Supersense Me!

SuperSense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable by Bruce Hood


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was an eminently readable book about a fascinating topic. Hood posits that supernatural thinking (which covers a wide range of beliefs from religion to the feeling that someone is looking at you) is one of the bag of tricks in all human brains that came to us thanks to evolution. Is it possible to be free from it? Probably not, and this Supersense has its use in creating a sense of community in people, in sorting, in categorizing. Religion, it seems, is just a bonus. I read a review about this book on The Friendly Atheist's blog and snagged a Kindle version immediately. I might have to get hard copy of it for reference, because flipping through a Kindle isn't the cakewalk I'd like it to be.
Hood's prose is clear enough for anyone to understand (unusual in an academic), and while he does tend to repeat himself, I did not find this annoying, especially in picking it up and reading it in short bursts. It helps to be reminded of what he talked about in previous chapters. So much of this book is meaty information that I highlighted most of it. I recommend it for atheists and theists alike.
For me, it was an eyeopener to realize that the rabblerousers decrying gay marriage, etc. were using a time-honored method of improving community cohesiveness by appealing to a visceral sense of disgust. Sure, you can also build community on positive beliefs, but it's so much easier to manipulate people using disgust. This opens a path for rebuttal, a chance to show you're taking the high road. Okay, maybe that's just me.

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Even Moron Sploland

Lludmila explores the sunken ship. The sharks on the other side made her nervous, so she had to leave.
A Penn and Teller moment: are avatars really shot from the cannon? The truth is captured here in this exclusive photo! Ninia, our Schroedinger's Cat, appears to be both in the cannon and being launched from it! That is her head peeking out of the end of the cannon, still aiming straight for Boythorn's chest, which he was willing to sacrifice in the interests of science. That is also her body upright seemingly lodged in the middle of the cannon. Are there two Ninias? Is this some quantum dilemma? Or is this just some godless humanist trick?

I loooooove this place!

Moron, ummm, More On Sploland

Here the exhibit designers lash back at museum goers.

You might have to click on this to make it bigger so you can read the teeny print. What it says, for those who don't have the patience, is that most folks don't follow the instructions on exhibits and instead use the mirror to look at themselves instead of a blend of the people on either side of the glass. So why pretend otherwise? Have at it. Just sit and admire yourself. After all, it's all about you, innit?

Lludmila bellydances on the molecular dancefloor,

whilst our guide, Boythorn, turns aside in mortification.

So embarrassing. I didn't know how to stop it. Heck, I didn't want to stop it! Woo-hoo!

I Just Love Being a Humanist!

Lludmila contemplates the somewhat scary entrance to Sploland

I cannot begin to tell you about this week's Humanism Field Trip. We've had some winners in the past (the Star Trek Science Museum for one), but the fun never stopped at Sploland. A herniation from the actual museum, Exploratorium, into the SecondLife dimension by way of Oppositeland, the exhibits parody known puzzles, exhibits, and ... erm, other things non-scientific. The chat box was not big enough to hold all my laughter. Outside the museum there is even more: explore a sunken ship and sealife, bellydance on the molecular dancefloor, and get yourself blown out of a cannon! Too soon the call came from our Fearless Leader to return to the Roma gardens to discuss ... I dunno, I forget. I'm still laughing.

Use the telescope to view the "black hole" (yes, that's the black disc in front of it - no, it's not the big ball of twine), bounce sideways off the trampoline on the wall, and see a face in the toast popping out of the toaster in the background (in the background ... is it Jesus? Mary? No! It's Albert Einstein! Funny what people see in things).

Virtual Relief

As a reminder that all is not finished cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina, the Big Easy sim reproduces a ghost town New Orleans as a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. Some of the Humanists visit the Cathedral prior to their weekly meeting. Big Easy is a huge and beautiful sim, if eerily quiet. Visit Bourbon Street and view some Mardi Gras floats - then donate some Linden dollars at the HfH kiosk.

Lludmila Goes Wild

After a typical BookMooch social this Sunday, Mossflower invited us to her apartment. She has two floors of this Victorian folly which she has decorated beautifully. Such an interesting space, with a virtual dog named Squit. Here on the second floor, she had some tango animation balls. Lludmila is being swept off her feet here by Weil. Mossflower suggested that Lludmila get a long skirt to appreciate the full effect, but I think she's wearing the perfect thing for a tango, a Spanish stole wrap-around skirt.

Quite out of breath, Lludmila had to hurry on to a field trip with her Humanist group to see what freebies were on offer. At the location, some gamers surrounded the Humanist visitors and others in bubble traps, totally against the regulations that govern that area. Complaints were lodged. A quick teleport to another sim and back again to a slightly different spot released everyone from the bubbles, but it was very annoying.

The Humanists are planning a dance, which will have Lludmila's heart skipping a beat.

If you want to know how much Mossflower pays in rent, you'll have to ask her, but I can tell you that you would never believe it. Also, don't let her change the speed of the dance on you! Grab that nipple and away we go!

This Weekend in SecondLife

Each week the Humanists of SecondLife get together for a field trip to some interesting place in SecondLife and then a meeting for discussions. (It's rather hilarious that we meet on Sundays, just like the Christians.) This weekend we visited the Star Trek Museum of Science, which was great. It was very well put together and coupled information about the television shows with actual scientific information. I achieved a lifelong ambition by making myself a science officer. I told my husband that I had gotten a Star Fleet uniform and he suddenly said, "Not the red one?!" No, of course not. Those people in the red shirts in the away teams are the first ones to die! This would be a great resource for teens who might accidentally learn some facts. Unfortunately, it's not on the teen grid (there is a separate SecondLife for the underaged). Or maybe it is. I'm not allowed on the teen grid, so I don't really know.
One of the best (and by "best" I guess I mean "funniest") exhibits at the STMofS is a display of How Has Star Trek Changed Your Life? In it the "communicator" is compared to the cell phone and so on. Of course, the cell phone doesn't have a little dial on it like radios in the 1960s. Sorry that the "photo" of the display isn't all that clear.* You can almost read everything. If you are really interested, go there and look at it yourself!
SecondLife is not all gamers shooting each other or "lusers" gettingthe virtual sex that they can't get in Real Life because they are lumpy mousepotatoes. There's something there for us old folks who like to chat with people in real time, while being lumpy and eating Doritos.
That's me in the science unit costume and the white hair. My handle is Lludmila Mirrikh. Drop by some time and chat with me.

*I've added what I hope is a clearer copy.