An excellent conference held in 1998 with Douglas Adams, Richard Dawkins, Dan Dennett, Steven Pinker and Jared Diamond, on many fascinating topics. Quality is poor but well worth watching/listening to.
65 Million Years With A Creationist.
I agree with V0r4xiz in the comments when he says
"That's the sort of 'fairy tale' that should be in the kids' books."
Voltaire Lecture 2010 - Prof Brian Cox on "The Value of Big Science"
A video for you - one hour long, a lecture by a guy called Brian Cox, who works at the Large Hadron Collider, about science, physics, the LHC, the big bang and many interesting subjects. I enjoyed it immensely.
The Greatest Story Ever Told - Starts With A Bang
Over at Starts With A Bang (great blog by the way) theoretical astrophysicist Ethan Siegel has been posting a series explaining the extent of our understanding of the beginning of the Universe, the context in which the Big Bang plays its part. He's on part 8 right now, click through to parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 and get educated!
Hitler, Stalin and Mao
I haven't written many posts myself here but that is the purpose of this blog - to share things I find interesting, including thoughts.
I was watching a debate to do with religion and the "Hitler, Stalin and Mao" subject came up. It's a retort made by religious proponents in response to having the great evils religion has been responsible for pointed out.
I could just see it coming as he spoke, it's always mentioned - "religion might be bad but" Hitler, or Stalin, or whoever. When he said it I could hear the usual responses in my head, but they've never satisfied me. Then it seemed to clear up for me - the argument is not that religion simply makes the world worse but that it's in direct opposition to good in a lot of ways. So whether or not it's done good it frequently stands in the way of it and this is gravely important.
I was watching a debate to do with religion and the "Hitler, Stalin and Mao" subject came up. It's a retort made by religious proponents in response to having the great evils religion has been responsible for pointed out.
"...when you talk about the needless suffering that religion has caused, I think it's time for me to address the historical record; because I think that religion's record is nothing less than exemplary compared to irreligion..."
I could just see it coming as he spoke, it's always mentioned - "religion might be bad but" Hitler, or Stalin, or whoever. When he said it I could hear the usual responses in my head, but they've never satisfied me. Then it seemed to clear up for me - the argument is not that religion simply makes the world worse but that it's in direct opposition to good in a lot of ways. So whether or not it's done good it frequently stands in the way of it and this is gravely important.
Evolution of Life in 60 Seconds
First saw this a long time ago but everyone should watch it :)
Evolution of Life in 60 Seconds § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM
"By condensing 4.6 billion years of history into a minute, the video is a self-contained timepiece. Like a specialized clock, it gives one a sense of perspective. Everything — from the formation of the Earth, to the Cambrian Explosion, to the evolution of mice and squirrels — is proportionate to everything else..."
Evolution of Life in 60 Seconds § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM
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