5 ms·

https://www.saintbeluga.org/ https://www.saintbeluga.org/ I was a YC founder in 2006 and still do software engineering and data science full-time, but on the s

https://www.saintbeluga.org/ https://www.saintbeluga.org/ I was a YC founder in 2006 and still do software engineering and data science full-time, but on the side I also do Christian apologetics, helping fellow engineers/scientists/mathematicians seek answers to life's deepest questions. Some cool articles for the HN crowd: - My interview of Evan O'Dorney, a three-time Putnam Fellow and two-time IMO gold medalist, who converted to Catholic Christianity: https://www.saintbeluga.org/veritas-part-i-conversion-of-a-prodigy https://www.saintbeluga.org/veritas-part-i-conversion-of-a-p... - In-depth scientific overview of Eucharistic miracles: https://www.saintbeluga.org/eucharistic-miracles-god-under-the-microscope https://www.saintbeluga.org/eucharistic-miracles-god-under-t... - Conversion testimony by the Chief Scientist at NASA JPL: https://www.saintbeluga.org/veritas-part-iii-bellows-of-aquinas https://www.saintbeluga.org/veritas-part-iii-bellows-of-aqui...

hello0525 1y ago
Love this, great work. Rock on!
thephyber 1y ago
Interesting. I was just considering an app to facilitate the other side of the apologetics argument with an interactive resurrection of IronChariots.org as a native app.
johnpurr 1y ago
All conspiracies's enemy is logistics. And yet for these eucharist miracles, the logistics are simple. They all have a clear and obvious point where foul play could be inserted, where the complicit number of people can be brought down to just 1. You may not like this explanation, but it's one people will rightly use to counter it. 'Why would people lie' is a pointless exercise. They would. Each person has a different story, intent, motivation. Anyway I just read the first one, but I'm aware of these miracles some time ago. I don't think it has outward persuasive powers catholics think they do. It sounds trivial and specific. It's also so clearly some growth to me. You got the wafer, you got contamination, and you put it in a container with water. Of course, then they would find a separate heart tissue to send to the scientists. (Also unrelated, but it's kinda funny. Catholics would be saying it's the literal body of Christ. And they they dropped it to the floor and went 'well, I can't eat that'.)
- michelangelodev 1y ago
  You're correct that we can't prove the chain of custody for the Eucharistic miracles - this is discussed at the bottom of the article. In general, there's no airtight "proof" for any miracle, and the best way to determine whether Christianity is true is to live the faith and see what happens. I wrote an article about this: https://www.saintbeluga.org/the-rosary-the-ultimate-life-hack https://www.saintbeluga.org/the-rosary-the-ultimate-life-hac...
  - CommenterPerson 1y ago
    This could be applied to any faith. Likely many people would find that faith was also true? So they are all true simultaneously? But they also contradict one another, and have people killing each other in their "team's" name? AFAIK there hasn't been any evidence shown for any of the faiths yet.
  - gtowey 1y ago
    > the best way to determine whether Christianity is true is to live the faith and see what happens. So you're telling me you tried this with a bunch of other religions before you landed on Christianity? You became a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Wiccan and lived those faiths?
    - michelangelodev 1y ago
      I'm convinced that Christianity is true, so I don't feel compelled to keep exploring other belief systems. My conviction comes from the intellectual evidence, the witness of other Christians, and the fruits of my own faith life as a Christian. As I mentioned in my previous comment, I believe that ultimately the fruits of a lived faith provides the strongest assurance.
      - kenanfyi 1y ago
        So basically you are confirming your own belief system using, well, your own and choices of other people which believe in the same thing. That sounds a little bit biased, isn‘t it? Wait a minute… This has even a name in logical fallacies: CONFIRMATION BIAS.
999900000999 1y ago
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" Epicurus
- kukkeliskuu 1y ago
  There are multiple potential answers to this basic riddle in various religions. Are you interested in understanding them? For example, we can say that while God is omnipotent, he has chosen to create a world with humans who have the possibility of choosing to be good -- your word -- or not -- and grow through this choice. A world cannot exist where the "evil" is prevented, unless you also take away the the agency from humans and this potential for growth. Much of which we think of as "evil" is actually consequence of things we do. One simple example in modern terms is that we tend to repeat the same unconscious patterns over and over again. We often do it because we have a trauma maybe from childhood -- that we are not conscious of. If I get a physical trauma, muscles around the traums tend to form a tension to protect the site where we get hurt. These often become chronic even after the wound has healed. We have many such chronic tensions in our body. Similarly, when we get a physical trauma that is too unbearable for us to process, we create tensions around it that protect us from experiencing it. These patterns we repeat cause much of our suffering. By becoming more aware of our wounds, they can start healing, and we can start becoming free of such suffering. Our "work" is to learn about ourselves, to overcome these traumas, and heal our wounds. In such a case the "evil" we see is actually a reflection which is necessary for us to become aware of these things in ourselves.
  - 999900000999 1y ago
    I'm replying to a comment about the Catholic/Christian God... In his myths he has no problem actively interfering with man. The great flood story itself is a giant logical paradox. God is perfect. God is all knowing. Yet God creates a world so screwed up he has to reset it. What free will does every human who's not Noah have ? Revalations heavily implies that one day God will get sick of this. Too much free will or something. Honestly everyone has a right to whatever myths get them through the day. The issue becomes when your myth infringe on the rights of others or are used to persecute. As in, your magic book has a few dietary restrictions, cool. Your magic book calls certain people abominations, or suggest they should have less rights, not cool.

hello0525 1y ago

Love this, great work. Rock on!

thephyber 1y ago

Interesting. I was just considering an app to facilitate the other side of the apologetics argument with an interactive resurrection of IronChariots.org as a native app.

johnpurr 1y ago

All conspiracies's enemy is logistics. And yet for these eucharist miracles, the logistics are simple. They all have a clear and obvious point where foul play could be inserted, where the complicit number of people can be brought down to just 1. You may not like this explanation, but it's one people will rightly use to counter it. 'Why would people lie' is a pointless exercise. They would. Each person has a different story, intent, motivation. Anyway I just read the first one, but I'm aware of these miracles some time ago. I don't think it has outward persuasive powers catholics think they do. It sounds trivial and specific. It's also so clearly some growth to me. You got the wafer, you got contamination, and you put it in a container with water. Of course, then they would find a separate heart tissue to send to the scientists. (Also unrelated, but it's kinda funny. Catholics would be saying it's the literal body of Christ. And they they dropped it to the floor and went 'well, I can't eat that'.)

michelangelodev 1y ago
You're correct that we can't prove the chain of custody for the Eucharistic miracles - this is discussed at the bottom of the article. In general, there's no airtight "proof" for any miracle, and the best way to determine whether Christianity is true is to live the faith and see what happens. I wrote an article about this: https://www.saintbeluga.org/the-rosary-the-ultimate-life-hack https://www.saintbeluga.org/the-rosary-the-ultimate-life-hac...
- CommenterPerson 1y ago
  This could be applied to any faith. Likely many people would find that faith was also true? So they are all true simultaneously? But they also contradict one another, and have people killing each other in their "team's" name? AFAIK there hasn't been any evidence shown for any of the faiths yet.
- gtowey 1y ago
  > the best way to determine whether Christianity is true is to live the faith and see what happens. So you're telling me you tried this with a bunch of other religions before you landed on Christianity? You became a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Wiccan and lived those faiths?
  - michelangelodev 1y ago
    I'm convinced that Christianity is true, so I don't feel compelled to keep exploring other belief systems. My conviction comes from the intellectual evidence, the witness of other Christians, and the fruits of my own faith life as a Christian. As I mentioned in my previous comment, I believe that ultimately the fruits of a lived faith provides the strongest assurance.
    - kenanfyi 1y ago
      So basically you are confirming your own belief system using, well, your own and choices of other people which believe in the same thing. That sounds a little bit biased, isn‘t it? Wait a minute… This has even a name in logical fallacies: CONFIRMATION BIAS.

999900000999 1y ago

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" Epicurus

kukkeliskuu 1y ago
There are multiple potential answers to this basic riddle in various religions. Are you interested in understanding them? For example, we can say that while God is omnipotent, he has chosen to create a world with humans who have the possibility of choosing to be good -- your word -- or not -- and grow through this choice. A world cannot exist where the "evil" is prevented, unless you also take away the the agency from humans and this potential for growth. Much of which we think of as "evil" is actually consequence of things we do. One simple example in modern terms is that we tend to repeat the same unconscious patterns over and over again. We often do it because we have a trauma maybe from childhood -- that we are not conscious of. If I get a physical trauma, muscles around the traums tend to form a tension to protect the site where we get hurt. These often become chronic even after the wound has healed. We have many such chronic tensions in our body. Similarly, when we get a physical trauma that is too unbearable for us to process, we create tensions around it that protect us from experiencing it. These patterns we repeat cause much of our suffering. By becoming more aware of our wounds, they can start healing, and we can start becoming free of such suffering. Our "work" is to learn about ourselves, to overcome these traumas, and heal our wounds. In such a case the "evil" we see is actually a reflection which is necessary for us to become aware of these things in ourselves.
- 999900000999 1y ago
  I'm replying to a comment about the Catholic/Christian God... In his myths he has no problem actively interfering with man. The great flood story itself is a giant logical paradox. God is perfect. God is all knowing. Yet God creates a world so screwed up he has to reset it. What free will does every human who's not Noah have ? Revalations heavily implies that one day God will get sick of this. Too much free will or something. Honestly everyone has a right to whatever myths get them through the day. The issue becomes when your myth infringe on the rights of others or are used to persecute. As in, your magic book has a few dietary restrictions, cool. Your magic book calls certain people abominations, or suggest they should have less rights, not cool.