Author: patrick

On occasion, I’m asked how could I hold seemingly opposing viewpoints on similar subject matter. One such area is on the value of life, specifically human life. I support the death penalty but oppose abortion. Some people, let’s be honest… liberals, see no difference between taking an unborn baby’s life (‘a clump of cells’… their words…) and capital punishment. They think my support of capital punishment is contradictory to my opposition to abortion. Through their very narrow world view, and skewed sense of ‘morality’, they think they occupy the moral high-ground.

My response to their assertions are two-fold, 1) From an ethical point-of-view, the biggest difference between abortion and capital punishment can be answered with a simple question. ‘What crime did the unborn commit to warrant it’s destruction?’ And 2) it is my view that no living thing has an absolute right to exist, that includes human beings… nothing. As much as we humans would like to think highly of ourselves, we’re statistically insignificant.

‘How can you say that?’, they ask. Well, let’s think about this for a moment from differing perspectives. From the standpoint of being a conscious human, I realize that life only exists to perpetuate itself. It really serves no other purpose. That said, I do believe that once a human life has been conceived, those responsible for its conception have an obligation to care for that life.

We’re human, and humans are full of contradictions…

 

On my recent trip back ‘home’ to Huntsville, Alabama… I visited the Space and Rocket Center. I had lived in Huntsville previously for many years but never got around to actually paying a proper visit to the museum. I guess when something is so convenient, it’s easily put off until a later date. So, I took my son with me to see the museum. Amongst the many statues and tributes leading up to the space museum, was a small marker just outside the main entrance. Curiously enough, there were several bananas placed atop the marker. Upon closer inspection, this small marker bore the name of ‘Miss Baker’.

The younger generation may not know who Miss Baker was, but growing up in Huntsville, my generation was privileged to be front and center witnesses to the nation’s space race. Miss Baker was an icon of the ‘space race’ between the United States and the U.S.S.R. (the former Soviet Union, to you millennial crumb catchers). Miss Baker was one of two animals launched into space by the United States in 1959. The other was Miss Able, who expired 4 days after her flight, while having electrodes removed from her head.

Miss Baker survived her flight and went on to become the oldest living squirrel monkey, passing away due to kidney failure in 1984. She spent her last years living at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. The marker is her tombstone, and one can usually find a banana or so placed upon it in her memory. Rest well, Miss Baker.

Below are two pictures. The first is of the containment vessel used to house Miss Baker during her flight. The second, is of the Jupiter nosecone in which Able and Baker rode. The flight went to an altitude of 360 miles, and traveled a distance of 1,700 miles. The sign goes on to say the two monkeys withstood 38 times the normal pull of gravity during launch. 

 

Quantum biology is the study of how quantum physics interacts with biology. It has its origins dating back to the 1920’s, when the Danish physicist Niels Bohr, delivered his influential lecture on his theory of atomic structure.

The use of quantum biology can help scientists explain certain phenomena within the plant and animal kingdoms.

Migratory birds

Migratory birds use of the earth’s magnetic fields to navigate. Scientific studies have found, if you cover one eye of a bird, you can ‘turn off’ the magnetic compass to the opposite side of the bird’s brain. This is accomplished because their eyes are affected by the protons entering the eyes and activating chemical reactions.

Imagine energy molecules having peaks and valleys, and the bird’s chemical compass delicately balanced at the peaks, slight changes in the Earth’s magnetic field can push the molecule into one of the valleys. This is where quantum entanglement plays a part in the bird’s ability to navigate.

Quantum entanglement refers to the states of two or more particles being interdependent, regardless of the distance separating them. It’s one of many counterintuitive features of the subatomic landscape, in which particles such as electrons and photons behave as both particles and waves simultaneously, occupy multiple positions and states at once, and traverse apparently impermeable barriers.

When a photon enters the bird’s eye, it creates a pair of entangled electrons. Each of the electrons have two possible states. Let’s refer to these states as ‘red’ and ‘green’.  Like Schrödinger’s cat, until it is observed (measured), the electron is neither red nor green. The electron is both at the same time. If the entanglement is based upon the color of each electron being the same, the entangled electron will always be the same color as the first. The entanglement could also be that the second electron is always the opposite color of the first. Confusing, right? It is as if the first electron is dictating the outcome of the second. This is why Einstein called quantum physics ‘spooky’. This is ultimately the key to the bird’s ability to navigate. The direction of the Earth’s magnetic field can influence the outcome of the entangled electrons.

Near the equator, the combination of electrons may be the same color. The farther away from the equator, the colors may be more likely opposite from each other. The bird is able to detect the tiny variations in these color patterns to know where it is located in relation to its destination.

Sense of smell

Why do some things smell like something else? For instance, why does cyanide smell like bitter almonds? The prevailing theory (the lock and key mechanism), dating from the 1950’s, is that scent molecules fit certain receptors, thereby triggering a unique smell sensation. But the compound structures for almonds and cyanide are very different and obviously cannot fit into receptors correctly as the lock and key theory suggests, yet they both share a common smell. What’s going on?

Quantum biology proposes that scent molecules vibrate the bonds that hold chemical compounds together. The bonds of almonds and cyanide resonate at the same frequency. A study was conducted using fruit flies to determine the validity of this theory. In the study, the smell of orange blossoms was recreated with a different form of hydrogen atom (deuterium) that vibrated at a slower frequency than a regular hydrogen atom. If the vibrations are different, the smells should also be different. The fruit flies were trained to avoid the modified version of the orange blossom molecule. In a maze like test, the fruit flies had to choose either the true orange blossom molecule or the modified version. They always chose the true orange blossom molecule.

This is not to say that the lock and key theory is incorrect, but rather that it works in conjunction with the scent molecule vibration theory.

 

 

 

When we speak of ‘estates’, we’re referring to the societal structure of the Middle Ages. That structure was broken down into three distinctive groups… the clergy (1st), the nobility (2nd), and the peasantry (3rd). In the United States, we sometimes refer to the press as the ‘fourth estate’, alongside our version of the first, second, and third estates (executive, legislative, and judicial branches). The role of the press, as it pertains to our system of government, is to provide a ‘check’ on the other three estates. The fourth estate functions as a watchdog, so to speak, and plays a very important role in keeping an open society informed.

Since the 1960’s, another estate has existed that encompasses the ideas of the counter-culture movement. Where once this counter-culture movement had little voice outside their respective communities, the advent of social media has given this group access to a worldwide audience.

The fifth estate, which are filled with conspiracy theorists/social bloggers and similar fringe media outlet types, attempts to persuade others on social platforms by using half-truths and innuendo. Until the last twelve years or so, this has been only a minor problem.

The American public is used to mainstream media (the 4th estate) being politically biased in their coverage of the news. But now the American public is bombarded with biased news reporting and a plethora of conspiracy theories pushed by both the 4th and 5th estate. This has blurred the lines as to what is truly factual vs merely conjecture.

Many people rarely read beyond the headlines or listen to more than snippets of soundbites. Their views and opinions are shaped by purposely skewed information and their own confirmation biases. Ultimately, this has the negative effect in producing an uninformed and easily manipulated electorate.

 

 

Q: What is implicit bias? 

A: The term was coined in 1995 by psychologists M. Banaji and A. Greenwald. Simply stated, it is a social behavior, largely influenced by unconscious associations and judgements. 

Implicit biases can cross over several categories…not limited to, but including race, gender, and sexuality. One’s culture, religious upbringing… or lack thereof, and personal experiences, may also shape biases.

Below, is a video link which takes six individuals, and asks them to rank themselves and each other according to who they think are the most intelligent. They then give a brief explanation as to why they’ve come to their rankings. Afterwards, they are all given an IQ test to definitively place each, in the order of their results, from 1 (highest IQ) to 6 (lowest IQ).

I would like for you stop the video at 10:06. At this point, having heard each person’s educational level and why they’ve ranked each other the way they did, take a moment and rank each person too. As you’re doing so, think about why you believe each person’s ranking is justified in your mind.

Ok, so you’ve completed the video. How accurate were your assessments? Were you surprised? If you were way off on assessing a few of these people, why? Did the way they dressed, their educational level, etc., play a role in your first impressions? But most importantly, did you learn something by watching the video about implicit biases?