What the Bleep Do We Know!? This hard-to-describe movie, which combines talking-head documentary footage with a fictional narrative, attempts to explain quantum physics in terms most audiences can understand. The extent to which it succeeds will largely be the extent to which a viewer grasps the complex theories being addressed in those terms. Does matter exist? Does time flow in one direction? This documentary is a radical departure from convention. It demands a freedom of view and greatness of thought so far unknown, indeed, not even dreamed of since Copernicus. It's a documentary. This documentary is available for preview only. The 25 Most Influential Living Atheists Go back a few hundred years, and atheism was very much a minority position. Those who were atheists would have been ostracized by society and possibly even killed (as in burned at the stake, depending on how far back you go). Fast forward to the present, and atheism is far less objectionable, and in some circles even the dominant view. In the new millennium, prominent atheists abound. One website, www.celebatheists.com, is even dedicated to listing celebrity atheists. Celebrity atheists are wide-ranging and include people like Mark Zuckerberg, Lance Armstrong, and Jodie Foster. To make it on SuperScholar’s list of influential living atheists, an atheist can’t merely disbelieve in God but also must actively encourage others to disbelieve in God. Thus, to make it on our list, an atheist needs not only to be actively promoting atheism but also to do so as scholars in scholarly forums – this is, after all, SuperScholar! 1. Weighing in at the top spot is, of course, Richard Dawkins. 2. 3.
Examined Life Avital Ronell She starts by questioning the value of meaning. Meaning is imposed on reality and if we only look at reality and not impose meaning then we can do little more than observe it as we move through it. She uses that to question authority - religion - social structures as they offer imposed meaning and to her deny the simple fact that reality just is . Peter Singer The basis of this argument was essentially a christian philosophy - do unto others as you would have them do unto you - which I always found to be a troubling and weak position. He goes on to suggest a moral confluence between engaging in consumerism and the suffering of others. For this to be a cogent argument I think it has to be based on a stronger form of love and commitment. Kwame Anthony Appiah A more rounded approach. Martha Nussbaum She begins by describing the social contract as one where providers to the whole group, or those that pull their weight, are afforded the greatest roles and opportunities.
Modern Enlightenment Waking Life From the free-spirited abandon of Slacker and Dazed and Confused to the Oscar-nominated odyssey Boyhood, writer/director Richard Linklater has long been one of the most adventurous, thoughtful and innovative filmmakers in the world of independent cinema. His 2001 effort titled Waking Life is a shining illustration of his singular voice. It also contains many of the elements that have preoccupied him throughout his career; mainly in its use of non-actors, its exploration of complex themes like existentialism, and its boldly imagined challenge to traditional narrative form and structure. The story - or what there is of it - concerns a young unnamed protagonist who questions the reality of his existence. Is he awake, or is he living an endless dream? Some viewers may find this exercise ponderous and dull. Upon its release, Waking Life generated most of its press ink due to the style in which it was made. Directed by: Richard Linklater
Debates: Religion: Statements Philosophy and the Matrix: Return to the Source This documentary goes over many philosophical concepts that inspired, and are presented in, the trilogy. They spend the first half on the original film, and the rest of the time then goes over parts 2 and 3, with a couple of things on the Animatrix shorts. It consists of clips of aforementioned releases and interviews. It does a good job of informing the audience about the various thoughts, although it would obviously take far longer to go over all the symbolism in them, and one can ask the very appropriate question if something anywhere near that definite and final is even desired, by viewers or the Wachowskis alike. That does mean that this is limited, but it is likely enough to enlighten and provide food for thought. Obviously, it also makes a difference if one particularly wants to think about the meanings one could possibly take out of them.
Why Atheists Are More Intelligent Than the Religious It is natural to believe in God, so more intelligent individuals are more likely to be atheists. Religion is a cultural universal, and its practice is observed in every known human society. However, as I explain in earlier posts (Why do we believe in God? Part I , Part II ), recent evolutionary psychological theories suggest that religiosity may not be an adaptation in itself but may be a byproduct of other evolved psychological mechanisms variously called the “animistic bias” or the “agency-detector mechanisms.” These theories contend that the human brain has been selected to agency – personal, animate, and intentional forces – behind otherwise natural phenomena whose exact causes cannot be known. This is because agency – and making a Type I error of false positive – makes you a bit paranoid, but being paranoid is often conducive to survival. If these theories are correct, then it means that religiosity – belief in higher powers – may have an evolutionary origin.
Dangerous Knowledge In this one-off documentary, David Malone looks at four brilliant mathematicians - Georg Cantor, Ludwig Boltzmann, Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing - whose genius has profoundly affected us, but which tragically drove them insane and eventually led to them all committing suicide. The film begins with Georg Cantor, the great mathematician whose work proved to be the foundation for much of the 20th-century mathematics. He believed he was God's messenger and was eventually driven insane trying to prove his theories of infinity. Ludwig Boltzmann's struggle to prove the existence of atoms and probability eventually drove him to suicide. Finally, Alan Turing, the great Bletchley Park code breaker, father of computer science and homosexual, died trying to prove that some things are fundamentally unprovable. The film also talks to the latest in the line of thinkers who have continued to pursue the question of whether there are things that mathematics and the human mind cannot know. Part 1 Part 2
Cheating and God: Study ties willingness to cheat, viewpoint on what God is like - latimes.com A new study on the link between one's view of God and willingness to cheat on a test is the latest example of social scientists wading into the highly charged field of religion and morality. The study, titled "Mean Gods Make Good People: Different Views of God Predict Cheating Behavior" was peer reviewed and published earlier this month in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. In line with many previous studies, it found no difference between the ethical behavior of believers and nonbelievers. "The take-home message is not whether you believe in God, but what God you believe in," said Azim Shariff, a psychologist at the University of Oregon. They administered a math test to 100 undergraduates, advising the students that a computer glitch meant the correct answers would pop up after a few seconds unless they quickly pressed the space bar. "We received hate mail from both atheists and from religious people," Shariff said of that study. metrodesk@latimes.com