Charles,
Speaking of astronomical spectacles, check out Jupiter & Venus tonight right after sunset. They will be quite magnificent next to the crescent moon.

The stars died for no purpose whatsoever. If you're going to insist on believing there is intention behind natural phenomenon then you might as well join a church and believe in Jesus, rather than waste time reinventing the wheel.

To quote Carl Sagan "We are all made of star stuff"

@2 Thank you.

Oy. Even when Charles posts something that isn't just totally pulled out of his ass he still manages to miss the mark.

Our star is perfectly alive and well, thank you. But I know what you mean. That the elements in our star system were all made in other stars over untold time in untold space. I still can't absorb the role of hydrogen and helium in all this. But I understand the role of gravity and heat and when I look at the photos from space I am astounded by how big it all is. It makes religion look small and petty like the people who believe it.

Snappy. The full quote is beautiful and worth reading in full:

"Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics.
You are all stardust.
You couldn't be here if stars hadn't exploded. Because the elements, the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for evolution weren't created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars. And the only way they could get into your body is if the stars were kind enough to explode.
So forget Jesus. The stars died so you could be here today."

Are you guys into Velikowsky?

Just heard this very cool radio interview on Red Ice with Laird Scranton from Portland:

http://www.redicecreations.com/radio/201…

Velikovsky's "theories" are about as accurate as Intelligent Design...

@7, Carl kept it simple though.

@2 for the win.

The difference, at least in terms of story-telling (I'm an atheist), is that Jesus martyred himself, whereas the stars of the early universe were presumably non-conscious.

Then again, Jesus was supposedly incarnated for the purpose of martyring himself, so did he have any choice in the matter? Was he truly free to reject Satan's temptation, or was it a biological/spiritual imperative? And how many angels *can* dance on the head of a pin?

I've met Lawrence Krauss. I'm not sure if he still is, but he certainly was a professor at Case Western. He's actually a bit of a tosser; I don't think he taught any classes either.

Incidentally, Jesus did not die for your sins. I believe the whole ritual of god incarnating himself just to kill himself had to do with the nature of and necessity of sacrifice. Because god sacrificed himself therefore humans no longer need to sacrifice to venerate god--or something crazy like that.

Wow, pedantic assholes who can't tolerate the slightest bit of romanticism in life are even more annoying than Christianists.

"Wow, I can't believe Charles believes in the literal word of Lawrence Krauss. What a maroon" *pushes glasses all the way up bridge of nose and sighs heavily*

@1, @3: Mars is one of the few things you can see in the night sky that is bright enough, and sufficiently colorful, that it doesn't just look white, to the bare eye. Watching Jupiter and Venus do their coy little pas de deux has been fun, this last month. That poor wallflower, Mars, has been sulking, off in the east.

#9

You know it amazes me...even though this is supposed to be the blog for "cool" people, most of you have ideas and paradigms fixed in place from circa 1980.

Even a lot of the local "technology leaders" here -- it's like they made their mark 3 decades ago, then they just keep repeating the same tenets over and over again.

Seattle is like the mecca for the self-satisfied middlebrow. Unable to think for himself, he buys the "best books" and isolates the establishment pundits who feed him a daily diet of thought so he doesn't have to think for himself. Sit back in front of the fire, put the wool socks on the ottoman and shift the brain into cruise control and label it smarts.


Hicks vs Middlebrows on Intelligent Design

http://yrihf.com/viewtopic.php?t=4407&hi…

@2 If you'd have watched the Lawrence Krauss lecture he's quoting from here, you would realize that Krauss was intending to comment about the irony of the immense cosmic violence and destruction that preceded us (and our all-too-human proclivity to anthropomorphize every aspect of the universe).

When the Anti-Mudede circlejerk gets going here on Slog, it accelerates from zero-to-unnecessarily-spiteful in 2 comments.

I can't say so for other religions as I'm not familiar with them, but that idea (especially when expressed through the full quote, as Lynx provided @7) is far more profound than anything you can find in the Bible.

Pretty sure I'm a mix of neutron star and black dwarf.

@2, 5, 11 - Who said anything about 'intention'? There are just facts: Stars died. Humans are made from star stuff. Stars dying predicated human evolution. End.

I don't know anything about this L. Krauss guy, and didn't follow the link. But on a basic, factual level the initial statement in Charles post is accurate.

@15: Rather than think for yourself, you parrot someone else's talking points and link us to them.

@20- "You Read It Here First" is Bailo's own forum. He use to link to it on all of his posts. I suppose that someone else might have written the post he linked to (I didn't click on it), but as far as I know he's the only person who visits it intentionally, so I doubt it.

@21: I followed the link and laughed out loud when I saw that the post (to which nobody has replied) consisted of "Hicks 1 Middlebrows 0" and a quote from someone else.

no, @2 did not win. The quote is simply using the metaphorical structure of the line about "Jesus" to paraphrase / parallel Carl Sagan's wonderful phrase.

Unless you're a literal-minded block-head. Then go right ahead, and pretend that Charles Missed the Mark(tm) again.

To ponder the void, lack-less of oxygen or anything even remotely reflecting the vast abundance of life and even life extinct that we prance upon so disrespectful so inconsiderate so boastful and ignorant. the giant Bug Zapper 110 times the diameter of earth spits its spark and flame and solar radiation that we fail to have harvested to no end and instead we rely on fossil fuels as we have not the moral fabric to help the earth our people and future.

The stars are void of life and full of death yet still we stand in awe as we urinate on the one place that will support our shit and forgive our mistakes.

One small step for man! one giant leap for mankind into the infinitival dark and lifeless void.