Interesting Stuff Thread

Dades

Hey folks,

About time we had a sticky for links that users of this forum may find interesting. Links don't have to be specifically atheist/agnostic related, but should have some relevance to the topics that crop up here. It might also be best to keep links to news articles or humour pages (with the exception of the Lego Bible) to individual threads.

Go forth and add links...

Dades

To get the ball rolling...

Wiki on Atheism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism
So you think you know what atheism is?

The Irish Atheists
http://www.irishatheist.com/
Does what it says on the tin.
"A community where like minded people can share the experience of being non-religious in Ireland."

The Brights Network
http://the-brights.net/
Unfortunately named proactive movement looking for individuals "whose worldview is naturalistic free from supernatural and mystical elements".

pH

Wiki on Agnosticism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism

Wiki on Ignosticism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignosticism

Why does God hate Amputees?
http://whydoesgodhateamputees.com/
(Unsubtle and straight to the point - but I like it)

robindch

Religious Tolerance: http://www.religioustolerance.org/
Even-handed discussion of religions

Respectful Insolence: http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/
A surgeon's science blog

Daylight Atheism: http://www.daylightatheism.org/
Prolific atheist writer writes prolifically on atheism

Freedom from Religion Foundation: http://www.ffrf.org/ (see the Atheist Cookbook )

Positive Atheism: http://www.positiveatheism.org/
History of atheist philosophy. Contains an excellent quotations section.

Action Skeptics: http://actionskeptics.blogspot.com/
Er, the continuity skeptics. "Annoying stupid people, one woo at a time."

5uspect

Atheism: A Rough History of Disbelief

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4379664999509308147&q=brief+history+of+atheism
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7510277859954739795&q=atheist+tapes
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3846467839209811110&q=atheist+tapes

Zillah

http://www.secularhumanism.org/

UU

This one is brilliant for all you sceptics:

http://skepdic.com/


Here's some on nontheism. Nontheism is the absence of belief in both the existence and non-existence of a deity:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nontheism

http://www.answers.com/topic/nontheism


Antitheism is a direct opposition to theism. Here is more info on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antitheism

Say NO to religion: http://www.antitheism.net/ (VERY interesting)


I hope these links have been benefitial to some.

Dades

Good info and advice with a personal touch on getting interred on your own plot.
http://www.dublin.ie/burymegreen/

Info on non-credal funerals with the Unitarians.
http://www.unitarianchurchdublin.org/funerals.htm

fobster

http://www.thekeyboard.org.uk/index.htm

An interesting website exploring many things regarding science, god and the universe.

Zillah

fobster wrote:

http://www.thekeyboard.org.uk/index.htm

An interesting website exploring many things regarding science, god and the universe.

Oh my, that website is awful. Amateurish sophistries, nothing more.

aidan24326

http://www.thewaronfaith.com/

So unsubtle it's funny.

robindch

aidan wrote:

http://www.thewaronfaith.com/

Our religious friends who feel "bashed" should try out Ingersoll. Makes Dawkins and the current crop of anti-religionists look like pansies:

http://thewaronfaith.com/aq_ingersol.htm

karen3212

www.beyondbelief2006.org

karen3212

www.ted.com

this one is daniel dennet - a bit short but interesting.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/116

ted debates

quirk.

Atheists online
Assertive Atheism
atheistempire
atheist at large
Atheist Nation
God is Imaginary
Landover Baptist Church (spoof)

Dades

Links to advice on how to do this to be found in these threads:

Defected!

Leaving the catholic church, its easier then you think: defecting

Consequences of leaving the catholic church

So...how does one leave the Catholic Church

Dissociation from the church

Do I need to fill out a form?

Galvasean

Hi guys.
Since lots of us seem to have an interest in evolutionary theory I think its about time we had a thread to discuss it in detail.
This is not another thread to discuss evolution versus creationism, but rather a place to put interesting articles about evolution research and discoveries. To this end it is also not a 'Creationists are silly' thread.

I decided to create this thread (with the blessing of grand overlord Dades) because I posted some links to good articles in the Creationismsuperthread but I'd say a lot of people will miss them due to the rapid progression of said thread and many people's unwillingness to visit said thread.

So, bring forth your articles and trinkets and let us have some good ol' fashioned excahnge of information!

Galvasean

Right, I'll get the ball rolling by posting some articles I found yesterday (sorry that I already posted in the 'other' thread. that was before I taught to make this one):

I found this on National Geographic. Apparently tuataras are evolving faster than other creatures:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080331-tuatara-evolution.html
A good read for those interested in such things.

Also found some nice articles on human evolution for those interested;

New candidate for our ancestor?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080320-biped-ancestor.html

New info on Neandertals (yes, apparently the h is supposed to be left out):
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080317-neandertal-split.html

enjoy

Asiaprod

Galvasean wrote: »

Hi guys.
Since lots of us seem to have an interest in evolutionary theory I think its about time we had a thread to discuss it in detail.

For a moment there I though we were going to have the first "Atheist only thread." Nice idea, please keep contents in this thread separate from what is in the monster thread that has caused me so many headaches. . I'm interested in learning.

nozzferrahhtoo

As always the best articles (with further links to back up articles and sources) comes from PZ Myers.

This article from him is one of the recent best ones which shows evolution not only happening but showing that some traits are so likely that they will evolve multple times until they take hold.

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/06/historical_contingency_in_the.php#more

This is a short read but worth it for anyone with even a passing interest in the subject. Pzs blog is one that we should all be reading.

iUseVi

nozzferrahhtoo wrote: »

This is a short read but worth it for anyone with even a passing interest in the subject. Pzs blog is one that we should all be reading.

Agreed. Keeps you informed and makes you smile. And he just loves those Cephalopoda!

Galvasean

Found a live one. Could shuffling have been the intermediary step to us walking upright?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080611-ancestor-shuffle.html

pinksoir

the links in your first post don't work there...

Galvasean

pinksoir wrote: »

the links in your first post don't work there...

Cheers, Ive fixed the links. They should work now.

Some other interesting tid bits:

'Frog-amander' gives clues to amphibian family tree:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080521-frog-fossil.html

More on dino-bird link:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080424-trex-mastodon.html

Neandertals had wider gape than once taught:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080502-neandertal-mouth.html
This last piece is interesting. Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what said gape could have been for?

iUseVi

Hints on the evolution of intelligence:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=big-brains-dominate

Galvasean

raah! wrote: »

don't exactly like the idea of posting in this forums.

Ah don't worry you won't go to hell for it

Back on topic, an article I found awhile back. It's quite curious really. An ancient fish that gave birth to live young including umbilical chord! A strange evolutionary experiment if ever there was one:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080606104814.htm

Galvasean

iUseVi wrote: »

Hints on the evolution of intelligence:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=big-brains-dominate

Hmm, wasps with competitive brains, who knew? Perhaps some of the earliest creatures in the history of life did something similar.

iUseVi

Galvasean wrote: »

Ah don't worry you won't go to hell for it

Back on topic, an article I found awhile back. It's quite curious really. An ancient fish that gave birth to live young including umbilical chord! A strange evolutionary experiment if ever there was one:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080606104814.htm

Oohh, that was interesting.

Bacteria evolve in the lab.
I think this one was mentioned in the creationist-super-thread, but for the people that dare not venture there:

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/evolution/dn14094-bacteria-make-major-evolutionary-shift-in-the-lab.html

robindch

New Yorker article about vengeance and how different societies have evolved to deal with it in different ways and how one society in particular has changed its approach over recent years:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/21/080421fa_fact_diamond?currentPage=all

The article's author, Jared Diamond, also wrote Guns, Germs and Steel which I think most people here would probably find interesting.

iUseVi

Evolutionary link between brain development and amount of sleep.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14164-why-brainy-animals-need-more-rem-sleep-after-all.html

Dave!

Here is a great talk by Michael Shermer (think he's the head of the American Skeptics' Society) about evolution. It's about his book which attempts to explain economics in terms of evolution.

He covers alot of ground within evolution, with alot of examples and really good explainations of how we are motivated by evolution to do certain things. Covers the altruism aspect that Dawkins covers alot of, but alot of other stuff such as thrill-seeking, and so on.

Really good talk (with Google), about an hour long:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71nsZABqoi8