snowcap21 on 8/8/2009 at 06:45
What I find disturbing with science, or rather the way many people talk about it (anthropormorphising to understand it), is the fact that very often some teleological concepts creep in. And then you have suddenly genes that want something (survive) instead of genes that exist because they accidentally give/gave an organism adequate capacities to survive. Or you end up with the idea of evolution having a goal, a way to perfection. There science turns into a sort of basic religion, only with genes instead of genii.
Nicker on 8/8/2009 at 07:55
Quote Posted by DDL
Faith based jumbo-jets are not, as far as I'm aware, terribly popular.
SNORT!
Fly the faithful skies with Air Apparent... We think we can! We think we can!
"This is your captain, The Reverend Thomas. I earned my wings with a PhD in Prayerology at Brigham Young University and I have over ten thousand hours in the pulpit. We are cruising at an altitude higher than the animals and beneath the angels. Ye of little faith should extinguish your smoking materials and fasten your seat-belts. Everyone else, please turn to Hymn 23 in your flight safety guides..."
DaBeast on 8/8/2009 at 07:57
Quote Posted by Beleg Cúthalion
I thought I'd have at least one big discussion about religions on an internet forum in a foreign language. :D And I just got myself a whole bunch of work, I guess I'll leave the larger replies to others now.
Most of the more intellectual types have discussed religion to death and/or generally don't come around here much. Sadly they've been replaced by people who still think excessive swearing is cool.
june gloom on 8/8/2009 at 09:35
And you're DaBeast. 'Nuff said.
Vivian on 8/8/2009 at 09:57
Quote Posted by snowcap21
What I find disturbing with science, or rather the way many people talk about it (anthropormorphising to understand it), is the fact that very often some teleological concepts creep in. And then you have suddenly genes that
want something (survive) instead of genes that exist because they accidentally give/gave an organism adequate capacities to survive. Or you end up with the idea of evolution having a goal, a way to perfection. There science turns into a sort of basic religion, only with genes instead of genii.
You are emphatically told thats not how it works if you study evolution, but it is hard to avoid thinking it - especially as organisms start small, simple and generalised (out of neccessity) and become larger, more complex and specialised as ecospace fills up (and being large and complex ourselves, we consider that 'better'). There is no specific directionality in evolution unless the basic theory is more wrong than we thought, but there is a compelling illusion of such - like if you fill a glass with water, some of it ends up higher than the other.
DaBeast on 8/8/2009 at 10:04
That reminds me of an episode of QI where they mention some plant that doesn't bother reproducing anymore since they basically live forever.
It isn't a highly complex organism with strange and intricate reproduction cycle since it doesn't need to be.
(Well thats what I can remember anyway, could be wrong on a few points, like the reproduction bit :P )
RavynousHunter on 8/8/2009 at 11:01
Quote Posted by Queue
I'm too lazy.
This.
TheivingME on 8/8/2009 at 14:57
What I think is that no matter how many religions have come before hand, and no matter how many will come after, people are still convinced theirs is the right one. And what I mean by theirs is thier interpretation (one of millions) of a single religion (one of millions)
Look at the Egyptian Ankh's transformation into the Christian cross, we are seeing the same thing now as scientology bases its symbolism in christianity. It's all ever changing and fluid.
The only reasonable position that could possibly be if you have not been brainwashed/coverted/indoctrinated/exposed to only one faith, is to believe that it is not possible to know anything for certain.
I call myself an Atheist because I am 99.99% sure that any manifestation of god that has been come up with by mankind doesnt exist.
Yes there is that 0.01%, but I am also 99.99% sure that the earth orbits the sun, we could be wrong, but we are sure of it enough to just say it orbits the sun, just like i am sure enough to say God the heavenly father and his winged servents dont exist.
pra1ze sci3nce
fett on 9/8/2009 at 15:02
Quote Posted by TheivingME
Yes there is that 0.01%, but I am also 99.99% sure that the earth orbits the sun, we could be wrong, but we are sure of it enough to just say it orbits the sun, just like i am sure enough to say God the heavenly father and his winger servents dont exist.
pra1ze sci3nce
Be careful - that 0.01% could land you in hell for all eternity. [pascal]IS IT WORTH THE RISK?[/pascal]
Koki on 9/8/2009 at 15:42
If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Well, except living your entire life according to these idiotic rules. And your dignity. And a shitload of time and money.
Sorry, we have a strict no-return policy
