MC Sagan and DJ Hawking

Awesome, simply awesome.

The Softer Side of Hitchens

This is a great interview with Christopher Hitchens. He's unusually calm in this interview and comes across as more approachable than other interviews. Two great points I took away from the video are his use of the label "Anti-Theist" as opposed to "Atheist", and the hint about his next book which focuses on the 10th commandment. I'll leave it to you to look up the 10th for yourelf. Hint: You aren't allowed to think or the thought Police are going to get you.

God has Been Downsized: Told "His job is no longer needed"

This is the best interview I've seen in a while. If you don't have a lot of time just watch the first 8 minutes. After that and the second part gets into questions from the audience which aren't as good.
Richard Dawkins is brilliant and the first part of this interview are some of the best answers to the most basic questions.






Part Two: Continues with the questions from the audience. This is not as interesting as the first part of the interview, but Richard's answers to the questions starts at 3 minutes.

Dunder Twin Powers Activate...

Wow I can't wait for this event. Kirk and Ray who I call the "Dunder Twins" have really gone off the deep end with this one. As far as I'm concerned everyone should pick one of these up. Turn to page 50 and you have an abridged copy of "On the Origin of Species" I will drive a hundred miles to get one of these books. Anyone for a road trip? If you are interested you can read the 50 page blurb here.

You Can't Handle the Truth

I love Kent's arguments and the banter at the end between he and Rachel is priceless. I haven't been a regular watcher of her show, probably since I don't have time to watch much TV, but I've snagged a few clips from her show recently that really make me smile. Keep it up!

Thinking "About" the Box

This video shows why Logic and Evidence are so awesome. It's a bit long at ten minutes and you may be tempted to shut it off after the first few minutes, but I encourage you to see it through to the end. It makes some great arguments.

Ding Ding...

In the blue corner, weighing in at...Oh yeah this is gonna be a good fight. I love listening to Hitchens debate. Now in most cases he makes short work of his opponents. He's a straight up brawler who comes out punching. He's skilled at his craft and makes great use of his quick wit and sharp tongue. The fact that he actually considers Pastor Wilson a worth adversary I think has less to do with the Pastor's confidence and more to do with the fact that he's not trying to hide behind many of the usual strongholds for christian debaters. He uses philosophy and I think that is what intrigues Hitchens. This should be a good show even with the slant that will come from being produced by a christian network. There are 2 other trailers after this if you follow the link to YouTube. Anyone who wants to watch this with me is more than welcome to come. Bring a notebook because I'm sure it will be full of good points worth discussing when it's over.

It's Our Nation Too

Those who know me are aware that I don't want children myself. That said, if this were my child I would be quite proud. At five years old she may not understand the impact of what she said and many would accuse her parents of using her as a pawn in their battle against the believers, but in my opinion this is only one example of how someone is teaching their child to live without belief in the space daddy. I only hope that as she grows older her parents explain to her what it means to believe or not and teach her that she is free to choose for herself. One of my major criticisms of religious parents is that they teach their children to stop asking questions and just believe. In my eyes there is no greater harm than stifling a child's ability to think creatively and critically.

Falling into the Gaps

Richard Dawkins talks about the "God of the Gaps" in Chapter 4 of his book "The God Delusion" and makes this argument as part of a larger discussion on Intelligent Design. While his ten and a half page explanation regarding the "God of the Gaps" is great for those who want all the details, it takes a greater investment of time than most people are willing to spend. One of the things I strive to do with this site is to serve up information in bite sized video format. That said, almost no one does a better job of breaking things down into tasty morsels of knowledge than Neil deGrasse Tyson. While this video is a bit longer than most that I post it's worth the 27 minute investment. In this video he talks about the history of Intelligent Design as well as its role in the history of science.

A Great Day for a Great Show

The day has finally come. "The Greatest Show on Earth" has arrived. Unfortunately for us in the United States we have until September 22nd before we can acquire the book. Even so I'm sure there will be plenty of buzz between now and then. For those who are interested you can read the first chapter of the book at:
RichardDawkins.Net.
This is the book I'm hoping all my Christian friends read. I look forward to many long discussions about both the content of the book as well as, the impact it's having.

Calling a Spade a Spade

The more educated one becomes the more you realize how important it is to use proper terminology. It can greatly compromise your credibility if you don't use the correct definitions when discussing technical knowledge. Below I'm linking a video for a friend who recently stated that "Evolution is still only a hypothesis." I give them points for using the term hypothesis, but have to mark them down for not fully understanding the difference between a hypothesis and a theory.

Some Deep Perspective

I'm adding this video for a friend whose class has chosen the theme of space for their project. I really enjoy videos that explain complex subjects in simple terms. The director of this video does a nice job of blending knowledge with entertainment. If this information is new to you then hopefully it will help put into perspective our place in the universe.