*promote

Dirac on religion:

I cannot understand why we idle discussing religion. If we are honest—and scientists have to be—we must admit that religion is a jumble of false assertions, with no basis in reality. The very idea of God is a product of the human imagination. It is quite understandable why primitive people, who were so much more exposed to the overpowering forces of nature than we are today, should have personified these forces in fear and trembling. But nowadays, when we understand so many natural processes, we have no need for such solutions.

I can't for the life of me see how the postulate of an Almighty God helps us in any way. What I do see is that this assumption leads to such unproductive questions as why God allows so much misery and injustice, the exploitation of the poor by the rich and all the other horrors He might have prevented. If religion is still being taught, it is by no means because its ideas still convince us, but simply because some of us want to keep the lower classes quiet. Quiet people are much easier to govern than clamorous and dissatisfied ones. They are also much easier to exploit.

Religion is a kind of opium that allows a nation to lull itself into wishful dreams and so forget the injustices that are being perpetrated against the people. Hence the close alliance between those two great political forces, the State and the Church. Both need the illusion that a kindly God rewards—in heaven if not on earth—all those who have not risen up against injustice, who have done their duty quietly and uncomplainingly. That is precisely why the honest assertion that God is a mere product of the human imagination is branded as the worst of all mortal sins.

Thanks! I've been having a hard time getting my Sifts through lately.

In reply to this comment by Deano:
*quality

Money, no. ePenis, YES!

In reply to this comment by Payback:
Thanks for that, but meh... obviously I didn't describe it well. This is just the Internets. No money involved.

In reply to this comment by cybrbeast:
>> ^Payback:
I sifted this a while back. My link has been killed by the DMCA Gestapo though...
http://www.videosift.com/video/Fifth-Gear-Dunlop-Toyota-Loop


Fix your video and I can call a dupeof

Very good explanation of temperature. The explanation of laser cooling, not so. It is counter-intuitive that the atoms would radiate more of the laser energy out than they receive.
Wiki explains it better
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_cooling

Thanks, the more people know about how to use the ' the better.

In reply to this comment by MarineGunrock:
*promote

The Flying Squirrel
http://www.videosift.com/video/BBC-Life-of-Mammals-Flying-Squirrel

In reply to this comment by schmawy:
Hey, thanks CyberBEST! I thought the Sift aviary could use a little rounding out. Can you think of any other species we should add?

In reply to this comment by cybrbeast:
I like owls, *promote

Lots of birds lately. Nice sifts!

ELee, I've added the books to the post. They look very interesting.

>> ^grinter:
ok, so what keeps a monorail on track?

Gyro monorail
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyro_monorail
Also very ingenious.

Wow you've been having a lot of Top 15 videos. Good work! How do you do it?

Remember you CAN vote for your own submitted videos:
http://www.videosift.com/video/R-yksopp-Remind-Me-Remix

Thanks man. It's a really great performance that deserves to be seen.

In reply to this comment by Deano:
*promote

Thanks! Saves me having to beg another time

Also, I don't know if you've seen my coolest science post of IMO forever:
http://www.videosift.com/video/First-Movie-of-Individual-Carbon-Atoms-in-Action

In reply to this comment by arvana:
This science is worth promoting!

I don't know if you read SiftTalk, but there's a party in your honor:
http://jazz.videosift.com/talk/Let-s-have-a-jam-Jacobrecker-hits-gold

*edit
oh wait, just saw that you replied in the post, so I guess you must have seen it