On Atheism and Agnosticism

Just read an interesting article by a favorite webcomic author of mine. In it, he deplores the false dichotomies of Gnosticism/Agnosticism and Theism/Atheism, the former concerning the "knowability" of the existence of a god, and the latter concerning whether god exists.
As Zack posits, the former question must be resolved before one can even move to the latter, and "If you believe knowledge of the “God question” is impossible, it doesn’t make sense to either join a church or an atheist society."
Just to point out - game theory has been used philosophically in the past to argue that even in the case of uncertainty, belief in god is a good bet to take.

Explaining the Wireless to the Unwired

I had a very productive day without twitter I took a stand against SOPA and made my voice heard. What I didn't expect (and was enheartened to see) were people whom I emailed who weren't connectedto the tech interests of the day.
My own mother (god bless her) took the time to actually research and respond to my email, and engaged me in a dialogue about SOPA/PIPA and copyright. A fun time was had by all.
Except my wife - writing a 2,000 word detailed response takes a LONG time.
Below is a slightly edited transcript of the conversation - only certain personal responses have been omitted. If anyone sees any factual inaccuracies or logical fallacies, please don't hesitate to contact or correct me - it's the only way I'll ever learn! :-D

On the Primacy of Culture

I tweeted a thank you to the writer of a Techdirt article the other day by the founder of the Swedish Pirate Party, and Rick Falkvinge was kind enough to respond and offer his encouragement.

Today I expound upon my first post - that culture is the natural right of man. In fact, much of this may be seen as related to the recent "creation myth" put forth by the newest recognized religion in Sweden - that sharing and copying are the foundations of life itself and, as I tweeted: "Remixing: it's in our genes."

Culture is the Natural Right of Man

It is a universally acknowledged principal that the fundamental characteristic of humanity is the ability to create and share knowledge, artistic expression, and culture.
We have only lately begun to understand how information is conveyed among members of the animal world. While individuals, remarkable ones, have been discovered with the ability to engage in artistic expression through encouragement and training, direct transmission of art, culture, and wisdom has so far remained absent despite all our observations of our more feral brethren. Humanity can then be summed as the production and perfection of wisdom, art, and culture.
This Trinity is holier than all else - it is the reason for the survival of humanity as a species, the demonstration of our worth, and the vehicle of our evolution. Without the sharing of knowledge, what value are the observations and musings of an Einstein? Absent common understanding, what use are prophecy and legend? With no soul to possess them, the Leonardo's and Picasso's revert to the dust of their pigments, and Shakespeare remains an echo in the cavern of an empty Globe. Without these, Life has no purpose, Liberty no meaning, and Happiness unattainable no matter the method of Pursuit. It is, therefore, imperative that we preserve our birthright to this sacred temple of the Mind and Soul and protect it's foundation.
The most beautiful and remarkable fact in the nature of these Fathers of our inalienable rights is the freedom they inherently possess. Though the body lies bound, a soul cannot be repressed, a thought remains unshackled, and an idea, immortal. The expressions of the soul and the wisdom of the mind are without bound or limit, and their greatest value only apparent when they are shared. I am never a poorer man for my neighbor feeling the world more deeply about himself. On the contrary, it is only by nourishing the root of our collective humanity that Mankind flourishes. As culture, art, and knowledge are elementally open to all who seek them, we claim these as the Natural Right of Man.