Atheism Exposed: The Motive

“Without proof, belief is still belief – even if you believe in nothing.”

- Xenocrates

Is Atheism a religious belief? Most would argue no, since atheism is purportedly anything but religious. However, of late I’ve been observing a pattern among atheists that has made the entire movement frightfully indiscernible in motive from the very religious proponents they seek to rebut. The trouble lies in the fact that the argument between the two camps is about insubstantial belief – something that is unquantifiable one way or another. As a result, both sides of the fence are making all of the same mistakes – which is why their motivations must be called into question. That is the point of this post. Nonbelievers and people with imaginary friends, follow me for a moment. I have a few things I want to pick your brains about.

The Science of Beauty

“While beauty may be skin deep, ‘pretty’ is still a very compelling argument.”

- Xenocrates

What is beauty? How do we know when someone is beautiful? Is it really in the eyes of the beholder? Is it specific to individual preference? Is beauty something that is culturally indigenous? Is one race naturally more beautiful than another? Are beautiful people better than the rest of us? Are beautiful people naturally shallow? These are all valid questions that most people tend to make incorrect assumptions about. The answers may surprise you (as they did me). As it turns out, a lot of what is commonly associated with beauty is largely based on bias and a lack of understanding of the factors that make someone beautiful. In this post, I explore all of these in great detail. So whether you’re beautiful or aesthetically challenged, you may find this post of great interest.

The Obama Era

“The time has come to reaffirm…that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.”

- Barack H. Obama

The world has gone bonkers for Barack Obama – and who can blame them? It has been a while since the White House has had a rational resident and a while longer since America has had a leader that could inspired the entire nation with such prolific oratory. What is a first however, is that the most powerful nation on earth has had a leader that is so unimaginably popular that he has been embraced by almost every nation, creed, race, religion and people on earth to the point where he has evolved into a cultural icon of Biblical proportions – literally.

Useless DNA

“Modern civilization has rendered much of our genetic code obsolete.”

- Xenocrates

I'm pretty sure Ridley Scott's "Alien" (1979) was inspired by this surgery...

Have you ever considered that you can save yourself the pain of appendicitis by simply having your appendix removed before it ever occurs? The only problem is that appendicitis is not an illness that would necessarily occur in everyone and so most people would be paying for surgery they do not absolutely need. The appendix is one of many genetically predicated aspects of our being that has been rendered outdated by evolution – yet we are all still being born with one. Currently, the appendix serves no useful purpose. But if it becomes inflamed, it can incite septicemia which almost always leads to death. In this post, I examine four notable psychological characteristics we still have that we no longer need. Their continued presence causes a great more harm than good. However, unlike an appendix, these destructive psychological propensities cannot be removed so easily as they are all hard wired into the brain by now useless genetic code. Why do we still possess these useless characteristics? I suspect that the only reason why we even notice them is because we are on the brink of the next phase of human evolution.

Epiphanies Volume 4 – Lessons Learned in 2008

“Whenever you lose, whatever you lose, however you lose, never lose the lesson.”

- Xenocrates

For me, the year of 2008 was filled with great learning experiences. Personally, I think I gained several more points than usual in my cognitive development than I normally would – perhaps the greatest since 2003 when I had my last great evolutionary leap in cognition. This post lists the top 100 of the most important things that I have learned this year. For ease of reading, I have sub-divided these equally into five distinct categories each written as tersely elegant aphorisms in bullet form notation. Depending on your life experience, some of these you will have already known. Others, you may not. Some may seem familiar to you as great minds ultimately come to the same conclusion. Either way, irrespective of our individuality, I believe at least some of these aphorisms will be as much an eye opener for you as they were for me. As far as I know, all of these epiphanies are my own original thoughts. Enjoy:

The Stop Gap Lover

“Every single woman has at least three boyfriends – one for each key feminine desire.”

- Xenocrates

Gentlemen, does your girlfriend have a habit of discussing your relationship problems with other dudes? What about girls who insist on having a gay friend? Have you ever noticed your girlfriend or wife spending hours on the phone with some bloke you know she would never sleep with, but it perplexes you anyway? Have you ever noticed that your girlfriend keep a scrawny or overweight, unattractive geek around who always tries to play hero when you exercise your God-given rights to act like a jerk when the game is on or when your boys come over?

Ladies, have you ever wondered why some guys never introduce you to their friends? Have you ever wondered why he only comes over for sex, tv and gifts, but never invites you out to party with him, has never asked you out on a “real” date, or is not interested in meeting your family or friends? What about guys who are always “hiding” when they’re having sexual relations with you? What about those guys who never call after you’ve borne your soul out to them telling them how you feel or after you’ve given them the best sex ever? Do you ever wonder why you’ve had so many great flings, but no real relationships? Are you tired of being some guys’ secret lover?

If you have had any of these concerns, then read on. Herein lies an eye opener for all of you. This article will explain everything.

Hollywood on Trial

“When you go to the movies,check both your coat and your brain at the door.”

- Xenocrates

Have you ever seen one of those movies where you saw something that just didn’t make sense?  I’m not talking about the obvious stuff that is the product of special effects like punching through a wall or making an impossible shot. Stuff like that is usually quaintly explained by the plot of the movie - such as the main characters being from another planet, or have superpowers that are the product of genetic mutation. We all know that suspension of belief is critical to most movies.

However, I’m talking about some of the things that are logically implausible or downright stupid. I’m talking about stuff that is the product of continuity mismanagement or lack of simple research. I will admit that it does seem hypocritical to assail Hollywood for breaking the laws of simple logic while allowing them to break the laws of physics on a regular basis. But the reason why this allegation has validity is that we expect them to defy the laws of physics. We however do not expect them to defy the laws of reason – or at the very least, not to defy the basis of the plot.

In this post, I cover some of the greatest, most common, most inexplicable, most stupid things that I’ve seen in movies that simply just don’t make sense. Put on your thinking caps for this one. I wax scientific about why the Millennium Falcon can’t possibly make the Kessel Run in 12 Parsecs and why Superman could never safely move faster than a speeding bullet – ever.

Faux News

“Deceive one and you’re a liar. Deceive thousands and you’re a cable news channel.”

- Xenocrates

I’ve been watching cable news for a long time and I will admit that running a 24 hour cable news network on live national television is no small feat. That’s why occasionally, even with the best intentions, the monotony can get to the producers who have to be constantly coming up with new ideas and ways to tell true stories. That’s why any cable news channel has to have a bevy of staff writers and producers who are constantly innovating. They have to. But no matter how hard they try, human emotion always finds a way into the mix with these gloomy lunatics with their fluffy boom sticks and their cheap verbal tricks. Now some cable news channels make this faux pas only every once in a while. Unfortunately, some like Fox News make that mistake frequently. Now even though CNN and other stations clearly have some liberal bias, at least they have the dignity to not make it appear so blatantly. Fox News on the other hand is clearly conservatively biased and has unapologetically exposed themselves as a Republican propaganda machine. Yet, they have the audacity to classify themselves as being “fair and balanced”. How is this possible? It’s based on a very simple explanation really. Allow me to elaborate:

The Obama Nation

“Politics is the subtle art of convincing other people that they already agree with your opinion.”

- Xenocrates

After a long, protracted and vicious political fight, Barack Obama, a 47 year old senator from Illinois,  clinched a very decisive victory over his Republican rival, John McCain – all while still only on his first term as a senator. That’s a huge accomplishment, considering he only became senator in 2004. This is the definition of a meteoric rise. All over the world, the second coming of Chri… err… I mean, Obama’s victory signaled the end of eight years of a political mess of epic proportions under the previous administration. This is HUGE. But I don’t think half of America realises how huge this really is. Most people are clueless of the true combo buster Obama used to decisively win this one. In this post, I expose the true genius of Obama’s campaign. This was no election. This is the beginning of an epic revolution. Barack Obama is much bigger than I originally thought he was.

The Anatomy of Belief

“Conflict over belief is as worthwhile as conflict over a favourite colour.”

- Xenocrates

There are many systems of belief in the world. Most beliefs are propagated by the innate compulsion of their subscribers to derive purpose from the world around them. As such, religion is effectively a moderate transmutation of mythology, philosophy and science. It attempts to be the silver bullet that is the catch-all solution for all of life’s problems. That’s why religion is the most conspicuous of all systems of belief. It attempts to explicitly fill the gaps science and philosophy do not. However, there are some dark, disturbing characteristics about religious belief that a lot of religious people are either unaware of or seem to ignore altogether. Growing up in an environment that catered to the far Christian right taught me a lot of highly valuable lessons about these characteristics. This post details the top ten most valuable lessons I’ve learned about religious cognition. Most of these I learned after intense debate and oftentimes, vicious confrontation: