A.J. Jacobs’s TED Talk, ‘My Year Of Living Biblically,’ Raises Important Questions About How To Read The Bible

I just finished reading The Know-It-All and started this one just last night. Haven’t watched the entire video for that reason, but will return to it once I’ve finished. Still up to the part where he’s experimenting with the mixed-fibre detector. I think it said that wool and linen worn together are the real no-nos. Maybe that’s why the world is in such a state ;)

“Neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woolen come upon thee.” — Leviticus 19:19

The Bible forbids wearing cloth made out of a mix of wool and linen, but other fiber combinations are fine.

The woolly detective: You can hire a “mixed fiber” tester to put your closet under a microscope and find any duplicitous material (since you can’t trust the labels).

A baffling taboo: Jacobs says this an unexplained law, but some historians theorize that pagans wore clothes made of wool and linen and this law was a way for the Israelites to set themselves apart from other tribes of the time.

“It is an irrational tradition, but most traditions are irrational. The tradition of blowing out candles is pretty irrational, too.”

http://www.asylum.com/2008/02/20/the-weirdest-laws-in-the-bible-no-mixing-fibers/

Speedy said:

“It is an irrational tradition, but most traditions are irrational. The tradition of blowing out candles is pretty irrational, too.”

But no-one represents the tradition of blowing out candles as something that must be followed by everyone who wants to have a good and meaningful life.

Neither, as far as I know, are there any countries where failure to blow out candles is a punishable crime.

>>The tradition of blowing out candles is pretty irrational, too.”

So is pi but that doesn’t stop fundamentalist scientists from worshiping it.

So is pi but that doesn’t stop fundamentalist scientists from worshiping it.

Can we please have a pi = 3 thread, I so miss such stuff.

gaghalfrunt said:

Can we please have a pi = 3 thread, I so miss such stuff.

No!

But if you really want a bizarro maths thread link, I’m happy to oblige.

Speedy said:

… this law was a way for the Israelites to set themselves apart from other tribes of the time…

Well virtually all religious traditions of this ilk seem to have no other purpose but to make it difficult for insiders and outsiders to intermingle.