Sam Harris: Por qué debemos abandonar la religión

Sam Harris

Para que el mundo pueda abordar los problemas realmente importantes, la gente debe dejar de mirar la religión como una brújula moral con la que orientarse, dijo el filósofo Sam Harris a la CNN.

"Deberíamos estar hablando de los problemas reales, como la proliferación nuclear, el genocidio, la pobreza y la crisis de la educación." comentó Harris en una reciente entrevista en la TED Conference en Long Beach, California. TED es un grupo sin ánimo de lucro dedicado a "difundir el valor de las ideas".

Sam Harris - The End of Faith

Sam Harris

The End of Faith

This important and timely book delivers a startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in the modern world.  The End of Faith provides a harrowing glimpse of mankind’s willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when these beliefs inspire the worst of human atrocities. Harris argues that in the presence of weapons of mass destruction, we can no longer expect to survive our religious differences indefinitely. Most controversially, he maintains that “moderation” in religion poses considerable dangers of its own: as the accommodation we have made to religious faith in our society now blinds us to the role that faith plays in perpetuating human conflict.  While warning against the encroachment of organized religion into world politics, Harris draws on insights from neuroscience, philosophy, and Eastern mysticism in an attempt to provide a truly modern foundation for our ethics and our search for spiritual experience.

The End of Faith is (or will be) available in the following editions:

U.S. — W.W. Norton
U.S. AUDIO – Blackstone Audio
U.K. —Free Press
ITALY — Nuovi Mondi Media
HOLLAND — Arbeiderspers
DENMARK — Akademisk Forlag
GERMAN Edition Spuren
GREECE— Enalios
SPAIN— Editorial Paradgima
FINLAND — Terra Cognita Oy
PORTUGAL —Tint-Da-China
KOREA — Haneon
ISRAEL —Ivrit
BRAZIL —Companhia Das Letras
CROATIA —evolutio evolutionis d.o.o

Some of the arguments presented in The End of Faith have inspired controversy. Harris offers further comments here:

Response to Controversy

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New York Times Best Seller

Winner of the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction

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Reviews of The End of Faith:

• The End of Faith by Sam Harris is a genuinely frightening book about terrorism, and the central role played by religion in justifying and rewarding it. Others blame “extremists” who “distort” the “true” message of religion. Harris goes to the root of the problem: religion itself. Even moderate religion is a menace, because it leads us to respect and “cherish the idea that certain fantastic propositions can be believed without evidence”. Why do men like Bin Laden commit their hideous cruelties? The answer is that they “actually believe what they say they believe”. Read Sam Harris and wake up.
  — Richard Dawkins, The Guardian
• ”The End of Faith articulates the dangers and absurdities of organized religion so fiercely and so fearlessly that I felt relieved as I read it, vindicated, almost personally understood… Harris writes what a sizable number of us think, but few are willing to say in contemporary America… This is an important book, on a topic that, for all its inherent difficulty and divisiveness, should not be shielded from the crucible of human reason.”
  — Natalie Angier, The New York Times Book Review (read the full review)
• “Do we need another book on the conflict between reason and faith?
  Yes, if it is as well-written as Sam Harris’s The End of Faith.”
  — New Scientist
• “Sam Harris launches a sustained nuclear assault… A bold and exhilarating thesis… The End of Faith is a brave, pugilistic attempt to demolish the walls that currently insulate religious people from criticism… The End of Faith is badly needed…”
  — The Independent (U.K.) (read the full review)
• “This book will strike a chord with anyone who has ever pondered the irrationality of religious faith… Even Mr. Harris’s critics will have to concede the force of an analysis which roams so far and wide, from the persecution of the Cathars to the composition of George Bush’s cabinet.”
  — The Economist (read the full review)
•  ”[Harris] writes with such verve and frequent insight that even skeptical readers will find it hard to put down.”
  — The San Francisco Chronicle (read the full review)
• “A radical attack on the most sacred of liberal precepts—the notion of tolerance… [The End of Faith] is an eminently sensible rallying cry for a more ruthless secularisation of society.”
  — The Observer (U.K.) (read the full review)

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Excerpts from The End of Faith:

Table Of Contents

The First Ten Pages

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Early Praise for The End of Faith:

“Harris’ tour de force demonstrates how faith—blind, deaf, dumb, and unreasoned—threatens our very existence. His exposé of faith-based unreason—from the religious fanaticism of Islamic suicide bombers to the secular fanaticism of Noam Chomsky—is a clarion call for reasoned debate in this age of terrorism. THE END OF FAITH shows how the perfect tyranny of religious and secular totalitarianism demonizes imperfect democracies such as the United States and Israel. A must read for all rational people.

—Alan Dershowitz, professor of law at Harvard and author of America on Trial.

“Here is a ringing challenge to all Americans who recognize the danger to American democracy posed by the political alliance of right wing religion and politics and the failure of the tepid and tentative responses by liberal persons of faith. While one might dispute some of the claims and arguments presented by the author, the need for a wake up call to religious liberals is right on the mark.”

—Joseph C. Hough, Jr., President of Union Theological Seminary, New York

“At last we have a book that focuses on the common thread that links Islamic terrorism with the irrationality of all religious faith.  THE END OF FAITH will challenge not only Muslims but Hindus, Jews and Christians as well.”

— Peter Singer, professor of philosophy at Princeton and author of The President of Good and Evil: The Ethics of George W. Bush.

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Additional Reviews

— The Los Angeles Times (read the full review)

— The Chicago Tribune (read the full review)

— The Globe and Mail (read the full review)

— The New York Sun (read the full review)

Sam Harris: La ciencia puede responder a cuestiones morales

Sam Harris

Comúnmente se piensa que las cuestiones relativas al bien y el mal, lo que es correcto y lo que no lo es, no deben ser respondidas por la ciencia.

Pero Sam Harris argumenta que la ciencia puede, y debe, ser una autoridad en asuntos morales, en determinar cuáles son los valores humanos y establecer qué es lo que constituye una buena forma de vivir.

Relajación - Agua de vida

La música puede ser una potencia que facilite la regeneración. Desde el punto de vista de la cultura, ciertas músicas invitan al descanso. La vitalidad de la primavera presenta melodías flexibles, ritmos regulares y armonías perfectas que invitan al descanso.

Sonidos de pájaros: Verderón leonado y canario de matorral.

Adiós Nonino - Astor Piazzola

Estos últmos días he mantenido varias conversaciones acerca de esta música con Jose (si, sin acento), viejo amigo desde hace más de 30 años y dueño del mejor y más antiguo local de Jazz de Pontevedra, La Cabaña, solo dos años más joven que nuestra amistad y a cuyo parto ayudé (el del pub, se entiende), creando un mural fotográfico pintado a mano (4m x 1,2m).

Después de unos años sin vernos, me acerqué una noche cuando ya cerraban y nos quedamos hasta altas horas, digamos de día, hablando de antiguos recuerdos pero sobre todo de música. Me contaba emocionado la historia del origen de esta música, obra maestra de Astor Piazzola, al que ambos admiramos, y no he podido evitar buscar información sobre ella. Aquí, y para quien le guste, os dejo una versión en directo en el Festival Internacional de Jazz de Montreal y un resumen de su triste historia.

At last! Flash is searchable by Google!

SWF searchability FAQ

Adobe is teaming up with search industry leaders to dramatically improve search results of dynamic web content and rich Internet applications (RIAs). Adobe is providing optimized Adobe Flash Player technology to Google and Yahoo! to enhance search engine indexing of the Flash file format (SWF) and uncover information that is currently undiscoverable by search engines. This will provide more relevant automatic search rankings of the millions of RIAs and other dynamic content that run in Adobe Flash Player. Moving forward, RIA developers and rich web content producers won't need to amend existing and future content to make it searchable—they can now be confident that it can be found by users around the globe.

Why is this news important?

Adobe is working with Google and Yahoo! to enable one of the largest fundamental improvements in web search results by making the Flash file format (SWF) a first-class citizen in searchable web content. This will increase the accuracy of web search results by enabling top search engines to understand what's inside of RIAs and other rich web content created with Adobe Flash technology and add that relevance back to the HTML page. Improved search of SWF content will provide immediate benefits to companies leveraging Adobe Flash software. Without additional changes to content, developers can continue to provide experiences that are possible only with Adobe Flash technology without the trade-off of a loss in search indexing. It will also positively affect the Search Engine Optimization community, which will develop best practices for building content and RIAs utilizing Adobe Flash technologies, and enhance the ability to find and monetize SWF content.

Why is Adobe doing this?

The openly published SWF specification describes the file format used to deliver rich applications and interactive content via Adobe Flash Player, which is installed on more than 98 percent of Internet-connected computers. Although search engines already index static text and links within SWF files, RIAs and dynamic web content have been generally difficult to fully expose to search engines because of their changing states—a problem also inherent in other RIA technologies. Until now it has been extremely challenging to search the millions of RIAs and dynamic content on the web, so we are leading the charge in improving search of content that runs in Adobe Flash Player. We are initially working with Google and Yahoo! to significantly improve search of this rich content on the web, and we intend to broaden the availability of this capability to benefit all content publishers, developers, and end users.

Which versions of the SWF file format will benefit from this improved indexing and searching?

This solution works with all existing SWF content, across all versions of the SWF file format.

What do content owners and developers need to do to their SWF content to benefit from improved search results?

Content owners and developers do not have to do anything to the millions of deployed SWF files to make them more searchable. Existing SWF content is now searchable using Google search, and in the future Yahoo! Search, dramatically improving the relevance of RIAs and rich media experiences that run in Adobe Flash Player. As with HTML content, best practices will emerge over time for creating SWF content that is more optimized for search engine rankings.

What technology has Adobe contributed to this effort?

Adobe has provided Flash Player technology to Google and Yahoo! that allows their search spiders to navigate through a live SWF application as if they were virtual users. The Flash Player technology, optimized for search spiders, runs a SWF file similarly to how the file would run in Adobe Flash Player in the browser, yet it returns all of the text and links that occur at any state of the application back to the search spider, which then appears in search results to the end user.

How are Google and Yahoo! using the Adobe Flash technology?

Google is using the Adobe Flash Player technology now and Yahoo! also expects to deliver improved web search capabilities for SWF applications in a future update to Yahoo! Search. Google uses the Adobe Flash Player technology to run SWF content for their search engines to crawl and provide the logic that chooses how to walk through a SWF. All of the extracted information is indexed for relevance according to Google and Yahoo!'s algorithms. The end result is SWF content adding to the searchable information of the web page that hosts the SWF content, thus giving users more information from the web to search through.

When will the improved SWF searching solutions go live?

Google has already begun to roll out Adobe Flash Player technology incorporated into its search engine. With Adobe's help, Google can now better read the SWF content on sites, which will help users find more relevant information when conducting searches. As a result, millions of pre-existing RIAs and dynamic web experiences that utilize Adobe Flash technology, including content that loads at runtime, are immediately searchable without the need for companies and developers to alter it. Yahoo! is committed to supporting webmaster needs with plans to support searchable SWF and is working with Adobe to determine the best possible implementation.

How will this announcement benefit the average user/consumers?

Consumers will use industry leading search engines, Google now and Yahoo! Search in the future, exactly as they do today. Indexed SWF files will add more data to what the search engine knows about the page in which it's embedded, which will open up more relevant content to users, and could cause pages to appear at a higher ranking level in applicable search results. As a result, millions of pre-existing rich media experiences created with Adobe Flash technology will be immediately searchable without the need for companies and developers to alter content.

When will the new results register on Google?

Google is using the optimized Adobe Flash Player technology now, so users will immediately see improved search results. As Google spiders index more SWF content, search results will continue to get better.

How will this announcement benefit SWF content producers?

Organizations can now dramatically improve the rich web experiences they deliver to customers and partners by increasing the use of Adobe Flash technology, which is no longer impeding the ability for users to find those experiences in highly relevant search results. RIA creators and other web content producers can now be confident that their rich media and RIA experiences leveraging Adobe Flash technology are fully searchable by users around the globe who use the dominant search engines. Furthermore, the ability to index information extracted throughout the various states of dynamic SWF applications reduces the need to produce an HTML or XHTML backup for the RIA site as a workaround for prior search limitations.

Does this affect the searchability of video that runs in Adobe Flash Player?

This initial rollout is to improve the search of dynamic text and links in rich content created with Adobe Flash technology. A SWF that has both video and text may be more easily found by improved SWF search.

Will Adobe Flex applications now be more easily found by Google search, including those that access remote data?

Yes, any type of SWF content including Adobe Flex applications and SWF created by Adobe Flash authoring will benefit from improved indexing and search results. The improved SWF search also includes the capability to load and access remote data like XML calls and loaded SWFs.

Does Adobe recommend a specific process for deep-linking into a SWF RIA?

Deep-linking, in the case of SWF content and RIAs, is when there is a direct link to a specific state of the application or rich content. A variety of solutions exist today that can be used for deep-linking SWF content and RIAs. It's important that sites make use of deep links so that links coming into a site will drive relevance to the specific parts of an application. To generate URLs at runtime that reflect the specific state of SWF content or RIA, developers can use Adobe Flex components that will update the location bar of a browser window with the information that is needed to reconstruct the state of the application. For complex sites that have a finite number of entry points, you can highlight the specific URLs to a search spider using techniques such as site map XML files. Even for sites that use a single SWF, you can create multiple HTML files that provide different variables to the SWF and start your application at the correct subsection. By creating multiple entry points, you can get the benefits of a site that is indexed as a suite of pages but still only need to manage one copy of your application. For more information on deep-linking best practices, visit www.sitemaps.org/faq.php.

Is Adobe planning on providing this capability to other search vendors too?

Adobe wants to help make all SWF content more easily searchable. As we roll out the solution with Google and Yahoo!, we are also exploring ways to make the technology more broadly available.

Where to go from here

For for more information from Google on SWF search, read Improved Flash indexing on the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog.

About the author

This content was authored by Adobe Systems, Inc.

Stand By Me | Playing For Change | Song Around the World

From the award-winning documentary, "Playing For Change: Peace Through Music", comes the first of many "Songs around the world" being released independently. Featured is a cover of the B. E. King   "Stand by me" classic by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it travelled the globe.



Playing for Change is a multimedia music project created by producer and sound engineer Mark Johnson with his Timeless Media Group, that seeks to bring together musicians from around the world.

Playing For Change also created a separate non-profit organization called the Playing For Change Foundation which builds music schools for children around the world.

Origin

The project started in 2004 with the organization's self described goal to "inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music". The creators of the project, Mark Johnson and Enzo Buono, traveled around the world to places such as New Orleans, Barcelona, South Africa, India, Nepal, the Middle East and Ireland, and, using a mobile recording studio, had local musicians perform the same song, interpreted into their own style. The project's first single "Stand by Me", began with a Santa Monica street performer named Roger Ridley (now deceased). They then traveled around the world and had more musicians add their versions, which were mixed together for the final version.^[1] Among the artists participating, or openly involved in the project, include Vusi Mahlasela, Louis Mhlanga, Clarence Bekker, Tal Ben Ari (Tula), Bono, Keb' Mo', Grandpa Elliott.

Success

The project's "Stand by Me" video has been popular online, with over 18 million hits on YouTube.^[2]

References

1. ^ Ragogna, Mike. "HuffPost Reviews: Bob Dylan - Together Through Life / Playing For Change - Songs Around The World", Huffington Post, 27 April 2009.
2. ^ "Stand By Me" video on YouTube

External links

• Official website

Performers

"Stand by Me"

(Jerry Lieber / Mike Stoller / Ben E. King)

Roger Ridley: vocals, acoustic guitar

Clarence Bekker: vocals

Grandpa Elliott: vocals, harmonica

Vusi Mahlasela: vocals

Sinamuva: choir vocals

Bhekani Memela: choir arrangement

Washboard Chas: washboard

Twin Eagle Drum Group: drum

Junior Kissangwa Mbouta: drums

Django "Bambolino" Degen: congas

François Viguié: pandeiro

Cesar Pope: cavaquinho

Dimitri Dolgonov: cello

Roberto Luti: National guitar

Geraldo Osal "el Poeta": tres

Dionisio Lopez: electric bass

Pokei Klaas: upright bass

Reggie McBride: upright bass

Stefano Tomaselli: alto sax

Avantgarde Four on Devianart

Avantgarde four by ~remainsteadfast on deviantART

Himan Maleky - The best Hyperrealism Painter

Iranian painter Himan Maleky, is one of the greatestt hyperrealism representatives at present. He has been award winner with "William Bouguereau" award and received the "Chairmanás Choise" in II International Competition of Art Renewal Center.

Some consider him as the best hyperrealist painter of the world. It's very difficult to distinguish if his work is a photo or an oil on canvas.

Éric Demarsan - Thème de Gerbier

"Thème de Gerbier''

Composición de Éric Demarsan para la película ''L'Armée des Ombres'' de Jean-Pierre Melville.

El enlace en YouTube aquí.

La música de Brian Mann - Café du Soleil - Spirit

Café du Soleil es un proyecto único que es una muestra de la maestría compositora e interpretativa del pianista Brian Mann.

La clave que Brian ha escogido como "voz" principal en este proyecto es el acordeón.

La naturaleza expresiva de este instrumento hace que el que lo escucha lo sienta como algo contemporáneo unas veces y otras como si estuviera sentado en una terraza de un viejo café en Francia.

Ultimate Relaxation Music - Spirit

Positive Cillout. I usually listen to dream.

The Magical Word of Liu Qian

Debes verlo, es increible lo que hace este mago..

You must see it, it's incredible what he makes.

Teemujazz - N.E.S.A.R.A. (solo piano)

This song was played in once take and it's purely improvised. The notes came from spirit world and the pianist just channeled it during his playing. Absolutely inspiting.

Esta canción fue interpretada de una tirada y totalmente improvisada. Las notas son una expresión de su mundo interior y el pianista las subió en directo durante su interpretación. Absolutamente inspiradora.

Fly Me To The Moon - Sarah Vaughan

Other interesting version of this classic.

Missing you - Karel Boehlee Trio

He imagined this music in a dream

Blue Prelude - Karel Boehlee

Twitt on myFace - Twillionth by Stephen Fly

Perhaps I will not be here in 2034 to chech it but it is a good prediction.

Riverside Piano Piece by Piero Nigro

Riverside Piano Piece by Piero Nigro from Pete Black on Vimeo.

A little piece i wrote a couple days ago...

I got that latin vibe as i was listening to it for a couple of days.

As often I got multiple ideas when I sit on my piano and when it was ready in my head I needed a couple of hours to perform it how I imagined it and saved it piece by piece on my computer.

The hard thing was to get from one music figure to the other without stopping and thinking: "Oh!, what comes now?"

Subscibe if you like here

In a sentimental mood - Michel Petrucciani Trio

Con Gary Peacock al bajo y Roy Haynes a la batería en Japón en 1988.

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With Gary Peacock on bass and Roy Haynes on drums in Japan 1988.

Herbie Hancock - Future Shock

Herbie Hancock - Future Shock From the album of the same name. 1983/Columbia

Michel Petrucciani - So what - live!

Concierto en vivo de Petrucciani en Sttugart el 8 de febrero de 1988 con Anthony Jackson al bajo y Steve Gadd a la batería: para Petrucciani, éste era el mejor trío de piano del mundo.

Michel Petrucciani, un genio moderno del piano, murió en Enero de 1999 en Manhatan, su hogar espiritual, aparte de sus viajes a Italia y Francia como su tierra natal. Su carrera fue tremendamente exitosa, recibiendo un millar de premios como el de Caballero de la Legión de Honor en Paris. Pero a pesar de este éxito murió debido a un problema de pulmón que había sufrido por una osteitis fibrosa de nacimiento.

Michel demostró que se puede mover el mundo aún midiendo solo un metro.

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Petrucciani's live concert in Stuttgart on February 8th, 1998 with Anthony Jackson on bass and Steve Gadd on drums: for Petrucciani, it was the best piano trio in the world.

Michel Petrucciani, a modern piano genius, died in January 1999 in Manhatten, his spiritual home, despite italian routes and France his homeland. His career was extremely successful, soaking up a myriad of awards such as a knighthood in the Legion of Honor in Paris. And yet in spite of this success he died due to a lung problem having suffered glass bone disease throughout his life.

Michel proved that you can move the world even at 3 feet tall.

Rachelle Ferrell - I can explain (live)

Un poco más...

A little more...

Rachelle Ferrell Autumn Leaves 1989

No puedo categorizar a esta mujer en su arte, apareció en mi vida ayer por la noche en una jam privada y ya nada es igual.

I cannot categorise this woman or her craft - she came into my life unexpectedly yesterday at night into a private jam and I never looked back.

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