Should Trees Have Rights?

Okay so this post is not like the normal posts about atheism, science or skepticism. I have an interest in Philosophy and this is my response to a Philosophical competition question entitled 'Should trees have rights?' in which the response had to be 180 words or less. Don't worry I am not saying trees have feelings! Here it is:

Trees do have rights to an extent, they have rights given by humans, legal rights protecting them. But these are not personal rights for the trees, they are rights that inhibit our actions towards the tree. Trees are vital for the existence of us humans and so we need to protect them in order to maintain our existence. These rights are man-made and artificial created and applied by humans to maintain society and the environment in what we believe to be a humane way. The ecological balance of nature requires no human rights to be implemented, it works prefect on its own from the subatomic level to the global scale. The very rights that protect trees allow for their destruction. But trees like everything in the world are protected by the fundamental laws of science and nature and these are the rights that are important to trees. 

The Beauty And Science Of Water

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With all the snow disruptions hitting the UK I thought I would look at the science behind water.

Water is the most important chemical compound on our planet, it covers 71% of our planet and is vital for all life. Water is a covalently bonded polar molecule, with the oxygen being slightly negative and the hydrogen being slightly positive with hydrogen bonding between molecules.

The properties of H2O make it perfect for providing life. Water has a high latent heat of vaporisation which put simply means that when water becomes a gas it removes energy from the source of where the water was. So when animals sweat energy is removed from the body and homoeostasis is maintained. Also, water has a high specific heat capacity which put simply again means it takes a lot of energy to raise a kg of water by 1 degrees Celsius. This means that water remains at a fairly constant temperature in large amounts which is vital for ensuring life continues by the little variation in oceans and seas.

Tolerance Within The Atheist Community

The atheist community is always busy fighting against the inequalities of religion across the world and I believe sometimes we need to step back and take a look at the whole picture. One of the readers of this blog suggested I write about tolerance within the atheist community for religion and this is my response.

Whilst there are of course horrifically disturbing religious discriminations happening right now, what about the ‘normal’ and peaceful religion that is being practised? As atheists how should we react to them? I enjoy a good old heated debate, but arguing at every moment possible is not the right thing to do. Sometimes leaving a religious person with their faith is fine, if they start preaching about their beliefs to you then please feel free to intervene and talk about your well backed up beliefs. After all, well backed up ideas are always better than preaching. Debating will probably not get you anywhere, as the religious person already has beliefs that are based on faith. And evidence only destroys faith. As long as the debaters respect each other’s views no harm can be done, debating correctly allows respect and critique of views.  

Looking Back...Science Highlights of 2012

2012 was certainly a great year in terms of science, as per usual many amazing advances in the scientific community were made. Here are some of the highlights...

1.) Probably the most famous in 2012 was the discovery of the previously theoretical Higgs Boson. Its discovery gave particle physics a great leap in knowledge and positively raised its awareness and educated the general public. 

2.) Just above I said the discovery of the Higgs Boson was the most famous, I guess the next event is globally even more well-known about. In October, Felix Baumgartner skydived from the 'edge of space' and fell faster than the speed of sound. Despite some difficulty that he experienced he successfully completed the dive.

A Blogging Skeptic's Atheist Christmas

Only 6 days till…well you know what. It’s Christmas! The awkward time of the year for atheists- the decision whether to celebrate it is a sensitive issue for many atheists. It is the balance between family, sentiment and personal objection to this religious holiday that many find difficult.  

Whilst some object altogether about celebrating this holiday there are others who celebrate what is becoming an increasingly secularised celebration. With atheist participation in Christmas it highlights and increases the awareness that this event is a somewhat secular holiday. Even if you don’t want to celebrate Christmas per se, why not celebrate the fact it is a public holiday. Or make up your own celebration- the birth of Richard Dawkins perhaps? Who cares if Dawkin’s was born in March it makes perfect sense to celebrate it in December, after all Jesus wasn't born in December!

Now onto Tim Minchin and his brilliantly crafted and intelligent exploration into a Christmas for non-believers. Although this song was released in 2009, it never ceases to fade in its magnificence and is still my number 1 Christmas song each year. The song portrays Tim’s feelings about how Christmas is still important to non-religious people and the sentient, along with sharing time with your family is important.

Whatever your views and whatever holiday you will be celebrating, Happy Holiday and Merry Chri...HOLIDAY!- From The Blogging Skeptic

Derren Brown Part 2- Religious Experience

As promised, here is my response to Derren Brown’s ‘Faith’ show. The shows are still on 4oD if you wish to watch them.

In this programme Derren Brown demonstrates how a ‘religious experience’ can be induced on someone, in this case a stem-cell scientist and a strong atheist. It was a fascinating show because Derren was not presenting full conclusive evidence for the non-existence of God(s) but exploring that the belief in God could stem from our humanistic needs and is hard-wired into us.

The concept of a God was always going to be applied by humans to explain the world no matter whether it was true or not, centuries ago humans knew very little about the world around them and the need to be able to explain the world was essential to the basics of living. As Derren showed in this programme we are all susceptible to suggestions of a supernatural presence, in essence it is hard wired into every one of us. He used several experiments on members of his audience to demonstrate this. He performed a satanic ritual where the person read out a satanic rite declaring their allegiance to Satan, out of an audience consisting of mainly atheists, agnostics and skeptics only a few were willing to perform it- 11 out of 160. As Derren after this said “we are all born with an inbuilt hardwired tendency to believe,” and it was that niggling doubt in the back of their minds that made them not decide to partake.

Derren Brown Part 1- Placebo Effect

In this post and the next I am exploring Derren Brown’s ‘Fear and Faith’ shows. I am looking at part 1, ‘fear’ which examines the placebo effect. The first show was broadcasted on Friday 9^th November, apologies for time delay. The shows are still on 4oD if you wish to watch them. 

In the programme, at first Derren Brown reveals a drug ‘Rumyodin’ that inhibits fear; it had been used within the U.S army and now they had the permission to use the drug on a clinical level for a select few members of the public. After several minutes he reveals that it is in fact a fake, the drug does not exist and it is simply an elaborate façade for a placebo pill. Derren cleverly created the name ‘Rumyodin’ which is actually an anagram of ‘your mind.' After this it shows Derren leading several people into Cicero’s (the fake company) medical centre and the placebo effect has already begun with the professionalism of the trials and the medical centre.