on Gods & Skepticism
Musings on Life and Deeper Meaning
My Beliefs In which I try, and fail, to talk about the things I believe.
Against a Fine Tuned Universe
I discuss my take on the anthropic principle, and the general ideas of why I do not think the universe was fine tuned for us.
The Dark at the Edge of the Campfire: a short prose ramble by Doug (23 Jun 2009). I talk about the way that light and dark strike up different ideas in us at different times, and ponder, basically, if we are amazed by the night-sky because it has so many lights...or so much darkness?
The "Just One Thing" paradox (30 Jul 2009). I attack the concept that we can fix "just one thing" and solve our problems. Things are part of systems. Also some musing about how this links backs to our religious mind.
Understanding luck as Brownian Motion in our lives (28 Jun 2010).
See the You Who Could Have Been or Be the You Who Could Have Been? The old "would you rather" game and fate... (7 Mar 2011). What if you had a choice: you could get a machine that allows you to see what a single life choice meant to you life, or you could get a machine that allows you to go back and change that decision? Would rather have the knowledge of another life, or a shot at another life? And how does 'fate' fit into all of this?
On Quantum Universes and Blasphemy, or, again musing on the concept of inerrant Godly Good and the wrinkle of many possible universes (26 Jan 2012) A general tenet of modern religion (absent from antiquity) is that God [whichever variation worshipped] must do Good by the Nature of His [almost always a His] Being. Let me ramble on this topic for a moment...
On Rituals and Symbols
The Peace Sign and Nero's Cross, aka What does it all really mean? (16 Sep 2009). Is the peace sign really an under-the-table worship of the Devil? All signs point to no (pun-intended!).
So, about the whole "Me and Christmas don't get along" thing (23 Dec 2009). I write about why I get so testy about Christmas, and how it's not just some Scrooge effect. Partly, sure, it was retail that did it to me. But it's also the sheer madness of the whole thing.
On Conspiracy Theories and Urban Legends
Moon Landing Deniers, being confused by their passion (4 Jan 2012). Of all the conspiracy theories, one of the most continuously volatile is the moon landing hoax one. I have to admit, a big part of me does not understand why.
Remember the urban legend about the atheist professor getting shown up over a piece of chalk by a student in class? They are turning it into a movie... (16 Mar 2014). There were a variety of urban legends about a student standing up to an atheist professor and shaming said professor in front of a class. An upcoming movie taps into that myth to discuss belief, presumably polemically...
The strange persistent existence of food-based urban legends and a generational claim issue (19 Jan 2015). Urban legends have thrived on the Internet, though it might be debatable what sort of actual impact the 'net has had upon them: while they are easier to spread, they are also easier to fact check. Reading about the apparent resurgence of a certain chicken-fried myth, a particular line makes me want to muse slightly.
On the Bible and Related
It Is (Not) In the Bible
A collection of oddities
The Slippery Slope of Pascal's Wager
Where I point out some flaws.
Why do Christians hate Evolution?
Not that I can speak for anyone, mind you, but doesn't precisely stop me, now does it?
On Talking and Arguing About the Big Things
NAWF - Never Argue With a Fundamentalist, The history and reasoning behind the phrase (25 Dec 2009). I discuss why I came up with the phrase and why I still stick behindit. Why you should to. Though I'm not going to really argue the point. *rimshot* Seriously, though, it will save you time.
How "TamTamPamela" proves Poe's Law (16 Mar 2011). Declaring 'God is soooo good' for shaking the Japanese, Youtube user tamtampamela got a huge response. Except...well, let's just say she ended up proving Poe's Law as correct. See this development in action.
Watched part of a thing about Black Moon Manor, now contemplating the blurring of fiction, authenticity, and parody tied up in modern ghost hunting. (12 Sep 2013). A house that had a small-pox hospital [of death], a creepy funeral home, and unmarked graves? A hodgepodge of urban legends surrounding one place, or something of a mockery of the whole ghost hunting shebang?
On why the URL says "Mythologies"
There are no doubt some who will, upon reading the URL of this page, assume I am being an asinine blasphemer. I promise I am not. While the chance that I believe exactly what you believe are fairly small, and while I do not quite subscribe to the "no funnies on it if it is sacred"; the URL name was chosen for brevity. This is not a page about "gods" nor a page about "God". It is not a page about skepticism. It is a page about all sorts of things: belief, religion, faith, hope. One person's world-view is another person's heresy. Mythology, which now is equated with "lie", is a powerful term: the ability of humans to describe the world around them in terms they can understand. I felt it just summed it all up the quickest.
"The hidden is greater than the seen."
