God, why?

This issue of New Scientist is called the God Issue. I read it because I have issues with the idea of a God, since I believe human kind uses the existence of a God as an excuse for its failings, rather than taking responsibility for the things that we do. Let me say now I am passionately against religion and the idea of a God, but am open minded enough to concede that if the evidence exists for any religious argument I would be prepared to listen. Having said that I do agree that some of the ideas that form the cornerstone of many religions i.e human kindness, love, equality, friendship, appreciation of our world, are all things I do endorse as they help us function together. These things do not need magic (religion) to be important and do not need indoctrination (brain washing) and control to be relevant. I find most religions are not open to discussion or argument. That’s my point of view, now to some of the articles.

In the end I neither want nor need a God. I don't need an after life, what I need is to live the one life I have as fully as possible. Or as Rudyard Kipling put it  "To fill every unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run"

I believe Carl Sagan said  You can’t convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it’s based on a deep seated need to believe.

Finally if you are interested in this type of debate, here are a few youtube offerings from    Stephen Fry

Just a pigment of your imagination

Here's a quick one for all you lovers of the colour magenta (including pinks and purples). In reality it, the colour does not exist. Unlike all other colours of the visible light spectrum, or electromagnetic radiation there is no wavelength of light that corresponds with magenta - hence the reason it's not in a rainbow. It appears that this colour is made up in the software that runs the organ we call our brain. The reason it does this is because magenta falls between red light and blue light and is really the absence of green - our brain does this to cope.

Look at this minute physics lecture on youtube it explains it really well

While on this sort of subject I have really been getting into the minute physics lectures along with many from the Royal Institution and listening to the infinite monkey cage hosted by the it's amazing Brian Cox.

Finally here's a thought about the Voyager space probes that have now left our solar system and the suns influence. As they travel on their interstellar journey think about the gold plaques on their side - these are there as an introduction to mankind, but maybe more importantly to give hope to humanity. The whole venture was the work of Carl Sagan. If you think how insignificant these space craft are, that they are unlikely to ever be found by any species - since they are so tiny in the Universe - and yet they will outlast humanity and will one day be the only evidence we ever existed.

Demon haunted world

I have just started reading this book (sub-title : science as a candle in the dark). All I can say is if you have ever wondered why science works, read this. It does not pretend that science has all the answers, but it does explain why it is our best option for reasoned enlightenment.

Why Carl Sagan never became more highly regarded outside the world of science is beyond my comprehension.


As an aside to this point I am doing my bit for charity by joining the mobro initiative, whereby you grow a mo (moustache) during November and use it to raise funds.

Books of note

Just a quick mention of two books I really want to get:

The Demon-haunted World:Science As a candle in the Dark

Pale Blue Dot: a Vision of the Human Future in Space

Both are by Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan, the Cosmos and what's wrong with us.

Before I really get into this topic I must point out that I have discussed some of these topics before.

Over the last few weeks I have watched the wonderful “COSMOS’ series, something I remember seeing in 1980/1981. The series has brought to my mind several issues relating to the series, my own personal thoughts and to other issues from Carl Sagan from various sources. Here I've included a link to youtube showing part of the series, where Carl explains the 4th dimension

First up there’s the wonder of all the beauty of the cosmos, especially the pictures of the  night-sky. I don’t understand how people cannot be moved when they see images of the stars and galaxies, or why people are not intrigued to know what lies out there. One of my first memories is watching the first moon landing and ever since I have always looked at the moon and wondered what it would be like to stand on another world. That moment in human history inspires me and makes me believe that if humanity really wanted, we could leave our Earth behind.

Something that ties in with the wonder and beauty is a video based on time lapsed photography taken from a mountain top in Spain. I really cannot find the words to express how this makes me feel, instead all I can suggest is that you take a look yourself here ...

One of the views that comes over in the Cosmos and was something Carl was especially pleased to promote was the need to examine concepts using scientific principles with a sceptical mind. (see earlier blog entries). It seems that Carl believed in the power of testing ideas and following the evidence, where-ever that may lead. 

One of the things I picked up was how many scientific concepts and ideas were around many thousands of years ago but were lost or suppressed by religion and mysticism. Just think if some of these ideas were allowed to flourish all those years ago we as a species may have been out in the stars long ago. Why is it that humans cling strongly to superstition and religious doctrine when there’s no evidence for these things and common sense suggests they are ridiculous. The problem is that many of these things are still prevalent in many nations of the world - an example of this is a recent survey which suggests that the majority of nations have given up fighting anthropogenic climate change (many believing humanity is not responsible because they distrust science), instead preferring to let climate change happen and deal with the consequences.

Another concept that came through often was “if mankind survives”. When looking at the probability of life other than on earth, one think that is discussed is that on many worlds life may have arisen and even reached a state of high technology, but that it is likely that few technologically advanced life forms avoid destroying themselves (could this be us). I often have doubts that we as a species will avoid this pitfall as I see very little in my daily life that fills me with confidence (based on human greed and the me culture that has developed). Carl however seemed to believe that humanity could, given the right motivation, reach out and become more than we are now - what potential. Is there anything as disappointing as potential unfulfilled, this is why the tragic death of any child is so much more disturbing (for me).

I thought I had written about this before but it seems not. Recently while lying on my back in the grass in Northumberland I was looking up at the sky and dreaming of a flight to new worlds. Slowly my mind wandered to life other than on Earth and I began to think about how tragic it would be if humans are the only “intelligent” life in this Universe, especially if we do manage to destroy ourselves and this planet.

Finally you really need to watch this video from Carl Sagan reading part of his book “little blue dot”. Any body who watches this and doesn’t believe that we, as humans, are all in it together and need to sort out our differences, are probably part of the problem. Loosing our religion and superstitions would probably help - in my view.

On a purely personal note this video  shows why Andy Irons surfed. (For those who do not know Andy died this year) It also resonates with me because I have to say that I feel exactly the same as I am always a better person when I have surfed, and it brings me peace, helping me with my own personal demons