It’s a bad idea to feed Internet trolls, but every once in a while I get a comment on a random article that I just can’t resist writing a response to. This one appeared in an article entitled “Why is Christianity growing in China“. Here’s this clown’s answer:

It will be interesting to see atheists trying to uplift the human spirit with??? LOL, not to make fun of your beliefs dear “know it all”, but it’s been proven using the scientific method that human beings do indeed need to have their spiritual side cultivated in some way. Now you could be “spiritual but not religious”, that works for some. But there will never be a power greater then the worlds great religions that actually has the capability of lifting the most destitute, and guiding the most educated and well off of our lot. I know you don’t believe this dear atheist, but belief has nothing to do with how smart you are!

What’s his scientific proof, you ask? Well, like most religious idiots, the concept of ‘scientific proof’ is only relevant if it somehow confirms his ridiculous view of the world. In this case, it’s the idea that without a ‘spiritual’ side, there’s no way for people to feel uplifted and part of some greater whole.

What a fucking load of horseshit.

It isn’t the world of make-believe which inspires me. It’s the vastness of the universe, or the fact that the atoms which make up my body are forged of the amber of dying stars. I’m a product of over 3 billion years of evolution, one of a myriad of different lifeforms each adapted to suit their particular environment. I live on a cooling ball of rock and iron orbiting a massive collection of hydrogen, packed so tightly together that they fuse, forming helium and unleashing 3.8 x 10^33 ergs/sec of power (a number that is surprisingly easy to calculate, using only an umbrella, a tin of water, and a thermometer).

I find all of this more awe inspiring than any myth we’ve ever invented. How could we compete with the wonders of reality? In the past 80 years we’ve uncovered more about the universe than during our entire time here on Earth. There is still so much to discover and be inspired by, yet religious people keep claiming they have the monopoly on beauty and truth. The stories of Achilles and Jesus have nothing on the beauty of a supernova explosion, or an entire galaxy consumed in a Quasar.

As for intelligence having nothing to do with belief, I would venture to say while plenty of smart people can believe in some incredibly stupid and silly things, those very beliefs impact how a person thinks and acts. Steve Jobs thought alternative medicine could help his aggressive cancer. His stupid belief, while it may not have diminished his overall intelligence, affected his well being enough to terminate his life prematurely. Would anyone praise his ‘spirituality’ in this circumstance, or criticize the ridiculousness of his cherished beliefs? Had his friends and family been brave enough to call him out on it, he might still be alive, and the iPhone 5 wouldn’t suck balls.

If you want to pat yourself on the back for believing in things without evidence, that’s fine: just don’t pretend it makes you smart, guy.

How do ideas spread? Well, that’s what a team of scientists at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute wanted to find out. Their experiments involved using social networks to see how opinions would spread and change over time. They discovered if 10% of the “population” (defined here as those involved within the network) held strong and intractable opinions, the rest of the group would eventually follow suit in order to avoid any disagreement with the group.

While the research is admittedly preliminary, the numbers make sense to me. I’ve always believed the opinions of the majority are in fact dictated by a small group of highly influential people who have no quandary about spreading their ideas to others. It’s interesting to note the authors suggest that ideas that fail to achieve higher than 10 percent, and believers who have too little conviction were doomed to being in the margins. There’s a lesson here somewhere for us. While we hate the idea of holding any belief too firmly (even a non-belief), it is nevertheless the primary way ideas are spread.

The good news is so long as we keep talking about our non-belief, and the better we get at dismantling the claims of religious people, the closer we get to the magical “tipping” number. Hey, we already know over 10% of the population thinks this religion bullshit is a waste of time. Now these people just need to start telling others a hell of a lot more.

Here’s some cool news: scientists are a little closer to understanding how sex evolved. Apparently, the answer “because it feels fucking awesome” wasn’t good enough for a few eggheads, and they decided to try and figure out some clever experiments to test out a few theories. A group of researchers at the University of Indiana found if they manipulated the sex of the round worm Caenorhabditis elegans, those that reproduced asexually were less likely to be resilient to parasites, and therefore less likely to pass on their genes.

It may come as a shock to most of you, but the development of sex as a reproductive strategy is still a little bit of a mystery. We know it’s incredibly useful, but until now we’ve lacked solid evidence demonstrating effectively why such a survival strategy is beneficial.

Of course this doesn’t prove anything just yet; like all good science, we will need to wait and see if the experiments, once repeated, have the same outcome. Still, it’s encouraging to know we might be a lot closer to answering the mystery that is sex.