One ape's hallucination is another ape's religious experience - it just depends on which one’s god module is overactive at the time.

I suspect losing paper maps but gaining GPS and online maps is a similar step function: maps still exist, but they're vastly more useful, not to say permanently up to date, in their new form. Again, I won't be shedding any tears, but I'll keep a paper road atlas in the back of my car for another few years, I think, Just In Case.

I'm an atheist .I was raised in British reform Judaism, which is not like American reform Judaism, much less any other strain of organised religion. So: no cults here.

Any civilization where the main symbol of religious veneration is a tool of execution is a bad place to have children.

I don't like Amazon (wearing my author hat, not my customer hat).

People want to buy mp3s but can't? Piracy ensues. Then Apple strong-arms the music studios into the iTunes store and music piracy drops somewhat. The same, I believe, is also happening with ebooks.

I was an early adopter: have been on the internet continuously since late 1989, barring a six-month loss of access in the early 90s.