tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1630883680904179650.post4637543184373196985..comments2023-10-08T08:10:44.411-05:00Comments on Mercurious: Supersition and the Curved CosmosThe Geezershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132213545989946724noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1630883680904179650.post-31279009514640600052008-03-10T15:04:00.000-05:002008-03-10T15:04:00.000-05:00You are a fascinating person, Mercurious. Interes...You are a fascinating person, Mercurious. Interesting points you made. Keep it up!AphroditeRisinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09170674015730193478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1630883680904179650.post-27121050699596371002008-03-10T08:07:00.000-05:002008-03-10T08:07:00.000-05:00Good post. I think there are definitely some babie...Good post. I think there are definitely some babies to be found... but a hell of a lot of mucky bathwater to wade through!<BR/><BR/>For me one of the most important principles I try to use in approaching the world is being willing to accept that I may be wrong, and trying to set aside what my ego wants me to believe, in order to find out what the truth is.<BR/><BR/>I think much of the strength of science is that it encourages this attitude - or at least has systems built in to promote it. But many of the weaknesses and dangers of religion come from discouraging questioning.<BR/><BR/>I think our goal is not to seek certainty, but to ask important questions. As one of Tom Stoppard's characters says in Arcadia:<BR/><BR/>"Comparing what we're looking for misses the point - it's wanting to know that makes us matter. If the answers are in the back of the book [i.e. in an afterlife] I can wait, but what a drag!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1630883680904179650.post-30160385103558359592008-03-09T00:39:00.000-06:002008-03-09T00:39:00.000-06:00Hmmm... so much rhetoric... it's in the mind, it's...Hmmm... so much rhetoric... it's in the mind, it's in the Heart... shake it up and pop it out, and there's the soul of it... if you can, sense it... if you can, see it... the mystery, it feels good, doesn't it.Shimmerringshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11889345175260200888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1630883680904179650.post-43755036142161183002008-03-08T17:28:00.000-06:002008-03-08T17:28:00.000-06:00"Scientific theories are always just theories, and..."Scientific theories are always just theories, and the history of reason shows that these paradigms are nothing more than useful fictions, which can be discarded and replaced as circumstances require."<BR/><BR/>Good post, but I disagree with your characterization of theories as fictions, which suggests they lack truth. I think of them as constructs which explain the natural world in terms of current knowledge, and open to change when that knowledge changes.<BR/><BR/>If you haven't seen Bronowski's clip, which I think relates quite powerfully to what you are saying, it's here, with the text: <A HREF="http://grumpylion.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/what-makes-the-lion-weep/" REL="nofollow">at The Lion's den.</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1630883680904179650.post-9227214745371859422008-03-08T10:15:00.000-06:002008-03-08T10:15:00.000-06:00Thinking man:And I's also say this: "spirituality,...Thinking man:<BR/><BR/>And I's also say this: "spirituality, despite it's shortcomings, does have have a reason for being."The Geezershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12132213545989946724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1630883680904179650.post-78973756857907747052008-03-08T09:06:00.000-06:002008-03-08T09:06:00.000-06:00You write:"The God depicted in the Christian/Judai...You write:<BR/>"The God depicted in the Christian/Judaic bible, the Quran, is a quaint mythological representation of something inexpressible. And I agree that it's not only silly, but dangerous, to insist that such an entity exists in literal form, and that he has graced you and your friends with his favor.<BR/><BR/>But I will also insist on my right to believe in the spiritual impulse behind it all, and I'll also express my strong intuition that there is a spiritual and evolutionary goal that causes us to seek an enlightened state of mind.<BR/><BR/>That's all God really represents, after all: our desire for a peaceful existence."<BR/><BR/>In one sense, I don't have a problem with that. People can believe whatever they want to. However, on another level, you have created your own god. If god is not the person revealed to us, but one we have invented to suit our modern sensibilities, then:<BR/>1) What authority do you have for your idea of god other than your imagination?<BR/>2) It feels very much like the religion you have created has a lot less substance than say, the science which you helpfully point out needs to be treated with some skeptism.<BR/><BR/>My own view is that the god of the revealed texts are as created as the ones that suit modern sensibilities and that the latter is no better than the former. Despite it's weaknesses, science does, at least, have some substance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1630883680904179650.post-4509198418783218172008-03-08T04:18:00.000-06:002008-03-08T04:18:00.000-06:00"Any science and any religion is equally silly and..."Any science and any religion is equally silly and dangerous at the point where it begins insisting that it owns the keys to certainty. This is the principle human folly, in fact—to insist on certainty,..." <BR/><BR/>Brilliantly stated. I can't agree more. <BR/><BR/>The Varieties of Religious Experience marked a turning point in my angry adolescence. It remains close to my heart. <BR/><BR/>AugustKatherinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06113815064063684876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1630883680904179650.post-22257056189153227712008-03-07T12:49:00.000-06:002008-03-07T12:49:00.000-06:00I can't really say what our purpose is as human be...I can't really say what our purpose is as human beings but listening to the recording of Van Morrison play Carnegie Hall gives me a feeling of being very close to god , whatever god is.Alijah Fitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12798808206482416283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1630883680904179650.post-24017249742357247022008-03-05T10:14:00.000-06:002008-03-05T10:14:00.000-06:00Even as an atheist I agree with a lot of what you ...Even as an atheist I agree with a lot of what you say Mercurious. You seem to see god as a metaphor for some nebulous inner spirituality rather than as a literal being. <BR/><BR/>But I think the problem is that such a concept is too subtle for the masses to appreciate. The spititual impulse always seems to veer off into either religious orthodoxy and dogma or in the other direction into crazy New Age Woo.<BR/><BR/>Very few seem to be able to maintain the philosophical stance you have.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1630883680904179650.post-85295598052921519032008-03-05T09:59:00.000-06:002008-03-05T09:59:00.000-06:00Elevating science to a religion is complete folly....<I>Elevating science to a religion is complete folly.</I><BR/><BR/>Agree. Elevating any single dimension of our humanity above the others is ultimately dehumanizing. Balance is always good.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1630883680904179650.post-28622681462970591412008-03-05T08:51:00.000-06:002008-03-05T08:51:00.000-06:00Religion is ideology, and thus must compete agains...Religion is ideology, and thus must compete against other ideologies for our belief. In an age of rampant materialism, capitalism is the ideology that captures the hearts and minds of most. Why? Largely because it promises happiness through little real effort. We all know it's bollocks but we still buy into it, and thus, we live in increasingly secular times and those who do possess religious faith come to look like nutcases.<BR/><BR/>Personally, I have always differentiated between religion and spirituality. Most people are spiritually bereft these days, and thus have no experience nor understanding of the experience you term 'religious experience'. That is a sad matter.<BR/><BR/>PussGlamourpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450175254756849062noreply@blogger.com