We humans are an extremely important manifestation of the replication bomb because it is through us - through our brains our symbolic culture and our technology - that the explosion may proceed to the next stage and reverberate through deep space.
Metaphors are fine if they aid understanding, but sometimes they get in the way.
I don't know what to think about magic and fairy tales.
Complex statistically improbable things are by their nature more difficult to explain than simple statistically probable things.
If children understand that beliefs should be substantiated with evidence as opposed to tradition, authority, revelation or faith, they will automatically work out for themselves that they are atheists.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology accepts blacks in the top ten percent of students, but at MIT this puts them in the bottom ten percent of the class.