5. My user name for yahoo=cherie.kohler
blogger= cherie.kohler@yahoo.com (momii)
6. cherie.kohler@yahoo.com or alphamommy4@msn.com
7. http://mytuscansun4.blogspot.com/
8. Yes I have done all the reading for the first three weeks
9. Yes I have watched all the required films and videos
10. Copies of all postings
23 March 2008
Secret of Faqir
In the film clip, The Secret of Faqir, I think the message basically was that there is no higher or divine being, there is only yourself, and the impressions you have. To me this means that we create all of our own beliefs to satisfy the emotional and physical needs of our self. We create a God to give us a reason to behave in a way that makes us feel good about our self. If we happen to meditate and there is a specific person that inspires us we may visualize them during meditation or possibly dreaming. Just like early people worshipped idols or statues, which they made, to feel closer or more true to their belief.The secret that Faqir feels he has found is that it is all of our own creation, all of the different God's that people worship were created by themselves, that our minds provide us with what we need to perform in a way that we can individually handle. This actually is a pretty cool thing that we are able to do, if in fact that is what it is of course.
Posted by momii at Sunday, March 23, 2008 0 comments
Nicholas of Cusa
This very, very short film is an interesting symbol. I think it can possibly mean things to different people, but for me it was like your spirit taking flight and then possibly returning, maybe symbolizing reincarnation, or maybe even your consciousness taking a short trip, like during meditation. Probably for some people it reminded them of kites that they use to see flying on the beach when they were younger. I think it would be cool to read everyone's impression of it though. I think there is going to be huge differences.The music was very cool and went well with the short film. This one is a little harder to write about because of the shortness of it.
Posted by momii at Sunday, March 23, 2008 0 comments
Beyond Belief 3
So far this was the best session for me. These have been very hard for me to watch because I don't like the conflict. I think that these people spend so much time thinking about all of this when do they have time to do anything else. However I really enjoyed Carolyn. I believe that she pointed out some interesting facts, like hoe people fear death and that we all want to believe in something greater than ourselves.I also enjoy listening to Sam, I think he is an excellent speaker and even though I don't agree with most of his viewpoints I enjoy listening to him explain them and I can see some valid points. I like the way he discusses his disagreements also because he is cordial and talk about facts not just opinions. I think that the setup where speakers can come back up to defend, explain or question is good also.
Posted by momii at Sunday, March 23, 2008 0 comments
18 March 2008
Why I am not a Christian
In our universe there needs to be balance. It's the same for religion, you need good and bad, heaven and hell. In everyday life we make choices, part of what helps us to choose is the consequences of those choices. The main thing that separates us is our ability to choose. If we choose to do good we will be rewarded, if we choose to do bad we will be punished. The thing that seems to be missing in all of the articles is the forgiveness factor. The gift of forgiveness is a huge part of the concept. We can be forgiven for so many things, by recognizing our mistakes and asking for forgiveness we set ourselves apart from other species.In this article Mr. Russell seems to believe in many things about religion, but he doesn't seem to believe it is something outside of us, instead he believes it comes from inside and that organized religion actually hinders us by keeping us from advancing. He believes that we need to stand for ourselves and that we should strive to make the world better than it is.
Posted by momii at Tuesday, March 18, 2008 0 comments
17 March 2008
Pretext Part two
Consciousness, is this the same as Soul?? Nueral net referring to the scientist trying to explain everything versus the Pure Spirit. I liked to be in the middle somewhere if I could, I would like to understand but without compromising my belief system. The qualities that make up the conscious include family, exposure to society, and the area you live or grow up in. These contributions make up the people we are and what we will become. The transcending I'm not so sure about, I know I love to dream and travel in my sleep, many people are able to deeply daydream, to the point where they don't seem to be inside themselves. I'm not sure what the answer would be to find out or prove if this is truly possible, but I have heard stories about out of body experiences. One was a person suffering a heart attack in an emergency room and they felt themselves leave their body and watch from above. They could tell you exactly what the doctors had done and said, how would they prove it? Who are we to question it? I would have to say that I think I agree with Wilbur, that the Spirit, Human Spirit, is the basis for all matter.
Posted by momii at Monday, March 17, 2008 0 comments
Pretext/Text/Context Part one
The main theme of this article was that you should break things down when you analyze them, but to not go so far that you lose the meaning,context, of the book, or article. It is possible to break things down so far that you won't be able to make sense of it. You need to review each piece by piece to be able to weave it back together for complete understanding, comprehension. I agree with the paragraph that states,"Science tends towards reductionism", I think that science tries so hard to come up with explanations sometimes that it is detrimental to our society. The advancements that we have gained are wonderful, but we should continue to be cautious.It would be good for all of us if Science and religion could find a comfortable middle ground on which to share space. It surprises me to find the article talking down other sciences like sociology, chemistry, and physics. Does one field not respect the others? It's like one religion not respecting another? I did like the metaphors at the end of the article.
Posted by momii at Monday, March 17, 2008 0 comments
12 March 2008
The Himalayan Connection
I found this article very hard to follow. Some of the ideas didn't make sense to me, however, I think that the article refers to our different levels of consciousness. My understanding is that UfO's are not truly aliens but our levels of consciousness crossing over into each other. He feels that we don't see things around us as it really is, but we each see it differently depending on our own biological anatomies.This is interesting to me because in sociology there is a term, cultural relativism, that could be applied to this. Each culture has different levels of beliefs in religion, space, and on earth. So, maybe if we are a more spiritual being, we would see things on these different levels. This is so confusing to me because I do tend to believe in different realms or levels, but I never thought to try and explain it. I do believe that there should be others out there but i don't know if I believe in the "alien" idea.
Posted by momii at Wednesday, March 12, 2008 0 comments
11 March 2008
Eleven
This is a very good short film on hate crimes. I have absolutely no tolerance for this type of behavior. I was very angry about 9/11 also but never did I consider going after people here in our country. The way some people can justify their behavior is amazing to me. The irony that even the second attack was not really what Samir wanted makes me sick. We need to look at the bigger picture and be able to control our anger to find a way to solve these problems. The group Eleven could probably come up with some good ideas if they would apply themselves to a more useful activity. Also, if they want to hurt people so badly there are plenty of opportunities, join the service and go over to fight in the war. We don't need to start a war here.
Posted by momii at Tuesday, March 11, 2008 0 comments
10 March 2008
A Field Guide to Critical Thinking
In a Field Guide to Critical Thinking by James Lett, he has come up with a scientific method for being a skeptic. He calls it "FiLCHeRS", it has six parts to it including, Falsifiability- meaning you must be able to prove it, Logic- The argument or discussion must make sense, Comprehensiveness- All evidence must be examined to the pro and con of the question, Honesty- The evidence must be looked at with out self deception, Replicability- Any claim must be able to be repeated, and finally, Sufficiency- All evidence must be adequate, he also gives three stipulations, 1. Burden of proof rests upon claimant, 2. extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence, 3. evidence from authority or testimony is inadequate.The part that bothers me the most is the stipulation regarding evidence from authority and or testimony. He makes a statement, "Evidence based upon authority and or testimony is always inadequate for any paranormal claim." This goes against everything our society is about. It goes against our legal system. Testimony from an authority of something, or testimony from an eyewitness is invaluable. If we can send someone to prison or to death based on an eyewitness's report or an authority at something, how could it not be an adequate amount of evidence for something scientific. If someone has actual knowledge about an event or situation we must give validation to this. If the person has proven to be untrustworthy then of course his or her testimony would not be accepted without investigation. These are basic right to all of us and they should be acceptable in the science world.
Posted by momii at Monday, March 10, 2008 0 comments
09 March 2008
The Physics Behind Four Amazing Demonstrations
This by far would be a great teacher to have. To actually show his students how physics can be applied, and to demonstrate in a way to keep all the students attention. We all love to watch magic, and see things done that seem impossible. Most people are happy to enjoy watching and they never feel the need to know how its done. The challenge is going to be to continue to enjoy it after you have it broken down and analyze it. If we do this to all things in our life what would be left? Imagination is a good and wonderful activity to participate in.The teaching style of David Willey should be taught to teacher across the United States. To create a more inquisitive student would be beneficial to our world. The teachers that just talk at the students are doing us a disservice. Creative thinkers could change the way our world works. All students should be exposed in a positive way to a class that teaches questioning. It should be taught at a much younger age than critical thinking in college at 18 years old.
Posted by momii at Sunday, March 09, 2008 0 comments
08 March 2008
Would our society be a better place without religion?
This question never entered my mind before I started reading all of the information from this class. I find myself wondering constantly about all these people that seem to be spending their lives trying to convince everyone that they are right. Why?? What purpose it it serving, to themselves or to the other people they seem to be questioning? What is their ultimate motive, is it really to find truth, or is it because they can't find their own faith or something to believe in for themselves? In my experience growing up, people usually only attack others because they see a weakness. How many thousands of years will the religious fight have to go on before someone realizes that Faith is stronger. It doesn't matter to a faithful person if you can prove God exists because they believe he does. They know it in their hearts without a doubt.I feel that it is OK to blend science with religion, as long as neither try to hurt the other. Science plays a key role in our development as a society. We need to science to continue to find ways to keep people health, protect our world from destruction, and find technology that will protect us from harm. We don't need science to pick away at the foundations of some of the people in order to prove them wrong. In general, the rule for scientific study should ask, is this going to better our society or is it going to hurt them. Choice is what separates us.
Posted by momii at Saturday, March 08, 2008 0 comments
Karma
This short film was good. I liked the way it was filmed, as each person bumped into the main character he had a moment of insight into their past. This film used a little paranormal psychic ability to get it's point across which I found to be interesting after all the other articles we've read. I think the film could have been made without all the violence but it got it's point across.I would have to say that I am a believer in Karma also because I do believe what goes around comes around. I don't think that it usually happens right away, but that eventually, people will get back what they have given. I do think that it is unfortunate that most of us don't realize when we are being paid back though, this would help us to learn a lesson or two and to hopefully become a better person for it.
Posted by momii at Saturday, March 08, 2008 0 comments
Should Skeptical Inquiry be Applied to Religion
Skeptical Inquiry is interesting to me because of how much time some people put into it. There are a lot of things in this world that I don't know about, but there are so many things I must know how I would find that amount of time that some people put into inquiry. I guess my big question is why do these people, the skeptics, care if others believe in religion or not. If each person put more time into acceptance of others, as they are, without trying to change them, would it not be easier to get along. I am a religious person, I attend church and I believe in treating people with kindness and respect. It does not matter to me what race, religion, color, or background they have. I don't have to agree with all their beliefs, I don't have to participate in them but I can accept their right to choose. I also feel like there are things in our world that can not, and should not be explained. A woman's intuition, a feeling of apprehension, love.I totally disagree with the author regarding the paranormal also. There are many respected psychics that help people everyday, including the ones that assist police officers. Science can't explain how they are able to do this but it is a fact that they do . The statement that stands out to me the most was under the sub title How to Deal with the Transcendental?, "The scientific naturalist argues that we should seek natural causes and explanations for paranormal and religious phenomena, that we should never abandon scientific methodology, and that we should endeavor to test all claims by reference to justifying evidence and reasons." I think it is interesting how strongly they feel about this, just like a religious person feels strongly about their faith, and that they should never abandon it.
Posted by momii at Saturday, March 08, 2008 0 comments
06 March 2008
Viruses of the Mind
Santa, a virus, this is a far leap for me to believe. The thing about Santa is teaching the ability to believe. Belief in something good, not the commercialized Christmas and Santa but the gift of giving of ones self to another. Don't agree, that's OK because the overall feeling of happiness that comes with giving far exceeds the the alternative. Some viruses may be good to catch, especially in our world today. Also, some viruses make us stronger by building our immune system. I think it takes a lot more work to anger a happy person than one that is unhappy. There definitely is nothing wrong with spreading the thought process that we should be kind, responsible, thoughtful human beings. Whether it's religion, Santa, the Tooth fairy, or another idea that can teach people kindness, empathy, or understanding, I for one intend to spread this virus copiously in my family, immediate and extended.The attitude Mr. Dawkins seems to have in this article is sad to me. The way he compares epidemiology and behavior with facts that our society chooses to participate in is so negative. What difference does it make in the big picture, if we played with a Hula Hoop or wore bell bottom pants? I think some people spend way to much time criticizing things and people instead of allowing them to choose without condemnation. It concerns me more that he doesn't focus more on the negative "Viruses".He mentioned the Jonestown incident, where not all the people committed suicide but they were forced to drink or injected. He could have brought up Nazi Germany, this would have been the closest example to how society can be contaminated by a negative "virus. Why not question that type of behavior and stop worrying about fads, fairy tales, or religion, which leaves most people feeling better about themselves and others.
Posted by momii at Thursday, March 06, 2008 0 comments
What is Cold Reading
The main point to me was the fact that someone listened. Even though they listened for financial gain and not because they cared necessarily, the people would leave feeling better. Cold Reading would be a great skill to possess because it could help us in everyday life in all aspects. Imagine if you could cold read your boss, or your spouse. Our everyday lives are so hectic we barely get a chance to ask for what we need let alone have someone see our pain, happiness, or financial need. I do feel that some people have the have the ability to feel or sense things about others, whether it's supernatural or not is the question.
Posted by momii at Thursday, March 06, 2008 0 comments
05 March 2008
Beyond Belief I
Well this was interesting! I was wondering when I was going to get to an idea that I would have a hard time accepting. Steven Weinberg, I found to be very insulting and closed minded. He seemed to be very educated but the sarcasm and negativity must come from somewhere or something that happened in his past. I found Dr. Krauss to be easier to listen to and even though I don't necessarily agree with all of his views on religion and science I was able to listen with an open mind. The concept of Science enriching faith is the way I would like to see us progress. I also like the fact that science is based on honesty, this is a quality that I value very much. The third speaker I found to be the most interesting, Sam Harrison. Although I did not agree with the majority of what he said, I felt his thoughts were the most clear. My feelings on how he used the term, The will of God, is where I disagreed the most. In my understanding, the will of God is that we were all put here, with the varied abilities that we each have, and that out of all the animals in the world, we were given free will or free choice. His will was for us to come here to learn and to experience many things. I don't believe that we can say, "Oh, I lost my job, it must be the will of God.", we have to take responsibility for our choices and decisions. The one major point he spoke about that I also feel strongly about was the fact that Violence is born from religion. Thinking back even to the crusades, Germany, present day Iraq, this is so true. I want to think that the fighting makes sense because the people fighting feel so strongly about it. However, I can't honestly justify it because I believe that free will and free choice give each person the right to choose what they believe and that we should not judge anyone else for their choices.
Posted by momii at Wednesday, March 05, 2008 0 comments
Bertrand Russel
I was surprised that this video was so short so I listened to a couple others to get a better feel for Mr. Bertrand. The short video on Clarity and Exact Thinking was to short. I would like to hear more of the interview if there was more. I have to agree with what he said in the context that I saw. He explained something that bothers me on a daily basis. Predujice is something that I do not think that we should be tolerant of in any way. I know that we all have strong feelings about people and things in our world that we might not approve of, but we should take into consideration our own behaviors. I think that the clarity and exact thinking is not a skill that would come easily to very many people. It would be an admirable quality for people to have though. If we all could work at it a little each day the improvement to our society would be measurable. People would become more comfortable around each other. Self esteem and self worth would be improved, and public relations would be better across the board. If we could all be understanding of our differences, and more accepting of each other, the world would be a better place.
Posted by momii at Wednesday, March 05, 2008 0 comments
Richard Feynman
The Pleasure of Finding Things OutI found this to be a very interesting video, I had never heard of Mr. Fenyman before the reading assignment. I enjoyed his casual way, and how he seemed so honest. His natural inquisitive nature has led him down a wonderful path in his lifetime. There are so many things in this world that this applies to. Mr. Fenyman just takes it to a whole new level or dimension. I don't believe that we all have this ability that seems to come very naturally to him. It sounds like he was raised in an environment that fostered his curiosity, and encouraged to follow his questions to find the answers. His ability to break things down to the smallest parts, is an ability that most people don't have and probably never will. The majority of people I know take things at face value, they never look deeper, not into people, or at things in their everyday life. One example would be the morning sunrise, how long has it been since you have especially gotten out of bed just to see it? Not on the way to work with your mind cluttered with things to do, not because the neighbors dog woke you to early on Sunday morning. I believe that not only would Mr. Fenyman get up to see it but he would also be able to tell you the exact colors as they changed, the angle of the sun in relation to the earth. Some may say that it would take the beauty out of the sunrise, but he sees the beauty in these things that make the sun rise what it is. It was an enjoyable lecture and I would watch or read more about Mr. Fenyman.
Posted by momii at Wednesday, March 05, 2008 0 comments
29 February 2008
Critical Thinking in an Online World
Critical Thinking in an Online World by Debra Jones, had some very interesting ideas in it. My favorite was the statement by the chairman of the SCANS committee, William Brock, "The most effective way to educate our youth is to teach them in the context of real life situations and real problems" (1991, p22). I not only believe this but I think we need to go one more step and include adults in that statement. Technology has surpassed most individuals. As an adult in today's world I feel very unprepared and technology dumb. I was a dewy decimal kid, and my home phone was attached to a wall, we couldn't walk around anywhere with it. I have to admit, I'm wondering now if that was such a bad thing!We have gotten so far off course in our schools in our push to be the best and most capable, that the generation starting college now contains math wizards, computer genius's, and artist's, that can't balance a check book, and wouldn't know how to live on their own without some help. The computer games and search engines are creating a socially challenged society. We should be encouraging use of online information, but in a way that is beneficial to ourselves and others. To do this Debra Jones is correct in saying that we need to be taught how to navigate our way through it. Honestly, what did people do before cell phones, and web surfing??
Posted by momii at Friday, February 29, 2008 0 comments
Cargo Cult Science-Feynman
In reading the Cargo Cult Science by Richard Feynman, I found myself comparing his examples of scientific integrity to everyday integrity. It seems to be getting harder each day to be able to sort through all the useless misinformation we are given each day. I believe that our world as a whole has started to loose integrity in all areas, mass media tries to sell us all useless stuff, not to mention the only information the new media wants us to hear is negative. What ever happened to being honest even if it hurt alittle. I mean don't get me wrong, I do not under any circumstances ever choose to hurt someone verbally if I can avoid it, but to be respected you must be honest. Do any of us believe in the American dream anymore? If everyone would at least attempt to try to be more honest about feelings, beliefs, understanding, just think of the things that could be accomplished. We would all probably not be so tired because we wouldn't be worrying so much or feeling so guilty.My first suggestion would be to eliminate all commercials, could we please not hear about another miracle cleaner. Next we as parents need to start teaching our children, the future adults of our society, the value of honesty and the consequences for dishonesty. If we could get our children to grow into this we would see major changes in our futures. Each step will be an improvement and a step toward understanding, and effective communication. In conclusion I especially liked the title Cargo Cult. It is so true, the amount of junk we are being exposed to everyday. I'm looking forward to seeing the lecture by Mr. Feynman.
Posted by momii at Friday, February 29, 2008 0 comments
11. Richard Dawkins considers religion a "Virus of the mind", because we are taught from the time we are small, before we are really old enough to understand anything about the world, about religion. He believe that most people want to believe in something bigger than ourselves, so we easily accept something that as he states, "Is arbitrary and pointless." I completely disagree with him even though I feel he has the right to his own opinion. Each person has the ability to choose what they want to believe in. I was raised as a Luthran when I was young, I went to Sunday school, church, and participated in choir, summer camps, and winter camps. As i grew older I began to question my faith so I investicated many different churches. We all have this ability, to question and seek answers. I don't believe it is right to judge others or to comment on their religious beliefs. It does not hurt me if someone is Buddist, Baptist, or any other religion, it is their right to choose.
I found it interestiong that he compared religion to many fads that we have seen throughout the years like hula hoops, hula hoops came and went, religion has been around forever, it never disappeared. People have fought over it since the beginning and I wonder how much better it would be if we all allowed each other the respect to choose and practice our beliefs, without condemnation.
12. Cargo Cult Science by Richard Feynman was one of my favorite articles so far. The example I chose to use is the famous overnight lose weight while you sleep aide. I love this, how did someone think this up, put it into an infomercial, which I believe is another cult topic, and made money off of it. There are many different kinds of diet aides that you can purchase, all promising any number things from a creme that will eliminate celluite, to a pill that take that can help you shed punds while you sleep, and you don't even have to exercise!! There may be a 1% of the population, and I think I'm being generous, that may actually believe that these products work. However, there is no scientic documentation to support these claims. There are however studes that prove the only true way to lose weight, includes eating a proper diet, moderation of calories, and it must include exercise.
13. According to Richard Feynman you can do"Science" by taking something and breaking it down to find out how it works, how it affects things around it, and still appreciate the natural beauty of it. This could be applied to anything in our world. An example would be the sunset, the way it looks like the sun is sinking below the surface of the ocean, the colors the sky turns, the anticipation of night. However, if you break it down, the earth is rotating and revolving around the sun so we know that it isn't sinking into the ocean, the colors of the sky are affected by pollution, moisture, reflection and clouds, the warmth disappears because of the radiation from the sun moving away from us, and nighttime approaches because the sun is on the opposite side of the earth. All of these things do not take away from the sunset, but they halp add an understanding, like we know we can see it again the next day and it might even be better than the last. By understanding the the things around us it helps us to appreciate them more deeply, beauty is not skin deep, and that applies to all things.
14. Karma was an interesting short film that gives us an example of "What goes around will come around". The main character was able to see what someone had done to another person, and then see that the person was in a sense paid back. Like the man that hit the woman and was verbally abusing her, she decided enough was enough and came back with a gun to stop him from ever doing it again. People do not alway look into the future to see what the consequeces are for their actions, this film gave you some insight into it.
15.Darwinian evolution is an explanation of how population of species reproduce and adapt to their enviroment. It explains the variations of a population, how more individuals are produced than can survive, and also why some individuals that have better adaptations will be naturally selected to reproduce. In Mr. Maynards studies, he found that most transitions were unique. He found that the rarer something is the more valuable it becomes.
16. Freeman Dyson's views on the "design" of the universe are interesting because he is interested in so many aspects of how the world works. He wants to understand how it works on all levels. I thought this was interesting also because he is a mathematician yet he is curious about the "spiritual" also. He seemed openminded and not as arrogant as some of the other people we have been learning about. I believe that his main point of view is that we are all reliant on someone or something. We are not self sufficient.
17. The "secret" that Faqir Chand discovered was, that religion, and belief, all have to do with your impressions, and how your mind interprets your faith and beliefs. He believed that it all comes from within each person, nothing is truly happening on the outside of ones self.
18. In the short film Eleven, it showed some hate crimes being commited. It proved again how senseless they are and how the crime does not truly hurt who the person committing the crime is mad at. The crimes are committed against normal everyday people that may look like a group of people that have done bad things or not done bad things but may be different in race, religion, or background. It also showed that just being in the wrong place at the wrong time could be the only cause. It is an unacceptable behavior and the people that are committing this crime are not the brightest people in the world.
19. There are many mediums or religious leaders in the world today. Not one of them may be exactly right or wrong. But our responsibility to ourselves is to consider all obtainable information. We wouldn't just read a book jacket and assume that we understand the main idea or theme of the book. We also should not decide to read or not read a book by only looking at it's cover. We each need to study the medium for valid points and understanding. By making rash or unfounded decisions, due to dress, race, color, or their ability to speak well, or not, and that they may have some strange behaviors. All of these things may cause us to overlook somrthing important in our quest for knowledge. At the same time you should not disregard feelings or knowledge that goes against what you consider to be right or good. It's similiar to "Let the buyer beware", be responsible and dilegent in your search.
20. Bertran Russell gives many reasons for not being a Christian. The First Cause Argument, The Natural Law argument, the argumant from design, the moral argument for Deity, basically right from wrong, Argument for Remedying of Injustice, Christ's Teachings, the moral problem, and the emotional factor. Each of these provides important that can be argued by both sides. However I believe Mr. Russell's main reasons are that he feels that churches have retarded progress. He believes we should stand on our own, facing the good and bad and approach everything with intelligence. He believes we should not be afraid of something that he feels was created in ancient times and that we should be smarter about it. He believes we should show self respect and not belittle ourselves. We should live our lives with courage, kindness, and seeking knowledge.
I agree with some main points like the way we should live our lives, but I disagree with him regarding the church causing retardation of our progress. Many churches contributed to our country from the beggining. They brought people together to work toward a common good. Building towns, farming, vineyard, schools, and much more. We could each nit pick any concept apart and only highlight the things that we believe to be bad about it, but to be fair, you need to be honest in your evaluation, with both the good and bad points.
21. Dear friend, I would like to tell you about James Lett's article, "A Field Guide to Critical Thinking". Mr Lett has developed his own criteria to using the scientific theory in everyday life inquiries. He calls it "FiLCHeRS". It is an interesting and very orgaized concept that I find interesting, but that I do not totally agree with. I believe that many people will find his method helpful to them. He breaks it down into six steps or rules including Falsibility- this is any claim must be able to be proven wrong or right, then Logic- it must be a true premise or exact statement, Comprehensiveness- all parts must be examined fully, no stone left unturned, Honesty- no matter whether you are right or wrong you must be honest with your results, Replicability- all results must be able to be repeated by you and others, and finally Sufficiency- the evidence to support the claim must be "adequate" to support it. This is the area that concerns me, Sufficiency has three rules. First the burden of proof is the claimants responsibility, second outrageous claims need outrageous proof, and thirdly, the rule that I'm most concern about, is that an expert or someone with vast experience is not an acceptable authority. Everyone makes mistakes or even tries to fool themselves at some point in their life, but it is important to encourage truth and to encourage people to honestly and accurately explain and prove their claims. I know you will agree with me on this point, that people that provide "expert" information should be allowed. Even in our courts testimony by eyewitnesses and experts is valued and trusted to determine someones guilt. I believe that it should be the same in science and critical thinking. In addition we have the responsibility to investigate claims or testimony that we are not comfortable with. Sincerely, Cherie
22. In "Should Skeptical Inquiry be applied to religion", by Paul Kurtz, he feels that religion should be studied and investigated by scientist. He bleieve that religion deals with human behavior which can be studied. Some studies already completed have given us important information on early faith, rituals, and beliefs. I agree that one should question themselves and their faith so that they can continue to move forward in a responsible way. However, I don't feel that scientist should question them, it is a conflict in interest as the scientist typically believe in a completely different beginning, just as religious leaders should not be questioning scientists. Also in regards to the paranormal aspect, there are many things in this world that I don't believe can be explained, such as some psychic abilities. They are similar to religious events that can not be explained necessarily, but they in fact have happened. An example would be psychic that assist law inforcment agencies to locate missing people. They have proven to be effective in some cases so it would be unfair to disregard them. This is not to say that their are people out there exploiting these abilities or lack there of, but overall I agree with the idea that we should at least be cautious in our acceptance of unexplainable phenomena.
23. Pretext, text, and content are crucial to analyzing a book because it allows you to break down the parts into smaller pieces. Just as we would in chemisrt class we break down all the parts to help us understand or or to be able to study it in more detail. You must also be able to reconnect the parts into something you can understand. For example the word Study, if you break it down to the letters, S,t, u, d, y, they each have individual meaning, and sound, but you need them put together to comprehend the full meaning of the word. There should be limits though so that you don't take all the meaing from the book your trying to analyze, there is a point where you can go to far and lessen the value.
24. In the Himalayan Connection, the author doesn't believe that UFO's are just extra terrestrials, he thinks that they also include psychological, sociological or even religious phenomena. He seperates them into three categories including translative, transfusive, and transformative. The transformative, (read mental), is the category that describes the levels of consciousness. Your beliefs and impressions are the determining factor for the level of consciousness that you acheive. We each experience various level throughout the day and then throughout the night duing sleep. The transformative describes the different levels, like moving up and down a stairway, which is different than translative in that translative is like moving around on the same level.
25. When using online information in your research or studing, you must consider the source and investigate it to make sure it is a supportable source that can be tested or verified. Your information will only be as good as the source it came from. Because information can now be updated daily you will also need to be diligent in making sure your source is not outdated. You will also need to learn how to do be able to put a query together designed to retrieve the information you are looking for. So even though we now how all of this information at our fingertips, we will need to be aware and careful how and where we find it.
26. Steven Weinberg's views on religion is that he does not believe in a divine creator, God. He believes that we should all wake up from this nightmare, refering to religion, and that science should do everything it can to help end the nightmare. I completely disagreee with Mr. Weinberg with the exception of his title, Clash of Cultures, in this I totally agree. This is a clash of cultures and I don't understand why this agrument continues. Let the people that believe in evolution believe in evoultion, and those that believe in religion, beleieve in religion. Why does it have to be a battle about who is right and who is wrong?
27. Sam Harris believes religious people are not rational. He also believes religion is very dangerous and we are all hanging over the edge of no return. He made reference to a man that had seen a beautiful frozen water fall, fell to his knees and praised God, what did it have to do with God?? Because he is an athesist, he believes violence is born from religion, what kind of God would have allowed Hitler, or animals of the earth to become extinct. I feel he misses the point completely, we were given this world to learn, grow, and mature in. We were given free will or free choice, unlike almost all other animals on earth. We each have made the choice of how we will treat it and what we want to do with this opportunity.
29. Ken Miller was a great speaker, I enjoyed his sense of humor and candid honesty. I think that he has very valid, provable points regarding the complexity of the intelligent design in biology. He repeated showed that Mr. Behe's ideas were incorrect. From the chromosomes to the whales he was able to punch holes in Mr. Behe's theories. I also agre with his idea of allowing Intelligent Design to be taught in the classrooms in a way where the students can learn all of the information but not have to choose or prove their beliefs. The more information we can give them the better able they will be to make these hard types of decisions.
30. The speaker that I though was the weakest, in the Beyond Belief conference, was Steven Weinberg. He came across very sarcastic, and arrogant, which he may very well have a right to be, however for a person hearing him for the first time it would be unlikely that I would listen to him again. His idea of humans wanting to be at the center of everything is an attitude that I just can not get on board with.
31. Acording to Huxley, in "A Scientific Education", all parts of education can be broken down as a scientific operation, he uses the example of literature, using grammar to break it down, just like analysis of a chemical compound. Language has always been considered an art, not science, he feels a scientific education is one where you answer your own questions by learning about them, and breaking them down, and experiencing them. So in a sense, he believes everything we learn can be learned scientificically by understanding the parts that make up each subject we learn about.
32.In the book "Believer- Skeptic, the critism of Ken Wilbur include fundamental weaknesses. The transpersonal psychology movement accuses him of gross exaggeration of his spiritual information. He has the tendency to inflate or exaggerate what is not known or proved. The author considers his work to be "tainted". You are not able to tell good information from bad information. The author also believes that he has questionable behaviors, and that he has made mistakes, even though he professes to be very spiritual.
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