Fringy, science-stuff, maybe fact or fiction?

Well, form MSNBC:

NEW YORK - A British philosophy professor who has been a leading champion of atheism for more than a half-century has changed his mind. He now believes in God — more or less — based on scientific evidence, and he says so on a video released Thursday.

At age 81, after decades of insisting that belief is a mistake, the professor, Antony Flew, has concluded that some sort of intelligence or first cause must have created the universe. A super-intelligence is the only good explanation for the origin of life and the complexity of nature, Flew said in a telephone interview from England.

Flew said he was best labeled a deist, like Thomas Jefferson, whose God was not actively involved in people’s lives.

“I’m thinking of a God very different from the God of the Christian and far and away from the God of Islam, because both are depicted as omnipotent Oriental despots, cosmic Saddam Husseins,” he said. “It could be a person in the sense of a being that has intelligence and a purpose, I suppose.”

 

A gradual conversion

Flew first made his mark with the 1950 article “Theology and Falsification,” based on a paper for the Socratic Club, a weekly Oxford religious forum led by the writer and Christian thinker C.S. Lewis.

Over the years, Flew proclaimed the lack of evidence for God while teaching at Oxford, Aberdeen, Keele and Reading universities in Britain, in visits to numerous U.S. and Canadian campuses and in books, articles, lectures and debates.

There was no one moment of change but a gradual conclusion over recent months for Flew, a spry man who still does not believe in an afterlife.

Yet biologists’ investigation of DNA “has shown, by the almost unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce [life], that intelligence must have been involved,” Flew says in the new video, “Has Science Discovered God?”

The video draws from a discussion last May in New York organized by author Roy Abraham Varghese’s Institute for Metascientific Research in Garland, Texas. Participants were Flew; Varghese; Israeli physicist Gerald Schroeder, an Orthodox Jew; and Roman Catholic philosopher John Haldane of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

 

‘Follow the evidence, wherever it leads’

The first hint of Flew’s turn was a letter in the August-September issue of Britain’s Philosophy Now magazine. “It has become inordinately difficult even to begin to think about constructing a naturalistic theory of the evolution of that first reproducing organism,” he wrote.

The letter commended arguments in Schroeder’s “The Hidden Face of God” and “The Wonder of the World” by Varghese, an Eastern Rite Catholic layman.

This week, Flew finished writing the first formal account of his new outlook for the introduction to a new edition of his “God and Philosophy,” scheduled for release next year by Prometheus Books.

Prometheus specializes in skeptical thought, but if his belief upsets people, well, “that’s too bad,” Flew said. “My whole life has been guided by the principle of Plato’s Socrates: Follow the evidence, wherever it leads.”

 

Discussion among the unfaithful

Last week, Richard Carrier, a writer and Columbia University graduate student, posted new material based on correspondence with Flew on the atheistic Web page Infidels.org. Carrier reassured atheists that Flew accepted only a “minimal God” and believed in no afterlife.

Flew’s “name and stature are big. Whenever you hear people talk about atheists, Flew always comes up,” Carrier said. Still, when it comes to Flew’s reversal, “apart from curiosity, I don’t think it’s like a big deal.”

Flew told The Associated Press that his current ideas had some similarity with those of U.S. “intelligent design” theorists, who see evidence for a guiding force in the construction of the universe. He accepts Darwinian evolution but doubts that it can explain the ultimate origins of life.

Flew, the son of a Methodist minister, became an atheist at 15.

Early in his career, he argued that no conceivable events could constitute proof against God for believers, so skeptics were right to wonder whether the concept of God meant anything at all.

Another landmark was his 1984 article “The Presumption of Atheism,” playing off the presumption of innocence in criminal law. Flew said the debate over God must begin by presuming atheism, putting the burden of proof on those arguing that God existed.

 

Well, the universe most certainly had a beginning. What the f#$k caused it?  What was there before time ever existed? How can mathematicians consider a referance point, where negative infinity eventuated? There apparently is no such time. There was a beginning. What caused the event we refer to as the "Big Bang?"

Why didn't it happen 20 billion years ago, instead of fifty billion? Let alone yesterday?

How long before time ever was initiated, that the potential of a 4 space universe existed, and why did it happen at a certain event?

Well, from that initial point of view, atheism becomes quite like some form of a belief in deity. They believe in no god, no initial cause or event, their minds boggle with a creation. Just like mine does. Atheism is based on a lack of evidence. Just as belief in deity is based in a lack of concrete facts. So, atheistists, you own your own religion; a doctrine based on faith. Your faith is based on your chosen philosophical doctrines, just as believers base theirs on others. Matthew vs. Einstein. Newton vs. Nietsche.

Well, I do not support organized religions, but I tend to see that religious denominations are the first ones giving aid when natural calamities occur. Storms, tsusamies, earthquakes, etc. I've never heard of an atheistic group shelving out donations or monies to help the victims of such disasters.

Yet they tend to 'knock down' religions as money making schemes for a few, or mind control.  They blame all of humanities sorrows on differances of ideological viewpoints.

Let me see an atheist that can live the life of a monk, or a nun, even as the local pastor of a fundamental, rural Christian church and organize contributions to give to the less-fortunates. Some atheists would probably pocket donations just like some fringy tele-evangelists would, as well as some 'established' religious denominations.

Maybe atheists are too self centered, gratifing their aminalistic tendencies, without any form of restraint, and trying to bury guilt, thus embracing the lack of a 'god' to justify their selfish actions. Maybe they are just plain angry, like a child that does not receive the attention, better, a gift asked for but not received on a  Christmas morning. Blame god, blame the parents, blame others for the lack of self centered  gratifications not immediately received. 

Maybe believers are also too self centered , and feel liable about their natural impulses. Maybe deists are trying to find restraint for the guilt they feel, divorcing themselves from the innate appetites inherent in our genetic programming for survival. Maybe they are also angry, because of cultural taboos against them  following or fulfilling their basic desires. Blame Satan, blame their demons, blame others for their ineptness to cope with their lack of self centered gratifications never received.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 18:45 | link | comments (3)

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 13:20 | link | comments

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 15:28 | link | comments (2)

 

 

In chemistry, hybridisation or hybridization  is the concept of mixing atomic orbitals to form new hybrid orbitals suitable for the qualitative description of atomic bonding properties. Hybridised orbitals are very useful in the explanation of the shape of molecular orbitals for molecules. It is an integral part of valence bond theory and the valence shell electron-pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory .

 

Hybridization theory is an integral part of organic chemistry and in general discussed together with molecular orbital theory in advanced organic chemistry textbooks although for different reasons. One textbook notes that for drawing reaction mechanisms sometimes a classical bonding picture is needed with 2 atoms sharing two electrons. It also comments that predicting bond angles in methane with MO theory is not straightforward. Another textbook treats hybridization theory when explaining bonding in alkenes  and a third uses MO theory to explain bonding in hydrogen but hybridization theory for methane.

Although the language and pictures arising from Hybridization Theory, more widely known as Valence Bond Theory, remain widespread in synthetic organic chemistry, this qualitative analysis of bonding has been largely superseded by Molecular Orbital Theory in other branches of chemistry. For example, inorganic chemistry texts have all but abandoned instruction of hybridization, except as a historical footnote. One specific problem with hybridization is that is incorrectly predicts the photoelectron spectra of many molecules, including such fundamental species such as methane and water. From a pedogical perspective, hybridization approach tends to over-emphasize localization of bonding electrons and does not effectively embrace molecular symmetry as does MO Theory.

 

                                                      

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 10:32 | link | comments (1)

What the f@#k, his claim is that he's been under the knife only twice during his lifetime.

 

                                          

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 06:18 | link | comments (3)

                             

In the South Pacific, south of Late Island along the Tofua volcanic arc in Tonga, the volcanic island Home Reef is being re-born. The island is thought to have emerged after a volcanic eruption in mid-August that also spewed large amounts of floating pumice into Tongan waters and swept across to Fiji about 350 km (220 miles) to the west of where the new island formed. In 2004, a similar eruption created an ephemeral island about 0.5 by 1.5 km (0.3 by 0.9 miles) in size; it was no longer visible in an ASTER image acquired November 2005. This simulated natural color image shows the vegetation-covered stratovolcanic island of Late Island in the upper right. Home Reef is found in the lower left. The two bluish plumes are hot seawater that is laden with volcanic ash and chemicals; the larger one can be traced for more than 14 km (8.4 miles) to the east. The image was acquired Oct. 10, 2006 and covers an area of 24.3 by 30.2 km. It is located at 18.9 degrees south latitude, 174.7 degrees west longitude.

With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitors the changing surface of our planet. It is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team


+ Full Resolution

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 09:52 | link | comments (2)

I'm thinking of getting one of these critters for either Mafidl or Spartenjen who live here in Miami for Christmas. Here is a video clip of one having a baby mouse for lunch.

 

 

Also, I'm sure Spartenjen now has another reason to visit the middle east:

Yup, camel spiders who tend

to leave a nasty little bite.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 09:18 | link | comments (4)

Things You Have to Believe to be a Republican

> Today
>
> 1.) Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of
> homosexuals and
> Hillary.
>
> 2.) Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a
> bad guy when
> Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when
> Cheney did business
> with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we
> can't find Bin Laden"
> diversion.
>
> 3.) Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country
> is Communist, but
> trade
> with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of
> international harmony.
>
> 4.) The United States should get out of the United
> Nations, and our
> highest national priority is enforcing U.N.
> resolutions against Iraq.
>
> 5.) A woman can't be trusted with decisions about
> her own body but
> multi-national corporations can make decisions
> affecting all mankind
> without regulation.
>
> 6.) The best way to improve military morale is to
> praise the troops in
> speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and do
> combat pay.
>
> 7.) If condoms are kept out of schools,
> adolescents won't have sex.
>
> 8.) A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle
> our long-time allies,
> then demand their cooperation and money.
>
> 9.) Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound
> policy, but providing
> health care to all Americans is socialism. HMOs
> and insurance companies
> have the best interests of the public at heart.
>
> 10.) Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer
> are junk science, but
> creationism should be taught in schools.
>
> 11.) A president lying about an extra-marital
> affair is an impeachable
> offense, but a president lying to enlist support
> for a war in which
> thousands die is solid defense policy.
>
> 12.) Government should limit itself to the powers
> named in the
> Constitution, which include banning gay marriages
> and censoring the
> Internet.
>
> 13.) The public has a right to know about
> Hillary's cattle trades, but
> George Bush's driving record is none of our
> business.
>
> 14.) Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a
> crime, unless you're
> a
> conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and
> you need our prayers
> for
> your recovery.
>
> 15.) What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of
> vital national interest,
> but
> what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.
>
> * If you don't send this to at least 10 other
> people, we're likely to
> be
> stuck with more Republicans in '08. And remember:
> friends don't let
> friends vote Republican!
>
> This message (including any attachments) contains
> confidential
> information
> intended for a specific individual and purpose,
> and is protected by
> law.
> If you are not the intended recipient, you should
> delete this message.
> Any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this
> message, or the taking
> of
> any action based on it, is strictly prohibited.
> [v.E.1]

...Email from mafidl....> _______________________________________________

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 00:28 | link | comments (2)

In particle physics, quarks are one of the two basic constituents of matter.

The names of quark types (Up, Down, Strange, Charm, Bottom, and Top) were also chosen arbitrarily based on the need to name them something that could be easily remembered and used.

An important property of quarks is called confinement, which states that individual quarks are not seen because they are always confined inside subatomic particles called hadrons (e.g., protons and neutrons); an exception is the top quark, which decays so quickly that it does not hadronize, and can therefore be observed more directly via its decay products. Confinement began as an experimental observation, and is expected to follow from the modern theory of strong interactions, called quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Although there is no mathematical derivation of confinement in QCD, it is easy to show using lattice gauge theory.

Flavor

Each quark is assigned a baryon number, B  =  1/3, and a vanishing lepton number L  =  0. They have fractional electric charge, Q, either Q  =  +2/3 or Q  =  −1/3. The former are called up-type quarks, the latter, down-type quarks. Each quark is assigned a weak isospin: T_z  =  +1/2 for an up-type quark and T_z  =  −1/2 for a down-type quark. Each doublet of weak isospin defines a generation of quarks. There are three generations, and hence six flavours of quarks — the up-type quark flavours are up, charm and top; the down-type quark flavours are down, strange, and bottom (each list is in the order of increasing mass).

Properties of quarks

The following table summarizes the key properties of the six known quarks:

Generation	Weak Isospin	Flavour	Name	Symbol	Charge / e	Mass / MeV.c-2
1	+ 1/2	Iz=+1/2	Up	u	+ 2/3	1.5 to 4.0
1	− 1/2	Iz=−1/2	Down	d	− 1/3	4 to 8
2	− 1/2	S=−1	Strange	s	− 1/3	80 to 130
2	+ 1/2	C=1	Charm	c	+ 2/3	1150 to 1350
3	− 1/2	B′=−1	Bottom	b	− 1/3	4100 to 4400
3	+ 1/2	T=1	Top	t	+ 2/3	171400 ± 2100

Bubble chamber tracks of the decay of a charmed baryon, first published in 1975. At the time, this identification was tentative. Later work has confirmed that the baryon involved was indeed charmed, now known as the Σ_c⁺⁺. From Brookhaven National Laboratory

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 10:50 | link | comments

Hope you all get a kick out of this article. My friends and I were discussing emotional disorders and we looked up this one. This is from wikipedia:

For other senses of this word, see paranoia (disambiguation).

Paranoia is an excessive anxiety or fear concerning one's own well-being which is considered irrational and excessive, perhaps to the point of being a psychosis. This typically includes persecutory beliefs concerning a likely threat, or a belief in a conspiracy theory. In the original Greek, παράνοια (paranoia) means simply madness (para = outside; nous = mind) and it is this use which was traditionally used in psychiatry to describe any delusional state. However, the exact use of the term has changed over time in medicine, and because of this, modern psychiatric usage may vary.

In psychiatry, the term paranoia was used by Emil Kraepelin to describe a mental illness in which a delusional belief is the sole, or most prominent feature. In his original attempt at classifying different forms of mental illness, Emil Kraepelin used the term pure paranoia to describe a condition where a delusion was present, but without any apparent deterioration in intellectual abilities and without any of the other features of dementia praecox, the condition later renamed schizophrenia. Notably, in his definition, the belief does not have to be persecutory to be classified as paranoid, so any number of delusional beliefs can be classified as paranoia. For example, a person who has the sole delusional belief that he is an important religious figure would be classified by Kraepelin as having 'pure paranoia'.

Although the diagnosis of pure paranoia is no longer used (having been superseded by the diagnosis of delusional disorder) the use of the term to signify the presence of delusions in general, rather than persecutory delusions specifically, lives on in the classification of paranoid schizophrenia, which denotes a form of schizophrenia where delusions are prominent.

More recently, the clinical use of the term has been used to describe delusions where the affected person believes they are being persecuted. Specifically, they have been defined as containing two central elements:

1. The individual thinks that harm is occurring, or is going to occur, to him or her.
2. The individual thinks that the persecutor has the intention to cause harm.

Paranoia is often associated with psychotic illnesses, particularly schizophrenia, although attenuated features may be present in other primarily non-psychotic diagnoses, such as paranoid personality disorder. Paranoia can also be a side effect of medication or recreational drugs.

In the unrestricted use of the term, common paranoid delusions can include the belief that the person is being followed, poisoned or loved at a distance (often by a media figure or important person, a delusion known as erotomania or de Clerambault syndrome).

Other common paranoid delusions include the belief that the person has an imaginary disease or parasitic infection (delusional parasitosis); that the person is on a special quest or has been chosen by God; that the person has had thoughts inserted or removed from conscious thought; or that the person's actions are being controlled by an external force.

 

Paranoia depicted in popular culture

In popular culture paranoia is often represented as including:

• Belief in having special powers or being on a special mission (a "delusion of grandeur")
• Conspiracy theories, such as seeing seemingly unrelated news events as parts of a larger, typically conspiratorial plan
• Exaggerated fear of terrorists, criminals or bandits
• Black helicopters and other mass surveillance
• Persecution from powerful adversaries such as UFOs, terrorists, the Men in Black, secret societies or demons
• Paranoia or belief in conspiracy theories involving perceived political or social enemies (as in The Paranoid Style in American Politics by Richard Hofstadter)
• Mind control through invisible rays, and tinfoil hats to combat them
• Fear of poisoning, adulterated food (e.g., aspartame) or water (e.g., fluoridation) as part of a secret plot
• Reading a story, watching a movie, or listening to a song and feeling that one's life is exactly like that of the subject of said story, movie, or song. The movie The Truman Show, which depicted a man who discovers his entire life has been filmed as a TV show, is one of the more commonly referenced films.
• In the Tremors series of films, the hero, Burt Gummer, has often been cited by the other characters as paranoid due to his distrust of the government and fear of eminent domain, among other things. He is also suspicious of any and all newcomers to the valley.

[edit] See also

• Conspiracy theory
• Delusion
• Delusional disorder
• Distrust
• James Tilly Matthews
• Monomania
• Paranoid personality disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Paranoia RPG
• Ideas of reference
• Paranoia Agent
• Paranoia Online Game
• Illuminati
• The Paranoid Style in American Politics
• Paranoia (magazine)

I've always been interested in psychology. In fact, thought I would major in the subject at one time. Reached sophmore levels in college then the chemistry bug hit me. The links in this article are very interesting, also.

I'm also interested in psychedic art, such as this one. Pretty cool, uh?

credit is given to Brian Exton with a link to PictureRealm Art Shop

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 07:22 | link | comments

Another hero:

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 19:08 | link | comments

First few hydrogen atom orbitals; cross section showing color-coded probability density for different n=1,2,3 and l="s","p","d"; note: m=0

The picture shows the first few hydrogen atom orbitals (energy eigenfunctions). These are cross-sections of the probability density that are color-coded (black=zero density, white=highest density). The angular momentum quantum number l is denoted in each column, using the usual spectroscopic letter code ("s" means l=0; "p": l=1; "d": l=2). The main quantum number n (=1,2,3,...) is marked to the right of each row. For all pictures the magnetic quantum number m has been set to 0, and the cross-sectional plane is the x-z plane (z is the vertical axis). The probability density in three-dimensional space is obtained by rotating the one shown here around the z-axis. (2198)

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 12:25 | link | comments (2)