Articles written by Patrick Julius

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About me - Patrick Julius

I am a sophomore undergraduate at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. I am of undecided major, but currently considering cognitive science, medical ethics, and secondary education.

I am the author of two books, one self-published and the other currently seeking

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Religion & Spirituality > Spiritual Insights How can we change our destiny?: 7 of 85
That depends what you mean by "change." If we take the word to mean what it usually means, converting something from one pre-existing state to another, distinct state, this is plainly impossible. The future doesn't *have* a pre-existing state, (by definition!) so there's nothing to change.But if we ask a slightly different qu... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Atheism & Agnosticism Atheism as a religion: 3 of 34
Atheism is a religion in the same sense that bald is a hair color: it's what takes up the space when the real thing is gone, but it's clearly a different sort of animal.If you asked me, "what religion are you?" I would indeed answer "atheist" (or maybe "secular humanist atheist"); but so would a bald person answer "I'm bald" ... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Religion & Spirituality (Other) Should the Bible continue to be used for swearing-in ceremonies and in courtrooms?: 23 of 254
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."That's the First Amendment of the Constitution of the... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Religion & Spirituality (Other) Lack of religion in schools and how it has affected children: 3 of 30
The removal of religion from schools is one of the best things that ever happened in the history of education.For the first time, children were exposed to objective, empirical truth, untainted by parochial influences or ancient dogmas.For the first time, children of different religious beliefs could meet and interact in a saf... More..
Arts & Humanities > Schools of Thought Review of the Ontological argument for the existence of God: 1 of 10
Anselm's version of the ontological argument has been perfectly well refuted to the satisfaction of nearly every philosopher alive today. Change the argument to "the being than which nothing more unicorny can be conceived" to prove the Invisible Pink Unicorn's existence, and it will be obvious to you that the argument is fall... More..
Arts & Humanities > Marketing & Selling Writing Should you sign with a legitimate book publisher or self-publish?: 3 of 24
Commercial publishing is preferable to self-publishing for a variety of reasons. There are some occasions where self-publishing is a good option, but in most cases, commercial publishing is better.First, commercial publishing is selective; while it is not true that every book commercially published is a great work of literatu... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Political Issues Assessing the limits of democracy: 3 of 24
There is some truth to the old adage, "Democracy is the worst form of government-except for all the others." Certainly democracy has a wide variety of flaws, and if you think even the concept of rational voting itself is perfect, you should read some of the voting paradoxes of Condorcet and Sen.What democracy allows, however,... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Atheism & Agnosticism Atheists versus Agnostics: 2 of 15
I am an agnostic atheist. (Actually, I am an agnostic secular humanist mentalist care-ethicist evidentialist atheist, but that level of specificity is helpful only to the philosopher.)Yes, that's right; I am agnostic, and I am atheist; indeed, I would contend that 90% of atheists and 90% of agnostics on the face of this plane... More..
Pets & Animals > Animal Rights & Issues Have 'Animal Rights' gone too far?: 17 of 73
Animal rights remind me very strongly of two movements in history that we now look back upon as great achievements: abolition of slavery and women's suffrage. (A third movement would be gay rights, but it is nowhere near as close to success.)Why do I say this? The analogy is just too strong to ignore:1. All three involve the ... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Atheism & Agnosticism Questioning whether the concept of God can be disproved: 13 of 54
Can unicorns be disproved? Bigfoot? The Loch Ness monster? Celestial teapots? Anti-gravity? ESP? Extraterrestrial abductions?No, they can't. Empirical existence claims are impossible to disprove by definition. They aren't even in the same category of absolute *proof* of logical and mathematical truths. Anything that is logica... More..