KStahl wrote:
> I wonder how foolish you will feel when you find out that you are
> wrong?
Ah, Pascal's Wager. Shall we bet a pint of porter? And what of you? What
chance is there that you are right as opposed to the myriad metaphysics
imagined by humans?
> Of course, you'll be in good company. Most of the world's
> population believes exactly like you
Really? I rather thought we atheist secular humanists were an extreme
minority.
> (with the possible exception of the Chiropractor thing).
Yeah well, Britney Spears sells about 20x the music that Mozart does every
year so I guess sheer popularity isn't everything.
Anyone that thinks they can go to a chiropractor and get a cure for
appendicitis or cirrhosis is fucking deluded. Chiropractors are no better
than a physical therapist except PA's don't believe in or proffer the
bullshit that chiropractors do.
> The good news is that it will be a brief
> embarrassment and then you'll just swallow your pride and move on to
> whatever comes next just like everyone else.
Fair enough. As like as not, if there is any afterlife, you will be right
there with me with egg on your face wondering why we didn't accept Allah.
> People who explore mysticism are very rare
Yeah, about as rare as Bud Light at a Georgia Bulldogs tailgate party. Don't
worry, I'm cuing up my bagpipes in anticipation of your reply.
> and the mileage they get varies considerably.
> However, it is worth noting that most of the major quantum physicists
> have been mystics in one form or another.
Nice broad sweeping strokes with that brush and an appeal to authority
besides. You could probably say that I am a mystic "in one form or another"
if you interpret it widely enough since I have taken psychedelics on
occasion and like to channel Garcia. ;-)
> That includes Einstein,
Yeah...here's the mysticism of Einstein:
"I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to
be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it."
"It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological
concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or
goal outside the human sphere.... Science has been charged with undermining
morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based
effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious
basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be
restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."
"Scientific research is based on the idea that everything that takes place
is determined by laws of nature, and therefore this holds for the action of
people."
"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a
lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal
God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something
is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration
for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
"The mystical trend of our time, which shows itself particularly in the
rampant growth of the so-called Theosophy and Spiritualism, is for me no
more than a symptom of weakness and confusion. Since our inner experiences
consist of reproductions, and combinations of sensory impressions, the
concept of a soul without a body seem to me to be empty and devoid of
meaning."
> Planck and Bohr. I hope you don't try to claim that you are smarter
> then they are - that would tend to significantly diminish any
> credibility that you might have.
An appeal to authority, especially with regard to a subject that your
supposed authorities have no expertise, is a logical fallacy. I may as well
tell you that Pat Tillman, the NFL player that died in Afghanisatan, killed
by his comrades, was an atheist. Pat was a big burly football player. I hope
your not saying you are as strong as he is because that would diminish your
credibility. Well, actually it wouldn't since appeals to authority don't
mean jack.
Speaking of good reading though, have you ever read or seen the play
Copenhagen about Heisenberg's trip there to visit Bohr during WWII? I think
you would enjoy it.
> As for Chiropractors, I'll weigh in with my experience.
>
> For certain conditions, a good, honest chiropractor (they seem to be
> rare) can do wonders in situations where an MD would want to perform
> surgery or prescribe narcotic medications. But, they are not miracle
> workers for everything and anything that can go wrong with the human
> body and there are far too many charlatans in the business. It has
> become almost impossible to separate the good ones from the bad ones
> unless you get a personal recommendation for one of the good ones
> from a trusted source who has used that chiropractor and received
> remediation for some problem they were having - that chiropractor
> will probably not be a graduate of Life University unless they
> received significant training from some other school.
Interesting. I live right near that shithole.
