We used to do this stuff in high school. And it didn't always end up well...

For example, if you're across the classroom and you're holding a large container of salsa, you would give a quick heads up to someone in on the weird little social bonding experiment, and then throw it at the person. Sometimes they caught it, sometimes not and salsa every where.

However, if everyone was exceptionally well in their reflexes (throwers included), we would take the object (whatever it may be) to the strong man's competition, where we went into the school theater after hours and threw the object straight up into the air, in an attempt tap the vaulted ceiling. Then you take rounds having someone else catch the returning object.

The game ends when the object hits the ground, exploding its contents upon the ground.

So I have to give it to these guys for having an impressive talent rather than destruction in mind.

I wonder if they think he is sad or scared or something. Grooming is not just for removing parasites and combing fur. It is a social bonding reinforcement and is occasionally used to calm or console another gorilla. At 2:46 the silverback gently prods the youngster away from the man and gives him a slight push as if to say "leave him alone". Whatever the reason, it's a fascinating thing to watch. Love the look the silverback gives John at 5:13.

@mgittle

Agree with you partly. However, I think focusing on religion just in terms of neuroscience is far too narrow a view. Religion brings many, many other benefits in socio-cultural and psychological terms (see here and here for two examples). Far more, in my opinion, than the dangers. But that is not an excuse to overlook the dangers either, and it certainly isn't justification of evils committed in the name of religion.

@chtierna

It really depends on what you call "evidence." Harris clearly sets the bar very high--he will only include as evidence anything that can empirically be tested.

But I think most believers do in fact look at the evidence in their own lives--purely subjective evidence. Has this belief system been useful to them? Has it helped them and the people they care about be happy? Can they see positive benefits in their lives? They may not even believe any of the mystical stuff, but if they answer yes to these questions they have very little motivation to change. Honestly, I think for most human beings, the subjective evidence is far more compelling than the empirical when determining our belief systems.

@BicycleRepairMan

But he clearly is telling us what to believe in this video. You are too. Both of you are telling us to believe that those who are religious are delusional. Delusion is a pathological problem caused by illness. Neither the field of psychology nor psychiatry consider religious beliefs to be delusional (Freud did, but not based on any empirical research--it was his personal view). There is no evidence that I am aware of that shows that religious beliefs are delusional in the medically defined sense. They may be "mistaken beliefs" but that is not the same thing.

This may seem off-topic a bit, but let me explain why I hate these kind of videos. "Atheism" means not believing in a god. That's it. Atheists (after the term "fundamentalist atheists" started floating around) have gone to great lengths to protest that atheism is not a belief system (and hence it is impossible for an atheist to be "fundamentalist").

And yet I see more and more videos like this one which in which atheism is clearly being portrayed as a belief system. It is being associated with a positivistic worldview in which only that which can be measured is real or meaningful. Atheists are presented as more rational and logical than other people. And anyone who is not an atheist is demonized as the "other"--for instance, in your own very words as "delusional" --and described in terms of what they are not (i.e. rational, intelligent, etc.) rather than in terms of what they are (i.e. human beings with complex motives and reasons for believing). In other words, atheism is presented as being downright hostile to religion--though oddly enough "religion" is often narrowly defined as Fundamentalist Christianity and Radical Islam.

I'm an agnostic atheist. That means I don't believe in any particular deity though I don't deny the possibility he/she/it/them may exist. I make no claims about my rationality or that of others. I make no claims about the nature of human knowledge. When I say I'm an atheist I mean I don't believe in a god or gods. That's all atheism should mean. Being an atheist does not make one any better than any other human being on the planet. The condescension that I see in most of these videos is, frankly, disgusting. The fact remains that neither atheists nor believers have any concrete evidence that their particular side is correct. You don't agree with the other side? Fine. But if you want to be treated with respect (and judging by these videos, atheists so desperately do) you need to act in a way that is worthy of respect. That is what will get people listening seriously to what you have to say. Not chastising them as if they were a child.

I didn't have enough information when I initially commented on this video (because the video didn't provide it), and I jumped to conclusions - my bad!! In any event, it would definitely have been helpful if the video had indicated if the otter was a sea otter, river otter, or ...

Here's some fun and interesting information about otters from the World Famous San Diego Zoo web site:
Class: Mammalia (Mammals)
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Genera: 6
Species: 13
Length: largest—giant otter Pteronura brasiliensis, up to 7.8 feet (2.4 meters); smallest—Asian small-clawed otter Amblonyx cinereus, up to 3 feet (0.9 meters)
Weight: largest—sea otter Enhydra lutris, males up to 95 pounds (43 kilograms); smallest—Asian small-clawed otter, up to 11 pounds (5 kilograms)
Life span: 15 to 20 years
Gestation: from 2 months for smaller species to 5 months for sea otters
Number of young at birth: 1 to 5, usually 2
Size at birth: 4.5 ounces (128 grams) for smaller species to 5 pounds (2.3 kilograms) for sea otters
Age of maturity: 2 to 5 years
Conservation status: four species, including the sea otter, are endangered; three otter species are vulnerable.
Fun facts
• You can tell otter species apart by the shape and amount of fur on their noses.
• Unlike other marine mammals, sea otters do not have a layer of blubber to keep them warm; they rely on warm air trapped in their fur. Sea otters have the densest fur of any mammal, with about 100,000 hairs in a space about the size of a postage stamp!
• Most otter species capture prey with their mouths, but Asian small-clawed otters and sea otters have flexible fingers and grab with their hands.
• North American and European river otters have been known to share dens with beavers—but the beavers do all the building!

Mammals: Otter
Range: Africa, Asia, and parts of North America, Central America, and South America
Habitat: sea otters are found in the Pacific Ocean and along the coastline, but most otter species live in rivers, lakes, and marshes

Champion swimmers
Otters are the only serious swimmers in the weasel family. They spend most of their lives in the water, and they are made for it! Their sleek, streamlined bodies are perfect for diving and swimming. Otters also have long, slightly flattened tails that move sideways to propel them through the water while their back feet act like rudders to steer.

Almost all otters have webbed feet, some more webbed than others, and they can close off their ears and noses as they swim underwater. They can stay submerged for about five minutes, because their heart rate slows and they use less oxygen. They’re also good at floating on the water’s surface, because air trapped in their fur makes them more buoyant. Have you ever noticed that when an otter comes out of the water, its outer fur sticks together in wet spikes, while the underneath still seems dry? That’s because they have two layers of fur: a dense undercoat that traps air; and a topcoat of long, waterproof guard hairs. Keeping their fur in good condition is important, so otters spend a lot of time grooming. In fact, if their fur becomes matted with something like oil, it can damage their ability to hunt for food and stay warm.

Party animals
Otters are very energetic and playful. You might say they love to party! They are intelligent and curious, and they are usually busy hunting, investigating, or playing with something. They like to throw and bounce things, wrestle, twirl, and chase their tails. They also play games of "tag" and chase each other, both in the water and on the ground. River otters seem to like sliding down mud banks or in the snow—they’ll do it over and over again! Otters also make lots of different sounds, from whistles, growls, and screams to barks, chirps, and coos. All this activity is part of the otters’ courtship, social bonding, and communication, and since otter pups need practice, they tend to be even more playful than the adults.

Life as a pup
Most otters are born in a den, helpless and with their eyes closed. The mother takes care of them, often chasing the father away after their birth, although in some species the dad may come back after a couple of weeks to help raise them. The babies, called pups, open their eyes and start exploring the den at about one month, start swimming at two months, and stay with their mother and siblings until they are about one year old, when they head off on their own.

For sea otters in their ocean habitat it’s a little different—the pups are born with their eyes open, and they have a special coat of hair so they can float, even though they can’t swim yet. They are carried on their mother’s stomach until they are about two months old, when they start swimming and diving on their own.

For most otters, social groups are made up of a mother, her older offspring, and her newest pups; the males spend most of their time alone or with a few other males. During breeding time or where there’s lots of food, though, larger groups of otters may gather, especially among sea otters in kelp beds.

The seafood diet
Otter food may not all come from the ocean, but it is definitely fishy! River otters eat mostly fish, frogs, crayfish, crabs, and mollusks, with an occasional small mammal or bird. Sea otters eat many of the same things, but mostly sea urchins, abalone, crabs, mussels, and clams, which they crack open against rocks they hold on their stomachs. Otters have long, sensitive whiskers that help them find prey, even in murky water. Some species, like the Asian small-clawed otter Amblonyx cinereus, also use their hands to probe into mud or under rocks to find a tasty meal that might be hiding there. River otters use lots of energy and digest their food very fast, so they eat several times a day. Sea otters need to eat 20 to 25 percent of their body weight each day. That’s a lot of abalone!
The otters at the San Diego Zoo are fed carnivore diet, carrots, and either squid or trout. They also get small amounts of "treats" for enrichment, like crayfish, worms, potatoes, or yams.

I thought this highlight from the article was fascinating:

“Laughter serves as an emotional contagion,” said biologist Jared Taglialatela at Clayton Sate University. “It serves as a way of getting everyone on the same page. Secondly, it serves as a way for individuals to inform their social partners about their intentions, as well as provide information and feedback about their own emotional state.”

In other words, the laughter continuously tells an animal’s playmates that he is happy and merely fooling around, with no intention of picking a fight. This type of play builds social bonds in many mammals, including other primates and mammals like dogs and rats, which are also thought to emit sounds while being tickled.

Unlike other apes, humans can laugh without any contact or threat of contact, as their “play” is often cognitive or linguistic. 

>> ^daphne:
I wonder...why do we judge a person's life as a compasison to our own? Yes, he is autistic...but why feel sorry for him? I think he has done more in his life than most people ever will...and has seen more beautiful things than all of us put together.
I envy him.


Right, but the problem with some forms of autism is the lack of the ability to socialize "normally". The feelings of isolation or the lack of interest in forming social bonds makes it so they either feel alone, or don't care for human contact. In that, they are trapped in their own mind unable or unwilling to share life with others. A gift and a curse I would say. Like all things it has some good and some bad; with the good and bad being on the far end of both sides of the spectrum.

The same would go for someone dying of cancer. At least they know the how and more likely the when they will die. Why pity them? Well it is for the same reasons, we weight the negative of dying soon more heavily than the safety of knowing the what and when. More over, they will experience pain that most of us will not. The comparison is not perfect as they (an autistic) won't experience any physical pain per say. And it is by no means a sickness like cancer either, it is just a social disorder brought about by a chemical or biological impairment of certain parts of the brain. In certain cases the impairment introduces new abilities, but it still makes doing other tasks that you and I take for granted impossible.

He is worthy of both pity and envy in other words.