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The problem is that the drive isn't really to understand "why", it's to stop worrying about "what if?". Religion's explanation for "why" (which ultimately boils down to "God did it") has poor predictive ability, but it's good at easing worry.

What if the Catholic Church preaches that "God needs babies" for the next thousand years, but science shows that the planet can't support more humans? Then those who understand why will decrease in population, while those who ignore why will increase.

I doubt the last part of that. Understanding why can decrease survivability and reproduction, depending on other factors. But I agree that science and religion stem from the same biological and cultural drives to comprehend and predict. It's fun to look at the history of religion and science from an evolutionary perspective. You can find mutations that have helped and hindered each to survive in their environments.

Excellent info, Ed. One odd example is an Australian magazine show on The Science Channel that imports clips from Mythbusters to run as a weekly segment. The Science Channel imports the Australian show, so we get to see little bits of those wacky seppos (without the Mythbusters branding, I think) months after we've already seen the original.

The tribe that knows the story of a lovely lady who was bringing up three very lovely girls, the tale of a fateful trip that started from this tropic port aboard this tiny ship, and most importantly, the story 'bout a man named "Jed". The Tribe That Wants to be Where Everybody Knows Their Name.

I'm talking about the fire that tells stories to the tribe.

You know, a pitch man, a cheap jack, selling dingles on the videolamatrolamaton.

He's some huckster from the talking picture box.

They all seem to be regulation animal size to me.

OMG! What sort of example does this set for the ShamWow kids out there?

Please don't pile on lockmat. He's trying. Lockmat: I highly recommend "The Blind Watchmaker" by Richard Dawkins. He has a knack for explaining this stuff.

It actually applies to anything that replicates (or is replicated) with variation (i.e. the copies aren't perfect). It's pretty easy to create software that evolves, for instance. The first part of my nickname comes from Richard Dawkins' attempt to explain how evolution can be generalized to anything that has slightly imperfect copies. Lee Smolin and Leonard Susskind have put forth theories applying evolution to universe formation and string theory, respectively.

I mean I've never met an "evolutionist". It isn't a faith or a belief. It's a theory that's been tested and verified for 150 years. It's just part of current scientific knowledge.

I mean change. When a cell divides, each strand of DNA becomes two, and there are variations between the original and the copies. If you watch me fold a paper airplane and fold one yourself, there will be variations. First, there aren't really "evolutionists". Second, they believe whatever they believe. There is no dogma associated with evolution.

Evolution applies to any replicators that vary. That includes plants, animals, viruses, etc. If it replicates and varies, then it can evolve.

But evolution isn't an esoteric biological concept. It's the only well understood mechanism for increasing order and complexity in physics. It's fundamental to understanding just about everything in biology, and increasingly important for understanding human psychology. It made life the way it is. And when kids get to college it can be a problem if they bring a non-scientific stumbling block like creationism or intelligent design. It isn't. It's important that kids be taught science in science class. I'm in favor of exposing kids to various creation myths, but do that in a comparative religion class. Science class is for testable theories, and evolution is a great example of those.

I adore it. The "hero" is a funny, bitter, atheistic, fatalistic, know-it-all who never really gets his comeuppance. Just like me.

I don't think we're talking about lower Westheimer, at least not the part I consider "lower". From Montrose to Bagby is OK traffic-wise, but impossibly narrow when METRO buses are near. They just don't fit in the lanes, so even if you're narrow car there isn't really room to pass them. Montrose to Shepherd, on the other hand, has horrible traffic whenever the shops are open. Street parking narrows it to 2 lanes and cars turning left create lengthy delays. That's the stretch I avoid.

Death to all zealots!

Absolutely! It's like band camp that lasts for months and you have to sleep on a bus. And there are no flutes. There are a lot of American accents, and they are always changing. What you may be thinking of is the Mid-Atlantic accent that used to be popular in Hollywood. That came from the stage.

I became acutely aware of my accent when traveling with drum corps. I met kids from all over the US and a few from England and Canada. We were all fascinated by each others' accents. I learned that mine was more influenced by TV than where I grew up.

Yup. You can get the series from Netflix. Very funny. And Laurie's teeth were still "english". I like Lisa Edelstein. Kal Penn (Kumar from "Harold and Kumar" movies) is on now, and he plays the character almost exactly like he played Kumar. I like to imagine Kumar eventually became a doctor and ended up working for House.

He was also in a great sketch comedy show, "A Bit of Fry and Laurie", and both of them were in "Jeeves and Wooster". My work spouse kept telling me that House was just like me, so I had to see what he was on about. It's one of 2 network shows I watch (the other is "30 Rock"), but I think it jumped the shark. They even had a gag in the open of last weeks show where House builds a Hot Wheels ramp so a car can jump a toy shark. I'd have to vote for Keanu Reeves in "Much Ado About Nothing".

Blame the cold war. The US military folks brought rock & roll and rhythm & blues records to the UK in the 50s. British kids dug them and imitated them. US punks often imitate British accents because of the Sex Pistols. And British ska & reggae bands and fans imitate Jamaican accents.

I hear a multitude of blue collar British accents, but I hear them on British TV. They've become popular among politicians recently. MPs that used to speak with a clipped, "received pronunciation" seem to have adopted "estuary english" almost overnight.