James Le Fanu: Why Us? (The limitations of science)

by David Turell , Monday, May 25, 2009, 17:03 (5442 days ago) @ George Jelliss

James Le Fanu is a doctor who seems to hold similar views to David Turell and has a book coming out: "Why Us? How Science Rediscovered the Mystery of Ourselves" - In earlier posts the attitude of atheists during discussions has been mentioned and in general those of us who are not atheists have been met by anger, nastiness, vituperation, etc. My many thanks to George who is not at all an example of what I have experienced, and further thanks for introducing us to Dr. Le Fanu. On a recent Uncommon Descent, Bruce David presented an analyis of atheistic attitude as he saw it. I agree with the analysis:
 
 "To vastly over simplify the actual state of affairs, there are two kinds of people in the world: those whose highest value is truth, and those for whom being right is more important than anything else. - Imagine that you have grown up into a smug atheist, secure in your beliefs, looking down your nose with benign condescension on those benighted souls who, being either ignorant, stupid, insane, or (dare I say it) wicked, persist in believing in that ancient superstition, the existence of a Creator. Now imagine that suddenly, without warning, science itself has begun to turn on you...cosmology has determined that the Universe had a beginning, the fundamental constants of physics and cosmology are turning out to have been incredibly fine tuned to support the existence of life, the stunning complexity and sophistication of the cell beggars any naturalistic explanation of its origin, and the neo-Darwinian synthesis is being called into question by unanswerable attacks on its explanatory power. - In such a situation, if you are one of those for whom being right is your highest value, one who has identified yourself as a member of the elite who know the obvious truth of things, all this evidence for the existence of a Creator will not just be a threat to your beliefs, it will be a threat to what you imagine is the very core of your being. - And now Guillermo Gonzalez adds fuel to this blaze by providing powerful evidence that the earth itself, the home of and support for human life, is in a highly improbable position perfect for the pursuit of scientific inquiry. Is it any wonder that this is a threat? - The great thing about Antony Flew is that his life has been devoted to a genuine search for truth, and he has always respected those with whom he disagreed. Thus, he had no emotional stake in the outcome of his inquiries, and when the evidence became overwhelming for the existence of a Creator, he happily changed his mind. He is one of my heroes. - (Note: I share Bruce David's admiration for Antony Flew. Not only did he change his mind but, because of his age, he had the additional humilation of young yay-hoos proclaiming that he had gone senile. - As a person who deals with a number of seniors coping very effectively with brain problems, while remaining lucid, I can only suppose that the yay-hoos' ignorance is their best excuse. I can easily think of worse ones.)" - This last portion is a comment from Denyse O'Leary. - Are agnostics anywhere is this comment? Does George have an observation?