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Yes, and with that attitude they and the people that write for them to match the agenda aren't different from the producer of "Ancient Aliens" who has a very sp

by acqq 6y ago

Yes, and with that attitude they and the people that write for them to match the agenda aren't different from the producer of "Ancient Aliens" who has a very specific agenda: to train the viewers to not believe the science (1) and "look for God", in his own words: "It’s really a show about looking for God. Science would have you believe we are the result of nothing more than a chance assemblage of matter. The real truth is we don’t know." It's one thing to positively promote your beliefs, what's from a humanistic point very wrong is intentionally sowing confusion and spreading doubt in what is already known (and demotivating people to even attempt to learn something right). Time and again we see how the people eventually suffer from such actions. Also, "If Life Were Only Like This" (2) I wish I could pull Thomas Kuhn to every writer who mentions him around just to promote his own agenda: "I heard what you're saying, you know nothing of my work, how you ever got to teach a course in anything is totally amazing." 1) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/style/ancient-aliens.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/style/ancient-aliens.html 2) https://www.openculture.com/2017/05/woody-allen-gets-marshall-mcluhan-to-put-a-pontificating-professor-in-his-place.html https://www.openculture.com/2017/05/woody-allen-gets-marshal...

paganel 6y ago
> The real truth is we don’t know I'm an agnostic person but isn't that the present (scientific) consensus right now? That doesn't necessarily mean that there was a "God" that was behind of it all, but I was left with the impression that the whole "everything happened by chance and chance only" discussion was more common 15-20 years ago compared to now, when we have other agnostic people seriously proposing the "we live in a simulation" theory or the "multiverse/multi-world" theories, both options which are not necessarily random (especially the "simulation" one). Just to make clear, I'm no scientist and I didn't follow this conversation ("what are the origins of the world/universe?") that closely because I don't find it to be that interesting, so if I'm talking non-sense maybe some other more knowledgeable people can correct me.
- acqq 6y ago
  We do know that what all famous religions promote is a complete nonsense, as in, what's in the religious books which claim to be fundamental truth just isn't scientific, but instead matches exactly what the humans of the times in which the books were written understood about the world around them. But the humanity learned much more since then. And it's not a new phenomenon. As the American continent was discovered by Europeans, with all the vegetables never before seen in Europe, it was already completely obvious that the world as described in the "holy" texts doesn't match the facts. America just doesn't exist in the Bible or in Koran, and neither do most of the products we eat today. (2) And then the Mormons, being in America, filled that gap with their "newer" "holy" text again delivered by an angel. It's so completely not fitting what we scientifically know that the detractors can't argue at that level at all, trying instead to place their god in the "gaps" (1) which became immensely smaller as the scientific knowledge progressed. The spreaders of doubt can't increase the "gaps" the science already narrowed down, but work day and night to increase the number of people whose own perception of the world around them has bigger gaps, especially by maintaining the false associations in their minds ("when you hear this think instead about that"). That's doable and that's good enough for them. But it's bad for humanity. That's how we have people drinking bleach and spreading such ideas to others. They just remain confused and demotivated to learn consistently ("we should doubt everything especially the science"). And by the same principles, we get the text we all comment here and your response too, hanging exactly to these words. 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps 2) https://www.britannica.com/list/18-food-crops-developed-in-the-americas https://www.britannica.com/list/18-food-crops-developed-in-t... -- there's no: beans, corn (maize), peanut, peppers, potato, sunflower or tomato in the Bible and, of course, no American continent. Both in the Bible and in the Koran the Earth is flat, under the solid firmament (the original word meant something like "the thinly beaten firm dome" as the metal bowls were made) to which the stars are attached. In Koran, moreover, the "god" shoots the devils with the shooting stars. Edit: a response to the "god is unknown" reply: yes, "god" can be "unknown", and I agree that those who argue should first precisely define their "god", what is however known is that whatever the religious books tell you that god is -- just can't be true, and the stories are on the level of simple child stories, from the today's perspective. My definition therefore is "all the appearances and acts of god in the holy texts." If you are ready to throw away everything in the "holy" texts and still believe in "something" that is not against what is already scientifically known, I surely have no problem with that. But a jealous god demanding a firstborn son to be ritually sacrificed, or sending bears to maul children who mocked his prophet, or sacrificing himself on the cross in spite of being almighty and being able to do any simpler intervention, or giving exclusive prophecies to an illiterate caravan robber allowing him to have as many wives as he wants and commanding him to kill all unbelievers? Forgetaboutit.

by acqq 6y ago

paganel 6y ago

> The real truth is we don’t know I'm an agnostic person but isn't that the present (scientific) consensus right now? That doesn't necessarily mean that there was a "God" that was behind of it all, but I was left with the impression that the whole "everything happened by chance and chance only" discussion was more common 15-20 years ago compared to now, when we have other agnostic people seriously proposing the "we live in a simulation" theory or the "multiverse/multi-world" theories, both options which are not necessarily random (especially the "simulation" one). Just to make clear, I'm no scientist and I didn't follow this conversation ("what are the origins of the world/universe?") that closely because I don't find it to be that interesting, so if I'm talking non-sense maybe some other more knowledgeable people can correct me.

acqq 6y ago
We do know that what all famous religions promote is a complete nonsense, as in, what's in the religious books which claim to be fundamental truth just isn't scientific, but instead matches exactly what the humans of the times in which the books were written understood about the world around them. But the humanity learned much more since then. And it's not a new phenomenon. As the American continent was discovered by Europeans, with all the vegetables never before seen in Europe, it was already completely obvious that the world as described in the "holy" texts doesn't match the facts. America just doesn't exist in the Bible or in Koran, and neither do most of the products we eat today. (2) And then the Mormons, being in America, filled that gap with their "newer" "holy" text again delivered by an angel. It's so completely not fitting what we scientifically know that the detractors can't argue at that level at all, trying instead to place their god in the "gaps" (1) which became immensely smaller as the scientific knowledge progressed. The spreaders of doubt can't increase the "gaps" the science already narrowed down, but work day and night to increase the number of people whose own perception of the world around them has bigger gaps, especially by maintaining the false associations in their minds ("when you hear this think instead about that"). That's doable and that's good enough for them. But it's bad for humanity. That's how we have people drinking bleach and spreading such ideas to others. They just remain confused and demotivated to learn consistently ("we should doubt everything especially the science"). And by the same principles, we get the text we all comment here and your response too, hanging exactly to these words. 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps 2) https://www.britannica.com/list/18-food-crops-developed-in-the-americas https://www.britannica.com/list/18-food-crops-developed-in-t... -- there's no: beans, corn (maize), peanut, peppers, potato, sunflower or tomato in the Bible and, of course, no American continent. Both in the Bible and in the Koran the Earth is flat, under the solid firmament (the original word meant something like "the thinly beaten firm dome" as the metal bowls were made) to which the stars are attached. In Koran, moreover, the "god" shoots the devils with the shooting stars. Edit: a response to the "god is unknown" reply: yes, "god" can be "unknown", and I agree that those who argue should first precisely define their "god", what is however known is that whatever the religious books tell you that god is -- just can't be true, and the stories are on the level of simple child stories, from the today's perspective. My definition therefore is "all the appearances and acts of god in the holy texts." If you are ready to throw away everything in the "holy" texts and still believe in "something" that is not against what is already scientifically known, I surely have no problem with that. But a jealous god demanding a firstborn son to be ritually sacrificed, or sending bears to maul children who mocked his prophet, or sacrificing himself on the cross in spite of being almighty and being able to do any simpler intervention, or giving exclusive prophecies to an illiterate caravan robber allowing him to have as many wives as he wants and commanding him to kill all unbelievers? Forgetaboutit.