Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 12:51:11 -0700 (MST) From: Nate Williams <nate@mt.sri.com> To: Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com> Cc: nate@mt.sri.com (Nate Williams), freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Newest Pentium bug (fatal) Message-ID: <199711111951.MAA17461@rocky.mt.sri.com> In-Reply-To: <199711111846.LAA26633@usr04.primenet.com> References: <199711111652.JAA16566@rocky.mt.sri.com> <199711111846.LAA26633@usr04.primenet.com>
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> > [ More 'religious' discussion, delete if not interested ] > > Not that your or my opinions on this have much to do with FreeBSD... 8-). *grin* > > [ Apologies to any Indian people on the list ] > > > > but instead all come from a small corner of South America. They produce > > all of the pictures and materials just to complete the facade, and > > they're doing a pretty good job of it. > > Actually, I've seen satellite photos. I guess you could claim that > what I saw was Lilliputia or Xanth or something... 8-). Those were made up. Were you there when the satellite photos were taken, or did you trust the guy who 'produced' the picture to not lie to you. > But in reality, it's an issue of pragmatism -- engineering instead > of physics... Occam's Razor in action. That there is an India is a > simpler explanation that fits all the facts than that there is an > "India conspiracy". Simpler != truth. > > Belief in something outside *YOUR* experiences is faith, so basically > > you have no faith in 'spiritual' people that a God or gods could exist > > that directly/indirectly affect your life and existance. So, the *real* > > question is what caused this lack of faith in people who claim to know > > and/or hear from God? > > In one word: Science. How does 'Sciene' explain away God? > There's a wonderful science fiction story along these lines, where > the main character's friends father hears God, and it's a problem > for the friend. So the friend takes his father, and gets his brain > chemistry adjusted to "normal" (average human of the time) tolerances. > The father quits hearing God, and though he was opposed to the > adjustment beforehand, he thanks his child after the fact. The > story ends with the main character (who has been observing all this) > having the same chemical imbalance the father had suffered from > electively induced to combat his own (perceived) crises of faith > -- and he begins to hear God. Great, stories are wonderful things, but aren't necessarily reality. I've read lots of sci-fi stories that have exact opposite slant, so which one is more relevant to 'reality'? > The question this parable asks is "what ennobles a majority, so that > people think 'majority equals right'?" No, the question this story asks is 'Does the belief in God imply mental dysfunction'? Some of the brightest men throughout history had a *strong* belief in God, so apparently intelligence is somehow linked to dysfunction. :) > So while "hearing from God != foretelling the future", knowing that > there is (or isn't) a God should make you better at fortelling the > future than someone who doesn't know. How much better is good enough for you? And how come 'foretelling the future' is the measurement of God's existance? What about issues such as 'happiness, contentment, etc..' All of these are un-measurable quantities, and hence 'Science' can't do anything with them, but are none-the-less of much greater importance to 'life'. Science is a way of measureing 'process', but it fails as I stated when the measured 'process' is non-deterministic, such as humanity and/or God. Nate
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