The universe as rounding error

Image via Wikipedia

I enjoyed this quote: "Nine out of every 10 atoms in the universe are hydrogen, the first element and the major constituent of stars. The other 10 percent of all atoms are helium. That's already 100 percent. The rest of the periodic table, Elements 3 through 118, lithium through ununoctium, barely register on a cosmic scale. The rest of the universe, you and I included, is a rounding error."
                       Sam Kean/  Hydrogen: Where It All Started in Slate

On the absence of compulsions as a blessing

Image via Wikipedia

BoingBoing reports that "When asked why he strangled his little brother to death, 17-year old Andrew Conley of Rising Sun, Indiana said: 'Like, I had to. It's like when people have something like when they're hungry and there's a hamburger sitting there and they knew they had to have it.'"

Although of course the boy's answer is horrifying, I don't doubt that it might yet be true. Surely some of what we all do (lose our tempers, enjoy reading novels, eat too much, like The Beatles, drink a cup of water...) is due to forces acting on and inside us that we are not aware of and that we therefore cannot begin to comprehend.

To the extent that we are free of (or can consciously counter-act) forces that make us do things we regret or that harm others, we should feel blessed.

Rules for my unborn son

Although I don't agree with all the advice, I do enjoy the blog Rules for my Unborn Son, which consists of 1001 rules written by a Dad for his son.

I do agree with Rule 387.

From: http://www.kerismith.com/

Surviving the world

'Surviving the world' is an amusing 'web comic' (actually, photographs of a guy in front of a blackboard).

Prickles versus goo

I like this short Alan Watts video.
Photo from DirtyBunny's flickr stream.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift

yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, originally uploaded by Austin Kleon.

Atheist Spirituality from Alan Watts

Maybe too long for today's Internet-disabled attention span at 9 minutes. Alan Watts is a religious philosopher I liked very much when I was young. This is a recent animation of some excerpts from his old talks. (There are many more Alan Watts vids on YouTube.)

Oddly enough, religious atheism was a theme in my life today- I heard about it independently three times by chance!