When minds collide A non-prophet exposé2010-09-05T00:54:41Z http://0xtc.com/feed/atomWordPress Tanin http://0xtc.com/ <![CDATA[The First Rule of Propagatability]]> http://0xtc.com/?p=2857 2010-09-05T00:54:41Z 2010-09-04T23:56:20Z Creationists (known as Intelligent Design proponents) propose that since biological entities and their environments seem “designed”, there must be a designer (presumably a sky god of some sorts). It may at first seem to be an argument made from an ignorance of biology, but I started to wonder, why do things look as if they were designed?

We humans design things with a purpose but we often overlook how we come to a design in the first place. Ideas in our minds tend to be the foundation, but what’s interesting is that ideas themselves go through a process of selection before ending up being part of an “end design”.

We discard or change bad ideas that don’t work and continue with the ones that do. We select ideas that end up becoming designs. Our designs are the end products of logical, natural selections that have taken place in our minds or in the minds of others. And once our designs are turned into products, they compete with other products. The selection continues.

Of course, the same thing happens in nature. Any poorly equipped species either mutates and adapts to become successful at living or goes extinct. Well equipped species continue to propagate their successful genes, and so on. The selection is performed not by a mind, but by the very logic that underlines the entire selection process.

Natural selection is a rule of logic for the creation of propagatable complexity -what we would consider a good “design”. It is biological in nature and since we are part of that natural history, the same logical rules apply for our thinking processes. It’s just that we call it neurological when it happens in our minds.

This remarkably simple rule of logic that those that can survive, will survive, does not only apply for the constructions of designs, but of course (among other constructs) also for the propagation of all living things.

Any physical or conceptual construct that continues to exist -that is fit to continue to exist- is both the inheritor and the custodian of natural selection. Thus life does not only seem well “designed”, it is well “designed”….by natural selection.

]]> 0 Tanin http://0xtc.com/ <![CDATA[Conversation with a creationist]]> http://0xtc.com/?p=2846 2010-08-30T17:28:00Z 2010-08-29T23:50:55Z Apparently there are still some anthropocentrists around. I came across one of these gems on YouTube.

I turned the conversation into a video:

Mr88playmaker
DNA code is empirical proof that biological life forms are a creative product of information and language. i.e.: Nous / Logos (Einstein called this: “The MIND of GOD”).

tcorp
Dude. DNA is just a self-replicating molecule that emerged naturally as a result of organic chemistry. Any degree of complexity it may have is because of natural processes and not intelligent magic. Get over your anthropocentrism and smell the coffee.

Mr88playmaker
DNA code and DNA molecule are not the same thing.

Information and medium are not the same thing.

If I call you on the phone to inform you that you’ve won the lottery, the INFORMATION is not the telephone. Same as the information I am communicating to you now. The information I am communicating to you here is NOT your computer monitor nor this web site. I could transmit the same info via 100 different mediums. So it is with DNA information. They’re now making man made DNA-computers!

tcorp
With DNA, the information IS the medium. It’s nothing more than a molecular chain. What you consider information is simply the order or combinations of amino acids as they have accumulated through time by the natural selection of their consequences. It’s really not that hard to understand.

Mr88playmaker
You’re mistaken. I understand the social and political implications surrounding the fact that information is neither matter nor energy; and how that fact strikes against what atheists are trying to show (that there’s no God). However, when it comes to science, it is every thinking man’s duty to accept the scientific facts as they are. No atheist scientist has refuted the facts I’ve shared with you. Many do double-talk about redefining terms in irrelevant venues but not OFFICIALLY.

Mr88playmaker
Within the scientific community, no one will place himself on record to state, as his official scientific position, that code is not code or that information is not information. It would be ridiculous and can not be published UNLESS he could prove what he means. There’s a lot of irrelevant “mere suggestions” floating around on atheists sites about how DNA directions / instructions are “abstract” thinga-majigs that constitute as matter (not information) but it flies in the face of all science

tcorp
Gods? I’m sorry, I live in Europe. Most of us gave up believing in gods and goblins as operators in the world many centuries ago. Science and education has progressed quite a bit since you left this side of the pond. Hopefully, one day your education standards will follow suit. For example, geocentricism was defeated a long time ago here. Do you still hold the religious belief that the Sun revolves around the Earth over there? Also, where do you stand on curses and witchcraft?

Mr88playmaker
Your “science” and “education” has not made you any wiser and I’ll prove it.
There are only two options. Pick one!
Either:
(1) Intelligence arises from an INTELLIGENT source
OR
(2) INTELLIGENCE arises from a NON-Intelligent source.
Atheists are illogical. You’re disqualified from all things logic and logical.
You can NOT logically defend you position; whereas, I CAN mine!

tcorp
You’re assuming there’s intelligence in DNA. I don’t exactly know where you take this assumption from, but if you had any understanding of chemistry, biology or genetics you would know that there is no intelligence in DNA patterns. Complexity does not require any intelligence. You can look at sand dunes and conclude their geometry is complex, but it’s just wind blowing on sand. Natural processes spring forth complexity. I’m afraid your view of genetics isn’t very scientific.

Mr88playmaker
Those “patterns” you speak of are INFORMATION i.e. the communication of knowledge or intelligence.
Try getting a “pattern” from your couch cushions to serve as blueprint language instructions for the creation and governance of biological life forms. It aint gonna happen. Language has rules and information is neither matter nor energy.
Moreover, both language and information arise only from a MIND.
I said info, not data.

tcorp
You’re confusing results of emergence with purpose. It’s just not how the laws of physics work I’m afraid. I also notice you’re having trouble comprehending the time scales involved in abiogenesis and the progression of complexity. Furthermore, simply because we can gather accumulated data and information from nature, doesn’t mean the data or information was implanted by an alien intelligence. Natural processes suffice on their own for the emergence and continuation of complexity.

]]> 0 Tanin http://0xtc.com/ <![CDATA[How to stop Scientology from advertising on your site]]> http://0xtc.com/?p=2778 2010-08-29T01:09:34Z 2010-08-29T00:29:10Z In this tutorial you will learn how to block Scientology or any other nut jobs undesirable companies from advertising on your site or blog using Google’s AdSense.

Category Filters

The first layer of filtering you can apply is by category. Remember, like any other money making cult, Scientology claims to be a “religion”. Google’s Category Filter allows you block religious ads from your site. Here’s an easy step-by-step on how to set up category filtering on AdSense.

Step 1
Login to your Google Adsense.

Step 2
Click on “AdSense Setup” tab.

Step 3
Click on the “Ad Review Center” tab.

Step 4
Next to “Filtered Categories” click on “change”.

Step 5
Select the category you want to ban from your site and click on “Submit” when you’re done.

If you have multiple Client-ID’s, make sure to switch over and apply the filters on them too.

You have now successfully set up category filters on AdSense. Changes could take up to 10 minutes to propagate.

Competitive Ad Filter

The second best way to filter out unwanted parties from advertising on your site is by using the Competitive Ad Filter. This is for those advertisers that don’t categorize correctly when they submit their ads (for whatever reason) or sites belonging to competitors that you simply do not wish to be associated with. We’re going to use it to block out Scientology. Here’s how in works:

Step 1
Again, click on the “AdSense Setup” tab but this time select the “Competitive Ad Filter” tab below it.

Step 2
Enter the URL of the offending website (scientology.org) in the “AdSense for Content filters” box and click “Save changes.”

Finding the URL of the advertiser can be tricky sometimes. Since it’s against Google’s policy to actually click on the ads to find their URL’s, you will have to use the Google’s AdSense Preview Tool to do it.

Don’t forget to update your list of sites for Mobile ads as well (if you have them).

As you can see from my screenshot, I have all kinds of organizations on my lists, including www.newsmax.com, a right wing propaganda group operating in the United States, but you can compile your own lists as you please.

]]> 0 Tanin http://0xtc.com/ <![CDATA[WordPress Plugin for Twitter’s Tweet Button]]> http://0xtc.com/?p=2675 2010-08-28T17:16:09Z 2010-08-13T04:53:01Z I decided to write a WordPress plugin for Twitter’s new Tweet Button.

The plugin implements Twitter’s Tweet Button on your blog or site. The tweet button can be positioned as you please and can be styled to your delight in the settings page.

Features and customization possibilities

  • Custom recommendations per post entry for relevancy.
  • Option for tweeting the entry title, page title, blog name or a custom text.
  • Each post can have custom tweet texts.
  • Custom text for tweets can be made using tags (%POSTTITLE%, %BLOGTITLE%).
  • Tweet Button can be positioned at the top, bottom or both.
  • Tweet Button can be align right, left, center (or none).
  • Tweet Button can be excluded from bottom of posts on front page.
  • Can be set to be positioned by the [tweetbutton] shortcode.
  • Can be set to be positioned manually.
  • Styling options for the div that surrounds the button.
  • Can be set to vertical, horizontal or no counter.
  • Option to switch between ‘{text} {link} via {@user}’ and ‘RT {@user} {text} {link}’ formats.
  • Referral can be turned off by removing the username.
  • Authors can configure their own Twitter accounts on their profile pages. (WP3.x only)
  • Tweet button language can be set to Twitter’s supported languages.
  • Tweet Button can be generated manually using the tweetbutton(); function.
  • Supports WordPress 3 shortener functions.
  • Initial URL shrinking with 3rd party services (b2l.me, bit.ly, cli.gs, sl.ly, snipr, su.pr, tinyurl)
  • Initial URL shrinking with the Twitter Friendly Links Plugin.
  • Initial URL shrinking with the YOURLS: WordPress to Twitter Plugin.
  • WPTouch Support.
  • counturl support for consistent url counts across URL shorteners.
  • Supports adding a rel attribute (SEO).
  • Hooks for 3rd party developers.
  • Supports option to output in data tags.
  • Includes caching controls for WP Super Cache and W3 Total Cache.
  • Google Analytics support for campaign tracking.


* If you have made a translation file for this project, email it to translations at 0xtc.com so it can be included in future versions.

Screenshots


WP Tweet Button has a vast number of positioning and placement options.


Default settings can be defined for general purpose but each post can have its own custom settings.


Advanced settings are advanced.


Post settings can be used to individualize tweet button properties

WP Tweet Button for WordPress is available for download on WordPress.org

Thanks to the following people for plugging this plugin on Twitter:
momworx jokeandbiagio DaveCharest eduardoduccigne mackaaij rubenwoudsma cdharrison ewa4618 gabidavila wsellers GRT2Studios longjasonm rafaelcode richardbarros hkadejo roblepair niceblog

Thanks to the following people for testing pre-release versions:
andi1179 benjaminsolah davidjansenNL GovTwit EsbenRasmussen MacMagazine rfischmann rubenwoudsma

]]> 74 Tanin http://0xtc.com/ <![CDATA[A Tribute to Carl Sagan]]> http://0xtc.com/?p=2647 2010-08-29T13:18:33Z 2010-08-11T13:16:33Z A wonderful series of videos by callumCGLP, narrated by Carl Sagan from his book Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space.

Lost fans will recognize the music by Michael Giacchino but will also see parallels in the narrative with the grand concept behind Lost.

Part 1: A Universe Not Made For Us

Part 2: Consider Again That Pale Blue Dot

Part 3: Wanderers

]]> 2 Tanin http://0xtc.com/ <![CDATA[Scientists did NOT find the biggest star yet]]> http://0xtc.com/?p=2625 2010-08-12T19:18:46Z 2010-07-27T09:45:07Z If you’ve read a story in the last few days about scientists finding the “largest star” yet, or that the newly discovered star is “300 times bigger than the Sun“, I regret to inform you that you have been deceived by scientific ignorance.

This is what happens when the media removes science desks from its institutions in an attempt to save money. Science news is then propagated through the copy/pasting of scientifically illiterate writers.

To clarify the science, the newly discovered star R136a1 is in fact NOT the largest/biggest star yet discovered, but at around 265 solar masses, it is the most massive star known to man. Its size is around 35.4 solar radii (that means 35.4 times the radius of our star, Sol (the Sun)).

The distinction of being largest star yet discovered goes to VY Canis Majoris. Its size is estimated at en enormous 2600 solar radii.

Here’s what that would look like compared to our Sun:

VY Canis Majoris

]]> 0 Tanin http://0xtc.com/ <![CDATA[A little history on Mithra]]> http://0xtc.com/?p=2517 2010-07-22T22:45:22Z 2010-07-11T12:55:45Z The following is an excerpt from The mysteries of Mithras: the pagan belief that shaped the Christian world By Payam Nabarz published in 2005.
If you’re interested in some of the early history of monotheistic religions such as Islam and Christianity, this should be an interesting read. The links are added for referencing. Also, try to ignore the inconsistent spelling of the name Yazidi in reference to the people and Yezidi in reference to the religion. Religions have ample inconsistencies on their own due to their sampling and borrowing from neighboring cultures and traditions.

Echoes of Mithraism in the Yazidis and the peacock angel

“The cow driven astray invokes him for help, longing for the stables:
‘When will that bull, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, bring us back, and make us reach the stables? When wilt he turn us back to the right way from the den of the Druj where we were driven?’”

From Zoroastrian Hymn to Mithra, Yasht 10.86

In addition to the echoes of Mithraic mysteries in Christianity and Sufism, there seem to be lines of connection between Mithraism and Yezidism. The Yazidis are among the Kurdish people of Northern Iraq, and have been the subject of much interest in occult writings.
Yazidis, like the Roman Mithraists, believe in seven heavens and operate a seven-level spiritual system, and this is reflected in their belief of seven Seihs (Arabic Shikh) through whose intercession they invoke God.
These seven sit beside their head saint, Seih Adi. At the festival of Seih Adi, a herd of white bulls are slain and dedicated to Seih Shams. Shams translates as “the sun,” and these bull sacrifices are made to the sun.
Interestingly, the Yazidis are divided into seven classes; each class has function particular to itself. The seven classes are: Shikh, Emir, Kawwal, Pir, Kochak, Fakir, and Mulla. Isya Joseph in The Sacred Books and Traditions of the Yazidiz, writes:

Not only Yazidi, Persian, Moslem, and Christian elements are to be found in the modern Yezidism, but there are many remains of the old pagan religions…such as the notion of the secredness of the number seven, an idea which belongs to the common stock of the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia. The Yazidis have seven sanjaks, each has seven burners; their cosmogony shows that god created seven angels or gods; their principal prayer is the appeal to god through seven Seihs (Shikhs); the sceptre engraved on the front of the temple of their great saint has seven branches. This reminds us at once of the Sabians, who adored seven gods or angels who directed the course of seven planets; the seven days of the week were dedicated to their respective deities. Moreover, we note in the Babylonian-Assyrian poem, the seven gates through which Ishtar descends to the land without return.12

According to Dr. M. Izady of Kurdish Worldwide Resource (KWR):

Several old, and now extinct, movements and religions also appear to have begun their existence as branches of the Cult of Angels, under circumstances similar to those that gave rise to Alevism. Amongst those, with due caution and reservation, one may place the Gnostic religions of Mithraism and Zorvānism, and the socio-economically motivated messianic movements of the Mazdakites, Khurramiyya, and the Qarmatites. The Cult also has fundamentally influenced another Gnostic religion, Manicheanism, as well to a lesser extent, Zoroastrians, Imām Sh’ism, and Baha’ism. The Mithraist religious movement seems now to have been a guise under which Cult followers attempted to take over the old Greco-Roman pantheistic religion, with which the Cult had been in contact since the start of the Hellenistic period in the fourth century B.C.E. Mithraism succeeded impressively. By the time of Constantine and the prevalence of Christianity, Mithraism had become so influential in the Roman Empire that it may be that the Roman state observance of the birth of the god Mithras on December 25 inspired the traditional dating of the birth of Christ. This date was the one on which the Universal Spirit first manifested itself in its prime avatar, Lord Creator, whom Mithraism presumed to be Mithras…Is it possible that Malak Tawus, who created the material world in Yazidi cosmogony by utilizing a piece of the original cosmic egg or pearl that he had dismembered earlier, originally represented Mithras in early Yezidism, and only later Lucifer? The second most important Yazidi celebration points towards this possibility. It is held between middle and late December and commemorates the birth of Yezid. His birthday at or near winter solstice links him to Mithras. (Mithraism did after all expand into the Roman Empire from this general geographical area in the course of the first century B.C. and Mirthras’ mythical birth was celebrated on December 25 as already had been discussed.)13

]]> 0 Tanin http://0xtc.com/ <![CDATA[Religious delusions]]> http://0xtc.com/?p=2481 2010-08-12T19:28:06Z 2010-06-30T13:13:16Z The following message was sent to me by someone on YouTube. It was sent to me after I commented on a video where NBC asks “Is There Life After Death?“ as a setup for an interview with pseudo-scientist and mysticism cheerleader Deepak Chopra (apparently real scientists had better things to do).

I’ve read it on a number of other websites and I’m not sure if it’s the same person re-posting it, or there a people out there that think it’s fine to copy/paste personal accounts and post them as their own. Then again, these are religious people, not people of reason.

The delusional ramblings of the afflicted reads as follows

When my mom died I mourned and cried a lot. I prayed and fasted to Jesus to show me where she was because I knew she hadn’t had a perfect life and had always suffered for it; so I just had to know… Here is what I saw:

You know the blue sky above when there are no clouds? I was a part of the blue in the sky. I was a SPIRIT out of body and I was just hovering in love. I was in the BLUE. I was the blue: At least a part of it. And the LOVE and peace I felt seemed PERMANENT. I did not want to come back. (In fact when I did come back, I had withdrawal and begged to go back for a month or two going to sleep praying I would go back.) As the wind went through me I remember that it was the perfect temperature as I felt mass euphoria that words cannot fully describe. Then, it got good; really good. A voice spoke to me while I was hovering there, submersed in total love and ecstasy. And every letter of each word went through me like a wave of intense love that increased the already euphoric feeling of love infinitely more. The words would keep coming, waves of love that they emanated and rolled through my boundless being. Jesus was ministering to me and I knew that dead souls got ministered to non-stop in this way. It was pure love and joy that words cannot fully contextualize. I knew this was where my mom was and is until resurrection day.

I was really happy for my mother at this point and I too did not want to come back. When I came back to my body and woke up I tried remembering the words that Jesus spoke, but they were IMPOSSIBLE to recall. They were holy and sacred words that man couldn’t repeat. I knew that this was what is referred to as being asleep in Christ for the dead, a Spirit paradise in the atmosphere. Now people ask me how I knew my mom was there or how I knew Jesus was ministering to asleep souls, my answer is this: anamnesis – a Greek word meaning “loss of forgetfulness.” God can reveal certain knowledge to us that we have not previously been taught. And sometimes it feels as if we all know certain things, but this life has a blindfold that will be removed once we die. I have had lessons in other dreams too where I had knowledge imparted to me, making it impossible to ignore that a higher power does exist. For one cannot teach himself new knowledge; and if something knew is taught, then there must be a teacher. God. So for all of you wondering where you dead loved ones are, all you have to do is look up into the blue sky and imagine what maximum love feels like; that IS where they are.

I once told myself alone in secret to read the New Testament 10 pages a day for 40 days to finish it in that time.. asking for one thing: “Dear God, please give me a new soul, your Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen”

Asked each day… three weeks later.. HE ENGULFED me with His love, an everlasting spring of eternal love coming straight into me very being…

All you gotta do is ask..

Matthew 6:6 – “Pray in secret so God the Father will reward you in secret.”
Luke 11:!3 – “Will God not give the Holy Spirit to those that ask Him!”

We have to ask… read.. be good.. and keep asking until we have HIM.. and nothing less… not a religion or judgment, just the HOLY SPIRIT that is given…. HEAVEN inside of you… supernaturally from GOD.. IT WILL happen if ANYONE can read all the pages and say it, keep saying it.. and sticking to it until they finish.

Peace to you all..

alex

I just had to write back

Dear Alex,

To cry and mourn the death of your mother is perfectly normal. What is not normal however, is praying and fasting “to Jesus” to show you where she is. You are a perfect example of person that is suffering from his religious beliefs.
I’m sorry you were brought up to believe that your mother could potentially be burning for eternity and that you are now left behind to worry about it. Rest assured that when your mother died, her life ended permanently. That is why it’s called death. What remains of her are memories and consequences of her actions while she was alive; both good and bad.

It’s not an easy subject to think about. You’re forced to face your own mortality when you think about it, but when you die, you die. There is no underworld, no Elysium, no Heaven, no gods on top of Mount Olympus, no unicorns. The concept of heaven and hell were borrowed and stolen from older religions than you probably are aware of and they in turn represented the sky and the underworld. Humans fly in planes all the time and we see no ghosts in the clouds in the heavens (btw, clouds are made of water vapor).

I’m truly sorry that you are convinced otherwise. This belief is clearly interfering with your natural mourning process. Consider the fact that what you were taught is a compilation of myths and legends assembled throughout the ages. Beliefs about ghosts, gods, goblins, trolls, spirits and fairies may be nice and comforting, but they are ultimately unfounded and only as real as you can force them to be in your mourning mind.
When I first read your message, I was laughing at how you described your fantasy world, but the more I read it, the more pity I feel for you. I’m sorry your mother died, but that is no excuse to live your life believing in ghosts and gods. The loss of your mother may take time to process, but you will get over it and one day you may even get over your Jesus fantasies.
- Tanin

]]> 0 Tanin http://0xtc.com/ <![CDATA[From quantum fluctuations to biological life]]> http://0xtc.com/?p=2409 2010-07-29T19:44:05Z 2010-05-25T13:26:00Z I thought it would be nice to summarize what I’ve learned so far about
the Universe

In general terms, life is the continuation of events that originated from quantum fluctuations in the fast void of empty space. Empty space at the quantum level is anything but empty. Remove all the matter and radiation and there are still events that take place in the space-time of nothing.

Quantum fluctuations constantly create and annihilate particles, usually leaving behind only the information of their existence and gravitational waves (this is why the expansion of the Universe is accelerating). For example, 90% of the mass of protons consists of the empty space between the quarks.

The Universe spawned from what time-bound Earthlings would call “nothing”. Like many aspects of quantum physics, this may seem counter-intuitive from our point of view. Our intuition tells us for example that cause and effect are in that order and that time is linear; but these assumptions are only valid on our scale of things and thus our perception. At the quantum level, time simply becomes an additional geometric property of spacetime.

Say, what?

At this point you may be wondering what this has to do with biology. Well, here’s a summary of where you as a living person sit in the order of natural events that brought you and every other thing you know here:

The matter-space-time complexity paradigm doesn’t stop there. The preservation and refinement of knowledge and information through science, and the technological evolution by natural selection we see today may very well be adapt to joining the ranks of natural orders of complexity.

I know about Santa, but what about my magic sky daddy? He’s real, right?

Another noteworthy aspect of the body of knowledge science has gathered over the years indicates that no gods are involved or required in the making of the Universe. This is due to the fact that in reality the laws of the Universe differ from those described in fantasy novels and mythological tales. (Who would’ve thought?)

It turns out that gods were attempts at explaining the world by primitive humans. Back in those days, the concept of “facts” or “evidence” eluded the majority of the illiterate nomadic population of the North African tribes. Without the scientific method, sky beings and ghosts were as good as any other explanation for natural processes. The concept was popularized by its fanatics and has had its own evolutionary story in history as it was indoctrinated and mutated from generation to generation. One could even make a case that Atheists are currently in such small numbers because doubters (those with the genetic predisposition to reject bullshit) were systematically murdered or banished from tribes in the primitive world. This practice is still performed in primitive societies throughout the religious world (Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and some parts of the United States).

Well, that was my summary. I hope you it made you think about your perception of the Universe and your (ultimately inconsequential) place in it.

]]> 0 Tanin http://0xtc.com/ <![CDATA[Programming the Universe]]> http://0xtc.com/?p=2400 2010-08-03T12:13:31Z 2010-03-21T13:59:00Z In order to simulate every particle in the Universe, you would need a computer that’s infinitely large. That’s because the computer would also have to simulate itself and its contents and in so doing would require an endless number of data representations in physical reality to store the simulation loop.

Ironically, that’s exactly what the world our Universe resides in is; An infinitely vast pool of space where particles are continuously created and destroyed until quantum fluctuations emerge that result in “Big Bangs” allowing things like us to exist from the ultimate infinite nothing.

Update:
It turns out I was totally wrong in how I visualized the Universe and the Big Bang.

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