tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post1798765905131598846..comments2024-03-18T08:02:51.154-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: Can Science Make Us Happy?Stuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-13746909972849978892013-08-10T05:44:44.523-07:002013-08-10T05:44:44.523-07:00No!
It may provide some answers and create more qu...No!<br />It may provide some answers and create more questions which in and of itself can provide the joy of discovery. Suffice it to say most of the things that provide us joy don't require science to explain it to us. Do we need to know why certain music strikes a chord within us? Do we need to know why love causes us such joy and such pain? Do we need to know why a beautiful sunrise or sunset appeals to almost every one of us? Many times knowing why takes away from the experience of truly enjoying the experience.<br />Feelings need to be tempered by logic, but the vice is also true. We make ourselves happy, and sad as well. Science is tangental to happiness. I have met people who lived in the middle of a jungle, or on remote islands, some of who have not seen an American since WWII, who are quite happy without science in the meaning we give to it. Science is a means, not an end. As much as I believe in Science it should never be allowed to control us as individuals or for that matter as groups. We are still barbarians, we cannot even find the responsibility to keep from killing our own children, and the science we understand is still at that level. I will guarantee that 50 years from now people will wonder what in the HELL were we thinking?<br />One of the greatest joys is not knowing and the discovery that comes from finding out, but it is only a small part of a "complete life."Dennishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14962996070458991675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-37491058711419808602013-08-10T05:00:19.537-07:002013-08-10T05:00:19.537-07:00There is no doubt that science has significantly i...There is no doubt that science has significantly improved the material dimension of human life. <br /><br />However, science does not (and largely cannot) answer the bigger questions of what it means to be human and the meaning or purpose of one's life. Then again, neither do our contemporary "luminaries" in the humanities, who demean the value of human life and the agency each of us has to contribute. Today's scientistism and postmodern humanities make Homo sapiens insignificant, yet said position is pedantically promulgated... by those of the same species. So strange.<br /><br />As Walker Percy once said, dying believing in something like "scientism" just won't do for 99.461% of people. There's something more, something eternal beyond materialist claims to truth. <br /><br />Once we look at the totality of what we observe and exerience, our wonder (awe) kicks in, and we're left speechless at the vastness and beauty of it all. That's why I am a Christian, while simutaneously enjoying science, knowledge and the classics of literature. They all support my enjoyment of this life... and life is to be enjoyed on all levels. Without these joys, I would despair. <br /><br />To say that one dimension of life study holds a monopoly on all the answers is preposterous. To live is to suffer, struggle, rejoice and wonder. I like a lot of Pinker's stuff but, like most academic theorists, he gets carried away with his tidy conclusions. Don't we all?<br /><br />TipAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-54512881577461446502013-08-09T14:48:54.611-07:002013-08-09T14:48:54.611-07:00We infer an invisible God to be the Cause of visib...We infer an invisible God to be the Cause of visible life and other natural events. <br /><br />We infer an invisible force of gravity to be the cause of visible changes in momentum.<br /><br />If one adopts the definition of William James, that religion is an expression of belief in the invisible, then aspects of science are expressions of religion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-82074609445499750322013-08-09T12:43:07.208-07:002013-08-09T12:43:07.208-07:00If you only believe in what you can see and/or tou...If you only believe in what you can see and/or touch, the wonders of the universe are fewer.Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-47522023754619193652013-08-09T11:15:09.219-07:002013-08-09T11:15:09.219-07:00I like watching Bill Maher (Real Time). But I do n...I like watching Bill Maher (Real Time). But I do not agree with his view that religion is harmful, childish, silly, etc. The roots of religion, art, morality, are in earliest childhood when reasoning efforts are iconic and indexical knowledge (of causation) has yet to emerge. A firearms dealer sells the Cricket rifle to a family whose five year old boy shoots his two year old sister, and kills her. The boy is engaging in mimetic desire (to shoot a gun like a man or men) and does not yet understand the consequences of his actions. As a species we then ask whether the parents or maker of rifles marketed for children who cannot understand cause and effect have a moral blame for the tragedy which causes us pain merely to hear it reported in the media. This is how our bodies process morality, right and wrong, good or bad, by forming judgments about individual behavior or even the outcome of social customs.<br /><br />In the Bible eating shellfish was an abomination in the sight of God. So was homosexuality. The shellfish beds in Long Island were recently diagnosed as having high harmful bacteria due to testing, and it is known that high temperatures in the water cause the harmful bacteria to "floursish," so science alone can inform a person NOT to eat the shellfish under certain conditions, although it is impossible to isolate science (theory) from technology because both are necessary to how we think and interact with each other and the world.<br /><br />When the Bible attributes the delivery of the "law" by Moses to the people in the promised land, it says, something to this effect, "Heed these words so that you and your descendants may flourish (prosper) in the land from generation to generation." Flourish is just another word for prosperity but nowadays egotists attribute wealth, technology, and prosperity to the human ego whereas the ancient mystics knew without a doubt that a mysterious and beneficial Source of Life (God) is the true force behind prosperity. Many of the religious laws had pre-scientific efforts to defend the community against harm, such as prohibiting the eating of shellfish, whereas with increasing knowledge of causation we now see that liberty to eat shellfish is increased because the power to predict good or bad outcomes has increased due to scientific reasoning.<br /><br />If you do not like the word flourish or prosper, the lesson for me is, this word in this or that context causes you pain. If you think I should fear this or that word, then you think I should have a co-dependent emotional process to validate your own fears. <br /><br />Flourish! Flourish! Flourish! Without the plants to create oxygen what air would I breathe? Of course science tells us about the composition of air, but the word spirit may be associated with birds, life, and air. The presence of life is the Great Spirit or God and each life is a spirit of child of the living god. For a human body the religious motivation is the same as reason: to contemplate the causes of life and to do this one must breath the common air!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com