http://www.videosift.com/video/Ida-47-million-year-old-primate-could-be-missing-link

stick that up her ass instead of a bible

*promote in honor of Ida and because crocodiles are fucking cool.

Your video, 47 million yr old fossil could shed light on origins of man, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Your video, 47 million yr old fossil could shed light on origins of man, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

In reference to what i am getting from this thread is there is no God and this is all just one big cosmic coincidence? Now how much belief does that take?

2 points here, firstly, How much belief it takes? well, to me, its not really a matter of belief or "faith", its a matter of evidence. Scientists have studied the universe for a long time and concluded, based on EVIDENCE, that the universe is expanding at an exponential rate. By comparing stars at various distances, we can look back in time, literally, and see how the early universe looked and behaved. Which brings me to point number 2: "cosmic accident" is a gross oversimplification of our current understanding of the universe.

We have deduced, based on evidence that the early universe was much denser and hotter and simpler than it is now. Brian Cox used a snowflake as a metaphor, this old, "frozen" universe is complex and interesting, where as the early universe, like a melted snowflake, would just be a dense , hot gass of sorts, ultimately with only hydrogen in it. As Carl Sagan said: This (meaning us humans, earth and every living creature on it) is what you get when you give Hydrogen atoms 14 billion years to evolve.

Right now, our Sun with its immense gravitational pressure fuses 700 million tons of hydrogen into 695 million tons of helium, EVERY SECOND. 5 Million tons of pure energy is released, equaling something like 200 million Hiroshima bombs EVERY SECOND. Yet these extreme numbers are peanuts compared to the events that shaped our universe. Our sun simply isnt powerful enough to fuse helium and create heavier elements. For that, we need bigger "Weapons of Cosmic Destruction Creation" Supernovae, red giants, galactic collisions and supermassive black holes, nebulae and gas clouds beyond all imaginations. From cosmic events like this, all the ingredients we take for granted here on earth, (like carbon etc) were originally created. Again when talking about grand stuff like this that I know little about, it is best to qoute Carl Sagan again:

We are the Stuff Of Stars.

I love that quote because it is literally true.

So thats the "accident" before life arose. The exact chemical reactions that gave rise to the first self-replicating molecule is not fully understood, but once that first barrier was crossed (achieving high-fidelity replication) Evolution by natural selection is INEVITABLE.It still took a good 2 billion years before cells start grouping into multi-cellular organisms, but when that revolution happened, we went from flatworm to primates in a measly 700 million years.

That account of the Cosmic accident is a far to brief, incomplete and rough draft of what happened, of course, I only mean to point out that this isnt some mad scientists guesswork. The processes and events above have been predicted, discovered, tested and examined and calculated and peer-reviewed and-- you get the point. They are our current best shot at understanding the universe, based on the available evidence. Naturally, much is left to discover, and thats what makes science interesting.

A dog and an orang-utan have forged an unlikely friendship at an animal sanctuary.
Suriya the orang-utan and Roscoe the bluetick coonhound palled up after meeting at The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Most dogs avoid apes, but Roscoe is happy to swim and play alongside Suriya and even lets his hairy friend take him for walks.

Their bond is so strong that US chat show queen Oprah Winfrey is set to feature them in a special show called Amazing Animal Friendship.

Dr Bhagavan Antle, founder of the centre, said: "Roscoe looked really thin and a little lost so we fed him and took care of him. He followed us through the gate and ran over and found Suriya.

"As soon as he saw Roscoe, Suriya ran over to him and they started playing. It was unusual because dogs are usually scared of primates but they took to each other straight away."
(from ITN news)

Why did Bonobos evolve such different social behavior from Chimps? This is because Chimps lived in an area that was shared with Gorillas. There was more competition for food therefore the females spent most of their time climbing trees in search of food for themselves and their young, unable to form close bonds with the group. Female Chimps are constantly harassed and raped in Chimp society (unlike our own.) Bonobos on the other hand lived in areas where most of their food can be found on the ground, and there was little competition from other large primates. This made it easy for the mothers to find food, and they were able to spend more time bonding with the other Bonobos. I think humans are much closer to Chimps than Bonobos in this regard. One of my theories on why women haven’t accomplished as much as men have throughout history…well as soon as we even get a chance, we get pregnant and spend most of our lives raising the men who rule our world. This is slowly changing as females get more choice in the matter (no in all countries…) but as mother and wives I’ve always felt that behind every great man there was a great woman. Anyways…MY POINT IS…if we strive towards a Bonobo-esque society, it’ll be constant sexual fun for all!
But I guess no one can say for sure...I mean there are so many human women who are underhanded and vicious bitches, so I think the key is to strive for a society of equality (race, sexuality, gender) and for everyone to strive to just be better human beings as a whole.

Another good video if you are interested

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eubDSQrFako

Would I have chastised you if Aemaeth was a Scientologist or polite Neo-Nazi? That's a very good question. Probably not. It depends.

I understand your disdain for the LDS. A long time ago I sublet some studio space to a recently converted Mormon, and had to endure the proselytizing every day. I agree, it's laughable at the least, and dangerous at the worst. But I put up with it because just prior to his conversion, his young son had died suddenly in his sleep, without any medical explanation. He had no real support from friends or family, and this was his "port in a storm" I guess. A Mormon must have knocked on his door at just the right (wrong) time. You would surely cite this as opportunistic and playing on the weak, and I wouldn't disagree. I think he shook it eventually and moved on to hard-core Ufology. Just as kooky, but I thought that was more interesting, at least.

I am as disgusted as you at the politicization of the church. Despite our recent victory in Connecticut, there's still a strong anti-gay sentiment brewing. We get robocalls about it all the time, somebody's trying to see if there is enough support for a referendum. I don't think my response was recorded though, since it was full of invective that couldn't be deciphered by the computer doing the calling.

I think you and I are probably politically and ideologically very similar. I can think of a few things we might not agree on, but for the most part I hazard the guess that we are like-minded. There's some contrast in how we go about it though. I think minds are fragile, and need to be opened carefully because otherwise they break or snap shut for good. You're angrier than that, I imagine in this case because of the Prop8 debacle. That's fine, I'm angry too.

But I'm still curious about where your morality comes from. It's not entirely natural, although you do see altruism in primates and some other mammals. You must have learned it from someone. Parents, teachers, television, sunday school. I am willing to bet that a majority of atheists come from loving and secure family settings, where kindness and decency and love feel like natural principals of the universe. Why would we need a god, we know what's right and how to look after one another. The trouble is, it's not true of everybody. For many people God is that stern but loving father they never had. That's the only reason I defend the religioulous. Don't take it for granted where your morality comes from, and give a moment's thought to others less fortunate is all I'm saying.

What a lovely chat. I wish we had beer and pot and a glowing fire.




In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
You can't blame me for breathing on a wilting violet. This was a dialog, not a monologue. If Aemaeth didn't want a discussion, then he shouldn't have responded to my video in the first place. He's no victim.

I wasn't trying to chase him off the site. I was just trying to seed some doubt and engage him in some frank conversation. I'd love nothing more than for him to come back and stand up for himself. He could bring his friends too if he likes. The more the merrier.

Again, I'm going to re-iterate that there is a double standard when it comes to religion. The religious are allowed to damn people to hell and decide which humans are allowed to be married, but point out some glaring problems within a faith and all of a sudden you become Darth Vader.

Inelegantly: fuck that

I honestly find Mormonism very troubling, from it's morally disgusting inception, to it's unbelievable mythology, to its history of discrimination and misogyny, to its recent foyer into politics. I see it as a negative force in the world and would like to seed some doubt among its followers.

Can I be tolerant and severely critical at the same time?

Here are some questions that culture tells me I shouldn't ask.

-Joseph Smith had 33 wives, some of them as young as 14, some of them were others men's wives. How does this square with Mormon views on morality? How can you follow the teachings of a despicable lech and then seek to limit the rights of gay people?

-Do Mormons really believe that God waited 1800 years and then revealed himself to some dude in rural Utah, whom he instructed to sex up dozens of women and girls?

-Is it possible that this entire religion started out as a sex cult?

-Do Mormons really believe that Native Americans are actually a lost Jewish tribe?

Does tolerance require my silence on these points?

Would you have chastised me if Aemaeth was a Scientologist, or a polite Neo-Nazi?

Does tolerance have limits?

Tags for this video have been changed from 'loris, slow loris, eyes, rub, tickle' to 'loris, slow loris, eyes, rub, tickle, tiny, primate' - edited by kronosposeidon

In reply to this comment by RhesusMonk:
Dude, I just read that story you posted for AC's thing. 'sauce. Keep grinding out those 100 stars. Took me about 2 years. Promoting...totally worth it.

Ah thanks for that, seems a bit silly to have to wait so long to promote a good vid. Especially since I have more points now.

Thank you sir!
Also, how fitting!

In reply to this comment by RhesusMonk:
*promote

Dude, I just read that story you posted for AC's thing. 'sauce. Keep grinding out those 100 stars. Took me about 2 years. Promoting...totally worth it.

I heartly agree.
I also know the frustration of promotelessness...
Still, promoting remains (quite) a few riddles ahead.
Cheers!

In reply to this comment by BreaksTheEarth:
*promote

This is too good to be left in a p queue.

I can appreciate the poetic sound of the arabic language, and I can also to some degree admire the dedication of these people to the tradition, ritual and religion. I must however, sadly note the lack of actual content. As with most of the Qu'ran, there is actually NOTHING in this recitation that focuses on how to be a good person or a constructive member of society. There is no mention of human-to-human kindness, no lessons for those who mistreat, abuse or kill their fellow primates, nothing about compassion, mutual respect or equality. Nor is there anything substantial to learn in these long lectures, about any subjects like math, physics, biology, or even history.

Everything is about preserving an unquestioning, submissive, and one hundred percent dedication to the religion itself. And threats about what will happen if you fail to do so. Realize how great and merciful and good God is, or suffer the consequences on the ever-imminent Judgment Day.

This, for me, largely sums up what religion is: Good for nothing. Except itself. Its a self-replicating virus that thrives on human gullibility, fear and psychological needs.

primates ftw!