Critical Thinking QualiaSoup (archive) 2009-12-24 | A look at some of the principles of critical thinking.Croatian Subtitles: NikolaPortuguese subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/user/cpg99Slovak subtitles: Peter Ščigulinský
Superstition [HD] QualiaSoup (archive) 2013-03-14 | Spanish subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/user/jolulipaPortuguese: http://fanfarraparaumhomemcomum.blogspot.com.brFootage of Derek Acorah 'possessed' by Kreed Kafer (anagram of 'Derek faker'):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbF_l5nwmGsFootage of Derek 'possessed' by Rik Eedles (anagram of 'Derek lies'):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdS28iv2djgBBC programme 'Bullshit Detectors' exposes 3 'mediums'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIWdk0zMLhc1023 campaign:http://www.1023.org.ukMore detail on homoeopathic dilutionhttp://www.ukskeptics.com/homeopathic-dilutions.phpForer, B "The fallacy of personal validation: a classroom demonstration of gullibility" 1949 Journal of Abnormal Psychology 44 (1): 118--123Kaptchuk, T et al "Placebos without deception" 2010 PLoS ONE 5(12)*Skinner, B F "Superstition in the pigeon" 1948 Journal of Experimental Psychology 38 (2): 168-172*Though the notion of placebos without deception opens up an interesting line of enquiry, the methodology of Kaptchuk's particular study has attracted some criticism which seems valid and reasonable. See, for example: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/placebo-effects-without-deception-well-not-exactly
Evolution QualiaSoup (archive) 2012-10-11 | Explaining some of the basics of the scientific theory of evolution.Slovak subtitles: Peter ŠčigulinskýVideo index:0:03 What is evolution (and what is it not)?0:34 What is a theory in science?1:14 Genetic inheritance1:24 Artificial selection and natural selection2:29 Mutation2:59 Epigenetic variation3:16 Genetic drift and the impact of variations3:58 Evolution is not 'pure accident'4:41 No 'one size fits all'5:09 Correcting the one-armed bandit analogy5:36 Dramatic change one step at a time6:30 Dogs don't produce cats and individual apes don't morph into humans6:47 Why there are 'still' apes7:48 The rise and demise of the crocoduck8:37 Recognizing reality is not a supremacist policy9:08 Misrepresentation of evolution9:51 Evolution as fact and theory10:01 Why understanding evolution is important10:20 Scientific inheritance that benefits us all
Substance Dualism (Part 2 of 2) [HD] QualiaSoup (archive) 2012-10-08 | NB Whilst claims of logical possibility intended to support reality claims (such as Swinburne's proposal of disembodied existence) become subject to constraints of reality, those not intended to support any reality claim need not be subject to such constraints.Selected Resources (see also part 1):Churchland, P - Brain-Wise: Studies in Neurophilosophy (2002)Swinburne, R - Evolution of the soul (1986)Swinburne, R - Interview with Science and Religion News (2006)Valentine, E - Conceptual Issues in Psychology (1992)Velmans, M - Understanding Consciousness (2000)Video reference:Plantinga - Against Materialism (Talk at CA Poly State Uni, 2004)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLzZv5MwjiE
Substance Dualism (Part 1 of 2) [HD] QualiaSoup (archive) 2012-10-07 | Examining the view that mind and body are separate substances.Note at 7:08 A reductio ad absurdum argument (one which attributes a machine with thought purely for the sake of argument, to demonstrate that genuinely absurd / contradictory consequences follow) would be valid. We can see immediately that Plantinga's thought experiment doesn't achieve this: failure to discern how a thinking machine is thinking indicates only lack of comprehension, not a genuine absurdity / contradiction.But his use of Leibniz' scenario isn't valid. Leibniz doesn't just propose a thinking machine, but one we can enter and inspect. If physical thinking things are impossible - as Plantinga claims - then whatever machine we conjure up in our imagination to enter and inspect, it can't be a genuine physical thinking thing, just as it would be impossible to inspect a machine that prints square circles. (Besides, if there's truly nothing we could be faced with inside the machine that would signal thought, it makes no sense to ask us to inspect it, since no inspection could help us discern thinking machines from non-thinking ones anyway.) It is this sense in which Plantinga cannot use thinking machines to show machines can't think. His argument is incoherent. It is certainly not a valid reductio ad absurdum.------------------------------------------------------Selected Resources:Humanoid robot Asimo demonstration:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yND4k4NM0qUDescartes, R - Discourse on the Method (1637)Eccles, J C - The Human Psyche (1980)Eccles, J C - Evolution of the brain (1989)Eccles, J C - How the Self Controls Its Brain (1994)Leibniz, G W - Monadology (1714)Lock, A - Action, gesture and symbol (1978)MacNamara, J "Nurseries, streets and classrooms", Modern Language Journal, 57(5-6) 1973Pinker, S - How the mind works (1999)Swinburne, R - Evolution of the soul (1986)Swinburne, R - Interview with Science and Religion News (2006)Velmans, M - Understanding Consciousness (2000)Video reference:Plantinga - Against Materialism (Talk at CA Poly State Uni, 2004)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLzZv5MwjiE
Secularism QualiaSoup (archive) 2012-07-14 | Resources/recommended:http://www.secularism.org.uk --- http://www.humanism.org.ukResearch mentioned:- Ipsos MORI on declining UK Christianity: http://c3414097.r97.cf0.rackcdn.com/IpsosMORI_RDFRS-UK_Survey_Topline_14-02-2012.pdf- Majority of UK and US now express support for same-sex marriage: http://www.gallup.com/poll/147662/First-Time-Majority-Americans-Favor-Legal-Gay-Marriage.aspx http://yougov.co.uk/news/2012/06/13/three-five-people-faith-britain-support-same-sex-m- Costing the Heavens (National Secular Society study of hospital chaplaincy costs): http://www.secularism.org.uk/uploads/nss-chaplaincy-report-2011.pdf- Faith primary schools: better schools or better pupils? Gibbons, S. & Silva, O: http://cee.lse.ac.uk/ceedps//ceedp72.pdfArchbishops' anti-same-sex marriage letter sent to 2500 churches, 385 schools: Letter read aloud by Vincent Nichols at http://vimeo.com/38151274 Catholic Education Service send letter and petition to schools: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/25/catholic-church-schools-gay-marriage http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17883093Andrew Copson (British Humanist Association) on secular issues: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDqTSfEWKmk (item begins at 30 second mark) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-Wreyq33c0Bernard Lynch (Catholic priest) speaks in support secularism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBW1bcu6OLoFaith schools documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzJv-5yWx2g- If the above link doesn't work in your country, try: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulX8nZjeCXEBecky Fischer: "Children are so usable in Christianity": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx1yN2yMw14Proselytizers playing the victim: The truth behind the 'crosses banned from workplace' myth: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jan/17/acrosstobear http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/terry-sanderson/without-a-pack-of-lies-to_b_1338585.html 'In God We Teach" (teacher plays victim after preaching in the classroom): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmRajX5fuSE
The burden of proof QualiaSoup (archive) 2012-04-25 | Makers of supernatural claims have an inescapable burden of proof. Spanish subtitles: Jolulipa http://www.youtube.com/user/jolulipaSlovak subtitles: Peter Ščigulinský
Morality 3: Objectivity and oughtness QualiaSoup (archive) 2011-11-06 | Link to Slovic article:http://journal.sjdm.org/jdm7303a.pdfTheraminTrees' channel:http://www.youtube.com/user/TheraminTreesLink to 'Betting on Infinity':http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZpJ7yUPwdU
Morality 2: Not-so-good books QualiaSoup (archive) 2011-07-28 | Second part of series on morality. See below for bible references included in this video.Death for victimless 'crime' Yahweh requires death of sabbath workers(Numbers 15 : 32-36) Yahweh requires death of gay people:(Leviticus 20 : 13) Yahweh requires death of women who can't show virginity on wedding night:(Deuteronomy 22 : 20-21)Unaccountable slaughter Yahweh kills 70,000 for David's census:(2 Samuel 24 : 1-15) Yahweh kills almost all land animals for human wickedness:(Genesis 6 : 5-7)Entrapment through mind-control Yahweh hardens Pharaoh's heart:(Exodus 4 : 21; see also Exodus 7 : 3; 9 : 12; 10 : 1; 10 : 20; 10 : 27; 11 : 10; 14 : 4; 14 : 8) Yahweh hardens Egyptians' hearts:(Exodus 14 : 17) Yahweh hardens King of Heshbon's heart:(Deuteronomy 2 : 30) Yahweh sends powerful delusion:(2 Thessalonians 2 : 11) Yahweh deceives prophets, then punishes them:(Ezekiel 14 : 9)Punishment for others' sins Yahweh says children won't die for fathers:(Deuteronomy 24 : 16) Yahweh requires children's death for their father's sins:(Isaiah 14 : 21-22) Yahweh orders the killing of Amalekite children and babies:(I Samuel 15 : 2-3) Yahweh orders the killing children without pity:(Ezekiel 9 : 5-6)Familial cannibalism:(Jeremiah 19 : 9)(Deuteronomy 28 : 53) (Ezekiel 5 : 10)Yahweh permits rape:(Zechariah 14 : 2)Yahweh permits slavery (the owning of people as property):(Leviticus 25 : 46)Yahweh permits (commits) mass murder:(Exodus 12 : 29)Jesus reinforces OT law:"But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.(Matthew 15 : 3-4)Jesus punishes a fig tree:(Mark 11 : 12-4, 20-4)(Matthew 21 : 18-22)Jesus asks us to dispose of family relationships(Luke 9 : 61-62) Making of images forbidden:"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, OR ANY LIKENESS of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."(Exodus 20 : 4) Making of images commanded:"And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold"(Exodus 25 : 18)Certain sinners to be stoned to death by all the men of the town:(Deuteronomy 21 : 21) Only the sinless are fit to cast the first stone:(John 8 : 7) We are all sinners:(Romans 3 : 23)Good deeds are to be shown:(Matthew 5 : 16) Good deeds are not to be shown:(Matthew 6 : 1)Gay sex deemed a sin:(Leviticus 18 : 22)Non-believers to be put to death:(2 Chronicles 15 : 13)We are to seek peace:(Psalms 34 : 14)We are to be good neighbours:(Philippians 2 : 4)
Morality 1: Good without gods QualiaSoup (archive) 2011-06-23 | First in a series on morality Link to Epley article: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/12/01/0908374106.full.pdf+html Article by the CDC concerning the effects of negative attitudes about homosexuality: http://www.cdc.gov/msmhealth/stigma-and-discrimination.htm
Rebuttals: irreducible complexity QualiaSoup (archive) 2011-01-09 | Refuting fallacious criticism of my recent video on irreducible complexity.***YouTuber Underlings has produced an extremely helpful list of videos discussing evolution, creationism, atheism and theism. See his video introduction at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX45gTu5UpQ
Irreducible complexity cut down to size QualiaSoup (archive) 2010-11-28 | Explaining how complexity can evolve. I refute bogus criticism of this video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As1HlmYeh7Q***See Underlings' list of videos discussing evolution, creationism, atheism and theism. His video introduction is at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX45gTu5UpQArticle on the origin of bacterial flagella:http://pages.uoregon.edu/pphil/courses/genarch/pallen_natrevmicro2006.pdfTranscript of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial:http://www.aclupa.org/legal/legaldocket/intelligentdesigncase/dovertrialtranscripts.htm
Lack of belief in gods QualiaSoup (archive) 2010-10-17 | Portuguese subtitles: http://naphthalin.wordpress.comSlovak subtitles: Peter ŠčigulinskýExplaining the concept and addressing misconceptions.Some have commented that the Bible doesn't say "God needs worship". The Bible doesn't have to use those words - it /describes/ a god that needs worship: Yahweh commands us in Deuteronomy to worship and love it, explaining that the penalty for disobedience is destruction*. Biblical authors were writing at a time when people respected displays of raw power. Today we understand that commanding worship under threat of destruction is the negation of love, compassion, wisdom or serenity, and is instead evidence of instability, insecurity and megalomaniacal need. Failure to worship causes no one any conceivable genuine harm - especially to an omnipotent being - and its punishment is morally indefensible.To those who'd claim that Yahweh commands worship "for our own good": if the alternative is destruction, then it is only "for our own good" in the way that that obeying a person with a gun pointed at your head is "for your own good". It amounts to no more than simple self-preservation under extreme duress.*Those who'd object that the punishments in Deuteronomy don't apply to us today clearly refute the notion of eternal values. If people from the past deserved destruction for failing to worship and we don't, that's clear evidence of a shifting morality.
