I finally got around to reading Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion.  I wish I hadn’t put it off.

From Wikipedia:

Dawkins writes that The God Delusion contains four “consciousness-raising” messages:

1. Atheists can be happy, balanced, moral, and intellectually fulfilled.
2. Natural selection and similar scientific theories are superior to a “God hypothesis”—the illusion of intelligent design—in explaining the living world and the cosmos.
3. Children should not be labelled by their parents’ religion. Terms like “Catholic child” or “Muslim child” should make people cringe.
4. Atheists should be proud, not apologetic, because atheism is evidence of a healthy, independent mind.

It feels weird to be an atheist now, but I feel a weight has been lifted and I have an incredible clarity.  I am certainly motivated to work on my writing and comedy – if this is all there is, than I don’t want to spend this life in a factory.

The God Delusion at Amazon and Chapters.  Check out Wikipeida and Richard Dwakins for more information on atheism and how it can help you.

Halt.

Hammerzeit.

(curse resizing errors)

From I Can Has Motivation.

So if I sit around in my basement, wearing my bathrobe, and talking to my cat about how to best kill people, I’m a sociopath, but if I write it down in an entertaining matter, I’m a mystery writer?

Best. Job.  Ever.

Man I gotta stop looking at the Internet….

Also from I Can Has Motivation.

From I Can Has Motivation.

A short film from writer Alex Epstein. I referenced his books extensively in my thesis.

12 Ways to Say I’m Sorry – The most popular videos are here

Inglourious Basterds

DAMN YOU TARANTINO!

I HATE YOU AND YOUR INCREDIBLE FUCKING MOVIE THAT WAS AMAZING!

I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON THAT TALENT AND DIE AND COME BACK AS A ZOMBIE SO YOU CAN MAKE MOVIES LIKE THIS FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY!

What is the true Meaning of Christmas?

Let’s look at the history of Christmas to begin to answer this question.  From the History Channel:

That was part 1. The rest can be seen on YouTube: Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

Highlights:

• The origins of Christmas are a mix of the Roman festivals of  Saternalia and Sol Invictus, the Germanic Yule, and early Christianity.  Any connection with Mithras seems unlikely.
• Jesus was never the focus of Christmas and it’s not clear when he was born.
• For hundreds of years, Christmas celebrations were dangerous and a severe disturbance of the peace.
• Washington Irving (with his book Bracebridge Hall), Charles Dickens (with his book A Christmas Carol) , Henry Livingston Jr/Clement Clarke Moore (with the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas/Twas the Night Before Christmas), and Thomas Nast (with his cartoons of Santa Claus) are responsible for the current version of Christmas, created in the mid to late 19th century.

What do I conclude form all this?  What is the meaning of Christmas?

Is it the celebration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?  No.  Even if I was Christian, this claim seems doubtful.  First of all, there is no way of knowing when Jesus was born.  Second of all, the importance of Jesus is his resurrection.  Without that he’s just an apocalyptic Jew who pissed off the Roman government (frankly, that’s all I think he was anyway, but that’s another post).

Is it family & charity?  In Part 3 of the video, around 1:25 in, it is stated that “Scrooge learns that family & charity cannot be ignored at Christmas time.”  This sentence sums up the big problem I have with the current version of Christmas.  Consider: “At Christmas time, Scrooge learns that family & charity cannot be ignored.”  A small grammatical shift, a huge cognitive shift.  Three Victorian writers and one cartoonist decided that 1 day of family & charity should make up for 364 days of fragmentation & avarice.  It doesn’t.

Is it a celebration of renewal?  This is an interesting proposition as Christmas falls near the end of the year and near the solstice, which seem like logical events to celebrate.  It must be asked, however, who’s end of year?  Calendars are arbitrary.  As for the solstice and the return of the light: it’s 2009 – I think we’re going to be alright.

How about a shot of pragmatism? At least it’s a day off, right?  Ouch.  So close.  For some this is true, unfortunately for me I work a weird schedule.  December 25th would have been a day off for me anyway.

So what is the true meaning of Christmas?

It has none.  The religious claims on the date, both Christian and pagan, are dubious; the cultural claims are superficial; and the astronomical claims are questionable.

I’ll be spending the day as I would any day off: writing, watching tv, and playing video games.  I suggest you do the same.

Frankly, I don’t even remember how I came upon this video:

Which lead me to The Guild, an online sit com about a guild called The Knights of Good in a “generic” (Warcraft) MMO.  It was created by Felicia Day in an attempt to turn her WoW addiction into something productive.  Mission accomplished.

The show started in 2007, so I feel more than a little out of date writing about it now.  Still, I’ve basically ignored the Internet, so step one is to catch up.  Plus, who else is trying to document the online comedy world?

And for a first, here’s a second embedded video (to make up for 4 days without posting) – The Guild season 1, episode 1:

In 1980, PBS aired Cosmos: A Personal Journey – a thirteen part series written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter.

I started reading the accompanying book while at work the other day.  What a great way to kick off my quest for Internet learning.  Sure, technically it’s a still a tv series and a book, but there’s no better introduction to the cosmos.  Carl Sagan is the man.  It’s a little out of date, but a great place to start.

Here’s the first part of episode one:

The whole series can watched via this YouTube playlist.