Yep, you guessed it – the reason I haven’t written a book review in…at least a month was that I’ve been reading nonfiction.  Yes, a single nonfiction book, even one that I generally enjoy and am interested in, will grind down my pace of reading 15fold (2 days->30).  So don’t take it as anything against this book that it took me a month to read it.  It just did.

A book like this just isn’t going to interest some people, so for the interest of civil discussion, don’t chime in if you’re not going to do any more than point out something like that.

That out of the way… the format and style of writing here was quite interesting.  It was very casual slash armchair-scientist, but not really in a bad way.  He lays out a reasonable case by way of all kinds of examples – there’s stuff here from a decent swath of academia: sociology, evolutionary biology, history, archaeology, biblical/Koran/Torah scholarship, etc.

I think there’s a central thesis.  He doesn’t exactly set out to prove it though – merely to show that it’s a possibility, which is an interesting take in today’s world of hardheaded side-taking.  The thesis -  I’m totally going to butcher this, so bear with me -  is that there are things that could be construed as  evidence, based on mankind’s sort of “moral drift” towards what we would generally agree are more positive points of view, that some kind of divinity like being may exist and if so, it is something like Philo’s Logos. Ie if there is a single “god”, then maybe it is a god that operates in ways humans can’t describe and all the various religions we see (he mostly focuses on the Mosaic trinity of modern big guns, but spends a decent amount of time on religions from most sizes & states of social groupings) are poor mappings filtered through the social animal.  Sort of.  Roughly.

It’s a more modern take (using lots of modern data and methodology) on an old, old idea, and it has a bit of bite to it. I’m not convinced of anything – and he doesn’t really set out to MAKE YOU BELIEVE HIM, which I think is admirable – but it’s nice to have another way to look at things, especially if you are inclined to see the spiritual in the natural world, but don’t buy into any of the “old men in the sky” religions.

There’s lots in here on the way social groups of various size use and benefit from religion, evolutionary reasons for doing so, and large sections on each of the Mosiac threesome.  Definitely worth reading if you enjoy this kind of thing (which I do, in small doses).

THREE AND A HALF STARS

1. Man molests pre-pubescent boy.
2. Therefore, man must be attracted to males.
3. Therefore, man is gay.
4. Therefore, all/most gays are child molesters.

Now, of course we can all point out the obvious logical fallacy involved in traversing the gulf between steps 3 and 4, right?

If not, please don’t call me.  Ever.

Instead, I’m going to dwell briefly on the more interesting breakdown of the brain between steps 1 & 2.

Oh wait, first, lets run the same logic train on a man who molested a little girl (which never happens, right?!):

1. Man molests pre-pubescent girl.
2. Therefore, man must be attracted to girls.
3. Therefore, man is straight.
4. Therefore, all/most straights are child molesters.

Oooo.  It burns doesn’t it? It should.  If not, pick up your phone – and don’t call me.

An average gay man, just like an average straight man, is attracted to people on the post- side of that wacky, sticky river of puberty.   The entrances just don’t completely overlap.   Hey – no harm, no foul eh?

Let’s get something straight:

There is a huge gulf between pre- and post- pubescence.  You should not be sexually attracted to someone on the pre- side of that river.

If you are, you are psychologically, hormonally, biologically (ETC!) damaged and should be kept away from children.

THE END.

So please, TV ads and ignorant people in general, please shut the fuck up with the “protect the children from the gays!” bullshit.  Your logic is insulting, not to mention insulting.

Thankfully my accent is much clearer than his, I’m sure.

I would honestly rather have someone “operate” on my brain to treat something than take the chemical coctails that are designer drugs.  You see the side effect warnings on those things….

If depression really is a brain disfunction, and anti-depressants are really just crude (and addictively expensive), scattershot attempts to fix it – this should bring about a revolution in treatments, and hopefully someday signal the end of drugs that have the potential to make you randomly kill you family *coughprozaccough*.

Because shit like this this, blows my mind.

Seriously, click that link, and read the story. It is amazing.

Thousands of years older than the pyramids?  Wow.

You don’t have to believe the theories that people are coming up with to realize the find is absolutely amazing.  What’s weird is that it took me 16 years to hear about it?? I’m usually pretty up on this stuff.  I was reading lots of crazy cryptoarchaeology stuff in that decade and none mentioned this?  Maybe I just forgot.  Or maybe they’ve just recently started publishing?

Anyway. Read the story.

1

2

Rowr?

The real question though – can I get one with 4 arms &  6 fingers on each?

If true though, it makes a lot of sense.

Link

The fact that they were able to reproduce the mutation again, but only under certain circumstances…awesome!  This is going to be even cooler once they figure out what chain of changes led to the mutation.  Makes me wish I had stuck with that childhood dream of mine to go into biology/genetics.

Yes, I know I’m a geek.