Posts
It's been a long night, so this will be brief, but I will probably expand later.
After being backed into a corner during a conversation with my parents tonight, my wife and I vocalized our atheism. It was inevitable it seems, but I do not feel the timing was right. It happened regardless, and at first things seemed to going well until my mother promptly had a massive anxiety attack. I was afraid we were going to have to take her to the hospital.
Dad did about as well as I could reasonably expect, but he is clearly hurt.
Originally published in 1988, the book has aged extremely well which is, in a way, a bit disheartening, because it tackles the problem of mathematical illiteracy (or innumeracy, if you will) in our society; a problem which seems to gotten no better these last 21 years. Paulos walks through a few basic mathematical principles in the work, explaining how to properly calculate probabilities and percentages and how to interpret statistics at an elementary level all while warning of common pitfalls. Statistics and probabilities are probably the main focus of the book. Paulos argues, as have I, that a misunderstanding of statistics and probabilities ill serves us as a society because it limits our ability to make rational, informed decisions in this very data driven age in which we live.
Do not fear, however, that Innumeracy is dry, as Paulos weaves in colorful illustrations and fills this work with interesting facts. The book is remarkably quotable, and I often found myself considering sharing an excerpt, but there are simply too many parts worth sharing to pick one.
Read this book. At 180 pages, you can knock it out in a night, but I suspect you will get something from it. It has actually gotten me excited about next semester's Statistics & Probabilities course. I rest reasonably certain I will read another Paulos book in the future.
I really enjoy listening to stories of how people leave their religions. A YouTube user called Evid3nc3 has been telling the story of his lost faith, and thus far it is very good.
I think these stories are good for the religious and irreligious alike. For the religious, it demonstrates that the path to freethought, whether that path leads to atheism, agnosticism, or deism, is paved with reason. The decision to leave religion is not based upon appeals to emotion or "transcendent" experiences, as paths into religion often are, but upon careful consideration and logical thinking. For the irreligious, the stories are relatable and interesting, but maybe that is just me.
No, this is not another introspective piece on the ethics of eating intelligent animals, but rather a serious consideration of the benefits of a heavily fruit, vegetable, and grain-based diet.
I have toyed with the idea of shifting away from meat-based diets before, and a recent run-in with a recurring medical problem has got me seriously considering it more now than ever before. Without going into specifics, my problem is not a serious threat to my health, but it is uncomfortable, inconvenient, and occasionally quite painful. This is made worse by the fact that this problem has only emerged in recent years while I have not had health insurance, and Tuesday's doctor's visit plus the prescription ran up over $115. That is quite a lot of change when you only make $500 a month, so my mother-in-law offered to pay it, and I really had no other option but to accept. I cannot stand doing this, as I hate mooching off other people, and my in-laws have already been incredibly generous to me. (Much love to them.)
Over the years I have reduced my meat consumption considerably and have gravitated toward the healthier meats—turkey, skinless chicken, fatty fish—as I have done so. I wonder, however, whether or not I have the willpower to take the next step and reduce my meat consumption down to one to three meals a month. I suspect this lifestyle change would significantly help my medical problem, and my family has a long history of heart disease (and I am a bit overweight at 5'10", 199 pounds), so I can foresee deriving a lot of benefit from the conversion, but I love, and this cannot be emphasized enough, hamburgers and burritos.
Being the self-professed utilitarian I am, I suppose this comes down to cost-benefit analysis.
Benefits of Changing to a Heavily Vegetable-Based Diet
- May correct or ease my persistent medical problem.
- Better overall health.
- Cheaper.
- Reduces my carbon footprint.
- I get the warm, fuzzy feeling from not eating animals (as much).
- Requires no change in life-style.
- It is delicious.
- I do not have to take B12 supplements.
Okay, I am sufficiently hungry at this point, so I am going to go microwave a Healthy Choice. I will probably even go vegetarian tonight with either some Asian pot stickers or pumpkin ravioli.
I think I am about ready to take a break from the Banana-Man, but this is difficult when so many YouTubers and bloggers have been talking about him recently.
Anyway, this news coming from Pharyngula, it seems our dear Mr. Comfort has been caught plagiarizing [1] [2]. I am unsure how much further down this man can drive his intellectual and academic credibility, but I think we can safely place him at Hovindian levels at this point.
This just in (well, not really, but I just found it): Ray Comfort apologizes for his misrepresentation of the evolution of sex. Well, at least he is apologizing, but even though he claims his apology is "genuine," I have my doubts. Comfort has been spreading this nonsense about male and female evolution for a long time. It even earned him the Golden Crocoduck. He has been corrected over and over again, and now he has suddenly come to realize his misrepresentations were unfounded? I rather suspect the hammer has been coming down hard on him recently due to that joke of a foreword to Orgin he wrote, and he is being forced to make this unwilling concession lest he be thought an ignorant, dogmatic fool.
From ScienceDaily:
Speed Limit To Pace of Evolution, Biologists Say
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a theoretical model that informs the understanding of evolution and determines how quickly an organism will evolve using a catalogue of "evolutionary speed limits." The model provides quantitative predictions for the speed of evolution on various "fitness landscapes," the dynamic and varied conditions under which bacteria, viruses and even humans adapt.
I have to go to class, so here is the story.
“This is an amazing moment. It’s beyond words,’’ said Mary Conroy, spokeswoman for Yes on 1/Stand for Marriage Maine, the organization leading the fight against same-sex marriage in Maine. “I feel energized, overcome, overjoyed for the family and the people of Maine.
“Clearly, this tonight is the people of Maine speaking.’’
Isn't nice to know that with all the causes one could choose, Ms. Conroy has dedicated herself to limiting the civil rights of other people?
My Groups
-
Universal Care Cafe Updated: 3 minutes ago
-
Public Option Cafe Updated: 3 minutes ago
-
Game Over Updated: 12 minutes ago
Neighborhood
Explore friends, family, friends & family, or entire neighborhood.
