tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post5233639672093861981..comments2024-03-27T11:16:36.951-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Everything Must Go!Gagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-70867434433301281742008-04-04T06:42:00.000-07:002008-04-04T06:42:00.000-07:00anon 4:59 holler back Thanks for the advice, Nomo....anon 4:59 holler back<BR/> <BR/>Thanks for the advice, Nomo. I will keep on.<BR/><BR/>Bob's "flatland literalism" phrase is just beautiful. It is the very thing that bound the Pharisees during the Incarnation, and binds their heirs today: limiting God to the two-dimensions of the printed page. <BR/><BR/> See Jesus! The Word in 3-D! (at least)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-76706128965024824142008-04-04T01:25:00.000-07:002008-04-04T01:25:00.000-07:00"Is there such a thing as a "rhetorical answer"? -..."Is there such a thing as a "rhetorical answer"? - an answer that gives you the question you didn't know you wanted to ask?"<BR/><BR/>Good point, Alan!<BR/><BR/>When I read Bob's posts, and when they reasonate so strongly, it is as if Bob has organized the messy clauset and jungle of thoughts I have, producing a deja vu effect.<BR/><BR/>"Hey! I've seen that! I've experienced that revelation! I gno that questyon!"<BR/><BR/>Sort if like Bob is tweaking my song and turning it into a hit.<BR/><BR/>Sometimes this is only a parshow <BR/>O-ffect, and sometimes it's an entirely gnew question that I reconeyes, but the song still resonates and expands my realization in some way or two. <BR/><BR/>I keep hearing and seeing these songs in my dreams, although I can't write them as I saw it there. <BR/><BR/>That doesn't stop me from tryin', however. :^)<BR/><BR/>Thanks Bob, for O'ganizing my gOrage! Now I can park my carma in there.USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-2022306511515467672008-04-04T00:53:00.000-07:002008-04-04T00:53:00.000-07:00"To put it another way, your life depends on ident..."To put it another way, your life depends on identifying the right question."<BR/><BR/>As opposed to the inane (and insane) Wright question.USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-24079880656780471282008-04-04T00:51:00.000-07:002008-04-04T00:51:00.000-07:00"Only six comments yesterday. I don't know if clea..."Only six comments yesterday. I don't know if cleaning out Bob's journals in public is such a good idea. Seems to be driving away all but the stalkers."<BR/><BR/>I am...the Knight stalker! :^)<BR/><BR/>Hi Bob! I mentally responded to your post yesterday, but didn't get around to actually using the keyboard. <BR/>It amounted to over twenty comments though.USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-5476952660580503602008-04-03T21:12:00.000-07:002008-04-03T21:12:00.000-07:00Anon 4:59 - Just as long as you don't let the view...Anon 4:59 - Just as long as you don't let the views of others keep you from your own exploration of scripture.NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-42798880367055473492008-04-03T20:51:00.000-07:002008-04-03T20:51:00.000-07:00"...the absence of this "negative capability," whi..."...the absence of this "negative capability," which implies the ability to tolerate and withstand long periods of inner chaos, while the godhead--the a priori transcendental condition of the subject—evolves out of falsity and no-thing. In absence of this ability, a person, instead “seeing” that there is nothing to do except to the adhere to the eschaton, proceeds to use their finite minds to organize and rearrange chaotic nothingness as if moving things around is going change the content present."<BR/><BR/>Good comment Dusty, and I think it also applies to your following comment on the Science question. Science, when put to work on its realm, and acknowledging its patches of ignorance, can involve and even deepen wisdom - but failing to acknowledge where it has no knowledge, choosing to move "things around is going change the content present.", lets their air out. Few scientists (those seeking after publicity at any rate), would have the wisdom and courage of Newton, who when pressed for an explanation of the source of Gravity said "I don't know",<BR/><BR/>"I have not yet been able to discover the cause of these properties of gravity from phenomena and I frame no hypotheses... It is enough that gravity does really exist and acts according to the laws I have explained, and that it abundantly serves to account for all the motions of celestial bodies."<BR/><BR/>Without the wisdom to admit the obvious, even without being fully able to explain it (though possessing enough to establish it), you'll end up saying things like "No one can prove anything", "I don't think there is any such thing as consciousness" and of course "No one can know anything".<BR/><BR/>Why is it that the lefites overdeveloped sense of irony completely misses their own situ... oh yeah... never mind.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-71970609015167077062008-04-03T20:02:00.000-07:002008-04-03T20:02:00.000-07:00What Alan as anon said at the top.What Alan as anon said at the top.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-63899866712244718802008-04-03T19:59:00.000-07:002008-04-03T19:59:00.000-07:00"... 5) a replacement of knowledge with a kind of ..."... 5) a replacement of knowledge with a kind of bovine skepticism and doubt, which results in refined stupidity displacing Truth, or an "anti-word" that attacks the very links that make existence comprehensible;"<BR/><BR/>As usual, you say it in about one tenth the space I need, but (warning:Shameless self Promotion) that's where I start in on poor Hume, in my latest post <A HREF="http://blogodidact.blogspot.com/2008/03/liberal-fascism-getting-to-root-of.html" REL="nofollow">Liberal Fascism - Getting to the Root of the Matter</A>:<BR/><BR/>"How this pertains to Hume, is that because of his peculiar manner of making his observations, he observed what he did not see and succeeded in convincing others that his myopic perspective was in fact the whole vista of what was there to be seen. In his blindness was sown the seeds of not seeing what was clearly there to be seen with two good eyes - but necessarily missed with a single microscope. He not only convinced others that what he didn’t see, was there to be seen by all, but that<I> in order <B>to claim to see</B>, you had to shut one eye and refuse to see the full picture</I>. The philosophic equivalent of zooming in on a picture of Marilyn Monroe so that only the pixels are visible, and claiming that to be conclusive proof not only that she was not beautiful, but that beauty itself is an illusion. What he didn’t see, was Causality, which means nothing less than our connection to reality – no causation, no connection to reality, no principles, no Good, no Beauty, no Truth.<BR/><BR/>It’s a biggee to miss out on."Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-76707507538065458992008-04-03T19:52:00.000-07:002008-04-03T19:52:00.000-07:00When I look at my notepad of pull quotes from your...When I look at my notepad of pull quotes from your journal pad, I see I've basically pulled the whole post... so... executing self restraint... I'll just pick one (uhm... one more, that is. ok, maybe two. Or three. Sue me.)<BR/><BR/>"...Religious wisdom can easily accommodate any scientific truth. But if religion is reduced to a kind of flatland literalism, then it immediately puts itself in competition with science for the best "horizontal explanation," and this is a battle it not only cannot win, but looks foolish trying. <BR/><BR/>Likewise, when science attempts to be a source of wisdom on its own level, it looks just as foolish as the fundamentalist who insists that the world is only 6,000 years old. You cannot derive values from science, any more than you can derive metaphysics from the empirical world. ..."<BR/><BR/>What is so frustrating is that that is so blatantly obvious - once you see it - and so completely missed - unless you're looking through it. Having for so long missed it as well... I try to empathize with people... as I'm whacking them for missing it. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy...."Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-35512193044048352602008-04-03T18:51:00.000-07:002008-04-03T18:51:00.000-07:00For the circling seagull.Happy to see you landing ...For the <A HREF="http://qpsquiptorum.blogspot.com/2008/04/quiescence.html" REL="nofollow"><I>circling seagull</I>.</A><BR/><BR/>Happy to see you landing on the keys here today.QPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15827536245376441948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-61754401825882153372008-04-03T18:15:00.000-07:002008-04-03T18:15:00.000-07:00"Ask the wrong question, and you might just waste ..."Ask the wrong question, and you might just waste the opportunity of a lifetime. "<BR/><BR/>Oh boy, if we could walk that one back in time to Hume & tell him not to waste his time asking <I>where</I> he could find his pieces of causality, but to instead concentrate on identifying reality, he might have found causes and effects to become apparent - Kant may have slept on, Marx might not have been missed, and Obama might have been Irish!Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-47668238938524466452008-04-03T17:16:00.000-07:002008-04-03T17:16:00.000-07:00Elephant, I'm delighted I helped add a little surr...Elephant, I'm delighted I helped add a little surreality to your day!<BR/><BR/>However, I do need to remember to set the safety on my hair-trigger knee ;)juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-62514882034944822362008-04-03T17:03:00.000-07:002008-04-03T17:03:00.000-07:00"Western societies find themselves in the odd posi..."Western societies find themselves in the odd position of giving priority to a class of human rights whose exercise seems inconsistent with the continued existence of humans." <BR/><BR/>This is from John Reilly's Homepage; no particular reason for it; just wanted to share....(and I like its Mark Steyn-ish attitude.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-15874564027795990112008-04-03T16:59:00.000-07:002008-04-03T16:59:00.000-07:00Regarding Jesus and His view of Scripture, the art...Regarding Jesus and His view of Scripture, the article seems to assert that because Jesus attested to the truth of the "Law and the Prophets" that means that everything is factual. <BR/><BR/>Obviously, there is a difference between Truth and facts. Truth may be related by a work of fiction -- examples abound, I will mention <I>The Lord of the Rings</I>. Facts may illustrate Truth if the facts are correctly understood. They may point to Truth, but they do not in and of themselves constitute Truth. <BR/><BR/>Scripture is often figurative and poetic. Mountains melt. Trees clap their hands. The Genesis account of creation would appear to be rendered using a poetic device that enables easy memorization. God isn't teaching science, He's giving revelation. The truth is important, the timeline not so much. <BR/><BR/>When people talk about finding the remains of Noah's ark or the earth being created in six 24-days in the year 4004 B.C., I find myself alternating between cringes and yawns.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-44187648116338051742008-04-03T16:42:00.000-07:002008-04-03T16:42:00.000-07:00Julie said: "in a solar system just far away enou...Julie said: "in a solar system just far away enough from nearby stars to avoid being zapped in a gamma ray burst or other dangerous stellar event (so far, at least)"<BR/><BR/>This gave something to be - <BR/><BR/>a)thankful for [along with many other things, of course.] <BR/><BR/>and <BR/><BR/>b)a refreshingly far away back up to be concerned with if I'm ever tempted to fret over rising seas or other such matters. (Jesus sleeping in boat event.)Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16900344453710081874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-57494288755415519332008-04-03T16:25:00.000-07:002008-04-03T16:25:00.000-07:00Not picking on Julie's comment, of course... it w...Not picking on Julie's comment, of course... it was just surreal... <BR/>or something. :)Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16900344453710081874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-2337620345907529732008-04-03T16:24:00.000-07:002008-04-03T16:24:00.000-07:00Personally, I'm delirious from a moving process, s...Personally, I'm delirious from a moving process, so when I read Julie's comment, the world just became a little more surreal, as suddenly there was a detailed, articulate discussion about the veracity of alien life form existence theories. Sleep deprivation can color things humorous in amazingly abstract ways, and this was somehow a little funny to me then.Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16900344453710081874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-75031584060056173722008-04-03T15:57:00.000-07:002008-04-03T15:57:00.000-07:00Nomo - at times :)Nomo - at times :)juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-49345377900472767102008-04-03T15:41:00.000-07:002008-04-03T15:41:00.000-07:00Julie - You're so serious. ;^) I was really just ...Julie - You're so serious. ;^) I was really just having fun with the title of the article. But seriously, if the Creator has other beings "in His image" elsewhere in this vast universe, I suspect we won't know until we meet them - in the afterlife (be there or be nowhere). And they have nothing to do with us in this life. IMHONoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-51099527139192327372008-04-03T15:23:00.000-07:002008-04-03T15:23:00.000-07:00Here's a follow-on to comments last week. Perhaps ...Here's a follow-on to comments last week. Perhaps barbaric-Islam will be eroded from the inside-out:<BR/><BR/>"Ex-Muslim Magdi Allam's very public baptism on Easter Sunday made headlines, but he is just one among legions converting from Islam around the world."<BR/><BR/>Muslims Leaving Islam in Droves<BR/><BR/>http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/muslims-<BR/>leaving-islam-in-droves/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-88324049204537725932008-04-03T15:00:00.000-07:002008-04-03T15:00:00.000-07:00Just came from checking-out BookTV's weekend sched...Just came from checking-out BookTV's weekend schedule: once again a veritable river of word-diarrhoea. It's like they get infected with a form of Leftist Amoebic dysentery & crap just spews forth in an unstoppable torrent.<BR/><BR/>Oh dear.<BR/><BR/>What a crack-up to juxtapose these bobservation-kernels with that flatland-ocean of blah blah blah.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-46386885301567788892008-04-03T14:55:00.000-07:002008-04-03T14:55:00.000-07:00Nomo, I don't know (about the extraterrestrial lif...Nomo, I don't know (about the extraterrestrial life). The article says that ancient cellulose fibers have been found in salt deposits on Earth, not that they've been found on Mars; rather, it notes that since Mars has salt deposits, if fossils are present that's where they might be found.<BR/><BR/>Also, while the conditions for bacterial/microbial growth and life forms may be abundantly present throughout the universe (they grow in a startling array of seemingly inhospitable places on this planet), but the conditions required for <I>advanced</I> life to evolve are much more strict. In order for Earth to be hospitable, it has to be just the right distance from the sun, made from just the right materials, with a large moon that stabilizes the rotation of the planet and provides some small protection from incoming objects, in a solar system just far away enough from nearby stars to avoid being zapped in a gamma ray burst or other dangerous stellar event (so far, at least), plus about a million other variables both know and unknown that make this planet uniquely friendly to multicellular life. <BR/><BR/>There may actually be other such havens scattered across the universe, but odds are it's taking them the same amount of time to evolve as it's taking us, and they're probably just as isolated as we are. The chance that we'll ever make contact with such life seems decidedly slim.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-62325500429886370362008-04-03T14:19:00.000-07:002008-04-03T14:19:00.000-07:00Which, BTW, is the Orthodox understanding of a the...Which, BTW, is the Orthodox understanding of a theologian. A quick google search reveals that<BR/><BR/>"When referring to Orthodox theology, we do not simply mean a history of theology... In Patristic tradition, theologians are the God-seers... Intellectual theology differs greatly from the experience of the vision of God, to the illumination of the nous and to divinisation (theosis). Theology is the fruit of man's cure and the path which leads to cure and the acquisition of the knowledge of God."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-40116065508067277812008-04-03T14:17:00.000-07:002008-04-03T14:17:00.000-07:00Hey, there's one from yesterday - "It is one of th...Hey, there's one from yesterday - "It is one of the many reasons I don't believe in extra-terrestrial life.." I don't know, you might have to <A HREF="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,345791,00.html" REL="nofollow">rethink that</A>.NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-75235418997510945562008-04-03T14:10:00.000-07:002008-04-03T14:10:00.000-07:00Very good point about Jesus. By definition he wou...Very good point about Jesus. By definition he would have to both encompass and transcend theology.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com