tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post2896798100003418065..comments2024-03-28T20:04:20.286-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: You Are Entitled to the Damn Explanation!Gagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-61607420781219688562015-07-25T06:55:01.021-07:002015-07-25T06:55:01.021-07:00Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back...Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-41074831810988654262015-07-25T06:33:22.684-07:002015-07-25T06:33:22.684-07:00I think there are a number of parables which touch...I think there are a number of parables which touch on this. Maybe all of them. The tares. The talents. The one about the two people working in the field, one is taken the other is left (I forget which one that is) This original sin bizness is ripe for exploration here. And by here I mean OC. Wink wink, nudge nudge.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13720790978632771716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-61210327989677784162015-07-24T15:09:26.236-07:002015-07-24T15:09:26.236-07:00On the plus side, you may be able to enjoy that Co...On the plus side, you may be able to enjoy that Coke guilt-free after all; apparently Coke is claiming to have had nothing to do with PP at all, as are Xerox and Ford. So that's something, anyway.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-13760429494965081452015-07-24T13:30:54.939-07:002015-07-24T13:30:54.939-07:00Yes, I agree. With apologies; what I was trying ve...Yes, I agree. With apologies; what I was trying very inartfully to get across was something like an epiphany of the human condition. One of those ineffable moments that can't really be described, but instead of being beautiful it was like the inverse of "everything is all one and everything is groovy...," or "yes, God really loves <i>everybody</i>." A sort of <i>put ON the glasses</i> moment, if you will. Or like discovering that <i>everybody</i> has congenital leprosy, though some cases are advanced while others are barely noticeable.<br /><br />Original sin is one of those concepts I've struggled with from time to time, though not recently, because it just seems so awful. Why should the innocent be tarred with the same brush as the guilty? The issues of the day simply clarified it, in a sense. If just a handful of those businesses act to support evil, it does affect <i>everyone</i>. And even knowing that, I have no plans to stop doing business with pretty much any of them. I am no better.<br /><br />All that said, no worries. I'm not turning into the guy from today's post, much less a leftist ;)juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-40598024630331627922015-07-24T10:42:36.684-07:002015-07-24T10:42:36.684-07:00I didn't disagree with our uncleanness. Years ...I didn't disagree with our uncleanness. Years ago I suggested here that no one is off the hook. I'm offering some proportion (if it helps). I think a person can worry too much (I'm that kind of person) and it <i>can</i> become an obsession or render the person nonfunctioning (from time to time or worse). Basically, it can become an idol or -- turn one into a leftist. Benevolent vice comes to mind, also. Plus >>>> I have bigger sins of my own to fry than worry about what some marketing genius at Coke decides to make of my nickel today or maybe tomorrow. This nickelhead can't keep track!<br /><br />On theotherhand, back to proportion and original sin, ever since Origen practically said something nice about Judas in Spirit & Fire (not really, only compared to what's <i>always</i> said about him), I couldn't help wondering, how much difference was Judas than the other eleven. (forgive me, I realize...) But there is a phrase in one of the Gospels something to the effect, "all of their hands were on the table".Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13720790978632771716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-89628890784205871072015-07-24T08:49:20.772-07:002015-07-24T08:49:20.772-07:00I do believe there is a difference. But... that&#...I do believe there is a difference. But... that's not the same as saying that we are entirely clean, either.<br /><br />Father Stephen had a good post up before Easter (Orthodox time), where he discussed the Orthodox <a href="http://blogs.ancientfaith.com/glory2godforallthings/2014/02/28/forgiveness-do-we-know-what-were-doing/" rel="nofollow">Rite of Forgiveness</a>; like the saying of "Peace be with you" during the Catholic Mass, except you say to everyone around you - friend, family, or total stranger, "Forgive me." <br /><br />The point is, we may be entirely ignorant of the sins to which we are tied, and of which we are asking forgiveness. Nevertheless, like giving our money to people who then give some portion to those who murder children "for the common good," we are still connected to it, and since it is virtually impossible to separate our money from theirs, we are <i>still</i> funding it, whether we know it or not. We are not directly guilty, but neither are we clean.<br /><br />This issue though stands almost more as an illustration of what original sin means: if it were not state-sanctioned abortion, it would be some other atrocity. It <i>is</i> some other atrocity, or host of atrocities, rather, and would be even if we were part of some tiny tribe living "uncontacted" in the middle of a jungle somewhere, where they occasionally bury their kids alive for being too annoying or burdensome. <br /><br />What got to me yesterday was similar to what happens when one realizes, to one's very marrow and not merely intellectually, that one is going to die. It was as though my eyes were opened and I realized that every single living person was corrupted with the blood of innocents - or becoming rotten in some way, like a zombie or a ghoul. Everyone, myself included, even to those who, never having done any wrong (having only moments ago been conceived) - even they are already touched, because their very existence happened <i>in part</i> (however minuscule) <i>because</i> someone innocent was killed.<br /><br />And now, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=cute+kittens&client=opera&hs=FWM&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMI6f-D8I30xgIVCiseCh30OAOQ&biw=1193&bih=582" rel="nofollow">some kittens</a>.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-11543884954759083452015-07-24T07:56:51.381-07:002015-07-24T07:56:51.381-07:00Not only do I hope there is a big difference betwe...Not only do I hope there is a big difference between donating to PP (supporting) and simply buying a coke, I think there is one (gulp). God knows plenty and he must know I am pro life and doing what you can.<br /><br />It reminds me a little of the cake baking thing. If it were me, I'd have probably just baked the thing. I think of it as, "am I blessing this?" and humility makes me think I'm not qualified to bless it.<br /><br />I'm going with this for now. I'm still a stranger in a strange land.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13720790978632771716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-22136554940960757112015-07-24T07:43:57.899-07:002015-07-24T07:43:57.899-07:00Nothing makes me feel safer than knowing the veter...Nothing makes me feel safer than knowing the veterans who carried weapons in our name can't bring a pocketknife to their hospital appointments. <br /><br />To get to the sheriff's office in our county now, I have to leave my "weapons" in the car, take off my belt and have my boots visually checked for contraband. Maybe I should wear a burka and sandals next time.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-19099241785051051802015-07-24T01:45:58.673-07:002015-07-24T01:45:58.673-07:00"Augros describes some of the characteristics..."Augros describes some of the characteristics of the Ultimate Explanation we're talking about: such explanations "convict us of their truth independently of any particular cases that help us to conceive them. Once we conceive them, that's enough; our conviction is complete and does not increase when we see more examples of such statements." In short, these are not inductive generalizations but local crystallizations of a nonlocal Truth, either deductive or direct (i.e., intellection or poetic).<br /><br />I'll take conviction over confusion every time.USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-53986133049534365972015-07-24T01:37:43.144-07:002015-07-24T01:37:43.144-07:00Yesterday, I went to the VA for a routine blood dr...Yesterday, I went to the VA for a routine blood draw, and I noticed there were more profane signs all over the place than there used to be.<br />Inscribed on the signs:<br /><br />For Your Safety<br />No firearms, knives or weapons are allowed at this facility.<br /><br />Yes, for the safety of jihadists and other evil scum intent on murdering veterans (or anyone else).<br />I'm a bit surprised they didn't have at least some of the signs in Farsi, or Arabic. Being as how worried the left is with hurting their feelings.<br />USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-80048704979283073142015-07-24T01:21:46.180-07:002015-07-24T01:21:46.180-07:00"A classic case would be "there is no su..."A classic case would be "there is no such thing as truth." Another is the denial of free will, for no one denies free will without exempting himself. Leftism is full of similarly self-refuting principles, e.g., homosexuality is genetic while sexuality is a social construct, or women and men are identical so women need special protection by the state, or a female has a right to choose unless she is inconvenient to the mother, etc."<br /><br />Or, Obama has to help Iran get nukes and money so they can make more war on civilization, otherwise we would hafta make war on Iran.USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-64235007984279542542015-07-23T18:11:14.649-07:002015-07-23T18:11:14.649-07:00Julie said "...which came with an increasingl...Julie said "...which came with an increasingly sinking feeling as I noted that not only do I use the services of most of those businesses, I am pretty much dependent upon some of them and can see no way to avoid that dependency."<br /><br />Yep. Planned Parenthood: Putting the truth into the title of corporate Human Resources departments.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-72591860040212792322015-07-23T15:01:14.375-07:002015-07-23T15:01:14.375-07:00Bob - Yes. It's one thing to know this "i...Bob - Yes. It's one thing to know this "intellectually," but entirely another to essentially look at oneself and realize that we haven't just picked up the cowpie, we've been bathing in it and probably eating it, too... and there's no option for taking it away. Or even if we do get cleaned up for a moment, it is as though the bathwater came from a basin surrounded by the same filth, and staying in the basin isn't an option.<br /><br />Leslie - yes, I've long come to accept that sort of thing. I just don't know that I <i>in</i>tuited it in quite the same way before.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-27022430112851394352015-07-23T14:58:25.018-07:002015-07-23T14:58:25.018-07:00Julie, it is so true and, at first horrifying, but...Julie, it is so true and, at first horrifying, but then, the reality of it sinks in, and all one can do is accept that you know it. My husband likes to tease me because I like clothing from a company that has a loathsome, leftist, celebrity endorser. I just fire back that the clothing he prefers, from a company in the NW, has gaia as its focus, so...there we go. Simply by existing. Sigh.Lesliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02284936021406079076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-2226913738836472222015-07-23T14:51:50.145-07:002015-07-23T14:51:50.145-07:00That's an idea that occurred to me awhile back...That's an idea that occurred to me awhile back and also helped me understand original sin. Actually, it was from an author whose name I can't recall. The whole human system is so rotten, it is almost impossible to avoid contamination. Like touching pitch. Or picking up the clean end of a cow pie. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-41325565779314883692015-07-23T14:28:43.440-07:002015-07-23T14:28:43.440-07:00Along those lines, I realized just now that I fina...Along those lines, I realized just now that I finally and horribly understand, at a visceral level, the concept of original sin.<br /><br />Earlier I saw a list of <a href="http://www.redstate.com/2015/07/23/coca-cola-cocacola-and-verizon-verizon-have-subsidized-the-brutal-killing-of-animals/" rel="nofollow">some of the top 40 donors</a> to Planned Parenthood, which came with an increasingly sinking feeling as I noted that not only do I use the services of most of those businesses, I am pretty much dependent upon some of them and can see no way to avoid that dependency. Setting aside of course the tax dollars that go directly from my pocket to Planned Parenthood's. Even pretending for a moment that I could drop everything, move with my family to an isolated region and live off the grid on a homestead, even then I would be dependent upon the assistance of others. <i>Every American life</i> is tainted by this, and no small portion of the rest of the world. Even that guy who was living in the Maine woods unseen by another human for twenty years - <i>even that guy</i> subsisted on products supplied by some of those businesses, and he never would have survived out there without them. That's not even to mention our dependency on China, whose one child policy has resulted in the murder of untold numbers of babies and toddlers conceived without state approval.<br /><br />The link here to original sin is that <i>simply by existing</i>, we are linked to that atrocity, pretty much from the moment of conception.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=cute+raccoon+pups&client=opera&hs=r4P&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMIn76j8pjyxgIVxnUeCh32mwM6&biw=1193&bih=582" rel="nofollow">Here's something cute to make up for that uncheerful thought...</a>juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-70333726030479111242015-07-23T13:15:08.294-07:002015-07-23T13:15:08.294-07:00And an airtight alibi. And an airtight alibi. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-4116378621122517192015-07-23T12:31:23.369-07:002015-07-23T12:31:23.369-07:00The post-modern and modern mind doesn't want a...The post-modern and modern mind doesn't want an explanation. It wants an excuse. mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-2879277188021465802015-07-23T10:40:14.487-07:002015-07-23T10:40:14.487-07:00"Augros says that "many trails lead to t..."Augros says that "many trails lead to the first cause," but in actuality all trails must lead there. Scientism is like a pathological inversion of this, for all scientistic trails lead back and down to matter, energy, and chemistry. Again, the latter is an "ultimate" explanation until you ask, say, what energy actually is. If your interlocutor is intellectually honest, he will respond "who the hell knows?"<br /><br />Which brings us back to paragraph one above, i.e., no explanation at all."<br /><br />'Zactly. The pretense that pointing to some particular things, or more likely, calculations which presume them to be there, is any sort of satisfying answer to Whys or Wholes, is... like claiming to take deep and satisfying drinks from a sieve. And then wiping their lips. Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-79985578889993596612015-07-23T09:53:04.075-07:002015-07-23T09:53:04.075-07:00Weird - the quote went missing but that last comme...Weird - the quote went missing but that last comment was in reference to nonlocal truth and Augros' Ultimate Explanation.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-83956835277845697252015-07-23T09:44:23.994-07:002015-07-23T09:44:23.994-07:00At Vanderleun's yesterday, he had a post about...<br /><br />At Vanderleun's yesterday, he had a post about <a href="http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/citizens/david_gelernter_on_americ.php" rel="nofollow">transhumanism</a> and the potential of science to eventually "abolish the human race" by technologies to increase IQ and lifespan to essentially give limitless intelligence and immortality.<br /><br />To which I can only shrug. Even imagining for a moment that a person could have an IQ of 1,000, that would not change one iota the basic truths upon which reality is founded. Such a high IQ might simply drive one to madness in the face of the reality that no matter how smart one may be, there are limits to how the cosmos may be manipulated, and there are moral limits which no amount of towering intellect can overcome (see Solomon for details). Understanding these limits is wisdom, but it doesn't require a genius to get it.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-37919200380728716572015-07-23T09:22:39.003-07:002015-07-23T09:22:39.003-07:00But it seems to me that the best any scientific di...<i>But it seems to me that the best any scientific discipline can do is expand its particular tauto-logos. Thus, the quantum-relativistic world is "bigger" than the Newtonian, but it still has its limits.</i><br /><br />I was reminded the other day of how Zeno's paradox, in a purely logical sense, must be true: for any one object to approach another, it must half and half and half the distance, in an asymptotic progression that never quite reaches its destination, and so perhaps on a quantum level they never <i>actually</i> touch (and thus the space between particles is essentially infinite). And yet, lived experience demonstrates that it is also completely wrong. Otherwise no existence would be possible.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-31061727949949362552015-07-23T09:09:16.430-07:002015-07-23T09:09:16.430-07:00Meh. As I told him, the size of the cosmos is simp...<i>Meh. As I told him, the size of the cosmos is simply an artifact of how long it has been here. In other words, since it's been expanding for 13.7 years, it had better be pretty damn big.</i><br /><br />I'm reminded of a bit of Sherlock Holmes lore, that he really didn't care to know whether the earth revolved around the sun or vice versa, since down here it pretty much amounted to the same thing and the space in his brain used to understand the planets could be better used for solving mysteries at the human level.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-79350747526974249222015-07-23T08:41:09.222-07:002015-07-23T08:41:09.222-07:00...no scientific explanation can ever be ultimate....<i>...no scientific explanation can ever be ultimate. I mean, this is obvious now thanks to Gödel, but it shouldn't take a paranoid logician to bring home such an obvious truth -- that any merely human explanation is going to be soph-tautologous.</i><br /><br />Indeed, it's so obvious that any average middle-schooler should be able to understand. And yet often, the smarter people are, the harder they fight against the reality. juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.com