Interview with PZ Myers, aka Pharyngula

[TheTomtompiper]

All hail Scytale, aka PZ Myers keeper of the language of God.

[FUCKyourGODmyth]

The best thing about being an atheist is the advantage it gives us. Our ability to embrace reality gives us an incredible advantage over all the people who will never fully grasp reality. Religious people unknowingly set disadvantages for themselves, and the disadvantages vary widely like the spectrum of false beliefs. The more false beliefs we have, the more skewed our thinking becomes. False beliefs influence our decisions, our lives, and everyone around us. I'm very glad to be an atheist!

[starguts]

2:28

Premonition alert!!

[RealTrueTarget]

The vast majority of the worlds population beliefs in more than just what their senses can proof. If all of them were idiots just because of that we would probably not have gotten this far as a civilization.

[mistereveready]

@RealTrueTarget actually without religion we'd be much better off. religion is basically a form of delusion and politics, both, especially combined can be incredibly dangerous. the horrifying tirade against knowledge from various faiths has stifled hundreds/thousands of years of valuable research. very difficult to describe all the crappiness that is of the woo woo teachings in 500 chars. either way, logic > superstition.

[RealTrueTarget]

@mistereveready

How about: being openminded > being closeminded OR searching for the turth > living in a box where all the things have to be logic (from a humanistic standpoint)

[mistereveready]

@RealTrueTarget there is a difference between being open minded and delusional. much like that phrase, yes be open minded but not so much that the brain can fall out. also people under estimate reality and logic. if something is fantastic and true, its still science, there is still logic too it. but saying that, that in no way means someones deity or super natural nonsense actually exists.

[RealTrueTarget]

@mistereveready Well from my point of view you are delusional. From my point of view you underestimate reality and your logic is flawed. From my point of view you are excluding way to many possibilities.

[mistereveready]

@RealTrueTarget to assume things w/o proof is a very slippery slope indeed. is if thats the case can believe anything. why i require proof before actually believing something. the concept isn't that atheism is right, its that theist haven't proven that they are. can play pascals wager with a number of religions, even sects within christianity. if i dont' die fighting i might not reach valhalla. if i don't do sacrifices i may not get to go to their version of heaven.

[RealTrueTarget]

@mistereveready You can't proof either case, sir. I wouldn't have went from atheist to theist if atheism offered me the truth I was searching for.

[mistereveready]

@RealTrueTarget atheism/agnosticism is the neutral ground. some who are atheist think there can't be godlike entities, while others ask for proof of claims. if you have proof of your god, i request that you share it with others, particularly someone like dawkins or myers or some form testable form. that way people can actually do it themselves too. things don't have to be observable by our naked senses to be real, they just have to actually be real.

[RealTrueTarget]

@mistereveready A christian is not going to proof God to an atheist. An atheist is not going to shatter a bible grounded christians faith. That much I've learnt over the years here on YouTube.

I can just say that to me the world/science makes more sence with the bible in the background of it all. To you the bible is one big lie/story.

[RealTrueTarget]

@mistereveready And let's just assume atheism is right/the truth. We'll all just die and *period* that's it. But if the Bible is correct and atheism/evolution is a manmade theory then you've lost the game big time.

[mistereveready]

@RealTrueTarget also, to acknowledge evolution doesn't require being atheist. if evolution is true though, then that'd definitely mean the silliness in the bible about creation is hogwash. again, i'm not advocating to disregard anything that is extremely bizarre, but to not embrace it thinking its some truth w/o sufficient evidence. yaweh is definitely not something with that. far too many versions of that god, far to many other gods, and a distinct lack of presence from them.

[RealTrueTarget]

@mistereveready About the lack of presence. You do know why it is called having faith? Look I've been an atheist, then I realized there might be more to "it" than just what I can see and touch and smell and taste and and and...

So yea, it's really up to each individual. To me the world with the bible makes way more sence than the world without the bible. At least these days. To you the bible is one big fairytale and I can understand why, but I hope your horizon will open up about it one day.

[mistereveready]

@RealTrueTarget i do know its called faith, and i do know its often called truth but w/o proof. and yes there is more than what we can readily observe atm, but that doesn't mean it super natural. the bible making sense is quite odd, considering its contradictions and brutal morality. again i would ask why settle for something awful like the christian bible when so many others claim to have such insight. to be atheist doesn't mean to not look for things or gods in life.

[RealTrueTarget]

@mistereveready "to be atheist doesn't mean to not look for things or gods in life. " I couldn't agree more. If that statement was wrong I wouldn't be a christian these days. Very well said!

[mistereveready]

@RealTrueTarget but that also doesn't mean to accept silliness like christiantiy. have just as much reason to be a taoist, buddhist, hindu, or jewish as christian. basically because none of them have anything to show why one is true and the others arent.

[RealTrueTarget]

@mistereveready Yes, eastern religions or in other words "New age beliefs" are the choice of many. You can not proof one religion, or the lack there of, to be the truth. Maybe I should have spoken of "my truth" and not "truth" in general. I'm just saying that to me the world with the bible makes perfect sence, these days.

[RottingintheMidwest]

george carlin took the 10 Commandments down to two and added one more: keep they religion to yourself.

[Holammer]

Wouldn't it be great if PZ set-up a cam and started uploading his thoughts on Youtube as well. His blog is great of course, but he would really enrich Youtube.

[amaxamon]

PZ :"Have you *read* the 10 Commandments?" LOL. Classic!

[Mortison77577]

He lied on his blog about the Haeckl's embryos thing.

[rddaos]

PZ Meyers is my hero.

[aprilsmartin]

This is a slow, boring and uninspiring interview compared to most I've seen of PZ but I'm still getting a tattoo that says "PHARYNGULA FOREVER"

[camino1ca]

Sweet!

[deeliciousplum]

gentle speakers, who share without shutting another speaker down, seem to be able to share with clarity. One's strength of understanding & the volume of one's voice may not have any direct relation to one another. Now, this is strictly an opinion: having faith with wisdom or the ability to quantify with wisdom are equally viable elements to base one's morals & life with. Mind you that there is indifference. But, this manner of being takes a lot of faith & quantifying to embrace. What is value?

[Chuckumentary]

Yep, Michael Koppelman is an amateur astronomer, musician, IT exec, and he totally worked for Prince.

[WilkyMay609]

Is Michael Koopelman the same guy who appears on the "Slacker Astronomy" podcast.? PZ is an inspiration; he is a man of great courage, who takes great risks to promote science and the truth about the workings of the world.

[sirjection]

Doh. I was hoping the morality question would have an evolutionary answer. Is there anyone who doesn't think that a colony of self-replicating organisms couldn't in principle become more successful through cooperation? He looked sort of like he was taking it easy. The "we just have empathy mechanisms in the brain" is just asking for ID to be all like, "yep, goddidit".

[DanC9189]

Evolutionary morals, maybe.

When the first creatures started living in social groups it may have been an advantage to have empathy mechanisms in the brain. Hence those that didnt died. It may not have been empathy but replaces that with whatever you want mercy,needing to show kindness of a sort due to pack order,help keep each other alive ect... i think thats possible

[sirjection]

I recently read The Selfish Gene, which touches on this from an "in principle" sort of angle, but convincingly. It'd be interesting to read something else that delves more into what exactly probably happened in what stages in different cases, but that's generally harder to tease out after the fact.

But what we do have is lots of different strategies tuned to different bodies and environments, to be sure. The "wow, human morality" thing is selective anthropic navel gazing.

[hamsterpoop]

dumb questions...

[hbsux]

my hero

[PolarisCZ]

PZ is awesome, thanks for video.

[mmmpoop]

I <3 PZ!

[leporidus]

His Pharyngula blog is really well written, it's my daily feed alongside the Bad Astronomer.

[WizardJim]

Faved.