"Begin at the beginning,and go on till you come to the end: then stop." (Lewis Carroll, 1832-1896)
Alice came to a fork in the road. "Which road do I take?" she asked."Where do you want to go?" responded the Cheshire cat."I don't know," Alice answered."Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."
"So long as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation. "Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
"All right," said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone. "Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin," thought Alice; "but a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!"
I am diagonally parked in a parallel universe. Like Arthur Dent from "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy", if you do not have a Babel Fish in your ear this blog will be completely unintelligible to you and will read something like this: "boggle, google, snoggle, slurp, slurp, dingleberry to the power of 10". Fortunately, those who have had the Babel Fish inserted in their ear, will understood this blog perfectly. If you are familiar with this technology, you will know that the Babel Fish lives on brainwave radiation. It excretes energy in the form of exactly the correct brainwaves needed by its host to understand what was just said; or in this case, what was read. The Babel Fish, thanks to scientific research, reverses the problem defined by its namesake in the Tower of Babel, where a deity was supposedly inspired to confuse the human race by making them unable to understand each other.
Beepbeepitsme has been added to The Atheist Blogroll. You can see the blogroll in my sidebar. The Atheist blogroll is a community building service provided free of charge to Atheist bloggers from around the world. If you would like to join, visit Mojoey at Deep Thoughts.
"Operationally, God is beginning to resemble not a ruler but the last fading smile of a cosmic Cheshire cat." - Sir Julian Huxley
"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things: Of shoes and ships and sealing wax; Of cabbages and kings. And why the sea is boiling hot; And whether pigs have wings." - Lewis Carroll
"Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?" Alexander Pope
"The primary function of myth is to validate an existing social order. Myth enshrines conservative social values, raising tradition on a pedestal." Ann Oakley
"Some treat their longing for God as proof of His existence." Mason Cooley
"The god of the Christians, as we have seen, is the god who makes promises only to break them; who sends them pestilence and disease in order to heal them; a god who demoralizes mankind in order to improve it. A god who created man 'after his own image', and still the origin of evil in man is not accredited to him." Johann Most
"In love, we worry more about the meaning of silences than the meaning of words." Mason Cooley
"My philosophy is such that I am not going to vote against the oppressed. I have been oppressed, and so I am always going to have a vote for the oppressed, regardless of whether that oppressed is black or white or yellow or the people of the Middle East, or what. I have that feeling." Septima Clark
"Secular humanists suspect there is something more gloriously human about resisting the religious impulse; about accepting the cold truth, even if that truth is only that the universe is as indifferent to us as we are to it." Tom Flynn
"If the question is put to me would I rather have a miserable ape for a grandfather or a man highly endowed by nature and possessed of great means of influence and yet who employs those faculties and that influence for the mere purpose of introducing ridicule into a grave scientific discussion—I unhesitatingly affirm my preference for the ape." Thomas Henry Huxley
Project Gutenberg is the oldest producer of free ebooks on the Internet. The collection was produced by hundreds of volunteers.
"Give the right man a solar myth, and he'll confute the sun therewith." James Russell Lowell
"Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone. Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon. Show me slowly what I only know the limits of. Dance me to the end of love." Leonard Cohen
"If God is male, then male is God. The divine patriarch castrates women as long as he is allowed to live on in the human imagination." Mary Daly
"If the people were a little more ignorant, astrology would flourish - if a little more enlightened, religion would perish." Robert Green Ingersoll
"In other words (so to speak): not two and also not not two." Magellan's Log V
"History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology." W.H. Auden
"Archaeology is the peeping Tom of the sciences. It is the sandbox of men who care not where they are going; they merely want to know where everyone else has been." Jim Bishop
"To excavate is to open a book written in the language that the centuries have spoken into the earth." Spyridon Marinatos
"Science commits suicide when it adopts a creed." Thomas Henry Huxley
"The place has changed but little since Diana received the homage of her worshippers in the sacred grove. The temple of the sylvan goddess, indeed, has vanished and the King of the Wood no longer stands sentinel over the Golden Bough." Sir James George Frazer
"Babylonian king (1792BCE–1750BCE) who made Babylon the chief Mesopotamian kingdom and codified the laws of Mesopotamia and Sumeria." The American Heritage
"We are ourselves history and share the responsibility for world history and our position in it. But we gravely lack awareness of this responsibility." Hermann Hesse
"Astrology: do we make a hullabaloo among the stars, or do they make a hullabaloo down here?" Mason Cooley
"Readers are plentiful: thinkers are rare." Harriet Martineau
"The Christian religion is a parody on the worship of the Sun, in which they put a man whom they call Christ, in the place of the Sun, and pay him the same adoration which was originally paid to the Sun." Thomas Paine
"Zoroaster was thus the first to teach the doctrines of an individual judgment, Heaven and Hell, the future resurrection of the body, the general Last Judgment, and life everlasting for the reunited soul and body. These doctrines were to become familiar articles of faith to much of mankind, through borrowings by Judaism, Christianity and Islam; yet it is in Zoroastrianism itself that they have their fullest logical coherence.†- Mary Boyce
"My esoteric doctrine, is that if you entertain any doubt, it is safest to take the unpopular side in the first instance. Transit from the unpopular, is easy ... but from the popular to the unpopular is so steep and rugged that it is impossible to maintain it." William Lamb Melbourne
"With reason one can travel the world over; without it it is hard to move an inch." Chinese proverb.
"Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. Bribery and corruption are common. Children no longer obey their parents. . . . The end of the world is evidently approaching." Sound familiar? It is, in fact, the lament of a scribe in one of the earliest inscriptions to be unearthed in Mesopotamia, where Western civilization was born. C. John Sommerville
"The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago ... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands." Havelock Ellis
"It (myth) expresses and confirms, rather than explains or questions, the sources of cultural attitudes and values... Because myth anchors the present in the past it is a sociological charter for a future society which is an exact replica of the present one." Ann Oakley
"Starry, starry night. Flaming flowers that brightly blaze, swirling clouds in violet haze, reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue." Don McLean
"NOT from the stars do I my judgment pluck, and yet methinks I have astronomy, But not to tell of good or evil luck, Of plagues, of dearths, or seasons’ quality..." William Shakespeare
"Moreover, the universe as a whole is infinite, for whatever is limited has an outermost edge to limit it, and such an edge is defined by something beyond. Since the universe has no edge, it has no limit; and since it lacks a limit, it is infinite and unbounded. Moreover, the universe is infinite both in the number of its atoms and in the extent of its void." Epicurus
"Most people today still believe, perhaps unconsciously, in the heliocentric universe every newspaper in the land has a section on astrology, yet few have anything at all on astronomy." Hannes Alfven
Gervais is an atheist. In an interview given to John Humphrys he said, "Being an atheist makes someone a clearer thinking, fairer person. . . . They (atheists) are not doing things to be rewarded in heaven; they're doing things because they're right, because they live by a moral code."
He also added that, although he doesn't believe, God , (if he exists), would like him.
Ricky Gervais - The Bible
~*~
(Sit back and have a laugh if you haven't seen this yet.)
"What I do have an interest in is the notion that the ancient mythology of the Jews should be the standard against which claims in modern science should be judged. To me, that is just plain stupid. Yes, that's right; I find it stupid to believe that the God of the ancient Jews dictated science lessons to Moses or other chosen ones." - Dr. Robert T. Carroll
What a great time, Beep! So funny and so clear... btw, talking about miracles, I'd just made a Question in SINCRONIAconCIENCIA.blogspot.com How to call those moments when life appear by the very first time? or/and intelligence as well? You know, many call them MIRACLES... This are amazing evolving circumstances, yet not fully explained, don't you think? And How did you found the conferences Beyond Believe? the Best
Yeah, Gervais is pretty funny sometimes. I am going to post his comedic take on homosexuality as well. In it he basically discusses how homosexuality is natural, but in a comedic way.
I haven't watched all the videos from "Beyond Belief" yet. But I am sure they are all interesting.
The attribution of something as a "miracle" is an interesting one too. My first reaction is to say that we attribute something as being a miracle according to whether the occurrence of said something, is outside our concept of probability.
So, someone who has a low threshold of probability might think that it was a miracle that a person survived a stupendous and catastrophic plane disaster.
Whereas, I might consider it a miracle if EVERYONE survived a stupendous and catastrophic plane disaster.
One person surviving would be within the bounds of what I would consider probable. EVERYONE surviving, probably would not.
Here's an article debunking Naturalism and supporting the existence of Mind independent of Nature. It has some pretty solid logic so I thought you might want to take a look. Tell me what you think.
hmm, i said debuking Naturalism, not the natural world...it's one thing not to read, another to misunderstand it and quite another to misrepresent it...but thanks anyways.
Naturalism is based on an understanding of the natural world.
"Naturalism does not necessarily claim that phenomena or hypotheses commonly labeled as supernatural do not exist or are wrong, but insists that all phenomena and hypotheses can be studied by the same methods and therefore anything considered supernatural is either nonexistent, unknowable, or not inherently different from natural phenomena or hypotheses."
I'll weigh in on C.S. Lewis' slight of hand on trying to disaffirm naturalism. His logic is abyssmal, and he makes many unfounded assertions buried within terribly obtuse and verbose language (e.g. "it is not conceivable that any improvement of responses (via evolution) could ever turn them into acts of insight" without providing any reason why insight could not evolve). He also moans that, since Naturalists do not posit any claim to absolute truth, then there must be other sources for absolute truth. Indeed, he says that the Theist's position is not as outrageous as the Naturalist's, because the Naturalist posits that the supernatural does not exist. However, he ignores that the Theist affirms that not only does the supernatural exist (having no reliable evidence for such), but often that he has a good idea of the characteristics of the supernatural are. Additionally, Lewis ignores the idea that, once the supernatural interacts with the natural in a way that can be perceived, it can then be measured and ceases to be supernatural, thus affirming the Naturalist's position.
I don't get the fuss that theists have with naturalism. They agree that the natural world exists, but their only issue with it is that it didn't come about through "natural forces" but through supernatural ones.
And they go on to try and doubt the existence of the natural world, in preference to a belief in a world they cannot see, measure, quantify or observe.
The belief in supernaturalism, depreciates and devalues the natural world, as there is always the "supernatural world" to go to once we have stuffed this one up enough..
16 Comments:
It doesn't come much better than that...:)
As to Dr. Carroll, he's dead right of course. Miralce's ain't science...
What a great time, Beep! So funny and so clear... btw, talking about miracles, I'd just made a Question in SINCRONIAconCIENCIA.blogspot.com
How to call those moments when life appear by the very first time? or/and intelligence as well?
You know, many call them MIRACLES... This are amazing evolving circumstances, yet not fully explained, don't you think? And How did you found the conferences Beyond Believe?
the Best
RE ted:
Yeah, Gervais is pretty funny sometimes. I am going to post his comedic take on homosexuality as well. In it he basically discusses how homosexuality is natural, but in a comedic way.
Re sincronia:
Long time no see. :)
I haven't watched all the videos from "Beyond Belief" yet. But I am sure they are all interesting.
The attribution of something as a "miracle" is an interesting one too. My first reaction is to say that we attribute something as being a miracle according to whether the occurrence of said something, is outside our concept of probability.
So, someone who has a low threshold of probability might think that it was a miracle that a person survived a stupendous and catastrophic plane disaster.
Whereas, I might consider it a miracle if EVERYONE survived a stupendous and catastrophic plane disaster.
One person surviving would be within the bounds of what I would consider probable. EVERYONE surviving, probably would not.
A most interesting site!
Will have to come back and read more, Thanks!!!
Cheers from the US ; )
Classic Gervais, I love this bit. :-)
I'm looking forward to it Beep. The "homosexuality in the animal kingdom" one is a scream...:)
Hey beepbeep,
Here's an article debunking Naturalism and supporting the existence of Mind independent of Nature. It has some pretty solid logic so I thought you might want to take a look. Tell me what you think.
Matt
oops! I didn't give you the link...
http://www.philosophy.uncc.edu/mleldrid/Intro/csl3.html
How do you debunk the natural world? Close your eyes and pretend it isn't there? Or pretend that you will it inot existence?
Oh, I forgot, the natural world is just a mirage that god allows us to see....
A religious article written in 1947? Gimmie a break..
Hey wolvie :) Long time no see.
You might find the Gervais clip about homosexuality funny as well.
hmm, i said debuking Naturalism, not the natural world...it's one thing not to read, another to misunderstand it and quite another to misrepresent it...but thanks anyways.
Matt
RE matt:
Naturalism is based on an understanding of the natural world.
"Naturalism does not necessarily claim that phenomena or hypotheses commonly labeled as supernatural do not exist or are wrong, but insists that all phenomena and hypotheses can be studied by the same methods and therefore anything considered supernatural is either nonexistent, unknowable, or not inherently different from natural phenomena or hypotheses."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalism_(philosophy)
matt:
I'll weigh in on C.S. Lewis' slight of hand on trying to disaffirm naturalism. His logic is abyssmal, and he makes many unfounded assertions buried within terribly obtuse and verbose language (e.g. "it is not conceivable that any improvement of responses (via evolution) could ever turn them into acts of insight" without providing any reason why insight could not evolve). He also moans that, since Naturalists do not posit any claim to absolute truth, then there must be other sources for absolute truth. Indeed, he says that the Theist's position is not as outrageous as the Naturalist's, because the Naturalist posits that the supernatural does not exist. However, he ignores that the Theist affirms that not only does the supernatural exist (having no reliable evidence for such), but often that he has a good idea of the characteristics of the supernatural are. Additionally, Lewis ignores the idea that, once the supernatural interacts with the natural in a way that can be perceived, it can then be measured and ceases to be supernatural, thus affirming the Naturalist's position.
RE: shygetz
I don't get the fuss that theists have with naturalism. They agree that the natural world exists, but their only issue with it is that it didn't come about through "natural forces" but through supernatural ones.
And they go on to try and doubt the existence of the natural world, in preference to a belief in a world they cannot see, measure, quantify or observe.
The belief in supernaturalism, depreciates and devalues the natural world, as there is always the "supernatural world" to go to once we have stuffed this one up enough..
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