Saturday, December 08, 2007
Harsh but fair, The Guardian Digested Read on John Humphrys' In God We Doubt: Confessions of a Failed Atheist .
I did find this book rather disappointing when I put it down. I suppose I was hoping for the Agnostic The God Delusion but instead I got one-third 'If there's a God then why do bad things happen?', one-third 'If there isn't a God then how did the universe start then huh?' and one-third 'We've got a letter from a Mrs Thoughtful of Middle-Englandshire'. Perhaps all that this book demonstrates is that rational sensible argument is unlikely to change the phase-state of a person's belief, that can only occur when they think for themselves. Humphrys largely skirts religion to concentrate on belief, which allows him to put his impartial boot into the Dawkins and Hitchens of the world but the problem is there's no sense of a journey, after a vaguely religious upbringing he lost his faith as a young man and is now an old man and it hasn't come back. In the end he makes Agnosticism seem like the Liberal Democrats of theology, able to stand on the sidelines and take pot shots at the other two positions but not doing much to convert others to the cause.
I did find this book rather disappointing when I put it down. I suppose I was hoping for the Agnostic The God Delusion but instead I got one-third 'If there's a God then why do bad things happen?', one-third 'If there isn't a God then how did the universe start then huh?' and one-third 'We've got a letter from a Mrs Thoughtful of Middle-Englandshire'. Perhaps all that this book demonstrates is that rational sensible argument is unlikely to change the phase-state of a person's belief, that can only occur when they think for themselves. Humphrys largely skirts religion to concentrate on belief, which allows him to put his impartial boot into the Dawkins and Hitchens of the world but the problem is there's no sense of a journey, after a vaguely religious upbringing he lost his faith as a young man and is now an old man and it hasn't come back. In the end he makes Agnosticism seem like the Liberal Democrats of theology, able to stand on the sidelines and take pot shots at the other two positions but not doing much to convert others to the cause.
Labels: Agnosticism, atheism, atheists, books, Christianity, ethics, Islam, Judaism, Richard Dawkins, Rowan Williams
Thursday, July 12, 2007
If you feel the need to have your faith in the inherent goodness of mankind kicked down a notch then this ten minute video about the infamous Milgram experiment should provide the necessary disillusionment.
Labels: ethics, obey/conform/control, science, Stanley Milgram, torture
Sunday, May 20, 2007
... And the Radio is Telling me to Love Everyone...
I'm currently reading The Lucifer Effect: How Good People Turn Evil by Professor Philip Zimbardo. In the early seventies he was responsible for the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment and this book looks at that experience and also his time as an expert witness in the trial of one of the Abu Ghraib guards, as well as other examples of inhuman cruelty in the wider world to answer the question of whether people are born evil or made evil. I've always tended towards the latter, although my belief was somewhat shaken on learning in detail exactly what went on in the Nazi death camps in the Second World War. At the moment I'm only about a hundred pages in and a few days into the Stanford Experiment and it's amazing and somewhat shocking how far the students designated 'guards' and those designated 'prisoners' have already gone, but we can compare it with the testimonies of those released from Camp X-Ray to know that such behaviour is still prevalent, and mild when the rule of law still applies to put limits on the behaviour of those in the position of authority.
Labels: books, ethics, Iraq, Philip Zimbardo, prison, The War Against Terror, torture
Thursday, March 08, 2007
AMERICA IS DEAD! Don't worry, he'll probably walk out of the shower before the story ends.
The Daily Mail has been reading Isaac Asimov, Robots to be programmed with 'code of morals' so they won't attack humans, and 'prominent off/on switches' that will be all that stand between us and horrible T2-style destruction.
The Guardian has an interview with the Modified Toy Orchestra. The album is worth getting and can be ordered here.
The news of a woman being repeatedly punched while being subdued by police is worrying, though if the woman does have epilepsy and did have an attack right after drunk and disorderly with police then it's understandable that they might not have realised, but surely 'punching someone in the head or neck until they stop struggling' isn't in the police manual as an acceptable method of getting someone to stop struggling, especially when she's one woman and there are three men sitting on you?
Lord Levy has only five hours to live! Well all right, the Government are worried that he's going to implode, which I presume means they are worried that he's going to tell police stuff that he hasn't told them in two interviews under caution. What's rather annoying is that there's now a strand of the story starting to come out that this has nothing to do with whether he did anything illegal but because he's Jewish. I could have some sympathy for Levy if it wasn't for the fact that since his first interview last year his every utterance upon the subject has given the impression that he feels that now he's a lord he should have immunity from prosecution whether he committed any crimes or not. And to suggest that the party fundraiser shouldn't be closely scrutinised in an investigation into party fundraising seems crazier than Tony Blair telling me that ID Cards will help fight terrorism.
The Scum and Mirror have also run a number of small stories on Beth Ditto in the last few days. Her lesbianism has been overlooked, probably on the grounds that she's a fat lass, which has been what they've concentrated on. One of the last acceptable prejudices?
The Daily Mail has been reading Isaac Asimov, Robots to be programmed with 'code of morals' so they won't attack humans, and 'prominent off/on switches' that will be all that stand between us and horrible T2-style destruction.
The Guardian has an interview with the Modified Toy Orchestra. The album is worth getting and can be ordered here.
The news of a woman being repeatedly punched while being subdued by police is worrying, though if the woman does have epilepsy and did have an attack right after drunk and disorderly with police then it's understandable that they might not have realised, but surely 'punching someone in the head or neck until they stop struggling' isn't in the police manual as an acceptable method of getting someone to stop struggling, especially when she's one woman and there are three men sitting on you?
Lord Levy has only five hours to live! Well all right, the Government are worried that he's going to implode, which I presume means they are worried that he's going to tell police stuff that he hasn't told them in two interviews under caution. What's rather annoying is that there's now a strand of the story starting to come out that this has nothing to do with whether he did anything illegal but because he's Jewish. I could have some sympathy for Levy if it wasn't for the fact that since his first interview last year his every utterance upon the subject has given the impression that he feels that now he's a lord he should have immunity from prosecution whether he committed any crimes or not. And to suggest that the party fundraiser shouldn't be closely scrutinised in an investigation into party fundraising seems crazier than Tony Blair telling me that ID Cards will help fight terrorism.
The Scum and Mirror have also run a number of small stories on Beth Ditto in the last few days. Her lesbianism has been overlooked, probably on the grounds that she's a fat lass, which has been what they've concentrated on. One of the last acceptable prejudices?
Labels: cash for peerages, comics, ethics, fat, Labour, music, news, police, politics, robots
Sunday, March 04, 2007
So I've been sweets (or candy if you must) free since February 1st, no real reason other than I was rather concerned about how I was automatically buying sweets every day and not really caring what I bought but then practically inhaling them and finishing them off within a few minutes. It's hardly the same as turning old ladies over for their pension money to fund a crack habit but I've become rather sensitive to noticing repetitive behaviour patterns in myself, especially when they don't add value to my life, so I decided to knock the sweetie habit on the head.
Less successful has been kicking soft drinks, though I'm down to a can of something coke-like and a can of something Red Bull-like a week. Avoiding Coke should be a moral duty, let alone what it does to your body. But whilst visiting my parents this weekend and having to step into a health food shop I discovered Whole Earth's sparkling delicious cola. Sugar-free it uses a mix of apple juice and lemon juice to give me the kick you expect from Coke's sugar overload.
What odds can I get on not being able to find it anywhere round where I live?
Less successful has been kicking soft drinks, though I'm down to a can of something coke-like and a can of something Red Bull-like a week. Avoiding Coke should be a moral duty, let alone what it does to your body. But whilst visiting my parents this weekend and having to step into a health food shop I discovered Whole Earth's sparkling delicious cola. Sugar-free it uses a mix of apple juice and lemon juice to give me the kick you expect from Coke's sugar overload.
What odds can I get on not being able to find it anywhere round where I live?
Labels: Coke, drink, ethics, food, whole earth foods
Thursday, March 01, 2007
The Guardian tries to defend Al Gore's anti-environmental lifestyle. Yes, he's a hypocrite. I try to be green but not very hard, so I'm probably a hypocrite. Being a hypocrite doesn't automatically negate his message, but that doesn't exonerate him either.
Labels: Al Gore, environment, ethics
