Comments for Wonderfest

Comment on WonderOutpost Science Forum: Future Human Evolution by health insurance

health insurance — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:42:45 +0000

The Scientific Method consists of observation and repeatable experimentation. Creation, by definition, was not observable by anyone within the bounds of this universe. And it is beyond our power to repeat the experiment. Therefore, the whole debate about origins is a philosophical, not scientific, debate. A basic philosophical axiom is that if your foundational assumptions are wrong, then the conclusions drawn from those assumptions are also wrong. Let’s examine the unprovable, foundational assumptions about each philosophy: Evolution states that in the beginning there was nothing, that became something, got itself organized, gave itself life, and then made itself better. Christianity states that in the beginning there was God, who created the world and everything in it in perfect harmony. Then Adam and Eve rebelled, and sin and death entered the world. But, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16 If you bbelieve in evolution based on faith, because the beginning is not verifiable. I believe in the God of the Bible based on faith, because the beginning is not verifiable. Which belief system requires the greater faith? I only know of One who there at the beginning. I choose to believe His first hand, written account, instead of placing my faith in the assumptions made by those who were not there at the beginning.

Comment on Does Darwin Illuminate Emotion & Spirituality? by Wonderfest 2009 Archive | Wonderfest

Wonderfest 2009 Archive | Wonderfest — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:57:40 +0000

[...] Does Darwin Illuminate Emotion & Spirituality? [...]

Comment on Friends of Wonderfest by | Wonderfest

| Wonderfest — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:46:48 +0000

[...] Join Friends of Wonderfest Crowds enjoyed mind-expanding Wonderfest 2009 at Stanford and UC Berkeley. [...]

Comment on Does Darwin Illuminate Emotion & Spirituality? by | Wonderfest

| Wonderfest — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:44:01 +0000

[...] Does Darwin Illuminate Emotion & Spirituality? [...]

Comment on Does Media Violence Inspire Real Violence? by News and Media Relations

News and Media Relations — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:43:24 +0000

[...] Albert Bandura, professor of psychology at Stanford University, for a discussion about whether media violence inspires real violence. Their presentation was part of Wonderfest, a public celebration of science held annually in the San [...]

Comment on WonderOutpost Science Forum: One-Way Trip to Mars by Big Curmudgeon

Big Curmudgeon — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:45:34 +0000

The prospect of colonies on Mars or Jupiter’s moons stimulates my imagination. But unlike colonists on earth, who could and do engineer their environment to sustain life, colonists in space may have to engineer themselves to survive. An exposed and unmodified human in any non-earthly environment would meet immediate death. A robot, lacking a self-aware conscience mind, could exist and function in a hostile environment (as on mars now) but this doesn’t satisfy the colonial urge.
A modified human, however, might stand a chance. Genetic engineering to withstand and repair damage from solar winds, extreme magnetic fields, gamma rays and the raw wash of neutrinos will be needed. Modifications to the brain must be made to compensate for the loss of our terrestrial evolution. We will need to become functional Cyborgs with enhanced or altered sensory perceptions, strength, or endurance. Remarkable progress is being made in the synthesis and convergence of many areas of science to do just that. Before too long we should be able to build a human from a blueprint to adapt to even the most hostile environments.
But would such a modified being be human? Would that being feel a kinship to its more slowly evolved creators, and we to it? Will we, in our current yearning state of wonder, be satisfied with this vicarious extra-terrestrial experience?

Comment on WonderOutpost Science Forum: Future Human Evolution by Bill Furnback

Bill Furnback — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:02:37 +0000

I can remember (it is my oldest memory) sitting in my highchair looking down at my mothers beaming face and I was a god in the nascent universe. I have long put away that childish dream. Now I am a part of the real world and I act in the real world. That means my acts are part of the evolutionary process. The things we do are part of that process. Not somehow outside of the world we inhabit. So we find a tuber growing in the wild and it is a source of starchy food for our family. So for generations our family grow this tuber and mostly eat the largest tubers, but some one plants his largest tuber hoping to get more of this larger type. and so the tubers we grow become larger, and as we repeat the process larger. This I put to you is evolution. The fittest, that is , largest have survived, and we were part of the process not outside of it.

Comment on WonderOutpost Science Forum: One-Way Trip to Mars by derickhartman326

derickhartman326 — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:35:43 +0000

Just wanted to make this post and tell you what an interesting blog you have going on here. Please do not stop.

Comment on WonderOutpost Science Forum: One-Way Trip to Mars by Geraint Bermingham

Geraint Bermingham — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:54:46 +0000

Interesting comments Big Curmudgeon. Given the ‘world’ view of the previous comments your mention of “nation’ suggested you’re writing from a USA perspective, but then later comments suggested maybe otherwise. Either way, surely, you mean “the nation that is only prepared to consider being part of a return trip program will be watching from the sidelines”. A program that accepts high risk and one that is designed around a one way trip is so much simpler and cheaper that by any practical analysis a return trip option doesn’t stack up.

Comment on WonderOutpost Science Forum: One-Way Trip to Mars by Big Curmudgeon

Big Curmudgeon — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:17:28 +0000

Are we as a nation willing to send someone on a one way suicide mission to Mars? I’m sure there would be no lack of volunteers.
Life in general is a one way suicide mission. The difference between life and a trip to Mars is that most of us are not sure when our mission will end. The cafeteria ethicists who are, for example, against assisted suicide, will take a knee-jerk position to prevent the exercise of free will in this regard.
If allowed to come to a vote by our political representatives, a one way trip to Mars will undoubtedly fail to be authorized. Science in general is not esteemed by politicians. Science brings, among other things, inconvenient truths which threaten the status quo and confound irrational belief.
The first nation to Mars will be one not mired in the morass of religion or superstition. It will be from a nation not controlled by the tyranny of an idiocracy. Until we can offer a return trip, no matter how risky, we will be watching from the sidelines.