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	<title>Comments on: Darwinism is Alive and Well</title>
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	<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/</link>
	<description>Random samplings from a universe of ideas.</description>
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		<title>By: JAngel</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17372</link>
		<dc:creator>JAngel</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 Jul 2006 05:34:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17372</guid>
		<description>What about intelligent design from the future? I mean if time travel is possible.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What about intelligent design from the future? I mean if time travel is possible.</p>
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		<title>By: Vince</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17371</link>
		<dc:creator>Vince</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 15:55:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17371</guid>
		<description>Success!  I wasn&#039;t run over!  Therefore, God exists.
Oh wait!  This all assumes that God will save the earthly lives of those who have faith in His existence!  Darn it!  Oh well.

Let&#039;s move on to another post, shall we?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Success!  I wasn&#8217;t run over!  Therefore, God exists.<br />
Oh wait!  This all assumes that God will save the earthly lives of those who have faith in His existence!  Darn it!  Oh well.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s move on to another post, shall we?</p>
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		<title>By: Darwin's Evil Twin</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17370</link>
		<dc:creator>Darwin's Evil Twin</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 14:26:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17370</guid>
		<description>Well, yes, &lt;b&gt;Arun&lt;/b&gt;, I didn&#039;t mean to imply that there is an evolutionary objective for which the process is striving and toward which we are the best progress so far.  My point was that the &quot;selection&quot; part of natural selection does involves rejection, through diminished ability to flourish in competition, of the weak.

It&#039;s like the Olympics, where somebody is a winner and somebody is a loser.  It&#039;s not like the Special Olympics, where everybody is a winner.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Well, yes, <b>Arun</b>, I didn&#8217;t mean to imply that there is an evolutionary objective for which the process is striving and toward which we are the best progress so far.  My point was that the &#8220;selection&#8221; part of natural selection does involves rejection, through diminished ability to flourish in competition, of the weak.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s like the Olympics, where somebody is a winner and somebody is a loser.  It&#8217;s not like the Special Olympics, where everybody is a winner.</p>
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		<title>By: Q</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17369</link>
		<dc:creator>Q</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 13:47:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17369</guid>
		<description>Hi Amara, I know I&#039;ve been to the page, that&#039;s why I thought you might like to add the spanish one. Though i must say the equivalent to the &quot;Holy Grail&quot; from Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one hard to beat. If buffy is not available, hope I can call on you when dealing with demons. Incidentally not quite off topic when reading some of the above entries lol! laters ... Q</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hi Amara, I know I&#8217;ve been to the page, that&#8217;s why I thought you might like to add the spanish one. Though i must say the equivalent to the &#8220;Holy Grail&#8221; from Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one hard to beat. If buffy is not available, hope I can call on you when dealing with demons. Incidentally not quite off topic when reading some of the above entries lol! laters &#8230; Q</p>
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		<title>By: Amara</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17368</link>
		<dc:creator>Amara</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 13:17:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17368</guid>
		<description>Q #73: Thank you for the Spanish meanings. Since a baby I received many positive feedback about the different meanings of my name, until I moved to Italy, at which time my name became yet another obstacle to try to overcome. I made a web &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amara.com/name.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;page&lt;/a&gt; of the meanings as a kind of defense, but I can learn something useful too. If I&#039;m on a date and the Italian man says: &quot;don&#039;t you know the meaning of your name?&quot;, then it is a hint that he might not travel out the country very much. [scusi&#039; for off-topic messaggio]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Q #73: Thank you for the Spanish meanings. Since a baby I received many positive feedback about the different meanings of my name, until I moved to Italy, at which time my name became yet another obstacle to try to overcome. I made a web <a href="http://www.amara.com/name.html" rel="nofollow">page</a> of the meanings as a kind of defense, but I can learn something useful too. If I&#8217;m on a date and the Italian man says: &#8220;don&#8217;t you know the meaning of your name?&#8221;, then it is a hint that he might not travel out the country very much. [scusi' for off-topic messaggio]</p>
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		<title>By: Arun</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17367</link>
		<dc:creator>Arun</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 12:33:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17367</guid>
		<description>&lt;blockquote&gt;What about the &quot;selection&quot; part of natural selection?  Evolution proceeds because the strong survive and the weak perish.  If every organism&#039;s genes were always worth keeping, how would you get anywhere?&lt;/blockquote&gt;

Darwin&#039;s Evil Twin, the first corollary of the theory of evolution is that there is nowhere to get to (as in &quot;how would you get anywhere?&quot;).  A successful trilobite species is as far along in the game as a successful hominid.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote><p>What about the &#8220;selection&#8221; part of natural selection?  Evolution proceeds because the strong survive and the weak perish.  If every organism&#8217;s genes were always worth keeping, how would you get anywhere?</p></blockquote>
<p>Darwin&#8217;s Evil Twin, the first corollary of the theory of evolution is that there is nowhere to get to (as in &#8220;how would you get anywhere?&#8221;).  A successful trilobite species is as far along in the game as a successful hominid.</p>
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		<title>By: quasar9</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17366</link>
		<dc:creator>quasar9</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 11:56:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17366</guid>
		<description>JoAnne,

If death of mortal flesh, the body perishable is &quot;proof&quot; that there is no GOD
Then birth, rebirth + new birth, must be &quot;proof&quot; that there is a GOD

Birth precedes life, life precedes death, death precedes new life or rebirth + new birth. From the seed which grows into the earth sprout forth mighty trees.

As to the fate of those who do not believe or have no faith, well even in learning if you do not seek you do not expect to find, and when you do find it, how will you recognise what you have found is it. Love Q</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>JoAnne,</p>
<p>If death of mortal flesh, the body perishable is &#8220;proof&#8221; that there is no GOD<br />
Then birth, rebirth + new birth, must be &#8220;proof&#8221; that there is a GOD</p>
<p>Birth precedes life, life precedes death, death precedes new life or rebirth + new birth. From the seed which grows into the earth sprout forth mighty trees.</p>
<p>As to the fate of those who do not believe or have no faith, well even in learning if you do not seek you do not expect to find, and when you do find it, how will you recognise what you have found is it. Love Q</p>
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		<title>By: Q</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17365</link>
		<dc:creator>Q</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 08:39:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17365</guid>
		<description>Wow Amara, of all the meanings the sounds which make up  your name have, starting with the first, always in the beginning ...

you may want to add, in Spanish:
AMAR --- the verb To Love
AMARA -- (3rd person future) He/She/It will (SHALL) Love!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Wow Amara, of all the meanings the sounds which make up  your name have, starting with the first, always in the beginning &#8230;</p>
<p>you may want to add, in Spanish:<br />
AMAR &#8212; the verb To Love<br />
AMARA &#8212; (3rd person future) He/She/It will (SHALL) Love!</p>
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		<title>By: Q</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17364</link>
		<dc:creator>Q</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 08:16:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17364</guid>
		<description>Is there anyone out there on the periphery can disprove the southeastasian tsunami was not caused by a man made underwater explosion?

Is there anyone out there on the periphery can disprove the kashmir earthquake was not caused by an aftershock of a man made explosion?

Is there anyone out there on the periphery can disprove that famines in Ethiopia are not caused by man made socio-political activity?

Is there anybody out there on the periphery that can disprove, no ONE can be on the periphery? -

Oh what the heck, is there anyone on the periphery? and does it matter, if or whether it is matter or not?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Is there anyone out there on the periphery can disprove the southeastasian tsunami was not caused by a man made underwater explosion?</p>
<p>Is there anyone out there on the periphery can disprove the kashmir earthquake was not caused by an aftershock of a man made explosion?</p>
<p>Is there anyone out there on the periphery can disprove that famines in Ethiopia are not caused by man made socio-political activity?</p>
<p>Is there anybody out there on the periphery that can disprove, no ONE can be on the periphery? -</p>
<p>Oh what the heck, is there anyone on the periphery? and does it matter, if or whether it is matter or not?</p>
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		<title>By: Q</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17363</link>
		<dc:creator>Q</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 08:03:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17363</guid>
		<description>Hi PK, yep!

That is why dormats were &#039;invented&#039; created or made. In some households it is customary to also take of your shoes. This can be embarrassing though, if one has holes in one&#039;s socks, or worse much much worse, if one has dirty &amp; &#039;smelly&#039; feet.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hi PK, yep!</p>
<p>That is why dormats were &#8216;invented&#8217; created or made. In some households it is customary to also take of your shoes. This can be embarrassing though, if one has holes in one&#8217;s socks, or worse much much worse, if one has dirty &amp; &#8216;smelly&#8217; feet.</p>
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		<title>By: Amara</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17298</link>
		<dc:creator>Amara</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 06:08:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17298</guid>
		<description>When discussing Darwinism, an important parameter is time.  Evolutionary trends occur over hundreds of thousands and more years. Socially important phenonomena (education, contraception,...) occur over our human timescales. And while it is true that the human brain has increased over the last three million years, no one can say that it will continue, too many things need to happen for that increase. But if you do want bigger brains and a more intelligent species, then it seems to me that bootstrapping our species to survive better, such as giving the hungry and thirsty food and water, building shelter and roads, finding cures for diseases and a longer life, helping women to have more rights, creating cleaner and biologically diverse environments, increasing the scientific knowledge and technology to perform all of these tasks, along with one&#039;s compassion, ... are the right kinds of activities.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When discussing Darwinism, an important parameter is time.  Evolutionary trends occur over hundreds of thousands and more years. Socially important phenonomena (education, contraception,&#8230;) occur over our human timescales. And while it is true that the human brain has increased over the last three million years, no one can say that it will continue, too many things need to happen for that increase. But if you do want bigger brains and a more intelligent species, then it seems to me that bootstrapping our species to survive better, such as giving the hungry and thirsty food and water, building shelter and roads, finding cures for diseases and a longer life, helping women to have more rights, creating cleaner and biologically diverse environments, increasing the scientific knowledge and technology to perform all of these tasks, along with one&#8217;s compassion, &#8230; are the right kinds of activities.</p>
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		<title>By: cynic</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17362</link>
		<dc:creator>cynic</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 05:31:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17362</guid>
		<description>Cosmic Variance seems to be about to eat itself. First Cliffords&#039;s orgy of self congratulation and its equally unseemly curtailment, then an escalation of rather infantile &#039;anti-God&#039; posts culminating in this misjudged attempt at levity. CVJ and SC have pointed out, rather putulantly, that those of us (who remember how cool Preposterous Universe was and are) disappointed by the current content should look elsewhere. In a way they are right; there is a horrid fascination attached to the decline of this blog though, rather like that of a mentally ill fellow human being dismembered by a lion. Get a grip guys - I&#039;m with CIP all the way on this one.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Cosmic Variance seems to be about to eat itself. First Cliffords&#8217;s orgy of self congratulation and its equally unseemly curtailment, then an escalation of rather infantile &#8216;anti-God&#8217; posts culminating in this misjudged attempt at levity. CVJ and SC have pointed out, rather putulantly, that those of us (who remember how cool Preposterous Universe was and are) disappointed by the current content should look elsewhere. In a way they are right; there is a horrid fascination attached to the decline of this blog though, rather like that of a mentally ill fellow human being dismembered by a lion. Get a grip guys &#8211; I&#8217;m with CIP all the way on this one.</p>
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		<title>By: Darwin's Evil Twin</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17361</link>
		<dc:creator>Darwin's Evil Twin</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 03:57:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17361</guid>
		<description>&lt;b&gt;Arun&lt;/b&gt;: &lt;i&gt;If nothing else, there is value to humankind of genetic diversity. Humanity&#039;s Darwinian imperative is to keep as many variants propagating as possible.&lt;/i&gt;

What about the &quot;selection&quot; part of natural selection?  Evolution proceeds because the strong survive and the weak perish.  If every organism&#039;s genes were always worth keeping, how would you get anywhere?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><b>Arun</b>: <i>If nothing else, there is value to humankind of genetic diversity. Humanity&#8217;s Darwinian imperative is to keep as many variants propagating as possible.</i></p>
<p>What about the &#8220;selection&#8221; part of natural selection?  Evolution proceeds because the strong survive and the weak perish.  If every organism&#8217;s genes were always worth keeping, how would you get anywhere?</p>
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		<title>By: Vince</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17360</link>
		<dc:creator>Vince</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 01:04:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17360</guid>
		<description>Excuse me.  I actually meant &quot;You can read a book on Amazon without ordering it.&quot;

Pardon me.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Excuse me.  I actually meant &#8220;You can read a book on Amazon without ordering it.&#8221;</p>
<p>Pardon me.</p>
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		<title>By: Travis Garrett</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17359</link>
		<dc:creator>Travis Garrett</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 01:02:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17359</guid>
		<description>Alternative comment (via &lt;a HREF=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_(program)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;fortune&lt;/A&gt;):

&quot;It may well be that the purpose of your life is to serve as an example to others...&quot;</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Alternative comment (via <a HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_(program)" rel="nofollow">fortune</a>):</p>
<p>&#8220;It may well be that the purpose of your life is to serve as an example to others&#8230;&#8221;</p>
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		<title>By: Vince</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17358</link>
		<dc:creator>Vince</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 00:54:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17358</guid>
		<description>Hi.  Today, there was a second collection at church for the poor and needy, but I forgot to bring some money.  So tomorrow I will walk over to the church and give my donation.  God will protect me from being run over, if He exists.  And I live in Austin, Texas, where there are some pretty bad and inconsiderate drivers.

I will get back to you on my results.

Oh, and remember: You can get a book for free on Amazon by clicking on &quot;Search Inside&quot; and then searching for a word that occurs regularly in the book (such as &#039;universe&#039; for this book, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594489149/103-9906933-7689424).  To get the rest of the pages, just click on the left and right arrows.

Cheers.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hi.  Today, there was a second collection at church for the poor and needy, but I forgot to bring some money.  So tomorrow I will walk over to the church and give my donation.  God will protect me from being run over, if He exists.  And I live in Austin, Texas, where there are some pretty bad and inconsiderate drivers.</p>
<p>I will get back to you on my results.</p>
<p>Oh, and remember: You can get a book for free on Amazon by clicking on &#8220;Search Inside&#8221; and then searching for a word that occurs regularly in the book (such as &#8216;universe&#8217; for this book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594489149/103-9906933-7689424" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594489149/103-9906933-7689424</a>).  To get the rest of the pages, just click on the left and right arrows.</p>
<p>Cheers.</p>
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		<title>By: Travis Garrett</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17357</link>
		<dc:creator>Travis Garrett</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jun 2006 00:48:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17357</guid>
		<description>It takes so long.  The teeth crunching horrifically into his neck, the taste of his own blood gushing into the back of his throat, the racing thoughts, the terrible dizzying mess of thoughts in his head, falling into the bottomless pit of doubt, the realization boiling in his gut, mixed with an inexplicable bliss that dances in his worthless body.  And then the darkness, quickly.

And then he/she who was Ogtay Mahmudov opens his/her eyes again, all several million of them, and shudders.  It was a hell of a way to go, although preferable to many of the alternatives.  In fact He/She had died in the jaws of lions before, but those had all been in the early days, out in the warm night air of the savanna, including several times as a Homo erectus.  Living out a randomly selected life from the early computer age (indeed, only a few dozen years away from a technological singularity), only to die in the same manner certainly added an interesting twist.  He/She smiles and dives back into the simulation.  Sure enough, many of the tiny little creatures in the code were chatting about his/her ignoble end.  He/She ghostloads them, feeling their opinions crystallize at the synaptic level and seeing through their eyes as they type them into their simple computers.  Amusingly enough, many of the wee darlings, while correctly deducing that there are no mystical gods, then erroneously go on to conclude that there is no life after death, despite in some cases simultaneously understanding that their conscious experiences are nothing more than the simple patterns formed by their neurons, and that the time evolution of quantum states is unitary!  In a perverse streak, He/She hijacks one of the little people and posts the truth about what has happened on one of their weblogs, secure in knowledge that none of them will actually believe it.

He/She pops back out of the simulation again and sighs.  He/She observes the eleven dimensional weather blowing outside his/her window.  Ok, enough fooling around, time to get back to work.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It takes so long.  The teeth crunching horrifically into his neck, the taste of his own blood gushing into the back of his throat, the racing thoughts, the terrible dizzying mess of thoughts in his head, falling into the bottomless pit of doubt, the realization boiling in his gut, mixed with an inexplicable bliss that dances in his worthless body.  And then the darkness, quickly.</p>
<p>And then he/she who was Ogtay Mahmudov opens his/her eyes again, all several million of them, and shudders.  It was a hell of a way to go, although preferable to many of the alternatives.  In fact He/She had died in the jaws of lions before, but those had all been in the early days, out in the warm night air of the savanna, including several times as a Homo erectus.  Living out a randomly selected life from the early computer age (indeed, only a few dozen years away from a technological singularity), only to die in the same manner certainly added an interesting twist.  He/She smiles and dives back into the simulation.  Sure enough, many of the tiny little creatures in the code were chatting about his/her ignoble end.  He/She ghostloads them, feeling their opinions crystallize at the synaptic level and seeing through their eyes as they type them into their simple computers.  Amusingly enough, many of the wee darlings, while correctly deducing that there are no mystical gods, then erroneously go on to conclude that there is no life after death, despite in some cases simultaneously understanding that their conscious experiences are nothing more than the simple patterns formed by their neurons, and that the time evolution of quantum states is unitary!  In a perverse streak, He/She hijacks one of the little people and posts the truth about what has happened on one of their weblogs, secure in knowledge that none of them will actually believe it.</p>
<p>He/She pops back out of the simulation again and sighs.  He/She observes the eleven dimensional weather blowing outside his/her window.  Ok, enough fooling around, time to get back to work.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>By: PK</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17356</link>
		<dc:creator>PK</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Jun 2006 23:22:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17356</guid>
		<description>Q says:
&lt;blockquote&gt;Hope my comments are not taking such a small joke to its rather more subtle &#039;natural&#039; or brutal conclusion.
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

I take it that you wipe your feet at the front door for the sole reason that the gradual build-up of dirt in your house will some day prevent you from entering it?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Q says:</p>
<blockquote><p>Hope my comments are not taking such a small joke to its rather more subtle &#8216;natural&#8217; or brutal conclusion.
</p></blockquote>
<p>I take it that you wipe your feet at the front door for the sole reason that the gradual build-up of dirt in your house will some day prevent you from entering it?</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>By: q</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17355</link>
		<dc:creator>q</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Jun 2006 23:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17355</guid>
		<description>Anon, just because they are out to get you, does not make you paranoid. The rest of the sentence &quot;if he exists&quot; would be courtesy of a skeptic, adding to the pun.

Lubos, love humour. As JoAnne says, &quot;we need to keep some sort of perspective, sense of humour, or we&#039;ll all go mad&quot;. That of course presuposes we are not already mad. I&#039;ll ask you all to keep that in mind next time any of your relatives or loved ones are being exterminated by people applying Darwinist Philosophy.

Was 9/11 Darwinian evolution, ie the theory that people working at the World Trade Centre were superfluous?
No, please don&#039;t answer that one. I shan&#039;t be able to disagree with your comments whether you agree or whether you are outraged by the suggestion.

Was the southeastasian Tsunami no more than Nature or Darwinist natural selection. Was the Pakistan earthquake no more than natural selection, are famines in Ethyopia no more than natural selection. Or are we supposed to be &#039;conscious&#039; animals (animate beings) who can prevent and prepare for Natural phenomena, build sea defences, build earthquake proof housing cities. And no African famines are not natural disasters but man made (created) disasters. You may not like the concept, but in the back of the &#039;Darwinists&#039; in the &#039;white&#039; US Administration, there are still too many blacks in Africa, so what famine and AIDS reduce numbers; there are far too many Asians a few tsunamis just prevents having to nuke them. As for Pakistan - who cares? save the missiles for Iran.

Hope my comments are not taking such a small joke to its rather more subtle &#039;natural&#039; or brutal conclusion. Speaking the unspeakeable, so to speak. lol!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Anon, just because they are out to get you, does not make you paranoid. The rest of the sentence &#8220;if he exists&#8221; would be courtesy of a skeptic, adding to the pun.</p>
<p>Lubos, love humour. As JoAnne says, &#8220;we need to keep some sort of perspective, sense of humour, or we&#8217;ll all go mad&#8221;. That of course presuposes we are not already mad. I&#8217;ll ask you all to keep that in mind next time any of your relatives or loved ones are being exterminated by people applying Darwinist Philosophy.</p>
<p>Was 9/11 Darwinian evolution, ie the theory that people working at the World Trade Centre were superfluous?<br />
No, please don&#8217;t answer that one. I shan&#8217;t be able to disagree with your comments whether you agree or whether you are outraged by the suggestion.</p>
<p>Was the southeastasian Tsunami no more than Nature or Darwinist natural selection. Was the Pakistan earthquake no more than natural selection, are famines in Ethyopia no more than natural selection. Or are we supposed to be &#8216;conscious&#8217; animals (animate beings) who can prevent and prepare for Natural phenomena, build sea defences, build earthquake proof housing cities. And no African famines are not natural disasters but man made (created) disasters. You may not like the concept, but in the back of the &#8216;Darwinists&#8217; in the &#8216;white&#8217; US Administration, there are still too many blacks in Africa, so what famine and AIDS reduce numbers; there are far too many Asians a few tsunamis just prevents having to nuke them. As for Pakistan &#8211; who cares? save the missiles for Iran.</p>
<p>Hope my comments are not taking such a small joke to its rather more subtle &#8216;natural&#8217; or brutal conclusion. Speaking the unspeakeable, so to speak. lol!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>By: Anon</title>
		<link>http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/comment-page-1/#comment-17354</link>
		<dc:creator>Anon</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Jun 2006 21:51:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/06/09/darwinism-is-alive-and-well/#comment-17354</guid>
		<description>Interestingly, in several US-based news sources I read, the quote was given only as &quot;God will save me&quot;.  Why would the rest of the sentence be left out, or am I just being paranoid?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Interestingly, in several US-based news sources I read, the quote was given only as &#8220;God will save me&#8221;.  Why would the rest of the sentence be left out, or am I just being paranoid?</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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