News and Views From my kids accomplishments, to my heretical perspective of the world

July 22, 2011

Attitudes at the Amazing Meeting

Filed under: Opinion — Daryl @ 11:25 am

I didn’t do or read of any surveys, but based on the discussions and questions, I brought back the following impressions from the Amazing Meeting in Las Vegas.

The focus on the meeting was “Science, Skepticism and Critical Thinking”. Many different topics were discussed, but the beliefs of the participants probably roughly went this way, from fewest people believing to most people believing:

Probably less than 1% believe in:
Talking with the dead
Fairies, gnomes, trolls, etc.
Moving objects with your mind
Mind readers
Power bands (bands worn on the wrist that increase your strength)
Ghosts
Bigfoot, Loch Ness monster
The moon landing was faked
Obama is a Muslim
9/11 was an inside conspiracy (i.e. Bush, Cheney or Jews, etc.)

Maybe 5% or less believe in:
Homeopathic medicine
Aliens visiting the earth (might belong in the 1% category)
Creationism
Vaccines may cause autism

Maybe 10% believe in:
Acupuncture
Chiropractic medicine can work for other than bones and joints
Intelligent life probably exists somewhere else in the universe
God or Gods
People possess a soul, something other than the physical body

Maybe 50% believe:
Chiropractic medicine can work for bones and joints
Life probably exists somewhere else in the universe
Science can help make moral decisions about right and wrong

Maybe 80% believe:
Humans caused global warming
All mind and mental activity is completely based on brain function

Maybe 90% believe:
Global warming is real, whether caused by humans or not
Science can help determine what is true

Maybe 95% believe:
Life evolved on earth by natural selection
If a God exists, it doesn’t interfere with the world. Everything happens by natural causes.
Science is the best way to determine what is true

These numbers reflect what I believe too, roughly in order of probability.

What superstitions or valid beliefs did I leave out?

July 15, 2011

The Amazing Meeting

Filed under: Family Updates,Opinion — Daryl @ 8:54 pm

I’m in Las Vegas this weekend at The Amazing Meeting.

The Amazing Meeting is sponsored by The Amazing Randi. Randi has been a magician for over 50 years, and like Houdini before him has devoted the later years of his life to debunking psychics, faith healers and other scams. There are over 1600 people at this, the 9th annual Amazing Meeting, but the first I have attended.

Speakers include Randi himself, Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and the host of PBS’s Nova Science Now, Bill Nye (the Science Guy), Richard Dawkins (Biologist and popularizer of science), the magician Banachek, and many, many others that most of you have probably never heard of (though I have).

Three days of science, skepticism and critical thinking. What fun!

July 13, 2011

Going Solar

Filed under: Computers, Tech & Science,Family Updates — Daryl @ 5:24 pm

About once a year I check the price of adding solar photo-voltaics on my roof, and every year decide that it’s still too expensive, and the payback is too far out.

This year things finally look good enough, with payback estimated to be about 10 years. Tax credits and utility company rebates cut the cost of the system in half.

I’ll be getting a total of about 8 KW, which should cut my electric bill to less than half. Excess power will be credited back to me; in effect (but not actually) turning the meter backwards. There should be times, especially in the spring and fall when the days are longer but we don’t use the air conditioner yet, when we give back more power than we use, in which case it will carry forward as a credit to the next month.

We’re going with American Solar Electric. They estimate that the installation will be complete in late September.

I know Richard is way ahead of me on this — by using batteries he can be “off the grid” and survive without any power other than the sun most of the time. My system will be “grid tied”, with no storage capabilities. So when the sun goes down I will be completely dependent on the power company.

I’ll keep you updated here as things progress.

July 6, 2011

Haboob!

Filed under: Family Updates — Daryl @ 12:01 pm

We had a huge, gigantic dust storm (or “Haboob” in Arabic) hit the Phoenix area last night. TV stations reported that it was 7000 feet high, and 50 miles wide. It came into the city like a huge wall, almost a tsunami of dust. One minute the sun was shining, and the next it was night with visibility less than 100 feet. Dust storms are common — we usually get a few each summer, but this was the largest I ever remember seeing.

Old-timers say that the summer thunderstorms start after 3 dust storms. I think this one might count as 3 all by itself!

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