Thanks Jon

Thanks Jonathan!

Thank you for this wonderful addition, The Blind Watchmaker.
And thank "the blind watchmaker" for you, my friend. =D

One more book to be added to my collection of books. YAY!

* This actually took place on 29 December 2008, Monday.
But it is on the same day I made another post. Apparently the layout made the date disappear. So I altered the date for this post so that the date would appear for the other. Heh.

Crap in TODAY

Dear TODAY,

I would like to thank you for making TODAY a free newspaper.
I seriously wouldn't pay to see junk like this in a newspaper, wasting away close to 1.5 page and tonnes of paper.

I'm referring to this article.

WOULDN’T it be great if you could see into the future? We wanted to build a time machine so we could find out in person but management wouldn’t let us use parts from the microwave oven in the pantry.

Cute but lame.
Correction: Act cute and lame.

So, we took Allan Wu, Tracy Tan, Mindee Ong, and Zhang Yao Dong to Master Khor, astropalmist extraordinaire, instead.

Perfect. Let's indulge in superstition. A wonderful way to waste your money and time.

Khor, a regular fixture at events like ZoukOut and Womad, has been a professional palm reader for the last eight years after learning the craft from an Indian master. “There are five million receptors in your entire body — and one third of them come to the palm,” said Khor. Nobody understood what that meant.

Hmmm... I don't really knows what he means too. How is the number of receptors in your hand relating to palm reading? Our lips have plenty of nerves too. Heck, males have highly sensitive (pardon my language) dickheads.

Maybe we can expect to see an "astrodick-ist" in the future?
I can almost imagine it now. A damn pervert grabbing your penis, holding a magnifying glass and staring at the glans. "Ahhh... I predict that your sex life will be dull for the next month or two, followed by some fantastic burst of sexual activities."

One squint at their palms, and the Master saw past the foggy windshield of time into these celebrities’ futures. Here’s what he told them they could expect.

We'll see.

ALLAN WU, 36
“You will not return to your hometown,” was the first nugget of information Allan’s palm yielded. “Well, I was born in the United States and I have been considering whether I should go back and continue my career there,” revealed the Amazing Race Asia host.

Ugh, let's see. He's married to Wong Li Lin. She's a Singaporean. If she doesn't want to leave Singapore then the couple probably won't. Nothing special.

Now that it is "predicted" that he won't return to the US, he is likely to be affected by this self-fulfilling prophecy if he buys into this bullshit.

“I dare to say you will not go back to the US for the long term,” the Master told Allan solemnly.

Plenty of factors can lengthen his stay. We'll have to see about this.

“Your career will shoot up,” said the Master next, examining Allan’s palms under a magnifying glass. “I keep hearing that, but I’m still waiting for it to shoot up!” Allan replied.

What the hell does it mean by shoot up? A pay raise? More fans? More jobs? By how much? This is the kind of vague crap you get from fortune tellers.

“You must focus,” Khor chided. “If you strike when the time is right, you will make millions. But if you’re a smartass about it, you’ll go bankrupt.”

LOL. Financial advice, people.

One last word of caution for Allan: “You must also beware of water,” said Khor. “If you are at the seaside or swimming pool, don’t go into the water if your instinct warns against it, or you will drown.”

LOL again. If even your instinct warns against it, you shouldn't be entering the water anyways. Nothing predictive at all.

ZHANG YAO DONG, ‘mid-twenties’
The Master announced that Yao Dong’s outstanding flaw was that he was “a poor judge of people”. Not to worry – there’s good news on the way.

The Forer Effect, I believe. If he has some vague reasons to think that he is "a poor judge of people", then this will ring as "yea, it's true."

“At age 33, there will be a big change in your life. It could be marriage, migration, or a business opportunity.

Big change. Then some guess work. Stuck in the hospital for two months can be a big change too. 365 days is a long time where chance can work its magic. Nothing predictive.

If you're gonna predict something, the least you could be do is be specific. I can do this crap too.

You will have good news in the next three months.

Define good news. Seriously. That's SO vague.

Take care of your eyes and your heart. Wear sunglasses and cut down on meat, seafood and coconuts. Also, cut down on deep fried food,” said Khor.

LOL. Medical advice.

“Next year, lots of wealth will come to you,” said the Master. “But the recession will hit us next year,” protested Yao Dong. “Yes, but the lottery has no correlation with the recession,” said Khor, with a wink.

"lots of wealth", define, thank you. A 4D windfall of $100 can be "lots of wealth" to some people.

Then came the dark proclamation: “You will die quickly.”
“What does that mean?” exclaimed Yao Dong.
“It means you won’t suffer a prolonged fatal illness like HIV or cancer.”
“That’s good!” breathed Yao Dong in relief.

Great. He's going to die instantly or quickly. Vague again.
Instant death in a car accident? Leaping off the 21th storey? Heart attack? Murdered?

MINDEE ONG, 29
“You are clumsy and accident prone,” the Master pronounced upon scrutinising Mindee’s palm. “Yes, I am! But I can’t help it!” cried the 12 Lotus star.

The Forer Effect again.

Then, a warning: “Be very careful about what you sign and say next year, especially in the months of January, May and September, or you will have legal problems.”

LOL. Legal advice now.
You know what, go ahead and breach contracts, sign documents indiscriminately and defame the government on the other 9 months, nothing will happen.

“Will I have children?” asked Mindee. The Master squinted at her palm through his magnifying glass. “You will have one child — a girl.” This was good news, judging from Mindee’s grin.

That's 50/50. If it's not a girl, it's boy.
Crappy predictions.

But it looks like there might also be bleakness in the actress’s future. “You will have to solve a big problem in your (future) marriage. If you don’t solve it, it will lead to separation or divorce. When you’re older, you will be very lonely. Maybe your offspring might live abroad.”

Celebrity marriages have a greater chance of ending in divorce. Nothing special.

If there's a big problem in your marriage and you don't solve it, it will eventually lead to divorce. That's just common sense.

A child that "might" go abroad. He/She "might" not go abroad. Don't use "might" if you are going to seriously predict something.

TRACY TAN, ‘mid-twenties’
Tracy’s reading was focused on love and relationships. “You are an idealistic perfectionist,

The Forer Effect again.

and love is your biggest problem,” the Master told the My Sassy Neighbour actress. “You will travel a lot, or deal with people from all over the world. You should travel as far as possible from home in order to find true love and fortune.”

Travel OR deal with foreigners. Still in contact with foreigners.
She might as well be married to a Malaysian.

Added Khor: “After marriage, you might become a taitai. Your husband will rise materially.”
“Will I bring luck to my husband?” she queried. “If he listens to you,” replied the Master. “If you don’t choose the right man, you will have to maintain your husband.”

"Might." If her future husband listens to her.
Otherwise, she has to maintain him instead.

Bullshit. It's not even a prediction, just common sense.
If her husband becomes rich after marriage, it would appear to be "because" of her.
If the guy is arse who doesn't work, of course she has to come up with the money. Where else would the money come from? God? FSM?

“At age 28, someone special will enter your life,” said Khor. “But your love life is essentially boring because you’re a one-man woman.” Tracy agreed enthusiastically.

LOL. LMAO. What other answer could he give?

"But your love life will still be thrilling. You're a seven-men woman. You will have 7 boyfriend, have sex with six of them, marry the sixth and have an affair with the seventh." LOL...

Finally, “You are prone to separation or divorce.” Oh dear. “But next year will be a very good year for you.” That makes sense — Tracy returns in April with Red Thread, a new drama series on MediaCorp TV Channel 5.

Celebrities' marriage. Mentioned before.

“I thought it was very generic,” said Tracy of her reading. “Good things are nice to hear, but I don’t believe in fortune telling.

YAY TRACY. Good for you. =D

Interesting News

Drats, I got addicted to yet another game.
And hence, no activity here for the past "few" days.

I still do check out the RichardDawkins.net forums and guess what I found?
More religious crap showing its ugly head in the news.

So we've got...

11 December 2008
Teacher sacked over Santa gaffe

Apparently, a substitute teacher tells the class of 7 year olds that Santa Claus does not exist and the presents are bought by parents. And then, she got sacked for it.

Well, probably because she done it way too bluntly.
But hey, we all know Santa is just like gods. They don't exist. In fact, what's the difference anyway?


Also on 11 December 2008
Parish priest arrested over child sex abuse

Another priest who can't keep his hands/penis away from little boys. Nothing new. At least they're taking some action as opposed to covering it up.

I first learnt about this news on Unreasonable Faith. The comment by ddr is pretty insightful.


15 December 2008
Pope Benedict XVI under-fire for 'negative' statements

His "Holiness" is condemning artificial fertilization, human cloning, "designer babies" and embryonic stem-cell research. Screw him.

The reasons for doing so go along the lines of "God says no. I don't know science."


19 December 2008
US balks at backing condemnation of anti-gay laws

The United States refused to sign a declaration at the United Nations calling for worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality. Ah, wonderful, the "champion" of human rights wants to continue denying human rights to homosexuals.

What's not new is that the Vatican is also opposed to decriminalization of homosexuals. In fact, they were much faster at it. As usual, no reasonable reason was given. Only stupid answers.

So, I guess Singapore isn't too backwards for keeping Section 377A of the Penal Code.


Also on 19 December 2008
Mum who denied son medical treatment freed

The poor boy died.
The dominating religious husband died.
The mother is freed after realizing her folly.
The ending to this story is not the most important here.

They denied their sick son medical treatment, instead trusting in the healing power of God to cure him. "By the time he died he was blind, intellectually disabled and slithered like a snake because he could not walk."

Oh. My. Flying Spaghetti Monster. Those damned parents!

Something else caught my eye in the news. She has ten children. Now nine. I would say that this was the result of the "anti-abortionist" stance adopted by the religious family.

That's one fucked up family. I'm not sure if it is truly fortunate that the religious father died. Maybe the remaining children may be better off without him and hopefully without Him as well.


22 December
Saudi court tells girl aged EIGHT she cannot divorce husband who is 50 years her senior

8 year old girl. Married to a 58 year old man.
That's like being married to your grandfather.

I don't even want to use the word "married". It's more like "sold". The girl's father sold her off for a dowry of £5,000.

The irony. She's old enough to get married but too young to get a divorce.


What a wonderful world we live in.

Foundational Falsehood of Creationism

I was browsing through Youtube videos today and stumbled upon AronRa videos again. He has a series of 17 videos called "Foundational Falsehood of Creationism". This guy covers tons of information in approximately 10 minutes for each video. Definitely worthy brain food, watch them.

Evolution ≠ Atheism, Creationism ≠ Christianity
► 1st Foundational Falsehood of Creationism

Worshiping man-made holy books
► 2nd Foundational Falsehood of Creationism

Knowledge, Truth and Interpretations
► 3rd Foundational Falsehood of Creationism

Believing ≠ Knowing
► 4th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism

"Evolutionism?" - Evolution is not a religion
► 5th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism

Misunderstanding Evolution
► 6th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism

Evolution is NOT random
► 7th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism

Mislead about Mutations
► 8th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism

Transition forms? There's plenty
► 9th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism

Common Ancestry explained
► 10th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism

Speciation - We've seen it
► 11th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism

"Creation Science" is not science
► 12th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism

Fabricating the lies that Evolution is fabricated
► 13th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism

Lying for God and creationism
► 14th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism [Part 1]
► 14th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism [Part 2]

The meaning of Scientific Facts, Laws and Theories
► 15th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism [Part 1]
► 15th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism [Part 2]

Interesting. Insightful. Informative.
My personal favorite is the 10th video. In that video, he gave a long precise description of what primates is. I found that really cool.

Cheers with a huge jug of brain tonic. Enjoy!

* Update [15 Jan]: Added the 14th part in the series.
* Update [8 Apr]: Added the 15th part in the series.

Darwin Fish

Fuck. I seriously want a Darwin Fish.

Or perhaps a Flying Spaghetti Monster Fish.
Can't find any shops in Singapore that sells them. Craps.

Evidence for Evolution

Here's a 3 part series on Youtube created by cdk007.
"Evidence for Evolution" presents some of the evidence for evolution in a manner that is easy for the general public to understand.

Frankly, I am promoting this video not so much to argue against creationism but to spread this interesting little brain tidbit.
It's interesting.
It's cool.
It's nice to know.
That's good enough for me.

Part 1 - Preservation of codons in closely related species
Part 2 - Phylogeny and predictions
Part 3 - Endogenous Retroviruses



Oh. Personally, I find Part 3, the part about Endogenous Retroviruses, most interesting. If you want to skip to the "best" part, see that first.

Enjoy. And to quote cdk007: Think about it.

Impact of Superstition

Ahh... harmless superstition.
What harm can a fortune cookie do?
What harm can reading the daily horoscope bring?

Is superstitions really harmless? On the face of it, it does seems that little things like fortune cookies, horoscope predictions and a divination lot from the temple can do no harm. But the truth is deeper.

Religion. Superstition. Pseudoscience.
This trio bring more harm than what most people can see.

There are two simple reasons to reject them:

1. They are not based on evidence and are inherently illogical and/or irrational
2. They are directly or indirectly harmful.
   

Take homeopathic remedies for example. Homeopathic remedies do not contain any active ingredients. They are so diluted that they are in effect just water. However, they sometimes do appear to work because of the placebo effect. Sure, they can "cure" colds and coughs.

But when it comes to ailments and diseases such as diabetes and cancer, they are completely useless. If a patient were to give up conventional treatment in favor of homeopathy, his/her condition will worsen and, if left untreated, eventually lead to death.

If the public is informed well beforehand about the impotency of homeopathic remedies, they would be less likely to make uninformed decisions. This would not only increase the chances of survival but also save the unnecessary cost of consulting a homeopath.

The same applies to pseudoscience. An example which comes to mind is crystal healing. Crystal healers claim that crystal "emits healing waves" that can "synchronize your inner energy" and "heal" you of your ailments. By importing scientific jargons, these quacks has successfully fooled the public and conned them of their money.

Again, time wasted and money lost unnecessarily.

Religion does the same. It claims to know the truth when its own foundation is based, not on evidence, but on faith. Apparently, for the religious, believing something is true is sufficient to make it true.

Of course, religion make claims on many things. Of which, some of them can have very destructive effects. For example:

1. Abandoning treatment in favor of faith/miracle healing
2. Rejecting blood transfusion (Jehovah's Witnesses)
3. Fighting, killing and dying for god(s) (AKA non-existent entities), etc

There is no need to go further. This short list alone is sufficient to directly or indirectly lead to the deaths of many.

When this trio is critically analyzed, you would realize that they have no legs to stand on.
Their reasoning is poor.
Their logic is flawed.
Their evidence, non-existent.

Everyday, many fall victim to superstition and pseudoscience.
Time is lost. Money is wasted. Sometimes, lives are taken.

The police can never weed out all the criminals but should work to keep their numbers as low as possible. In the same way, we can never remove superstition and pseudoscience completely. But, we should equip ourselves with the knowledge necessary to make well-informed decisions. Scientists should actively educate the public and denounce such blatant lies before they spread to those who less informed. In time, less would fall victim to the quacks who are out to con (whether deliberately or "accidentally").

I hope to live to see the religions of today become mythology.
I hope to live to see superstition and pseudosciences become the butt joke of the 21th century.
I hope to live to see religion, superstition and pseudoscience lose their foothold and fade into shadows of the past forever.

Richard Dawkins - Public Lecture, Liverpool (2008)

Here's the public lecture done by Richard Dawkins in Liverpool this year.
The lecture is avaliable on Youtube in a series of ten videos and is uploaded by FritzTV.

• Part 1 (Prologue followed by lecture proper)
  
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5
• Part 6
• Part 7 (Q&A session begins)
  
• Part 8
• Part 9
• Part 10

I hope watching this will give you an information boost for your brain.
It could be said that this lecture is pretty much representative of Richard Dawkins arguments, point of view and what he stands for.