Kenjuudo wrote:
Storm, to her credit,
despite my derision,
keeps firing off clichés
with startling precision,
like a sniper using
bollocks for ammunition.
-"You're so sure of your position,
but you're just close-minded,
I think you'll find that
your faith in science and tests,
is just as blind as the
faith of any fundamentalist."
Well, that's a good point,
let me think for a bit...
Oh wait, my mistake,
that's absolute BS.
Science adjusts it's views
based on what's observed.
Faith is the denial of observation,
so that belief can be preserved.
If you show me that, say,
homeopathy works, then,
I will change my mind,
I will spin on a f***ing dime.
I'll be embarrassed as hell,
but I will run through the streets yelling:
It's a Miracle!
Take physics and bin it!
Water has memory!
And whilst it's memory
of a long lost drop
of onion juice seems infinite,
it somehow forgets
all the poo it's had in it.
You show me that it works,
and how it works,
and when I've recovered
from the shock,
I will take a compass
and carve 'fancy that'
on the side of my cock.
Excerpt from Storm by Tim Minchin
I don't see if there is anything else I need to add to this.
As someone already point out, science vs. faith is a false dichotomy. And as someone who has a very scientific and analytical mindset, I observe startling parallels between the laws of our Universe and creation of complex virtual worlds in form of videogames.
In particular, one law rings true - Garbage In, Garbage Out. In order for this planet to have eventually formed into something so beautiful, populated with so many diverse creatures, there had to be initial laws of interaction of Universe's smallest elements, which eventually evolved into their current state via evolutionary processes.
In game programming this is called procedural content generation. You can only produce meaningful procedural content when you make meaningful interaction routines, which can NOT be random or chaotic by themselves.
So, in order to be an "atheist", i.e. someone who actively rejects the existence of an Outside Higher Force, I am required to have FAITH, that despite all the scientific evidence and laws I observe, procedural content can be created based on rules of chaos.
I don't have this much faith. It's easier to believe in other things. But in the end, thats why I classify myself as agnostic - because in this life, I will never truly know. And thats why both hardcore religious folks and atheists are the same exact breed of person to me - someone seeking a feeling of superiority, either moral or intellectual, as their primary goal.
06 May 2010, 8:17 pm
