tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post4641254840965275959..comments2024-03-22T17:43:18.211-07:00Comments on bionic mosquito: The Old “New Atheists” bionic mosquitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-77939442945866363582020-07-30T11:44:34.518-07:002020-07-30T11:44:34.518-07:00No, ATM, not original. I read it somewhere months...No, ATM, not original. I read it somewhere months ago and liked it. One could make a case that putting our loved ones first, which I hope most of us do, is in the end putting ourselves first. P.S. to Bionic: I enjoyed this post very much. PegAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-89874023263282713502020-07-28T19:38:08.261-07:002020-07-28T19:38:08.261-07:00Cosmic Dwarf,
I concur. Experience is the best te...Cosmic Dwarf,<br /><br />I concur. Experience is the best teacher. If we could learn from the experiences of others, it would save us an incredible amount of pain. It seems, though, that this is not human nature. It seems that we all have to learn from our own experiences and simply refuse to learn from those who have gone before us. <br /><br />Perhaps I am thinking more of myself than I ought to, but this is my own experience. And the lessons are exceedingly painful. Rogerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08156823478509665137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-85492171800318244742020-07-28T18:06:17.438-07:002020-07-28T18:06:17.438-07:00"...he'd basically vote for whoever he th..."...he'd basically vote for whoever he thought would preserve our gun, hunting, and fishing rights."<br /><br />Works for me.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-61208656999876020522020-07-28T18:04:29.542-07:002020-07-28T18:04:29.542-07:00"...and sees the hopelessness it brings. That..."...and sees the hopelessness it brings. That attitude is fertile soil for Jesus."<br /><br />Sad to say, but this "fertile soil" was seeded by Jordan Peterson, and not by any major Christian figures (I am sure many unknown Christian figures have been doing similar work).<br /><br />Peterson began a conversation that has caused many to search for the meaning missing from their lives, and in that search, some good subset of these are turning to Christianity.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-90519204675886627842020-07-28T12:33:55.209-07:002020-07-28T12:33:55.209-07:00Is that an original aphorism Peg? If so, it's ...Is that an original aphorism Peg? If so, it's pretty good. But I think in doing the latter we necessarily do a little of the former. In order to do more for others you must sacrifice part of yourself; you must put the importance of others before your own.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, I think highly of our place in the cosmos. We are the most complex thing we can see and scientifically study. Mountains, stars, black holes, oceans full of life - none of it compares to the complexity of a human mind. <br /><br />But before we go fluffing our egos over it, we should do our best to pay homage to the One who made us. Science shouldn't make us feel small and insignificant; I worry that it makes us feel too big and important. Most often I feel it makes the practitioner or partisan of science feel as though he is a god above the rest, observing the behaviors of lesser beings and their insignificant place in the cosmos only he can appreciate from his exalted location.<br /><br />“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” - G.K. ChestertonA Texas Libertarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02980539931923054404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-59443993018518320962020-07-28T12:17:46.544-07:002020-07-28T12:17:46.544-07:00My father was never very political and didn't ...My father was never very political and didn't care much for philosophy or history; he'd basically vote for whoever he thought would preserve our gun, hunting, and fishing rights. But I remember that when he did talk about it, he always had complaints against the people he termed the "do-gooders" of the world. By this he meant people who couldn't help but stick their nose in everyone's business, taking all the fun, freedom, and profit out of everything in order that their version of the "good" should be done.<br /><br />I think he was onto something. Most of the political evils in the world have been justified by some such ideal of "do-gooding", whether it was "doing good" to the poor by giving them a right to endless handouts, or "doing good" to irresponsible and vulnerable young women by killing their unwanted babies, or "doing good" to the jihadists fighting for democracy in foreign countries by arming and training them to commit atrocities. <br /><br />Most often these "goods" were divorced from association with the Author of good, and this probably explains why they were so often twisted and perverted into what has traditional been known as evils.<br /><br />I'm absolutely certain my dad never heard of Isabel Paterson or her essay "Humanitarian with the Guillotine" or C.S. Lewis's description of a "tyranny exercised for the good of its victims", but I think he would have agreed with them more or less. <br /><br />Cheers to the wisdom of our fathers!A Texas Libertarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02980539931923054404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-73834475573827398142020-07-28T07:19:11.041-07:002020-07-28T07:19:11.041-07:00Wow. This is so powerful. Thanks for sharing BM....Wow. This is so powerful. Thanks for sharing BM. I particularly agree with the quote below.<br /><br />"But if we do revive and pursue the pagan ideal of a simple and rational self-completion we shall end—where Paganism ended. I do not mean that we shall end in destruction. I mean that we shall end in Christianity."<br /><br />I too believe this and have thought the same thing. I think it makes sense because the pain and suffering of the pagan highlights the presence of sin in the world, a person's participation in it, and sees the hopelessness it brings. That attitude is fertile soil for Jesus. It is in fact the first beatitude, Blessed are the poor in spirit.<br /><br />I think the general principle for me is this. If logic or some body of knowledge says something that clearly contradicts the Bible, I follow the Bible. Even if the worldly logic makes sense and has the approval of all the "right" people. God knows more and I need to learn from Him.RMBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13603112499567064214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-65175753392475643262020-07-28T05:39:39.560-07:002020-07-28T05:39:39.560-07:00Rom 12:3
For I say, through the grace given unto ...Rom 12:3<br /><br />For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.Ron Colson, IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00683200423016675228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-22464647419631542722020-07-28T04:44:41.075-07:002020-07-28T04:44:41.075-07:00"...maybe he thought you had to learn for you..."...maybe he thought you had to learn for yourself because you wouldn't listen anyway?"<br /><br />I think this might capture it. I need not have blindly believed, but could have taken it more seriously at the time - exploring as to why he said such things. Seeing that I did not, perhaps he decided I had to figure these things out on my own.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-15473640657601490212020-07-27T17:08:42.851-07:002020-07-27T17:08:42.851-07:00For completeness, maybe I could have phrased it &q...For completeness, maybe I could have phrased it "we should think less of ourselves relative to the wisdom of the many generations that came before us."<br /><br />Something like this.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-27882910725705617402020-07-27T16:21:02.034-07:002020-07-27T16:21:02.034-07:00If you had simply believed, though, your breadth a...If you had simply believed, though, your breadth and depth of understanding would be nowhere near what it is today.<br /><br />There really is no good substitute for experience. If we learn enough of human nature (through experience) and study history, it's close enough to avoid some of the worst mistakes - or at least anticipate them, since realistically they will be made anyway.<br /><br />Also, if your father had really wanted to impart wisdom so you could believe it, he probably could have elaborated some more... maybe he thought you had to learn for yourself because you wouldn't listen anyway? :)<br /><br />I hope my own children will one day be willing to listen to me, and that I'll find a way to get through to them.cosmic dwarfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16562864681773374828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-90981175111613466762020-07-27T15:57:25.768-07:002020-07-27T15:57:25.768-07:00. . ."instead of thinking more of ourselves, .... . ."instead of thinking more of ourselves, we should think less."<br /><br />Instead of thinking less of ourselves, we should think of ourselves less. Peg<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-18406953009960022962020-07-27T10:47:33.970-07:002020-07-27T10:47:33.970-07:00When I was young, I was explaining libertarianism ...When I was young, I was explaining libertarianism to my dad: primarily focused on no laws against drugs, prostitution, etc. His response: "what, are you a communist?" I said, no - just the opposite. As I got older, I came to understand why he said what he said.<br /><br />He also grew up in a high-inflation world. He would always tell me: "the wealth is in the bricks." Something tangible. I have also grown to understand this.<br /><br />I should have just believed him on both points in the first place.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-50716047581260261432020-07-27T02:26:05.134-07:002020-07-27T02:26:05.134-07:00Well, this certainly applies to me.
"For un...Well, this certainly applies to me. <br /><br />"For under independent or individualistic thinking, every man starts at the beginning, and goes, in all probability, just as far as his father before him."<br /><br />I have lived a life of fierce independent individualism and now find myself circling back to a place which my father visited before me--better educated perhaps, more wealthy materially, but no further ahead. <br /><br />Does this mean that I haven't learned from the 'lessons of history'? Not necessarily, if anything, it means that I had to go through an incredible amount of personal pain to find my way back. Funny, in all those years, especially the early ones, reality only meant groping in the dark, not really living but learning the hard lessons of life. Now, I find myself back at the starting point, ready to begin again--this time able to see my way and my destination clearly. <br /><br />Probably I should give my father more credit than what I did. Certainly, I owe him an apology. <br /><br />"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."--T. S. Eliot<br /><br />Rogerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08156823478509665137noreply@blogger.com