Secular Perspectives

I was impressed with the conservative credetials o...

2012-05-31T15:51:51.708-04:00

I was impressed with the conservative credetials of the various funding institutions for this effort. My view is that PBS got had by some people who wanted to sell right wing propaganda. I was particular outraged by the claim that governments have out of control appetites for the wealth of others which they claim via their power to tax.

Way to go Edd! You are proving once again that yo...

2012-05-31T01:03:12.515-04:00

Way to go Edd! You are proving once again that you are a National treasure for showing the rest of us what can done with letters to the Editor.

Stegner actually admits there may be concepts of G...

2012-05-30T13:15:49.149-04:00

Stegner actually admits there may be concepts of God he could believe. So much for his title's claim. Disproves ancient ideas of God's nature, as current process theologians do? Yawn.

As for Hawking's book, it's funny how he says philosophy is dead - then goes on to practice it. ;)

Some notes on the talk and a link to the video is ...

2012-05-29T09:39:07.607-04:00

Some notes on the talk and a link to the video is available on my later blog at http://secularhumanist.blogspot.com/2012/05/video-of-kahneman-talk-on-knowing-along.html

There' a good hour long YouTube video of Kraus...

2012-05-28T17:07:21.151-04:00

There' a good hour long YouTube video of Krause giving an RDF sponsored talk on this which adds his sense of humor to these topics. Richard Dawkins provides the humorus intro. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZiXC8Yh4T0

This was played at the recent Atheist Meetup in Rockville.

Great job. How did you find this information? Do y...

2012-05-27T09:45:12.776-04:00

Great job.
How did you find this information? Do you read El Pais that often?

Isn't Carlson the nutjob who works for the rig...

2012-05-26T10:53:56.103-04:00

Isn't Carlson the nutjob who works for the rightwing Rockford Foundation? -- Edd Doerr

Another great example of religion doing harm to wo...

2012-05-26T07:05:46.637-04:00

Another great example of religion doing harm to women and gays.

Pretty disgusting.

2012-05-24T05:47:49.399-04:00

Pretty disgusting.

There was a article in scientific America on peopl...

2012-05-23T05:50:43.749-04:00

There was a article in scientific America on people who were homophobic and that they could also be gay. So maybe he is and his religion is torturing him also. Hence religion destroys your sex life also.

... Or maybe it was BECAUSE he said that?

2012-05-22T23:29:31.444-04:00

... Or maybe it was BECAUSE he said that?

You think that's bad? He's a preacher. Wh...

2012-05-22T23:28:31.753-04:00

You think that's bad? He's a preacher. When I last lived in Oklahoma (around 1996) the gubernatorial race was a 3-way with an independent a Republican and a Democrat. The independent got around 20+% of the vote, despite the fact that during the debates he said he thought all homosexuals should be put in prison.

For a related blog item see 2002 Nobel Prize-winni...

2012-05-22T08:54:42.370-04:00

For a related blog item see 2002 Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman talk at the National Academy on "Thinking that We Know. "
http://secularhumanist.blogspot.com/2012/05/thinking-that-we-know-and-science-of.html

The talk was great and when I have a chance I will...

2012-05-22T08:00:13.143-04:00

The talk was great and when I have a chance I will write a summary for the Blog. They were actively taping/filming the talk, so I expect it to pop up on some NAS site eventually and will provide that if I find it.

Wonderful summary, Gary, of Kahneman's work. I...

2012-05-22T00:51:14.359-04:00

Wonderful summary, Gary, of Kahneman's work. It was a pleasure reading it.

I wish I had known about the talk earlier! I'v...

2012-05-21T23:29:32.402-04:00

I wish I had known about the talk earlier! I've started his book, and it looks like it might be the ideal path to skepticism for our literate but credulous friends. The cognitive biases are presented in a way that repeatedly gives the reader exciting insights into the way they themselves are prone to bias. It's fun in a way that is likely to turn them into enthusiastic skeptics. Or, at least, I hope so!

How was the talk?

A country run by religion is a country still livin...

2012-05-20T21:32:29.063-04:00

A country run by religion is a country still living in a archaic bronze age superstition it's a wonder they even have computers let alone a social network.

Oh, but I am sure there are those who can come up ...

2012-05-20T21:25:09.864-04:00

Oh, but I am sure there are those who can come up with apologetics such as "religion is not really the problem", "it is a mix of many different factors and religion is not the most important one", "conservatism and lack of education are equally important", etc.
Bullshit.

The study I quoted from supports the idea that evo...

2012-05-19T18:29:45.641-04:00

The study I quoted from supports the idea that evolution denial is pushed by certain fundamentalist religious groups, but also anti-intellectualism,political ideologies, low science knowledge in general and other values. As I said they are also an important part of the mix in denials. The role of mixed motives is probably a reasonable thing to consider.
I hope that my later posting on tactics to change behavior like smoking makes the point on taking personal psychology into account.

Oh, you mean the study you yourself quoted but the...

2012-05-19T14:49:21.229-04:00

Oh, you mean the study you yourself quoted but then ignored its main point?

For people who twitter you can see nd follow updat...

2012-05-19T08:16:36.737-04:00

For people who twitter you can see nd follow updates on this at the hashtag #occupyg8. You can see video of the 3-4 hrs at http://www.ustream.tv/rootsmedia

The Miller, Scott and Okamoto study is not like an...

2012-05-19T08:10:38.324-04:00

The Miller, Scott and Okamoto study is not like an advocacy science study funded by Big Tobacco. It's much better to say that tobacco is the leading cause of cancer and here is the magnitude of effect with a comparable list of other interacting factors.
But one part of the real argument here is what a study of effective techniques to make smokers quite might be. Here is a little bit of what experts have argued about this.

"Do you bite your tongue every time a family member or friend lights up or steps outside for a smoke? Or maybe you've tried the opposite tack: nagging. Neither approach works, experts say. What has helped thousands of smokers to quit, they point out, are the following simple strategies.

1. Keep the focus on you -- not on the smoker

Saying "I hate it when you smoke" is likely to provoke an equally negative response. But talking about how the person's smoking affects you might just lead to a breakthrough, or at least a moment of connection. If you hate the way the house or car smells, say that. If you're getting to the point that you avoid kissing your smoker unless he's come straight from brushing his teeth, that's an important point to make. State your feelings as simply as possible in a way that sounds personal rather than accusing.

2. Trap to avoid: Anger. It's important to distinguish between the anger you might feel about a smoker's habit and your own underlying worries that prompt those feelings. Maybe you heard the smoker in your life cough and felt a pang of worry before lashing out in frustration, for example. Try expressing that feeling of concern instead of the frustration, experts say, and you'll get much better results.

3. Keep it positive.

In order to quit smoking, smokers must come to the realization that they want something else more than they want to smoke, experts say. Usually this takes the form of some very basic pros and cons; smokers have to want better health and freedom from addiction more than they want the temporary pleasure of smoking. When the smoker in your life expresses an interest in quitting -- even if it's just a passing comment -- help him think about how his life would change for the better without cigarettes.

Source:
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/quit-smoking/how-to-get-someone-to-quit-smoking-without-hating-you

Well, that is precisely what the tobacco industry ...

2012-05-18T22:15:46.195-04:00

Well, that is precisely what the tobacco industry used to claim: cancer is a complex and mulifactorial phenomenon (true), hence it is unfair to blame it on smoking (false). Ultimately going down this path brought them a RICO conviction.

Evolution is a strong case for religious influence...

2012-05-18T19:25:13.549-04:00

Evolution is a strong case for religious influence, but even it is a mix of (related) factors. That the evidence and the interpretation. I would also hypothesize that ther areas have other topics have a mix where religion is not the first factor, but a factor in a mix of factors. It's that type of model which data supports.

Really sweet: "It turns out that the effect o...

2012-05-18T17:43:23.791-04:00

Really sweet:
"It turns out that the effect of fundamentalist religious beliefs on one's attitude toward evolution is twice as strong in the US than in Europe; Americans really are influenced by their strict religiosity more than their European counterparts."
It is clear that Mooney's studies apply to you. The study YOU YOURSELF ARE CITING UNDERCUTS YOUR POSITION. But you refuse to change your mind.You are as driven by ideology as any fundamentalist.
Oh, and political conservatism? Itself caused by religiosity. Not an independent factor.