The Eternal Gaijin

A couple of odd thoughts that struck me: What is the sugar content of the average skeptic's diet? I'm guessing that this is the only case of giving 110%. Is bald and beard an actual uniform or just a peer-pressure thing? I didn't know. I've just grown my hair back after a decade of shaving my head. Well, I didn't grow back the front, but that's not my fault. When ever stuck for words or in a conversational cul-de-sac, make a Trek, Firefly or Dr. Who reference. That'll paper over any problem. Example: A: How can you support the invasion of Iraq? B: The problem was putting the Packlids in charge. A: Heh, that was a good episode. There's a strong libertarian bent in the room. Go on. Pick a fight. Say something like: "I like what Obama has to say about wealth redistribution." Or: "Gay rights? I don't support rights for anyone not recognized in 1776. Freedom for the already free!" Anyway that...

Saturday Saturday's commute went a bit better; I arrived and registered fairly easily, got my breakfast and sat with Friend DEG again. Michael Shermer's talk basically covered a few of the ways that thinking goes wrong especially with regards to the idea of agency in happenings. Apparently some of the work Sam Harris has been doing in neuroscience has shown that credulity is a default position for the human brain. We'll take what we hear at face value and to not believe it takes a bit more work.  Bad news for fighting the various folk beliefs in astronomy, biology, psychology, economics, politics, conspiracy theory, et cetera, that we need to. Susan Begley gave an excellent informative talk that strayed close to a depressing talk. The upshot it that in the fight against creationism and pseudo-science we can't count on the media. it would be a mistake to think that the role of the press is education, and as such it's important to know they're not our ally...

So on Friday and Saturday I attended The Amazing Meeting 6 in Las Vegas. Originally I was going to attend merely the Friday, but it turned out that my wife got bored of listening to me talk about it and sent me back for the second day so she could relax on her own. Vegas, it seems is designed intentionally to make sure you don't actually get anywhere, as this would allow you out of the casino. A few times on the way to the Flamingo this became intensely, frustratingly apparent. The Luxor with its size, floor plan, and emergency lack of tram service to the nearest monorail station seemed to be actively conspiring to keep me where I was. And let's not even try to discuss the idea of cashing a traveller's cheque with a Japanese driving license. So my Tilley adventure clothing started to come in handy, as I was going to be safari-ing my way to the TAM venue, almost a full kilometre away. Meeting up with Friend DEG (man the bridges, brave Horatius) I took my seat two-thirds ...