Richard Dawkins on militant atheism
An atheist is just somebody who feels about Yahweh the way any decent Christian feels about Thor or Baal or the golden calf. We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.
Alain de Botton finds elements of religion that can be used by atheists.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
The moral roots of liberals and conservatives
I am an Australian and many of my country men and women, would find the title of this post confusing, as our major Conservative Political Party is called the Liberal Party.
The term liberal as used in this post refers to the US usage of the word, and it refers to a preference to openness, change, tolerance and acceptance that government has an important role in developing a better society.
The talk is at TED and is given by Jonathan Haidt.
He considers that there are five foundations of morality:
1. Harm / Care
2. Fairness / Reciprocity
3. Ingroup / Loyalty
4. Authority / Respect
5. Purity / Sanctity
Interestingly, according to Haidt most politics involves conflict around Ingroup, Authority and Purity issues.
The term liberal as used in this post refers to the US usage of the word, and it refers to a preference to openness, change, tolerance and acceptance that government has an important role in developing a better society.
The talk is at TED and is given by Jonathan Haidt.
He considers that there are five foundations of morality:
1. Harm / Care
2. Fairness / Reciprocity
3. Ingroup / Loyalty
4. Authority / Respect
5. Purity / Sanctity
Interestingly, according to Haidt most politics involves conflict around Ingroup, Authority and Purity issues.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Hockey Sticks
The Hockey Stick graph first developed by Michael Mann et al and published in 1999 is an iconic image.
Many studies subsequent to the original Mann et al study have confirmed the reality that the recent warming is likely unprecedented in the last thousand years.
Its message is starkly clear, so climate deniers have desperately attempted to invalidate it.
In 2006 the US Congress held a hearing on the validity of Mann's work.
Here is his testimony to the committee:
Recently Mann has produced a book on the science and the personal attacks that have been launched at him. the book is: The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars.
In the video below, Peter Sinclair, interviews Michael Mann.
I have been reading a book which is effectively a history of the last 14,000 years called Why the West Rules - For Now. The author Ian Morris has constructed an index of social development.
While reading the book I came across another hockey stick - Morris's index:
(Click on the images for a larger version.)
For more details on the index that Morris developed click on this link.
 |
Many studies subsequent to the original Mann et al study have confirmed the reality that the recent warming is likely unprecedented in the last thousand years.
 |
Its message is starkly clear, so climate deniers have desperately attempted to invalidate it.
In 2006 the US Congress held a hearing on the validity of Mann's work.
Here is his testimony to the committee:
Recently Mann has produced a book on the science and the personal attacks that have been launched at him. the book is: The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars.
In the video below, Peter Sinclair, interviews Michael Mann.
I have been reading a book which is effectively a history of the last 14,000 years called Why the West Rules - For Now. The author Ian Morris has constructed an index of social development.
While reading the book I came across another hockey stick - Morris's index:
 |
(Click on the images for a larger version.)
For more details on the index that Morris developed click on this link.
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