| Greenpeace wants Facebook center off coal fuel By ARTHUR MAX 2010-09-01T20:43:10ZAMSTERDAM (AP) -- Greenpeace said about 500,000 Facebook users have urged the world's largest online social network to abandon plans to buy electricity from a coal-based energy company for its new data center in the U.S.... hosted.ap.org |
Why I no longer believe religion is a virus of the mind | Sue Blackmore The 'Explaining religion' conference has made me see that the idea of religious belief as a virus has had its dayAre religions viruses of the mind? I would have replied with an unequivocal "yes" until a few days ago when some shocking data suggested I am wrong.This happened at a conference in Bristol on "Explaining religion". About a dozen speakers presented research and philosophical arguments, mostly falling into two camps: one arguing that religions are biologically adaptive, the other that they are by-products of cognitive mechanisms that evolved for other reasons. I spoke first, presenting the view from memetics that religions begin as by-products but then evolve and spread, like viruses, using humans to propagate themselves for their own benefit and to the detriment of the people they infect.This idea began with Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene, was developed in his later article "Viruses of the mind" and taken up by others, including myself in The Meme Machine and other works. It is one version of "dual-inheritance" theory in which genes and culture are both seen as evolving systems.The idea is that religions, like viruses, are costly to those infected with them. They demand large amounts of money and time, impose health risks and make people believe things that are demonstrably false or contradictory. Like viruses, they contain instructions to "copy me", and they succeed by using threats, promises and nasty meme tricks that not only make people accept them but also want to pass them on.This was all in my mind when Michael Blume got up to speak on "The reproductive advantage of religion". With graph after convincing graph he showed that all over the world and in many different ages, religious people have had far more children than nonreligious people.The exponential increase in the Amish population might be a one off, as might Catholics having lots of children, but a comparison of religious and nonaffiliated groups in the USA, China, Sweden, France and other European countries showed that the number of children per woman in religious groups ranged from close to zero (for the Shakers) to between six and seven for the Hutterites, Amish and Haredim, while the nonaffiliated averaged less than two per woman – below replacement rate.Data from 82 countries showed almost a straight line plot of the number of children against the frequency of religious worship, with those who worship more than once a week averaging 2.5 children and those who never worship only 1.7 – again below replacement rate. In a Swiss census of 2000 the nonaffiliated had the lowest number of births at 1.1 per woman compared with over two among Hindus, Muslims and Jews.Another striking comparison came from Eric Kaufmann's book Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?, to which responses differ on whether secularists should be terrified of an impending world dominated by religion or not. When European Jews were classified as orthodox, nonreligious and atheist, the atheists averaged around 1.5 children per woman and the religious Jews nearly three, with the Haredim in Israel averaging six to eight children per woman over many generations.All this suggests that religious memes are adaptive rather than viral from the point of view of human genes, but could they still be viral from our individual or societal point of view? Apparently not, given data suggesting that religious people are happier and possibly even healthier than secularists. And at the conference, Ryan McKay presented experimental data showing that religious people can be more generous, cheat less and co-operate more in games such as the prisoner's dilemma, and that priming with religious concepts and belief in a "supernatural watcher" increase the effects.So it seems I was wrong and the idea of religions as "viruses of the mind" may have had its day. Religions still provide a superb example of memeplexes at work, with different religions using their horrible threats, promises and tricks to out-compete other religions, and popular versions of religions outperforming the more subtle teachings of the mystical traditions. But unless we twist the concept of a "virus" to include something helpful and adaptive to its host as well as something harmful, it simply does not apply. Bacteria can be helpful as well as harmful; they can be symbiotic as well as parasitic, but somehow the phrase "bacterium of the mind" or "symbiont of the mind" doesn't have quite the same ring.This is how science (unlike religion) works: in the end it's the data that counts. Being shown you are wrong is horrid, but this has happened to me often enough before (yes, you may make jokes if you like) and one gets used to it. This shock may not be as bad as when I discovered I was wrong about the paranormal, but it's still a shock. The good side is that it has thrown me into new thoughts, new lines of inquiry, and set me wondering again just how religions can have such power over us.ReligionAtheismRichard DawkinsSue Blackmoreguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Congress backs Obama plan on NASA's future By JIM ABRAMS 2010-09-30T03:50:36ZWASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress approved a blueprint for NASA's future Wednesday that extends the life of the space shuttle program for a year while backing President Barack Obama's intent to use commercial carriers to lift humans into near-Earth space.... hosted.ap.org |
Chile miners rescue: stress and anxiety present new ordeal for men Doctors fear for the men's well-being above ground after their prolonged near-death experience undergroundWith the most obvious ordeal behind them, a fresh one begins.The rescued Chilean miners will have regular medical checks for the next six months to nurse them back to health and guide them through a difficult psychological period.Doctors are most concerned about stress-related illnesses in the coming weeks. The tough culture in the industry will help some miners cope, but psychologists warn of a flipside that means they may be less inclined to ask for help when they need it. Some are expected to suffer flashbacks, anxiety and other clear symptoms of post-traumatic stress.Survivors of near-death experiences, particularly those who endure precarious conditions as prolonged as the men have, face other troubles as they readjust to normal life and feel the burden of becoming publicly known figures overnight.Dr Peter Collett, an Oxford-based psychologist, said the jubilant miners will soon come down from the high of their rescue. "What they don't realise is that if they thought it was hell down there, it's going to be nothing compared with what they are going to experience."This will overshadow everything else that has ever happened to them and everything that happens in the future. Events like this recalibrate people and give them a new perspective on life. They will feel like different people and it is critical that they are helped to understand the feelings and experiences that are coming."The men emerged from the rescue capsule one by one, wearing dark glasses to protect their eyes against the sunlight. They were helped through an inflatable tunnel to an ambulance for the short ride to a triage station where they began 48 hours of compulsory medical checks.Doctors awaiting their arrival on the surface had detailed medical assessments ready for each of the 33 miners and were prepared to treat ailments from knee sprains and dental disease to lung infections brought on by the warm, moist air and vitamin D deficiency due to the lack of sunlight. Each miner was handed glucose pills for energy while nurses stood by with sedatives to treat those overcome by anxiety.The poor air quality in the mine – not helped by their spirits being bolstered with supplies of cigarettes – put the miners at risk of depressed immune systems, partially collapsed lungs and asthma from inhaling mould and dust. The warm, damp conditions were ideal for ringworm, athlete's foot and other fungal infections to spread. For the first 17 days of their ordeal the men were unable to brush their teeth and some developed gum disease.Andres Llarena, the lead physician for the rescue, said the health of the miners was "way above average, not what we expected". About the only surprise in their health was the men's colour, he said. "They are very pale. In medicine when you see paleness you associate with something not good, but here it was just because they had no sun." Describing the 12 to 15 minute ascent that each miner endured, Llarena said it had caused them anxiety. "It is a rough ride," he added.The first few to be rescued were in good shape but some of those rescued later were more frail. Mario Gómez, at 63, the oldest of the men, suffers from silicosis and immediately dropped to his knees to pray, his yellow hardhat still on his head, once helped out of the capsule.At the very start of the emergency, Kristian Jahn, a Chilean official, gathered a team of 23 local psychologists and built a ring of support around each miner's family in an attempt to remove the uncertainty about the men's safety and treat the families as victims too. They were briefed daily and given information before it was released to the press.Meanwhile the men were sent medicine, clothes and games through a 700-metre borehole. A modified telephone line was set up for them to talk to rescuers and psychologists.Ten of the miners were given treatment for diabetes, high blood pressure and infections. One miner, Yonni Barrios, who had been on a first aid course, was asked to administer vaccines and medicines.At the request of the Chilean minister of health, Nasa dispatched a team of two doctors, a psychologist and an engineer to aid the rescue effort. They offered help on how to extract the men and the design of the capsule, and drew up a strict diet for the miners to ensure they were healthy enough to endure the rescue.The miners were given tape measures and told to keep their waistlines below 90cm so they would fit in the rescue capsule. In the days before they were brought up, the men were ordered to follow a tough exercise regime and took aspirin and saltwater supplements to lower their risk of blood clots and fainting during the ascent. With one day to go, they were fed potato crisps to make them thirsty, after doctors worried they may suffer from dehydration. Each put on compression socks – used to prevent thrombosis – hours before climbing into the capsule.The trip to the surface was not straightforward. Inside the capsule, the miners strapped on an oxygen mask to prevent them becoming nauseous, panicking or fainting as the capsule spun around.Rescuers installed a video camera and two-way radio link to watch and talk to the men each step of the way, while doctors monitored their vital signs via sensors strapped to their belts. Those miners coming up after sundown wore extra jumpers to cope with the shift from stifling underground heat to the frigid surface."It's not the case that they are out and their problems are over," Dr Collett said. "For two months, they have lived in their imaginations, followed a routine and their focus has been the group. But that will change, the group will disappear and they will face the complications of their real lives. They will be under enormous pressure. These men are going to become iconic figures from this point on."ChilePsychologyIan Sampleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Astronomers say they've found oldest galaxy so far By SETH BORENSTEIN 2010-10-20T21:17:28ZWASHINGTON (AP) -- Astronomers believe they've found the oldest thing they've ever seen in the universe: It's a galaxy far, far away from a time long, long ago.... hosted.ap.org |