit to the author.
Daniel Phelps just reminded me that today is 23 October, the date that James Ussher, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, determined to be the very first day of creation in 4004 BCE. That makes the world 6013 years old today, in his chronology (if you’re adding it up at home, remember that there is no year 0).
Keep in mind that you now have excuses to party almost all week. Tomorrow, you should celebrate the creation of heaven and Space Water. You knew the earth was a floaty in a watery universe, right? I think the appropriate celebration is to drink.
Monday, you can celebrate Oceans and Plants day. Garden or go to the shore. And drink.
Tuesday is Moon Day. It’s also Sun Day. It took god a few days, but he finally got around to creating the celestial bodies. This should be a day sacred to werewolves and anathema to vampires. Celebrate by voting for Team Jacob. And drinking.
Wednesday is birds and fish day. This is a day of sorrow, because all the cephalopods will be weeping at their neglect — they don’t even get a mention in the book, except for a later declaration that they are generically unclean. Either that or the clueless idjits who wrote the book considered squid to be fish, which is highly offensive. Celebrate by contemplating cephalopods and raising many toasts to them.
Thursday is “Aw, screw it, I’m done” day, in which you just give up on your work, throw it all together in a big pile, announce that it’s good enough, and ship it. Celebrate by going out for ribs and putting your drink on, ’cause you aren’t doing a thing tomorrow.
That’s the plan, get out and implement it. Alternatively, you could look at the document above and recognize that it’s all an awesome load of absurd blatherskite and just toss it all in the rubbish.
I’m kind of leaning towards the latter plan.
Cut me some slack, already. How could I resist such a weird little larval bivalve?
Sometimes they sucker me. I thought James was writing a nice letter, at first.
I found your site to be entertaining. I must say after reading the comments from your site I can see where the problem really is in this country. The fools follow the leaders of silly nonsense.
See? It sort of sounds like he’s agreeing with me. Little did I know how he was using the word “entertaining”, which isn’t always complimentary. James is probably more familiar with the word in its less than flattering sense. Like when he turns to his date after sex to murmur, “Was it good for you, baby?” and she replies, “It was…entertaining.”
In the same way, James dashes my ego on the jagged rocks of his disapproval with the very next sentence.
You are either very immature or a godless liberal fool. Both would suffice based on your gibberish about evolution.
Nooooo! I am crushed…but wait. What’s that? The last sentence above — it simply ruins the effect. Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy — you need to work on your delivery. The insult is fine, but don’t follow through with a statement that reveals your clownish nature. For instance, don’t do this:
“You are a fool. I wear my underpants on my head.”
Do you get my point? Take the underpants off your head before you try to pretend you’re a serious critic. Otherwise, the target will find themselves unable to take you at all seriously.
Scared your degree will be worthless? One day it will be when folks realize the dummying down of science to adjust to your religion..Scientism. That’s all it is.
Well, gosh, I’m not too scared. After all, my degree is almost worthless, economically. When you figure that I could have become a refrigerator repairman straight out of high school, I’ve given up a tremendous amount of money to get this degree, so it’s actually less than worthless.
I bet refrigerator repairmen don’t get dunned with dopey email about how they had to be dumbed down to believe that refrigerators actually work, or how they must worship coolants, and how Jesus uses his freeze ray to make things cold. I missed such an opportunity.
I was made to believe evolution while at University to be fact and never be doubted as not to be the only explanation of life.
Aaaiieeaaa! That sentence cries out in torment. My degree is at least good enough for alleviating the suffering of the English language a little bit. How about, “While I was at University, I was made to believe that evolution was a fact, never to be doubted as the only explanation for life.” Maybe you can use that when you recycle your complaint to Jerry Coyne or something.
That is when I knew the wolves were among us.
Thank you. That’s better than calling me a teddy bear, but not quite as nice as squid. I’m sure sheep find themselves intimidated by wolves all the time.
It’s nice to be educated, but not to be indoctrinated by pompous asses that believe they hold the key to all truths.
The letter is improving. I quite agree. It’s why I don’t go to church.
Good day..godless liberal fool…James
Too late, you’re still wearing underpants on your head, James!
This may be a trend — I mention that one country has a gang of organized atheists, and then someone else writes me to say I need to mention their country. I’m glad to do it, so here’s a shout out to the Cyprus Freethinkers!
