http://www.monkeytale.com A web monkeys exploration into random ideas. Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:18:09 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 87.5% of statistics are made up on the spot is a silly little joke that probably isn't too far off the truth. All the time I hear statistics quoted in favour of certain arguments, but if you look closely there is always some bending of the facts. I have listed ... http://www.monkeytale.com/2009/12/30/5-misleading-statistics/ I've been reading The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins. Phew it's a big book! I'm near the end of the 600 or so pages and will write up a review soon. What I can say now is that it's a mighty big journey from the present back to the dawn ... http://www.monkeytale.com/2009/02/26/the-ancestors-tale/ I have always been a fan of Richard Dawkins, we share a lot of common beliefs which is ironic when you consider that Dakwins's book is all about getting rid of beliefs. That's not strictly true of course, the books aim is to help the reader realise that all beliefs ... http://www.monkeytale.com/2008/04/06/the-god-delusion-by-richard-dawkins-%e2%80%93-a-book-review/ Last year I saw a fantastic film called Idiocracy. The film illustrates in a most humorous way how things could be in several hundred years if stupid people started breeding at a phenomenal rate while smarter people just worked and worried throughout their lives. In this future, the smartest man ... http://www.monkeytale.com/2008/03/04/worldwide-dumbing-down-its-happening/ I think the theory of evolution is a great one, it is a very simple way of explaining how people, animals, plants and all of the living things came to exist in their many wonderful and wide ranging forms. Many scientists now take the theory of evolution as true, and ... http://www.monkeytale.com/2008/01/18/my-theory-for-how-matter-first-become-so/ This is one of those questions that has bothered me a bit for a while until I found the answer, now I am more bothered. Think about the question before I give you the answer. How do TV broadcasters report that say 10 million people watched a certain soap opera ... http://www.monkeytale.com/2008/01/13/how-are-television-ratings-collected-and-measured/ In my last post I talked briefly about religious tales and stories from the past. I was hesitant to write about such things as I know some people are easily offended when options are presented to them contradictory to their own religious or spiritual beliefs (Are they the same thing?) ... http://www.monkeytale.com/2008/01/10/why-do-feelings-limit-what-we-can-talk-about/ I was reading a fascinating book last night called The Know It All Book: 365 Steps to Being Very Clever Indeed. The book is as it sounds filled with various facts and interesting pieces of information. Being not a particularly religious web monkey, the book does contain rather too much ... http://www.monkeytale.com/2008/01/06/logical-explanations-for-mythical-tales-and-religious-metaphors/ Written By Simon Keat Bsc Phd There is an ever growing body of evidence that supports the idea the earth is warming at an increased rate as a result of mans activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels. In the next 50 years it is predicted that most parts of ... http://www.monkeytale.com/2007/10/07/damselflies-and-hoax-signs-of-global-warming/ Ok, this doesn't sound as interesting at first as it really is. Dictyostelium discoideum is not really a mould and is only sometimes slimy. In fact its a form of 'social amoeba'. What is really interesting about it is that normally these amoeba live alone, but when starved of food they ... http://www.monkeytale.com/2007/09/16/slime-mould-aggregation/