I think today's xkcd describes my feelings on life pretty well.

Science is often criticized for not being able to address the supernatural. It is argued that by adhering to methodological materialism that we automatically preclude supernatural explanations. Some people see this as a weakness of science and argue that this blind spot gives religion some value in explaining our world. I believe that by looking at the concept of the supernatural that one can come to the conclusion that it is not a weakness for science at all. And even that it is largely irrelevant.

For something to be supernatural it must be outside of our world. Angels and demons and God are supernatural because most people see them as inhabiting a sphere of existence separate from our mundane physical reality. In other words, they are beyond nature, hence “super”natural.

I would argue that anything that acts on our world must be a part of our world, or at the very least become part of our world to have any impact. Therefore, anything that is truly supernatural would not be able to affect our world. How can something that is outside of nature have an effect on nature? Anything that can act on or in our world is therefore natural in origin and is therefore a valid target for scientific inquiry. If God exists and can affect our world then God must be natural, or at least have some natural component which means that science is perfectly capable of exploring the nature of God. If God exists and is truly supernatural, and thus beyond science’s grasp, then God cannot have an impact on our world. In which case God may as well not exist for all the difference it makes.

This lovely little quote comes from an official from the Catholic Church talking about the excommunication of a 9-year old Brazilian girl for getting an abortion after being raped by her stepfather (who was incidentally not excommunicated).

"'We have laws, we have a discipline, we have a doctrine of the faith,' the official says. 'This is not just theory. And you can't start backpedaling just because the real-life situation carries a certain human weight.'"

The Catholic Church has reached a point where I am willing to call the institution actively malicious. The Pope should no longer have any moral weight in the world and his teachings should be actively scorned.

And Bill Donohue can quote me on that.

The post I mentioned will have to wait till tomorrow. I was dragged out on a boat earlier today and am shortly going to be dragged out to a bar/bars, so it simply is not going to get typed up.

So I just got back from a week of camping, which I don't think I ever mentioned here, but whatever.

Anyway, I check my voice-mail and discovered that I did not get the job in Little Falls (which I also don't think I mentioned on here) where it was down to just me and another person. And yet they liked me so much that they tried to figure out how to create another position so they could "bring me on board." This idea was of course not gonna fly with the BOE in a budget crisis year, so the upshot is that I'm still unemployed...

Also I finally wrote a short bit on the supernatural I've been meaning to write for a long time while I was back in the woods. I'll slap it up here tomorrow at some point.

PZ shares an example of why science journalism is not well regarded by most scientists.

I think it is somewhat indicative of the sorry state of journalism overall too.

This is more for my own reference than anything else, but is likely a good read for the science-minded.

"You will not generate new Sagans by insisting on deference. You will not change a culture with a declining appreciation of science by demanding that scientists respect the beliefs of people who despise science the most."

Apparently Daniel Radcliffe is an atheist.

I don't need anymore similarities with this kid. I hear enough about Harry Potter from students as it is...

Totally did not see that coming.

I think this is the nearly the best thing Palin could do right now from a Democrats perspective. If she tries to run for President in 2012 she is going to find this move extremely hard to justify.

I don't even begin to understand where this is coming from. It's such a bizarre move, right up there with Gov. Sanford not resigning...

Study finds that we show less empathy for individuals in different social groups.

I'll be honest. I didn't read the article. The headline just makes me go "Well, duh."

Next on the agenda: scientists to determine if rain is wet.

A new study suggests that humans are more related to orangutans than to chimps.

The orangutan lover in me find this absolutely fascinating, but I don't think they will be throwing over the orthodoxy of the textbooks just yet.

The problem with the study is that it is based solely on morphology and biogeography (which is basically what animals and fossils are found where). They ignore, and in fact contradict, the DNA evidence.

In effect we have two sets of data, drawn from different sources, that lead us to two entirely different conclusions about who our closest cousin is. How do we reconcile this issue?

Many scientist tend to give primacy to DNA evidence, and considering how much we use it and how many relationships are based on it I tend to be sympathetic to their point of view. The authors behind the new study offer some pretty valid criticisms of DNA studies to date, and they should be addressed. However, that would still leave us with the contradictory morphology and biogeography data to be explained. I don't know enough about the technical details of either field to offer any ideas here, but I think this will be an interesting debate to watch and I hope I'm able to keep track of it.

Comedy Central has ordered a new season of Futurama!

I am a huge fan of Futurama. This has officially made my week.


(via yendi)

Yes, that white fuzzy looking stuff is snow.

On May 31st.

Loves me some Adirondack weather...

Creationists do come up with some "interesting" arguments...

California Supreme Court Upholds Prop 8.

I'm hardly a legal scholar, but I don't see how their decision makes any sense at all, especially in light their decision last year.

I thought California was supposed to be like the bluest of blue states, what the hell is going on out there?

Climate Change Odds Much Worse Than Thought.

Is it just me, or is there a study saying more or less the same thing coming out just about every year? Makes me wonder why people are still dragging their feet on this. Do they care about their grandchildren's future? Are they really so short-sighted as to deny the increasing stacks of evidence put in front of their faces for silly politically motivated reasons?

I really don't understand this mentality of denial. I wish I did, because maybe then I could do something to address it.

Because some of these Catholic priests deserve to end up there.

I'm sure most of you have heard of the disgusting abuses that occurred in the Irish Catholic Workhouse system.

Well, the odious troll and douche-bag supreme Bill Donohue has weighed in on the issue.

He thinks that the headline "Irish Priests Beat, Raped Children" is "wild and irresponsible" because rape made up a mere "12 percent of the cases" and that only "about 12 percent of the abusers were priests." He also seems to think that because most of the reported incidents occurred in the 1970's people are making too big a deal about it because "corporal punishment was not exactly unknown in many homes during these times."

Really Bill? You seem to have missed the fact that some of the reports go back into the '30s and that the Catholic Hierarchy has conspired to cover this up, protect the rapists, and avoid punishment for nearly 80 fucking years!

I have two words for you Mr. Donohue, and I really hope you somehow find this and read them.

Fuck.

You.

PZ reviewed a new book called "How to Build a Dinosaur."

I can't help but sharing a chunk of his review that made me chuckle.

"As for respecting the chickens themselves, what can be grander and more respectful than this project? I would whisper to my chickens, "With these experiments, I will take your children's children's children, and give them great ripping claws like scythes, and razor-sharp serrate fangs like daggers, and I will turn them into multi-story towers of muscle and bone that will be able to trample KFC restaurants as if they were matchboxes." And their eyes would light up with a feral gleam of primeval ambition, and they would offer me their ovaries willingly. I'd be doing the chickens a favor. Maybe some chicken farmers would have cause to be fearful, but I wouldn't be working on their embryos, so let them tremble."

I may need to get my hands on this book...

I am officially done student teaching! Everything is in. All the grades are good. Check one more thing off the list.

I'm taking the weekend off, and then starting Monday my full-time job becomes finding a job....

I'm still not 100% sure whether this is real or if it might be a Poe. If it is real I can only imagine where the hell they came up with the numbers from...

On another note Dinesh D'Souza offers what I will (generously) refer to as "weak sauce" in regards to the issue of natural evil.


Now I return to writing a paper on Special Education...