Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Category: Society

  • Putting The Boot In

    Charlie Brookner gives vent to a fine rant about psychics in the Guardian‘s Comment Is Free section. Cartoon verbal violence, but rather understandable for people such as psychics who prey on other people’s anxieties. And as a bonus, his Ignopedia entry on Creationism is worth the price of admission.

  • Corporate Queer

    A good article from Fortune on how corporate America is recognising that gay employees want the same things as their straight colleagues. That is, an environment where the full potential of people, regardless of sexual orientation, is realised and one which fosters their personal and professional development.

  • Joining The Club

    Great news that South Africa has joined the small group of other countries where same-sex marriage is recognised.
     
    And in associated news from South Africa, it appears that at long last the idiocy of the Health Minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, with her worthless treatments for AIDS, and the denial of Prime Minister Mbeki of the link between HIV and AIDS, are being overcome. Not before time, but too late for the 2 million people in South Africa who have already died of AIDS.

  • In A Nutshell

    Richard Norman is a humanist philosopher. He is interviewed by Nigel Warburton in the Virtual Philosopher blog. Norman is asked why he rejects the idea that God exists. His reply is a paragon of clarity:
    I believe that the onus is on those who believe in the existence of a god to provide reasons for that belief. (This is a point which the philosopher Antony Flew has well made.) I can’t prove that there is no god, but in the absence of good reasons for believing that a god exists, I live my life without belief in a god. In particular, the success of scientific explanations of the natural world makes religious explanations redundant. It’s in that sense that there is a tension between science and religion. The two are not logically incompatible, but the more we succeed in discovering well-founded scientific explanations of the origins of the cosmos, the origins of living species, and so on, the more the explanations in terms of a divine creator become redundant. They add nothing.
    I could not hope to put it better myself. This is exactly my position.  

  • What The World Eats

    David Ng, over at The World’s Fair blog has an entry on an interesting looking book: Hungry Planet. It’s a photo-essay of the authors’ visit to 30 families in 24 countries for a total of 600 meals. The striking thing are the photos that compare what each family eats in a week. The western obsession with packaged and processed food (and the quantities thereof) was never more tellingly conveyed. A book for the "nice-to-have" wishlist, I think.

  • In Gods We Trust

    While watching the Beyond Belief videos, there were a couple of occasions when Scott Atran took the floor. The first time was when he delivered a strong attack on what, up until that point, had been presented in the conference. I had not heard of Atran before. I came across this interview with him that gives some background. I’ve also ordered a copy of his book: In Gods We Trust. I’m intrigued to learn more about his views.

  • Getting Worse

    A depressing report in today’s Guardian from Natasha Walter about the position of women in today’s Afghanistan. It would seem that the euphoria felt after the fall of the Taliban is turning out to be a false dawn. The Taliban are regrouping and, along with that, the lives of women who dare to seek out education are at risk.

  • Big Brother

    It transpires that here, in the Netherlands, Big Brother is not only watching you, but listening to you as well.

  • Philosophical Musings

    David Byrne places his entry for the 20th November in his Journal into the "Philosophical Musings" category. It’s an interesting read, ranging from climate change, the economy of China, to the wellsprings of religion. I do quibble with one thing he writes, however. He claims that Dawkins, Dennett and Harris "deny that the propensity for people to believe (i.e. have religious faith) is innate". He quotes the latest books by the trio as evidence of this denial.
     
    That’s odd, because Dawkins’ "The God Delusion" has a whole chapter called The Roots of Religion, with over 40 pages exploring various hypotheses as to why religion may be innate. And while I haven’t read either of the latest books by Harris and Dennett, the latter has certainly explored hypotheses for the causes of religion – see the section: The Diversity of Darwinian Explanations in his book Freedom Evolves, for example.  Methinks David Byrne is the one in denial here.

  • Retired Husband Syndrome

    Interesting piece by a BBC reporter about Retired Husband Syndrome – a condition seen in some Japanese wives. I can well believe that having a retired husband suddenly cluttering up your personal space can be unnerving, and given certain aspects of Japanese society, it can amplify into a syndrome. Thus far, Martin and I have managed to avoid it. Not living in a two-room flat probably helps.

  • Beyond Belief

    There’s been an interesting conference that took place earlier this month: Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival. There’s a number of reports appearing on the web. This one from the New York Times and this one from the New Scientist. Best of all, the videos from the sessions are becoming available. I look forward to watching them through the miracles of the Internet and computers.
     
    While there could have been more believers than atheists at the conference, it appears as though the discussions were, shall we say, spirited, with Richard Dawkins coming in for the usual criticism over his "take no prisoners" approach. Me? I’m with Professor Dawkins. Call a spade a spade, I say.

  • Foxes In Henhouses

     
    Data point two: the Bush administration has appointed a new chief of family-planning programs at the US Department of Health and Human Services who worked at a Christian pregnancy-counseling organization that regards the distribution of contraceptives as "demeaning to women."
     
    Great.

  • A Mother’s Story

    When I watch something like this, I find it difficult not to despair. How can such a cycle of violence ever be broken?

  • Happy Birthday

    In an attempt to prove that I can be just as soppy as anyone, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish Parker a very happy Fourth Birthday. Seriously, we could do worse than to consider the example of his parents. Unfortunately, still far too many people in this world think that this is wrong, and that Parker and his parents should not be a family.

  • The Rules of the Game

    The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust has published a report: The Rules of the Game: Terrorism, Community and Human Rights. It looks to be worth reading, and is already attracting attention from mainstream media and bloggers. Not Saussure quotes the following passage from the report:
    Tony Blair talks of ‘rebalancing between the rights of the suspect and the rights of the law-abiding majority’. John Reid declared to the Labour party conference , ‘It cannot be right that the rights of an individual suspected terrorist be placed above the rights, the life and limb of the rest of the British people. It cannot be right – it is wrong, no ifs, no buts, it’s just plain wrong.’ But these are false dichotomies: ‘suspects’ are members of the ‘majority’. They are innocent until proved guilty, their rights and those of the majority hang together. (It is a miserable fact, however, that thanks to its constant use, the word ‘suspect’ is now charged with the presumption of guilt – so much that the Guardian recently wrote of ‘alleged terrorist suspects’.) (p 42) 
    I find it really worrying that British politicians are using rhetoric such as that quoted above. They seem to be intent on making things worse.

  • Mind That Child

    Training Simulators come in all shapes and sizes. Here’s one: the RealCare Baby II-Plus, used to make young people aware of the fact that babies are not fashion accessories or toys, and that parenting is a demanding job. 
     
    It’s very realistic. Sometimes perhaps a little too realistic.

  • Eroding Values

    I see that, not to be outdone by Muslims, Christians are now leaping onto the bandwagon and trumpeting that illiberal atheists are to blame for society’s ills. The latest is the Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu in a speech last Friday. I see that Alun Salt has sent a letter to the Archbishop by way of reply, and this excellent epistle shows up the speech to be the pile of twaddle that it is.  

  • The Terrorist Meme

    Interesting piece by Matthew Parris in The Times today. I find the idea of memes ("viruses of the mind") fascinating. Even if the meme hypothesis turns out to be false, some of the points that Parris makes are very valid. For example, while the vast majority of would-be terrorists are deluded and disaffected males dreaming their fantasies, we would do well to remember that hiding in amongst their number is the real thing. The trick is to be able to identify and isolate them from the false positives.

  • It’s Another World…

    And one where I don’t know whether to laugh at, or cry for, the people involved. On reflection, I find it ineffably sad. Thanks to Jill for the link, I think.

  • Green Fashion

    Over at Worldchanging, Nicole Anne-Boyer has a post on how environmental concerns are becoming fashionable and being packaged to be sold to rich consumers. The post itself is interesting, but she also mentions the FT’s glossy lifestyle magazine How to Spend it – "devoted to the whims of elite consumption and concerns — everything from Prada to philanthropy. I’m charmed and appalled; their ideal reader". Well, I took a look at the magazine – I’m just appalled. Greed masquerading as taste and beauty. I must confess though that I was quite taken with the web application that the publishers are using to display the printed copy of the magazine as a digital version in the web browser. That’s quite good. Pity the content makes me want to vomit.