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Vexen Crabtree's Live Journal
Sociology, Theology, Anti-Religion and Exploration: Forcing Humanity Forwards
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I got 85% on my last piece of coursework (OU degree, Social Sciences), which I am well happy with because it's a good pass and I was severely disrupted during the period I was doing it.

I have got a busy few days work (following closely on from the last weeks' busy work!), (only had a few hours on Wed. off) but after that I have some good periods of off-time so I'll be around more. After that, my timetable looks to be quite regular and I'll get two or three days off a week until August when I go back to Germany.

Working this weekend, Sunday -> Monday, most of Tues, and then I think I may have until Sunday off. Woo hoo! This means I'll make Sluts meet, a nightclub, and will be hanging around Camden and the British Library.

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Current Location: Tower of London Guardroom, London, UK
Current Mood: okay

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I just got 80% on my first piece of coursework for my 2nd module (DD205), woo :-). And it was on a really boring subject that I'm not personally interested in (the USA/Mexico border).

I got two 80%-courseworks for my last module (DD100), and an average of 71%. (With the last half of the course being completed in Afghanistan, away from my library and mostly offline!).

So, what I learned from this first piece is: Leave it to the last minute, and then rush it!

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Current Location: Monchengladbach, Germany

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"What Causes Religion and Superstitions?" by Vexen Crabtree (2007)

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Current Location: Germany
Current Mood: happy
Listening To: "Aiges Mortes" by Ataraxia

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I've added quotes on The Great Prayer Experiment to my page "Prayer: Scientific Studies of Prayer". The results come after this nifty little quote from Prof. Richard Dawkins:

"Darwin's cousin Francis Galton was the first to analyse scientifically whether praying for people is efficacious. He noted that every Sunday, in churches throughout Britain, entire congregations prayed publicly for the health of the royal family. Shouldn't they, therefore, be unusually fit, compared with the rest of us, who are prayed for only by our nearest and dearest? Galton looked into it, and found no statistical difference. His intention may, in any case, have been satirical, as also when he prayed over randomized plots of land to see if the plants would grow any faster (they didn't)."

Anyway, the results of the 1800-patient scientific double-blind study, was: (the patients were divided into 3 groups):

  • Group 1: Received prayers, but were not told about them. This tests if prayers helped them recover more than normal patients. Their recovery was average.

  • Group 2: Received no prayers, and were not told so. This tested if there was something about the experiment that was affecting the results. Their recovery was also average.

  • Group 3: Received prayers and were told so. This tested the psychosomatic effects of knowing that one is being prayed for. This group "suffered significantly more complications".</p>
What amazing results! The rest of my page on Prayer is my normal blunt arsenal of stark truths!

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Current Location: Germany

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"Alcohol: The Social & Medical Effects and How to Combat Misuse" by Vexen Crabtree (2006)

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Listening To: "Instead of an Angle" by Project Pitchfork

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"Secularisation Theory: Will Modern Society Reject Religion?" by Vexen Crabtree (2006)

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Current Location: Mazaar-e-Sherif, Afghanistan
Current Mood: mellow
Listening To: "Can you Mend Hearts?" by Mesh

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Sociology and Psychology of Religion Just a links page:

Philosophy and Theology of Religion:

Sociology and Psychology of Religion:

My Bane of Monotheism website contains many dozens of critical essays and pages on religion, including content areas specific to specific world religions and debates over major themes in religion, such as the cause of evil and morals.

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Current Location: Afghanistan
Current Mood: tired
Listening To: "A Demonoid Virtue" by Limbonic Art

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My new web domain is a collection of pages and texts on society, sociology, subculture, human sexuality, epistemology (how do we know what's true?) and a little philosophy.

It replaces two previous subdomains.

Here are some *new* locations for two popular pages:

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* Added some statistics to my patronizing and snobby page about smoking (I have my tone of voice and glorified parent attitude on this page!

* Added quotes to "Multinatinal Corporations Verses Democracy" sourced from David Beetham's book

* Added a quote to my page on the role of voodoo in abolition of the slave trade, the second greatest factor after economics, from The Economist

* Added text and a chart of divorce rates from 1928, to my page on marriage

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Current Location: Germany
Current Mood: productive
Listening To: Depeche Mode

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The Importance of Current Events is Amplified By our Egos

"People use drama to report events of their own times, always making it appear more important than past events of similar or greater importance. The first century Jewish historian Josephus bemoaned this aspect of Human nature two thousands years ago, and our egos show no sign of letting us be more objective. I believe it is the common ego of the normal person that makes current events in the world around us seem more significant and cataclysmic than times gone before."

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Current Mood: okay
Listening To: "Decades" by Joy Division

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"Cultural Religion Versus Scholarly Religion" by Vexen Crabtree

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Current Mood: busy
Listening To: "With or Without You" by U2

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Which country sets the best examples?

Which ones set the best examples to the rest of the world? Which ones would we do best to copy, to emulate and to admire for their foresight, hard work and long-term conscience? Which countries would have humanity survive gleaming into clean, happy, bright future? Compiling relevant statistics and constructing rankings, I've arrived at a shortlist of five countries that beat all the others. Mainly, it is Sweden, Finland and Norway. Secondly, Switzerland and Australia. Be the best!
  • Acievement of Women's Right to Vote on an Equal Basis with Men
  • Life expectancy
  • Quality of Life
  • Most Competitive Economy
  • Gay Rights
  • Obesity
  • Asylum Seeker Acceptance Rates
Am going to add more (crime, environment, etc).

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Listening To: "Das Omen" by E Nomine

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Religion in the Modern World by Steve Bruce

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Listening To: "Fallen Angel" by Flesh Field

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I went to Catford, then went to Lewisham. Dropped off book, browsed sociology books but didn't find anything interesting.

Went to boots, bought camera film, razor blades (I blunted two or three yesterday) and suncream!

Jogged back from Lewisham to Lee train station, 1.4 miles in between 11 and 14 mins (I can't remember it was 13:03 or 13:06 I got there!).

So, between 7min48sec and 10min0sec per mile and I was carrying 7kg of stuff.

This is better than yesterday's 2mile run... obviously, the slower 2nd mile slowed down the average overall. OK, I need to scrap the "10 min mile" aim as clearly I'm already doing that. I'm applying for a job where the initial tests involve a mile jog that I have to do in 12 mines. No problem.

Other test is holding 14kg of stuff with outstretched arms, for 4 minues. I have an old military ammo box that is quite heavy, I'm going to weigh it then weigh up individual items and fill it until I've measured the total weighs 14kg. Where's Orinoco with his weights when you need him?

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Current Mood: energetic
Listening To: "Turns off pain" by Wumpscut