tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post861277846221669430..comments2024-03-25T16:03:36.810-07:00Comments on The Existentialist Cowboy: Bad Faith and Dead KennedysAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-36981156066844477182010-03-07T11:29:23.336-08:002010-03-07T11:29:23.336-08:00Stephen Kriz sez...
If we measure the half-life o...Stephen Kriz sez...<br /><br /><em>If we measure the half-life of uranium-238 and find the had decayed by half, we know that it is around 2.2 billion years old. If the earth were only 6,000 years old, as creationists assert, they must believe that God created the universe to obey certain physical laws but then played tricks on us by making these physical laws not apply in situations that don't support their medieval view of the universe.</em><br /><br />That is absolutely correct, and, in retrospect I should have included it though 'fundies' eyes glaze upon any talk of 'half lives'. I agree that this 'proof' should be equally accessible and would be if science were taught as rigorously as I believe it should be. There are probably as many who have difficulty with the concept of 'light year' as have difficulty with 'half-life'. That's because science is clearly neglected.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-21854191174579511482010-03-06T15:31:28.477-08:002010-03-06T15:31:28.477-08:00Len:
We can refute creationism not only at the &q...Len:<br /><br />We can refute creationism not only at the "macro" level (i.e. astronomically) but also at the "micro" level. We know the half-lives of various naturally occurring radioactive substances (e.g. uranium) and can measure it with a high degree of precision. If we measure the half-life of uranium-238 and find the had decayed by half, we know that it is around 2.2 billion years old. If the earth were only 6,000 years old, as creationists assert, they must believe that God created the universe to obey certain physical laws but then played tricks on us by making these physical laws not apply in situations that don't support their medieval view of the universe. <br /><br />The creationists should also look into the authorship of the book of Genesis. It was not written by one person (Moses, as tradition holds), but was compiled from various "strands" over time, including the J, E, D and P strands. The P strand is where the creation story of Adam and Eve and the "six days" came from and was likely written by post-exilic priests (ergo, "P") and reflect the stories of how the world was created that the early Jews learned while they were captives in Babylonia.Stephen Krizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17577988184226223487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-5983960977395737162010-03-03T10:26:37.020-08:002010-03-03T10:26:37.020-08:00Jacob sez ...
In the end it just became to goddam...Jacob sez ...<br /><br /><em>In the end it just became to goddamn boring to beleave its outragious creationist claims anymore, it affronted my intellect and my joy for life as such that I felt ill both physical and spiritual.</em> <br /><br />Thanks for you comments, Jacob. I am reminded that: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities" <br /><br />Tragically --Americans have been fed a CONSTANT diet of the most outrageous goddamned absurdities since our founding about which a seemingly ENDLESS series of absurdities are PUKED UP by the fuckin right wing! I believe in free speech --but I do not believe in the organized campaigns of propaganda, lies, bullshit and deliberate hoaxes that have brought this nation to the very edge of ruin.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-13309178427397970712010-03-03T05:17:57.176-08:002010-03-03T05:17:57.176-08:00Mauigirl. indeed, everything the GOP does is premi...Mauigirl. indeed, everything the GOP does is premised upon pure bullshit. If they really believed, one might cut them some slack. But I don't believe that even they believe BS like 'supply side economics'. Clearly --possessing a shallow, self-centered, self-absorbed intelligence, the typical GOPPER knew it was all bullshit but also knew that it would benefit him/her at tax time and screw everyone else. Sartre accurately described 'bad faith' but it will be left to a careful, statistically accurate study to correlate these attitudes with those who benefit most from the GOP tax cuts. <br /><br />Sad, thanks for the Russell quotes. Since posting this article, I have found many Sartre quotes that I might have used but had, honestly, forgotten. <br /><br />Thanks for the kind words, Don and for your observations: <br /><br /><em>I have given a great deal of thought as to how one might tear down the mythology of the status quo. Like most things, it falls to the individual to liberate thoughts and ideas from the teevee mind set whic</em><br /><br />The first step: TAKE BACK THE MEDIA and we can only do that by restoring the 'Fairness Doctrine' and the best features of the Communications Act of 1934. Secondly, we must not except the cable companies simply because 'cable egress' cannot be considered 'air waves' which were clearly declared public.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-75501700978055466172010-03-03T04:41:13.536-08:002010-03-03T04:41:13.536-08:00Having had an education in the outmost Dutch Calvi...Having had an education in the outmost Dutch Calvinistic fashion, it was only a matter of time before I was confronted with my existential soal, or my intellectual self so to speak. <br /><br />This excellent article reminds me of my ambiguous feelings and the long lasting struggle it took to free myself from that mindnumbing Calvinist grasp with its fearmongering zeal to biblescript-conformity and its hate for self-conscious life and living.<br /><br />In the end it just became to goddamn boring to beleave its outragious creationist claims anymore, it affronted my intellect and my joy for life as such that I felt ill both physical and spiritual.<br /><br />The good thing however, was that this (my Calvinist upbringing, wich I now refer to as the weakest link) proved to be, for me, the very jump-board into an infinite ocean of knowledge, literature, art and self-creativity, once I got rid of the fait-based shackles that frustrated my progress as a human being.<br /><br />I was lucky to say the least, compared to those who 'sofar' cannot, or dont want to see the fearmongering and mindnumbing religious bigotry, wich, according to Karen Armstrong in her excellent book; "The Battle For God" (Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam) feeds the ignorance and the pathological fears wich come with ignorance in al three monotheistic religions alike. Monotheistic religions, wich are, but most dont know or dont bother to know, meagre and for the most very simplified abstractions of the Indian Maha-Bharata, Egyptian Religions and Cults, the Celtic cultures, Lao-Tsé and even Confucius!<br /><br />And now, 2010, the three fear and ignorance spreading monotheïst religions at each-others throats, very much encouraged by the political and corporate sociopaths with special agenda's and special interrests, de-humanizing whole societies and cultures into labor-camps and/or consuming-addicts.<br /><br />I'm reading the Bhagavat-Gita now, for good measure and balance, next to Bertold Brecht, Jean Paul Satre, Peter Sloterdijk, Carl Gustav Jung, and thank you Len, for that heartwarming video-clip with that heartwarming human-being Stokeley Carmichael!<br /><br />Jacob.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-48904654567218824992010-03-03T00:49:08.070-08:002010-03-03T00:49:08.070-08:00Dead Kennedys, dead Malcom, dead leaders of the Pa...Dead Kennedys, dead Malcom, dead leaders of the Panther Party, dead reporters,dead students, this is the subtext I always recall when trying to talk to anyone about those far away days of turmoil and anger.<br /> So many political murders, all of them sending a clear message that one might act for political change, however, if a threat to the status quo becomes too strong, that threat will be murdered.<br /> The myths are kept in place, the "lone nut" assassin or completely ignoring the facts of what is actually occuring, while the true message seeps into the public mind- rock the boat and you will pay a very high price.<br /> Maybe you will be blacklisted from your job, maybe you will shoot yourself in the head a couple of times, either way, help is not on the way.<br /> To look to the courts for justice today is like pissing into a high wind.<br /> I have given a great deal of thought as to how one might tear down the mythology of the status quo.<br /> Like most things, it falls to the individual to liberate thoughts and ideas from the teevee mind set which now controls this corporate warfare state.<br /> Your site, Mr. Hart, is as much a refuge from madness as it is a source of energy.<br /> Thanks again for your efforts and thoughts.<br /> Don SmithAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-40696056077034945452010-03-02T15:13:07.704-08:002010-03-02T15:13:07.704-08:00Here's the Russell quote on the folly of exces...Here's the Russell quote on the folly of excess certainty: <br />"<i>The essence of the Liberal outlook lies not in what opinions are held, but in how they are held: instead of being held dogmatically, they are held tentatively, and with a consciousness that new evidence may at any moment lead to their abandonment.</i>" <br />and again from Russell: <br />"<i>I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn't wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine.</i>"<br /><br />He was certainly not alone in this opinion, nor its originator.<br /><br />“<i>If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.</i>” <br /> -- Descartes<br /><br />"<i>Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.</i>" <br /> -- Voltaire<br /><br />"<i>Believe those who seek the truth. Doubt those who find it.</i>"<br /> -- André Gide<br /><br />"<i>To be positive: To be mistaken at the top of one's voice.</i>" <br /> -- Ambrose Bierce<br /><br />"<i>The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.</i>"<br /> -- Elbert Hubbard<br />~~~~<br />And the best quote fitting my 'pearls before swine' reference:<br />"<i>To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, is like administering medicine to the dead.</i>"<br /> -- Thomas PaineSadButTruehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977090207448656065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-6111376836063964762010-03-02T14:22:11.909-08:002010-03-02T14:22:11.909-08:00Sadbuttrue sez...
Still, it goes without saying t...Sadbuttrue sez...<br /><br /><em>Still, it goes without saying that stupidity is at its most aggressive when defending opinions that have little or no basis in fact.</em><br /><br />How eloquently you hit the nail squarely on its head. Kudos and hurrah! Great comment.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-75520944161415012532010-03-02T14:11:47.524-08:002010-03-02T14:11:47.524-08:00Very interesting post. I've always been intere...Very interesting post. I've always been interested in existentialism and the concept of bad faith. You've provided excellent examples of bad faith in action. <br /><br />SadButTrue, the Russell quote is so true - that's why when the GOP is in power they are able to do so much harm, in their certainty that they are right, and why the Dems are so tentative and find it much harder to lead and get things accomplished.Mauigirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15529827915262851910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-64207836012995575672010-03-02T11:34:53.350-08:002010-03-02T11:34:53.350-08:00Goethe got it right, "There is nothing worse ...Goethe got it right, "<i>There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.</i>"<br /><br />Bertrand Russell was more nuanced on the point. While he was adamantly of the opinion that one must hold all things in a certain amount of doubt (which he called "the essence of liberalism") he nonetheless authored this quote, "<i>The biggest cause of trouble in the world today is that the stupid people are so sure about things and the intelligent folks are so full of doubts.</i>"<br /><br />Still, it goes without saying that stupidity is at its most aggressive when defending opinions that have little or no basis in fact. The corollary: intelligent people are often reluctant to defend their opinions, perhaps due to the experience that the stupid will never acknowledge a better argument based on provable facts. Pearls before swine and all that.SadButTruehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977090207448656065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-21874962907434904582010-03-02T11:10:50.774-08:002010-03-02T11:10:50.774-08:00afeatheradrift sez...
I would argue that while on...afeatheradrift sez...<br /><br /><em>I would argue that while one may come to faith through fear this is not essential, </em><br /><br />Thanks for your thoughtful comments, feather. Your comment (excepted) with respect to coming 'to faith through fear' is troublesome for me, having grown up in a fundamentalist environment. I am reminded of crooked cops who beat confessions out of the 'usual suspects'. Certainly, this is a confession derived only because of the fear instilled. But --is such a confession reliable or true? CAN such a confession BE true? If I were a judge and such a confession is all that is offered by the prosecution, I would throw the evidence out and dismiss the charges. <br /><br />Otherwise, I agree fully that 'fighting against the tyranny is a never ending duty'. <br /><br />thanks, LenAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-61596361947726679462010-03-02T10:52:53.077-08:002010-03-02T10:52:53.077-08:00Well stated in every respect. I would argue that w...Well stated in every respect. I would argue that while one may come to faith through fear this is not essential, and staying in faith can and often does result in a more mature reasoning that releases any concept of fear. Beyond that, I concur most seriously with your conclusions. Fighting against the tyranny of fundamentalism is a never ending duty of all of us that think!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com