19.04.08
The problem with biblical creationism
is that it’s not biblical…
Now I’ve got your attention… you have to read on… Read the rest of this entry »
28.03.08
Facebook Applications
[Sorry to those of you who aren’t on facebook, I hope the analogy still works]
For me, a good facebook application is one in which you can participate fully in without having to even think of inviting others. For example, there are some applications which involve questionnaires that require you to invite 20 friends before you can see your results. There are game applications where you do better for every friend who you invite to join the game. I consider these applications to be bordering on the immoral.
In my opinion, what should happen is someone should be able to fully use the application and completely enjoy it prior to even thinking about inviting others to join it. At this stage, there are two ways others will want to join it: Firstly, others may see the person using the application, and observe that they enjoy using it, and hence give it a go themselves. Secondly, you may think of a couple of people who are likely to enjoy it, and humbly send an invitation to them, not arrogantly, but just letting them know you have enjoyed it, and they may want to consider it.
Obviously the problem is that bad applications will spread like weeds. Unfortunately, that’s how life often is. But hopefully people will get tired of bad applications, and the good applications will slowly spread. Hopefully. In the end, there’s not a lot we can do about it, but refrain from sending on bad application invites, and keep going with the good applications.
25.03.08
Money and Selfishness
Question: Given there are a number of people in this world who are selfish to a point where they would rather improve their own state rather than giving a thought to others, what effect does being in a money system have on this? Does the money system facilitate greed? Or does it enable a degree of control over such greed? Both? Consider the alternatives.
23.02.08
Saving the world
Here’s an interesting article on the cost of bottled water to Australia.
Reminds me how sucky consumerism can be. It also reminds me that significant ecological progress could be made with a tiny bit of effort from everyone (and conversely, the significant ecological damage that can be caused by a tiny bit of laziness from everyone).
22.02.08
God and Morality
There is an old Christian argument for the existence of God; Without God, there would be no basis for morality. Without God, there’s no reason to not kill innocent people, and be completely selfish. We need God to reveal to us morality. So all should believe in God, or be the same as the Nazis. Or Stalin.
Someone else could probably argue it better, but I’ll leave that to you. In fact, there are actually a few variants of this one, some relating to God, some the inerrancy of scripture, and all sorts of other creative arguments. Depending on the exact argument that people use, there are three main reasons why I disagree with it:
- First, the argument is logically flawed. The argument makes an appeal to the morals of the listener; it assumes that the listener will agree that killing innocent people is bad. In which case, the listener has already got morals, which violates the whole premise of the argument.
- Secondly, the question doesn’t stand up to empirical evidence. There are millions, perhaps billions of atheists out there, and they aren’t all running round killing each other.
- Thirdly, the argument doesn’t actually say anything about God’s existence. Even if all atheists were rampant ax murderers, and all theists were model citizens, this wouldn’t have to mean that without God people are immoral, rather, it’s just as likely that without belief in God people are immoral.
So there you have it. I believe in God, but not because arguments of morality.
20.02.08
The God Delusion
I’ve just finished reading the God Delusion. There seems to be an expectation that people who read it either have to (a) give up their faith, or (b) declare the book to be a waste of time, and Dawkins to be delusional. In reality, my faith is much the same, and I don’t think Dawkins is delusional. I agree with some of what he’s written, but disagree with other parts. At the moment I don’t feel like writing an entire review of it, but I’m going to write a bit of a summary. If you’re planning on reading the God Delusion, you might want to read this post after you’ve read his book. You wouldn’t want me preventing you from forming your own ideas, would you?