Hi all! On Thursday I am meeeting my supervisor for first time. I guess the first meeting is very important because you set the stage for the rest of the working relationship. What do you think are the do's and dont's in this meeting and is there anything that you regret from your first meeting? (For example is it ok to show my nervousness and express my insecurities/stress/enthusiasm-in general be open or should I keep a more formal, "professional" attitude??

No, MistaG. The discussion was not about Dan Brown. But regardless of the validity of his book, what he did is that he started a discussion about the Bible bringing up the idea that not everything in it is true. He made people question where they get their information from! And after all, Dan Brown just sold a book; Bible changed the direction of humanity. Christians live their lives according to the Bible, not Dan Brown's book.

MistaG, I will repeat myself: You think that Dab Brown wrote Dan Vinci to sell. Haven't you thought that people throughout the history had equally good (if not much better) reasons to create/change the Bible, such a powerful book?

For what reasons do you favour single sex education?

I read a survey lately stating that boys do better at school when taught by men, while women help improve girls' performances. The report adds: Girls have better educational opportunities when taught by women and boys are better off when taught by men. I was wondering whether this is true at the PhD level (if it is true at all).

Yes, you are right! Dan Brown changed the facts to make money! On the other hand, the Bible from the moment of its creation onwards, was written just to spread the word of God, without the thought of any kind of political profit, monetary gain etc . Evil Dan Brown...

Do you think that the gender of your supervisor has an effect on your communication with them? And how do you view women in academia?

I do not believe either (well, not totally) in Da Vinci Code but it does raise a point. After all, why should someone believe less in research that is conducted today and believe more in a book (The Bible) that was written 2000 years ago by locals in a non scientific way and was changed again and again by people who arbitrarily decided what would be included and what not? Not to mention the different versions of it... (different religions, different translations etc.)

H, I am going to change the subject for a while. How easy is it to arrange a wedding while doing a PhD?

But surely using such an influential man as Jesus, naming him “God” for profit was a brilliant idea! There are always so many people who (regardless of their intelligence) need something beyond them to give meaning and guidance to their lives. There are so many people who cannot accept that there is no ultimate meaning, that we ourselves have to find a meaning for our existence and that the only judge of our actions is our own self.

As is the case for every other irrational belief or fear, faith is a burden. However, I do believe in the power that faith gives to some people; the reasons are wrong but in the cases where the results are positive, religion is necessary.

Finally, believing that Jesus existed is one thing. Believing that He was a God (or the Son of the God) is another. That is an extraordinary claim to make and as such it requires extraordinary evidence. And the Bible is far from that (I cant reckon how many people reported things because they interpreted things incorrectly because of lack of knowledge, how many because of their desire for power and control, how many because they needed to believe in something). I do not agree with you at all that the Bible is a valid historical document. There have been so many versions of it... I really do not know who decided what would be included in each version and what not. History is never objective anyway.

First, I do not understand why you are offended by me saying that there is no correlation (either positive or negative) between belief and intelligence. This statement simply shows that intelligent and less intelligent people are equally likely to believe in God.

Second, my comment about wars was only used to show that those who created religion had many and very good reasons to do so. Maybe if there were no religion, there would be less suicide bombers as well (and now don’t tell me that Islam is wrong and Christianity is right)!!! You also said that people and not the religion makes wars. But religion is created by humans!

My boyfriend says that the Bible is a reasonable self-help book at best. I would rather argue that Bible is the biggest fairytale that humanity ever believed in. A means to an end. A reason and an excuse to fight. For money, for power, for land...

I know that my feelings may come across very strong to some of you but I feel that in this time of such religious hate, one shouldn't try to keep quiet in such debates in order not to harm someone's feelings anymore. Religion may one day destroy the planet in the name of the God.

I am surprised by how many people still believe in God. I thought that in a PhD forum there would be less superstition and acceptance. It seems indeed that there does not exist any correlation between educational level/IQ and religion!!! This is a bit disappointing coz it shows that although the global IQ rises throughout the decades,the different religions will always exist and make people fight for nothing.

Maybe religion is so strong because it has its roots to a young age, what u learn from family... what yr nation believes in... all these things that make u unable to see the whole... it is your identity and is related too close to the feeling of self. Beliefs are always stronger than facts anyway. I understand it is hard to accept something different when you have been brought up that way before you have the ability to reason and make decisions. I just hoped that education would make people open their eyes a little!

I agree DanB. Just read that the highest percentage of atheists are Europeans and North Americans. This should tell us something...