Church tax exemption has been criticized by several atheist and anti-theist groups as being unfair and have called for the government to tax religious places of worship. These groups often lack understanding of the grand scheme of the global economy. Churches currently do not pay 83.5 billion a year according to some figures. Which is about the same amount of money as food stamps. People are quick to jump to say this is a huge amount of money, when again it isn’t.
Let’s do the math. There are about 450,000 churches in the united states give...
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Friday, October 10, 2014
Science: Quantum Mechanics; Double Slit Experiment
Quantum physics is a newborn science that is rapidly growing in popularity. In it’s basic essence, Quantum physics attempt to explain phenomena that are not well understood. It has yielded some mind-boggling results. One prime example of these results would be the double slit experiment. Below is a video that will explain what the double slit experiment is in the simplest way.
So let’s recap some of the information that we've learned from watching the video. We have learned that light and possibly any other matter can move as both a particle...
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Philosophy: The Socratic Method
Origin
Socrates is a legendary philosopher born during the Ancient Greek’s golden era over 2 millennia ago. He is regarded as one of the most intellectual philosophers in recorded history. The strange thing about this wiseman is that he never wrote any of his actual thoughts down. All that we know about him and his beliefs were inscribed by his disciples. The most notable one being Plato. Socrates was known for his advanced critical thinking skills and often used several method to find such truth. One his wisest methods of obtaining truth values...
Monday, September 1, 2014
The Wondrous Tree of Life
The concept of the tree of life is one that is present in biology, most forms of religion, and even philosophy. It symbolizes interconnection and in evolutionary context; common descent. It is truly amazing how several bodies of knowledge can come up with the same concept even through separation. It does give a lot of credence to the concept itself.
Biology
The tree of life in modern biology is known as the phylogenetic tree. It is used metaphorically...
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Politics: Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action continues to be a large topic of debate. There have been several court debates on whether it is even constitutional. For those of you who don't know what affirmative action is I have provided an operational definition below
Affirmative Action is the practice of improving the educational and job opportunities of certain groups of people because these groups have faced socio-historical discrimination.
In countries like the U.K. it is known as 'positive discrimination', and is generally used in a positive connotation. In...
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Philosophy: Uncaused Cause/Cosmological argument
One of Thomas Aquinas' five ways. The argument is officially known as the cosmological argument; However in Ancient Greece both Plato and Aristotle were the first to posit them as the Uncaused Cause argument. Like its name, they determined that the universe was created by an "uncaused cause" or "immovable mover." This argument has been subject to debate for centuries by philosophers and even non-philosophers. Perhaps it is the power of this argument which attracts so much attention.
Basic premises
Premise 1 - Everything that exists has a preceding...
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
What is Science?
Photo By Image Editor
When we hear the word science, we think of those who are in their laboratories discovering the cure for cancer, or trying to build flying cars. While both of these assumptions are correct, science is much much more than that. Science is a large body of knowledge that observes the natural phenomena of the universe and organizes it into explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science has large ties with philosophy...
What is Philosophy?
Image Credit to Dakine Kane from Flickr
A large percentage of population unfortunately doesn't know the true meaning of philosophy. The other day one of my friends asked me to define philosophy because sometimes he got quite confused. Well I'm here to tell you not only the true meaning of philosophy but also its importance.
Philosophy is a field of study that concerns existence and reality. In essence, philosophy can be applied to almost...
Monday, August 18, 2014
Science: Logical Fallacy; Correlation equals Causation
Example of a positive correlation
Logical fallacies are rampant in today’s media and politics. How many times have you heard "Study Finds that Coffee Improves Brain Function" or "Cat Owners are Friendlier than Dog Owners." on the news? This is a blatant example of how the media tends to oversimplify things for public perception. Assuming because two things happened simultaneously is not enough evidence to suggest that one caused...
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Science: 4 Widespread Misconceptions about Genetics You Should Know
Image Credit to AJ Cann
Currently there are 4 common misconceptions spread by the media about genetics.
1. That an organisms features can be determined solely by its genes(Genetic determinism)
2. Single genes are the causes of specific anatomical/behavioral aspects
3. Genes are a blueprint
4. Genes only code for single proteins
Myth: Genetic Determinism
While it is true that certain behaviors are genetically programmed, it is false that...
Philosopy: Truth
What is Truth?
Truth can be referred to as knowledge that is in accordance with reality. The simplicity of truth seems inherent, but when one looks closely at the concept, it becomes hard to imagine that there is one single absolute truth in everything. Even philosophers have struggled with this concept. Let's look at some of the properties of an absolute truth.
- Fixed
- Invariable
- Unable to alter
While this is able to describe some concepts, it fails to describe others. The only logical assumption that we can...
Friday, August 15, 2014
The True Meaning of Life: Creation
I have been pondering the meaning of life for some time lately. It has always been a large philosophical issue. "Why are we here?" is the question that science, philosophy, and theology have all had their try at explaining. Well here is my chance to tell you, that the meaning of life is creation. I know it sounds a bit basic but that is the answer that I truly believe.
Let's look at some of the facts
1. Life is Self Replicating, Reproduction is a Vital Aspect of What is Considered Life.
Anyone who has ever paid attention to biology...
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Appeal to Nature Fallacy: Is Homosexuality Natural?
In regards to arguments bought up over homosexuality there seems to be quite a common question that pops up. "Is homosexuality natural." At first this seems like a very important aspect, however if you look at this objectively whether homosexuality is natural or not has nothing to do with anything. It is an appeal to nature fallacy that needs to be forgotten.
Labeling something natural or unnatural seems to cause people to change their mindsets about something. Natural products are seen as good, which is...
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