Twenty Random Facts

In anticipation for my book release at the end of this month. Here are twenty random, interesting facts.

1. MSG is not actually bad for you
   
2. The planet Saturn would float in water
3. Each day, up to 150 species become extinct
4. The Bible is the most shoplifted book in history
5. Over 106 billion humans have walked the Earth
6. There are 60,000 miles of blood vessels in your body
7. Every hour the Universe expands by a billion miles in all directions
8. People have known the Earth was round for about 2,000 years, not 500 years
9. You can survive for perhaps 15 to 30 seconds in space, provided your lungs are emptied of air
10. There are more stars in the Universe than there are grains of sand on all the beaches of the Earth
11. The etymology of the word “dessert” is “to deserve,” so go ahead and eat that cup cake, you deserve it
12. Knowledge is growing so fast that 90% of what we know in 50 years’ time will be discovered in those 50 years
13. Hitler was not, in fact, an atheist, and actually thought Islam would be better suited to Germany than Christianity
14. Adam and Eve did not in fact eat an apple in the Book of Genesis; in the English of King James, the world apple means fruit
15. Both monkeys and humans evolved from a common ancestor 5 to 7 million years ago, not from monkeys themselves. That’s why monkeys are still here
16. Your brain’s neurons fire simultaneously at the moment of death, activating every memory you ever had, which fades into a white light; it’s not heaven, it’s neurophysiology
17. The normal matter of which we are made of, and all that we can see around us, only comprises 1% of the stuff in the Universe. The rest is dark matter and dark energy, and we have no idea what they are, only what some of their properties are
18. The top five most common elements in the Universe are hydrogen, helium, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen, in that order. The most common elements in your body are hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen, also in that order
19. Jesus isn’t actually the prophet that the Old Testament prophesied would come, as he didn’t fulfill the four prophecies required of that prophet, shown here in order: build the third temple; gather all Jews back to Israel; usher in world peace and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease; and unite humanity under one God, Yahweh. All four of which he did not achieve
20. The matter in the universe is so thinly dispersed that the universe can be compared with a building twenty miles long, twenty miles wide, and twenty miles high, containing only a single grain of sand.

Wouldn’t Heaven be Boring? [Random Rationality Chapter]

[Free Chapter]

Lets pretend that the Abrahamic god does exist, and that depending upon your Earthly actions, you will be met with a heavenly eternity, or perhaps a fiery one, like myself and perhaps even those 93% of scientists who selfishly work to improve the human quality of life developing new medicines, knowledge and insights into the Universe expanding the tools we have at our disposal.

You lead a good life, you help the poor, you follow the 613 commandments and so on; and upon your Fortunate death you are received at the pearly gates.

How will you spend your first year in heaven? Re-connecting with loved ones perhaps.

How about your first decade? Long walks on cloud 9 picking the brains of Jesus, Abraham, Mohammed, Einstein, Elvis, and perhaps even the big G himself, exploring the vast sanctum of his infinite knowledge using the heavenly version of our own big G; Google.

God = Google? I’m just throwing it out there and seeing what sticks.

How about the first century? Trying all the experiences you were too scared to do while you were a lowly mortal, only to find out the thrill is gone now that Death no longer lingers close by.

What about the next thousand years, and the million after? And then the trillion after that, and the next 10 trillion years after your first big T party? Now what?

I guarantee you one day, you’re going to want to not be there. What could possibly make eternity fun?

If you have ever eaten more than 5 chocolate bars in a row, then you probably know what heaven will feel like it. The first one tastes amazing; by the second your taste buds are a bit desensitized, but it still tastes good, ditto with the third and fourth, until you finally try on a 5th one for size, and it tastes like nothing, just a bland paste while your mouth goes through the motions.

We all had this feeling as kids, and perhaps as teens for the sweeter toothed among us, and even now for myself. But take that feeling, multiply it by a really large number and you’ll get a taste about how boring heaven would eventually get. One day, it will be no different from death.

Does the eternal darkness seem so scary now?

This is chapter 4 from my eBook Random Rationality: A Rational Guide to an Irrational World available on Kindle and Paperback.