So this is sort of embarrassing, but as it turns out I am an atheist, I just didn't know it. Yeah, really. In fact I have been an atheist for a very long time, I just wasn't aware of it. How is this possible? Allow me to quote YouTube user AronRa: "Atheist does not mean that you reject the possibility of a god," and "The only thing that defines an atheist is that you are not convinced that there must be a god." I am not convinced.
What's more amusing to me is that I wrote AronRa an email to thank him for helping me figure this out and he actually responded that it was his intention to share this story at future atheist meetings and conventions. That is, I think, freaking hilarious.
In further researching this it turns out that Greta Christina had something similar to say about atheism. "For me, and for the overwhelming majority of atheists I know, our atheism is a provisional conclusion, based on careful reasoning and on the best available evidence we have. Our atheism is the conclusion that the God hypothesis is unsupported by any good evidence, and that unless we see better evidence, we're going to assume that God does not exist. If we see better evidence, we'll change our minds."
Seems that what I though atheism was isn't what atheism is. I thought that atheism is the belief that there is no god, and that is apparently the general belief. Instead atheism is the lack of a belief in god. A bit of a quibble, but it shoots the "is atheism a belief?" question right in the face. I don't believe there is no god, I lack the belief that there is a god. If you could give me indisputable evidence that god existed tomorrow, I'd change my mind. Even Richard Dawkins, Dark Lord of the Atheists, said that on a scale of 1 being an absolute certainty that there is a god and 7 being absolute certainty that there is not a god that he was at a 6.
Granted, if you did give me that evidence, you'd still have to work to make me care much, so even though my atheism might change, my apatheism probably wouldn't. And, yes, it's possible to be both. It's possible to be an agnostic and an atheist at the same time as well apparently.
So what does this change? In many ways, not much. I think the same things I thought before this revelation. But in some ways, huge changes. I used to be pissed off because the Pledge of Allegiance (yes I will not shut up about this) was an insult to a group I cared about but didn't consider myself to be a part of; now the Pledge is an insult to me. Every time I see "In God we trust" on a coin or dolla bill, it's me that's devalued. I'm as patriotic as the next guy. I'm more patriotic than the next guy. But because I lack a belief that some people have I'm looked down on, considered unelectable, and untrustworthy?
In some ways I'm the same guy. In others I now burn with an anger I didn't feel before. I may be the same shouty, opinionated, arrogant, patriotic, pro underdog guy as before, but it's different now... Now I am the underdog.
June 22, 2011
June 8, 2011
Should you be afraid of high fructose corn syrup?
No. No you shouldn't.
...
Yeah, I know, you've heard that HFC causes all kinds of things from obesity, diabeetus, and high blood pressure to heart attacks and cancer! Everyone's heard about how bad HFC is for us. Well, the truth is, HFC is not dangerous and it isn't the cause of modern American obesity.
HFC is a sugar and, chemically speaking, a sugar is a sugar is a sugar. There are lots of sugars: glucose, fructose, sucrose, lactose, and many others. Your body, assuming you aren't a diabetic or lactose intolerant, treats them all generally the same way, that is as a sugar. That means that your table sugar and that "healthier" raw sugar, are just different combinations of the same simple sugars. The flavor may be different, but your body breaks them down easily with no regard to flavor.
So why have you hear SO MUCH BS about HFC? Because somewhere someone reported that ingesting large amounts of HFC can cause cause obesity, which can lead to diabeetus (and then idiots on the Internet lay on the cancer BS). What everyone neglects to mention immediately following that is that EVERY SUGAR CAN DO THAT. If you eat two pounds of table sugar a day, you gonna get fat and are increasing your chances of getting diabeetus. Remember how eating anything to excess is bad for you? That's true here. A diet with HFC in it is not automatically worse than a diet high in honey, which is largely fructose as well.
As our country becomes more and more health obsessed, people continue to look for single bullet causes for obesity. There isn't one. Still, HFC is popular because it is cheap and readily available, so people will try to blame it. But the problem lies not with HFC, but with stupid people who drink the equivalent of two pounds of sugar in soda a day, or have a high calorie diet with a lot of HFC in it in some other form.
So don't avoid HFC as a sweetener. It won't cause cancer, it won't give you diabeetus, and it certainly won't make you fat. Eating like a fatass and not exercising will make you fat.
...
Yeah, I know, you've heard that HFC causes all kinds of things from obesity, diabeetus, and high blood pressure to heart attacks and cancer! Everyone's heard about how bad HFC is for us. Well, the truth is, HFC is not dangerous and it isn't the cause of modern American obesity.
HFC is a sugar and, chemically speaking, a sugar is a sugar is a sugar. There are lots of sugars: glucose, fructose, sucrose, lactose, and many others. Your body, assuming you aren't a diabetic or lactose intolerant, treats them all generally the same way, that is as a sugar. That means that your table sugar and that "healthier" raw sugar, are just different combinations of the same simple sugars. The flavor may be different, but your body breaks them down easily with no regard to flavor.
So why have you hear SO MUCH BS about HFC? Because somewhere someone reported that ingesting large amounts of HFC can cause cause obesity, which can lead to diabeetus (and then idiots on the Internet lay on the cancer BS). What everyone neglects to mention immediately following that is that EVERY SUGAR CAN DO THAT. If you eat two pounds of table sugar a day, you gonna get fat and are increasing your chances of getting diabeetus. Remember how eating anything to excess is bad for you? That's true here. A diet with HFC in it is not automatically worse than a diet high in honey, which is largely fructose as well.
As our country becomes more and more health obsessed, people continue to look for single bullet causes for obesity. There isn't one. Still, HFC is popular because it is cheap and readily available, so people will try to blame it. But the problem lies not with HFC, but with stupid people who drink the equivalent of two pounds of sugar in soda a day, or have a high calorie diet with a lot of HFC in it in some other form.
So don't avoid HFC as a sweetener. It won't cause cancer, it won't give you diabeetus, and it certainly won't make you fat. Eating like a fatass and not exercising will make you fat.
June 2, 2011
Skepticism
Once upon a time I believed in the possibility of all sorts of things: gods, ghosts, demons, angels, aliens, yeti, energy flows, ley lines, acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, folk remedies, and so on. Over time I became more skeptical and started questioning things I previously believed. Why is it that photos of alien craft have deceased as the prevalence of camera phones has increased? Why do ghost hunters present laughable evidence and get taken seriously? Why does acupuncture perform no better than a placebo when tested outside of China? Why do soft-style chi masters get massacred by MMA fighters?
Now I consider myself a hard line skeptic. All that shit I mentioned above? Either intensely unlikely (99% probability) or complete bullshit (like homeopathy). Every new claim I see (e.g. "1 tip to a flat belly" ads) is viewed with great distrust. Nothing is free of the question, "How does that work?"
One issue I have run into, as have many skeptics, is that skepticism is viewed pejoratively, that we skeptics are Debbie Downers, the people out to ruin the party. I have run into this with both family and friends and have had arguments over many things. In my experience, people seem less mad about hte topic and more angry that I am objecting at all.
I don't understand this. I think that the general perception is that I am only being skeptical to be annoying, or a know-it-all, or even just to alienate people. I fail to see how going through life credulously believing every stupid idea thrown at me is a bad thing. Despite this, I'm the jerk for pointing out that homeopathy is complete BS.
The reason I am a skeptic is, despite what some seem to believe, is because I value knowledge. I want people to do what works, not fall for an anecdote strong but evidence weak fad. I don't want friends or family wasting money on scams or wasting hope on anything that won't ever work better than a placebo.
So what is a skeptic to do? I'd rather not be seen as a jerk by family and friends, but I'm not going to back down about any quackery or other BS that can hurt people or waste their money. I try to keep an open mind about new ideas, but considering the cavalcade of nonsense I see every day, it's hard to not just assume that everything is a scam, a lie, or worse. Suggestions?
Now I consider myself a hard line skeptic. All that shit I mentioned above? Either intensely unlikely (99% probability) or complete bullshit (like homeopathy). Every new claim I see (e.g. "1 tip to a flat belly" ads) is viewed with great distrust. Nothing is free of the question, "How does that work?"
One issue I have run into, as have many skeptics, is that skepticism is viewed pejoratively, that we skeptics are Debbie Downers, the people out to ruin the party. I have run into this with both family and friends and have had arguments over many things. In my experience, people seem less mad about hte topic and more angry that I am objecting at all.
I don't understand this. I think that the general perception is that I am only being skeptical to be annoying, or a know-it-all, or even just to alienate people. I fail to see how going through life credulously believing every stupid idea thrown at me is a bad thing. Despite this, I'm the jerk for pointing out that homeopathy is complete BS.
The reason I am a skeptic is, despite what some seem to believe, is because I value knowledge. I want people to do what works, not fall for an anecdote strong but evidence weak fad. I don't want friends or family wasting money on scams or wasting hope on anything that won't ever work better than a placebo.
So what is a skeptic to do? I'd rather not be seen as a jerk by family and friends, but I'm not going to back down about any quackery or other BS that can hurt people or waste their money. I try to keep an open mind about new ideas, but considering the cavalcade of nonsense I see every day, it's hard to not just assume that everything is a scam, a lie, or worse. Suggestions?
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