I'm guessing you've seen the music video 'Miracles' by the Insane Clown Posse? If you haven't pop off and watch it now, otherwise this blog post won't make sense. We'll wait.
I'm obsessed with it. It's funny, but yet still quite inspiring and despite reeking of Poe's Law it somehow consolidates and captures the mindset of those who celebrate the 'wonderful mystery of ignorance' — that scientists are evil lying people who somehow drain the beauty of the world by trying to understand it.
So here's my rebuttal, which I made by borrowing the wise words of Richard Feynman:
Incidentally in doing so I've just broken the UK's Digital Economy Act - I'ld be guilty till proven innocent if a copyright holder took offence. And to prove it was fair use I'ld have to be able to pay....
Yesterday we watched the 2nd reading of the Digital Economy Bill. Today we watched the 3rd reading.
In short: Democracy wasn't present. Those wishing to censor ideas have been given a most powerful weapon. Culture will suffer. Whilst creators will gain nothing.
My girlfriend and I gathered on the couch. Laptops out. Phones out. TV on. Twitter buzzing, Youtube satirising. Forums racing. People don't merely consume anymore. To just consume doesn't even make sense.
During the minuscule 2 hours the 2nd reading took one man mashed up the #DEBill twitter feed with the parliament feed onto his TV to avoid having to multitask so much. He published his work so others could do the same.
Remixing, reusing, editing.
Overnight one excellent person remixed one particularly inane part of the 2nd reading to make a very important point:
Remixing, reusing, editing.
Open letters were written. Crowd sourced lists of the MPs in attendance were pulled together.
20,000 wrote to their MPs. Thousands protested or rang MPs. #DEBill became the top trending topic on Twitter.
Globally.
There are 646 MPs. About 40 turned up for the second reading. About 16 made it to the end.
The third reading has been just as bad. Almost Empty. 2 hours given to debate amendments to 50 clauses.
The first clause took 1hr. The last 49 were glossed over in the last hour.
Ten minutes before the vote labour MPs put down their drinks, pulled themselves out of the bar and stumbled in to vote for the Bill. Having listened to nothing.
Disgusting.
WikiLeaks has been releasing hugely important videos this week. The USA has been trying to shut them down, for leaking footage of an american helicopter killing Reuters Journalists in Iraq.
John Hemming MP (Lib, Birmingham) is a member of the BPI. His money comes from media. If anyone should support the bill it should be him.
But instead he calls it 'Absurd.'
Why? Because he states that the Bill will allow the USA (or others) to claim copyright on that video and shut down the website and forbid sharers of it access to the internet. Despite it's important worth.
John Redwood MP (Con, Wokingham) agreed:
"This is really about Censorship on the Web" - John Redwood MP
The true hero was Tom Watson (Labour MP) who quickly came to be the people's champion. His criticism of the bill didn't stop with the preposterous technical issues (ip address are not fingerprints) or the equally preposterous human rights violations (guilty till proven innocent, child downloads musics - dad loses the internet he needs for his job).
He went on to point out that remixing copyrighted works is part of culture now.
His example?
The remixed Ashes to Ashes poster that Labour and the Conservatives have been having so much fun with over the last few days.
Remixing, reusing, editing.
They all fall foul of the bill they've just passed.
As do you for reading this page.
Today was a huge failure for democracy. A bill was passed, unread and unanalysed by computer illiterate MPs who didn't attend the debates.
Here are what I feel these are the most terrible consequences of the last 48 hours.
A bill that makes the ricockulous DMCA look sensible has passed without proper debate or democratic process.
The internet generation, who cares deeply about this matter was watching. They saw the empty parliament. They heard the ignorant comments. They saw democracy fail. They are not pleased.
Scientists, Journalists and Skeptics are working so hard to fight the abuse of Libel Laws to stifle debate and censor criticism. The existence of the Digital Economy Bill will allow so many avenues for censorship that we need to start all over again.
Piracy is a serious concern to the mainstream media, and yet remix/reuse of material is part and parcel of our culture today. If the bill works then MPs will make so many innocent parties criminals and it will be a disaster for the UK. But If the bill fails then they will have convinced Pirates that the Government is clueless and toothless.
The British Legislative process is fundamentally and comprehensively broken. And today MPs showed that in detail to an extremely internet savvy audience.
On the eve of the first true internet election, this will stand as the defining moment that summarises how out of touch the Government is with respect to the populace. I don't think they appreciate how much attention we can give them.
How difficult we will make this for them.
I will leave you with this. Any MP who watches this will leave understanding the culture that they are ignorant of - but today made illegal.
EDIT 9:59, April 8, 2010: Want to know how your MP voted? Here's a list
Heard of “tuttles“? From what I gather they’re basically a chance for people into ‘social networking’ to meet up and work on ideas together. I suspect they talk about things like ‘The Cloud’ and ‘Web 2.0’ and ‘Synergy’ and stuff. Anyway that’s not important right now. The point is it gave me an idea.
How about, once a month, on maybe a Saturday afternoon, we meet up somewhere in Central London. Somewhere with free wifi. We bring laptops. And we work on schemes and skeptical ninja projects.
Want to blog about your awesome research, some bad science or some skeptical matters? Well we’ll help you set that up one of them there blogs and that.
Want to bounce some ideas around for a project or blog post? Well, they’ll be a bunch of people in a similar place.
Want to get some stuff actually done? Then it’ll be a place to knuckle down with people of a like mind.
Want to brainstorm/piss about with some like minded fools? Well you’ll be in good company.
Want to get some willing accomplices for some cunning scheme or shenanigan - be it merely splitting up FOI requests to full on, mass attack, ten23 style super events? Well then there would be like minds to help out.
Want to hack up a new way to access public data for the skeptical cause? Well maybe we could take a leaf out of the excellent Rewired State meet up that happened last year.
Maybe we could record a noisy rambling podcast. I know James O'Malley (who puts together the excellent Pod Delusion) might be able to help out (Well, if your still interested James?).
So this would be entirely what we make it, but a hacking/blogging/adventuring/scheming/podcasting/FOIA’ing meet up would almost certainly be excellent. Hell, if it gives a few people like me a chance to actually finish a few of their blog posts away from the chaos of real life then it’s worth it.
I'm willing to organise all this if there is interest. I’ll sort out a place we can all meet with free wi-fi and coffee (and booze?). Then you just turn up with a either a fully charged laptop, an idea, or a willingness to help out someone else. I’ve got webspace to donate and I can throw up forums, sites and files as needed.
Remember this isn’t meant to be some elitist, cream of the crop only event (if it was, I wouldn’t be allowed to organise it!) but something where we could all do something. Anything. Create rather consume and all that.
Interested? Then please comment below. Or discuss in on twitter. I suggest the hashtag ‘#skuttle’ to get started.
Twenty-Ten, Twenty-Ten, Twenty-Ten, finally we hit a decade where we can go back to sensible pronunciation. It's also the fifth year of Skeptobot's irregular postings, which is nice. So it seems like time I summed up what is happening.
Despite the blog being quite things are on the up:
The leg is healed (though it seems I'll always have a slight case of 'kruger foot').
My work means I'm still suffering from little internet access till at least April, but...
I have a fancy iPhone now, so I've got my RSS feeds and twitter for my commute, which should help keep me in the loop.
I even have web hosting, so a lot more is possible. I'm even musing an occasional Herrin and Collings style lo-fi podcast.
The web hosting is currently a mirror of Skeptobot at
I like the idea of Skeptobot publishing content I've made, and RockPaperSkeptic being a combined feed of skeptobot posts, informal posts, posts about other peoples stuff and even tweets. The honour of being syndicated on badscienceblogs means I'm always hesitant to make 'trivial' posts.
Any advice how best to achieve that (RPS is running Wordpress, Skeptobot uses Blogger) would be most appreciated. Likewise for any other suggestions you might have.
Thanks for continuing to read my infrequent rambles, I'll be endevering to post more this year as thanks, so happy new year and that.
Every year, around this time, I get a rather itchy case of cognitive dissonance. I'm an atheist enjoying Christmas.
Invariably a friend, who will typically have no religious beliefs themselves, will ask why I celebrate the festival when I'm not religious.
This is the little spiel I reel off in defence to my cloudy thinking:
When I celebrate Christmas I follow a festival that is currently generally considered to be Christian but that at previous times has been Norse, Roman, Greek and Pagan, all the way into prehistory. Like all those people I have co-opted the same festival to represent my own beliefs. Just like all those before me I've stolen and adapted it to suit my own thoughts and my own needs.
Christmas is originally the celebration of the Winter Solstice (21st - 22nd December), which rather than being a day for pagan magic, is simply the peak of winter — the day with the longest night.
When the earth is cold, and dead, when the trees are bare and the Sun can't quite warm your skin, it makes sense to celebrate the warmth you still have on this worst day, knowing it will only get better from here on out.
That warmth is our friends and our family; the new members and the ones we miss.
I think it's foolish to say that an atheist does not need these traditions. I think we need them more. I've a finite, limited time with those I love, and Christmas reminds me of that. Reminds me to make the most of this.
So with all possible respect, whilst we both should join each other on enjoying our decorations, our trees, our winter days and our presents. We should all be hoping for 'Peace and Goodwill to all men.' But, you can keep your tales of Christ in a pig trough, your magic flying super-intelligent creatures, your wise men and your acts of baby genocide. And I'll keep my Christmas alive — just like you will.
Furthermore, Christians might currently own Christmas but at best they are mearly custodians, the temporary baton carriers of a festival that stretches into prehistory. It would preposterous to tell me that I can't connect to the history of our species because a certain fraction of people with certain specific beliefs are, as of yet, refusing to hand over custody to capitalism, scientology, atheism or whatever new group will take it upon themselves next. It doesn't work that way.
No greater proof of this can be more forthcoming than the damnations Christmas receives in theold testament itself.
Before the birth of christ the old testament when to great pains to damn to hell those who celebrated in the old pagan and roman ways as we can read in Jeremiah 10 1-5
1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
The Christmas tree was a pagan and roman celebration of life (it is easy to see how a vivid green tree at the peak of winter would raise the spirits) and as such was a symbol of competeing faiths, and so condemned in the Old Testament.
However in the years that followed as Christianity spread north these people who celebrated in the harshness of winter, were won over and converted to Christianity.
But these people needed this festival in the same way we do today. They couldn't bare to abandon this important gathering of friends and family, so they moved the birth of Christ and made the festival about that so that the important aspects of it could survive. They hid their festival in the trappings of the day.
It might be depressing for Christians today, to see that same process repeating itself, it suggests that Christianity might be on the wane.
But that won't stop it happening.
Other things worth mentioning
9 Lessons and Carols for Godless People is pretty much the celebration for people with similar views to myself. It's wonderful and I cannot recommend it enough. Whilst you might struggle for tickets this close to the event, you can buy a DVD of last years at the equally wonderful Gofasterstripe. I'm off to see it this Tuesday at Bloomsbury.
Tim Minchin is releasing his Christmas single 'White Wine and The Sun' that covers much the same topics, but from the point of view of someone who has Christmas in the middle of summer. I've embedded it below:
I think it is lovely.
Oh, and for those of you who think, 'well fine, just stop calling it christmas, I'm afraid that history doesn't work like that, for example, we don't need to come up with another name for 'saturday', because we don't use the day to worship the greek god or agriculture any more.
Sorry for the saccharin and gooey post today, but normal cynical service will be resumed as soon as possible. Sooner if I get an iPhone for Christmas allowing me to actually blog again.
Instead I can exclusively reveal THIS is how the Daily Mail investigates it's stories with The Patented Skeptobot Churnalism Generator.
AKA Cause and Effect Dice!
Whats not well know is that in 1998 teh Daily Mail had to invest in geeky D10 dice in an increasingly competitive market.
Anyhow, now that
The Cause Dice
The Effect Dice
An aside, I actually made these yonks ago - before I burnt the hell out of my leg - but Crispians excellent post reminded me about them. Let me know if anyone makes a pair.
Oh and there shouldn't be any issue with the images showing up now because... well maybe you can work it out?
A brief email I've just sent to Lord Paul Drayson on a minor comment he just made during the excellent debate he had with Ben Goldacre earlier this evening at the Ri. Whilst this topic is funny, the genuine fear I've seen in people means that I must mention it.
Dear Lord Drayson,
Firstly, congratulations with the debate. I think you raised some very valid points. Furthermore, I commend you for reaching out via such debates and twitter.
However, I feel I must quickly raise an issue I had with a comment you made at the end of the debate. Just minutes ago, you declared that the media's coverage over whether the LHC could pull the Earth into a black hole was a GOOD thing. You suggest that it got people 'interested' and 'thinking' and that this 'sensationalism' was good for science.
I must strongly disagree. I have a PhD in Physics and as a result, during the course of my work (and in the course of my blog) I have had to explain, comfort and reassure numerous members of the public that they were not under threat from Physicists stepping on the toes of the gods. People have come to me explaining that their children were in tears and couldn't sleep with fear. Whilst we all found it funny, It was not a joke to them.
I might even go further and suggest that you believe that these outrageous statements are justified because deep down no one really took the media's story seriously. In doing so, you are relying on the very same mistrust of the media that you earlier claimed did not exist.
Whilst I do not wish to inflate the importance of this issue, I do feel you should know the pain it caused a small minority of people and the issue this presents for mainstream media. The coverage of the LHC was lacking. I shall be posting this email as an open message on my blog tomorrow.
Best Regards, Bill
Just a comment about the blog, it's NOT dead. My excuse is that I have been suffering from severe 2nd degree burns on my leg and foot and so have been in and out of hospital for FAR TOO LONG now. As I get better the site should come back to life.
Here's a wonderful out of context clip apparently of Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen casually mentioning the age of the Earth as she talks about Arizona's plans to mine Uranium.
It's terrifying to think that we've developed the skills to turn Uranium into both energy and bombs but there are still people in charge of things so clueless.
As science progresses we can't just bring some people up to speed with how the world works. We have to bring everyone. Otherwise we get situations like this.
Some people really, really don't get it. They are frustrated that it isn't google, which of course it was never meant to be. If you're not sure what it is then I recommend the (overlong) intro video.
But basically, It's a data engine. A fact machine. It lets you pull and push and manipulate data.
And this is all the info your are given for your 'source'
It's finicky and has plenty of holes in it, but it's only just gone live and it is brilliant. I can't stress that enough.
Now on to why it sucks.
The cultural effects of a 'computational knowledge engine' that can both quantify and manipulate data is huge. But the ability for it to be misused is also huge. We all love wikipeida, but when journalists use it for their primary source of info it gets a little worrying. To offset that Wikipedia has a big list of references at the bottom of every page.
Rather than establish itself as an authority figure (despite the wishes of some of the more 'enthusiastic' admins) Wikipedia works hard to tell you how it knows something to be true, otherwise [citation needed] rears its head.
I don't get that same feeling from Wolfram Alpha. Firstly, the references are tucked away from view in a little pop up window rather than being an inherent part of the page. Secondly, the Primary source for everything I've tried so far is:
Wolfram|Alpha curated data, 2009
Which just isn't good enough. It is setting Alpha up to be an authority figure for data. But this isn't information that Wolfram et al. have discovered and published. This is information that Wolfram has collated.
Now, to be fair, 'background' sources are listed. And whilst they are most likely the true source of the data presented, no single study or report or finding is indicated to be where any specific fact came from. For example Alpha has decided that the UK produces 1.8 billion barrels of oil a day. Has it taken an average of the studies it looked at? Or has it weighted them? It doesn't tell me.
Every piece of data when fed into Alpha should have been tagged with details of where it came from. But it isn't. It's a mind boggling strange omission.
So much so that I can't help but feel this, may possibly, add weight to widespread opinion that Stephen Wolfram is a little bit, erm, arrogant. This letter that Richard Feynman (apparently) wrote to Stephen Wolfram is rather illuminating on the subject. The cynic in me whispers that Alpha wants to be your reference, not your intermediary.
Wolfram|Alpha is an amazing achievement, and one I will use an awful lot. (even if it is just to plot nonsense) Stephen Wolfram should be immensely proud of it.
But I can't help thinking how much more important Alpha would be as a proper research tool if it was a little bit more willing to explain where it learnt to be so clever.
Here we go with the second round up of the 'skeptish' news of the last week.
REMEMBER: This material is presented as is. A skeptical interpretation of the material is left to the reader. I haven't read everything I've posted here in detail, so if you take anything here on face value based on it being linked here you've messed up.
When invading a country like Iraq it is extremely important to not make it look like a religious war. I mean putting Bible quotes all over your Top Secret reports would send a bad message. So I'm glad Rumsfeld et al. didn't do that. Oh. And the posters are here. and more stuff here.
George Carlin on UFO believers VS Religious Believers.
Ackward Questions about Jesus from the brilliant Outnumbered. Outnumbered is a bit depressing because by liking it I feel a bit old.
Been catching up with Mormanism this week. It see,s to be a bit, er, mental. As this 7minute cartoon will attest.
Child won't say 'Amen' so a woman along with One Mind Ministries starve the boy to death thinking that when he resurrects the demon possessing him will be gone.
Armando Iannucci sneaks into US state department. Just like how he has sneaked into my heart.
Remember last week there was a guy who was sued and lost because he was critical of creationism in a science lesson? He's responded to what happened on Salon. I haven't read enough about this to settle my mind one way or the other, but if you have a secular school (which is a good thing) then being critical of religion is the same as promoting it.
Church literally being worn away by sin. Religious speech writers must be creaming themselves with tortured metaphor possibilities.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy thinks that I'm not fully human. Well I think he's a big stupid poopy head.
Events
Tonight (monday) is the meeting for Simon Singh's response to the libel ruling against the BCA. In The Penderel's Oak in Holborn, London. I'll be going and reporting back, so say hi.
Wednesday sees the normal Skeptics in the Pub night. Which looks to be a cracker:
Edzard Ernst's team of 10-15 researchers have tried for the last 15 years to critically evaluate “alternative medicine”. Much of the resulting evidence has now been summarised in the book ‘Trick or Treatment’ by Simon Singh and myself. As it turns out, alternative medicine is more “trick” than “treatment”. In my talk, I will report about some of the often amazing milestones on my long journey toward the truth.
writes Skeptobot. It serves as a medium to vent about Nonsense and geek out about Awesome. You'll find stuff about Badscience, Goodscience, Atheism, Humanism, Bad Religion all that New Renaissance Jazz. Awesome people email links, greetings, ideas and schemes to skeptobot@yahoo.co.uk
You can also follow him on Twitter, Delicious & Youtube..
A little vain & presumptuous this but as a kind person asked about this I thought I might as well. If you want to buy me a pint in thanks for the site then feel free you lovely person.
Posts
