So oddly enough, a couple of friends of mine got into a similar debate as the one linked below via their Myspace blog. I listened in and was completely in awe. This quote was born of that and gives me chills! Just wanted to share:
"I was attempting to align the idea that religion and science are actually attempting the same ends; they both strive to explain the unexplainable. They both strive to understand that grain of sand at the end of NEVERENDING STORY and the true irony is that neither one will ever fully be able to do so.
So, if that is a choice between limiting my mind to understand God or limitlessly expanding my mind to find God... Then my faith is in the limitless."
I'm loving these conversations about the marriage of religion and science. The debates will only grow more plentiful as we learn more and more about our world.
The idea that science is a religion in and of itself, is a concept that had it been a snake, I would have been bitten. Meaning, any sort of dogmatic statements of the beginnings of life on this world, (that really, we know so little about), is taking a giant leap of faith. Be it following a God or following a text book.
Also this from Einstein who was interested in the joining of these two:
"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
"The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility."
"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."
"As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality."
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
"We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.":
Thanks Jason and Nate for the great conversation.
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Debate
I want to share how I have spent the last two hours of my evening with you. I have been watching a debate that has equally befuddled, amused, astounded, and justified my own beliefs and concerns. I internally debated with myself whether or not to post this here, for reasons that may or may not be completely obvious to you. The debate linked below is titled "Religion, Politics, and the End of the World".
I urge you to listen to the two opposing views and the thought-provoking views that lie within, if you feel you have the stomach for it. It's equally entertaining and informative and it's one of those things that I just haven't been able to tear myself away from for the past couple of hours, (with interruptions, of course).
For those of who I shall not name, but most likely, you know who you are, I assure you that if you can stomach the first segment, you will find your saving grace in his debater. It's unlikely you will get nothing from this, even if it is a better understanding of the War in Iraq and the ideas that lie within. One of the most intriguing and mind numbing moments of this debate is when Hedges discusses his experience in Iraq and how he believes we have handled things poorly. His own experience of the reactions from the Muslim world on the events of 9/11, and how, in essence, we manged to turn a formable ally into one of our greatest enemies.
I urge you to listen in if you so wish, and to not be scared off by the somewhat harsh introduction to the first of two debaters (the one he gives himself, mind you, after the terribly long 6 minute intro). The larger argument is one that is primarily introduced in part 2.
But for mere reasons of fundamental indiscretions that could serve to, in essence, nullify this debate for you, I warn you it is not for the faint of heart. Especially the first segment. Just warning you - the first segment is very athetistic in nature and I don't want to catch you off guard. It's equally important to not let the obvious difference of fundamental beliefs cheapen the core of the intention of this conversation. It's wonderful that discussions like this are even taking place today, and whether we'd like to admit it or not, both of the guys make astounding arguments about current events, most notably, the war in Iraq.
The argument of the debate itself is basically religion's role in today's conflicts. In one corner, (and I am very hesitant to put any words in any mouths, but this is from what I gathered), an atheist who believes religion is tearing our world apart, in corner number two, a New York Times reporter who has spent years and years studying religion, especially in the Middle East, and believes that the "Terror" problems of today comes from a class of people who are lost and in despair and are gathered up by terror organizations who veil their intentions behind a wall of promises and acceptance. Sparks will fly, (and do).
Religion, Politics, and The End of the World
I urge you to listen to the two opposing views and the thought-provoking views that lie within, if you feel you have the stomach for it. It's equally entertaining and informative and it's one of those things that I just haven't been able to tear myself away from for the past couple of hours, (with interruptions, of course).
For those of who I shall not name, but most likely, you know who you are, I assure you that if you can stomach the first segment, you will find your saving grace in his debater. It's unlikely you will get nothing from this, even if it is a better understanding of the War in Iraq and the ideas that lie within. One of the most intriguing and mind numbing moments of this debate is when Hedges discusses his experience in Iraq and how he believes we have handled things poorly. His own experience of the reactions from the Muslim world on the events of 9/11, and how, in essence, we manged to turn a formable ally into one of our greatest enemies.
I urge you to listen in if you so wish, and to not be scared off by the somewhat harsh introduction to the first of two debaters (the one he gives himself, mind you, after the terribly long 6 minute intro). The larger argument is one that is primarily introduced in part 2.
But for mere reasons of fundamental indiscretions that could serve to, in essence, nullify this debate for you, I warn you it is not for the faint of heart. Especially the first segment. Just warning you - the first segment is very athetistic in nature and I don't want to catch you off guard. It's equally important to not let the obvious difference of fundamental beliefs cheapen the core of the intention of this conversation. It's wonderful that discussions like this are even taking place today, and whether we'd like to admit it or not, both of the guys make astounding arguments about current events, most notably, the war in Iraq.
The argument of the debate itself is basically religion's role in today's conflicts. In one corner, (and I am very hesitant to put any words in any mouths, but this is from what I gathered), an atheist who believes religion is tearing our world apart, in corner number two, a New York Times reporter who has spent years and years studying religion, especially in the Middle East, and believes that the "Terror" problems of today comes from a class of people who are lost and in despair and are gathered up by terror organizations who veil their intentions behind a wall of promises and acceptance. Sparks will fly, (and do).
Religion, Politics, and The End of the World
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
An Epic Blog Entry
I've needed to update for a while.
Highlights?
*I moved to Hollywood.
That's right! Hollywood proper. I now have one of the easiest commutes ever!
*I've been working on a new show pilot as the associate editor. Sometimes acting as a second editor, sometimes as an assistant. That was terrifyingly hard at first-especially the second editor bit. It was one of those jobs where I was working ten hours and by the end of the day, I still felt like I had sooo much work to do. I constantly felt behind and like there just weren't enough hours in the day. Things have since calmed down and I'm happily working nights again.
*My family came for Thanksgiving. It was bizarre and wonderful. We ate at tons of great restaurants and did a bunch of touristy things. I finally went on one of the star homes tours and left the bus feeling dirtier than I ever recall feeling. It really made me feel sorry for celebrities. But then again, as my brother in law pointed out, it's the price of fame.
*I saw the Stars live again. And on the first lyric, tears came to my eyes. It was so moving and amazing. They are rooted deeply in my heart.
*The writer's strike. I've never been happier to work in reality. I'm totally with the writers on this one though. The internet is quickly replacing dvds and dare I say, changing the industry forever. Their pay deserves to evolve with the changing times. The sad part of all this is all the other people working in Hollywood that have no jobs, as by this point most productions have gone dark. In an industry where a lot of the crew is living paycheck to paycheck, this comes as a major blow. Especially so close to the holidays. Sad all around. Let's hope they reach a resolution soon.
*In my new apartment, I decided that I would install a new toilet paper holder with my new toolkit I got! Well I go to Target and find this cute ring one. I go through the process of installing it, and once it is on the wall, I go to put the toilet paper on. It is then that I discover that it does not open. Upon closer inspection of the packaging, I notice it says "Towel Ring", not "Toilet Paper Ring". Yeah. I know. I'm embarrassed about it. For some strange reason, installing this toilet paper ring thing was standing for my independence and ability to do things for myself. Oh, the irony.
*And now for the BIG one. I got a promotion. A big one. I'm going to be editing starting in January! I can not express my excitement about this with mere exclamation points. Anyway, I'll edit for a couple months, fill in as an assistant temporarily until this new show starts up in the summer, in which I'll be serving as an editor! Permanently! Like, for real editor. Okay, that's very huge for me. Seeing as my birthday in at the end of December, I'll be officially an editor starting in 2008, after my quarter-century birthday.
*Lastly, I am amazed by the Universe. First, I went to the planetarium, in which my mind was blown. Then, in a matter of a few days, I watched the History or Discovery show "The Universe". (Watch it!)
Here's a statistic to blow your mind. If only 1% of the suns in the universe have an earth-like planet revolving around them, then there are billions of other Earth's out there. Billions! 1%. We have found like 200 planets so far that revolve around alien suns. ("Alien" as in not ours.) None have the ability for life to grow because they are either too close to their sun or too far away. Even if only one of the billions of planets out there happens to fall in the able-to-sprout-life range, we are not alone. And that's one out of billions of possibilities. It all depends on where the planet forms and starts its rotation.
There could be "Earth"s that are still in the stage of development that would mirror what we call the "Prehistoric Era". Dinosaurs, people. Think of all the possibilities. There could be civilizations still using candlelight to draw their cave paintings. There could be civilations that have already met their Armageddon's, nothing but charred remains of structures that once held an abundance of life. There could be life decades further advanced than us.
Maybe there is no other human life at all. Perhaps something in our atmosphere is so rare that it only allowed us to evolve the way we did. But, for the first time in my life, I'm seriously doubting it. I think I believe in aliens.
Highlights?
*I moved to Hollywood.
That's right! Hollywood proper. I now have one of the easiest commutes ever!
*I've been working on a new show pilot as the associate editor. Sometimes acting as a second editor, sometimes as an assistant. That was terrifyingly hard at first-especially the second editor bit. It was one of those jobs where I was working ten hours and by the end of the day, I still felt like I had sooo much work to do. I constantly felt behind and like there just weren't enough hours in the day. Things have since calmed down and I'm happily working nights again.
*My family came for Thanksgiving. It was bizarre and wonderful. We ate at tons of great restaurants and did a bunch of touristy things. I finally went on one of the star homes tours and left the bus feeling dirtier than I ever recall feeling. It really made me feel sorry for celebrities. But then again, as my brother in law pointed out, it's the price of fame.
*I saw the Stars live again. And on the first lyric, tears came to my eyes. It was so moving and amazing. They are rooted deeply in my heart.
*The writer's strike. I've never been happier to work in reality. I'm totally with the writers on this one though. The internet is quickly replacing dvds and dare I say, changing the industry forever. Their pay deserves to evolve with the changing times. The sad part of all this is all the other people working in Hollywood that have no jobs, as by this point most productions have gone dark. In an industry where a lot of the crew is living paycheck to paycheck, this comes as a major blow. Especially so close to the holidays. Sad all around. Let's hope they reach a resolution soon.
*In my new apartment, I decided that I would install a new toilet paper holder with my new toolkit I got! Well I go to Target and find this cute ring one. I go through the process of installing it, and once it is on the wall, I go to put the toilet paper on. It is then that I discover that it does not open. Upon closer inspection of the packaging, I notice it says "Towel Ring", not "Toilet Paper Ring". Yeah. I know. I'm embarrassed about it. For some strange reason, installing this toilet paper ring thing was standing for my independence and ability to do things for myself. Oh, the irony.
*And now for the BIG one. I got a promotion. A big one. I'm going to be editing starting in January! I can not express my excitement about this with mere exclamation points. Anyway, I'll edit for a couple months, fill in as an assistant temporarily until this new show starts up in the summer, in which I'll be serving as an editor! Permanently! Like, for real editor. Okay, that's very huge for me. Seeing as my birthday in at the end of December, I'll be officially an editor starting in 2008, after my quarter-century birthday.
*Lastly, I am amazed by the Universe. First, I went to the planetarium, in which my mind was blown. Then, in a matter of a few days, I watched the History or Discovery show "The Universe". (Watch it!)
Here's a statistic to blow your mind. If only 1% of the suns in the universe have an earth-like planet revolving around them, then there are billions of other Earth's out there. Billions! 1%. We have found like 200 planets so far that revolve around alien suns. ("Alien" as in not ours.) None have the ability for life to grow because they are either too close to their sun or too far away. Even if only one of the billions of planets out there happens to fall in the able-to-sprout-life range, we are not alone. And that's one out of billions of possibilities. It all depends on where the planet forms and starts its rotation.
There could be "Earth"s that are still in the stage of development that would mirror what we call the "Prehistoric Era". Dinosaurs, people. Think of all the possibilities. There could be civilizations still using candlelight to draw their cave paintings. There could be civilations that have already met their Armageddon's, nothing but charred remains of structures that once held an abundance of life. There could be life decades further advanced than us.
Maybe there is no other human life at all. Perhaps something in our atmosphere is so rare that it only allowed us to evolve the way we did. But, for the first time in my life, I'm seriously doubting it. I think I believe in aliens.
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