Public transport in Melbourne was free today.  It was an attempt to placate angry commuters after the rail network collapsed on Tuesday morning due to a power failure.

Lots of people wanted to know who was to blame for the problems, but I’m more interested in what eldritch creature resides in Stony Point and how is it using its dark powers to keep the trains running on time?  This is from the train operator’s web site.

I love reading about history.  The more I read, the more I realise how much I don’t know.

“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. These are things we do not know we don’t know.”
– Donald Rumsfeld

I’ve been reading about the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and the allied occupation of Japan.

There is a big divide in knowledge between Western and Asian history.  Most Australians know relatively little about Japanese or Chinese history (other than what they might have gleaned from watching the occasional samurai movie).

When I lived in Japan, I met a few well-educated Japanese in their 20s and 30s that hadn’t even been aware Australia and Japan had fought against each other.  I did talk to one student whose grandfather had been in one of the submarines that had been involved in the attack on Sydney Harbor.

Japan is often criticised by its neighbours (particularly China and Korea) for what they omit from their history textbooks.

Of course most countries have a tendenancy to gloss over the less than pleasant incidents from their past.  The previous Australian prime minister objected to what he saw as the “black armband view of history.”

A couple of years ago a Japanese TV station asked viewers to vote on their favorite figures from history.  Although it was possible to nominate anyone from history, the list ended up being heavily weighted towards Japanese.

Here is the list of the top 10 favorite historical figures chosen.  I’m guessing that many will be unfamiliar to non-Japanese.  It’s also interesting to see which Westerners turned up on the list.

10 Hijikata Toshizo
09 Helen Keller
08 Mother Teresa
07 Noguchi Hideyo
06 Tokugawa Ieyasu
05 Matsushita Konosuke
04 Hideyoshi Toyotomi
03 Thomas Edison
02 Sakamoto Ryoma
01 Oda Nobunaga

The full list is at
http://www.japanprobe.com/2006/05/08/japanese-rank-their-favorite-100-historical-figures/

Increasingly the majority of people are reliant on the news media to shape their view of the world.
Even though we get more news from all over the world than ever before, the majority of news is negative and what is not reported is often more interesting.
Sometimes what is left out of news stories can make a big difference.

In Australia there was a recent incident where some of the commercial TV stations showed footage of a man of Middle Eastern background shouting and swearing at a news cameraman outside a court.  The man’s son had been charged with riot offences.

Australia is fortunate to have Media Watch, an excellent program that looks at the stories behind the news stories.  They showed the unedited footage of the incident that showed the man repeatedly politely pleading for the news cameras to leave him and his son alone.  They crossed the street to avoid the cameras and were followed.  Then the cameraman swears at the man and calls him a terrorist, provoking the outburst that was then shown on TV.

http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/outrage-over-channel-nine-cameramans-terrorist-slur-20100413-s62i.html

Another recent example of the sharing of knowledge came from the Royal Commission currently being held into the Victorian bushfires (173 people were killed on February 7 last year in Victoria).

Christine Nixon, the then police commissioner, who was responsible for coordinating the emergency response (although in reality it is the chief fire officers that are responsible) left the emergency center just when the fires were at their worst and went out for dinner.

Counsel for the commission questioned her statements to the media:

“It’s just that when you did a media interview on 3AW last week, you told Mr Mitchell that you had dinner for an hour and ‘people knew where I was’. Who knew where you were?”

Ms Nixon: “I certainly knew where I was and I didn’t see any point in telling anybody. What I mean by that was – they knew that they could contact me.”

http://www.smh.com.au/national/police-commissioner-ate-while-victoria-burned-20100414-se5k.html

The majority of my friends live in different countries and Facebook is one way to keep in touch with them.  Of course a lot of the posts on Facebook are low in terms of information quality.  I really don’t need to know what people are eating for lunch or that they’re enjoying a coffee right now.

A friend recently quit Facebook giving the reason that when she met up with friends in Melbourne there wasn’t as much to talk about because everyone had already heard all of her news and seen the photos via Facebook.

In terms of information filters, I’ve deliberately isolated myself from sporting news.  Melbourne has one of the highest rates of attendance at sporting events in the world and is the home of AFL (Australian rules football).

When I visited my parents on the Gold Coast at Easter, they were talking about their football tipping results.  I hadn’t been aware the football season had already started.  My parents were surprised that I could live in Melbourne and be unaware the football season had started.  They wanted to know why my workmates weren’t talking about the sporting results.

My immediate workmates are Malaysian, Chinese and Iranian, none of whom spends a great deal of time talking about football results.  (At least not in my presence).

A few years ago I had an article published about unusual things from Melbourne’s history.  (For example, when Melbourne was settled in 1835, it was first called Bearbrass).  Even though I was born in Melbourne and have lived most of my life here (apart from a few years in Japan and a couple of years travelling), I recently learned something vitally important about Melbourne.

I overhead a conversation on the train and discovered that Melbourne is home to one of the world’s most prestigious circus training courses.

Not far from where I live is the campus of The National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) – Australia’s centre of excellence in contemporary circus.

If you’re tempted to run away to join the circus, you can sign up for a 3 year Bachelor of Circus Arts.

http://www.nica.com.au/

A Japanese clown that will be instantly recognisable to anyone from Osaka.

Ted Conferences have some of the most interesting talks I’ve heard.

Here is a really thought-provoking one from Sam Harris.

http://www.project-reason.org/newsfeed/item/moral_confusion_in_the_name_of_science3/

In honor of Zombie Jesus Day:

What I Learned at the Global Atheist Convention

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne.
It was held over a weekend at Melbourne’s Exhibition and Convention Centre and included a line up of international and Australian speakers including Richard Dawkins, PZ Myers, Peter Singer, AC Grayling and Dan Barker.

Although a couple of the talks were a tad simplistic and overly reliant on bad Powerpoint clip art, the vast majority were informative and entertaining.

Some of my favorite presentations included philosopher Peter Singer talking about systems of morality without god, PZ Myers on the clash between religion and science, Taslima Nasrin on being forced into exile because of her opposition to the Islamic view of women, and Richard Dawkins on the improbability of being born.  

Dawkins is sometimes unfairly criticised as trying to remove the sense of wonder from life.  His talk showed that his arguments are about the exact opposite of that.
“The fact of your own existence is the most astonishing fact you will ever have to face. Don’t you ever get used to it.”
Obviously the words of a bitter, life-hating reductionist.

There were funny presentations by Phillip Adams, Robyn Williams, Jamie Kilstein, Sue-Ann Post, Leslie Cannold and Catherine Deveny.  Many speakers commented on how religion was holding back women’s rights, medical research, scientific research and education.  There was also a lot of discussion about the separation between church and state and the inappropriateness of state funding of religious activities.
I didn’t attend the Saturday night dinner, but I heard that the Chaser team did a fun presentation.

You can listen to a few of the keynote speeches at one of the ABC web sites.
http://blogs.abc.net.au/allinthemind/2010/03/science-and-religion-big-name-atheists-on-the-psychology-of-belief.html

Although Richard Dawkins was the star attraction of the convention it was probably Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin who got the loudest standing ovation.  It’s one thing discussing the wonders of science and how it’s inappropriate to teach demonstrably false agendas such as creationism in schools and another to talk about how you can’t visit your home country because people are trying to kill you because of what you’ve written.

The attendees were a mixture of old and young but at times it did feel a bit like being at a science fiction convention (not that that’s a bad thing).  There were a lot of bearded middle-aged white men.  At least one of the speakers was a science fiction writer and one of the best-selling books at the convention was a collection of essays, including a few by science fiction writers.
The other generalisaton I could make about the crowd is that atheists like buying books.  Many of the speakers’ books sold out and I had to wait more than an hour to get Richard Dawkins’ signature.

Quite a few of the speakers made the point that it was nice not to be in the minority for once.  That’s something that hasn’t worried me in the past.  Many of my friends are science fiction fans and/or computer programmers and/or Asian and religious beliefs aren’t that common in many of my social circles.

For me it was also interesting to notice the use of Twitter during the convention.  I hadn’t found Twitter that useful in the past.  It seemed a lot of the information available revolved around user’s breakfast habits.  The friend I went with to the convention had Twitter on his iPhone and it was interesting to note the comments of members of the audience as they reacted to and discussed the speakers as they made their presentations.

Most presentations allowed time for questions at the end.  Although there were some interesting questions, there were also a lot of people who despite repeated prompting had trouble asking a question rather than wanting to share their own opinion with everyone.

Most communities have arguments that are endlessly trotted out and just aren’t that interesting.  In science fiction it’s discussions of the difference between science fiction and fantasy, in computing fields it’s arguments about whether Windows or Macintosh is better.  In discussions of atheism, it’s the question of the difference between atheism and agnosticism and why people think either position is the only valid one.  A few members of the audience raised these familiar questions and one of the speakers spent a lot of his talk covering the topic.  It basically boils down to how you define the words.

Some of the criticism in the media directed at the convention was that it was strange to hold a conference based on a negative concept -- a lack of belief in god.  But that ignores the existence of other organisations founded on negative concepts -- the society for prevention for cruelty to animals for example.

Why have the convention?  What was the purpose of it?
It wasn’t designed to convert people to atheism.  Although there were a few Christians in the audience, the vast majority of attendees seemed to be non-believers.  For me, the convention was simply a great opportunity to hear some smart and funny speakers.  In that way it was similar to Melbourne’s Writer’s Festival.
Others used the convention in a more practical way for networking.

The conference generated quite a bit of coverage in the Australian press.

The best article I saw was the Australian’s summary of the conference.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/celebrating-life-beyond-belief/story-e6frg6z6-1225840634149

By far the dumbest and nonsensical response came from former footballer Gary Ablett.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/what-kind-of-world-do-we-want-to-live-in/story-e6frf7jo-1225845501207

The convention was sold out well in advance.  Although the convention was the largest ever event of its kind in Australia (and probably the world), the audience (2500) was small compared to the attendance at a Hillsong church event for example.  It was surprising to see how personally threatened by the convention many Christian commentators seemed to be.

Peter Jensen, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney used his Easter speech to attack atheists and called them “believers who hate God.”
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/atheists-are-believers-who-hate-god-says-anglican-archbishop-peter-jensen/story-e6frfku0-1225848925206

To define atheism as just another religion is a sad way of viewing the world.  The YouTube comedian NonStamp Collector makes the point that if atheism is a form of religion, then not collecting stamps is a hobby and off is a TV channel.

Some of the commentators on the Radio National blog criticised atheism as being arrogant and went on to say:
“It’s easy to describe the Convention culture en bloc as crude, naïve, and aggressive. That’s what it was often like, from the opening night when it first framed religion as comedy and first represented itself as unfairly denied government funding.”
http://blogs.radionational.net.au/atheistconvention/?p=853

Some of the Radio National people seemed to take particular offense at the presence of comedians at the conference.
“Comedians, while good for boosting ticket sales, are as inappropriate at an atheist conference as they would be at a science conference. The organisers’ failure to recognise this basic point suggests that many take comfort from sneering at those who disagree with them. Comedians, who are paid to outrage rather than inform, are unhelpful when pragmatism is sorely needed.”
http://blogs.radionational.net.au/atheistconvention/?p=231

The fact that they’re afraid of comedians says something about their world view.
Comedy is one of the most effective ways of making your point.

I’m a big fan of Bill Hicks’ brand of comedy.

While some speakers such as broadcaster Phillip Adams urged attendees to be respectful of religious people and pointed out the good works done by religious charities, American biologist PZ Myers had this to say about the Christian apologists attending the convention:
“They’ve got an agenda that is going to be disappointed, and I predict they will continue to complain in their oblivious fashion. They’re out there in the audience, watching, hoping, and maybe even praying that someone will say something nice about their superstitions; their definition of a good convention is one that reassures them that we don’t think their bliss-ninny belief system is an unsalvageable stew of raw sewage spiced with smug ignorance.”

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/03/uh-ohwe_arent_being_nice_and_r.php

Perhaps the most relevant point was made by NonStamp collector -- “If you don’t want people to laugh at your beliefs, then don’t have stupid beliefs.”

I’m a fan of H.L. Mencken and I like his quote on the subject:
“We must respect the other fellow’s religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children are smart.”

British writer Philip Pullman was recently asked if he was worried that his new book would offend Christians and gave this elegant response.

“But no one has the right to live without being shocked. No one has the right to spend their life without being offended. Nobody has to read this book. Nobody has to pick it up. Nobody has to open it. And if you open it and read it, you don’t have to like it. And if you read it and you dislike it, you don’t have to remain silent about it. You can write to me, you can complain about it, you can write to the publisher, you can write to the papers, you can write your own book. You can do all those things, but there your rights stop. No one has the right to stop me writing this book. No one has the right to stop it being published, or bought, or sold or read. “

Richard Dawkins in particular is often characterised by his opponents as being strident, militant and outspoken.  Jane Caro pointed out the similarities with the characterisations of feminists who are often dismissed as being “militant”.  If you can’t find any fault with someone’s argument (and it’s hard to argue against the equal treatment of women) then criticise the person themselves or their manner of delivery.

What I Learned at the Global Atheist Convention (absorbed from various speakers at the convention):

God loves newts more than he loves human amputees.

Every time a gay couple adopts a child, a terrorist gets his wings.

If you consider all of the genocides that have taken place, God’s only excuse is that he doesn’t exist.

It makes you wonder when you visit a church that has an old sign with peeling paint and the sign reads: Jesus is coming soon.

The meaning of life is to do something more than consume products and produce garbage.  To try and reduce the suffering of others.

Blasphemy is a victimless crime.

The Church of the Smiling Vagina sounds a lot more inviting than any other religion I’ve encountered (with the possible exception of congregational hedonism).

Human morality evolved to deal with small kin groups and encourages us to help our family and those close to us.  But our evolved responses also include the fear of strangers and those different from us and mean we have trouble empathising with people in distant countries.

If male Islamic suicide bombers are promised eternal life in the gardens of paradise with 72 virgins to play with, what happens to unmarried female suicide bombers?  They get to tend the gardens of paradise.

Ontogeny doesn’t recapitulate phylogeny.

The shape of the banana is the best proof for God’s existence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z-OLG0KyR4

God can’t speak Bengali.

The best definition of a new atheist is one the church no longer has the power to burn alive.

After you die, your pets will be given the power of speech and called as witnesses when you are judged by God.

Today is my 36th birthday.  In the war against time, it is always the chocolate cake that pays the highest price.

Some thoughts on turning 36:

• Today I am 13150 days old.
• If I had been born 2 years earlier, I would have had 27 fewer birthdays (pesky leap years).
• Countries in which I’ve celebrated a birthday: Australia, Japan, Wales, Chile, Venezuela.
• If you had up all the numbers from 1 to 36 you get 666.
• Number of paranormal and/or religious experiences encountered in 36 years: 0.  (I expect this trend to continue).
• Number of cars owned in 36 years: 0.
• Number of countries visited: 73.
• 36 is 6 squared.  6 is the smallest perfect number.
• Number of bones broken: 1.  (I broke my wrist parachuting).
• The older I get, the less mature I feel.