tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post5977815042574151774..comments2024-02-13T01:25:33.947-05:00Comments on The Gods Are Bored: Theatre Review: Inherit the WindAnne Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15478513906953607043noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-66012846920187805652007-06-13T13:10:00.000-04:002007-06-13T13:10:00.000-04:00i thank thankin is a good thang, but i have been r...i thank thankin is a good thang, but i have been rong a time or two. i still wish folks wood try it befor a'doon innythang else.<BR/><BR/>i agree with thomas that tiz a shame we are still a'fitin this silly battle when we could move on to more importunt thangs.<BR/><BR/>finely, ali has sum verr good thangs to say. one thang bout science as a form of thought is how it kin only thank bout whut it kin measure. taint prooved that thay aint no sole, jes that it caint be measured, lease frum my perspecktiv. but whut it has over faith by far is humility, knowin that whutever is 'prooved' today kin be overturnt tomorrow when thays new evidents or better tools to measure thangs.buddydonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13506384697813040090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-47830140108797468442007-06-11T13:18:00.000-04:002007-06-11T13:18:00.000-04:00I'm hugely distressed that, nearly a century later...I'm hugely distressed that, nearly a century later, with mountains of evidence supporting it, there is still a large contingent in America that opposes the teaching of evolutionary theory. <BR/><BR/>Pure foolishness.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-89523302528542696692007-06-10T20:35:00.000-04:002007-06-10T20:35:00.000-04:00Enjoy the grass. It's lovely. ;)Enjoy the grass. It's lovely. ;)Hecatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09291488568404382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-68681415918254325812007-06-10T19:59:00.000-04:002007-06-10T19:59:00.000-04:00" Ponder this a moment. Does your religious faith ..." Ponder this a moment. Does your religious faith hold up to scientific scrutiny?"<BR/><BR/>A good point, but then, scientific scrutiny/analysis is only one kind of "thinking." Science has certain fundamental axioms which limit its range from the very beginning--it deals strictly with measurable data, repeatable (and, by extension, often controlled) experiments and observations about material reality, etc. Nowhere does science make the claim that it can inform us about a nonmaterial aspect to reality, and so while it can't prove that there is a soul that survives the physical body, it certainly can't disprove it, either.<BR/><BR/>Philosophical thought is another form of "thinking" that has fallen somewhat out of the limelight in modern society. I think we tend to forget that there are plenty of philosophical systems which are thoughtful, rational and thorough, and which still postulate the existence of a "soul" or other "level" of existence which extends beyond the material world. I remember back in high school when I was thinking about the nature of the soul/self, I looked to biology, chemistry and physics to provide examples of comparison. I explored the "illusion" of isolated individualism through such examples--we are what we eat, we are mostly space between atoms, we have no definite boarders and are constantly exchanging substances and chemicals with our surrounding environment--and yet there is some perception of individuality which exists "beyond" this material existence... and so even scientific scrutiny itself helped to fuel my "thinking" through various religious beliefs about the nature of the soul.<BR/><BR/>Also, I think that art/aesthetics/poetry is another form of "thinking," although it is not necessarily linear or rational and may incorporate and integrate emotional responses as well as purely abstract or conceptual mental responses. In this sense, many religions incorporate "thinking" through art forms, music and sacred texts, which may stimulate thoughtfulness of a kind unfamiliar in the practical, mundane world of ordinary living.<BR/><BR/>So, yes, as you've probably guessed by now, I think "thinking is good." Even if you don't like what it gets you, even when it forces you to abandon certain beliefs without any new beliefs to take their place... still, thinking is good, if only because persistent thoughtfulness can almost always give way to flexibility, tolerance, a sense of irony, and even humility. I'm blushingly Socratic like that. ;)Alihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01738190874181111086noreply@blogger.com