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EvolutionBlog : Report on the Sixth International Conference on Creationism, Part One
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You see, when creationists say, “The second law of thermodynamics contradicts evolution,” they actually mean, “I don't understand how natural processes can account for the increase in complexity of organisms over time.”
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When I pointed out the second law implies that while the entropy of the universe as a whole is increasing, it has no problem allowing for local increases in complexity and order, he came back with the standard creationist retort that the mere fact that energy enters a system is not enough to explain increases in complexity within that system. For the life of me I could not get him to understand that he was no longer talking about thermodynamics.
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Ebon Musings: The Ineffable Carrot and the Infinite Stick
Tags: no_tag on 2008-07-29 and saved by2 people -All Annotations (0) -About
more fromwww.ebonmusings.org
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The first problem for this ethical system is the most obvious: even assuming there is a god, how do we know what his commands are?
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the issue must then be how to interpret its teachings.
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How, then, is it possible to judge between two competing sects within a religion which both claim scriptural support for their respective beliefs?
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The nature of this second problem was first stated by Plato, in the fourth century BCE, in his dialogue the Euthyphro. The question Plato asks is this: Does God command something because it is good, or is it good because God commands it?
If we choose the first option, then we are saying that there is a moral standard external to God, and that is this standard, and not God himself, that determines what is good; God would simply be relaying this information to us. Needless to say, this presents problems for theists. What is this standard, where did it come from, and how does it get its power over God? If God is constrained by a standard external to himself, then he cannot be said to be omnipotent. And if such a standard exists, could not atheists bypass God and appeal to the standard directly?
However, the second option is potentially even worse. This scenario is essentially moral relativism writ large; it says that morality is determined solely by God's whims. So far, God has declared justice and mercy and other such things to be good. But tomorrow, he might change his mind and declare rape, torture and child sacrifice to be good, and from that point on, we would have to praise that choice and live with its repercussions. People who did such things would be welcomed into the bosoms of the angels, while those who refused would go to Hell. Can anyone, even the most conservative of fundamentalist believers, condone such a scenario?
Some believers might say that God would not command such things. But why would he not, under this view? If there is no external standard, then there is no reason why God would declare one thing good and not another. Whatever God willed would by definition be good. Under this scenario, theistic morality is completely arbitrary, and would have no objective basis. -
A third problem for divine command ethics goes as follows. It is commonly held by proponents of such a system that, without inescapable divine justice, it would be impossible to justify why people should behave in one way and not another. If that is so, then is God's word inherently worth following, or is it the case that theists obey only because of the consequences and would violate it freely if those consequences were removed? For example, imagine if God gave out a list of moral teachings which he desired everyone to obey, but said that there would be no reward or punishment for doing so or not doing so; that all people would simply cease to exist at their death. Would those theists who consider their belief in God to be the foundation of their ethics still obey his wishes? Would they still follow a deity who offered nothing in return? If so, then they have conceded that morality is something worth practicing for its own sake, whether or not there are enforcing strictures, and this is precisely the conclusion that this essay puts forth. (Alternatively, if there are theists who would go on a rampage of stealing and killing without the fear of Hell to keep them in check, this essay would say only that such people have a curious lack of regard for what they consider to be the word of God.)
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The final problem with divine command ethics is that it actually allows evil by offering numerous justifications for immoral actions, or apathy in the face of such actions, that universal utilitarianism does not. For example, theists say that God's absolute moral strictures restrain humans from engaging in evil, but the fact is that virtually every single person or group that has ever believed in God is firmly convinced that God is on their side ("The Unchosen People" makes this point with humor) and will justify what they do. "God wills it!" can be and has been used as an excuse to commit every evil act imaginable. This belief can be witnessed in the earliest books of the Hebrew Bible, where the Israelite tribes use their self-proclaimed status as the chosen people of Yahweh as a mandate to justify a genocidal invasion of the land of Palestine, and it can be witnessed today where territorial battles are still going on in the ironically named Holy Land. In the absence of an unambiguous general revelation from God, as already argued, this view will persist.
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Divine command morality, by contrast, is lacking because it offers no better reason to behave than the promise of reward and the threat of punishment - in other words, a carrot and stick. It assumes that people are basically immoral and cannot be trusted to do right unless they are lured into it, nor can they be trusted to abstain from wrong unless they are frightened away from it. It postulates that, like untrained animals, we have to be constantly chastised by a transcendent lawgiver whenever we stray from the straight and narrow
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If a theist's fear of divine punishment is the only thing preventing him from doing evil to everyone around him, or if he would never do any good deeds if he didn't expect to get something in return, then such a person isn't really very moral at all, is he?
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Final Fantasy VII / FFVII / FF7 - Armors
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Steal from Elena at the Winding Tunnel (Disc
2, during raid in Midgar)or Item bag in the Ancient Forest -
Chest in the sunken Gelinka or morph the Iron
Man enemies in the inner area of the Northern Crater -
Chest in Sector 8 on the way to the Sister
Ray (Disc 2, during raid in Midgar) or chest in the right path
after the crossroad in the Northern Crater
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CCG: Final Fantasy VII Cheats
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Final Fantasy VII Item Duplication
If you have the W-Item Materia, equip it and enter battle. Use the W-Item command and select your first item you want to use with the Circle button. Then choose your second item but do not use it. Select it so that cursors appear on the screen (either on you allies or your enemies) then cancel with the X button. Select again and make the cursor appear then cancel. Repeat the selecting and canceling of the second item over and over. Each time you do this the quantity of the first item will increase by 1. -
1) Materia: Mega-all, Deathblow-HP Absorb/MP Absorb
Description: Restores lots of HP/MP while dealing major damage.
2) Materia: Cover, Counter Attack, Counter Attack, Counter-Deathblow
Description: Covers for characters and counters three times, the last being deathblow.
3) Materia: "Knights of the Round" Summon-W-Summon, Mime
Description: Casts Knights of the Round twice and Mime casts it twice again for no MP charge (can Mime unlimited times if "chain" is not broken).
4) Materia: Pre-Emptive, Sneak Attack-Kights of the Round, HP<->MP, Mime, W-Summon
Description: A player begins by casting Knights of the Round twice without need of rest (HP<->MP materia). Also, all attack gauges for other characters are full at the begining of the battle which allows for an easy Mime to cast Knights of the Round twice again free of charge (as long as chain is not broken).
Also, I find that FINAL ATTACK-REVIVE can be helpful by reviving you if you die unexpectedly (great combination against Emerald Weapon and Ruby Weapon). -
Materia on weapon: Sneak Attack = ChocoMog, Sneak Attaack = Mime, Sneak Attack = Ifirt, Sneak Attack = Mime
Materia on armor: Sneak Attack = Shiva, Sneak Attack = Mime, Sneak Attack = Mime, nothing = Pre-emptive
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GameFAQs: Final Fantasy VII (PS) FAQ/Walkthrough by A I e x
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Fly your airship over top of Midgar to trigger a scene.
o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o
| II - xiv Midgar (Fw02B) |
o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o
o------------------------/ Item/Materia Checklist /--------------------------o
Elixir.........._____
Megalixir......._____
Aegis Armlet...._____
Starlight Phone._____
Elixir.........._____
Max Ray........._____
Power Source...._____
Guard Source...._____
Mind Source....._____
Magic Source...._____
W-Item.........._____
Master Fist....._____
Pile Bunker....._____
Behemoth Horn..._____
Glow Lance......_____
Mind Source....._____
Speed Source...._____
Phoenix Down...._____
Ether..........._____
HP Shout........_____ -
then save your game at the save point and change your party around to
include Barret. You don't have to set him up or anything just have him in
your party. Climb the stairs to the next area. Up the second set of stairs
here you'll see a chest, open it to receive Barret's Missing Score (you'll
only see this chest if Barret is in your party.) -
The main items you're looking to win here that are unique to the Chocobo races
are the Cat's Bell, Chocobracelet, Sneak Attack, Precious Watch and Sprint
Shoes. -
Aqualung | In the Sunken Gelnika, Serpent enemy
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Beta | In the swamp around the Chocobo Farm, Midgar Zolom enemy
Big Guard | In the beach around Costa Sol, Beach Plug enemy (Manipulate) -
Magic Breath | In Gaea's Cliff, Stilva enemy
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Magic Hammer | In the field around Wutai, Razor Weed enemy
Matra Magic | In the rocky dirt area around Midgar, Sweeper Custom enemy -
Trine | In Gaea's Cliff, Stilva enemy
White Wind | In the field around Junon, Zemzelett (Manipulate)
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Final Fantasy VII Best Places for EXP/AP/Gil Guide v1.3 - hosted by Neoseeker
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--> Cactuer
EXP : 1000
AP : 100
GIL : 1000 -
is island directly south of Cosmo Canyon.
--> Cactuer
EXP : 1000
AP : 100 -
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CACTUS ISLAND
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If you don't know, you can find this island directly south of Cosmo Canyon.
--> Cactuer
EXP : 1000
AP : 100
GIL : 1000
WHAT'S GOOD? Cactuer + Morph = Tetra Elemental (before disc 3!) -
If you don't know, you can find this island directly south of Cosmo Canyon.
--> Cactuer
EXP : 1000
AP : 100
GIL : 1000
WHAT'S GOOD? Cactuer + Morph = Tetra Elemental (before disc 3!) -
Sea Worm
EXP : 1300
AP : 200
GIL : 5000 -
WHAT'S GOOD? Cactuer + Morph = Tetra Elemental (before disc 3!)
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Final Fantasy 7 / VII / FF7 - Enemy Morphing
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Spiral - Guard Source
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Bagnadrana - Guard Source -
Bagnadrana - Guard Source
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Gongaga
Heavy Tank - Power Source
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Maximum Kimaira - Guard Source
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Gelinka
Unknown 1 - Power Source
Unknown 2 - Guard Source
Unknown 3 - Magic Source
Bad Rap - Luck Source
Poodler - Speed Source -
Master Tonberry - Ribbon
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Daily Kos: State of the Nation
Tags: no_tag on 2008-06-04 and saved by2 people -All Annotations (0) -About
more fromwww.dailykos.com
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Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Update on UK Scientology Protest Case
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Criticizing someone's religion may well be insulting to them, but that is absolutely irrelevant to whether the statement is A) true and B) protected speech.
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Final Fantasy Shrine - Final Fantasy 7 VII Enemy Skills Guide
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Big Guard
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Learn From: Beach Plug**
Location: Gongaga/Corel Area Shoreline
Game's Description: Adds [Barrier/MBarrier/Haste] to every ally -
Aqualung
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Learn From: Harpy**, Jenova*LIFE*** (Boss), Serpent***
Location: Corel Prison/Corel Area Chocobo Tracks, Ancient Capital, Crashed Gelnika - Cargo Room
Game's Description: Water damage on all opponents -
White Wind
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Learn From: Zemzelett**, Wind Wing***
Location: Junon Area, Whirlwind Maze
Game's Description: Restores HP and status to every ally -
Beta
S -
Learn From: Midgar Zolom***
Location: Grasslands Area Marsh
Game's Description: Fire damage on all opponents -
Trine
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Learn From: Materia Keeper*** (Boss), Godo*** (Boss), Stilva*
Location: Mt. Nibel, Wutai Pagoda, Inside Gaea's Cliff
Game's Description: Lightning damage on all opponents -
Magic Breath -
Magic Breath
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Learn From: Stilva*, Parasite**
Location: Inside Gaea's Cliff, Inside Northern Cave -
Goblin Punch
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Location: Goblin Island
Game's Description: Non-elemental damage on any one opponent -
Angel Whisper -
Learn From: Pollensalta**
Location: Northern Cave
Game's Description: Revives, restores HP and status to any one ally
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10 Reasons You Should Never Have a Religion
Tags: no_tag on 2008-05-28 and saved by6 people -All Annotations (0) -About
more fromwww.stevepavlina.com
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Religions are very effective at turning human beings into sheep. They’re among the most powerful instruments of social conditioning. They operate by eroding your trust in your own intellect, gradually convincing you to put your trust into some external entity, such as a deity, prominent figure, or great book. Of course these instruments are usually controlled by those who administrate the minion training program, but they don’t have to be. Simply by convincing you to give your power away to something outside yourself, religion will condition you to be weaker, more docile, and easier to control. Religions actively promote this weakening process as if it were beneficial, commonly branding it with the word faith. What they’re actually promoting is submission.
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By putting forth confusing and internally conflicting information, your logical mind (i.e. your neocortex) is overwhelmed. You try in vain to integrate such contradictory beliefs, but it can’t be done. The net effect is that your logical mind disengages because it can’t find a pattern of core truth beneath all the nonsense, so without the help of your neocortex, you devolve to a more primitive (i.e. limbic) mode of thinking. You’re taught that this faith-based approach is a more spiritual and conscious way to live, but in reality it’s precisely the opposite. Getting you to distrust your own cerebral cortex actually makes you dumber and easier to manipulate and control.
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So-called divine mysteries are engineered to be incomprehensible. You aren’t meant to ever make sense of them since that would defeat the whole purpose.
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As long as there are large numbers of people who fear the responsibility of their own power, religions will continue to dominate the landscape of human development.
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Why aren’t Catholic priests allowed to marry? This has nothing to do with what’s written in the Bible or with any benefits of celibacy. This rule was invented by the Church to prevent their priests from producing heirs. When the priests died, their property would go back to the Church, thereby enriching the rich even more. Apparently God needed more cash. It was a very effective policy, as the Church is now among the richest and most powerful organizations on earth. It’s hard to fail when you have a loyal force of lifetime indentured servants who work cheaply and then yield their life savings to you when they die.
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Next, we have the hypocrisy option. In this case your neocortex is strong enough to identify various bits of utter nonsense in the religious teachings that others are trying to ram down your throat. You have a working B.S. detector, but it’s slightly damaged.
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Perhaps if you have to throw out so much of the nonsense to make your chosen belief system palatable, you shouldn’t be drinking the Kool Aid in the first place. Free yourself from the mental baggage, stop looking to others for permission to live, and start thinking on your own. If your God exists, he’s smart enough to see through your fake ID.
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Pharyngula: A pleasant, smiling apologist is still lying to you
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I certainly do know that my ancestors relied on religion, and that virtually all early scientists and even many scientists now found happiness in pushing the big red button of religion. However, the only way any of them made greater progress in understanding the universe was by leaving the smug platitudes of faith behind, questioning what they were taught, and moving away to something new.
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Daylight Atheism > Further Thoughts on Abortion
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Subjugating women's bodies to the state has always been part and parcel of every theocratic movement. It's an outgrowth of the misogynistic belief common to nearly every major world religion that women are inferior to men and must be controlled by them. This spirit of bigotry is why the Catholic church does not permit women to be clergy and why the Southern Baptist Convention expects wives to pledge to obey their husbands. It's why Islamic mullahs forbid the education of women and allow men to marry multiple wives, but never wives to marry multiple husbands. It's why Orthodox Jews pray to God every day to express their gratitude for not being born female, and why Mormon women are taught that they can only reach Heaven if they're married so that their husbands can pull them through.
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non sequitur
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A non sequitur (literally, does
not follow) is a logical fallacy. Reasoning is said to be non sequitur
if the conclusion does not follow from the premises or if a given reason for
taking an action is completely irrelevant to taking that action. For
example, the police chief's reasoning was a non sequitur when he defended
consulting a psychic "to help investigators
crack the case" based on the premise that "we tried everything else and
haven't solved the case." The fact that the case hadn't been solved using
traditional police methods is irrelevant to whether consulting a psychic is
a method that should be used. The error in reasoning should become obvious
if we substitute "pick a name randomly out of the phone book to identify the
main suspect " for "consult a psychic." The fact that you haven't solved the
case using traditional methods provides no support for trying a
non-traditional method. To justify trying a non-traditional method, one
needs direct evidence that the non-traditional method has some merit.
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Ebon Musings: All Possible Worlds
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Assumption (1): God exists.
Assumption (1a): God is all-knowing.
Assumption (1b): God is all-powerful.
Assumption (1c): God is perfectly loving.
Assumption (1d): Any being that did not possess all three of the above properties would not be God.
Premise (2): Evil exists.
Premise (3): An all-knowing being would be aware of the existence of evil.
Premise (4): An all-powerful being would be able to eliminate evil.
Premise (5): A perfectly loving being would desire to eliminate evil.
Conclusion (6): Evil does not exist. (from (1),(3),(4),(5))
Contradiction: But evil does exist. (from (2))
Conclusion (7): There is no being that is all-knowing, all-powerful, and perfectly loving. (from (2),(3),(4),(5))
Conclusion (8): God does not exist. (from (7),(1d))
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Dictionary
Tags: no_tag on 2008-05-07 and saved by345 people -All Annotations (0) -About
more fromdictionary.reference.com
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Richard Dawkins
Tags: no_tag on 2008-05-02 and saved by17 people -All Annotations (0) -About
more fromricharddawkins.net
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