Read Atheist

@Susan: based on your description of the book (i haven't read it myself) i think you're spot on. it sounds as if the author is misusing the uncertainty principle as i understand it and making a huge unwarranted leap to "...therefore god exists." furthermore, it seems to me that even if the connection was justifiable it would only ever provide scant evidence of a deistic god- what would be the point really?

The concept's certainly not original with this author. Throwing 'quantum effects' in to provide some fuzziness that god (spirits, the will of the cosmic all, etc) can be stuffed into is distressingly common and intellectually bankrupt.

so true Dave! a casual glance in the new age spirituality section in any bookstore will provide evidence enough of that; all the titles are Quantum This and Quantum That. gimme a break! Deepak Chopra is the worst of them all!

Agreed on the misuse of quantum theory a la 'What the Bleep do we Know." This guy is a little more sophisticated than that and thus far hasn't invoked the uncertainty principle or quantum mechanics explicitly. His contention is that we can't predict the emergent property of a complex system based on looking at its underlying components. As I said, there is an argument to be made there, at least given our current state of knowledge. Tempurature of a gas is a case in point: Temperature is an emergent property that you can't discern from studying one particle. But my point is: So what? You can't determine a lot of things by looking at one component. That doesn't mean it can never be known and it certainly doesn't mean we should couch it in mystical language. I think he wants to say that the emergent creative property of the particles of the entire uni- or multi-verse is "god". Well, screw that. If the universe had an emergent creative propertty then the laws of thermodynamics would be out the window.

Hey.. does anyone know where I can download some audiobooks to my iphone for free? I'm broke, but have lots of listening time at work.

there's tons of audiobooks available on bittorrent Misty.

Sam Harris: The Language of Ignorance

In this essay, the bestselling secularist author of “The End of Faith” delivers a scathing review of “The Language of God,” a new book by Human Genome Project head Francis Collins that attempts to demonstrate a harmony between science and evangelical Christianity.

Archaeologists dig up Shakespeare's 'cesspit'
Archaeologists believe they are on the cusp of shedding new light on the life of William Shakespeare – by digging up what may have been the playwright’s cesspit.


Dig seeks William Shakespeare's shards for ale in his Stratford bac...
Pottery scraps and other finds unearthed on site of New Place mansion may help to rewrite playwright's story

Thank you for the link to The Language of Ignorance!

You're welcome. I was just passing along a link someone else posted. : )

Just finished up with 'irreligion' by John Allen Paulos.

It wasn't as humorous as many reviews stated. But a good read none-the-less. A good primer to the newly curious Atheist. This book takes a look at 12 of the most common arguments put forth for a belief in God, and shows where the logic is lacking. It's a nice short book, so I'd suggest 'irreligion' and 'Atheist Universe' as great starter material for new Atheists.

nice review James. thanks for that.

Anyone have a pdf of Lord Of The Flies/and or anything by Eric Hoffer

don't ever say i don't get you anything...Lord of the Flies.pdf

I am coming mid-stream to this conversation, but I just read The Faith Instinct by Nicholas Wade. He comes down on the side of religion having originally provided an adaptive advantage for group cohesion in hunter gatherers. Worth a look for the evolutionary explanation of religion.

Looks like a potentially interesting book: Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence. Anyone read it?

The Complete, Uncensored History of the Beat Generation
Who were the Beats and how did their work and lives alter the course of American literature? We'll talk this hour with Bill Morgan author of the new book "The Typewriter Is Holy: The Complete, Uncensored History of the Beat Generation" (Free Press, 2010). Jerome Weeks will guest-host.

Listen here.

TIME.com invites authors Gary Shteyngart, Alan Furst, Kate Moses, Teddy Wayne and Elif Batuman to share their summer reads

http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,107250700001_2001507,...

For those who haven't already seen it, TAs very own AngietheAntiTheist is doing a chapter by chapter review (demolition?) on Rick Warrens "The Purpose Driven Life" on her YouTube channel. She just posted chapter 7, so only another 33 to go! You can catch the very start of the series at http://www.youtube.com/user/AngieAntiTheist#p/u/9/ywDNQZelUJk

Anne Rice: 'I Quit Being A Christian'
The Huffington Post
By Jessie Kunhardt
07-29-10

Anne Rice, the bestselling novelist most popularly known for "Interview with the Vampire" and her other creepy vampire novels, announced on Wednesday via Facebook that she has officially renounced Christianity. It's a bold move for the author who has become well-known for her vehement religiosity; the majority of her frequent tweets are related to religion in some way. The author has also recently launched a new series of novels about angels, which debuted in October 2009 with "Angel Time."

Rice declared on her Facebook account that she is "an outsider" in the Christian community:

I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life.

Rice affirmed that though she has decided to leave the Christian institution, she "remain[s] committed to Christ as always."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/29/anne-rice-i-quit-being-a_n...

Re Adriana vs Adrian - Adriana definitely cuter!

I get the Irish diminutive, Aido. Or there's my work nickname, The Beast!

Lost in a Book
By Jeremy Shere
June 3, 2009 - Moment of Science

Have you ever got so caught up in a really good story that you loose all awareness of your surroundings? Well, there’s a study that explains what’s going on in the brain when we get caught up in a story.

Basically, according to the study, when you read a story that engages you, your brain creates detailed and vivid simulations of the details in the story. When you read, your brain is activated as though you’re actually observing, imagining, or doing the things you’re reading about.

The point is that reading isn’t a passive activity where the brain is just processing language. It’s much more dynamic and active. Say you’re reading a book about baseball, the brain reacts in ways similar to how it would if you were actually playing baseball, or watching a game, or imagining yourself hitting a ball, or whatever.

The researchers studied readers’ brains using an MRI scanner. But because the readers had to remain perfectly still, their heads were immobilized as they read the story one word at a time on a computer screen.

Even reading stories in that strange, one-word-at-a-time way, the readers’ brains were still activated to create mental simulations of the story. Maybe being lost in a good book doesn’t mean you’re zoned out. It’s more like your brain is tuned in.

http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/lost-book/

Larry, it refers to work-rate....

"Beasting it" is slang in Scotland for working hard. Hence, the nickname, "The Beast".

Just finished "The Grand Design" and I must say I was somewhat disappointed. It was a good read, but I must say that I was hoping that it would go into more detail on the theories. Chapter after chapter, I hoped that the details would come, but it was kept easy for all to read. Maybe that was the point, but it left me wanting.

Next for me will be "The Moral Landscape".

been hearing through the grapevine that the book is underwhelming. i have the ebook but haven't dove in yet as i'm in the middle of 2 other books at the moment. looks like i'm not missing anything in waiting. probably will bump Harris' The Moral Landscape up in front of Hawking's book.

will do Adriana!
the criticisms of the book i've seen haven't said that the book is superficial, just that Harris doesn't make his case.

gotcha. sorry, i thought you meant superficial in the sense of it being shallow the way Hawking's book seems to be.
yeah, i saw the review in SciAm. Coyne's commented on the review.

I really liked Harris' lecture, but then again I'm not a scientist. I have the book but I haven't begun reading it. I did assume he'd get more specific in the book than he did when speaking. What sort of arguments would you look for?

Well I'm trying to read it between homework and working, so I'll let you know if he references any studies. I hope he does. I like him so much that I don't want to give him a bad review! Is there a thread dedicated to this book?

From the 2nd Epistle, of his Essay on Man, by Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744)

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan,
The proper study of mankind is Man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic’s pride,
He hangs between, in doubt to act or rest;
In doubt to deem himself a God or Beast;
In doubt his mind or body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reas’ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little or too much;
Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;
Still by himself abused or disabused;
Created half to rise, and half to fall:
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl’d;
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!

( Public Domain )

I'm getting close to finishing The Moral Landscape. I would have liked to finish it by now, but other things keep preempting it. I will report my thoughts in the next few days most likely. I did pick up my next read though. I was at an old book store when I found a old looking copy of The Descent of Man. It was only about $7 and the embossed cover looks neat, so I figured why not. But I've been looking at it lately and think that it may possibly be a second edition! The only place it is dated is in the 'Preface to the second edition', where it is dated Sept 1874! It's possible it's a re-print, but I am pretty curious now, I must admit. Old or not, I'm going to read this next. After that... I'm thinking about Your Inner Fish, but haven't decided yet.

OK, So I have finished The Moral Landscape. For me it was a tale of two half's. The first half (and conclusion) were pretty lacklustre to me. The first half reads like a begging of the question the book is advertised to answer, and then rehashes it again and again. Some interesting points are made, but nothing groundbreaking. The second half of the book was much better though, and I found myself tearing though those chapters. These sections were not really on the initial subject of the book. Rather is was on the brain, brain states, different studies and religions association with morality. These chapters were well worth the read. If you expect this book to answer the question it poses; it doesn't. That said, I consider it world the read if only for the second half.

You should read the books: from  

Karl Heinrich Leopold Deschner (born on May 23, 1924, in Bamberg, Bavaria), who is a German researcher and writer who has achieved public attention in Europe for his thorough and fiercely critical treatment of Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular, as expressed in several articles and books, culminating in his opus The Criminal History of Christianity (Kriminalgeschichte des Christentums, Rowohlt Verlag GmbH, Reinbek) which is planned in 10 volumes, of which 9 volumes have been published so far.^[1] 

^{See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlheinz_Deschner}

^{Up to now, a Criminal History of Islam or a  Criminal History of Judaisme hasn't written...}

^{Is there anyone out there interested in writing these books ?}

Literature on the subject of atheism 
I present to you a list of literature that deals specifically and exclusively with atheism. 



Interesting literature on the subject 
Angeles, Peter Adam: 1981, The Problem of God: A Short Introduction, Prometheus Books, New York. Philosophical Introduction to the proofs of God along with their thorough refutation. 

Baggini, Julian: 2003, Atheism. A Very Short Introduction. , Oxford University Press, Oxford. Short, concise and to the small scale of surprisingly good justification of atheism. 

Barker, Dan, 1992b, Losing Faith In Faith. From Preacher To Atheist., Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc., Madison. The book of a man who was 19 years of fundamentalist and the atheist priest was. Humorous reading, but also factually-based. 

Bible: 2004, Bible 2005th CD-R

Literature on the subject of atheism
Due to numerous requests, I present to you a list of literature that deals specifically and exclusively with atheism.



Interesting literature on the subject
Angeles, Peter Adam: 1981, The Problem of God: A Short Introduction, Prometheus Books, New York. Philosophical Introduction to the proofs of God along with their thorough refutation.

Baggini, Julian: 2003, Atheism. A Very Short Introduction. , Oxford University Press, Oxford. Short, concise and to the small scale of surprisingly good justification of atheism.

Barker, Dan, 1992b, Losing Faith In Faith. From Preacher To Atheist., Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc., Madison. The book of a man who was 19 years of fundamentalist and the atheist priest was. Humorous reading, but also factually-based.

Bible: 2004, Bible 2005th CD-ROM., R. Brockhaus, Haan. The book of books - according to Isaac Asimov one of the best arguments for atheism ever conceived.

Boyer, Pascal: 2004, And God created man, Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart. An anthropological, linguistic and neurobiological theory of why the man had to invent God, a theory of all existing religions - thoroughly informed and protected experimental. A must if one wants to know why the religions have emerged.

Brams, Steven J.: 1983, Superior Beings - If They Exist, How Would We Know? Game-Theoretic Implications of Omniscience, Immortality, and Incomprehensibility, Springer-Verlag, New York. Introduction to game theory on the basis of the interaction between man and God, and certainly one of the most original justifications of atheism.

Callahan, Tim: 1997, Bible Prophecy: Failure or Fulfillment, Millennium Press, Altadena?. Discussion of a historian with the alleged prophecies in the Bible, the book simultaneously presents the historical context of the AT dar.

Corvin, Otto von: 2000, Pfaff mirror Freistühler, Schwerte..

Dawkins, Richard: 1996b, The Blind Watchmaker. A new case for Darwinism., DTV, Munich.

Doherty, Earl: 1999, The Jesus Puzzle. Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ? : Challenging the Existence of an Historical Jesus, Canadian Humanist Publications, Ottawa. A historian plausible and compelling reasons why the Jesus of the New Testament may not have given.

Drange, Theodore M.: 1998, Nonbelief and Evil: Two Arguments for the Nonexistence of God, Prometheus Books, New York. Two arguments for the nonexistence of the (Christian) God, one of which is the problem of theodicy, shown here with a systematic refutation of the most known solutions to the problem.

Everitt, Nicholas: 2004, The Non-Existence of God, Routledge, New York. Excellent, in-depth, informative and very factual introduction to the philosophical question of why one should think God did not exist.

Feuerbach, Ludwig: 1841, The Essence of Christianity, Reclam, Ditzingen.. The classic works critical of religion - still current.

Gale, Richard M.: 1993, On the Nature and Existence of God, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Very in depth range of work about the nature of God.

Giovannoli, Joseph: 2000, The Biology of Belief: How Our Biology Biases Our Beliefs and Perceptions, Rosetta Press, Inc., New York. Excellent work on the biological reasons why people believe in God.

Haffmans, Gerd (ed.): 1994, atheism Small Catechism, Haffmans Verlag, Zurich. Small, compact and good introduction to atheism.

Hume, David: 1981, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Routledge, Ditzingen. Religion critical masterpiece of a brilliant philosopher, in the form of a dialogue.

Johnson, BC: 1981, Atheist Debater's Handbook, Prometheus Books, New York. Thorough introduction to the arguments with which one can defend in debate atheism.

Joshi, ST: 2003, God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong, Promet

Kahl, Joachim: 1969, The Poverty of Christianity or plea for a humanity without God, Rowohlt, Reinbek. A former theologian settles with Christenum and calls for an enlightened atheism.

Kaufmann, Walter: 1963, The Faith of a Heretic, Anchor Books, New York.

Kaufmann, Walter: 1972, Critique of Religion and Philosophy, Princeton University Press, Princeton (New Jersey).

King, Max: 2001, The Cruelest Joke of All, Author House, Bloomington. Jesus was an atheist who wanted to get close to the Jewish atheism - a crude theory, represented not particularly convincing.

Leedom, Tim C. (Editor): 1993, The Book Your Church Does not Want You to Read, The Truth Seeker Company, San Diego. Sammlug of essays on the reasons not to believe in God and not to trust the churches.

Mackie, John L.: 1985, The Miracle of Theism, Reclam, Ditzingen. One of the best German-language introduction to atheism.

Martin, Michael: 1990, Atheism: A Philosophical Justification, Temple University Press, Philadelphia. The fundamental work in establishing atheism, very demanding.

Martin, Michael: 1993, The Case Against Christianity, Temple University Press, Philadelphia. Addressing the core doctrines of Christianity and their critics.

Martin, Michael: 2003, Atheism, Morality, and Meaning (Prometheus Lecture Series), Prometheus Books, New York. Very good work with a justification of atheistic morality and the meaning of life, also a fundamental critique of Christian morality.

Mills, David: 2004, Atheist Universe, Xlibris Corporation, Philadelphia. Interesting and thorough introduction to atheism.

Minois, Georges: 2000, history of atheism. From the beginnings to the present., Böhlaus Nachf, Weimar. The history book on atheism.

Newberg, Andrew, DAquili, Vince Rause: 2003, The thought of God. How faith comes in the brain., Piper, Munich. Introduction to Neuro theology. "

Parsons, Keith M.: 1990, God and the Burden of Proof: Plantinga, Swinburne, and the Analytic Defense of Theism (Frontiers of Philosophy), Prometheus Books, New York. The modern theologians are analytical Plantinga and Swinburne who present both recent proofs of God that are very sophisticated - and here are thoroughly refuted by Parsons.

Poidevin, Robin Le: 1996, Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, Routledge, New York. Argumentative good to very good introduction to the reasons not to believe in God.

Rohde, Norbert: 2004, Farewell to the Bible from the ancient faith to the new knowledge, Books on Demand, Norderstedt. Thorough introduction to the dark side of the Bible and the reasons why you can not trust the Bible, illuminating and enlightening brought to light.

Russell, Bertrand: 1994, Why I am not a Christian. On religion, morality and humanity., Rowohlt, Reinbek. One of the most important works against the Christian religion.

Salomon, MS. 2003, Stolberg's Inferno, Alibri Publisher Gunnar Schedel, Aschaffenburg.

Schleichert, Hubert: 2001, How you argue with fundamentalists, without losing his mind. Instructions for subversive thinking., CH Beck, Munich. Argumentation of fundamentalists, illustrated by the question of what to do about it.

Shaferski, Nadir: 2001, Cogito Ergo Cogito, People & Buch Verlag, Berlin. Interesting critical analysis of Christianity and Islam.

Shermer, Michael: 1998, Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time, WH Freeman & Company, New York. Why people believe weird things?

Shermer, Michael: 1999, How We Believe:. The Search for God in an Age of Science, WH Freeman & Company, New York. Analysis of the reasons why people believe in God and a critical assessment of these reasons.

Smith, George H.: 1979, Atheism: The Case Against God, Prometheus Books, New York.

Smith, George H.: 1979, Atheism: The Case Against God, Prometheus Books, New York. Thorough and systematic introduction to atheism.

Smith, George H.: 2000, Why Atheism, Prometheus Books, New York.

Streminger, Gerhard: 1992, God's goodness and the evils of the world, the problem of theodicy, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen. Excellent discussion of the topic, and a refutation of all common and less common theodicies, the philosophical proof is that the problem is unsolvable.

Stenger, Victor J.: 2003, Has Science Found God: The Latest Results in the Search for Purpose in the Universe, Prometheus Books, New York. Recently, the rumor spread that include recent scientific findings, a confirmation of old religious ideas. Prof. Stenger examines this claim and come to exactly opposite conclusions - in a thorough undinformative Article

Tolley, Edward P., Swenson, Jeff: 2003, Beach Blanket Atheism: The Beginner's Guide for the Non-Believer, Sterling House. Humorous introduction to atheism, a real reading experience, especially with many citations.

White, Hugh: 2003, What's Real? God Is Not: A Realistic View on Belief in Gods and Religions, Author House Bloomington. A rather poor introduction to atheism.

Is anyone interested in whether we have free will or not? I've just had my first book published and am desperate for readers! Available in the US and Uk and everywhere! e.g. http://www.amazon.com/Free-Will-investigation-whether-always/dp/095... Go on, you know you want to (or have no choice in the matter...)

I am passionate about good books... l look forward to wandering in this virtual Library and sharing discoveries with you.

i enjoyed that book so much Katie. i think you will too.

have you read Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel yet? that's fantastic.

Jesus Potter Harry Christ book giveaway! This book is being reviewed by some top atheist bloggers (vridar, heresy corner, Epiphenom). I'm giving away the ebook version for free to generate amazon reviews. Grab your copy and leave feedback!

“Particularly absorbing and highly topical: As part of the continuing debate over the nature of Christ, not only among Christians but between them and today’s wave of atheist thinkers, Jesus Potter, Harry Christ is timely. Linking this analysis, moreover, to J. K. Rowling’s globally popular character further heightens its relevancy." Jeff Crouse, PhD – Parmenides

http://www.jesuspotterharrychrist.com

Went to a used book store and scored Carl Sagan's The Dragons of Eden for $2.95 and Richard Dawkins' River Out of Eden for $4.95.   Now to decide which to read first.   :)

I am giving away several copies of my new book: "The Little Book of Unholy Questions" on ebook for readers to review. Would anyone be interested in reading this book? for more info on the book, pop to my website:

http://atipplingphilosopher.yolasite.com/

 

The book description:

 

Jonathan M.S. Pearce's second book (after Free Will?) continues along the same philosophical and theological vein, aiming to provide a cumulative case against the existence of God, and more specifically, God's triple characteristics of omniscience, omnipotence and omnibenevolence. Split into useful categories with an introduction to each category, these are questions that demand to be answered adequately and plausibly in order for the believer to retain a rationally-based faith.



Pearce's easy writing style and explanation of philosophy, theology and science on the popular level make this book as enjoyable to read as it is thought-provoking. Does God change his mind when prayed to, and why has he never produced a miracle since biblical times that couldn't have occurred naturally anyway, like re-growing an amputee's leg? God only knows.

 

If you are interested, PM me and I'll send you a copy.

 

  I’m really ticked off now…..BIG TIME!

Last night I expected all the “rapture”  yahoo’s to be gone.  All I expected to find was a bunch

of clothes, empty house, apartments, mobile homes and the like.  Cars just left on the street with the keys in them.

I had planned to go out looting. I was gonna clean up with the cash they left behind, their valuables, jewels, precious metals, silverware, electronics and the such.

BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I even had a SHOPPING LIST!

And I had a list of things my friends wanted…..  Of course, there were some prescription meds certain friends wanted me to get for them…. And some things that weren’t prescription as well….

It only goes to show you, you can’t trust these “rapture” clowns….

Sigh……..back to clipping coupons….

THE GOD VIRUS!! Trust me.. it's good!

I have decided my favorite book is Jane Eyre. Does anyone else like/love this book?