Science Trips Over Its Own Feet (Politics)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Friday, September 17, 2010, 03:47 (5180 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

The pendulum of my life has seen both sides and came to rest firmly in the middle. I grew up very religious, and swung to the far opposite side of atheism, and then came back to rest at agnosticism. One thing I have learned is that to far in either direction is no good. Materialism can not explain everything, neither can spiritualism. The are not two separate and distinct worlds, but two sides of the same coin, life. I do not think, and yes, this is my opinion, that science will ever reach a completely unified theory that explains everything. Nor do I think that blind religion is the way to live. Their must be a balance between faith and rational thought. Rational thought explains your world and allows you to work and live within the constraints of the material existence, while faith and spiritualism allows a person to contemplate things that they know but can't explain away with science. If the two could work together, such as whats been done somewhat with Buddhism, I think they would be a quite unstoppable force for the betterment of humanity.-I agree wholeheartedly . I'm probably more boring than some because in terms of of how I tend to stay away from non-material (or subjective) explanations of things. I realize that mind by itself is nonmaterial--even if it turns out to emerge from matter, the ability to reason about things that aren't there (going back to Aristotle) itself is a non-concrete thing. -You don't have the time to go back in these forums, but I derive a great deal of a connection with the old Norse religion of my ancestors. There's a definite feeling I get when reading the old tales that lets me feel a connection to a long-lost people. To me, the place for religion isn't to explain the universe; that job is the job for science. Religion is to fill the void of meaning in the universe. One thing Graham Dunstan Martin is correct about, is that man at nature processes things in terms of meaning, rather than syntax. -One of the reasons I'm a fan of Nietzsche is that he has alot of writing centered around changing the meaning of things. A novel I started writing some time ago centers on the Christian devil as the protagonist; however the premise is based on the question, "What would happen if the Devil just decided he'd had enough and said 'I quit?'" It started out as a joke, but after deeper contemplation I thought it was a great idea.

--
\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"