Evolution Validates My Belief In God.

I think he ment they feel superior over theists, esp. those who are part of an organized religion. Not a superiority complex involving the whole universe or in the great scope of things

 

I've said before that I do have spiritual interests based on Yoga philosophy, and I've also indicated that I am not interested in discussing my personal experiences in detail on here for many reasons.

I find the antitheistic position understandable, and really it isn't the fact that people are antitheists I find irritating, but the way in which such a position gets expressed. For instance, there's a kind of huge bias towards dissing Christianity, and more precisely fundamentalist versions of it. It's an easy target I suppose, as it's not that much of a challenge to make a fundamentalist look stupid.
I get equally irritated by the other pole of narrow religious believers. Unfortunately, too often threads on here just deteriorate into the same old game of ping pong between the two. That's what irritates me specifically on the forums. It's just a personal thing. I wouldn't want to stop anyone saying what they wish to say.

 

Actually I think about 98.999 percent of religious writings are is bullshit if you must know.

 

"Flintstonization"? The common people then lived in buildings we would see as not much more than mud huts and places hewed from limestone and you are letting them tell you how to live in the 21st Century? That, IMO, is "stupidization"!

 

Lol. Your loss. And that's ok of course. Most people simply dismiss everything they think they don't have any value/purpose for. Doesn't mean it is 99% bulshit. Does your brain still hurt?

 

Not since I stopped trying to live by something that's time has passed.

 

For the first part. Have you ever seen the movie "Idiocracy" I've watched it a couple of times and winced while I laughed since it was a little to close to reality for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzbWXgM0ygU

For as long as I remember society has been progressively dumbed down. There have been studies that have stated that via our dependence on electronics our memories are getting worse. There was also a study in 2009 that found that people who spent a lot of time playing video games had decreased activity in their prefrontal lobes leading to a retardation in empathy and social function. On top of that there is such a build up in excitement and "Fight or Flight" built into that virtual world that has been hardwired into our psyche since prehistoric times that served us well when we were hunter gatherers and ran off the adrenaline and cortisol in the process of the hunt that due to our sedentary lifestyle that we have been lulled into leaves us with hyper aggression and a hard crash at the end. On top of that we have as a society adopted a shitty diet and sedentary lifestyle that has put us in the position where for the time in recent history obesity is killing more people than smoking.

As for the second part of your question. Even science disproves itself periodically. I'm personally a fan of what Fritjoff Capra calls "New Science" in his book "The Tao of Physics" which explores the parallels between Eastern Mysticism and Sub Atomic Physics. About 500 years before Newton the Tibetan Saint Milarepa defined Karma as "The law of action and reaction." If you look at the Chakra System in Eastern medicine it is actually a map of the glandular and circulatory systems. Each Chakra lines up with a gland and is represented by a lotus the number of petals in the lotus is the number of arteries that intersect at that point.

Math, Science, and Mysticism are all means to find the answers to questions that we don't know the answers to and are a way to describe and understand a world/series of actions and reactions that we cannot see with our naked eyes.

C/S,
Rev J

 

I rarely discuss these topics outside of the forums and certainly nowhere near as in depth as on here when I do, so I am not bothered in the same way. I see it as Unless there is some mind-boggling monumental or supernatural event that occurs, reiteration and ping pong are going to be an intrinsic part of these discussions.

I think we ought to be careful to not conflate a "superiority complex" with confidence in one's education and understanding of the subject. This is not to say that I have not seen some statements from antitheists that seem extremely provocative and on the surface like an attempt at intentional rabble-rousing but on the flip side

if I take Piney's quote here...

and apply the statement to say a fundamentalist claiming the Earth is a few thousand years old, how does one respond to such a statement with most all the available scientific evidence suggesting otherwise, without exhibiting what may seem like an air of superiority on the subject?

 

But at the same time I just want to bitch slap Bill Maher.

C/S,
Rev J

 

I have seen Idiocracy, I had a similar reaction to the movie. Definitely an amusing story and interesting take on the dystopian future theme.

So are you suggesting that the consequences of modern day societal demands and values are leading towards negative influences in selection pressures?

If so, to the neurological changes I might suggest to keep in mind that our brains naturally exhibit plasticity, meaning that they are not necessarily meant to be 'static' or 'fixed' in any particular state, you mention some of the virtual technology but also throw in some of the significant changes in the environment such as moving to cities, less concern about predators, etc. in the past few centuries and it seems there is bound to be some changes in humans. IMO it's holding on to a false ideal that the subtle changes of brains is indicative of any type of regression of our species or disturbing trajectory for humanity.

However if included in that, you mean humanity being dumbed down at the expense of faceless entities such as corporations and governments, then I agree with you there.


A potential counter to some of the restrictive elements of society today might be that more people are educated today than ever before, so are we truly being dumbed down? Also, technology has blossomed at an exponential rate and I could easily see, maybe it's just the sci-fi fan in me, humanity merging with some of the tech for the next trajectory in human evolution.

 

How do you know that? And what difference does it make?

 

Why is it even a problem? So we get dumbed down. Are you expecting evolution to be progressive?

 

I wasn't the one who said they didn't like the direction evolution was going, I was relating to Rev JC's sentiments.

But if we use the term evolution in a more general sense, as like the unfolding of a system and not in the stricter Darwinian sense, then I see people being dumbed down and subject to the whim's of corporations, mainstream media, government as a problem because it dehumanizes us and to quote Terence McKenna essentially turns us into "meme processors" for inanimate entities.

 

I agree it would be difficult. My usual reaction to such claims is to ignore them. That might seem like a cop out, but really I don't see much point in trying to argue with these people as I don't recall a single instance where I've seen any change of view, or even any openness to any other idea of things. Often, any contradiction of the narrow views with which they've been stuffed only leads to deeper entrenchment.

I think I've fallen here into a trap I laid for myself - I suppose I too am guilty of having a superior attitude.

 

Well believing that the Earth is flat, is harmless enough.

Though I just meant belief in God.

does such belief constitute thisism?

Let us together examine all of the evidence of harmful extremeist dogma in america and across the globe; the nilhisim.

Tell me about death in Paris.

Does one have sufficient understanding to see where real threats come from.

 

What is the point of more people being educated if the education sucks? Sure we can teach reading, writing, math and computer literacy. But critical thinking, and the ability to read and question the status quo are falling by the wayside. We are being told by the media and advertising which is now being run by high priced psychologists that we are unhappy and not good enough up to 70 times a day. So we have people looking for shallow answers in consumerism and blind sex appeal squeezing out puppies by the fucking litter populating the earth with more stupid little consumers. On top of that we have the idiot consumer parents who can't tell their kids no and only offer positive reinforcement giving their kids a false sense of self esteem and not telling them when they are being little shits and protecting them from the consequences of their actions until little Janey comes home knocked up.

Adding to that there is the fact that in this false self esteem generation we are taught to look down on the intelligent and creative. I see it as Social Darwinism at it's worst I pretty much sum it up as "They're different. Let's kill them!" Which then even leads the smart kids to act like total dipshits.

I grew up in a rural area and saw the same patterns there that I saw working in a youth program in the inner city. The same patterns of drinking, drugs, abuse, violence and sedentary lifestyles. The same negative feedback loops. The same over reliance on technology to escape from/cope with the shitty existence of their daily lives. Then you get the military industrial complex using the kids from these areas as cannon fodder sold as the only way out, or the prison industrial complex using these kids as warm bodies in their housing units and slave labor.

I read a quote years ago that said, "The same technology that put man on the moon is now being used to make plastic dog shit." Technology is a tool and it is up to you to choose what you do with it. You can use the same tools to build a house or to build gallows the choice is yours.

C/S,
Rev J

 

A couple hundred years ago a large majority of the population could not even read or write, so I don't think we can make a judgement in regards to if critical thinking has been falling to the wayside. I'd actually probably consider the ability to read and write a type of critical thinking, so in that case by default if anything it's getting better.

Where did you get the notion that we're evolving in a particular direction if you saw the same patterns growing up as you do now?

 

I see even more of it now.

C/S,
Rev J

 

Certainly arrogance and self confidence are very different things. We have really to trust in our own knowledge etc, but always remain open to novel ideas.

I agree that fundamentalist type theists can be provocative, but experience shows that on the whole, no amount of argument will budge such people a single millimetre from their position. I think that's because they haven't arrived at their views through any process of deep thought or seeking for truth, but simply repeat dogmatically what they've been told.
I don't mean all believers are that way. But some are, and I wonder if they really do examine their beliefs - is the faculty of critical thought atrophied in some? Or has it never developed?

As I said before, I often choose simply to ignore such people rather than respond and end up banging the head against a brick wall.

Edit:sp.