Matt Jones' Random Acts of Verbiage

Bill Whittle has two essays that you, ALL of you, need to go read right now: Seeing the Unseen Pt. 1 and Seeing the Unseen Pt. 2 (his final installment will be out some time in the near future). These essays will take time to read but you will be better of for it. He simply tells it like it is.

My problems with those on the far left of American politics is not that they have a vision of they way things should be, it is that they often live like those visions are reality and so try and force everyone to fit that reality. Unfortunately, reality pushes against their beliefs.

We live in a sea of information, an Information Age: and yet, it has been almost half a millennia since mankind has been so unwilling or unable to use critical thinking to separate the intellectual wheat from so…much…chaff! Critical Thinking — the ability to analyze data, determine it’s usefulness and fidelity, to learn how to assess reliability, question methodology, weigh expertise and all the rest -– is in shockingly short supply these days. It’s not just a shame; it’s an epidemic, it is a fatal metastasizing disease in a democracy where information is used by the public to make the decisions that steer the ship of state. For the ability to think critically allows us to see the unseen; to find the truth behind the falsehood, as well as the falsehood behind the truth.

This series of essays looks at critical thinking, or the lack there of. His Part 1 takes a look at a few of the “arguments” against the war, the Bush hegemony, and the sheer evils of our country. Part 2 takes the conspiracy theorist mentality down a few pegs… ok, well they have no pegs left. His part 3 will be taking a look at global warming; I am pretty curious what he will have to say about this.

Both pieces are extremely well written and made me laugh a lot. What ever side you are on in politics, or whatever, take the time to read the essays. Critical thinking is so extremely important and there has been a huge lack of it these days it seems.

After my post on the idiocy of Rosie O’ Donnell and her fellow conspiracy theorists, I really appreciated much of what he had to say! This quote said it well I think:

Rosie O’ Donnell making such a claim on a major network is a national disgrace. The fact that much of the audience cheered and applauded is nothing less than a national catastrophe.

In conclusion, I again urge you to go read the essays. I will end with sentiments that I COMPLETELY agree with:

Excuse me. I’m sorry. I don’t do this often but I just can’t continue this calmly:

WHAT THE LIVING HELL IS THE MATTER WITH THESE PEOPLE?!!

I think it’s high time – and way, waaaay past high time — to start pushing back against these kinds of diseased philosophies and the fact that they are getting traction because no one seems willing to point and them and go:

Easter – Our Server
Rachel and Nathan were running a restaurant for us.
Originally uploaded by mattithyahu.

Last weekend I went down to my parents’ house in Longview the spend the Easter weekend with family. It was a lovely weekend (aside from getting a cold/ have new allergies act up) that was filled with lots of tasty food. It was great to worship with my mom and step-dad and sister at their church and celebrate the Resurrection. After church the rest of the fam came over and Rachel and Nathan had an easter egg hunt… it was pretty good times. Then came the tasty food! It was nice to just relax and have fun with the fam. If you want to see more pictures from the day, see my Flickr set: Easter 2007.

Easter Egg Hunt!
There’s one!
Originally uploaded by mattithyahu.

Easter Egg Hunt!
“I knew it was here!”
Originally uploaded by mattithyahu.

Alan Taylor of Kokogiak has produced a great visual: All (known) Bodies in the Solar System Larger than 200 Miles in Diameter.

Alan has a helpful image of the 88 objects in the Solar System that are larger than 200 miles (320km) in diameter; from the Sun (at 861,800 miles / 1,390,000 km) down to the asteroid Davida (at 203 miles / 326 km). This doesn’t show relative distances, but shows very clearly the relative sizes of the various objects. Our Sun (which is so large, it only barely looks curved), the eight planets, three dwarf planets, 21 moons, four asteroids, and 51 Trans-Neptunian objects (TNO) are all displayed side by side.

For a sense of scale, check out the large version: All (known) Bodies in the Solar System Larger than 200 Miles in Diameter. You can also check out my previous posts relating to scale: A Sense of Scale: The Solar System and Walk the Solar System.

Well I have been awarded a Thinking Blogger Award very kindly by Amanda over at Imago Dei! I am not much of a meme guy, but this was quite gracious and figured I could use to to point to some of the blogs I enjoy reading that really make me think. UPDATE: I have also been honored by Lillie Ammann with the Thinking Blogger Award over at Thinking Again … Still?. Thanks Lillie!

The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog).

It is hard to pick only five as there are numerous blogs that I read that really make me think. Here are five that you should definitely check out (although you should also visit my Blogroll and Friends List to check out a variety of the blogs I read). (In no particular order.)

1. John Stackhouse – Professor at Regent College who is quite knowledgeable about a wide range of issues.
2. Not So Fast – Kristin Hoppe always provides great links that make me think (and/or laugh).
3. Instapundit – Glenn Reynolds is an obvious choice I suppose. He is the master linker that provides information from all over that forces me to think about a number of different issues (but especially politics).
4. Tom’s Astronomy Blog – Tom always seems to be a step ahead of me, he always has great stuff pertaining to science news.
5. Shofar, So Good – While Julia notes that she “think[s] people think I think too much,” she is good at asking good questions.

Is that already five? Humm, too bad. There are lots more. (I am really tempted to list a number of others… but I will restrain myself, go check out my Blogroll.) I think these five are a good variety (both in size and scope) that you should enjoy!

This will be my last post before I head down to see family for Easter weekend and Hot Air provided me with a good way to speak about Holy Week and Easter with a post by Bryan Preston: “The God of the Bible is also the God of the genome.” Speaking as someone who has a passion for God along with a passion for the universe around us, it was a perfect post for Holy Week. First off Bryan quotes Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D who is the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (read the post a Hot Air or CNN for more):

I did not always embrace these perspectives. As a graduate student in physical chemistry in the 1970s, I was an atheist, finding no reason to postulate the existence of any truths outside of mathematics, physics and chemistry. But then I went to medical school, and encountered life and death issues at the bedsides of my patients. Challenged by one of those patients, who asked “What do you believe, doctor?”, I began searching for answers.

…

My earlier atheist’s assertion that “I know there is no God” emerged as the least defensible. As the British writer G.K. Chesterton famously remarked, “Atheism is the most daring of all dogmas, for it is the assertion of a universal negative.”

Bryan then adds some of his own experience (again, more can be found at his post):

Eight years at the Hubble Space Telescope project had a similar effect on me. I was never an atheist as Dr. Collins was, and I didn’t head up anything on the scale of the Human Genome Project, but examining the universe in detail through Hubble’s eye at first challenged, and then strengthened, my faith.

…

Genesis 1 turned out to be one of the most interesting and profound documents ever written, once you start to get the science of it all. The God of the Bible is the God of the genome is the God of the distant dying star.

You can read more of Bryan’s thoughts on Genesis over at Relevant. The God of the Bible is also the God of science! God created the universe so of course science will work along side religion. They are not subjects that can be pitted against each other (see my posts Creation Science and Science vs. Religion for more of my thoughts on this).

I think Ryan’s post along with Collins’ article lead perfectly into Maundy Thursday, the Cross on Good Friday, and the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. God, the creator of the universe indwelling in Jesus Christ, broke bread and poured wine and invited us into relationship with him in the Upper Room. He then bore our sins for us in suffering and death on the Cross. Then, conquering death, he rose (in real, physical, bodily form [ahem]), providing us a way to live with him in eternity.

You, yes, you, can be a part of the resurrection’s redemptive work. We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. But Jesus has redeemed us all, you only have to accept it. None of us are deserving, but “the beauty of grace is that it makes life unfair.” God loves you and wants you to understand what he has done for you.

Have a wonderful and blessed Easter!

Last week I finished up Erin’s pick for this year’s 2006 Family Book and CD/DVD exchange. Her selection was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon. The mystery is told from the perspective of 15 year old Christopher who has Asperger syndrome. It was such an interesting read with a very unique perspective. I imagine it will even be helpful in going into teaching; understanding the thought process of someone with AS or autism is a difficult thing, Curious Incident provides a small insight.

The story is actually quite a sad one that often uses tragic irony because the reader is more aware of the situation than the narrator is. Nether his mother nor his father are exactly redeemable characters, they are failures in many ways, but continue to love their son in their own, broken way. Christopher’s logic, while often flawed (often because he doesn’t understand the content or context of the premises), is extremely interesting and usually quite consistent. While being a sad story, it is well worth the read and you are left with hope that things will get better for Christopher and his family.

Christopher enjoys math and his chapters are numbered by primes. So using the language of math, he makes this astute observation:

Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.

I can agree with that! In another chapter, Christopher notes a list of some of his behavioral problems:

M. Saying things that other people think are rude (Note 6)

Note 6: People say that you always have to tell the truth. But they do not mean this because you are not allowed to tell old people that they are old and you are not allowed to tell people if they smell funny or if a grown-up has made a fart. And you are not allowed to say “I don’t like you” unless that person has been horrible to you.

I find it very interesting that while he can see his own “behavioral problems,” he has reasons for each of them. It isn’t like he just does things for no reason or to cause problems, he does them because he likes things a certain way.

Check the story out!

Google TiSP – your FREE in-home wireless boradband!

The Toilet Internet Service Provider (TiSP) project is a self-installed, ad-supported online service that will be offered entirely free to any consumer with a WiFi-capable PC and a toilet connected to a local municipal sewage system.

Google has finally done it. They have announced free in-home boradband wireless!

The free kit that you can send away for contains everything to you going. Unfortunately if you are on a septic system, you are ineligible for the service as the fiber optic cable that is connected to the in-home wireless router must be sent through the sewer system.

They offer three levels of service.
The Trickle: Free with 8 Mbps.
The #2: $9.95/mo with 16 Mbps.
Royal Flush: $24.95/mo with 32 Mbps.
Pretty good deal.

“I couldn’t be more excited about, and am only slightly grossed out by, this remarkable new product,” said Marissa Mayer, Google’s Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. “I firmly believe TiSP will be a breakthrough product, particularly for those users who, like Larry himself, do much of their best thinking in the bathroom.”

You can sign up at this page; I recommend you do so now before the rush. If you want to know more, you can read their Frequently Asked Questions or the How it Works and Install Guide. Get on this before it becomes backordered!

Why is TiSP in beta?
When things go wrong with TiSP, they go very, very wrong. Let’s leave it at that.

ADDENDUM: For all you Gmail fans: Google has also introduced Google Paper! Google will print up any of your gmail for free and send you the paper copies! Even get your photos printed up on high quality photo paper!

Is there a limit?
You can make us print one, one thousand, or one hundred thousand of your emails. It’s whatever seems reasonable to you

Ahem. Please note the date. I like Google.