Shining the light of truth on delusion
This is going to be a long and detailed post. I am breaking it into smaller sections which should stand on their own. Also included here will be plenty of links if you wish to follow them into the fascinating worlds to which they lead. This will be part one of what I expect to …
Continue reading "The Origin and Meaning of Human Ethics (part 1)"
Just wanted to link this blog as it dovetails quite nicely with some of the ideas I am working with at my own site.
We’re unique creatures, humans. Not only are we conscious of our own mortality, but our survival is based solely on our ability to outwit the environment. We are vulnerable, soft, squishy, and unprotected…we probably taste like chicken. Humanity never developed the ability to outrun threats or blend into our surroundings. Rather, we utilize cognition and reason to navigate the world, and have developed tools that allow our success as a species.
Because our survival is dependent on our capacity to think…to fashion tools and to plan, our brains are very good at extrapolating information. We can take existing knowledge about the world and use it to fill in the blanks, positing theories about what is yet unknown. If the information is good, this strategy can be very successful. In his book The First Brain: The Neuroscience of Planarians, Dr. Oné Pagán discusses this concept. In regards to scientific Theory…
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Please excuse me while I go on a little rant. We're all probably guilty of this to one degree or another, but those of us still holding to conventional ideas of common courtesy pay a higher price. Let's begin, shall we? We have entered an era of 'microwave, I want it now' expediency. Everything we need or think …
Continue reading "The Decline of Civility in the Electronic Age"
I would like to take you on a personal journey. It is a journey I am hesitant to make as I will need to admit some things from earlier in my life that I would like to leave behind. Those of you who follow me on my Twitter account are probably aware of my …
From apple pie to religion, the road to our ultimate subjectivism is paved with the gravel of the senses.
Conversations about the divine tend to focus on the content of belief, the what, over the purpose and motivation for such understanding, the why. However, there is value in the investigation of the human need for faith in a deity, just as there are in the elements of that belief system. Among the problems I have encountered …
I was involved in a thread the other day about whether higher education and intelligence were markers for people being less religious. Which, of course, implies the opposite must, therefore, be true. Humans are prone to use ‘us vs. them’ as a way to distinguish and elevate themselves above their perceived enemies. This trope, …
Continue reading "Belief and religiosity are not a measure of intelligence"
From the 35,000-year-old cave art at Leang Timpuseng, Indonesia, to the Cuneiform writings of the Sumerians from 3500 years ago, to modernity, Homo sapiens have been on a journey towards self-awareness. Along the way we have asked the questions ‘Who am I?' and ‘Why are we here?' But from where did the need to ask …
