Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
The world’s only one man media empire
Is your beloved dog really excited about a treat or is looking excited simply an evolutionary strategy to get more treats? How about our own emotions, can they be as selfish or even more so? Our greyhound, Rosie, is by all outward appearances a very happy dog most of the time, literally hopping with excitement… Continue reading The dogs we love, the emotions they might or might not experience, and what it means for ourselves
Here is land where birds nest directly on the trail, crowding in the thousands. The sea lions play with you in the crystal waters. Schools of eagle rays drift by like silent specters in the night while sea turtles make their way beneath. Lizards lounge on the beach, daring you to get close. The sun… Continue reading An expedition to the Galapagos Archipelago and all the beer on the boat
For hundreds of millions of years, life persisted on Earth with no meaning at all. Trillions upon trillions of creatures lived and died, born as dust and returned to it without remark. Humanity changed all that, making the meaningless, meaningful. Nature means nothing without people might seem a bold statement on the surface. Nature, after… Continue reading Nature means nothing without people and the experts have all gone insane
When Charles Darwin set off on a five year journey around the world in the Beagle, he was not yet the thinker he would become. Instead, he was merely a product of his time on his way to becoming a man for all time, as all world-changing geniuses are. Charles Darwin is among the most… Continue reading Charles Darwin, colonialism, cancel culture, and the irrepressible nature of genius
“I will say that the God concept is at the heart of 2001 but not any traditional, anthropomorphic image of God,” so said master filmmaker Stanley Kubrick about his breakthrough movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Learn more in this YouTube video... The imagery throughout the film strongly suggests the monolith is the working of God,… Continue reading Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey | The God Complex | Film Analysis on YouTube
In many ways a dog navigates the same world as we do with shared systems and processes across our senses, but in others their reality is dramatically different with a sense of smell so powerful they can count molecules in the air and see ghosts. I can’t be the only dog lover who frequently looks… Continue reading How a dog sees and navigates the world
Next generation chat software that delivers a more realistic conversational experience, can do research, and write stories has set the technology and media worlds on fire, but beneath the surface ChatGPT reveals one of the things that makes human intelligence so unique. We have physics built into our brain by evolution. The technology and media… Continue reading ChatGPT and the physics evolution built into our brains
As humans, we live in a world of feeling, that is our experience of the world always feels like something either good or bad, but does it truly have to be that way and, perhaps more importantly, why is it that way in the first place? The only way to answer the question is to… Continue reading Could you be an unconscious zombie and not even know it?
The human brain is the most complex object in the known universe, but key parts of its evolutionary history, from the earliest brains and nervous systems on the planet to more recent changes in our lineage, remain shrouded in mystery. New studies shed light on both ends of the spectrum, answering an over one hundred… Continue reading Big breakthroughs in the evolution of the brain and its connection to the stomach
This Thanksgiving, it is too much to ask that we cast off the bonds of our evolutionary heritage for good, but it should not be much to let the better angels of our nature have free reign for a single day. Friday, let the complaints and battles continue again, but Thursday, set it all aside… Continue reading There’s a lot to be thankful for
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 