Posted inScience Universe

Evolution could be even more fundamental than physics

Religious dogmatists don't like evolution because it undercuts their fantasy that God brought into being the world and everything in it via a single act of divine creation. Of course, that goes against all the evidence of a big bang setting off a 14 billion year process in which the universe changed from a subatomic speck to the tremendous size it is now, with that size continuing to expand at a speed greater than that of light. I've finished a book by Mark Vellend that views evolution as being at the root of much more than biology, Everything Evolves: Why…
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Posted inConsciousness Science

Consciousness: the hardest problem in science

Consciousness fascinates me. As it does to everyone, because fascination and everything else we experience, without exception, requires consciousness. Without consciousness, nothing exists for us. So when the February 2026 issue of Scientific American arrived in the mail, and I saw that the cover story was "The Hardest Problem in Science: Will brain science deliver answers about consciousness or hit another wall?," I got excited. Soon I began to read that article, even though I had other science magazines in my reading pile. Here's a PDF document of the article, which is in two pieces. What is consciousness? Science faces…
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Posted inScience Universe

If God created the universe, why is it so goddamn HUGE?

Since I don't believe in God, I'm addressing the question that's the title of this blog post to those who do. If God created the universe, why is it so goddamn HUGE? Of course, God believers don't really have the answer to this, even if God exists. I'm just interested in what hypotheses are in the minds of the religious. Because theologically speaking, the Christians in medieval times had a more satisfying perspective on creation. The Earth is the center of the universe. The sun, stars, and moon circle the Earth. God sent his only begotten Son, Jesus, to incarnate on…
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Posted inReality Science

Cause and effect may actually rule in the quantum realm, according to a fresh theoretical approach

There's something about a provocative unproven theory in physics that appeals to me much more than a provocative unproven theory in religion, mysticism, and spirituality in general. Probably it's because physicists approach a deeper understanding of reality from a solid factual foundation, while that isn't the case with religion, mysticism, and spirituality in general -- unless the new idea there is completely based on natural, rather than supernatural, notions. So when the November 29-December 5 issue of New Scientist appeared in my mailbox with the cover blaring The Quantum Leap -- A surprising twist on cause and effect reveals how…
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Posted inGod Reality Science

I critique how my 50 year old self thought about God from my 77 year old perspective

Recently I wrote, Here I am, once again plugging my "Science, Spirit, and the Wisdom of Not-Knowing" essay. I noted that since I wrote that essay around 1998, when I was still a believer of the Eastern religion variety, my views have changed a lot since then. Now I'm an atheist, so, yeah, that's a big change from believing in the possibility of knowing God. The past few days I've been reading the 24-page essay, as it had been a long time since I'd done this. Today I finished reading it, so figured this was a good time to critique…
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Posted inReligions Science Spiritual practice/meditation

Here I am, once again plugging my “Science, Spirit, and the Wisdom of Not-Knowing” essay

Half an hour ago I was planning to write a blog post about a new book I've started to read, Zen at the End of Religion: An Introduction for the Curious, the Skeptical, and the Spiritual But Not Religious. I'd planned to talk about a few subjects in the initial chapters that caught my eye. This included a mention of Traditionalism -- a rather esoteric branch of spirituality that I briefly threw myself into after an editor of a Traditionalism journal asked me to write an essay for his publication around 25 years ago, maybe even earlier. I wanted to…
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Posted inReligions Science

Can you ever prove that something never happens? Sometimes. Pretty much.

I often like to say on this blog, and elsewhere, "Nothing is absolutely certain." That's why science, our best means of understanding reality, is never 100% certain about anything. That remaining bit of uncertainty, which could be as small as .0001%, or even less, allows for the possibility of error in any and all scientific theories. Which permits science to progress by replacing old flawed knowledge with new less-flawed knowledge. Since nothing is absolutely certain, obviously this applies to medical knowledge. Today I read a Reuters story in our local newspaper, "CDC site adopts anti-vaccine views." Here's a PDF file…
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Posted inReligions Science

Evolution, like other laws of nature, is logical and largely mathematical

As I said in the title of a blog post about a month ago, biologist Mark Vellend has a Provocative idea: there are only two branches of science, physics and evolution. His book, Everything Evolves: Why Evolution Explains More than We Think, from Proteins to Politics, is making good on that idea, now that I've been able to read about half of it. While Vellend is writing for a general audience, as well as scientists interested in looking at evolution through a broader lens than just biological evolution, which was Darwin's primary focus, his book still is fairly dense -- which…
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Posted inReality Religions Science

Maybe we humans are smart enough to ask ultimate questions, but not smart enough to answer them

Peter Zapffe was called "the bleakest philosopher of all time" in a Reddit post dealing with existentialism. That didn't make me eager to learn more about him. But I still wanted to, having come across several mentions of Zapffe in Robert Saltzman's book, Depending on no-thing. That title may sound depressing as well, but actually I feel energized when I read Saltzman's writings. While he rejects philosophical, metaphysical, and religious attempts to make life seem more appealing that it actually is, Saltzman's emphasis on direct experience of here and now is wonderfully simple. It's difficult, if not impossible, to question…
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Posted inAtheism Reality Science

Why keeping an open mind on the divine is a stupid idea

Sometimes intelligent people can say some really stupid things. I know this as an experiential fact, because I'm intelligent and I've said some really stupid things. In conversations. In books I've written. In my blog posts. When I do this, it's entirely fair for other people to criticize what I've said. That's why I feel equally justified in calling an essay in the Atlantic by Arthur C. Brooks, "Why You Should Keep an Open Mind on the Divine," a stupid idea. Brooks starts off by quoting Russian cosmonaut Gherman Titov, the second man to orbit the Earth: “Sometimes people are…
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Posted inScience

Provocative idea: there are only two branches of science, physics and evolution

Science is our best way of learning what is true about the world. Those truths, obviously, include us humans, since we are part of the world. So this makes science not something to be admired from the outside of the human condition, but as something that points to the essence of you, me, and everybody else on our planet. This is one reason why I ordered Mark Vellend's book, Everything Evolves: Why Evolution Explains More than We Think, from Proteins to Politics, soon after I saw a mention of it in one of the science magazines I subscribe to. Evolution…
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Posted inReality Religions Science

Truth is so important, it must be defended with zeal (but not zealotry)

Today I had an interview with Ken Adams, the host of a show on KMUZ here in Salem, a community radio station. You can hear all about it in this link of the podcast, which appeared after the live broadcast was over. (Well, sort of live; Ken and I recorded it yesterday, because I don't function well at 8 am.) I'll also include the audio file directly, in case the link ever goes away. Our subject was the findings of an investigation into the misdeeds of the Salem Mayor, Julie Hoy. I filed a complaint with the Oregon Government Ethics…
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Posted inScience

A Nobel laureate believes quantum mechanics actually is deterministic

If, like me, you're fascinated by quantum mechanics (or quantum physics, two words for same thing), you'll love an article that features an interview with theoretical physicist Gerard 't Hooft in the July/August 2025 issue of Scientific American, "Quantum Physics Is Nonsense."Download Breakthrough Prize Winner Gerard ’t Hooft Says Quantum Mechanics Is ‘Nonsense’ | Scientific American t' Hooft earned the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics and recently won a Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics worth $3 million in recognition of his many contributions to physics throughout his career. So his views deserve serious consideration, even though -- or because…
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Posted inReality Science

If woo-woo is true, it’s scientific, so all woo-woo is based on faith

I haven't spent a lot of time in my life pondering the deeper meaning of woo-woo, but the word has come up on this blog recently, so I might as well dive into the murky woo-woo waters. Let's begin with a Google AI definition. The term "woo-woo" is used as an adjective and a noun to describe beliefs or practices that are considered unconventional, pseudoscientific, or based on irrational superstition. It is often used to dismiss or mock beliefs outside mainstream science or accepted norms, particularly in the areas of spirituality, mysticism, and alternative medicine.   Here's a breakdown of…
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Posted inReality Science

Intriguing idea: chain of causality comes to an end in quantum realm

We live in a world governed by causes and effects. Everywhere we look, this causes that, while that in turn causes something else. This determinism both enables science to be successful in explaining things, and allows we humans to navigate our daily life in a predictable fashion. The only exception appears to be in the realm of quantum mechanics. While there are disagreements among physicists about the meaning of quantum mechanics, the prevailing view is that probabilities rule in the realm of the very small. So in the case of an electron, for example, it is impossible to say where…
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Posted inReality Science

Quantum theory is still largely unexplained, but that’s how science works

Quantum theory (or quantum mechanics) is the foundation of our modern world. Without it, we wouldn't have computers, the Internet, GPS, and so many other inventions that we've come to take for granted.  I'm fascinated by quantum theory. Though it is generally associated with goings-on at the atomic and subatomic level, not at the level of everyday life, since everything is made up of particles and energy, obviously the existence of we humans and all that surrounds us is dependent on quantum processes. This is where much of the mystery of quantum theory resides: how is it that the uncertain,…
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Posted inBuddhism Science

Evolution doesn’t care if feelings are true, just that they are good for us

In a recent post, "No, major religions don't provide a truer picture of reality," I noted that evolution doesn't care about truth, just about whether genes are passed on to the next generation. Of course, this is just a manner of speaking, since evolution isn't about caring or not-caring. This goes against one of the primal facts about evolution: that species prosper not because they possess a greater grasp of reality, but because they are adept at passing on genes, organisms being well suited to the environment in which they find themselves. After writing that, I came across a mention…
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Posted inReality Religions Science

No, major religions don’t provide a truer picture of reality

It isn't surprising that, as an atheist, I find a lot not to like in Ross Douthat's book, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious. However, what does surprise me is how weak Douthat's arguments are.  For while I admire his clear writing style, as befits a New York Times opinion columnist, often he simply tosses off glib statements about the marvelousness of religious belief without backing them up with either solid facts or persuasive reasoning. Here's an example from the book's "Big Faiths and Big Questions" chapter, which argues that the world's major religions are a better bet than minor…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Science

If humans are the top of creation, what about Neanderthals?

The February 2025 issue of National Geographic features a fascinating story by Brook Larmer, "The Hunt for the  Other Humans." This got me to thinking about the common religious teaching that humans are the top of creation. For example, the Bible says in Genesis: 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image,    in…
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Posted inNeuroscience Science

AI, artificial intelligence, points to the mystery of how the mind works

Religiously-minded people like to invoke mystery as a reason for believing in God and the supernatural. They adore how holy books teach that the workings of divinity are beyond human comprehension, you know, the whole man proposes and God disposes thing.  But it isn't necessary to go anywhere outside of the closest entity any of us has to ourselves to come face-to-face with a gigantic mystery, because that entity is the mind that experiences both mystery and everything else from our birth until our death. In my previous post, "No, neuroscience doesn't support religiosity,"  I included a passage from Ross…
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