29) If my reason is informed by the coarse energy of emotional reaction, as opposed to the more refined energy of a feeling of genuine quality, then no matter how clever, how coherent, how convincing my reason may seem it can never truly be described as Objective Reason.
30) The current dialogue between atheists and believers is full of dreary and mechanical emotional reaction. By and large, the atheist is reacting to what he perceives as irrational and the believer is reacting to an assault on something he has a sentimental attachment to. Neither reaction is conscious in the true sense of the word.
31) It matters not whether it comes from atheism or religious fervour, the energy of contempt and hostility will always be destructive, lead nowhere and achieve nothing.
32) Life feeds on death and cannot survive without it, a fact too easily ignored nowadays.
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Philosophical Musings 25-28
25) To make our point with sarcasm is to not only belittle the object of our sarcasm but to belittle ourselves.
26) When a piece of writing fills us with a sense of self-righteous indignation we need to question the tone of it. To question it is not to dismiss it but to see it in all its positive and negative aspects.
27) To know the measure of something is not to know what it is essentially.
28) Nowadays we are more interested in information than True Knowledge and we confuse the two.
26) When a piece of writing fills us with a sense of self-righteous indignation we need to question the tone of it. To question it is not to dismiss it but to see it in all its positive and negative aspects.
27) To know the measure of something is not to know what it is essentially.
28) Nowadays we are more interested in information than True Knowledge and we confuse the two.
Monday, 7 February 2011
Philosophical Musings 21-24
21) When we are sad, but calm and reflective, we are more awake than usual.
22) God, as a separate entity independent of human beings, does not exist anymore than a human being exists independently of the billions, perhaps trillions, of living cells in the human body.
23) Whatever feeds my sense of superiority, whether it be individual or cultural, shrinks my understanding.
24) Physical strength, unconnected to genuine feeling, is a dreadful brute. Intellectual strength, unconnected to genuine feeling, is an insufferable snob.
22) God, as a separate entity independent of human beings, does not exist anymore than a human being exists independently of the billions, perhaps trillions, of living cells in the human body.
23) Whatever feeds my sense of superiority, whether it be individual or cultural, shrinks my understanding.
24) Physical strength, unconnected to genuine feeling, is a dreadful brute. Intellectual strength, unconnected to genuine feeling, is an insufferable snob.
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Philosophical Musings 17-20
17) Suggestibility is far more subtle and insidious than we believe. Those of us who are quick to see suggestibility in others, yet delude ourselves into thinking that we are not suggestible ourselves, are blind to how equally susceptible we are.
18) A man who dares to try to slaughter the sacred cows of both institutional religion and secular atheism is bound to be despised. Even if he speaks the Truth he will not be listened to by many.
19) Simply because our eyes are open doesn't mean to say that we are awake. How many times have we gone into a room only to forget why we went there in the first place? Or how many times have we read a paragraph in a book only to wake up to the fact that we haven't taken in a single word of it?
20) If our concept of God is predominantly abstract there should also be a few black holes in it in order to let the personal in.
18) A man who dares to try to slaughter the sacred cows of both institutional religion and secular atheism is bound to be despised. Even if he speaks the Truth he will not be listened to by many.
19) Simply because our eyes are open doesn't mean to say that we are awake. How many times have we gone into a room only to forget why we went there in the first place? Or how many times have we read a paragraph in a book only to wake up to the fact that we haven't taken in a single word of it?
20) If our concept of God is predominantly abstract there should also be a few black holes in it in order to let the personal in.
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
Philosophical Musings 13-16
13) The more discomfort we feel at having our ignorance exposed the more it hinders our capacity to learn.
14) The teacher who humiliates a child in front of his peers, because of the child's difficulty in understanding rather than because of the child's misbehaviour, has done very significant damage to that child's education.
15) A course of action has, objectively, 50 factors in its favour and 400 factors against it. A first man cites the 50 factors while arguing articulately, persuasively and forcefully in favour of the course of action. The second man is aware of the 400 factors against the course of action but lacks the first man's oratory skills, cannot articulate himself well and feels uncomfortable in situations where he has to debate such issues. We will always be persuaded by what the first man has to say.
16) To claim to be the voice of Reason, and to condemn those who disagree with us as opponents or enemies of Reason, is as illusory as claiming to be on the side of God and claiming that those who disagree with us are enemies of God. To know Reason, in its pure sense, we need to go beyond conventional scientific or religious thinking.
14) The teacher who humiliates a child in front of his peers, because of the child's difficulty in understanding rather than because of the child's misbehaviour, has done very significant damage to that child's education.
15) A course of action has, objectively, 50 factors in its favour and 400 factors against it. A first man cites the 50 factors while arguing articulately, persuasively and forcefully in favour of the course of action. The second man is aware of the 400 factors against the course of action but lacks the first man's oratory skills, cannot articulate himself well and feels uncomfortable in situations where he has to debate such issues. We will always be persuaded by what the first man has to say.
16) To claim to be the voice of Reason, and to condemn those who disagree with us as opponents or enemies of Reason, is as illusory as claiming to be on the side of God and claiming that those who disagree with us are enemies of God. To know Reason, in its pure sense, we need to go beyond conventional scientific or religious thinking.
Saturday, 18 December 2010
Philosophical Musings 9-12
9) Consciousness cannot be raised by biology. Consciousness can only be raised by a Conscience that is True because it is Impartial.
10) To talk of brain simulation software is a lazy, adolescent and dismissive way of using language in order to try to explain away those things which do not fit comfortably into certain subjective views of life and the world.
11) The world's most brilliant intellectual can be completely insensitive to the feelings of those with whom he keeps regular company, not through indifference or cruelty but because he has never developed emotional understanding.
12) An Oxbridge professor of philosophy can be a complete dunce when it comes to the practical thinking required for loading a furniture van.
10) To talk of brain simulation software is a lazy, adolescent and dismissive way of using language in order to try to explain away those things which do not fit comfortably into certain subjective views of life and the world.
11) The world's most brilliant intellectual can be completely insensitive to the feelings of those with whom he keeps regular company, not through indifference or cruelty but because he has never developed emotional understanding.
12) An Oxbridge professor of philosophy can be a complete dunce when it comes to the practical thinking required for loading a furniture van.
Monday, 6 December 2010
Philosophical Musings 5-8
5) If what we feel is free of reaction, and what we sense is free from the interference of other parts of the psyche, then what we feel and what we sense has more life than our "thinking" has.
6) Many attitudes towards religion, whether they be from atheists or theists, are false. And the more fiercely hostile we are in defending or attacking such attitudes the further away we are likely to be from the Truth.
7) God does not exist where there is much heated debate about His existence or non-existence but only where the question has no relevance.
8) The more convinced we are that we are right about something intangible the more likely we are to be wrong.
6) Many attitudes towards religion, whether they be from atheists or theists, are false. And the more fiercely hostile we are in defending or attacking such attitudes the further away we are likely to be from the Truth.
7) God does not exist where there is much heated debate about His existence or non-existence but only where the question has no relevance.
8) The more convinced we are that we are right about something intangible the more likely we are to be wrong.
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