Morgantown Atheists » video

Science Friction: Creation

Neece — Tue, 18 May 2010 11:42:58 +0000

Gerald told us about a video the other evening. It’s a clip from the BBC1 documentary ‘Science Friction: Creation’ circa 1996. This is Dayton, Tennessee.

The last comment by the student is the best (worst). It’s painful to watch but sadly funny at the same time.

Dan Barker on Fox News Explains the National Day of Prayer

Neece — Fri, 14 May 2010 18:11:31 +0000

Dan Barker from the Freedom From Religion Foundation explains the unconstitutionality of the National Day of Prayer and how we are not a christian nation. And for once, Faux News has an intelligent conversation instead of trying to have a pissing match. (~ 5 minutes)

Obama still proclaimed the National Day of Prayer this year, even though the ruling said it was unconstitutional. The government is wasting good tax dollars appealing. Of course.

I guess we’ll still keep holding the National Day of Reason until reason and the constitution prevail.

Four Interesting Videos Supporting Reason

Neece — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:25:12 +0000

I have four videos to share with you, and they all have to do with Sam Harris, one of the Four Horsemen (Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett are the other three). Remember the other day I posted the actual TED talk Sam did about science and morality.

The first video is on CNN Opinion and therefore it’s just a link to its page. Sam talks to CNN (at the TED conference) about how religion discussions distract us from truly important issues. It’s almost 4 minutes long. If you go there to the page, it has a lot of what he said under the video.

Project Reason, which Sam Harris helped start, had a video contest recently. So here are the winners.

Winning Video: The Values We All Stand For

An argument for a change in our national symbols to include atheists by not presuming a belief in God among Americans at the level of our federal government. The goal is not necessarily immediate action, but rather to raise consciousness about where these references to God came from and why they shouldn’t be a part of a government that is supposed to represent all of us.

Second Place Winner: Imagine

In a post-religion world, it would be difficult to convince people to build bombs, worship a person, teach creationism, tell people who to marry, or feel justified in ‘owning’ other people. And when we look up for inspiration we’d have to find it in ourselves.

Third Place Winner: Just a Book

A Bible thumper learns his lesson.

Cross-posted from Heaving Dead Cats

Science Can Answer Moral Questions

Neece — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:30:47 +0000

Sam Harris gave a talk at TED recently and it’s now available. He talked about morals and how science doesn’t have to stay silent when it comes to what is best for conscious beings. It was very interesting. Please share it around if you like what he has to say. I’d love to hear your opinions in the comments.

About the talk:
Questions of good and evil, right and wrong are commonly thought unanswerable by science. But Sam Harris argues that science can — and should — be an authority on moral issues, shaping human values and setting out what constitutes a good life.

Sam’s project: Project Reason
His homepage: SamHarris.org

Cross-posted from Heaving Dead Cats

Here Be Dragons: An Introduction To Critical Thinking

Neece — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:30:00 +0000

Brian Dunning offers this 4o minute video to introduce critical thinking. From his site he says, “Most people fully accept paranormal and pseudoscientific claims without critique as they are promoted by the mass media. Here Be Dragons offers a toolbox for recognizing and understanding the dangers of pseudoscience, and appreciation for the reality-based benefits offered by real science.”

Thanks, Gerald!

Podcasts and Internet Radio Stations You May Enjoy

Neece — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 04:19:24 +0000

Brent sent me a list of his favorite internet radio stations and podcasts to share with you. I listen to several as well so I will add them below:

~Edit: I’ve added descriptions for you!

Brent’s Favs:

The Center for Inquiry’s Point of Inquiry: Point of Inquiry explores CFI’s three research areas:
- Pseudoscience and the paranormal (Bigfoot, UFOs, psychics, communication with the dead, cryptozoology, etc.)
- Alternative medicine (faith healing, homeopathy, “healing touch,” the efficacy of prayer, etc.)
- Religion, humanism, and secularism (church-state separation, the effects and proper role of religion in society, the future of secularism and nonbelief, etc.)
  Rotating hosts Chris Mooney, Karen Stollznow, and Robert Price bring engaging and thought-provoking interviews and commentary on a broad range of topics to each episode of Point of Inquiry.
NPR’s Science Friday: A weekly radio talk show on NPR from 2-4pm on Fridays. Each week, they focus on science topics that are in the news and try to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join Science Friday’s host, Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science – and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.
Groks Science Radio Show and Podcast: a weekly science radio program and podcast produced in Chicago, USA and Tokyo, Japan. The show broadcasts on radio stations across the country and can also be heard as a podcast. Each week, the hosts, Dr. Charles Lee and Dr. Frank Ling, take an in-depth look at recent events in the world of science and technology, and examine the effects of recent discoveries on our daily lives.
Each episode features an interview with a leading scientist, researcher, or industrialist discussing stimulating work in their field. The show often includes a humorous and entertaining segment; plus the world famous question of the week!
IEET: Changesurfer Radio: a weekly, syndicated public affairs radio show transmitting a sexy, high-tech vision of a radically democratic future
Fast Forward Radio: A convergence of emerging technologies and emerging possibilities is at the heart of this, the greatest period of transformation in human history. Our world is changing in ways that are hard to predict…sometimes even hard to imagine. FastForward Radio is your guide to an astounding future that lies ahead — and that will be here sooner than you think!

Neece’s Favs:

SGU: The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe and a 5 minute weekly podcast at the same place; SGU 5×5: a weekly Science podcast produced by the New England Skeptical Society (NESS) in association with the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) : discussing the latest news and topics from the world of the paranormal, fringe science, and controversial claims from a scientific point of view.
Scientific American’s Science Talk (they have other podcasts here): Join host Steve Mirsky each week as he explores the latest developments in science & technology through interviews.
Reasonable Doubts (Your Skeptical Guide to Religion): A special focus on counter-apologetics. They provide detailed counter-points to the fallacious logic and blatant misinformation used by religious apologists when attempting to discredit skepticism and provide rational arguments for their dogmas. They also defend the sufficiency of reason, science and naturalistic philosophies to provide a satisfactory and morally compelling understanding of the cosmos, human nature, art and culture. They try to do this all with fair-mindedness and humor. Winner of the Peoples Choice Podcast Award for best religious/inspirational podcast of 2009
The Naked Scientists and another podcast, Ask the Naked Scientists: The Naked Scientists are a group of physicians and researchers from Cambridge University who use radio, live lectures, and the Internet to strip science down to its bare essentials, and promote it to the general public. Each week, listeners of all ages and backgrounds tune in on a Sunday evening to hear creator Dr. Chris Smith, together with his entertaining scientist sidekicks, interview renowned scientists and researchers from all over the world and take science questions on any subject live from the listening public.
StarTalk with Neil DeGrasse Tyson: a radio show devoted to all things space and is hosted by renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Mr. Deity (video, not podcast, but you can subscribe through iTunes): a webshow that looks at the every-day life of the creator and everything he must endure as he attempts to manage his creation.

~Edit:

Tim’s Fav:

FFRF: Freedom From Religion Foundation: Slightly irreverent views, news, music and interviews

Here’s one from Gerald:

MonsterTalk. It is all about cryptozoology: bigfoot, Loch Ness monster, etc. It takes a skeptical look at these things and is sponsored by Skeptic Magazine.

Feel free to contribute your favorites!

Religion: The Root of All Evil?

Neece — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:23:53 +0000

I found this 2 part video Richard Dawkins did for the BBC in 2006. It’s a very good overview of his ideas and concepts of religion, evolution and atheism. See below for the descriptions of each episode.

I thought this would be good to see more of what the “religion is a virus” concept was all about, right from Dawkins, since we’re reading The God Virus this month for the book club.

The Root of All Evil? Part 1: The God Delusion. (Richard Dawkins, 2006) – 47:51

The Root of All Evil? – The Virus of Faith (2 of 2) – 47:58

Here’s a description of the first episode:
The Root of All Evil? is a television documentary, written and presented by Richard Dawkins, in which he argues that the world would be better off without religion. The documentary was first broadcast in January 2006, in the form of two 45-minute episodes (excluding advertisement breaks), on Channel 4 in the UK. Dawkins has said that the title “The Root of All Evil?” was not his preferred choice, but that Channel 4 had insisted on it to create controversy.[1] His sole concession from the producers on the title was the addition of the question mark. Dawkins has stated that the notion of anything being the root of all evil is ridiculous.[2] Dawkins’ book The God Delusion, released in September 2006, goes on to examine the topics raised in the documentary in greater detail. The God Delusion explores the unproven beliefs that are treated as factual by many religions and the extremes to which some followers have taken them. Dawkins opens the programme by describing the “would-be murderers . . . who want to kill you and me, and themselves, because they’re motivated by what they think is the highest ideal.” Dawkins argues that “the process of non-thinking called faith” is not a way of understanding the world, but instead stands in fundamental opposition to modern science and the scientific method, and is divisive and dangerous.

Here’s a description of the second episode:
In The Virus of Faith, Dawkins opines that the moral framework of religions is warped, and argues against the religious indoctrination of children. The title of this episode comes from The Selfish Gene, in which Dawkins discussed the concept of memes.

The Origin of Life

Neece — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:47:46 +0000

At Sunday’s meeting, Brent talked about John Maynard Smith and a talk he gave to the Royal Institution in 1995. He was a British theoretical evolutionary biologist and geneticist.

So here is that video. It’s about an hour long and quite interesting.

A few of his books include:

I also found an interview with him in 2001. It’s about an hour long as well:

Recipe For Primordial Soup

Neece — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:53:19 +0000

Dave told us about this video at our meeting last Sunday. This is Julia Child cooking up a batch of Primordial Soup. Here is the description:

Julia Child cooks up a batch of primordial soup and explains how these simple ingredients produce amino acids – the building blocks of life. This video played in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Life in The Universe gallery from 1976 until the gallery closed.

I never watched her cooking show, but I’ve heard she never took herself too seriously, always made fun of herself a bit, and seemed to have fun. She is quite endearing in this video. I hope you enjoy it.

A Wild Ride With Robert Sapolsky

Neece — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:51:44 +0000

Brent sent me a link to a page on the web. It’s a conversation with Robert Sapolsky, a quiet, funny, apparently brilliant professor of biological sciences at Stanford University and of neurology at Stanford’s School of Medicine. Professor Sapolsky has written several books such as:

The link Brent sent me was called TOXO and he suggested it to me, to share with you, because we’re reading The God Virus: How religion infects our lives and culture, by Daniel W Ray. Now the video on that page was Robert Sapolsky talking about a most interesting parasite called Toxoplasma. This is what pregnant women need to worry about, and why they avoid cats and cat feces. It can wreak havoc on their unborn baby’s nervous system.

If you’re reading The God Virus, which talks about parasites and viruses as an analogy for religion, I highly recommend watching this video. If you aren’t going to read the book I still recommend the video. The transcript is underneath it too, which will make it even more accessible for you. But the video is longer than the transcript. So take 25 minutes and enjoy it. Here’s another link to the video. I’m telling you, it’s fascinating. As I mentioned, the video is longer than the transcript. He goes into telemeres and molecular age, which I heard a study about recently confirming what he is explaining.

What he’s talking about touches on evolution, common ancestors, parasites and how they go about getting where they need to be, motorcyclists and speed freaks, and schizophrenics, as well as the government’s interest in this parasite. A wild ride indeed!

Of course, as a skeptic, I thought I’d just look around a bit and see who this Sapolsky guy is, since I’d never heard of him. I found his books (linked to above), his Wikipedia page, and a very cool speech he gave to Stanford students about to graduate. It’s about the uniqueness of humans. Here is the Stanford speech:

TED likes him too. Here’s his bio page .

“If a rat is a good model for your emotional life, you’re in big trouble.” Robert Sapolsky

I guess it’s no surprise that he’s an “unbudgeable atheist“. Did I mention he was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant? But if you watch the videos, you’ll find that he’s fairly easy to understand, so he’s able to teach what he knows, which is awesome.

Oh, and the connection between toxoplasma and schizophrenia? Science Daily has a few studies that I could find:

Feel free to share anything interesting you might know about the toxoplasma parasite or Robert Sapolsky in the comments or at the meeting for The God Virus Book Club Meeting February 21st.

Morgantown Atheists » video

Science Friction: Creation

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