I’ve reading Matt Ridley’s The Rational Optimist and thought about posting some of my favourite parts. The author has some pretty convincing arguments about how the world has been getting better, and should continue to.

I find that my disagreement is mostly with reactionaries of all political colours: blue ones who dislike cultural change, red ones who dislike economic change and green ones who dislike technological change. I am a rational optimist: rational, because I have arrived at optimism not through temperament or instinct, but by looking at the evidence.

One of his reasons for believing life will continue to get better is that humans do something that no other species does; widespread sharing of ideas.

…at some point in human history, ideas began to meet and mate, to have sex with each other.

The exchange of ideas is similar to the exchange of DNA and end up evolving, like biology does, but at a much faster pace. Of course, there are those who find accelerating change unsettling.

There are people today who think life was better in the past. They argue that there was not only a simplicity, tranquility, sociability and spirituality about life in the distant past that has been lost, but a virtue too.

I really enjoyed the sections where he discusses how people often romanticize the past and just how fortunate we continue to become. The idea that people lived in an easier, stress-free, less complicated life than today is very much a myth.

There are also some very convincing arguments against organic farming. I was surprised by how clearly his facts pointed to a contrast from the eco-friendly method the organic industry markets itself as. Organic farming requires more land.

…to replace all the industrial nitrogen fertiliser now applied would mean an extra seven billion cattle grazing an extra thirty billion acres of pasture.

Organic farming is low-yield, requires extra land to feed cattle and requires crushed rock or fish to avoid exhausting the mineral nutrients from the soil “These have to be mined or netted”.

Should the world decide to go organic — that is, should farming get its nitrogen from plants and fish rather than direct from the air using factories and fossil fuels — then man of the nine billion will starve and all rainforest will be cut down.

More to come!

Quinton and I spent most of our time between panels at my guest table in the exhibitor hall, selling copies of my books and his 8×10 headshots. His first autograph session took place on Saturday and, unfortunately, had to be cut off at the end of the hour. He had a great Q&A session later in the afternoon, which took place right before my next panel, “Manga Storytelling: Writing and Illustration”.

My original plans were to head back to LA after the convention and then fly into Atlanta for Dragon*Con a couple weeks later. Unfortunately, after my last visit in the US, I was denied entry across the border; I’ve spent a lot of time visiting the US over the past year and that combined with my status as a freelancer made it possible for the border officer to deny me entry as an alleged intending immigrant.

I assure you the experience in secondary inspection was quite horrible—-I was in the waiting room separated from Quinton for over 2 hours without any indication of why I was there and once I was actually spoken to by the officer it was very emotionally distressing. But, alas, there isn’t much that can be done—-border officers can deny entry to anyone at their own discretion. Since Canadians don’t need tourist visas, it seems it can be easy for things to get messy (since you don’t actually have a visa to overstay). So, for now, I’m advised to postpone another attempted crossing for at least 6 months.

This means that my scheduled guest appearance at Dragon*Con won’t be happening this year. I was really looking forward to attending and being part of the Skeptrack. On the upside, it might sound really badass if you’d like to call me banned in America!

For those interested in skepticism, I’m organizing a meetup after my panel, which runs 9pm-10pm on Friday night. The plan is to meet at the nearby Suite 701 Lounge. So come check out my talk and hang out for more discussion about science, skepticism, anime, manga and more!

Please RSVP for the meetup on the facebook event page or by emailing me at saramayhew@ztarr.net.

I’ll be signing copies of my first graphic novel, Secrets of Sorcerers, at my table throughout the weekend. I’ll also be at the autograph sessions for my lovely beau, Quinton Flynn. We’ll be selling his headshots and I’ll have my books handy as well!

Christopher Nolan’s mental heist thriller is the summer’s blockbuster that has the blogosphere and twitterverse locked in discourse over its elaborate plot. Movie goers, bloggers, tweeps, and critics are all dishing out their theories about the story’s structure and their interpretation of the plot’s conclusion. What is there to say about this film, as an artist and a skeptic, and its journey through the mental labyrinth?

Check out the rest of the article I wrote about Inception over at Skeptic North.

My Nokia Responsiveness Campaign video, shown in a previous post, is also available on the Nokia Responsiveness website (in addition to being uploaded to YouTube). The difference is that the Nokia site has an interactive component, where people are invited to respond to my question at the end of the video: “Do we have the courage to let go of our beliefs in order to grab on to what is true?”.

The responses are displayed graphically on my Responsiveness portal, where you can watch the video, read my bio, and see other’s responses. I hope you’ll head over and leave a response. Also available are some neat widgets, banners, and badges to display on your blog, webpage, twitter, or email signature. My widget can be seen in the sidebar here at There Are Four Lights. You’ll find all of these goodies by going to the toolkit section of the Responsiveness viewer.

So head on over and give your response! Tell your friends and post the widget on your blog!

Skepchick, one of the top skeptic blogs, noticed and posted about it the video here.

Dr. Phil Plait, aka Bad Astronomer, posted about me as well on his blog over at Discover, Bad Astronomy.

Anime News Network picked up the press release from Skepticality about their interview with me on episode 127: mp3 download, itunes. You can also find info about it in Skeptic Mag’s eSkeptic for April 21st, 2010.

My first post as new contributor to the Canadian blog, Skeptic North, was posted: The (unofficial) Manga Guide to Woo Arguments.

Live Science and Newsarama also posted an article about me, written by Jeremy Hsu.

Part 1 is my introduction and my explanation of skepticism and why I think it’s important. I also touch on why new age magical thinking and spirituality can be so appealing and easier to promote. My goal is to use storytelling to show skeptical values as virtues.

Part 2 is an overview of manga and why I’ve chosen it as a medium to tell stories that promote skepticism. I also speak about some series that have inspired me in my approach to doing this—-which is also an excuse to talk about Masters of the Universe.

Part 3 is about my series I’m producing, Legend of the Ztarr, and how I hope it will convey messages about critical thinking and humanism.

The Q&A discussion that took place afterwards is also available:

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3