I read a book called Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith by J. Anderson Thomson Jr. MD and Clare Aukofer (I believe it was Penn Jillette who recommended it). It attempts to explain why humans have a natural susceptibility to believe in the supernatural by describing various behavioral adaptations in our species. It even goes into some of the physiology and brain chemistry involved.

Some of parts I found most interesting were about the evolution of our species and reasons some of the social adaptations were successful. It also includes an explanation for our natural cravings for food high in sugar and fat, which I found interesting. The overly positive reactions in our brain to sugar and fat are leftover adaptations from when these were very difficult to obtain (there were no grocery stores for cavemen apparently).

It also had interesting insights into psychology and several studies of the brain and behavior of young children. There were many less obvious things that were revealed which really got me thinking.

Overall, I found the book pretty interesting. It’s short and definitely worth reading if you have any interest in evolution, psychology, or religion. I’ll close with an interesting quote:

“Children have been described as ‘intuitive theists.’ Children show what is called promiscuous teleology, a basic preference to understand the world in terms of purpose. This contributes to what we now know about children’s belief. Children will spontaneously adopt the concept of God and a created world with no adult intervention. At heart we are all born creationists. Disbelief requires effort.” [1]

[1] Thomson, J. Anderson; Aukofer, Clare; Richard Dawkins (2011-06-01). Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith (Kindle Locations 766-769). Pitchstone Publishing. Kindle Edition.

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I’ve been playing with Google+ since I got an invite a few days ago. My first impression was that it was a much simpler version of Facebook with a few major differences. The most obvious is the procedure for adding people to your network, which involves circles. Read their site for details about all the features.

What I like about Google+, at least in its current state, is its simplicity. It doesn’t have a bunch of noisy apps that I have to hide. It’s simply people talking to each other using words, which is how I think it should be on a social network.

I don’t know what to think about the circles yet, since I don’t have a lot of people on there yet to sort. I do like the fact that you can use it like Twitter by adding people to a circle to follow their public posts, or like Facebook where they also add you to make it a two-way connection. I also find the interface fun to use…

What I don’t like about Google+ is that there’s barely anyone I know on there yet, and a social network is less useful if you don’t know anyone. Hopefully that will change soon.

People are referring to Google+ as a Facebook replacement. However, that can only be true if the majority of your Facebook friends make the switch. Most mainstream users aren’t going to want to maintain two social profiles, and I just don’t see the majority of these users abandoning Facebook right away. I think a lot of the less technical users are perfectly content with Facebook, and will require much motivation to make the switch.

By the way, my profile can be found in the links on the right. Also, comment here if you want an invite!

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If you are at all interested in chemistry or science like I am, I recommend checking out Periodic Videos. They have a video on each and every element in the periodic table as well as many molecules and other chemistry topics. Their videos are very educational and most are pretty entertaining.

This is one of my favorite YouTube subscriptions. Below is a selection of a few of my favorite videos on their channel. They are some of the more fierier and explodier videos.

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Pandora Radio is a free internet streaming radio service that allows you to create personalized stations. The stations select music based on similarity using data from The Music Genome Project. You tell it something you like and it will find other songs you probably like. As you listen, you can tell it what you like and dislike so it gets a better idea of your preferences.

I’ve been using Pandora on and off for a few years and it works pretty well. I’ve discovered some great bands I never knew I liked or even heard of. It’s a great way to discover new music. Of course it also plays a lot of your favorites, too.

You can even further customize your stations by mixing them together or manually adding bands for more variety.

The free version has some short ads and a few limits on usage, but it isn’t too bad. I’m actually thinking of getting the paid version that removes the ads and limits, as well as gives higher quality and a desktop application. Right now it’s only $36/year.

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I saw the Blue Man Group at The Venetian in Las Vegas. I really didn’t know what to expect, but I was not disappointed. I think this would be a great way to start off the Reviews category, so here goes…

So what can you expect from three blue men on a stage? The most accurate answer to that would be to expect the unexpected. The show includes sounds, lights, comedy, and just plain weirdness. There’s even some educational parts if you can believe that.

They don’t talk, but they still manage to communicate and have a great personality simply through body language. They act almost like aliens exploring their environment and they seem very intrigued by the audience and human culture.

Blue Man Group playing with plumbing (Drumbone)

They do some pretty cool stuff with improvised instruments made mostly from plumbing. Just when you are thinking “that’s pretty neat,” something else happens that makes you think “huh?” (not huh as in “that was stupid”, but huh as in “haha, that’s crazy” IYKWIM). They also have a talented backing band with several drum kits, guitar, bass and Chapman stick.

I would definitely recommend seeing this show, especially if you want to see something totally unique. There’s something to enjoy for people of all ages. Not only is it visually entertaining for younger audiences, it also has some deeper meaning for older audiences to appreciate.

Even the signs telling you to turn off phones are funny. Also as an added bonus, you can meet the blue men after the show if you want.

Three words to describe Blue Man Group: Bizarre, Intense, Hilarious

Notes: There are strobe lights used in parts of the show, so you should be careful if you have epilepsy or other problems like that. There’s nothing inappropriate to worry about, so feel free to bring kids or family along. Individual shows may vary.

Filed under: Misc. Reviews, Reviews by StevoTVR
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