It all started back in September ’11 when I received an electronic letter from Dirty ‘Space Jang’ Dan a.k.a. Robert Watters with some crazy idea about an app. Apparently people taste things and some of them like to take notes, so there should be an app for that. It sounded like a good excuse to get into mobile app development.

The first thing I did was to buy a good book on Java programming, since that’s what Android apps are written in, and quickly learned the language. As soon as I had a pretty good understanding, I downloaded the Android SDK and started learning the framework. Then I spent the last several months writing and rewriting the app with space input from RobDan.

So that’s the story behind Flavordex. If you are interested in beer tasting or know someone who is, check it out at flavordex.com. I’m also working on one for wine, whiskey, and coffee, with more after that…

The fact that creation (or intelligent design) is a ridiculous concept is beside the point. Even if intelligent design were true, what are we supposed to do with that information? If something is the way it is because a super-intelligent being, operating in ways we cannot possibly understand, created it that way, then we can’t possibly use that knowledge to predict anything with any reliability. It is useless information.

Creationists often claim that life is too perfect to have been created in gradual steps, while in reality life is full of imperfections. The human eye is a common example cited by creationists, but poke one with a stick and see how well it works. Understanding how life came to be the way it is gives us the information we need to remove some of these imperfections, such as creating vaccines against the ever changing flu virus.

What I can’t understand is why proponents if intelligent design want so bad for it to be true. Why would you prefer a reality where we have no way of understanding or predicting anything? Is it simply driven by the fear of doubting the work of an undetectable omnipotent being? Irrational fear is just another example of imperfections arising from evolution, being the side effect of an incredibly important adaptation.

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Here is the original for comparison:

Tustin Blimp Hangar No. 2

I found it to be totally unpredictable and full of surprises, which is rare in my experience. It was also pretty thought-provoking. At the end, I wasn’t sure who the real enemy was.

It’s extremely violent and pretty gory at times, but if that doesn’t bother you I definitely recommend it. It’s available for streaming on Netflix.

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.