The Selfish Gene

I started reading The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.  I am planning on studying biology at the University Notre Dame this fall and thought this would be a great book to get me in the mood.  I love how Dawkins writes; it is like we are having a conversation together.  A very informative book detailing how our DNA, specifically our genes, drive our very existence.  Our genes have expertly evolved to produce massively complex machines that are competing with other machines for survival.  This book forces the reader to look at the gene as the basic unit for survival and evolution instead of the organism, which can explain seemingly altruistic behaviors in most species.  A great read as are all of Dawkins books.

In addition, I just got an email about an upcoming event at Michigan State University in Lansing where Richard Dawkins is giving a lecture as part of the Worldview Lecture Series.  I just bought some tickets and am so excited.  It is sure to be a great evening :)  For more information, go here.

One last note, my hubby and I finally got around to watching Ben Stein's movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.  Let me just say that I have heard about this movie from various venues and thought I would at least give it the benefit of a doubt.  To say the least, the movie was a huge joke.  It seems that those who made the movie did not even understand the basics of evolution themselves.  In addition, the makers of the movie tried in vain to link evolution and nazism, the oldest trick in the book.  Even though this movie was supposed to be supporting the intelligent design viewpoint, not one piece of evidence was discussed at all in the entire movie.  Sure there are some issues with evolution.  The difference between evolution and intelligent design is that there are mountains and mountains of evidence that support evolution.  On the other hand, there is no evidence for intelligent design.  The premise of the movie was this: because of this problem with evolution, intelligent design must be correct and should be equal to evolution.  That is not scientific and is very misleading especially to the general public who might not be familiar with evolution.  All I would say is do your own research instead of having some actor with no scientific background telling you what to think.  If you are looking for an insightful critique of the movie, check this out.  

Brains

While searching for good information about the brain and psychology, I found this incredible video.  Sharing it here with you.

Click here.

The God Delusion

I am currently reading Richard Dawkin's book "The God Delusion." It is written in a way that makes it seem that I am having an interesting conversation with Richard himself. It is clear and easy to understand. I just started chapter four which is talking about the huge improbability of god. Richard makes reference to the Boeing 747 miracle. Human beings or any complex organism created in one day of creation is equally as improbable as a hurricane ravaging a junk yard and miraculously assembling a complete 747 jet. Obviously, no one can prove indefinitely either way the existence of god, but we can speak of which idea is more probable. Many people across the world chose to base their entire life on something that is improbable. I would rather base my life on something that IS; something that is visible, I can touch, I can talk about in certain terms. It blows my mind that the very definition of faith that believers wear as a badge is the absence of evidence; the absence of anything that can be seen or touched or tested or repeated. So the basis of personal faith is nothing more than things that happen inside one person's head. It just so happens that this same kind of "faith" or insistence that evidence is unnecessary is a common shared delusion among all believers. Richard even talks about how a personal delusion that one is Napoleon is hard to keep true inside an individual's head because the outside world says that delusion is wrong. On the other hand, the delusion that there is a sky daddy who cares for the world is a delusion that happens to be shared by the masses. That kind of group solidarity must be reassuring, always convincing people that their delusion must be true because so many other people have the same exact delusion.