I don't get the popularity of the NDE [Near-Death Experience] "evidence" [for the afterlife]. I had a friend once who told me that he had the most awesome experience on 'shrooms — he'd melted into a purple puddle that soaked into the earth, and he had spiritual sex with tree roots. I'm pretty sure that didn't actually happen, and I wouldn't use it to argue that human beings were capable of phase changes into a fluid state or that intimate congress with plants was fun and rewarding, but people use the same logic all the time in arguing that while they were in a brain-damaged state, befuddled by anoxia, their perception of the hallucinatory state afterwards is evidence that there is a heaven.
PZ Myers

May 2nd, 2009

Saddam’s legal advice

posted by Shinka in Politics | No Comments

Going back through a few links in my RSS feed, I found this little gem regarding the legal advice given to the Bush administration regarding torture, and whether prosecution should be undertaken.

If only Saddam Hussein had been smart enough to solicit a legal opinion from his government lawyers that gassing people was within the law, he could have been playing golf in Myrtle Beach right now.

April 24th, 2009

A review of The Language of God by Francis Collins

posted by Shinka in Books, Religion | No Comments

December 1st, 2007

9/11 and Testable Hypotheses

posted by Shinka in Skepticism | 6 Comments

October 15th, 2007

The Galileo Fallacy

posted by Shinka in Freethought, Skepticism | 1 Comment

Denialists don’t remember

posted by Shinka in Skepticism | No Comments

The Arrogant Case for a Creator

posted by Shinka in Site Info | No Comments

October 14th, 2007

People should not be afraid of their governments

posted by Shinka in Politics | No Comments

October 3rd, 2007

Myers skewers The Spiritual Brain

posted by Shinka in Science | No Comments

Entertainment industry considers its customers criminals

posted by Shinka in Music, Entertainment | No Comments

August 23rd, 2007

Ben Stein’s Victimization

posted by Shinka in Freethought, Science, Skepticism | No Comments