Science, Faith, and the bridge of Metaphysics.
by Alex Marthaller on Sunday, August 29, 2010 at 1:51am.
The destruction of the relationship between man and God is largely due to the modern denouncement of metaphysics as relative in the realm of science. Metaphysics is the bridge between modern scientific understanding and of our relationship with God, as it is the science of the soul. Philosophers like Kant and Schopenhauer have wrestled with it as they tried to include mention of the will within itself and the Noumenon central to absolute reality, but as science entered the age of enlightenment the use for such terms was limited as philosophical flights of fancy, and God was reasoned out. Reasonability can not account for the consequences for our actions we must now face in a dying world. Science must be revisited to incorporate a system of modern cosmology and metaphysics that allow room for the spirit and for God to exist;likewise, religion and spiritual faith must be able to be strong in its foundations, yet allow for enough flexability to incorporate the observations and probabilities of good science. For example, I can believe in Christ and believe that the Earth is not the center of the universe; just as, I can believe in the probability of evolution over vast epochs of time and still believe that it is God's hand which guides such creation, and still believe in the virgin birth, crusifiction, and resurection. There are no contradictions except the minds which maintain them. This new paradigm, a marrage of sorts, will be the saving factor for our existence and the restructuring of a deep ecology.
Science and faith, which allows metaphysics to flourish, are quite compatible. This is an insight that is slowly beginning to build in the scientific and academic circles. For we are beginning to realize that everything we observe with our sciences, including our magnificent minds, are really phenomenal aspects, or material incarnations, of a much greater reality; the greater reality of which I speak can be metaphorically described as an onion. An onion is made of several layers of cells which incorporate to create the onion in totality. Our universe, and reality are similar to this model; in that, the totality of our universe, of reality, of nature is a rich multi-layered, multi-dimensional reality of which we are aware of the most minute aspects. The sciences allow us to understand physical phenomenon, while metaphysics and religion allow us to experience yet other reflective layers, there may even be layers that we can not begin to perceive until our material bodies die and we assume form in a higher spiritual dimention. The abstract source of our being which we understand through our personal faith’s and religions as God, can also be felt in the patterns of nature. Indeed, every time we look through a microscope at our DNA, or through a telescope at the mysterious vastness of the cosmos, we are looking at direct evidence, at artifacts of God’s creation and the inner-workings of God’s mind.
The very structure of the cosmos contains a spiritual message, and why wouldn't it for it is God who created that very stucture. The very structure which is way out in space when you look at galaxies and nebula, and the very structure within your own cells. These structures which we are identifying through the sciences are quite literally revelations coming from the same source as religion itself. Both the sciences and spiritual traditions of faith in God are manifestations of Universal Intellect, the Logos, the cosmose itself as an integral aspect of God and the total Universe of meaning in which man lives, contemplates, and dies, and continues on in his spiritual heritage.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Late night ramblings
During our life 500,000 cells die each second, each day about 50 billion cells in our body are replaced, resulting in a new body each year. So cell death is totally different from body death when you eventually die. During our life our body changes continuously, each day, each minute, each second. Each year about 98% of our molecules and atoms in our body have been replaced. Each living being is in an unstable balance of two opposing processes of continual disintegration and integration. But no one realizes this constant change. And from where comes the continuity of our continually changing body? Cells are just the building blocks of our body, like the bricks of a house, but who is the architect, who coordinates the building of this house. When someone has died, only mortal remains are left: only matter. But where is the director of the body? What about our consciousness when we die? Is someone his body, or do we “have” a body? Better yet, am I simply a body of cells and fluids; am I a body which is tied to a soul; or am I a soul that is temporarily possessing a body. If so could it be that the I that is the real me, my soul, already exist in an extra dimentional place out side the body, but linked in a body/mind/spirit relationship. And, if so, then perhaps it is that what I do here while possessing this body is what determines the dwelling place of my soul, a direct reflection. As I become either acts of hate or acts of love in this life, I am eminating onto my soul, and the dimention of which it exists, the light or darkness that will forever become its place once the earthly body is gone. In essence Heaven or Hell, but in an energetic or multi-dimentional sense rather than a physical one.
There are just so many rabbit trails to go down with this series of thoughts: for example, if 98% of our material bodies change completley within a year, then how is it that we can retain memories for decades? This only adds to the hard pro...blem of consciousness, and supports the idea that though thoughts are influenced by the matter of the brain, they actually originate and exist in a dimention higher than that of the matter itself. Perhaps thoughts are something like radio waves from God, and our individual minds are merely organic transducers of consciousness. This is why individual consciousness seems subjective, but really it is just a very small part of the total universal and objective state of consciousness, something like Jung's idea of the shared collective unconscious.
Patterns everywhere... 1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55... existing in and around us, like pieces of a holligram. 50 billion cells each day, 40 thousand people, 1,000 stars... The atom, the solar system, the galaxy... Branches on a tree, veins in a leaf, our lives, ripples on a pond, waves in the ocean... all just the rantings of a mind that needs to fall asleep
There are just so many rabbit trails to go down with this series of thoughts: for example, if 98% of our material bodies change completley within a year, then how is it that we can retain memories for decades? This only adds to the hard pro...blem of consciousness, and supports the idea that though thoughts are influenced by the matter of the brain, they actually originate and exist in a dimention higher than that of the matter itself. Perhaps thoughts are something like radio waves from God, and our individual minds are merely organic transducers of consciousness. This is why individual consciousness seems subjective, but really it is just a very small part of the total universal and objective state of consciousness, something like Jung's idea of the shared collective unconscious.
Patterns everywhere... 1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55... existing in and around us, like pieces of a holligram. 50 billion cells each day, 40 thousand people, 1,000 stars... The atom, the solar system, the galaxy... Branches on a tree, veins in a leaf, our lives, ripples on a pond, waves in the ocean... all just the rantings of a mind that needs to fall asleep
Monday, August 23, 2010
The Cult of Social Narcissism in the industrialized consumer Western Civilization (excerpt by A.K. Marthaller)
It is our own widespread social narcissism of epidemic proportion that eludes the majority from the fact that we humans too are fragile animals that could easily join the other 99.8% of all other species that once thrived on Earth but are now extinct. To vainly believe that our race is so superior and "entitled" to the point of negligent destruction of the world's biosphere reeks of the very arrogance and blasphemy of which many an ancient tale and holy scripture had warned against as it may anger God enough to allow us to perish. Indeed there are even those who observe the impending collapse of everything we know of as our world as a prophesy playing itself out into a manmade destructive crescendo of apocalyptic proportions. Narcissism arises in the child who "suffers from a prolonged state of unmet needs" (Winter, Koger, pg. 45). As a society who is displaced from the "source" of our being we too suffer a prolonged unquenchable thirst of unmet needs; thus, we have become a narcissistic society of starving consumers of material reality that just isn't as real as we think. The problem is, is that many of us are so far removed from the source of our being that we do not know how to properly feed our psyche; that is we do not know where to begin to find the correct and healthy food for our minds and souls. We will not find the proper nourishment on the television, nor will we find it in any consumer product or underwear ad, nor will we find it on any of the artificial summits of the mountains of distorted notions we climb in search of our selves. We're just not there, anywhere to be seen. We can never truly meet our psyche's needs by applying artificial and material things to ourselves to fill in the desolate void in our lives; inasmuch, we will always hunger and thirst for more money, more ego status, a faster car, a bigger house, and more power because these are not the things that our souls' and minds' need. This would be like eating nothing but cotton candy and drinking muck when we really need a sustainable meal and fresh clean water. This blinding epidemic of cultural narcissism and global ecological destruction allude to a greater dysfunction within the shared psychology of Western industrialized materialist consumer society.
Narcissism arises in the child who "suffers from a prolonged state of unmet needs"; thus, causing the individual to enter into a life long pattern of traits and behaviors which signify infatuation and obsession with one's self to the exclusion of all others and the egotistic and ruthless pursuit of one's gratification, dominance and ambition. This is a sever neurotic reaction to anxiety caused by lack of nurturing substance sometime during child development; inasmuch, the neurotic behavior eventually morphs into neurosis and eventually into a diagnosable (DSMIV) psychological disorder. The Narcissist must create and maintain a perceived reality that makes them the central figure, and all other persons merely extentions of themselves rather than real people with a seperate reality, lives, and boundaries. They will often think themselves to be elusive and somehow better than most everyone else, this may appear to them as being wealthier or more intelligent than anyone else; thus, relationships are very (black or white), they will either include others into their grand dilusion of being greater, or they will damn others to the opposite of them. If they think they are the most intelligent person in the world, others will be reduced to being imbeciles. The Narcissist believes much like an infant child, that the world revolves around their hunger for self and for nurturing. Often times the Narcissist will seek to feed their hunger-lust for nurturing and self by excessivley nurturing their false reality and delusion of grandure, or in manipulating others to gain the emotional attention they hunger for: much in the same way that a child cries when hungry.
That is the individual behavior of the Narcissist. It is a real disorder on a personal level, but it has also become a large scale epidemic as a social dysfuntion in the patterns of our societies behavior in terms of how we view ourselves, our rights, and our interaction with the rest of the world. Thus, we continue to hunger and inexhaustably consume our relationships, our natural habitat, and our spiritual identities. Narcissism is a sign of the times, and is the large scale psychosis that will dismantle our civilization as we know it.
Now think about that, then take a look around. Is it you? Is it someone you know? Is it a group of people you know? Do you belong to that group? Are the problems our world is facing a byproduct and symptom to the larg scale social epidemic psychological disorder of Narcissism?
It is our own widespread social narcissism of epidemic proportion that eludes the majority from the fact that we humans too are fragile animals that could easily join the other 99.8% of all other species that once thrived on Earth but are now extinct. To vainly believe that our race is so superior and "entitled" to the point of negligent destruction of the world's biosphere reeks of the very arrogance and blasphemy of which many an ancient tale and holy scripture had warned against as it may anger God enough to allow us to perish. Indeed there are even those who observe the impending collapse of everything we know of as our world as a prophesy playing itself out into a manmade destructive crescendo of apocalyptic proportions. Narcissism arises in the child who "suffers from a prolonged state of unmet needs" (Winter, Koger, pg. 45). As a society who is displaced from the "source" of our being we too suffer a prolonged unquenchable thirst of unmet needs; thus, we have become a narcissistic society of starving consumers of material reality that just isn't as real as we think. The problem is, is that many of us are so far removed from the source of our being that we do not know how to properly feed our psyche; that is we do not know where to begin to find the correct and healthy food for our minds and souls. We will not find the proper nourishment on the television, nor will we find it in any consumer product or underwear ad, nor will we find it on any of the artificial summits of the mountains of distorted notions we climb in search of our selves. We're just not there, anywhere to be seen. We can never truly meet our psyche's needs by applying artificial and material things to ourselves to fill in the desolate void in our lives; inasmuch, we will always hunger and thirst for more money, more ego status, a faster car, a bigger house, and more power because these are not the things that our souls' and minds' need. This would be like eating nothing but cotton candy and drinking muck when we really need a sustainable meal and fresh clean water. This blinding epidemic of cultural narcissism and global ecological destruction allude to a greater dysfunction within the shared psychology of Western industrialized materialist consumer society.
Narcissism arises in the child who "suffers from a prolonged state of unmet needs"; thus, causing the individual to enter into a life long pattern of traits and behaviors which signify infatuation and obsession with one's self to the exclusion of all others and the egotistic and ruthless pursuit of one's gratification, dominance and ambition. This is a sever neurotic reaction to anxiety caused by lack of nurturing substance sometime during child development; inasmuch, the neurotic behavior eventually morphs into neurosis and eventually into a diagnosable (DSMIV) psychological disorder. The Narcissist must create and maintain a perceived reality that makes them the central figure, and all other persons merely extentions of themselves rather than real people with a seperate reality, lives, and boundaries. They will often think themselves to be elusive and somehow better than most everyone else, this may appear to them as being wealthier or more intelligent than anyone else; thus, relationships are very (black or white), they will either include others into their grand dilusion of being greater, or they will damn others to the opposite of them. If they think they are the most intelligent person in the world, others will be reduced to being imbeciles. The Narcissist believes much like an infant child, that the world revolves around their hunger for self and for nurturing. Often times the Narcissist will seek to feed their hunger-lust for nurturing and self by excessivley nurturing their false reality and delusion of grandure, or in manipulating others to gain the emotional attention they hunger for: much in the same way that a child cries when hungry.
That is the individual behavior of the Narcissist. It is a real disorder on a personal level, but it has also become a large scale epidemic as a social dysfuntion in the patterns of our societies behavior in terms of how we view ourselves, our rights, and our interaction with the rest of the world. Thus, we continue to hunger and inexhaustably consume our relationships, our natural habitat, and our spiritual identities. Narcissism is a sign of the times, and is the large scale psychosis that will dismantle our civilization as we know it.
Now think about that, then take a look around. Is it you? Is it someone you know? Is it a group of people you know? Do you belong to that group? Are the problems our world is facing a byproduct and symptom to the larg scale social epidemic psychological disorder of Narcissism?
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Einstein's brain and evolution.
The super folded neo-cortex which led to massive dendrite growth and to the extreme linking of the parietal lobe to the temporal lobe found in Einstein's brain suggests that mutation and variance can be detected in the brain, that brain evolution does happen. And, as we all know, those slight variations in Einstein's brain allowed him to access areas of his mind unknown to most other humans. We saw the power of his thought in the discovery of E=MC2; the prediction of black holes decades before they were confirmed; and in the nuclear explosion that ended WWII. Much power in the slightest of genetic variation in a small amount of time, in one species, in one generation; now, consider the power of genetic variation and brain development over 3 billion years, millions of species, and millions of generations.
Brain Evolution and Theistic synthesis
Brain evolution is a perfect road map of brain development through epochs of time. At our base stem our brains are most like reptilian, and then emotional centers like dogs and cats, then into the neo-cortical regions found in other apes. Ours are the most developed. Does this mean that we are directly descended from these species? Perhaps, but not necessarily, but there is strong correlation to show similar genetic patterns that have emerged through time, and through the development of species. We could share common ancestors all along the way. We were never Chimps; however, we diverge from a similar genetic lineage, and the clues are in the genes. There have been some eyebrow raising finds in the fossil record more recently (in the past 9 months) to suggest that we share lineage, and that is the new idea in evolutionary science, and not that we are or were ever chimps. Looking for direct evidence in the fossil record is like searching for a needle in a haystack; inasmuch, where we will find the direct evidence of the process of evolution will come from our modern technical advances in being able to read the genetic code. The evidence is to be discovered right here in each of us, in our genes and by looking at the development of our brains. It does leave room to suggest that there are more general or common genetics shared by many species, and that through time and development we could share common ancestral genetics. Or one could even muse (from a theistic evolutionary point of view) that these genetics are common for the above reasons, and that they also act as a map or blue print of brain development through species as intended by a divine source of creation. The arguments between "Aquinas Creationism" and "Atheistic Evolutionists" are inexhaustible, full of holes, and rather boring. They are not supporting arguments for or against evolution as much as they are clinging desperately to narrow world views that are grasping at straws. Sad to me is that one would ever be caught in such desperation of belief that they couldn't even entertain possibilities, ever find commonality, or see beyond the intellectual smog and fallacy of reductionism. Both extremes are mistaken, there is a bigger picture, and it is called "Theistic Evolution". I contend that the contradictions raised in such arguments are perceptual contradictions, and not real contradictions. Because we can or can not perceive of something doesn't mean it doesn't happen or exist. This is the key to faith, because I can believe in the product without seeing the equation, or I can believe in the hand of creation without being able to put a glove on it. As far as I'm concerned there is no contradiction between theism and the observations of biology known as evolution. There is room for both theism and evolution to coexist.So really, evolution theory (variance, isolation, natural selection) can coexist with the concept of divine creation. Simply that, all of our observations in the sciences (cosmology in the times of Galileo, and biology now) are as accurate as our system of measurements and statistics; together these powerful tools of our minds are able to find "probability" in nature, A nature which was created and is perpetually being created by a divine omnipresent consciousness, God. So, I can believe in God, and that God created me with a mind to use and make sense of this amazing creation he placed me in... perhaps so that I can advance my civilization; enjoy the beauty; be amazed; and glorify him in all of it. Perhaps...
Friday, July 9, 2010
The mountian and I
think about how we are much more than we perceive on a day to day basis, in our worries, strides and struggles. It leads me to think not that I am simply just this body, and not even simply just a body that has a soul, but that I am a soul that is more currently entertaining this body. And that it is this same soul that transcends my body; moves beyond the subjective experience of "I myself" and into the objective experience of "I in of itself" or "I am" in that my soul is not only entertaining this body, but it is also entertain that which I usually perceive as my direct environment, and ultimatley a relationship with God. We can stand in the beauty of a mountian side and think, "wow, what a beautiful mountian, I am here and it is there; or, we can think "wow, what a beautiful existence, I am of the same quality which defines the mountain side of which I am able to directly perceive". The mountian and I are of different phenomenon, but we are of the same noumenon. Is this mountian really something separate from a deeper part of what defines me; or, is the real me something that converges with the existence of the mountain, of us both being an expression of the same creation by the same God? The more noumenal self awakening to observe and experience itself in greater depth through our more subjective central nervous systems.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Good enough for God.
Often times we think: "I believe in God, but I'm not sure if I am ready, if I am good enough, to have a personal relationship with God". Or we just don't pray because we think that we do not know how to pray. What we are doing then with this attitude is creating the self-fulfilled prophesy of our lives without God or prayer because we believe in the self imposed obstacle more than we believe in God. We actually do this with many other things and many other areas in our lives as well. If we ever want to get out of our rut; really begin to believe with our whole hearts in God, in prayer, we have to let go of that obstacle we place before ourselves. No one is greater than the next, we all mess up. Even after we forge into our relationship with God we still mess up, it is human nature, and it is forgiven if our hearts are true. Instead of thinking, "God isn't ready for me because I'm not perfect, or I don't know how to pray so I'll just skip it"; we could think something like, I am not perfect but God wants me anyway so that he can begin to perfect me, or maybe I'll just close my eyes and start talking to God right now, just a hello will do, or a thank you, or for help and guidance, or peace. We just have to get over that fence to get out of these trenches of lifelessness.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Poem by Alan Watts
You're breathing
The wind is blowing
The trees are waving
Your nerves are tingling
...The individual and the universe
Are inseparable
But the curious thing is
Very few people are aware of it
Everything in nature
Depends on everything else
So it's interconnected
We confuse ourselves as living organisms which are one with this whole universe
With something we call our personality
And what is our personality?
And our fundamental self is not something just inside the skin
It's everything around us with which we connect
When you look out of your eyes
At nature happening out there
You're looking at you
That's the real you-
The you that goes on of itself
Now listen
It's absolutely necessary
That we let go of ourselves- and it can't be done,
Not by anything that we call doing it, acting, willing,
Or even just accepting things
It seems that the human being
Really has a very simple kind of mind... ~ Alan Watts (Mid 20th century philosopher).
Further Musing:
In this poem it seems as though Dr. Watts is speaking of the Noumenon central to existence. This is the same Noumenon expressed by Immanuel Kant and Schopenhauer as that central point of reality that exists behind the scenes as an abstract potential causing existence to occur by a "willing of will itself"; the same centrality expressed as "The Way of Things" or Te Tao by the ancient Chinese philosophers, including, more contemporary, Bruce Lee and Alan Watts; the same omnipresent spirit of God who created everything and expressed himself as the great "I am".
Monday, June 28, 2010
Health Benifits of Fasting
There has been much contention in the scientific field about whether or not fasting is beneficial to one's health. Fasting is an integral part of many of the major religions including Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Many are dubious as to whether the physiological effects are as beneficial as the spiritual promoted by these religions. There is a significant community of alternative healers who believe that fasting can do wonders for the human body. This paper will look at the arguments presented by these healers in an attempt to raise awareness of the possible physiological benefits that may result from fasting.
Fasting technically commences within the first twelve to twenty-four hours of the fast. A fast does not chemically begin until the carbohydrate stores in the body begin to be used as an energy source. The fast will continue as long as fat and carbohydrate stores are used for energy, as opposed to protein stores. Once protein stores begin to be depleted for energy (resulting in loss of muscle mass) a person is technically starving.
The benefits of fasting must be preceded by a look at the body's progression when deprived of food. Due to the lack of incoming energy, the body must turn to its own resources, a function called autolysis. (2) Autolysis is the breaking down of fat stores in the body in order to produce energy. The liver is in charge of converting the fats into a chemical called a ketone body, "the metabolic substances acetoacetic acid and beta-hydroxybutyric acid" (3), and then distributing these bodies throughout the body via the blood stream. "When this fat utilization occurs, free fatty acids are released into the blood stream and are used by the liver for energy." (3) The less one eats, the more the body turns to these stored fats and creates these ketone bodies, the accumulation of which is referred to as ketosis. (4)
Detoxification is the foremost argument presented by advocates of fasting. "Detoxification is a normal body process of eliminating or neutralizing toxins through the colon, liver, kidneys, lungs, lymph glands, and skin." (5). This process is precipitated by fasting because when food is no longer entering the body, the body turns to fat reserves for energy. "Human fat is valued at 3,500 calories per pound," a number that would lead one to believe that surviving on one pound of fat every day would provide a body with enough energy to function normally. (2) These fat reserves were created when excess glucose and carbohydrates were not used for energy or growth, not excreted, and therefore converted into fat. When the fat reserves are used for energy during a fast, it releases the chemicals from the fatty acids into the system which are then eliminated through the aforementioned organs. Chemicals not found in food but absorbed from one's environment, such as DDT, are also stored in fat reserves that may be released during a fast. One fasting advocate tested his own urine, feces and sweat during an extended fast and found traces of DDT in each. (5)
A second prescribed benefit of fasting is the healing process that begins in the body during a fast. During a fast energy is diverted away from the digestive system due to its lack of use and towards the metabolism and immune system. (6) The healing process during a fast is precipitated by the body's search for energy sources. Abnormal growths within the body, tumors and the like, do not have the full support of the body's supplies and therefore are more susceptible to autolysis. Furthermore, "production of protein for replacement of damaged cells (protein synthesis) occurs more efficiently because fewer 'mistakes' are made by the DNA/RNA genetic controls which govern this process." A higher efficiency in protein synthesis results in healthier cells, tissues and organs. (7) This is one reason that animals stop eating when they are wounded, and why humans lose hunger during influenza. Hunger has been proven absent in illnesses such as gastritis, tonsillitis and colds. (2) Therefore, when one is fasting, the person is consciously diverting energy from the digestive system to the immune system.
In addition, there is a reduction in core body temperature. This is a direct result of the slower metabolic rate and general bodily functions. Following a drop in blood sugar level and using the reserves of glucose found in liver glycogen, the basal metabolic rate (BMR) is reduced in order to conserve as much energy within the body as can be provided. (2) Growth hormones are also released during a fast, due to the greater efficiency in hormone production. (7)
Finally, the most scientifically proven advantage to fasting is the feeling of rejuvenation and extended life expectancy. Part of this phenomenon is caused by a number of the benefits mentioned above. A slower metabolic rate, more efficient protein production, an improved immune system, and the increased production of hormones contributes to this long-term benefit of fasting. In addition to the Human Growth Hormone that is released more frequently during a fast, an anti-aging hormone is also produced more efficiently. (7) "The only reliable way to extend the lifespan of a mammal is under-nutrition without malnutrition." (5) A study was performed on earthworms that demonstrated the extension of life due to fasting. The experiment was performed in the 1930s by isolating one worm and putting it on a cycle of fasting and feeding. The isolated worm outlasted its relatives by 19 generations, while still maintaining its youthful physiological traits. The worm was able to survive on its own tissue for months. Once the size of the worm began to decrease, the scientists would resume feeding it at which point it showed great vigor and energy. "The life-span extension of these worms was the equivalent of keeping a man alive for 600 to 700 years."
In conclusion, it seems that there are many reasons to consider fasting as a benefit to one's health. The body rids itself of the toxins that have built up in our fat stores throughout the years. The body heals itself, repairs all the damaged organs during a fast. And finally there is good evidence to show that regulated fasting contributes to longer life. However, many doctors warn against fasting for extended periods of time without supervision. There are still many doctors today who deny all of these points and claim that fasting is detrimental to one's health and have evidence to back their statements. The idea of depriving a body of what society has come to view as so essential to our survival in order to heal continues to be a topic of controversy.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Learning how to go with the flow.
Success comes in being able to set goals, make a plan; however, more importantly, in being able to be flexible enough to change with the greater changes and still keep in mind those goals. I tend to think that while I make plans for my life and set goals, that God, "The Almighty", has an ultimate plan and goal for me. ...The Eastern Taoist "philosophers" would understand this wisdom as: that while I try to "do" life, life has a way of "happening". The wisdom, in one sense, comes in learning how to access that greater plan and have faith that God has plans to prosper us; and in another more philosophic translation it is to be an active part of the "happening" that seems to be part of life, all of life.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Approaching the hard problem of consciousness.
So, how is it possible for the intangible yet personally subjective experience of consciousness, can come from mere matter? Is this hard problem of consciousness something that can be answered through biochemistry and psychology, or will an answer come from knowledge not yet understood? Perhaps we are approaching the question in a reverse order than it really is, maybe we should ask, "how is it that perceived matter can exist from conscious experience. Or even possibly, it may be such that perceived matter and consciousness are two different forms of something fundamental to the existence of the universe. They could be just two different experiences of the same thing: matter is perceived through phenomenon, while consciousness is felt in a form more closely to the noumenon. Both matter and consciousness behave quite similarly to that which we call light. Light can be both a particle (matter) and a wave (consciousness). Just as light behaves as a wave until observed, when at that precise moment it collapses into a particle; quite similarly, may be the way matter and consciousness behave. They are simply two different forms of the same stuff. And, I believe it to be the stuff of the universe, of which it is made. And, yes, made as in created by an omnipresence in a patterned image of itself (like the infinite fractals within a hologram) known to mankind as God.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Center and Circumference of the self.
Without the center there is no circumference, and without the circumference there is no center. .. In this way the human being is inseparable from the whole of the universe... one's centrality of existence is something like an aperture of which the fundamental principle of the universe has come alive and can view itself.
Noumenon and consciousness
An excerpt from one of my analytical papers on the nature of consciousness:
Consciousness, is an awareness; however in its noumenon form it is a particular series of energetic principals and patterns occurring in nature that we may understand as “I” myself, and is not separate from our bodies and souls; however, is of o...ur body, which is greater than mere physical consideration, that exist in a conjoined relationship with our environment and universe; inasmuch consciousness is the unifying factor of self between what separatist logic deems as the body and as the divine...
As noumenon is an archaic word predominately utilized by Kantian philosophers, I will define it here as from the same paper.
Noumenon: The aspect of reality that is the true form of the phenomenon, not based on appearance but something greater and usually undetectable by ordinary means. Or, The noumenon (from Greek νοούμενoν, present participle of νοέω "I think, I mean"; plural: νοούμενα - noumena) is a posited object or event that is independent of the senses. It classically refers to an object of human inquiry, understanding or cognition. As a concept it has much in common with objectivity, that which is tangible but not perceivable; the reflection of phenomenon.
The term is generally used in contrast with, or in relation to "phenomenon", which refers to appearances, or objects of the senses. A phenomenon can be an exceptional, unusual, or abnormal thing or event—but it must be perceptible through the senses; A noumenon cannot be the actual object that results in the phenomenon in question. Noumena are objects or events known only to the mind - independent of the known and ordinary senses. It may be further contrasted with the perception and processing of a phenomenon in the human mind.
If you think about the fact that we human beings utilize less than 10% of our brain capacity, and many of us even less than that, there is yet another 90% which is a potential or unseen.
To also consider, briefly, what ancient Chinese philosophers called Tao Te is most simply translated as The Way. The way that oceans wave, the way that the sun shines, the way that birds migrate, the way of things in their most natural state. What they were talking about was that deeper sense of things, that Western philosophers call noumenon. I ... See Morefind it even more interesting that Jesus Christ, the "I am" also understood himself as "The Way". Perhaps that because of the very nature of his Divinity was rooted in the source of that which is the ultimate nature of God and God's way. How else would the son of God be able to tell the world that he is indeed the Divine one of prophesy than to describe himself "I Am" (the transcendentally divine consciousness), and "I am The Way". Furthermore, he stated he is The Way, The Truth, and The Light, all of which when considered in the context of the noumenon would be ways that would best describe that the truth central to the core of reality, that which is beyond existence, that which is the noumenon itself.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
You get what you pray for.
Indeed, it seems, that for any of the wisdom virtues to grow and become incorporated into the soul, they must be challenged. I prayed for patience and I was gifted with a son who is as challenging as myself. I prayed for my life to change for the better, and I was allowed to nearly destroy myself prior. I prayed to never feel alone again, and I was... See More gifted with an amazing wife and children. I prayed to become humble, and I was given a job to toilet and bathe the demented and dying. I pray for wisdom daily, and it usually comes threefold in personally challenging ways that are more like exercises or tests. I think that when we talk to God directly and ask him to increase our potential, if our hearts are aligned, we are given just what we pray for; thus, "Be careful of what you pray for, you just might get it". Now, think of a good parent as a steward, nurturer, and trainer, as our Heavenly father is our ultimate parent in these ways. He doesn't just give us what we ask for because that would not really "create" us in a lasting way; instead, he acknowledges us and allows us to receive these wisdoms and spiritual fruits through meeting the challenge of circumstances. Again, this is why faith is of the most important virtue for taking upon the path of such internalized wisdoms.
Spiritual tools of faith
Immanuel Kant described reality observable through scientific things as phenomenon, and aptly called the central unseen center of reality as the Noumea, or Noumenon.Our world seems to readily believe in things that it can see and measure with ruler and pen; however, there are others tools with which we encounter the me...taphysical, the spiritual, God in essence. Those tools are glimpsed in the peripherals of our conscious experience, and are internalized as things like faith, love, forgiveness, etc... They are the spiritual tools of which have been implanted in each and every human being so that each of us may indeed come to know (personally) that which is beyond existence and time and space, so that we may come through faith to know God. Indeed, Kant left off with simply stating that this needed more investigation in a metaphysical work, because at the time he was writing "The critique of pure reason". Still, however, as a fellow INTP (who impulsively searches for meaning and truth) he could not dismiss the overwhelming fact of the human experience to those intuitive kinds of tools that seem to be ingrained somewhere deep in our souls.I can see that Faith is belief in things unproven and unseen, for it is itself something unseen but surely felt; more deeply in some than in others. It has also been said that Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see (Heberews 11:1) On a bit of a rabbit trail this is an excellent chapter discussing deeply the virtue and wisdom of faith.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
INFJ + INTP = LOVE
The theory of why INFJs are theoretically supposed to be the "perfect match" for the INTP, I would appreciate input from the INFJs on the list as well, as I am focusing more on the INTP side, as I am myself an INTP and that is just plain easier.
It is my theory that within the relationship between the INTP and the INFJ, there is a grand accident that lends itself to compatibility between the two types.The INTP is most happy when allowed to rationally examine, explore, and explain his motivations and self-analysis and observation to an intimate partner. This is simply because the INTP loves self exploration, loves to gather knowledge and insight into his own actions, not for the sake of emotional discovery, simply out of a sense of curiosity and need to analyze and collect data.The INTP unemotionally and detachedly explains why he or she thinks in a certain way - that is what INTPs are best at, observation, particularly of themselves - and the INFJ then thinks that they are opening up to them, and becomes moved and emotionally attached to the INTP. The INTP sees that their observations are being received and interesting to the INFJ, so they continue. A fascinating relationship between two types. A relationship of total mutual miscommunication, the motivations are completely different, but with a reinforcing result. The INTP feels the closeness and intimacy of being able to share their scientific self-analysis, and the INFJ feels that the INTP is sharing their innermost thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and so the cycle of miscommunication keeps them locked together in a positively reenforcing relationship.
It is my theory that within the relationship between the INTP and the INFJ, there is a grand accident that lends itself to compatibility between the two types.The INTP is most happy when allowed to rationally examine, explore, and explain his motivations and self-analysis and observation to an intimate partner. This is simply because the INTP loves self exploration, loves to gather knowledge and insight into his own actions, not for the sake of emotional discovery, simply out of a sense of curiosity and need to analyze and collect data.The INTP unemotionally and detachedly explains why he or she thinks in a certain way - that is what INTPs are best at, observation, particularly of themselves - and the INFJ then thinks that they are opening up to them, and becomes moved and emotionally attached to the INTP. The INTP sees that their observations are being received and interesting to the INFJ, so they continue. A fascinating relationship between two types. A relationship of total mutual miscommunication, the motivations are completely different, but with a reinforcing result. The INTP feels the closeness and intimacy of being able to share their scientific self-analysis, and the INFJ feels that the INTP is sharing their innermost thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and so the cycle of miscommunication keeps them locked together in a positively reenforcing relationship.
I am: INTP
The ThinkerAs an INTP, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you deal with things rationally and logically. Your secondary mode is external, where you take things in primarily via your intuition. INTPs live in the world of theoretical possibilities. They see everything in terms of how it could be improved, or what it could be... See More turned into. They live primarily inside their own minds, having the ability to analyze difficult problems, identify patterns, and come up with logical explanations. They seek clarity in everything, and are therefore driven to build knowledge. They are the "absent-minded professors", who highly value intelligence and the ability to apply logic to theories to find solutions. They typically are so strongly driven to turn problems into logical explanations, that they live much of their lives within their own heads, and may not place as much importance or value on the external world. Their natural drive to turn theories into concrete understanding may turn into a feeling of personal responsibility to solve theoretical problems, and help society move towards a higher understanding. INTPs value knowledge above all else. Their minds are constantly working to generate new theories, or to prove or disprove existing theories. They approach problems and theories with enthusiasm and skepticism, ignoring existing rules and opinions and defining their own approach to the resolution. They seek patterns and logical explanations for anything that interests them. They're usually extremely bright, and able to be objectively critical in their analysis. They love new ideas, and become very excited over abstractions and theories. They love to discuss these concepts with others. They may seem "dreamy" and distant to others, because they spend a lot of time inside their minds musing over theories. They hate to work on routine things - they would much prefer to build complex theoretical solutions, and leave the implementation of the system to others. They are intensely interested in theory, and will put forth tremendous amounts of time and energy into finding a solution to a problem with has piqued their interest. INTPs do not like to lead or control people. They're very tolerant and flexible in most situations, unless one of their firmly held beliefs has been violated or challenged, in which case they may take a very rigid stance. The INTP is likely to be very shy when it comes to meeting new people. On the other hand, the INTP is very self-confident and gregarious around people they know well, or when discussing theories which they fully understand. The INTP has no understanding or value for decisions made on the basis of personal subjectivity or feelings. They strive constantly to achieve logical conclusions to problems, and don't understand the importance or relevance of applying subjective emotional considerations to decisions. For this reason, INTPs are usually not in-tune with how people are feeling, and are not naturally well-equiped to meet the emotional needs of others. The INTP may have a problem with self-aggrandizement and social rebellion, which will interfere with their creative potential. Since their Feeling side is their least developed trait, the INTP may have difficulty giving the warmth and support that is sometimes necessary in intimate relationships. If the INTP doesn't realize the value of attending to other people's feelings, he or she may become overly critical and sarcastic with others. If the INTP is not able to find a place for themself which supports the use of their strongest abilities, they may become generally negative and cynical. If the INTP has not developed their Sensing side sufficiently, they may become unaware of their environment, and exhibit weakness in performing maintenance-type tasks, such as bill-paying and dressing appropriately. For the INTP, it is extremely important that ideas and facts are expressed correctly and succinctly. They are likely to express themselves in what they believe to be absolute truths. Sometimes, their well thought-out understanding of an idea is not easily understandable by others, but the INTP is not naturally likely to tailor the truth so as to explain it in an understandable way to others. The INTP may be prone to abandoning a project once they have figured it out, moving on to the next thing. It's important that the INTP place importance on expressing their developed theories in understandable ways. In the end, an amazing discovery means nothing if you are the only person who understands it. The INTP is usually very independent, unconventional, and original. They are not likely to place much value on traditional goals such as popularity and security. They usually have complex characters, and may tend to be restless and temperamental. They are strongly ingenious, and have unconventional thought patterns which allows them to analyze ideas in new ways. Consequently, a lot of scientific breakthroughs in the world have been made by the INTP. The INTP is at his best when he can work on his theories independently. When given an environment which supports his creative genius and possible eccentricity, the INTP can accomplish truly remarkable things. These are the pioneers of new thoughts in our society.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Archtypes and moral evidence for the existence of God.
Killing the innocent is not right in any case, I agree. And, while societies may be different in superficial elements, rights and rituals, there is a core of right and wrong that is central to all humanity. Somewhere burried within the hidden archtypes of the human collective, encoded in our DNA and the pathology of ou...r minds, there has been placed...(by God) a natural law of right and wrong. This is a natural law of the human being just as gravity is a natural law in physics. Throughout history and time, archtypical elements arise within each culture that are the same. There are the archtypes of the blessed mother, the heavenly father, the shadow, and possibly thousands more. I mentioned these three because of the topic of discussion comes down to how these archtypes are being played out currently in our exterior world, creating a sense of universal right and wrong in regard to nurturing vs. killing. If we look around we can see that this pattern between the archtypes really affects our world in many ways: in the way we interact with our environment; in the way we have a blood thirst for war; in the way that we find infanticide as appropriate means to personal ends excluding saving the life of a mother. This line of thought is of my mind, and is inspired by the works of C.G. Jung and C.S. Lewis. It would be the marriage of Archtypes and evidence for God in human morality.
Sanctity of life as maxim toward evolution of human thought.
Why do we continue to destroy the lives of the innocent? Wild animals will destroy their young, while human beings nurture them. Understanding the sanctity of life is one of those spiritually significant and universal concepts that make us different, better created with an image in mind, better evolved, than all other ...animals except perhaps whales, ...and dolphins. I am not just talking about we Americans, I am talking about we as an entire human race. The debate moves beyond 20th century political ideals, and actually becomes a problem fixated in the seat of the collective unconsious.The point I am making is that for the human to advance to the next stage, sanctity of life is a concept that must be understood as fundamental to existence. Where it is 6 million Jews; the millions of babies lost to infanticide; or the millions lost in war, the point is the same: Life must become more important than individual means to ends. That humans will willingly participate in aborative infanticide, to any degree with the exception of saving a mother's life, and more disturbingly to a point of massive numbers of babies being killed every year throughout the world is a sign of our limited state of consciousness and development in the evolution of the human being. Much in the same way that we are willing to dehumanize and kill other people in other nations in the act of war, is the epidemic in the mass killings of our infantile children. War is war on any front: it dehumanizes; it enslaves (takes away choice by asserting choice); it slaughters and destroys life. If we are going to make it as the human race, and evolve to the next step of conscious awareness in humanity, sanctity of life must become a universal maxim in a total shift in the paradigm of human culture the entire world through.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Liminality
A new word in my vocabulary, as it came to me through suggestion from two different and unrelated personal resources this week. So I decided it was worth a look.The word is Liminal, Liminality, Liminal space and time: It is of Latin root meaning "threshold"; and can often mean a threshold of psychological being or of psychological response. a psychological, neurological, or metaphysical subjective, conscious state of being on the "threshold" of or between two different existential planes,where normal limits to thought, self-understanding, and behavior are relaxed - a situation which can lead to insights and dynamically new paradigms and perspectives. Symbolically it is the place between light and dark; between ocean and shore; between mountian and sky... "between the pit of mans' fear and the sumit of his knowledge". It is a concept expressed not only in philosophy and psychology, but also appears in anthropology and metaphysics. It seems to be a condition of the human experience. If you have ever had that brief moment between being asleep and being awake where everything about reality made perfect sense, and there was a feeling of forward motion in your perception and ephifany of understanding, then you have experienced temporary liminality. It is thought that through practice one can reach a state of perpetual liminality where one masters the threshold between the pit of fear and sumit of knowledge, where light and dark converge to focus upon higher dimentions of conscious understanding. Hmmmm.....
Cosmic paints: Complements between Theology and Science.
Could it be that through our feeble minds we have been able to glimpse God in his creation through what we observe in science? When we look through a telescope, a microscope, a fractle, DNA, are we not beginning to look into the mind of God; as if we could begin to fathom the mind of a great artist, author, musician, sculptor by observing his work? As we peer into his thought we see but a glimpse and awe that there is something much greater going on here in this cosmic museum. Science and Theology have a direct relationship that express eachother rather than contradict eachother. There are so many observations, indeed any observation made by science can be related to this greater presence of God. For example:Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Oxygen, Carbon... All of these are created inside of stars as they burn through their various stages; then bam in a flash they spew out their gasses and nuclear leftovers back into space; a new star is born, with it our solar system; the dust created in ancient supernovae settles into the rocky planets as they form, becoming the "dust of the Earth" of which we are formed. The breath of life animating us with a soul and purpose. This is an example of how science and theology actually complement eachother. Each is proof of the other because they are as inseperable as Creation and Creator. What we see is but a glimpse of an amazing orchestration beyond anything that our minds will ever know, but still it is our glimpse, it is our ability to see his work in yet other miracleous ways with the eyes and minds he created for us. Scripture is sound with what science is just beginning to reveal in much greater depth. A metaphor: Theology may tell us that God created us passionatley with a wonderful set of paints, and our observations are now just beginning to tell us what colors those paints (elements) are and which he used for defining lines of contour (DNA) and which he used for shading and creative depth (varation).
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Define me outside the box.
Who we are, are the perceptions we build. Are we easliy containted by others notions of who we are, or are we individuals with as many determining factors as there are thoughts to be considered? It is very easy to confuse one's moral, political, and religious ideals as being one in the same. In much the same way that a... person (like myself) can be a believer in Christ and still follow the rational observations of science, people can be any combination of ideas and identities. So while it becomes very easy to stereotype and become stereotyped (it is part of our survivalist nature) we must realize that there are as many combinations of thought as there are people. Many of us will stereotype ourselves, and be stereotyped into a convenient group that "best" matches what we believe, but does this ever represent us as an individual? Sure, it is comfortable to be in a box and put others in their boxes, but if that is where we stay then we will never reach our greatest potential as individuals and thinkers. I have seen it in both "boxes" of our time: this or that group identifies this way politically therefore must identify in some general moral and philosphic way. So then people, I would estimate the majority, accept the entire view associated with the stereotyped group. This can be dangerous, as people begin to not question what is right or wrong anymore. They assume that what is good for the group is good for all. This can lead to moral drift and the banality of evil, as seen throughout history crime after crime. We have to, as individuals, rise to the challenge to constantly be thinking of each set of circumstances as ends to themselves: that is, we take time to carefully consider every circumstance and event as it is. When we do this we begin to see a broader spectrum of thought, as infinate in possibility as the considerations allow. This is how I can be only one thing, "Me".
I may say I am politically independent because I don't think any of our currently existing political bodies represent the best interests of the people; I may say I am morally conservative because my moral foundations are conservationist of life, of family, and environment. I may say I am a Christian, a scientist, a philosopher; just as, I may say I... See More am a husband/father, a musician, and a carpenter. We will stay where we are most comfortable. If we want to live in a box we will; if we want to live outside of a box we will. I am reminded of an Old Italian saying, "After a game of chess, kings and pawns are all placed in the same box". In the end we have more in common than any of the superficial ideals we hold in life.
I may say I am politically independent because I don't think any of our currently existing political bodies represent the best interests of the people; I may say I am morally conservative because my moral foundations are conservationist of life, of family, and environment. I may say I am a Christian, a scientist, a philosopher; just as, I may say I... See More am a husband/father, a musician, and a carpenter. We will stay where we are most comfortable. If we want to live in a box we will; if we want to live outside of a box we will. I am reminded of an Old Italian saying, "After a game of chess, kings and pawns are all placed in the same box". In the end we have more in common than any of the superficial ideals we hold in life.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Freedom of choice or human violence?
What if I told you that right now that someone was choosing whether you would live or die? What if I told you that this choice wasn't based on what you could or couldn't do, had done in the past, or what you may do in the future? What if I told you, you could do nothing about it? Would it be freedom of choice, or would... it be a violent act against human rights?
Of heart and mind.
Perhaps, it ought to be our minds that listen, and our hearts which speak. The rational, translating matters; thus, flowing into passionate expression. Listen effectivley; think clearly; speak with passion: these are the corner stones of communication.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
To each their own fruit.
Everyone will come to eat the fruit from the trees in which they seed. Don't know about you, but I am done with picking the rotting fruit from the ground. I am interested in the spiritual fruit that only grows at the top of the tree, and has been looked after with great care. To each their own fruit.
Everywhere, God is present.
From the smallest of energy quanta coalescing in the formation of DNA; to the depths of oceans blue; on the land, way up in the sky and even further out into the mysterious vastness of time and space, God's evidence is abound in these ancient artifacts. Even in me and in you, from our genetic code to our moral code, fr...om our need to receive love to our need to give love. Everywhere, God is present.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Walk with the Lord, and GOD WILL HUMBLE YOU.
Spoken to me loud and clear yesterday, I received my message from God through a retired pastor with dementia. As I was helping him he said thank you, and I said I am thinking about how Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. Then he said, "My father told me when I was young, 'Walk with the Lord and GOD WILL HUMBLE YOU'.... Angel in disguise, help me be wise. I am learning to become humble.
What we pray for is what we get.
I asked God to teach me love and patience, and he made me a father and a husband.I asked God to teach me humility and to humble me, and he made me to serve the basic needs for other human beings who can not for themselves.I asked God to teach me wisdom and faith, and he gave me a mind and allowed me a free will. Thank ...you Lord for hearing my prayers and for continually creating me into the person and the purpose you would have me become. His gifts are bountiful, amazing and eternal. You will get what you pray for if your prayer is true-hearted. It may come through some great struggles and lessons, but the whole time you are being created to reach your greatest potential in the ways of the Lord. Just open up your heart, your mind, your eyes, and your hands and receive the gifts that are for you.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Happy Earth Day 2010.
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. ~Native American Proverb.
We are stewards of God's earth, ruling over that which is not ours. "You [God] made humans ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under our feet: All flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, th...e birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas," Ps 8:6-8.
We are care-takers. "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till and keep it," Genesis 2:15. The Hebrew words shamar and abad, usually translated as "till and keep" in this verse, could be just as accurately translated as "serve and preserve." The word shamar is also used in Numbers 6:24: "The Lord bless you and keep you." God desires that we treat the creation in the same way that God treats us.God... is present everywhere in and through the whole creation in all its parts and in all places, and so the world is full of God and God fills it all, yet God is not limited to or circumscribed by it, but is at the same time beyond and above the whole creation. ~ Martin Luther.
Let all regard themselves as the stewards of God in all things which they possess. Then they will neither conduct themselves dissolutely, nor corrupt by abuse those things which God requires to be preserved. ~John Calvin
To commit a crime against the natural world is a sin...For humans to cause species to become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God's creation, for humans to degrade the integrity of the earth by stripping the earth of its natural forests, or destroying its wetlands... for humans to contaminate the earth's water, its land, its air, and its life with poisonous substances...these are sins. ~ Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Orthodox Churches
Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another. ~Juvenal, Satires
Happy Earth Day!
We are stewards of God's earth, ruling over that which is not ours. "You [God] made humans ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under our feet: All flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, th...e birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas," Ps 8:6-8.
We are care-takers. "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till and keep it," Genesis 2:15. The Hebrew words shamar and abad, usually translated as "till and keep" in this verse, could be just as accurately translated as "serve and preserve." The word shamar is also used in Numbers 6:24: "The Lord bless you and keep you." God desires that we treat the creation in the same way that God treats us.God... is present everywhere in and through the whole creation in all its parts and in all places, and so the world is full of God and God fills it all, yet God is not limited to or circumscribed by it, but is at the same time beyond and above the whole creation. ~ Martin Luther.
Let all regard themselves as the stewards of God in all things which they possess. Then they will neither conduct themselves dissolutely, nor corrupt by abuse those things which God requires to be preserved. ~John Calvin
To commit a crime against the natural world is a sin...For humans to cause species to become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God's creation, for humans to degrade the integrity of the earth by stripping the earth of its natural forests, or destroying its wetlands... for humans to contaminate the earth's water, its land, its air, and its life with poisonous substances...these are sins. ~ Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Orthodox Churches
Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another. ~Juvenal, Satires
Happy Earth Day!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
A Christian who believes evolution and creation are compatable.
Theistic evolution and evolutionary creationism are similar concepts that assert that classical religious teachings about God are compatible with the modern scientific understanding about biological evolution.
In short, theistic evolutionists believe that there is a God, that God is the creator of the material universe and (by consequence) all life within, and that biological evolution is simply a natural process within that creation. Evolution, according to this view, is simply a tool that God employed to develop human life.Theistic evolution is not ... See Morea theory in the scientific sense, but a particular view about how the science of evolution relates to religious belief and interpretation. Theistic evolution supporters can be seen as one of the groups who reject the conflict thesis regarding the relationship between religion and science – that is, they hold that religious teachings about creation and scientific theories of evolution need not contradict. In describing early proponents of this viewpoint, it is sometimes described as Christian Darwinism.
I am a Christian who accepts the scientific theory of evolution. There is a lot of nonsense out there about the theory of evolution coming from both extremes: In one sense that it denies the Virgin Birth, that it denies the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ; and in the other sense that because of a natural process there is no need for God. These ... See Moreideas are blindsided by bias and are far from accepting the rational explaination that God created and continues to create according to natural principles observed by science. Those natural principles (Natural Law in the sciences) are the wonderous orchestration by which God created all things.
It wasn't long ago that the world was still flat and was the center of the universe. It wasn't long ago that a man named Galileo was condemed for suggesting from his scientific observations that the Earth indeed is round and revolves around the Sun. Since that time 350 years ago we have come to take Galileo's ideas for granted. There is no flaw to ... See Moresay that God is real, and that he creates by the method of his creation being the natrual principles which can be observed by the use of the minds that he created us with. Tomas Aquains didn't write the bible, but he did empart us with a 13th century politically correct time-scale of all creation in order to appease his leaders. Galileo dared dispute this with cosmological evidence that suggested otherwise, and now today the new debate between science and theology is no different. There is no real contradiction between observable phenomenon existing in nature and belief in the Holy Trinity and Jesus Christ.
In short, theistic evolutionists believe that there is a God, that God is the creator of the material universe and (by consequence) all life within, and that biological evolution is simply a natural process within that creation. Evolution, according to this view, is simply a tool that God employed to develop human life.Theistic evolution is not ... See Morea theory in the scientific sense, but a particular view about how the science of evolution relates to religious belief and interpretation. Theistic evolution supporters can be seen as one of the groups who reject the conflict thesis regarding the relationship between religion and science – that is, they hold that religious teachings about creation and scientific theories of evolution need not contradict. In describing early proponents of this viewpoint, it is sometimes described as Christian Darwinism.
I am a Christian who accepts the scientific theory of evolution. There is a lot of nonsense out there about the theory of evolution coming from both extremes: In one sense that it denies the Virgin Birth, that it denies the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ; and in the other sense that because of a natural process there is no need for God. These ... See Moreideas are blindsided by bias and are far from accepting the rational explaination that God created and continues to create according to natural principles observed by science. Those natural principles (Natural Law in the sciences) are the wonderous orchestration by which God created all things.
It wasn't long ago that the world was still flat and was the center of the universe. It wasn't long ago that a man named Galileo was condemed for suggesting from his scientific observations that the Earth indeed is round and revolves around the Sun. Since that time 350 years ago we have come to take Galileo's ideas for granted. There is no flaw to ... See Moresay that God is real, and that he creates by the method of his creation being the natrual principles which can be observed by the use of the minds that he created us with. Tomas Aquains didn't write the bible, but he did empart us with a 13th century politically correct time-scale of all creation in order to appease his leaders. Galileo dared dispute this with cosmological evidence that suggested otherwise, and now today the new debate between science and theology is no different. There is no real contradiction between observable phenomenon existing in nature and belief in the Holy Trinity and Jesus Christ.
Monday, April 19, 2010
A wonderful apple, no matter how ripe, crisp, and delicious; and a very tasty orange, no matter how mouthwatering, juicy, and refreshing will always be apples and oranges. Even if all you ever wanted to eat for the rest of your life was the delightful apple, it would never become the orange. And even if you just wanted to eat only oranges, it would never make the apples disappear or be anything more than apples. Just a simple reflection on an old adage, "one can not reasonably compare apples to oranges, and deduce that an apple is an orange, nor vice versa". Now they may grow together in the same field, be picked by the same harvesters, and even be placed on the same table to enjoy; however, they are unique in their own right. Discluding one to favor the other not only requires one's logic be no greater than that of a two year old child, but it makes for a rather bland tasting when it is time to sit down and eat.
A wonderful fruit in the art of reason is the notion of complement over contradiction. Now while we can never make an apple an orange, nor an orange and apple, we can notice what they have in common: how they complement eachother instead of bashing them into our forheads trying so hard to change them into the other. There are much easier ways to make juice :>) We can notice about apples and oranges that they are both fruit of a tree; that they have their own unique flavor, but both are sweet; that they are both round and have skin, seeds, and pulp; that both provide nourishment unique to their design, creation, and development. Now that we can see that an apple is an apple, and an orange is an orange we can appreciate each for its own unique and wonderful taste. And knowing one from the other also allows us to really enjoy the unique qualities specific to the other; i.e., because the orange is tangy and the apple is sweet, knowing this will allow me to enjoy the sweetness of the apple when that is what I am thirsty for.
A wonderful fruit in the art of reason is the notion of complement over contradiction. Now while we can never make an apple an orange, nor an orange and apple, we can notice what they have in common: how they complement eachother instead of bashing them into our forheads trying so hard to change them into the other. There are much easier ways to make juice :>) We can notice about apples and oranges that they are both fruit of a tree; that they have their own unique flavor, but both are sweet; that they are both round and have skin, seeds, and pulp; that both provide nourishment unique to their design, creation, and development. Now that we can see that an apple is an apple, and an orange is an orange we can appreciate each for its own unique and wonderful taste. And knowing one from the other also allows us to really enjoy the unique qualities specific to the other; i.e., because the orange is tangy and the apple is sweet, knowing this will allow me to enjoy the sweetness of the apple when that is what I am thirsty for.
Correlations of psychology and christianity (very brief).
This is a topic which deserves an entire volume written on its account. Perhaps I will be the fella to write it. I was thinking about the corelations of psychology and the bible last night, and it occured to me that much of what happens when a person comes to Jesus and dedicates his/her life to change and positive growth, is actually strikingly similar to the processes in what is modernly coined as "cognitive restructuring psychology". For example, realize ... See Morehow your mind isn't working, and take steps to change your beliefs so that it does work. Very interesting correlations. Christ's teachings also include many great virtues which are the cornerstone of the humanist approaches to psychology such as learning to love and forgive. There is definatley strong relationships between modern psychology and Christianity. I think this is because of the connected nature between the spirit and the mind. If you have a healthy spirit, you will have a healthy mind; and, if you have a healthy mind you will have a potentially healthy spirit. What affects one reverberates to affect the other. So, it is the spiritual presence and cleansing of Christ's teachings which affect the positive development of one's psyche when he/ she becomes a Christian and makes those life changes a reality. I think the bible is the greatest book ever written, It is the historical testomony of mankinds relationship with God, Christ's teachings, and spiritual wisdom virtues; but as far Psych books go I would have to say that the two volume work of, Pre-Freudian, philosopher and psychologist William James "The Principles of Psychology 1896" is the greatest Psych text in the history of psychological sciences.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Taking personal assessment.
I think that we can begin to understand the change in our thoughts first by paying attention to how we feel about ourselves and the world; and secondly, when we pay attention to the "happenings" of us, and in our world. For example, when I begin to like who I think I am; and, when things around me seem to be working out. Notice I said "happenings of us" rather than "happenings to us". I say this because our thoughts and the world around us are actually effected by us, and are not things happening to us. This is refered to as "locus of control (LOC)". We either tend to have an internal LOC, which allows us to take charge of our thoughts, actions, and the happenings in our world; thus, resulting in a higher self esteem. Basically internal LOC means we feel in controll to a healthy degree of our thoughts and happenings. Or, on the contrairy, we have an external LOC, which is the feeling that we have little or no control over our thoughts and happenings: that we tend to feel others are continually "doing things to us". When we get stuck in this we begin to continually blame others for the way we feel we are. So the trick is, is to recgonize which LOC you are operating from in any given situation and train your mind toward the internal LOC, and away from the external LOC. I used to utilize mostly external LOC and people were always trying to do me harm. I blamed others from my addiction to drugs and alcohol. I blamed others when I got dumped, etc... I came to a turning point in my life when I had to own up to everything I had ever done. I had to take a personal assessment. This took a few months of serious reflection. I payed attention to the things I thought; the things I felt; the things I said; and the things I did. I noticed if I was feeling like I was in control, or if others were controlling me. My assessment also led to overcoming what is called cognitive distortion. Cognitive disonance happens in our minds when our actions do not agree with our beliefs and morals. I was depressed, and I hated myself because I was abusing alcohol. I tried to play the tough guy routine, but I just started to hate myself even more. Again, when I came to that place where I took assessment, I had to ask myself what I really believed in, and understand that my actions didn't match. That is why I was having so much trouble. There is a long story between point A & B; however, the idea is that we have to get to a quite place in our lives where we can step back and take an objective assessment of ourselves without being afraid of what we see. Then we have to accept what we have been, so that we can accept who we are now. This opens the door of who we want to become. We want to become the person who is in charge of his or her actions, and those are the actions which suit one's personal convictions and beliefs. I would love to elaborate sometime on the amazing things that happened to me that transformed me and freed me from my self inflicted bondage. We are all prone to this kind of suffering, and we are all blessed and able to overcome it. I pray that you can have the courage, strength, wisdom, patience, and love to begin your journey. God Bless you, and keep you.
We are what we think.
We are what we think. All that we may become arises within our thoughts. Essentially, what we think we become; remember however, that thoughts may occur, but we choose which thoughts become the actions which define us.
If you want to change your life first begin by choosing which toughts you will put into actions, and which ones you will not let devour you. Once you can do this, you may begin to change your thought patterns from their very root.
If you want to change your life first begin by choosing which toughts you will put into actions, and which ones you will not let devour you. Once you can do this, you may begin to change your thought patterns from their very root.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
It vexes me when they would constrain science by the authority of the Scriptures, and yet do not consider themselves bound to answer reason and experiment.It is surely harmful to souls to make it a heresy to believe what is proved. ~ Galileo
Galileo was a devout Christian, as well as an amazing scientist. He knew the tools and purposes for his faith, and his science, and he knew how to use each set of tools accordingly. He was considered a heretic by his own church, and was threatened with death of himself and family. He was put on house arrest for the remainder of his life, even after... See More being forced to rescend his great scientific work that the Earth did infact revolve around the sun instead of the Earth being the center of the universe. We are all created in his (God's) image, and it is amazing that he created us to be conscious, rational beings who can love and who can wonder and create. We were designed with our scientific minds for a reason, as holy and wonderful as the miracle of life itself. I am glad that 350 years later I can look to the heavens and know that we orbit the sun, still wonder at all there is, and thank God for all of it. I realate to this man because I am both a Christian, a philosopher, and a scientist. I wonder what things that I find non contradictory between science and faith, but the majority on either side find absurd to think, will be accepted as relavent 300 years from now.
Galileo was a devout Christian, as well as an amazing scientist. He knew the tools and purposes for his faith, and his science, and he knew how to use each set of tools accordingly. He was considered a heretic by his own church, and was threatened with death of himself and family. He was put on house arrest for the remainder of his life, even after... See More being forced to rescend his great scientific work that the Earth did infact revolve around the sun instead of the Earth being the center of the universe. We are all created in his (God's) image, and it is amazing that he created us to be conscious, rational beings who can love and who can wonder and create. We were designed with our scientific minds for a reason, as holy and wonderful as the miracle of life itself. I am glad that 350 years later I can look to the heavens and know that we orbit the sun, still wonder at all there is, and thank God for all of it. I realate to this man because I am both a Christian, a philosopher, and a scientist. I wonder what things that I find non contradictory between science and faith, but the majority on either side find absurd to think, will be accepted as relavent 300 years from now.
So just for kicks (actually to show my instructor that I read the chapter), I came up with a Likert format quiz about Sigmund Freud...
An interesting note on the Likert format is that even numbered likert scale invites the test taker to make a distinctive choice (yes/no; black/white), while the odd numbered scale allows for neutrality.
Since we are young psychologists I will create a Likert format for Sigmund Freud.
1) Do you think Sigmund Freud was accurate in his assessment of the human psyche?
a) very much b) somewhat c) unsure d) not really e) not at all
2) Would you trust Sigmund Freud to put you into hypnosis and administer psychotherapy?
a) You bet! b) maybe c)don't know d) probably not e)No way Jose
3) Do you find Freud to be accurate in his ideas about the Oedipus and Electra complex?
a) absolutely b)a little c) he confuses me d) not so much e) you have got to be kidding!
4) I agree with excessive deduction to the point of nihilism.
a) Not at all ! b) perhaps, but not really C) ??? d) somewhat e) Absolutely, and I like Nietzsche too!
5) Freud probably created his theories based on the need of his own issues with his mother and father.
1) BINGO! 2) probably 3) I like bunnies 4) don't be absurd 5) your mockery is insulting to the greatest psychologist of the early 20th century, NO!
Just for fun...
An interesting note on the Likert format is that even numbered likert scale invites the test taker to make a distinctive choice (yes/no; black/white), while the odd numbered scale allows for neutrality.
Since we are young psychologists I will create a Likert format for Sigmund Freud.
1) Do you think Sigmund Freud was accurate in his assessment of the human psyche?
a) very much b) somewhat c) unsure d) not really e) not at all
2) Would you trust Sigmund Freud to put you into hypnosis and administer psychotherapy?
a) You bet! b) maybe c)don't know d) probably not e)No way Jose
3) Do you find Freud to be accurate in his ideas about the Oedipus and Electra complex?
a) absolutely b)a little c) he confuses me d) not so much e) you have got to be kidding!
4) I agree with excessive deduction to the point of nihilism.
a) Not at all ! b) perhaps, but not really C) ??? d) somewhat e) Absolutely, and I like Nietzsche too!
5) Freud probably created his theories based on the need of his own issues with his mother and father.
1) BINGO! 2) probably 3) I like bunnies 4) don't be absurd 5) your mockery is insulting to the greatest psychologist of the early 20th century, NO!
Just for fun...
A life well lived is dedicated to that which will outlast it.
William James once said, "A life that is well lived is one that is dedicated to that which will outlast it". I agree with this idea, fully. So to me, life is short, and we have just a little time to soak up as much of it as possible; bundle it up in some kind of inspirational packet of wisdom; and send it off for the next generation to unravel. This is why I do what I do in the way of knowledge and wisdom, and is why I will dedicate my life to creating a body of work that will inspire the future of generations. I would most like to do this as a professor of psych/ philos/ comparative religion.
Consciousness and Blue Brain
AbstractThis essay is written from the interview with Henry Markram from the December 2009 issue of Discover magazine, and originally interviewed by David Kushner. The interview covers Markram’s project, Blue Brain, as well as Markram’s foundations in thought about perception, memory, and consciousness.Forty-seven year old Henry Markram is the lead neuroscientist at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland, and is the founder and codirector of an amazing project in neuroscience that will open the doors of psychological medicine by understanding pathology specific to disorder in neurological structure, and in understanding specific affects of drug therapies on those pathologies. If successful, his life’s work will literally revolutionize modern psychology from the very foundations. That project is known as Blue Brain. Using the super computer, Blue Gene, Markram has spent the past 15 years collecting data about the mammalian neocortex, and is now beginning to apply that data to reverse engineer a three-dimensional model of the mammalian brain. He has been successful so far in applying his idea to our most advanced computer technology, which has resulted in an emulation of a single neocortical column of a two-week old rat. He feels that the success in this initial step is proof of the concept that the mammalian brain can be virtually mimicked, and predicts that as computer technology advances, a human brain model will exist in Blue Brain within the next ten years.Currently, in its infancy, Blue Gene utilizes 16,000 electronic processors. Each processor runs at 56 teraflops, which is 56 trillion point operations per second, and is able to emulate the behavior and interaction of 1,000 cortical neurons.As our computer technology embraces the quantum processor, the needed computation to account for the 100 billion neurons in the human brain will become available for Blue Brain to continue its mission. Currently our available computer technology is based on electronic transfer and must trudge through digital computations of binary patterns; that is, information passed electronically through a process of decoding and crunching countless patterns of 1 and 0. The quantum processor utilizes light waves for information transfer, and is able to compute a multitude of computations simultaneously, billions of times faster than any conventional electronic processor currently marketed.Harkram stresses the importance that Blue Brain isn’t simply a model of the brain that is constructed to behave a certain way; contrarily, it is reverse engineered utilizing mathematical models of biological elements, and processes of the mammalian brain in simulations to see how they mimic biology, how the parameters set in motion create the working model. More simply put, it is not the model creating the parameters; it is the parameters set in motion that naturally creates the model. It is like starting a brush fire; set up the brush, add a spark, and watch it burn itself into existence before your very eyes.An example of the parameter creating the phenomenon of the brain, emerged spontaneously one afternoon as Markram’s team began to pick up an electrical rhythm known in neurobiology as the gamma oscillation. The gamma oscillation is thought to correlate directly with consciousness. Theory holds that the gamma oscillation, which occurs between 40 to 80 hertz, causes perceptions to bind into consciousness. Markram doesn’t think that Blue Gene is conscious in its infancy, but cannot deny the probability of Blue Gene becoming conscious in its full scope; as consciousness, in Markram’s opinion is an emergent phenomenon. He describes emergent properties in the simile of the shift that occurs between liquid and gas, or in the metaphor of an airplane which must gain enough speed to finally take flight.Markram’s opinion of consciousness is similar to the opinion of James, Freud, and Jung; that it is something which transcends ordinary perception. This explanation easily approaches the soft problem of consciousness: Where modes of perception and consciousness are found to correlate to specific areas and behaviors of the neural tissue of the brain.Some (philosophic materialists) would argue that the soft problem of consciousness is the only problem of consciousness that needs to be addressed, and in that opinion they would assume that consciousness is a property of matter and nothing more. However, there is another problem of consciousness, a deeper problem, which emerges in the mind of the philosophic mentalist and the philosophic dualist. The deeper problem is referred to as the hard problem of consciousness: How does the subjective experience of consciousness arise from ordinary matter? While the answer may seem to be present in the soft problem of consciousness, it cannot be found there because the soft problem deals with consciousness as a byproduct of material function. The answer to the hard problem of consciousness must be approached either from the mentalist view that assumes matter arises out of the function of consciousness, or from the view of the dualist that assumes that matter and consciousness simply correlate and are not necessarily the cause of one another. Though Markram’s ideas can be applied to the soft problem, his contempt for the modern paradigm of perception and memory open the door for the hard problem of consciousness to be considered. In Markram’s own words, “Blue Brain is like a Copernican revolution, because we want to flip things around and say that neural representation does not lie in the spikes of neural activity.”In greater consideration of the previous remark, Markram believes that contemporary paradigms of perception and memory are outmoded. The current view of perception is based on analyzing spikes in neural activity, which are caused by on and off signals existing in the cell body of a neuron which are stimulated by an action-potential. Markram believes that these spikes are not actual representations of perception; rather, they are mere reflections of perception. He does not believe that perception takes place in the action potential, but takes place in “the branches beyond, before the cell body”. He is suggesting then that perception is not the effect of the neuron firing; conversely, the neuron fires because of perception entering into the cell body.The current paradigm of memory being a physical imprint, or engram, is contrived as well. According to Markram there is plenty of evidence that contradicts the idea that memory is an imprint in neural patterns. Markram suggests:“All evidence indicates that the neuron does not reset. The synapses do not reset. They are always different. They’re changing every millisecond. You’re brain today is very, very different from what it was when you were 10 years old, and yet you may have profound memories from when you were 10. What has to be answered in neuroscience is this: How do you remember something from long ago when your brain now is actually different?”Markram believes that Blue Brain will demonstrate the fundamental elements to better understand perception, which will lead to understanding emotion, which will lead to understanding memory, and eventually to understanding consciousness.Markrams ideas relate to similar hypotheses about the fundamental nature of consciousness. As we approach the hard problem of consciousness, there is a hypothesis popularized by Aldous Huxley in his book, The Doors of Perception. In Huxley’s hypothesis he claims that the physical brain is not in itself a transmitter of perception and consciousness, but that it is a transducer of perception and consciousness. This view holds that perceptual information comes into the brain from an unseen dimension, and is then decoded by the machine of the brain into useful information which we then recognize as subjective experience. An easy way to understand this hypothesis is by comparing it to a radio broadcast. A radio broadcast is sent through time and space, as information jumbled in radio waves. A radio wave is undetectable until a radio transducer is built. The transcendental consciousness is much like the invisible radio wave. The brain is like the radio transducer, built of physical parts in a specific design so as to receive and translate the invisible radio wave. Once the wave of information (be it a radio wave or consciousness) comes within proximity of the transducer, it is translated into compartmentalized bits of coherent information. Whether or not Markram is coming from this angle, his new hypothesis invites these mentalist and dualist metaphors, as it is not that the material is creating the perception, but that the perception is creating a reaction in the material.These notions of perception are also reminiscent of properties of waves and particles, and with new properties of light being discovered in quantum physics. Though a thought can be correlated to neurological behavior, like electromagnetism (radio waves, light waves, etc…) it can only be observed as a wave. But when someone focuses their consciousness into a productive form, those thoughts become physical artifacts of the imagination. This is similar to the properties of light. Light behaves both as a wave and a particle. When it is unobserved a photon can exist as a wave, simultaneously with itself in several locations; however, once it is observed and focused upon, the waveform collapses into observable phenomenon (physical matter). This deepens the question of the hard problem: is consciousness a reflection of a waveform? To some it is a ridiculous notion to try to correlate quantum physics to consciousness; however, others believe that the new physics will welcome a new paradigm of consciousness. Are Markram’s ideas a precursor to that new paradigm?Along with revolutionizing paradigms of perception, memory, and consciousness, Markram believes that Blue Brain’s discoveries will revolutionize modern psychological medicine. In his own words, “we are living in such a primitive time of medicine, you cannot imagine”. In other words we are living in a dark ages in our medical technology, and Blue Brain is one of the new tools that will contribute to a medical revolution of much greater understanding.Markram comments on the fact that even our greatest modern understanding of neurological medicine is at best a shot in the dark. He states, “…There’s not a single neurological disease today in which anybody knows what is malfunctioning in the neural circuit—which synapse, which neuron, which receptor…” Similarly, doctors don’t even know how modern drugs correlate specifically to which synapse, which neuron, or which receptor. Their understanding of causes and effects of neurology are rudimentary at best. Billions of dollars are spent in trying to discover cures for neurological diseases through trial and error experiments. What Blue Brain offers to the medical world is an opportunity to directly understand the pathology of neurosis, and how drugs work or don’t work very specifically, simply by entering a set of parameters into Blue Gene that would mimic the circumstances. Then instead of waiting to see if an experiment does this or that, a researcher can actually view on a monitor what is occurring on which synapse, on which receptor, on which neuron. Blue Brain will revolutionize the neurological medical sciences by taking the guess work and wasted time out of the bigger picture.We are at the edge of modern paradigms involving our understanding of perception, memory, and consciousness. We are at the forefront of a new era of neuropsychological medicine. A great revolution is about to take place. Henry Markram, Blue Gene, and project Blue Brain are at the helm of the discoveries that will lead our understanding of neuropsychology into a new era.ReferencesKushner, D. (2009, December). The discover interview: Henry Markram. Discover, 61-63,77).
Posted by Alex K. Marthaller.
Posted by Alex K. Marthaller.
To boldly go...
"The question of consciousness has always intrigued me. It starts with the question, 'Are we our bodies or are we our consciousness? What are we made up of?"~ Gene Roddenberry.
Is the primary stuff of the Universe: Consciousness; Material; both; neither; or something else? This is the departure when approaching the hard problem of consciousness. Check out David Chalmers for an insightful look into how quantum physics may suggest that matter and consciousness are merely two dimentions in which we perceive the stuff of the ... See Moreuniverse, but there is way more stuff of the universe than we are capable of ever understanding existing within multiple dimentions beyond time and space... sitting only a millimeter away from you. God, Heaven, and the essence of which, could dwell beyond these dimentions, neither "fully" existing or not existing (it does, however, exist in terms we can comprehend) in the way we understand, but something much more complex and wonderful than we know as the central entity of creation manifested in so many wonderful ways, material and consciousness being only two of an infinate number of possibilities. Sleep well my friends.
Is the primary stuff of the Universe: Consciousness; Material; both; neither; or something else? This is the departure when approaching the hard problem of consciousness. Check out David Chalmers for an insightful look into how quantum physics may suggest that matter and consciousness are merely two dimentions in which we perceive the stuff of the ... See Moreuniverse, but there is way more stuff of the universe than we are capable of ever understanding existing within multiple dimentions beyond time and space... sitting only a millimeter away from you. God, Heaven, and the essence of which, could dwell beyond these dimentions, neither "fully" existing or not existing (it does, however, exist in terms we can comprehend) in the way we understand, but something much more complex and wonderful than we know as the central entity of creation manifested in so many wonderful ways, material and consciousness being only two of an infinate number of possibilities. Sleep well my friends.
Evolution from the theistic point of view I.
Similar to intelligent design, and more academically deemed "biologos" by Francis Collins, author of "The Language of God", theistic evolution is a scientific approach which allows for both God and the process of evolution to find complement over contradiction. Biologos refring to DNA as the alphabet of God's design. Biologos, when considered from its root forms is Bio: meaning life and Logos: meaning word; thus, DNA is the code from which God's alphabet makes the words of life possible. Thus, Biologos literally means "life-words". Thomas aquinas (Catholic preist 1225 - 1274), not the bibl...e, gave us the "biblical calander" which conflicts with everything we know through observation and reason. It is entireably reasonable that God created throughout time and in ways beyond our imagination; God could still be creating as a continual process of growth rather than a static unmoving state; hence, creation is a happening which continually grows into a greater state. This is kind of like the transformation of our previous (secular) selves, and the movement toward and transformation into our new selves through the spirit of Christ. There is no need for the conflict of interests between science and faith. This world, this universe is amazing in all of its complexity: from the quantum; to the cell; to the body and spirit; to the trillions of stars; and things unknown... I have a mind created for observation and wonder, I will utilize it, and I will give credit to God for this wonderful creation in every aspect. Science does not compete with theology, it reflects a deeper consideration of it. With that said, there is some rather interesting news on the fossil front these days: ScienceDaily (Apr. 8, 2010):Australopithecus sediba:New Hominid Shares Traits With Homo Species: Fossil Find Sheds Light on the Transition to Homo Genus from Earlier Hominids. The fossils are between 1.95 and 1.78 million years old. Australopithecus sediba, was an upright walker that shared many physical traits with the earliest known Homo speciesThe emerging picture is one of a hominid with a bone structure similar to the earliest Homo species however, represent a hominid that appeared approximately one million years later than Lucy, implying a slow transition.
From the news clip:
New Hominid Shares Traits With Homo Species: Fossil Find Sheds Light on the Transition to Homo Genus from Earlier HominidsScienceDaily (Apr. 8, 2010) — Two partial skeletons unearthed from a cave in South Africa belong to a previously unclassified species of hominid that is now shedding new light on the evolution of ou...r own species, Homo sapiens, researchers say. The newly documented species, called Australopithecus sediba, was an upright walker that shared many physical traits with the earliest known Homo species -- and its introduction into the fossil record might answer some key questions about what it means to be human. The fossils are between 1.95 and 1.78 million years old, and in this week's issue of Science, the peer-reviewed journal published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society, two reports describe both the physical characteristics of this new Australopithecus species as well as the ancient environment in which it lived and died. The emerging picture is one of a hominid with a bone structure similar to the earliest Homo species, but who employed it more as an Australopithecus, like the famed "Lucy," would have.These new fossils, however, represent a hominid that appeared approximately one million years later than Lucy, and their features imply that the transition from earlier hominids to the Homo genus occurred in very slow stages, with various Homo-like species emerging first.Go to sciencedaily .com to find out more.
"Always be amazed, understand reasonably; Always give the glory to God". This is the complementary balance between the scientific nature of our perception and our faith in creation.
From the news clip:
New Hominid Shares Traits With Homo Species: Fossil Find Sheds Light on the Transition to Homo Genus from Earlier HominidsScienceDaily (Apr. 8, 2010) — Two partial skeletons unearthed from a cave in South Africa belong to a previously unclassified species of hominid that is now shedding new light on the evolution of ou...r own species, Homo sapiens, researchers say. The newly documented species, called Australopithecus sediba, was an upright walker that shared many physical traits with the earliest known Homo species -- and its introduction into the fossil record might answer some key questions about what it means to be human. The fossils are between 1.95 and 1.78 million years old, and in this week's issue of Science, the peer-reviewed journal published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society, two reports describe both the physical characteristics of this new Australopithecus species as well as the ancient environment in which it lived and died. The emerging picture is one of a hominid with a bone structure similar to the earliest Homo species, but who employed it more as an Australopithecus, like the famed "Lucy," would have.These new fossils, however, represent a hominid that appeared approximately one million years later than Lucy, and their features imply that the transition from earlier hominids to the Homo genus occurred in very slow stages, with various Homo-like species emerging first.Go to sciencedaily .com to find out more.
"Always be amazed, understand reasonably; Always give the glory to God". This is the complementary balance between the scientific nature of our perception and our faith in creation.
Complement between Science and Faith I.
The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do. ~ Galileo.
This speaks volumes to me about the intricate relationship between God and the beauty and wonder of his creation. Something as "seemingly simple" as the ripening of a grape (or a mustard seed for that matter) can encapsulate the amazing beauty of Gods creation. Just look around you, it is everywhere, it is even inside of you. Within a "functional" relationship between science and faith, we must understand that each has a wonderful set of tools used to discover principles for each. Faith tools guide our souls into a ripening relationship with our creator, and Scientific tools allow us to wonder, observe, reason, deduce about our shared physical world. Our minds in all of their capacity of reason were created in the image of our creator; it is why we are creative in the first place, and why we can love. Our minds are not mistakes; science and faith (or better yet academic reasoning and theology) have no quam: they do not need to be so heavily guarded, and they certianly do not contradict eachother as so many maintain. Contradiction is 90% contention from such the mind. Look for compliment between science and faith, and you will discover that it is like having a microscope or teliscope into the mind of God as you are able to observe his wonderful and beautiful creation from the most amazing vistas.
This speaks volumes to me about the intricate relationship between God and the beauty and wonder of his creation. Something as "seemingly simple" as the ripening of a grape (or a mustard seed for that matter) can encapsulate the amazing beauty of Gods creation. Just look around you, it is everywhere, it is even inside of you. Within a "functional" relationship between science and faith, we must understand that each has a wonderful set of tools used to discover principles for each. Faith tools guide our souls into a ripening relationship with our creator, and Scientific tools allow us to wonder, observe, reason, deduce about our shared physical world. Our minds in all of their capacity of reason were created in the image of our creator; it is why we are creative in the first place, and why we can love. Our minds are not mistakes; science and faith (or better yet academic reasoning and theology) have no quam: they do not need to be so heavily guarded, and they certianly do not contradict eachother as so many maintain. Contradiction is 90% contention from such the mind. Look for compliment between science and faith, and you will discover that it is like having a microscope or teliscope into the mind of God as you are able to observe his wonderful and beautiful creation from the most amazing vistas.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)