Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

[Mousy]

And - while I'm at it - come to think of it, I don't think that I could have spent time in any better place than Rationalia in order to become more confident as a woman.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

And - while I'm at it - come to think of it, I don't think that I could have spent time in any better place than Rationalia in order to become more confident as a woman.

You certain had some good lechers teachers here.

[Badger3k]

I just noticed this while making a point on the other thread, Civil War in Skepticism.

Check out this video, and start at about 5:30 or 6 minutes in:

Watson explains why SHE lost interest in science. When she was a kid, she loved science. But, she lost interest in science right about the time high school started, because her teachers were teaching out of textbooks. And, she felt that what she was learning was "rote knowledge." LOL. She says she "lost the thread of what science really is, which is about discovery and learning more about our universe."

Right, honey. But, lots of all this sciencey stuff has already been learned and that's why they have textbooks, and you're going to have to do a LOT of "book-learnin'" if you want to become educated in the sciences. I know it's hard, but you're going to have learn Newtonian phyiscs, for example, and do the math. It's not going to be all about going on field trips and seeing if a bowling ball and a baseball really do hit the ground at the same time when dropped from the same height....

EDIT to add: LOL -- another lul at 20 minutes in... Watson "hates big pharma" -- she used to work for a "progressive organization" that was "fighting big Pharma to get Medicare/aid to cover prescription medications..." Uh.... dipshit.... Big Pharma never had any objection to Medicare/Medicaid covering prescription drugs, it meant more money for them because the government started paying for prescription drugs. Duh. "Big Pharma as a conglomerate is vicious and awful, and we need to keep a close eye on it." -- Watson.

I never bothered to listen to the whole thing - neither of them do my head any good. But Watson actually used the "big pharma" bit? Seriously? How...skeptical.

[Wumbologist]

Those "leading" atheism? Leading it? Nobody is leading my atheist ass. And he's calling other people smug?

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Yeah I couldn't fucking believe my eyes when I read that. There's been a whole lot of back and forth bickering over all this, a lot of it amounting to absurd horseshit, but really? LEADING atheists? What a presumptuous pile of trash. I suppose it's par for the course from him though, more proof that PZ's idea of "free thought" only goes so far as the free thought he agrees with. Step out of line and you'll find yourself at odds with the "leaders" of a concept that by its very definition ought not to have a leadership. Atheism is the lack of a fucking religion, I don't need a fucking priest to tell me how to not worship a non-existent deity.

That sort of controlling attitude was one of the biggest factors in my turning away from religion in the first place. The idea that another fallible and imperfect human would dare to suggest that they are in a position to tell me how to be a good atheist is unimaginable. I had my fill of that shit going to a church where the pastor wanted to tell me, as the spokesperson of God himself, how I needed to give X amount of money to the church and pray so-and-so many times a day and repent to sins X, Y, and Z in order to get into heaven. I sure as fuck will not be lining up to have someone tell me how to live my life again.

[Rum]

Haven't read this thread through yet, but I occasionally search for Tigger and his name came up here. For anyone unfamiliar with Rationalia and who wants to know, Tigger is my Dad. I have had more support than I could have ever thought possible from the people on Rationalia. To some, we're just a bunch of like-minded atheists on an internet forum. To me, the community here comprises my Dad's close friends and my close friends, some of whom were kind enough to drive to my hometown and hug me at his funeral, and all of whom have provided me with incredible support.

..and here's another one.

[Badger3k]

Men regularly discuss women when gathering together to enjoy a little "man time". You know, hitting animals on the heads with sticks, beating drums, having knuckle-dragging competitions. That sort of thing.

Oh shit, I've violated the First Rule of Man Time.

Either turn in your man card, or put on the Apron of Shame and sing "I'm a little teapot" at the top of your voice for 15 minutes. In the middle of the street. We'll be watching....

[Cormac]

By the by, I think having good rote memorization skills is pretty crucial to learning. But then, I always enjoyed the challenge of memorization.

I'm sure it was more crucial before Google. I absolutely love that I can outsource my rote memorization to the internet in the same way I can outsource rote calculation to a calculator and rote computation to a computer.

I sometimes wonder if Google is making us dumb. I used to be able to amaze my friends with the stuff I could pull out the back of my head. Now people don't even try (including me.) They just look it up.

I wonder what will happen when we're all hooked on to the Interweb with our minds. Cuz that's gonna happen.

I am not looking forward to the hive mind. (I've seen what the collective is like...).

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Skepticon is going to be FABULOUS. Nov. 9th, the butthurt will be MAJOR! And we're going to be there.

[Bella Fortuna]

And - while I'm at it - come to think of it, I don't think that I could have spent time in any better place than Rationalia in order to become more confident as a woman.

I feel similarly, proving one's never too old to learn more about or redefine oneself. There is an amazing bunch of women of all ages and backgrounds here whom I am proud to know and from whom I've learned an awful lot.

Anyone who even hints that we're oppressed, or mired in any sort of fill-in-the-blank culture, or can't hold our own or know our own minds does us a great disservice if not an outright insult.

We are who we want to be, and strive to be what suits us individually, and if it's not like some other women out there - big fucking deal.

[Badger3k]

Hell man, we're into our second thread an no Godwin yet? It's not right, something had to be done!

Damn - I knew I shouldn't have been so subtle with my "gold star for jujubes" joke.

[Bella Fortuna]

Men regularly discuss women when gathering together to enjoy a little "man time". You know, hitting animals on the heads with sticks, beating drums, having knuckle-dragging competitions. That sort of thing.

Oh shit, I've violated the First Rule of Man Time.

Either turn in your man card, or put on the Apron of Shame and sing "I'm a little teapot" at the top of your voice for 15 minutes. In the middle of the street. We'll be watching....

We shoot teapots 'round these parts, son.

(search for the video)

[Bella Fortuna]

Hell man, we're into our second thread an no Godwin yet? It's not right, something had to be done!

Damn - I knew I shouldn't have been so subtle with my "gold star for jujubes" joke.

I got it. I just chose to let it go.

[Cormac]

In case anyone actually wanted this to die down and get back to more constructive things... sorry to say, he's keeping it going. http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/ ... -the-smug/

What a load of utter bollocks.

Yeah, but I guess this round was started by Cormac over here

And you can't really claim that we wouldn't have "kept it going" over here. Any shit we get this time, we really had it coming.

Ok. I am going to stop.

[Svartalf]

By the by, I think having good rote memorization skills is pretty crucial to learning. But then, I always enjoyed the challenge of memorization.

I'm sure it was more crucial before Google. I absolutely love that I can outsource my rote memorization to the internet in the same way I can outsource rote calculation to a calculator and rote computation to a computer.

I sometimes wonder if Google is making us dumb. I used to be able to amaze my friends with the stuff I could pull out the back of my head. Now people don't even try (including me.) They just look it up.

I wonder what will happen when we're all hooked on to the Interweb with our minds. Cuz that's gonna happen.

Not sure... But maybe it's just old age... as a younger man (and boy) I had almost perfect recall of stuff read/seen once. Now, my memory still is said to be above average, but I feel like a cripple, because I know stuff I should remember, yet don't... This very afternoon I talked with somebody about Weird Tales. He told me he read one story by my favorite writer (Robert E Howard), and I attributed it to the wrong collection of Weird Tales stories translated in French (which is where I guess he found it, Kull stories are not particularly easy to find in French)... but I had to go back to my shelves and actually look at the volumes to check what story was where.

[Badger3k]

Hell man, we're into our second thread an no Godwin yet? It's not right, something had to be done!

Damn - I knew I shouldn't have been so subtle with my "gold star for jujubes" joke.

I got it. I just chose to let it go.

Probably wise. My sense of humor can be...inappropriate, to some. I try to see humor in everything. I've also learned to moderate it quite a bit (same with my swearing) - I teach high school kids here in Texas, and I can't afford to be a bad influence. I try to follow the rules, even when i may or may not agree with them. I'm not perfect but I try to set an example for the kids in how to moderate themselves. That has had an effect on me in my online activism as well. Someone like PZ would not be welcome at our school - he'd be a huge bad example. After LPs (I believe) speech on this community, I feel a bit bad not giving more, but since the baboons are known to go after people's jobs and act out in real life, I can't afford to get too "out". Not that it's hard to track me down, but why help them. Sad thing, given the shrinking budgets in education, I'd be more likely let go for money than atheism or activism - many of my kids and coworkers know of my lack of belief and have no problems with it. And this is in central Texas. Just wanted to share a little bit.

As for PZ, he's been on the "atheist leader" bit for a while (back to his "dictionary atheist" post at least). He got into it a bit with John Loftus about atheist groups, and the way I see it, when you try to herd cats, you have to limit them to a certain group, which is what he is doing with his radfem/personality cult business. If he wants to do that, more power to him, he can have his church, but when he tries to impose his will on others, then he faces the same opposition any other cult or religion will face. What's really sad is that there are others who should know better who blindly follow him, such as the guys from Atheist Experience (which includes Martin, the one who wanted to out Pappa) - there group is opposed to religious groups trying to impose their will on others, yet they can't see themselves doing the same thing. But then, they're "right" and everybody else is wrong. Sound familiar?