Darwin from a Hindu point of view (Introduction)

by dhw, Saturday, April 30, 2011, 12:09 (4935 days ago) @ xeno6696

MATT: Judging by David's book's authors, I'd put more stock in this guy.
 
DAVID: I wish I understood more of what he puts in each chapter synopsis. There are no reviews by anyone. Why is that, do you think?-I found the chapter synopses an intriguing mixture, though I agree with David that they're not always very clear. "Creation of the universe is the creation of knowability by which we can know" doesn't exactly set the philosophical pulses racing, and for me any claims to know that God did this, that and the other are always an off-putter, whether extrapolated from the Bible, the Koran or the Veda. Perhaps that's prejudice on my part. On the other hand, I find that some of these summarized ideas do strike a chord in me. For instance, if there really is a God, I like the suggestion that his purpose in creating life is "pleasure" (not least for himself). The term may need defining as well as refining. I wouldn't be keen, for instance, to advocate rape as an expression of the divine will, but no doubt Ashish Dalela deals with this in the book itself.-Just as I would never dismiss the scientific arguments of ID-ers because of their religious beliefs, It might well be interesting to delve deeper into Dalela's notion of 4 levels of "properties" as well as 4 levels of information, and mind-body dualism is something we've already discussed at some length ourselves. Also in the light of our discussions on time, it's interesting to note the earlier references to it as linear and progressive (Chapter 4) followed by cyclical and iterative (Chapter 14). It least this suggests that Hinduism does not dispense altogether with the notion of time.-MATT: My greater point is that Dembski is Baptist, Behe seems a Catholic (guess based on how he argues) and have about as much claim to be Hindu scholars as I do. I don't impress me. I shouldn't impress you. A book written by a hindu (even if not Brahmin) trumps anything an outsider has to say. This has the makings for a good joke...
"A Catholic, a baptist, and a science writer walk into a bar..."-Trust you to set us a challenge! I'll try a little variation: A Catholic, a novelist and a Baptist walk into a bar. The Catholic showed them the way, the novelist says drinks are on the house, and the Baptist leads the celebrations.
Best I can do.