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Overloading God’s  Servers,
The Computer Kind
from UTNE READER --
On Sunday,  November 8, atheists will launch a coordinated prayer attack against God. Nonbelievers around the world will hurl a bevy of meaningless prayers at God, coordinated by Facebook, in an effort to inundate God’s prayer receptors and force them offline. The offensive is based on the DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks that have been staged against Iran, Georgia, and the Global Atheist Convention website.

In true nonbeliever fashion, atheist blogger PZ Myers responded, “I won't be able to join in, because whatever I have planned for that time, whatever it may be, will be far more interesting and productive than babbling to an invisible man.” A commenter on the Facebook page gave his RSVP as, “I'm probably gonna forget, but if I don't, sure.”

If any prayers go unanswered on November 8, this coordinated attack could be the reason why.
 

What Happens in the Sweat Lodges,
Stays in the Sweat Lodges
From UTNE READER --
What does the Native American community have to say about the deaths of three spiritual seekers at a sweat-lodge ceremony in Arizona? That’s a ridiculous question to ask, of course: There is no central “Indian community,” nor is there a great chief who speaks for everyone with indigenous blood. With that in mind, we hit the web to survey reactions to the tragedy from various voices across the native world. Here are some of them: Lakota spiritual leader Chief Arvol Looking Horse in News from Indian Country: My prayers go out for [the victims’] families and loved ones for their loss. . . . I would like to clarify that this lodge and many others, are not our ceremonial way of life, because of the way they are being conducted. . . . We deal with the pure sincere energy to create healing that comes from everyone in that circle of ceremony. The heart and mind must be connected. When you involve money, it changes the energy of healing.  Tim Giago in Native American Times: I am not going to dance around the consequences of [lodge organizer] James Arthur Ray’s stupidity because he was blatantly using a religious ceremony of the Native Americans to enrich himself, and what is worse, he didn’t know any of the sacred rites that accompany the inipi nor did he know the Lakota language, an intricate part of the ceremony.

Many Lakota are concerned about the deaths attributable to a botched sweat lodge ceremony. They have a lot more than this to worry about.

Says an unnamed Lakota man, "I look around Indian Country and I see the devastation and degradation, the hopelessness, the alcoholism, the drug addiction, the lack of respect for the elders, the many suicides among the young, the criminal acts of the gangs that now roam our reservations . . . the domestic violence, the abuse of children and spouses, and the total renunciation of any spirituality, and I am deeply concerned.
 

Psychology, the Missing Link to
Climate Change

from London’s Guardian --
It is now widely accepted that tackling climate change will also require tackling behavior change. But until now, a key piece has been missing from the puzzle – psychology. The study of human behavior has been conspicuous by its absence from the climate change debate. The assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have provided the scientific evidence of human impact on the climate, and a glimpse of what the future may hold if we don't act fast.

But while the consensus may be growing on the need for changes in behavior, we're no closer to understanding how we're going to do it.  Psychological research shows that most people in the UK don't feel personally threatened by climate change because it’s vague, abstract and difficult to visualize. This means that doomsday scenarios and apocalyptic language are unlikely to work – although fear can motivate behavior change, it only works when people feel personally vulnerable. Clearly, exaggerating the threat of climate change is not an option Why are habits so difficult to change? Do people make decisions based on rational criteria, or impulse and intuition? Why do people tend to unnecessarily fear some risks, yet inadvisably discount others? These are all questions that will become increasingly pertinent as the transition to a low-carbon future progresses.

Fortunately, climate change is starting to be acknowledged by social scientists. Earlier this year, the American Psychological Association published an extensive review of psychology's contribution to tackling climate change.

An American study played people recordings of actors delivering speeches about climate change. The version that people responded to the best talked about "air pollution" rather than "climate change" – because pollution is something visible that they could relate to, with strong connotations of dirtiness and poor health. Climate change is about much more than just dirty air, but finding ways of making climate change more visible is critical. People simply don't worry about things they can't see (or even imagine).

If the thought of psychologically informed lifestyle change campaigns sounds a bit too Big Brother for your liking, then consider the alternative: millions of dollars spent on technology that is never taken up, and a market-based system of economic coercion that penalizes the poor while the rich keep polluting. Without an understanding of what drives people's environmental behavior, the dream of a low-carbon society will remain forever out of reach.

Blind Boy Sees with His Ears

from ABC News --
Born without sight, 7-year-old Lucas Murray used to be so afraid of walking he wouldn't take a step without his parents by his side. "He would walk, but he would hold our hands. Always," said his mother, Sarah Murray of Dorset, England. "When he was younger, he wouldn't even walk on a bumpy surface."

But now Lucas has become more mobile than his parents ever imagined, running with friends, playing basketball and jumping on a trampoline -- all on his own.

The incredible change, his mother said, is owed to a technique called echolocation, similar to the method used by dolphins and bats that allows Lucas to paint a picture of his surroundings using sound he creates himself.

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