We're Made Out of Meat

Slate has an article on growing meat in labs that talks about humans' bizarre ability to empathise with animals some times and slaughter them for meat other times, almost arbitrarily. I think about that a lot since in my head I still can't rationalise it, at least not completely ... so, I don't bother trying too hard. Steaks are tasty.

My daughter has been demanding meat ever since she tasted it in baby food. I've seen vegetarian friends lust at the thought of a burger. We're carnivores. We evolved that way. [...] Maybe what we're asking for, what God is giving us, is the wisdom to see that we can't change our craving for meat, but we can change the way we satisfy it.

How? By growing meat in labs, the way we grow tissue from stem cells. That's the great thing about cells: They're programmed to multiply. You just have to figure out what chemical and structural environment they need to do their thing. Researchers in Holland and the United States are working on the problem. They've grown and sautéed fish that smelled like dinner, though FDA rules didn't allow them to taste it. Now they're working on pork. The short-term goal is sausage, ground beef, and chicken nuggets. Steaks will be more difficult.

Update: If you're into information, check out Wikipedia's in-vitro meat article. If you're into opinions, check out Slashdot's artificial meat post.

Say What You Feel

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

-- Dr. Seuss

Fred Rogers, 1969

If you watched Mister Rogers' Neighbourhood as a kid then you might appreciate what he says in this 7 minute speech about childrens' programming.
I thought what he said last was really moving:

Mr. Rogers: Could I tell you the words of one of the songs
which, I feel, is very important?

Senator: Yes.

Mr. Rogers: This has to do with that good feeling of control,
which I feel that... that children need to know is there,
and it starts out:

What do you do with the mad that you feel?

and that first line came straight from a child.
I work with children, doing puppets, in very personal
communication with small groups.

What do you do with the mad that you feel?
When you feel so mad you could bite?
When the whole wide world seems oh so wrong
And nothing you do seems right

What do you do?
Do you punch a bag?
Do you pound some clay or some dough?
Do you round up friends for a game of tag?
Or see how fast you can go?

It's great to be able to stop
When you've planned the thing that's wrong
And be able to do something else instead
And think this song

I can STOP when I want to
STOP when I wish
Can STOP, STOP, STOP anytime
And what a good feeling to feel like this
And know that the feeling is really mine

Know that there's something, deep inside
That helps us become what we can
For a girl can be someday a lady
And a boy can be someday a man

Randi in Australia, 1980

On Google Video there's a clip of James Randi and Dick Smith performing their famous scientific experiment on dowsing.

I remember learning about this result a long long time ago so it was really cool to see the corresponding 'movie' of who was involved. The dowsers were all so confident that they were “tuning in” to some kind of “rays” being emitted from all objects. What was cool is that not only did they show that dowsing is no better than chance but they also showed that, when the dowsers knew where the water/metal/whatever was ahead of time, then their dowsing rods went off with 100% accuracy—it's all subconscious. Click here for the 45 minute video.

Something else I found interesting was that when the dowsers were asked why they're so sure that dowsing works they said things like “after so many years of success, it's more than coincidence” and then proceeded to use their imagination to explain what must really be going on (the “rays” being emitted). Kind of like when people say stuff along the lines of “a hurricane hit New Orleans, but I know what's really going on: God is punishing them for <insert sin here>.” It's funny how people use coincidences as an opportunity to make up bizarro explanations. Nothing is a coincidence... uh, right, whatever.

Happy Towel Day

I almost forgot it was Towel Day! Always know where your towel is.

Modesty isn't their Forté

Click here to watch a some discussion on FOX and CNN about Canada; it features Ann Coulter and even Carolyn Parrish sparring with Tucker "The Dick" Carlson.

They are lucky we allow them to exist on the same continent

For some people, nationalistic fervor seems to get their pride and their arrogance caught in some kind of permanent feedback loop.

Righteous Merchandise

To follow up on the Westboro Baptist post, here's another pic that I found sitting on my hard drive (don't ask why I collect this stuff). It's God Hates Fags, for kids!Saddest picture on my blog so far.

Persuasive?

Found these sitting on my hard drive. I ran across them sometime last year at a site promoting abstinence (which I have nothing against). Um, "telling dad" should be the least of your concerns -- unless he's into honour killings. Not that the dirty-slut shamety-shame strategy isn't effective on stupid people, but ... come on.

If the teen scratches off FALSE to the "I intend to wait until I'm married" question, they are faced with a skull and crossbones which signifies that they'll probably die from AIDS. I don't get why marriage itself has anything to do with it; they should just come out and say "nobody should have more than one sexual partner in their entire life." I guess nobody expects to get divorced anyway, so "wait until marriage" sort of implies one partner.

I wonder how many people bother getting tested for STIs these days. Besides the pregnancy issue, I guess condoms are a compromise so that people don't have to ask their new partner "have you been tested for sexual diseases" since that's non-sexy-talk. I have to admit, the "even with proper condom use, HIV has a 15% chance of transmitting" statistic seems surprising (they didn't teach that number in my sex ed class).

Update: Mike pointed out that the statistic is really "condoms only reduce risk of transmission by 85%" which means that there's still 15% of the original risk which in general is not 100% to begin with but more like 0.1% according to Wikipedia's HIV article. This seems shockingly low considering there are parts of the world where 15-50% of adults are infected with HIV.

They're Made Out of Meat

Good sci-fi has a way of putting everything into perspective, even when it's short and/or silly. Here's an excerpt from the short story They're Made Out of Meat:

"I thought you just told me they used radio."

"They do, but what do you think is on the radio? Meat sounds. You know how when you slap or flap meat, it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through their meat."

Righteous Judgements

Hannity and Colmes actually interviewed a member of Westboro Baptist Church. You've probably seen this tiny group of crazies on TV before, but usually they stick to harassing homosexuals. If you've never heard of this Christian Cult then I think reading about their leader, Fred Phelps, would be entertaining.
You can watch the 5 minute interview here:

Woo-woo lady: There are no innocent people. Thank God for 9/11. Thank God for dead soldiers. Thank God for IEDs. There are no innocent people.
[...]
I thank God for every single one of his richeous judgements that he executes upon a rebellious nation and on people who will not obey.

Colmes: What's the matter with you?

Woo-woo lady: What's the matter with YOU? Why won't you just obey? The scripture says that if you will obey the Lord, your God, bless you. If you do not obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, curse you. We're talking now about the curses of God.

The reason I posted this is because, even though this is a tiny cult and their statements don't represent anyone who matters, I think their views on suffering and innocence are, in a general sense, entirely consistent with huge swaths of Christianity. Somebody set me straight if I'm wrong there, but that's the impression I get.

Believers are right in saying that, if the old-school God exists (now with bonus wrath inside!) then saying “I don't like God” is not a sensible reason to reject Him. Even if you believe in God's wrath, our history is filled with evidence that we can spare ourselves unnecessary suffering if we actively try to defend ourselves using our brains and hands instead of praying, for example. I guess you can try to do both, but evidence for the former is rock-solid while evidence for the latter is pretty fishy.

If you're strictly worried about adhering to God's will, then of course you can just shrug your shoulders at worldly suffering. After all, “there are no innocent people.” It's obvious why humanists find this attitude frustrating. It's as if religious fundamentalists think we're God's little Sea-Monkeys. It all comes down to this: do you care about suffering in this life, or the next? Moderate people find a way to care about both and I think that's great.

Of course, nothing guarantees that an atheist cares about suffering in this world, either. After all you don't see me running off to the parts of Africa where people really need help—I sit around making software. Making myself upset has been a hobby.

Oh Father, Pretty Please?

The Colbert Report recently highlighted the folks in Washington D.C. who are rallying for people across the country to pray for lower gas prices:

FOX News Anchor: Can the power of prayer ward off the pain at the pump? Clergy members and other demonstrators believe it's worth a shot. They gathered yesterday joining other groups across the country calling on a higher power to step in.

Colbert: Pray for lower gas prices. Remember folks, God hears all prayers, but sometimes his answer is “let market forces handle it.”

Reminds me of prosperity theology which teaches the faithful that, among other things, if they pray hard—and pray right—God will deposite money into their bank accounts. For real. From Wikipedia's article on Peter Popoff:

God will make “divine transfers” into a viewer's “divine account.” His infomercial states that “A divine transfer is supernatural. This is not money you're going to make from your job. ... God is going to supernaturally put money into your account.”