tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post8921135171075014835..comments2024-03-28T20:04:20.286-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: You Must Have a Whole In Your Head!Gagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-30053535871745153202010-02-06T09:21:55.779-08:002010-02-06T09:21:55.779-08:00NB said "For me it was yet another sigh of re...NB said "For me it was yet another sigh of relief (and heartfelt prayers of thanks) that everything was green lighted across the board. Baby is a girl, and she is 80 percentile size-wise (2.5 lb now)"<br /><br />Hey NB, coongrats to you and your 'old lady' (sheesh), for making some <i>real</i> progress!Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-73814751238596129582010-02-06T09:17:19.931-08:002010-02-06T09:17:19.931-08:00"If you really know what knowledge is, you kn..."If you really know what knowledge is, you know that it could only be anchored in the permanent, the absolute, and the eternal. Otherwise it is opinion, precisely, in a world where only opinion is possible. And to have "faith in opinion" makes no sense at all."<br /><br />Wham. The leftist probably doesn't even realize they've been struck when reading that... just wonders where the sudden dizziness and all the stars came from.<br /><br />"A second principle is of the utmost importance, and this is the very idea of a universe, for anyone who says "universe" says "God." No one has ever seen this thing called "universe," and no one ever will. Rather, it is the assumption of an internally related "totality of contingent but rationally coherent beings.""<br /><br />If you grew up within a sphere, if paying attention, you'd gno that it was round and surrounded you... but you'd have no way of knowing whether it more resembled a ping-pong or basketball... let alone anything about the game being played. Doesn't seem to stop folks from defining some whacky rules for dribbling or the impossibility of there being any outside containing their inside, or even of all of the curved surfaces ever making up one sphere though.<br /><br />"With me, the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man's mind, which has been developed from the mind of lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy. Would anyone trust the convictions of a monkey's mind, if there were any convictions in such a mind?"<br /><br />There's an inner view into what becomes of the mind of a man who has traded all of his knowledge for opinion... who has transformed all of his knowledge, and even the <i>possibility of knowledge</i>, into opinion. Skeptics are haunted by the ghost of what once lived, and which they murdered (<a href="http://www.bartleby.com/70/4151.html" rel="nofollow">'Out, damned spot! out, I say!</a> One; two: why, then, ’tis time to do ’t. Hell is murky! Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?'), within themselves.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-15127437788016115672010-02-06T08:50:42.945-08:002010-02-06T08:50:42.945-08:00"This is why, ultimately, a science that deni..."This is why, ultimately, a science that denies either the vertical or the horizontal breaks down into metaphysical incoherence."<br /><br />Bingo. And which is why this,<br /><br />"To align oneself with the Absolute by knowing what is true, doing what is virtuous, loving what is beautiful, and being what is real."<br /><br />is so whOlly dead on true.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-38821642441204129662010-02-06T08:41:50.371-08:002010-02-06T08:41:50.371-08:00"Jaki points out how common it is for even --..."Jaki points out how common it is for even -- or again, perhaps especially! -- the man of genius to "be blinded by the logic of his initial presuppositions." Get those presuppositions wrong, and everything you build upon those assumptions will be wrong, regardless of your intellectual candlepower."<br /><br />Got that right. Hippocrates was a man of genius began medicine as being reliant on observations of facts, inferring causes and experimenting with cures (and as such <i>might</i> have a claim to being the first actual Science, as it did have an actual goal of life and health... but separate from ideas of creation and purpose... went little further), but his initial presuppositions assumed illness was caused by an imbalance of the humours... and that was a fundamental error that drove doctors and medicine for thousands of years... and it's patients into the grave.<br /><br />Paracelsus (you gotta look at his <i>real</i> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus" rel="nofollow">name</a>) was a man of genius, he rejected using magic in medicine, pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals, created laudanum... but the four humours still drove medicine with the idea that they had to be cleansed by things like purging and bloodletting.<br /><br />Even after Harvey described the circulatory system, those initial presuppositions drove the development of medicine <i>because</i> of the intelligence and genius of it's practitioners.<br /><br />And for NB's and Julie's comments about global warming... we are at <i>best</i> at the point of, say, Harvey's discovery of the circulatory system... but we haven't even begun to discover things like the composition of blood, let alone electrolytes, etc. Any attempts to act on our current 'knowledge' of how climate and weather operate, will doubtlessly have a similar effect as those well meaning, highly intelligent, doctors who tried to help George Washington to recover from his illness, bleeding him and giving him 'medicine' which actually put him in the grave.<br /><br />We of course need to pay attention, observe, try not to be stupid... but to think that we can 'fix' anything... takes the concept of Hubris to a whole new level. <br /><br />We just ain't there yet, and we need to have the wit to recognize it... but that'll take regaining the philosophical attitude that we can actually know something about reality, which for all it's current claims, modern Science, rooted in Hume's notions, does <i>not</i> believe, and so their ideas start at the top... and cherry pick what 'evidence' it can find that will fit into a facade of support for it - not as scaffolding, but as theatrical sets.<br /><br />Bogus from the get go (Hey NB and other techno-coons, ever come across an extensive application designed by some IT genius who fundamentally misunderstood a core business rule (probably never checked it with the actual <i>users</i>, rather than just their mgr's) and built that error into a root class which everything else in the application inherits from? And then you have to come in and try to 'fix' it? Oh My!).<br /><br />Until we again discover reality, and it's metaphysical roots and Wholeness... fragmentation is all that will follow.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-88602027531830667482010-02-05T20:51:17.276-08:002010-02-05T20:51:17.276-08:00To bulid a house you need to know what a house is ...To bulid a house you need to know what a house is <i>for</i>.<br />Same with science. Most importantly with man.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-40546654908507883182010-02-05T18:37:23.250-08:002010-02-05T18:37:23.250-08:00I like this one. I'll have to think about it....I like this one. I'll have to think about it.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-69895602921274144372010-02-05T16:10:41.127-08:002010-02-05T16:10:41.127-08:00Amen to that!Amen to that!Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06708393262849661076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81451244048981603222010-02-05T15:51:28.202-08:002010-02-05T15:51:28.202-08:00To align oneself with the Absolute by knowing what...To align oneself with the Absolute by knowing what is true, doing what is virtuous, loving what is beautiful, and being what is real.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-87627507642067983602010-02-05T15:45:28.298-08:002010-02-05T15:45:28.298-08:00What is the proper aim of life?What is the proper aim of life?black holehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07366633817665791528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-37672619494585163822010-02-05T15:37:28.529-08:002010-02-05T15:37:28.529-08:00Oh, yeah - and deforestation. Because trees never ...Oh, yeah - and deforestation. Because trees never ever grow back. Especially not in the rainforest.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-88109422656998149232010-02-05T15:36:04.564-08:002010-02-05T15:36:04.564-08:00I try not to keep too much of that near my head at...I try not to keep too much of that near my head at any given time; leads to headaches...<br /><br />As far as weather catastrophes go, I was thinking of acid rain and the ozone layer, the two big ones constantly pounded into our brains while I was in school.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-34765510977952050032010-02-05T15:23:26.530-08:002010-02-05T15:23:26.530-08:00The left wing assault on science never ends: seco...The left wing assault on science never ends: second hand smoke, alar in apples, global cooling, global warming, bilingual education, keynesian economics, DDT, genes cause homosexuality, no differences between boys and girls, embryo stem cells, rent control, anti-nuclear power... And those are just off the top of my head...Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-45690724702731610042010-02-05T15:20:42.240-08:002010-02-05T15:20:42.240-08:00I'm with you on that one. To go back a point, ...I'm with you on that one. To go back a point, though, you're half right: a tremendous amount of damage has been done. But. Not so much to <i>science</i>, as to the credibility of those who claim the title of scientist. Quite simply, too many people saw them as infallible and somehow superhuman, including many of the scientists themselves. Now that their all-too-humanness has been exposed, many people will <i>dis</i>trust them as much as they trusted them before. <br /><br />For a while, I think science may even benefit as scientists struggle to prove themselves again, meaning that (hopefully) they will be more rigorous in sticking to truth and backing it up with lots of evidence. Some will probably even go too far in that direction, mistaking quantity of information for quality. But, human nature being what it is, eventually they'll get cocky again. And of course, others will never learn.<br /><br />For instance, the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/farming/6828878/Britain-facing-food-crisis-as-worlds-soil-vanishes-in-60-years.html" rel="nofollow">next disaster</a> is already upon us. The question is, will common sense rule the day or will this be just another excuse to institute draconian control measures of dubious benefit whose real fruit will be to line the pockets of "earnest" researchers?<br /><br />Yeah, that's rhetorical. If those figures are remotely accurate, the common sense approach would be to see what America is doing right, improve on that, and get everyone else up to speed. Instead, count on America being global enemy #1, with massive changes demanded to drag us down to speed with everyone else.<br /><br />I'd love to be pleasantly surprised, though.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-899670040415777792010-02-05T14:52:27.633-08:002010-02-05T14:52:27.633-08:00julie:
To clarify further what I meant re legitim...julie:<br /><br />To clarify further what I meant re legitimate climate science, while I am totally against the leftist factor in this thing, I never want to become like them, except in the opposite direction. Most leftists will not accept counter-evidence for global warming no matter how solid. Although it is exceedingly unlikely, <i>in principle</i> if some <i>bona fide</i> scientific breakthrough emerged tomorrow essentially proving that AGW was real and dangerous, then I would not hang on to my anti-AGW "dogma" the way the leftists have done despite the crushing blows to the IPCC et al in recent months.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-9773135315334499772010-02-05T14:46:03.935-08:002010-02-05T14:46:03.935-08:00julie:
You and I are in complete agreement about ...julie:<br /><br />You and I are in complete agreement about the travesty of the AGW "movement". <br /><br />One of the things that truly pains me about this whole episode is the <i>damage to science itself</i>. <br /><br />We just got our "extra" ultrasound because at 36 years old L. is classed as "old" when it comes to pregnancies. For me it was yet another sigh of relief (and heartfelt prayers of thanks) that everything was green lighted across the board. Baby is a girl, and she is 80 percentile size-wise (2.5 lb now).Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-36054142451628883802010-02-05T13:49:50.532-08:002010-02-05T13:49:50.532-08:00Sometimes though we forget that there are legitima...<i>Sometimes though we forget that there are legitimate scientific questions about if and how we do actually affect the climate.</i><br /><br />But there's the rub: first, scientists in general need to admit that there is so much that is completely unknown, and also that the climate is affected by any number of variables that are both vaster by orders of magnitude than man-made effects (for instance, <i>the sun</i> and volcanic activity) and completely beyond the ability of man to control. Additionally, the notion that "climate change" of any kind is bad is, quite frankly, incredibly stupid and unworthy of any individual capable of giving the subject more than a moment's thought. I'll take a warming trend over an ice age any century, but that's just because I like it warm. What I really prefer is a climate that changes. That's because stasis = death, whether we're speaking of cells, living bodies or planetary weather systems. Don't trust anyone who tells you otherwise. Is it important to come to a better understanding of weather and how it works? Absolutely. But panicking because things change should not be part of that understanding. Like anything worth knowing, it should be approached with dispassionate curiosity and a desire to grasp the truth, whether the findings are to our liking or not.<br /><br />With that in mind, the satellite data is interesting, but also exceedingly incomplete and still not cause for panic (and for clarity's sake, I know you're not panicking, NB. But there are plenty of people heavily invested in their belief of AGW who will seize that evidence as proof that they're right and we're all gonna burn). Without being able to see data points for a vast variety of locations on the globe it's like listing average incomes for the entire world since 1970. You can see that things are happening, but what they mean if that's all there is to work with is anyone's guess.<br /><br />Now, if you want to speak about being good stewards of the land, I'm all too happy to listen. But from what I've seen, the best way to achieve general good stewardship is to improve everyone's standard of living, in both horizontal and vertical senses. And again, dispassionate moderation is key.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-44382985093932942842010-02-05T13:24:17.843-08:002010-02-05T13:24:17.843-08:00Dave,
God is not the "scaffolding" whic...Dave,<br /><br />God is not the "scaffolding" which supports the building. God is both the ground and gravity itself. These are necessary for a building and are of course taken for granted by the builders.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-17101833675983993282010-02-05T13:17:52.155-08:002010-02-05T13:17:52.155-08:00Julie:
I'm every bit as skeptical of the left...Julie:<br /><br />I'm every bit as skeptical of the leftist "global warming" bandwagon as anyone.<br /><br />Sometimes though we forget that there are legitimate scientific questions about if and how we do actually affect the climate. If definitive evidence were discovered tomorrow by a <i>trustworthy source</i> (i.e., someone not remotely "progressive") then I would not let the fact that the Left exploits and lies about climate science cloud my reaction to the real deal.<br /><br />Now, this of course is likely to be a blip of some sort, however I find it mildly interesting that Roy Spencer (a truly reliable climatologist who has rejected the leftist shenanigans from day one) has observed that <a href="http://www.drroyspencer.com/2010/02/january-2010-uah-global-temperature-update-0-72-deg-c/" rel="nofollow">January 2010 is the hottest since satellite records began</a>.<br /><br />If we could somehow keep the progressives out of the picture, science would progress so much faster. As GB said, the Left <i>hates</i> science (and the true Christian loves it).Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-20093520771408934812010-02-05T12:41:07.141-08:002010-02-05T12:41:07.141-08:00That is correct. Science exist because of God, no...That is correct. Science exist because of God, not vice versa.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-77689528362118671552010-02-05T12:35:58.943-08:002010-02-05T12:35:58.943-08:00It's at least plausible that Christianity was ...It's at least plausible that Christianity was necessary for the development of modern science. That does not in itself, however, say anything one way or the other about the truth of Christianity. Consider how scaffolding and cranes are necessary for the erection of a building, but once the building is complete they are taken down.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15064596977966715164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-38152687493909226882010-02-05T11:57:35.874-08:002010-02-05T11:57:35.874-08:00In the absence of this whole, science becomes an a...<i>In the absence of this whole, science becomes an ad hoc enterprise, a pile of debris with no unifying center, no genuine coherence, and no ultimate aim.</i><br /><br />Or occasionally, <a href="http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/02/03/credibility-is-what-is-really-melting/" rel="nofollow">there is an aim</a> - to line somebody's pockets by creating a sense of urgency in the hearts of Gaia-worshipping do-gooders, who then mistakenly believe (without questioning the source of their particular brand of revelation; after all, "the science is settled") that there is a unifying center: to save the world. Best accomplished by doing away with man as such, one way or another.<br /><br />Steyn: <i>By 2008, Syed Hasnain’s decade-old casual chit-chat over the phone to a London journalist had become “settled science,” so Dr. Pachauri’s company TERI (The Energy & Resources Institute) approached the Carnegie Corporation for a grant to research “challenges to South Asia posed by melting Himalayan glaciers,” and was rewarded with half a million bucks. Which they promptly used to hire Syed Hasnain. In other words, professor Hasnain has landed a cushy gig researching solutions to an entirely non-existent global crisis he accidentally invented over a 15-minute phone call 10 years earlier. As they say in the glacier business, ice work if you can get it.</i>juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-53510004876260670302010-02-05T11:56:36.340-08:002010-02-05T11:56:36.340-08:00Which leads to a thought experiment: what would a ...Which leads to a thought experiment: what would a Wikipedia article on the Way of the Raccoon look like? What if we had to explain things in an article accessible to anyone so that they would come away with some inkling of what we're on about? I mean, we all had to start somewhere, right?<br /><br />BTW, the phrase "one cosmos under god" gets 8 hits on Wikipedia now (and yes, they're references to the Coonifesto).Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81695850376432949002010-02-05T11:49:55.781-08:002010-02-05T11:49:55.781-08:00One of the more common refrains at the annual Vill...One of the more common refrains at the annual Village Atheist Convention in Rio Linda is how "christianists" are attempting to drag mankind back to the dork ages, before illustrious Science magically popped into existence in order to sweep cheap myth-making aside.<br /><br />How many of those Rio Linda atheists would comprehend today's column? Honest question, how many would be <i>capable of comprehending</i> what is being said? As GB said the other day, you can't really converse with these people since you can understand 100% of their points while they lack essential background and the inclination to understand those strange raccoon scratchings...Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-23295148991801036912010-02-05T10:51:03.801-08:002010-02-05T10:51:03.801-08:00"In the absence of this whole ... It becomes...<i>"In the absence of this whole ... It becomes all bricks with no mortar, an arch with no keystone, the Beatles with no Ringo."</i><br /><br />Hey: <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1248085/Why-Ive-turned-God-70-reformed-Ringo-Starr.html" rel="nofollow">Ringo found the whole in <i>his</i> head.</a>walthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01388218390016612051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-5091808127744711302010-02-05T10:37:53.545-08:002010-02-05T10:37:53.545-08:00It's lucky I look good in a hat.It's lucky I look good in a <a href="http://www.beyondtherainbow2oz.com/pic07tin-man.jpg" rel="nofollow">hat</a>.robinstarfishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15665546554663005609noreply@blogger.com