Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
The world’s only one man media empire
Based on the latest research, we can continue to maintain that sentience, and the higher order consciousness that springs from it in humans, is the most widespread accident in the history of life, completely unnecessary, but somehow omnipresent, or we can reject that view and assume it serves a deep evolutionary purpose. Thought experiments can… Continue reading The evolution of consciousness and the omnipresence of sentience
Most of us wouldn’t say we were thankful for breathing. It’s one of those things we take for granted until something goes wrong, but considering the millions of events happening, all of it without our knowledge and none of it under our control, perhaps we should be. Thankfulness can be a funny thing. There… Continue reading A few of the things we should all be thankful for like breathing
Can octopuses feel pain and pleasure? What about crabs, shrimp, insects, and spiders? The phrase “thought provoking” is frequently overused, but Professor Jonathan Birch’s new book on animal sentience and what we can do about it deserves the accolade and then some. When I was asked to review an advance copy of Professor Jonathan… Continue reading The Edge of Sentience and the beauty of being wrong
We, indeed all life on Earth, are as ancient as we are new, as grandly complex as we are simple. Indeed, it is fair to say that complex life wouldn’t exist at all without this contradiction. The mammalian ear is significantly more complex than our bird and lizard cousins in the vertebrate family. Rather than… Continue reading Evolution: Three new studies highlight the marvelous contradictions between preserved forms and new innovations that support complex life on Earth
A new study from the University of Vienna on the inner ear in mammals offers valuable evidence and insight, while upending at least some of the conventional wisdom by finding the shape of the ear in some lineages is more directly connected to habitat and lifestyle than genetics alone. Counter intuitively, we can find evidence… Continue reading The shape of your inner ear, convergent evolution, and the evolution of evolvability
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
