I like posts that tell a story in a few sentences like this. Nicely done.
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 10:57 AM on August 7, 2008

That is, are these people saying they want stuff that is in the Bible made into law because it's in the Bible or because they happen to agree with it?

I would suspect it's an interplay of both. Lots of people agree that ideas like "Thou shalt not kill" is a good law. Lots of religious folk see that statement in their text of choice, and think "Gee, this book got that right!", and end up with the idea that their text of choice is... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 10:20 AM on July 28, 2008

Sondrialiac has provided a great example of the first group I mentioned. I think they're dead wrong on this idea that the bible "informs" morality, but as long as they don't suggest that X is bad because the bible says so, I'm not too concerned.

More to the topic, maybe this just means we need a study of "Who are christians?" too.
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 11:00 AM on July 28, 2008

However, it does actually make sense to surcharge passengers based on the weight of the person plus luggage.

Does it also make sense to charge handicapped people more to fly since they require more assistance, special facilities, beeping carts in the terminal, etc.?
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 6:46 PM on June 11, 2008

This is how Richard Feynman would have invented the internet.
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 1:35 PM on June 2, 2008

I was actually thinking violin bows too...
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 8:56 PM on May 15, 2008

That an omniscient and omnipotent wouldn't be in complete control of a random process?

Head asplode! It's either random, or it's not. "Random and controlled" is just an amusing contradiction of terms.
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 10:02 AM on March 21, 2008

Already torn apart at Pharyngula in The Delusions of John Gray.
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 6:11 PM on March 15, 2008

I have faith that my significant other will not have an affair. Does that make me unreasonable? Or is it possible that my faith is merely an extrapolation of reason (with a dollop of hope)?

You have faith that he or she won't have an affair due to the evidence that it's hasn't happened before. I however have faith that no virgin birth occured, since the evidence from the past few thousand years since the alleged event show that it's impossible.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 9:56 AM on March 5, 2008

I hate to say it, but these are really just pictures from the sites on the tour. They're nice, but nothing too special. I will be further perusing his site though, as I like the overall theme.
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 1:42 PM on February 29, 2008

religion can provide a moral backbone

Let me rephrase that part of the speech. You, as an atheist, cannot provide "moral backbone".

If atheists don't feel offended by that insinuation, then maybe we do have no backbone.
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 9:43 AM on February 10, 2008

I think given the other sacrifices that have been made in the name of various personal freedoms, that it's an acceptable one given the unpleasantness of the alternative.

The alternative is not having lotteries. I can't imagine that being more unpleasant than having lotteries.

You can't make this into an all freedom vs. no freedom issue. The state can be perfectly justified in outlawing lotteries with the simple argument,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 11:06 AM on January 15, 2008

... what exactly is the scientific justification to limit the possible phenomena at work to
natural causes?

Because there is no evidence for any "supernatural" influence in the world; there are no known phenomena which are explained better by supernatural influence than by natural physical processes. This is not an a priori assumption. If evidence did arise for supernatural causes, then science wold account for that fact. It's on... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 5:17 PM on January 4, 2008

Are you suggesting that anything that we can't measure/prove/quantify scientifically isn't real?

Yes! There is nothing that affects the world that is not in principle measurable.

(Not that this is not the same as saying the "state" of all systems is measurable; the uncertainty principle clearly shows otherwise.)


I have experienced God in a number of ways, none of which I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 1:17 PM on January 6, 2008

Should probably point out it was Virginia Tech, not state.
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 5:34 PM on January 4, 2008

Some of them seem to be quite smart. I like the one with the iTunes, iPhone, and Firewall buttons, but I actually had to look up what the "WebKinz" button was about. Damn, I should not be having "I feel old" moments at age 20.
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 7:11 PM on November 19, 2007

At the core of all Americans is the belief that all human beings have certain inalienable rights that proceed from God but must be protected by the state.

I really couldn't keep myself from laughing at that.

"You're taking these rights, whether you like them or not. Oh, and create yourself a state to protect them."
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 11:57 AM on August 17, 2007

High fructose corn syrup is used in pop un the US for one reason: it's cheap. It's cheap because it's subsidized by the Farm Bill. Cane or beet sugar isn't. Simple as that.

The importance of the farm bill in not just politics but everyday life is huge.
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 7:39 AM on July 13, 2007

If you really want to be snarky about it, all research is stamp collecting, to start with. Particle accelerators? Just high-energy stamp collecting. History? Dead-tree stamp colecting. Etc.. But I don't mean to presume to take that criticism too seriously.

As for identifying blobs as galaxies, that part is fairly simple. Stars are so small (compared to galaxies) that they will all show up as point-sources, and will only appear on a few pixels in the image.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 8:58 AM on July 11, 2007

Ah good. Someone on the galactic side to give a more detailed explanation! Now I have to look up some of these papers.
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 9:00 AM on July 11, 2007

Good find. The clocks remind me of old telescopes.
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 12:40 AM on June 11, 2007

Sounds like they stole the plot from Goodbye Lenin.

Good movie.
posted to MetaFilter by kiltedtaco at 9:06 PM on June 2, 2007