by cameron | Jan 13, 2007 | Podcast, science
The word of the day is “epiphenomenalism”.
Benjamin Libet did an experiment which suggests that thoughts happen inside our brains BEFORE we are even aware of them:
Wikipedia bio
More on Libet’s experiment.
You don’t believe a country like the USA could be involved in state-sponsored terrorism? The United Nations would disagree. Listen while I tell you about Nicaragua v The USA.
Feb 12 is the birthday of Charles Darwin, one of the greatest minds in human history. Did you know he studied theology?
Now… back onto the subject of faith versus reason. Let me state my premise as clearly as I can, one more time:
To believe something exists (let’s say unicorns) without any evidence to support the theory, is not rational.
To not believe something exists (or to hold no opinion on the matter either way) because there is a complete lack of evidence to support the theory, is completely rational and is not a matter of “faith”. Is it a matter of reason. They are complete opposites.
It’s quite simple.
Oh and one more thing. Science is the on-going pursuit of truth through the search for evidence. It is the only rational model for seeking truth. Every other model dispenses with evidence, reason and logic and are, ipso facto, irrational.
And I vote for logic, reason and evidence. And I also suggest that people who are irrational are a danger to us all. You wouldn’t let an irrational person become President of the United States, would you? Oh… bad example.
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The G’Day World Theme Song is “Save Me†by The Napoleon Blown Aparts.
by cameron | Jan 11, 2007 | Podcast, science vs religion
A little early with the show today.
Here’s what I rant about:
Apple has double standards when it comes to copyrights
The Separation of Church And State
Sargon I of Akkad, the first Empire builder
IODA PROMONET previews not working
I’ve still only had a couple of people sign up for my $50 Amazon voucher promotion. You know, at this stage, it could be REALLY easy to win.
Check out Miriam’s idea. The old reverse psychology trick. Then go and read her post on her background in self-harm.
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The G’Day World Theme Song is “Save Me†by The Napoleon Blown Aparts.
by cameron | Jan 9, 2007 | free will, science, Uncategorized
Mark Hallett, a researcher with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, said, “Free will does exist, but it’s a perception, not a power or a driving force. People experience free will. They have the sense they are free.
“The more you scrutinize it, the more you realize you don’t have it,†he said.
That is hardly a new thought. The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said, as Einstein paraphrased it, that “a human can very well do what he wants, but cannot will what he wants.â€
From a NYT article entitled “Free Will: Now You Have It, Now You Don’t” which I came across via Scott Adams’ blog.
by cameron | Dec 11, 2006 | Podcast, science, Uncategorized
I’m listening to the New Scientist Magazine’s podcast interview with Richard Dawkins. It’s really interesting stuff and it looks like a bunch of secular scientists from around the world are getting ready for the latest round in the Great War between Science and Religion for the minds of the human race. I’m personally one who agrees with Dawkins that the battle needs ramping up.
Speaking of religion… Father Bob Maguire wants me to help him set up a webcam in his church to record his Christmas Eve sermon. He’s the one priest I don’t mind helping out. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good webcam which could capture a high-res image inside a church? We need to somehow set up a simple capture system that Bob’s people can operate. They will need to be able to focus, capture, save the file, and then I’ll help them figure out how to upload it to our servers.
by cameron | Dec 7, 2006 | science, Uncategorized
The decision by Australian Parliament yesterday to overturn the ban on human cloning is a major milestone for Australia. The majority of Parliament voted for SCIENCE and against MYTHOLOGY and I salute them.
You can read the text of the Bill here and the Explanatory Memo here.
To save you the trouble (because I know you’re busy watching some jackass hurt himself on a mega-pogo-stick on YouTube), here’s the duck’s guts:
In summary, a person may apply for a licence to:
* use excess ART embryos;
* create human embryos other than by fertilisation of a human egg by a human sperm, and use such embryos;
* create human embryos (by a process other than fertilisation of human egg by human sperm) containing genetic material provided by more than 2 persons, and use such embryos;
* create human embryos using precursor cells from a human embryo or a human fetus, and use such embryos;
* undertake research and training involving the fertilisation of a human egg, up to but not including the first mitotic division, outside the body of a woman for the purposes of research or training;
* create hybrid embryos by the fertilisation of an animal egg by human sperm, and develop such embryos up to, but not including, the first mitotic division provided that the creation or use is for the purposes of testing sperm quality and will occur in an accredited ART centre; and
* create hybrid embryos by introducing the nucleus of a human cell into an animal egg, and use of such embryos.
Now the definition that the NHMRC (The National Health and Medical Research Council) developed for “embryo” is:
A human embryo is a discrete entity that has arisen from either:
(a) the first mitotic division when fertilisation of a human oocyte by a
human sperm is complete; or
(b) any other process that initiates organised development of a
biological entity with a human nuclear genome or altered human
nuclear genome that has the potential to develop up to, or beyond,
the stage at which the primitive streak appears;
and has not yet reached eight weeks of development since the first mitotic
division.
Here is a link to their Dec 2005 discussion paper for those of you interested in more detail.
Tell me what you think on the TPN Forum. I’m running a poll.
by cameron | Nov 23, 2006 | science, Uncategorized
From David Berlind over on ZDNET:
Judge Leonard Davis ruled that a patent granted in 1996 to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency, is valid. The patent describes the implementation of several aspects of the 802.11a and 802.11g wireless standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The court also ruled that Buffalo Technology, a small maker of Wi-Fi routing gear, had violated this patent….
…..More than 100 companies could end up paying royalties to CSIRO for use of the technology, claimed Daniel J. Furniss, a partner at Townsend and Townsend and Crew, the law firm representing CSIRO.
I know people who know people at CSIRO. I’ll try and hook up someone for the show in the immediate future to get to the bottom of this. It seems that not only did CSIRO invent insect repellant, gene splicing and myxomatosis, they also invented wifi. Hot damn. Maybe they can explain why I can’t get my modded xbox to talk to my new netgear router and therefore have to waste lots of blank dvds to get the latest episodes of Weeds, Heroes and Studio 60 onto it.
