the victory of science
Offline talk about mindfucking. i know many of you have probably seen this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D8AeiAamjY
seriously, wtf?
in his introduction to an anthology of mao tse-tung's writings, "on practice and contradiction," for verso's revolutions series (a great series for anyone interested in the history of radical thought; everything from robespierre to ho chi minh, even jesus is in there), the contemporary slovenian radical philosopher and writer, slavoj zizek, wrote this:
"[I]n the case of rational science versus belief, the true victory of science takes place when the church starts to defend itself in the language of science."
any thoughts on the video and/or the quote?
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
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What thoughts or comments could be made about a man who has never said anything coherent that could be meaningfully acted upon, or indeed considers this one of this redeeming qualities (except when he doesn't).
"Physical reality” isn’t some arbitrary demarcation. It is defined in terms of what we can systematically investigate, directly or not, by means of our senses. It is preposterous to assert that the process of systematic scientific reasoning arbitrarily excludes “non-physical explanations” because the very notion of “non-physical explanation” is contradictory.
-Me
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well, i don't know. i wasn't asking for a comment about a man anyhow.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
I don't know much about Mao. I have come across Zizek before while researching for an essay, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was on. As for the quote, I quite like it, although I'm not quite sure whether this actually constitutes a voctory for us sciencey types.
Atheist Books
I think Nightline made the creationists look horrible. They even edited in the clip with the curator saying that expressing opposing points of view was "American", shattering the image of the frothing-at-the-mouth scientist who opposes everything based on "faith".
Personally, that's one of the most cringe-worthy videos I've seen in a while. Lying to children. What can you say about lying to children?
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
i'm pretty up on mao, but i don't know much about zizek either. all i know is that introduction and another one he did for the revolutions series in trotsky's "terrorism and communism." i'm not sure what his viewpoints as a philosopher are, as he was just commenting on others' works, but that quote stood out to me.
i don't know if it really is a victory myself. i just used that word because it's in the quote.
btw, i'd still like to know what a "muppet fundie" is.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
It is. Absolutely. Those kids have an adolescence coming up, and a good number of them will be looking for ways to separate themselves from their parents. If they were completely removed from scientific thought, they might never have questions like, "why would reasonable people assume that stratification could tell us how old the earth is?" All they have to do is look up the answer to questions like that, and they'll realize that they've been tricked. The beauty of science is that a scientist can say, "Hey, don't listen to me: check it out yourself," whereas the fundamentalist has to resort to social pressure to make kids repeat things like a mantra.
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence