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old reason and belief news items, perhaps still of interest

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wealth & happiness

(5 June 2007)

Some recent interesting studies:

  • How wealthy do you think you are, in world terms? A recent study can tell you where you fit, and lays bare the inequalities in the world. Read more ....
  • Are westerners sacrificing too much to get too little that's of value? We're wealthier, but not happier. Read more ....

prepare to be amazed

(30 May 2007)

1. Check out the amazing 3-D artwork of pavement artist Julian Beever, whose chalk pictures are drawn so that they appear 3-dimensional when viewed from the correct angle. See more here.

2. Digital images of nebulae (giant clouds of space dust) are sometimes colour-enhanced by astronomers, producing some beautiful images. See more here.

Dawkins vs McGrath

(24 April 2007)

I have previously referred to Oxford academic Alister McGrath's critiques of the anti-religious views of his colleague Richard Dawkins. A new book, "The Dawkins Delusion, co-authored by McGrath, has now been released.

The critics say that McGrath does not offer any argument to support his belief in God. But McGrath has already attempted that elsewhere (in "Dawkins' God"). Here he appears to be examining Dawkins' thought processes, whether religion is really the source of as much evil as Dawkins claims and whether its elimination would make the world a better place.

Read McGrath's own summary here or read more here. Read more (on the inner and outer space blog) about McGrath's book and a subsequent radio discussion between the two.

the happiest man alive?

(27 March 2007)

Testing by neuroscientists of brain waves that indicate happiness has shown that French Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard is by far the happiest person so far tested.

Ricard has recently released a book titled Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill. He says keys to happiness include:

  • don't allow circumstances or other people to determine your state of mind;
  • avoid anger - "anger is a destructive emotion";
  • practise meditation, or, as Ricard prefers to call it, mind training, daily, and learn to manage your thoughts - think about past happy occasions and identify what it was that made you happy;
  • if necessary, participate in a program of stress reduction.

Read more on the inner and outer space blog .....

and the beat goes on

(4 February 2006)

More and more people are writing about happiness, and how our western society does not always make people happy.

The book "Affluenza" by British psychologist Oliver James has recently been released in Australia. James argues that an over-emphasis on material wealth, frantically wanting things we don't really need, doesn't only fail to make us happy, it actually makes us unhappy, lonely and even mentally ill.

Read his assessment of Sydney, one of the most materialistic cities in the world in "Welcome to the selfish city".

See also a similar book with identical title by Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss (2005).

long life vs wealth

(6 January 2007)

Our choice: live long or prosper by Matt Wade (Sydney Morning Herald, 27 December 06) outlines some interesting new statistics on lifespan and standard of living.

While the wealthier countries, overall, have the highest life expectancies, it isn't always that simple. For example:

  • life expectancy is longest in Japan, Hong Kong and Iceland but the wealthiest countries ;are Luxembourg and Norway;
  • Human Development Index measures life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living. It is highest in Norway, Iceland and Australia;
  • life expectancy in the US has slipped from 10th in 1950 to 30th, below much poorer countries such as Chile and Cuba.

UN Human Development Report, 2006 results.

Richard Dawkins' new book

(3 December 2006)

Famed evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins, has released a new book, The God Delusion, a full-on attack on belief in God, any god. Read Dawkins' own summary of his views here.

Atheists love it, but critics say that the further Dawkins moves from his area of expertise, the less convincing and the more unreasonable he becomes. Read a positive and a more critical review here. Or check out the views of Alister McGrath, also an academic at Oxford University, who has written a book critiquing Dawkins' ideas (written before The God Delusion was published).

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