Knowledge, belief & agnosticism (Agnosticism)

by Carl, Tuesday, July 22, 2008, 20:51 (5749 days ago) @ David Turell

George writes "divine revelation is a different order of insight, bordering upon insanity".
I realized after my post that I should have distinguished between divine inspiration (telepathy) and divine revelation (3d visuals with full surround sound). Inspiration is much less likely to get you institutionalized, but revelation sometimes allows you to start your own religion (Joseph Smith, Mohammad, Moses). I think of divine revelation as the ultimate source of authority, and divine inspiration as the source of the inner conviction that one is correct on a particular issue. David, you should realize the source of their faith, just as the source of your faith is that everything has a natural explanation. Lay out your arguments, let them lay out theirs, acknowledge the differences and focus on questions such as whether ID should be taught in science class. Possibly a compromise could be reached where the legitimate questions about evolution could be raised in the class without diluting the science. This could allow the ID supporters to avoid having a repugnant concept totally crammed down their throats. This is not a "can't we all just get along" speech, but a suggestion to recognize reality and let everyone focus on the science to see where it goes. - David, panspermia does more than just move the question a step away. It removes the need to prove that life arose under conditions of a primitive earth, and moves it to any possible set of conditions in the galaxy. God knows what might be out there. Thanks for the tip on the Altenberg Conference. Looks interesting.