Iraqi Jumping Jacks

I was asked a little while ago what the funniest viral video online was... I think that this is my selection. Kills me.

Coca-Cola : Encounter

This was too good not to share.

The Music So Far

Here's a graph of the music that I have been listening to so far this year. This is made using last.fm and LastGraph. To see my favorites from last year click here. (click on the graph for more detail)

From Dean and You

In defense of something that shouldn't need it

I have been somewhat inspired lately to write this article. The following items are a couple things that I didn't really understand until recent years. If any of you reading this don't share my view on this subject I ask you to read with an open mind, but also not to take my word for it. Go find out about it on your own as well.

First of all... a couple points about science:

1. When someone talks a bout a scientific theory they are not talking about a theory in the same way that Sherlock Holmes does when he has a hunch about something. In order for something to be considered a theory in the scientific community it is tested in multiple ways and have multiple laws describing it. It must be able to make accurate predictions concerning scientific experiments or observations. more info here.

2. Science doesn't claim absolute truth. When someone makes a claim in science it is based on the evidence at hand. As technology improves and more evidence is found scientific ideas are changed, updated, and sometimes completely disproved. This doesn't mean that science is worthless though. Even disproved theories hold some truths and some worth. Isaac Newton found ways to explain the universe that weren't completely correct, but still used until Einstein came along and disproved some of Newton's ideas.

3. "Scientists" are not some giant collective of back patters who conspire together to debate one side of an issue. Scientists are everywhere in the world doing their work in many different fields. Scientists, in general, are not motivated to keep the status quo. They don't set out to rediscover what's already been discovered. A scientist's dream is to overturn a previously accepted theory. There's no great advantage for science as a whole to stay the same.

Now to what I wish everyone would understand:

When someone talks about Evolution as a scientific theory they aren't saying that it's something that people have a hunch or guess that it's right. It means that this is something that people have rigorously tested and people have used to predict and invent great new things. If you discredit Evolution because it's just a theory you are also discrediting Germ Theory, Gravity, and any other established scientific belief.

Evolution occurs everywhere. From the way societies react, to how humans came from single celled organisms, to how the universe developed. I don't claim that all principles of the Theory of Evolution are perfect, but the evidence points towards it being correct.

If you are someone who doesn't believe in evolution I ask that you take the time to read about it. It is a beautiful concept that is so simple yet so universal. Also, if any of you would like to discuss this I would love to do that as well.