Bill Maher received the Richard Dawkins Award for the promotion of Atheism and Science.
But Maher knows little of science and he’s not an atheist.
No wonder, organizing atheists is so difficult, when we can’t even give the awards to the right people.
Neil deGrasse Tyson (perhaps the most entertaining scientist and skeptic out there) destroys the 2012 doomsday prediction in less than 60 seconds.
I remember one of the first knock punches I landed in a argument I had with a “spiritualist”. (Quite frankly I’m not sure what he believed, but it wasn’t of this world.)
“If there is no supernatural world”, he said, “how do you explain things like love?”
“Oxytocin.”, I replied.
One of the keys, I think, to defending atheism and skepticism is to read into the amazing research done in the exploding discipline of neurology. It can be used without much effort to knock down the arguments like the “good Samaritan”.
Here’s just a taste of some of the things that beleivers constantly attribute to a god:
Altruism: Caused by the vegus nerve
Love: Caused by the oxytocin and vasopressin.
Empathy: Created by mirror neurons.
Evil has been with us since “Original Sin” some religious will say.
But Frans de Waal, a leading (perhaps the leading) primatologist also says that compassion and empathy has been with us since there was an “us”.
There is exciting new research about the origins of altruism and fairness in both ourselves and other animals. For example, if one gives two monkeys hugely different rewards for the same task, the one who gets the short end of the stick simply refuses to perform. In our own species, too, individuals reject income if they feel the distribution is unfair. Since any income should beat none at all, this means that both monkeys and people fail to follow the profit principle to the letter. By protesting against unfairness, their behavior supports both the claim that incentives matter and that there is a natural dislike of injustice.
From Frans de Waals new book The Age of Empathy: Natures Lessons for Kinder Soceity
Bonobo: The Musical Ape
One of the greatest blows to religion came from Darwinian Evolution. The next major blow could come from the slow dismantling of the concept of human uniqueness.
Many of the things that people thought were only found in humans (altruism, learning, tool use) turn out to exist in other animals.
Well, here’s one more. According to Patricia Grey, bonobos appear to be capable of understanding musical pitch, rhythm and timing.
Even participating in a jam session. Hooray for Apes!
From WikiMedia Commons
I love what James Randi has done for the advancement of skepticism over the various decades; from uncovering psychic frauds (aren’t all psychics frauds?) to promoting science to the masses.
But someday, the world will be without The Great Debunker…
They Might Be Giants (my favorite band of all time) and just come out with a children’s album that may offend religious people.
Why? Because it’s about Science of course! It’s called Here Comes Science
Some choice lyrics from the song “Science is Real”:
I like the stories
About angels, unicorns and elves
Now I like the stories
As much as anybody else
But when I’m seeking knowledge
Either simple or abstract
The facts are with science
The facts are with science
What a great band!
P.S. Be sure to check out the song “My Brother the Ape”, due to its Ape (not monkey) related content.
The whyevolutionistrue blog has a got a new word for you. You know those people to call themselves atheists but also claim that it’s OK to reconcile science and religion?
Or perhaps, people who claim to be atheists but also say one shouldn’t criticise other’s beliefs, even if those beliefs could be danger to a free society.
There a new word to describe that point of view: Faitheism. And a person who posits that viewpoint is a Faitheist.
New words are always such fun!
One of the pleasant side effects of skepticism is that it doesn’t neatly align you on one end of the political spectrum or the other or even with a political party.
50 years ago, being an atheist would cause people to associate you with communism and socialism. In the 1980’s and onwards in the United States it would make you opposed “religious-right”.
But it seems more and more in this day and age, skepticism and atheists make one start to pick more fights with the left.
Whether is it:
Skepticism and atheism can certainly give one an endless line of people to argue with.
