tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post5480142771704316325..comments2024-03-18T21:33:35.309-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Cosmic Evolution and the Third BangGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-90138290987916345642010-08-22T08:57:54.638-07:002010-08-22T08:57:54.638-07:00http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_ridley_when_ideas_ha...http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_ridley_when_ideas_have_sex.html<br /><br />From Ted TV<br /><br />PS I enjoyed your bookHoosiernormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04420498412700707079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-12791727103030833172010-08-21T06:38:28.643-07:002010-08-21T06:38:28.643-07:00Magnus said:
"Sanity takes time"
Indee...Magnus said:<br /><br />"Sanity takes time"<br /><br />Indeed. Apparently though insanity takes a lot less time. The Western scientific establishment has been compromised more thoroughly by the Left in 30 years than in the past 300.<br /><br />As for "Chinese government propaganda", I wholeheartedly agree that they are and have been in almost all respects dedicated to the Lie for the better part of a century. Which is all the more reason to deplore the fact that our own elites -- including many who claim scientific credibility -- are following their lead by promoting the dubious pseudo-science known variously as climate change, global warming, or whatever is convenient this month.<br /><br />The take-away from the Chinese paper (a leaked internal paper, not propaganda per se) is that as master propagandists, they know it when they see it.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-60989850391395589142010-08-21T06:16:02.134-07:002010-08-21T06:16:02.134-07:00The day has not yet come when I take the word of a...The day has not yet come when I take the word of a Russian scientist over a good set of dice. Sanity takes time. (And that's a direct observation, not a quote from the voices in my head...)Magnus Itlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18445902788427523461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-3046951093252888852010-08-20T23:42:32.380-07:002010-08-20T23:42:32.380-07:00Bob, you find it amazing that human culture emerge...Bob, you find it amazing that human culture emerged. However, an explanation would be that God tweaked things around to make it happen.<br /><br />Our working assumption here is that God is in control and can arrange things to His liking.<br /><br />So, regarding Neanderthalensis and other considerations, we can just say they were collateral damage in the master plan.<br /><br />No guilt or head trips needed. They had to go. End of story.<br /><br />Let's face it. The Captain does whatever He wants. Its not amazing. Its just what is .black holehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07366633817665791528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-92118771760784600462010-08-20T15:57:00.874-07:002010-08-20T15:57:00.874-07:00Speaking of former commie states which are at leas...Speaking of former commie states which are at least not as delusional as Western practitioners of leftist scientism, <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100050359/what-the-chinese-really-think-of-man-made-global-warming/" rel="nofollow">someone just translated</a> an official Chinese government position paper which in essence says that round-eyes is loco for believing such obvious bullshit as "global warming".Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-76402055362799923552010-08-20T15:53:44.845-07:002010-08-20T15:53:44.845-07:00"in the form of solar power stored in long de..."in the form of solar power stored in long dead organisms"<br /><br />That's the American and European view. The Russkies have equal if not more compelling scientific support for abiogenic petroleum. If they are right and petrol isn't "non-renewable" after all, well <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ManBearPig" rel="nofollow">ManBearPig</a> will prolly 'splode.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-20566313542720771472010-08-20T13:37:55.220-07:002010-08-20T13:37:55.220-07:00I think Walker Percy also ruminates on all this in...I think Walker Percy also ruminates on all this in his _Lost in the Cosmos_. <br /><br />He makes a big deal of the burst into what he calls "triadic" consciousness. A quantum leap... coincident with a bigger cortex?Verdialeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12849329893783534089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-79374278107683280592010-08-20T13:13:00.617-07:002010-08-20T13:13:00.617-07:00I was going to suggest something like that. Proba...I was going to suggest something like that. Probably couldn't be domesticated.<br /><br />Ridley points out that petroleum was truly the great liberator, as it meant that power could be derived from non-human resources. The average person uses the equivalent of hundreds of slaves per day, in the form of solar power stored in long dead organisms.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-9606192920629801882010-08-20T13:07:30.690-07:002010-08-20T13:07:30.690-07:00To Gagdad re:
"Given that we had a lot of co...To Gagdad re:<br /><br />"Given that we had a lot of contact with them, and given how human beings treat the Other, it wouldn't surprise me if we wiped them out. The only surprise is that we didn't make them slaves, like a Star Trek episode." <br /><br />For nomadic cattle/sheep cultures the discovery that there was a small step from herding cattle/sheep to herding peasants was the beginning of civilization. I am sure they found herding peasants easier since they don't move around as much. It should be noted that some people were impossible to herd because they themselves had not accepted a geographic boundary/anchor and were nomads themselves (see American Indians). Nomads make poor slaves. I think neanderthals probably fell into this category.Tigtoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03290914498892961024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-84548327732276909132010-08-20T09:31:43.422-07:002010-08-20T09:31:43.422-07:00I think you're right about the greater analogy...I think you're right about the greater analogy of the OT. Fratricide is a repeated theme or motif through the Judeo-Christian revelation.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-82897704462884236772010-08-20T09:21:06.380-07:002010-08-20T09:21:06.380-07:00I think the story of Helen Keller is a good allego...I think the story of Helen Keller is a good allegory -- that cosmic "ah ha!!!!" that occurs when she unifies all the unrelated experiences of wetness under the term "water."Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-6196455666785498142010-08-20T09:19:24.139-07:002010-08-20T09:19:24.139-07:00Yes, it's quite profound once you begin to thi...Yes, it's quite profound once you begin to think about how it's even possible...Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-15372873338534731862010-08-20T09:14:13.733-07:002010-08-20T09:14:13.733-07:00"Back to the Bible for a moment. I've alw..."Back to the Bible for a moment. I've always had the suspicion that the story of Cain and Abel is actually a collective memory about the genocide of our nearest genetic neighbor, Neanderthal man."<br /><br />Wondered about that too... sometimes it's nice not to be a lone loon (but of course the company... might see it differently).<br /><br />"Rather, he's talking about abstract exchange, which eventually leads to the total abstraction of money. This new kind of exchange is "a thing of explosive possibility, a thing that breeds, explodes, grows, auto-catalyzes.""<br /><br />I wonder... before exchange comes something <i>to</i> exchange. And that there would be value (there's an abstract big bang all it's own) in making an exchange, rather than just the old standby of 'see, kill, take - have a nice day'.<br /><br />But that first item that was exchanged... random arbitrary thought here, but I wonder if it was either a Stone axe that was similar but different from the others... or maybe... just maybe... while knapping on a flawed stone, it chipped in such a way that Mr. Geico couldn't help but notice that it looked similar to Mrs. Geico, gave up on the axe and fell into clarifying that similarity. A whole lot of first's might have come out of such an 'ah-hah!' moment.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.com