Playboy’s 1964 Ayn Rand interview in full; a deep and prophetic discussion.
PLAYBOY: Has no religion, in your estimation, ever offered anything of constructive value to human life?
RAND: Qua religion, no — in the sense of blind belief, belief unsupported by, or contrary to, the facts of reality and the conclusions of reason. Faith, as such, is extremely detrimental to human life: it is the negation of reason. But you must remember that religion is an early form of philosophy, that the first attempts to explain the universe, to give a coherent frame of reference to man’s life and a code of moral values, were made by religion, before men graduated or developed enough to have philosophy. And, as philosophies, some religions have very valuable moral points. They may have a good influence or proper principles to inculcate, but in a very contradictory context and, on a very — how should I say it? — dangerous or malevolent base: on the ground of faith.
via Kottke
Yes, that is a real quote. It’s from Jesus Camp, an incredibly interesting—yet infuriating and disturbing—documentary recording the indoctrination of North Dakotan children to Evangelical Christianity.
I just had to search for The Creation Adventure Team after I saw a child watching the show in the film and came across this 3 minute segment – required watching.
According to the Bible, God created everything in 6 actual days. Yep; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. And, uh, on the seventh, he rested. Huh, kinda like a week. And at the end he said, “This is good… very, very good.”
Times Higher Education reports that there is a strong correlation between a high IQ and a lack of religious belief, according to Richard Lynn, the controversial psychologist.
In the past Lynn has performed research into what he believes is the existence of race and sex differences in intelligence, and has called for the “phasing out” of what he calls “incompetent cultures”. Controversial indeed!
Of course, correlation does not equal causation, but it’s interesting nonetheless and the article itself contains some interesting comments from noted academics.
via Mind Hacks
The Banana: An Atheist’s Nightmare is a video I’ve seen linked in numerous places. I think this video nicely sums up Intelligent Design’s ignorance arguments.
God exists because bananas fit well in the human hand and peel easily.
- First: Hahahahaha!
- Second: Peels easily? Are we ignoring the fact that - if anything - the banana is ‘designed’ more for primates (for whom the banana is a primary source of nutrients) than for humans? Primates peel bananas using a much superior method that differs significantly to the typical way in which humans do… a method that I have recently adopted.
- Third: Bananas are designed - the banana we all know and love is a manufactured product - a product that is under threat because of this.
- Fourth: Hahahahaha!
via kottke and LinkBanana
Soon it’s going to be illegal to see into the future; contact the deceased; and find out what’s inside closed envelopes. Well, probably…
New laws are about to criminalise clairvoyants who fail to note on their advertisements that their services ‘are not subject to scientific proof’.
Obviously, I’d like to think that the more intelligent among us realise that most of this “clairvoyance” is just a combination of Forer effects, confirmation bias and self-delusion, but I’m a positivist.
I can’t wait to see my first case:
“Madame Arcati, you have been convicted of preying upon stupid and gullible people by purporting to see into the future, and to communicate with the dead, without warning them in writing that your art is tosh”.
“But Sir, that’s what we of the spiritual trade have been doing for centuries. Surely the stupid and gullible should be allowed their illusions?”
“And another thing, Sir: If I am to be punished for this, what about the Vicar? He can’t prove his claims any more then poor little I can. What about wrinkle cream makers?”
This has also been in the news previously. I do wonder, though, if it will be stretched to cover the many instances of popular pseudoscience.
via The Magistrate’s Blog