Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’
Ricky Gervais & How I chose to be an atheist
Ricky upsets a journalist and I explain my choice of atheism
As ever, the views of some can be exaggerated and then used to paint all, suggesting this is the bigger picture. On twitter you can chose to follow people who will tell you how nothing supports religion being true, that God is a bastard, and you are a moron if you believe. Then you can say this is the new wave of atheism.
Social media means you can find anyone voicing any opinion on any subject you like so you can choose to find what you agree with and what you disagree with. A journalist can mock Dawkins that he could not get a crowd of 200,000 well wishers like the pope. Ricky Gervais can mock morons that need education in reply to that tweet . That journalist can then blog about it, feeling hurt for Catholics insulted, then mock Gervais’ career and achievements since “The Office”. Earning his journalistic pay cheque because traffic will be higher to the blog having talked about Gervais, who he despises for filling his twitter feed with “sick” jokes. Still maybe professional blogs these days are about catching a whale with tweet bait, and blubbering to make a buck when caught.
The unfollow option is there on twitter; unless you want to be continually offended. So you can tell people about the offence. Then get paid for writing how offended you were.
Yet there is one thing in the whole debate, on my side of atheism, which is disingenuous when recycled again and again. The:
I have looked at the evidence, only rational conclusion is man made. I have not chosen atheism, it is the only rationale thing to be. Having faith there is a God does not make it true; my non belief is based on logic not sentiment.
My point would be – we still chose to be atheists. There are a myriad of reasons why you might be religious even if not true (social status, better health, feeling good about it, fear of persecution, and yes Ricky lack of education about alternatives). You could believe God was a first cause, then went away and all human thought is trying to get to grips with that cut umbilical cord.
Looking at organised religion I do see the designs and machinations of human (and predominantly male) thinking. The idea of individual salvation and personal insight sounds blissful, but how that differs from a delusion to being actual spiritual enlightenment there seems no clear way to mark the distinction.
All things considered, I choose atheism. It makes more sense to how I think about these things. If there is a God not too fussed what they make of that. Trying to make sense of human thought past and present, and developing my own, this is a small part of who I have decided to be. Religion is a human thought I disagree with.
I do not want a utopia where all agree and follow my reasoning. Instead aiming for a world where we celebrate differences and agree no one should be harmed for religious or ideological or ethnic or racial or gender or sexual orientation reasons. Religion seems to hinder these things burning bridges while stressing to all who listen it is the ark to cross over to the other side.
The great thing is you do not have to be an atheist, or educated, to be moral. So let us speak up above the rants, and hissy fits that try to dominate social media. Avoiding the rabbit holes, and tweet baits that await us.
Photo from Ricky Gervais site
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
Follow @JPSargeant78
Moradi cousins and a missing tweet at 7PM
Marayam Namazie made me aware via a tweet about the case of Mr and Mr Moradi (cousins), who are under threat of execution having been arrested without charge then tortured for a period of nine months, during which confessions were given that they wish to retract. Among the comfessions “enmity with god.”
Amnesty International commented:
Zaniar Moradi and Loghman Moradi were arrested respectively on 1 August 2009 and 17 October 2009 in Marivan. They were held without charge by the Ministry of Intelligence for the first nine months of their detention during which they were moved several times between detention facilities. Around the beginning of December 2010 they were transferred to Raja’i Shahr Prison northwest of Tehran. The two men then wrote a letter stating that during their interrogation by the Ministry of Intelligence they were forced to “confess” to the allegations of murder after being tortured and threatened with rape. Amnesty International has so far been unable to confirm reports that Zaniar Moradi was 17 at the time of his arrest.
On Namazie’s blog here she called for people to mark the protest joining in a tweet that would be happening around the world at the same time, 7PM GMT. As you can see below I mentioned to her I would take part and included a link to more info on the Moradis (which you can read here)
At 7PM sharp, having set my phone and saving in drafts the tweet I duly sent the message:
I was however surprised after three minutes not to see Namazie tweet. She did not participate.
On checking out her tweeter page a few minutes from writing this blog, I noticed that the tweet she gave mentioning the Moradis (which I had replied too as above in first photo) had been DELETED. No tweets at all for today exist at the moment.
The blog though mentioned remains up where it states:
Join the TweetStorm today 8 January at 3pm EST, 7pm London, 12pm PST, 8pm Berlin, 10:30pm Tehran. Tweet #FreeMoradis. Stop the execution of political prisoners in #Iran, #Zanyar & #Loghman #Moradi.
It is odd that you miss an event you have encouraged others to participate in, but there can be very good reasons why you may miss. However, to delete the tweets that mentioned the blog and the event in question afterwards?
Will put to Marayam to ask her. Such things are disconcerting.
UPDATE 9/1/2013: Marayam says she was tweeting all day and did not delete tweet. Yet, as you can see in response on her twitter page tweets are missing with none showing for yesterday.
UPDATE: 10/1/2013 looks like a bug sometimes stops you seeing tweets in timeline (source).
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
Follow @JPSargeant78
Krauss paperback US edition
Lawrence Krauss announced on twitter that the paperback version of a universe from nothing would include a new preface on the Higgs Boson and a new chapter “Why versus How questions”. Except having blogged about the paper book waiting to be read in full come Christmas Day knew did not have these.
He kindly replied to my query:
Admittedly not everyone does reply – so many tweets at them and time make that not possible. However, it does allow engagement and great when it is a two way conversation leading to something.
When there is hopefully a link (it may be up to the publishers not Krauss) will post on the blog.
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
Follow @JPSargeant78
Are you following me on Twitter?
The blog is only half the story.
On Twitter you will see me currently trying to get an Islamist to read On
The Origin of Species or at least Dawkins on.
Links to articles, pithy short remarks. Some light hearted banter. Informative retweets.
Following me does not mean you are not thinking for yourself. I always hope you do, and like me you use dialogue to improve that capacity.
Night folks!
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
Follow @JPSargeant78
The Pope follows himself
Seeing who the pope was following (namely himself) reminded me of a Peter O’Toole quote:
When did I realize I was God? Well, I was praying and I suddenly realized I was talking to myself.
The tweets will apparently start from next week.
The Vatican has announced that the long-awaited papal Twitter account will open for business at midday on 12 December, leaving little room for random ramblings by the pope, and will kick off with a Q&A session to show it truly is his voice.
“With the Obama White House, a tweet will come out every now and then that is actually written by the president,” said Monsignor Paul Tighe, secretary of the pontifical council for social communication (PCSC). “Here, every tweet will be seen and approved by the pope.”
The news seem to be suggesting that the use of a modern social communication platform shows the Catholic Church in a good light. Well, the Spanish Inquisition used the latest technology at their disposal. It is what you do with it that counts.
I rather hope the first tweet would start with the word “Sorry”. What follows that word is an almost inexhaustible list.
When people die for the creed espoused being refused a life saving abortion, families are torn apart because their sexual orientation is considered immoral, when sex is less sinful when sexually transmitted diseases are easier to transfer, when poorly new born babies face purgatory without a ritual, when the view of women prevents the very empowerment they need to end poverty, covering up abuse and allowing paedophiles to continue to have access to children rather than face justice …
Angry … does not being to cover it.
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
Follow @JPSargeant78
Nadine Dorries attacks Steve McCabe
Steve McCabe MP reported Nadine Dorries MP to the standards commission of parliament for taking time off from her constituency work to take part in “I‘m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!” – a reality TV competition in the jungle with creepy crawly, reptilian based challenges for food and our amusement.
Nadine responded in kind on twitter , having been voted off the programme, saying he only had an attendance of 63% so could not criticise her. He pointed out he was recovering this year from open heart surgery. Under doctor’s orders he rested for months, and worked from his constituency while not traveling to London to attend parliamentary sessions.
Unfortunately for Nadine, that clarification went over her head:
So much for building bridges with her critics …
In other news a dead MP is revealed as not being prosecuted for abusing children in the 1970s. Wonder which story will lead in tabloids.
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
Follow @JPSargeant78
To Tweet or not to Tweet
A massive thank you to Richard Dawkins and followers on twitter for sharing the previous blog about how Islamic extremists hope to subject Malala to sharia law in the courts and a fatwa for another touch of religious poisoning to humanity.
I have only been tweeting seriously for about four weeks, though blogging (with occasional leave of absence) for four years. In that short space of time PZ Meyers, the British Humanist Association and now Richard Dawkins have shared the blog reaching a wider audience that care about the same things I do.
Which brings me to the question Libby Purves poses that some twitters are not living the good life waving back at us but are actually drowning in misspent time savouring glamour and tittle tattle, drowning in a sea of maliciousness.
“Blogging is graffiti with punctuation” as Elliott Gould says in Contagion. The thing that strikes me about these sort of observations is that with every advance in publishing people have been concerned about how people will make use of the new format.
From pain staking copying by hand to instant publishing from an electrical device to potentially a global audience in seconds, the ease with which we can share our views – and more crucially search out views with a few taps of the fingers – is a tremendous advancement for knowledge, sharing culture and communication. That has had governments, and movements determined to use these techniques to both control and spread the word.
The printing press was a revolution in thought but considered an engine of immorality. Jefferson stated that adverts were the only thing telling truth in newspapers to be relied upon. Groucho Marx said:
I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
Yet with digital media, more than ever the choice to be informed is there with the ability to instantly share that information. Twitter # feeds exist for most television programmes to discuss what is being broadcast as it happens.
That instant contact is perhaps what is getting people into trouble, and no thought of consequences for what they say on themselves and others. Those that have made slanderous accusations involving naming political figures as child abusers may well hope to be out to sea when writs start circling.
People want their lives witnessed, and have a self image to present to the world at large. Just remember twitter, Facebook and blog sites are publishing formats, like those of old. Increasingly they are leading to legal action for hate speech, slander and libel.
Those values of civility, integrity and truth are not outdated concepts for the social media age. They are essential for civilisation, whatever age humans have lived in, and for the continued good health of human discourse.
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
Follow @JPSargeant78
Alternative Medicine Claims
Time has on twitter introduced a chat on alternative medicine. You can find that on #altmedchat
Here is my take on Alternative medicine and responses thus far:
The link to why there is a scientific explanation to air flight can be found here.
Richard King is a Spiritual Healer. And he has criticised Simon Singh co author of Trick or Treatment (ToT) for making similar statements like myself (the typos are his not the books; should be ‘it’):
[ToT:]At best is [sic] may offer comfort; at worst is [sic] can result in charlatans taking money from patients with serious conditions who require urgent conventional medicine.
[King:] The medical system in the United States is expensive, as is private medicine (as opposed to the national Health Service) in the U.K. and elsewhere. Are all those practitioners “whiter than white”? There is also the fact that mainstream medicine also kills a large number of people. The third largest cause of death in the United States in 2006 was the medical profession.
In practice, healing provides more than comfort. From their “scientific” point of view, the authors give an opinion but offer no evidence to support it. in addition is is an opinion on a subject that they have comprehensively demonstrated they know nothing much about, though they appear to believe that that do.
The book does, previous to the page on spiritual healing, discuss the placebo effect. The issue is no biological reversal happening of an existing condition by spiritual healing, in whatever guise it takes. What King is doing is exactly what he is accusing Singh and Ernest of doing – not giving details of clinical trials or evidence accept it is beyond scientific comprehension (how convenient).
I do not doubt that for some consulting a spiritual healer may help them cope better with an existing condition. I would hope though that proper psychotherapy for appropriate medical conditions might be available – which may not be under the NHS or in the US to the extent it is needed. My fear is such gaps in the market can be plugged by charlatans as I mentioned in my tweet taking money without any lasting benefit or the appropriate medical training to be involved. Worse possibly delaying much needed and necessary treatment.
The statistic King uses for 2006 saying doctors killing patients is third biggest killer in the USA. He provides no citation (annoyingly). However doing some quick digging I found this stat for 2006 here:
Making sense of the stats I found this rather helpful post when there was a discussion about doctors killing more people than guns in 2006. The figures should not be far off what they were actually in 2006:
Medical Errors – A Leading Cause of Death
The JOURNAL of the AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (JAMA) Vol 284, No 4, July 26th 2000 article written by Dr Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH, of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, shows that medical errors may be the third leading cause of death in the United States.
The report apparently shows there are 2,000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery; 7000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals; 20,000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals; 80,000 deaths/year from infections in hospitals; 106,000 deaths/year from non-error, adverse effects of medications – these total up to 225,000 deaths per year in the US from iatrogenic causes which ranks these deaths as the # 3 killer. Iatrogenic is a term used when a patient dies as a direct result of treatments by a physician, whether it is from misdiagnosis of the ailment or from adverse drug reactions used to treat the illness. (drug reactions are the most common cause).
You gotta’ decide for yourself what you want to believe [regarding guns], but keep in mind that the general public reads this and believes that physicians are killing people every day.
Rather than it being the medical profession being incompetent a big factor when we look at the figures is adverse reactions to correctly prescribed drugs – almost half. To suggest ‘Are all those practitioners “whiter than white” ‘ and then say medical profession third biggest killer without this breakdown is disingenuous to say the least.
Plus there are attempts to bring these numbers down, not least the 5 million lives campaign:
“The names of the patients whose lives we save can never be known. Our contribution will be what did not happen to them. And, though they are unknown, we will know that mothers and fathers are at graduations and weddings they would have missed, and that grandchildren will know grandparents they might never have known, and holidays will be taken, and work completed, and books read, and symphonies heard, and gardens tended that, without our work, would never have been.”
Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP
Former President and CEO
Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Source for quote and 5 million Lives Campaign
As to whether spiritual healers are doing something beyond the realm of scientific understanding or observation my final answer would be to remember what Hitchens said:
those making extraordinary claims without evidence can be dismissed without evidence
Follow up blog: I told the witch doctor … No
Related blog:
Simon Singh sued by The British Chiropractic Association
James Randi overdoses on sleeping pills and lives!
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
Multitasking and Manners
There is only the here and now, is the positive refrain for us to live in the present. Rather than being a prisoner of the past, or distracted with things yet to be, the idea is to give whatever you are doing your full attention. As such your focus is sharper, productivity increases, and your mental health better because multitasking even if done well is stressful.
There is perhaps a more important reason – consideration for those around you. That is the focus of the article by Daniel Gulati Multitasking’s Real Victims. My own experience was hosting a film night, specifically for a friend that had never seen an Al Pacino film. Those of us that had suggested “Scarface” was a good introduction. However for the whole of the film night the uninitiated Pacino friend was on his smartphone texting on social media.
During sexual intercourse, even with a hands free set, no one would dream of calling someone or dictating a Facebook update status. Why should that be different for social intercourse?
There is however a crucial difference regarding intended shared experiences and choosing to do something else. Those old days, when there was only one television in the house and the VCR remote control had a lead connected to the VCR, there really was no other option. Now living standards mean majority have not only several TVs, but devices which mean you can watch something else even while in the same room.
Which brings me to when The Hallowed Crown – Shakespeare’s Henry IV part one and two, and Henry V three were being dramatised by the BBC. In the household there was a difference of opinion what to watch, and it was the last day on iPlayer to watch part one. I explained this, and said I would watch on the iPad having really looked forward to the series yet too busy looking after my disabled brother to watch when live. This led to accusations of my being rude. Neither of us could be in different rooms; “physical disengagement” as suggested in the blog above. I was looking after my brother who was sleeping off a seizure so needed to be next door, and she wanted to watch the TV programme live in the comfort of the lounge.
It does come down to perspective and the situation. If you are at a meeting or at a party that is where your concentration should be, not hypnotised to the screen of your smart phone. Respect for the host and courtesy to those attending would be good manners. Multitasking is not just in the digital age; people read a newspaper while having the radio on; and I remember as a kid being ignored while parents were immersed in print media. What multi media does is allow even more multi tasking. New tablets/smart phones boast the ability to see different apps live – so you can see Facebook status updates while watching a youtube video, and getting a newsfeed from CNN. All from the same screen. As such you see this in the younger generation more.
Yet notifications mean you don’t have to keep watching. You can be told when something that you really want to keep an eye on happens. You could even give someone a heads up. “I’m trying to get something on eBay which will be a great Christmas present. I’m watching the bids so please excuse me if I attend to my phone when it goes off.” Context could be all the difference between an irate friend and one that now understands what is happening.
While writing this blog I received a notification from Twitter regarding my cousin’s theatre company @HotCoalsTheatre. “The first production will be #Trapped, a devised piece exploring being trapped by [your] own body.”
The key is not to be trapped by your multimedia multitasking equipment. They are great communication devices. Just don’t use them at the expense of the person right in front of you. Or enjoying what is happening beyond your finger tips. We do not get to live this life again.
UPDATE: seems topical. After posting Time just tweeted on Multitasking and being distracted in the digital age.
Follow On Blog: I share therefore I am [TED talk on consequences of being constantly connected]
Article written by John Sargeant on Homo economicus’ Weblog
