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thinkahol *

Sam Harris - The Great Debate: Can Science Tell us Right From Wrong? (1) - YouTube - 0 views

www.youtube.com/watch

Sam Harris - The Great Debate: Can Science Tell us Right From Wrong? (1) YouTube

shared by thinkahol * on 19 Oct 11 - No Cached
  • thinkahol * on 19 Oct 11
     
    The Great Debate On November 6th, 2010 a panel of renowned scientists, philosophers, and public intellectuals gathered to discuss what impact evolutionary theory and advances in neuroscience might have on traditional concepts of morality. If human morality is an evolutionary adaptation and if neuroscientists can identify specific brain circuitry governing moral judgment, can scientists determine what is, in fact, right and wrong? The panelists were psychologist Steven Pinker, author Sam Harris, philosopher Patricia Churchland, physicist Lawrence Krauss, philosopher Simon Blackburn, bioethicist Peter Singer and The Science Network's Roger Bingham.  Recorded live at the Arizona State University Gammage auditorium.  "The Great Debate" was sponsored by the ASU Origins Project in collaboration with the ASU Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Center for Law, Science and Innovation; the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge; and The Science Network. ------ Sam Harris is the author of the New York Times bestsellers "The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values," "The End of Faith" and "Letter to a Christian Nation." "The End of Faith" won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction. Harris has a doctorate in neuroscience from UCLA and a degree in philosophy from Stanford University. He is a co-founder and CEO of Project Reason, a nonprofit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society.
mdmo bin14

christian,hindu - 0 views

www.allreligionsite.com

Religion

shared by mdmo bin14 on 28 Oct 13 - No Cached
  • mdmo bin14 on 28 Oct 13
     
    WELLCOM TO RELIGION SITE: Religion is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to the supernatural, and to spirituality.[note 1] Many religions have narratives, symbols, and sacred histories that are intended to explain the meaning of life and/or to explain the origin of life or the Universe.
Bakari Chavanu

Dawkins vs. Collins: analysis of the debate. - 1 views

richarddawkins.net/,Gary-J-Whittenberger-eSkeptic

religion atheism dawkins science evolution

shared by Bakari Chavanu on 28 Sep 09 - Cached
  • In the first exchange, Dawkins and Collins apparently agreed that the proposition "God exists" is either true or false. Dawkins indicated that science is appropriate to the task of answering the question, but Collins disagreed: "From my perspective, God cannot be completely contained within nature, and therefore God's existence is outside of science's ability to really weigh in."
  • "God cannot be completely contained within nature," he implied that God can be partly contained within nature, which makes God open to scientific analysis.
  • By inventing a category called "supernatural" and relegating hypothetical things to it, they apparently hope to protect those things from the requirement of evidence.
  • ...21 more annotations...
  • What does this mean? Does it make any sense to say that something exists outside space and time? When we apply the word "exists" to something, don't we mean that we can observe it or its effects in space and time?
  • Have we ever observed anything outside space and time?
  • By insisting that God exists "outside of nature," Collins nearly makes his supernatural compartment so small that there isn't enough room for God.
  • He is certainly correct that the inefficiency of evolution, not to mention its "errors of design," is inconsistent with the traditional idea of God as an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent being. This traditional kind of God would be more likely to operate through Creationism, but this hypothesized mode of operation is not supported by the evidence of biology, genetics, geology, and cosmology.
  • Dawkins proposed two possible explanations for the values of the physical constants we find in our universe. One is that these constants couldn't be any different from what they are; they simply are what they are.
  • Within this great mulitverse environment, there are bound to be some universes that have the physical constants at just the right values to support the development of life, and we find ourselves in one of them.
  • Although Dawkins seems to present the two best currently available alternatives to Collins' God hypothesis to explain the life-enabling values of the physical constants of our universe, he and Collins both seem to accept without any skepticism the proposition that our universe is improbable. But how can they just assume this? In my opinion, they do this through a misapplication of probability theory. In the debate they used the "gravitational constant" as an example. They correctly noted that if the gravitational constant (G) were different by one part in a hundred million million, then life, as we know it, would not be possible in our universe.
  • One must know how many items with the feature are in the population and how many items without the feature are in that same population (or alternatively, how many items altogether are in the population).
  • In fact, we do not know that any other universes exist at all! Without knowledge of other universes, Dawkins and Collins misuse probability theory to conclude that our universe is rare
  • More must be said about Collins' contention that the application of Occam's razor supports the God hypothesis over the multiverse hypothesis. It doesn't. The God hypothesis is less parsimonious than the multiverse hypothesis for two reasons: 1. it invents a totally new type of entity, a supernatural being "outside time and space," which is not necessary with the latter hypothesis, and 2. it leads to the classic problem of infinite regress. If there must be something outside our universe, i.e. God, to explain the existence of our universe, then there must be something outside of God, i.e. "Z," to explain God. Then something is needed to explain "Z," ad infinitum.
  • Alluding to St. Augustine and commenting on the book of Genesis, Collins said "It was not intended as a science textbook. It was intended as a description of who God was, who we are and what our relationship is supposed to be with God."
  • Collins responded that if one accepts God's existence, then it is not unreasonable to expect that God might occasionally intervene in the world in a miraculous way, and that if one accepts that Jesus was divine then the Resurrection is "not a great logical leap." But these are big "ifs," and although Collins tries to show that they are plausible, he offers no good evidence to show that they are probable.
  • Collins implied that this altruism is a sign of God's existence and a gift from him.
  • Dawkins responded that good and evil don't exist as independent entities but that good and bad things simply happen to people.
  • Collins' "moral law" argument is another variation on the "God of the Gaps" theme. If science doesn't yet have a complete description of a phenomenon, then there must be a super-being behind the scenes who is responsible for whatever is in the gaps.
  • Collins' idea of a "moral law" is premature and far too rigid when one considers the variability in moral rules across different geographic areas, cultures, ethnicities, and religions.
  • "Faith is not the opposite of reason. Faith rests squarely upon reason, but with the added component of revelation." Part of the difficulty here is that "faith" has several different meanings and unfortunately Collins isn't clear about which meaning he intends. "Faith" may refer to a religion or worldview, as in "My faith is Islam." It may refer to an attitude of trust or confidence, as in "I have faith in my physician."
  • In his concluding remarks Collins indicated that he is interested in many "why" questions for which he believes answers may not come from science but from the "spiritual realm." In his concluding remarks Dawkins indicated his doubt that the future discoveries of science would support any of the beliefs of the traditional religions, beliefs that he regards as parochial, but nevertheless worthy of some respect. And on that conciliatory note, the debate was concluded.
  • Who won the debate? From the perspective of style or mode of expression, perhaps Collins won. At times, Dawkins seemed to come across as a bit testy and abrasive.
  • Gary J. Whittenberger
  • Maybe the best approach in any such discussion forum is to try to flush out first exactly where the theist is positioned on the spectrum of belief by a series of clear questions. eg for Christians: - Do you accept the literal truth of the Bible (completely, or just the New Testament?) - Do you believe in Jesus's miracles, virgin birth, physical ascencion to Heaven? - Do you believe that God regularly intervenes in the natural universe eg by answering prayers, or in the design of organisms? etc
  • Bakari Chavanu on 29 Sep 09
     
    Excellent article and good for discussion. Would like to read others in this group think.
Dripa B

15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense: Scientific American - 0 views

www.sciam.com/article.cfm

atheism christianity creationism evolution religion science

shared by Dripa B on 19 Sep 07 - Cached
  • Dripa B on 19 Sep 07
     
    Opponents of evolution want to make a place for creationism by tearing down real science, but their arguments don't hold up
Dripa B

Greetings From Idiot America - Esquire - 0 views

www.esquire.com/...ESQ0207GREETINGS

activism america christianity creationism culture education evolution idiocy opinion politics politik religion science

shared by Dripa B on 19 Sep 07 - Cached
  • Dripa B on 19 Sep 07
     
    Creationism. Intelligent Design. Faith-based this. Trust-your-gut that. There's never been a better time to espouse, profit from, and believe in utter, unadulterated crap. And the crap is rising so high, it's getting dangerous.
Omnipotent Poobah

The Pope of Fox News Meets the Messiah of Golf - 0 views

omnipotentpoobah.com/...news-meets-the-messiah-of-golf

brit hume tiger woods christianity religion politics

shared by Omnipotent Poobah on 07 Jan 10 - Cached
  • Omnipotent Poobah on 07 Jan 10
     
    Fox's Big Giant Talking Head, Brit Hume, was criticized this week for offering life advice to Tiger Woods. Surely, Tiger could use some good advice (like staying away from nunneries), but Hume's suggestion that Tiger have a "come to Jesus conversion" rankles many people. That seems slightly off base.
Jack Frost

Atheism and politics - 0 views

atheismandpolitics.blogspot.com

Atheism Free Thinking Religion Politics Philosophy God Truth Beauty Goodness Christianity Catholicism Islam Muslim Bible Ontology

shared by Jack Frost on 11 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Jack Frost on 11 Apr 10
     
    Atheism, religion, God, politics, philosophy, and all the other stuff we are supposed to put out of our minds.
Jack Frost

Atheism and politics: Spring cleaning - 0 views

atheismandpolitics.blogspot.com/...spring-cleaning.html

Atheism Religion God Christianity

shared by Jack Frost on 13 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Jack Frost on 13 Apr 10
     
    Cleaning up some misconceptions that have been allowed to gather on atheism, religion, and history. I hope to further illustrate how religion has built walls of falsehoods and half-truths in order to prevent the penetration of morality, logic, evidence, truth, and justice.
Jack Frost

Atheism and politics: Proofs for the existence of God part 3 - 0 views

atheismandpolitics.blogspot.com/...r-existence-of-god-part-3.html

Atheism Religion God Proof for Philosophy Christianity Islam Free Thinking

shared by Jack Frost on 12 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Jack Frost on 12 Apr 10
     
    Another look at common proofs for God
Jack Frost

Atheism and politics: National Prayer Day - 0 views

atheismandpolitics.blogspot.com/...national-prayer-day.html

Religion Christianity God Government

shared by Jack Frost on 16 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Jack Frost on 16 Apr 10
     
    Obama backs the national day of prayer despite a judge ruling it unconstitutional. Thoughts and purposed solution to raise consciousness about the trespass on our rights.
Jack Frost

Atheism and politics: Mexico has Catholic pedophilia problems too?! - 0 views

atheismandpolitics.blogspot.com/...holic-pedophilia-problems.html

Religion Catholic Catholic molestation Catholic Child Rape God Christianity

shared by Jack Frost on 15 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Jack Frost on 15 Apr 10
     
    A Mexican Catholic leader has come forward and admitted to molesting 200 more children, and just wait until you hear who the victims included!
Jack Frost

Atheism and politics: Sarah Palin shows her ability to reason - 0 views

atheismandpolitics.blogspot.com/...ows-her-ability-to-reason.html

Christianity Sarah Palin Government atheism politics

shared by Jack Frost on 22 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Jack Frost on 22 Apr 10
     
    Palin doin' her thing!
Jack Frost

Atheism and politics: Don't read this post, I'm going megaton. - 0 views

atheismandpolitics.blogspot.com/...his-post-im-going-megaton.html

Religion Atheism Christianity God Islam Jewish

shared by Jack Frost on 28 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Jack Frost on 28 Apr 10
     
    Some inflammatory thoughts about things religious people say and believe. This is not for the feint of heart or the easily offended.
Susan Thur

Religious Origins of Secularism: Secularism is Not an Atheist Conspiracy - Secularism as an Outgrowth of Christian Doctrine & Experience - 0 views

atheism.about.com/...ReligiousOrigin.htm

secularism origins religious Rudraksha God science atheist politics

shared by Susan Thur on 28 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Susan Thur on 28 Apr 10
     
    "Religious Origins of Secularism: Secularism is Not an Atheist Conspiracy"
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