Name:lordacro Country:United States State:Missouri Metro:Rolla Birthday:9/13/1988 Gender:Male
Interests:I enjoy doing nothing constructive and integrating for food. Expertise:I'm good at babbling on about things few people care about. Occupation:Student Industry:Academic
Okay, so you guys are obviously not literature fanatics. Haha. Here's something you might find interesting:
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This gentleman has posted a youtube "proof" of the existence of a deity. Now you may be thinking, "oh, very good, you've countered the argument of some random loser on youtube, hooray for you." But what troubles me is that this is how many people have convinced themselves of a philosophical "need" for there to be an infinite power in the universe. I applaud the attempt to apply some logic to the existence argument, but it is deeply flawed.
His theory involves asking if it's possible for there to have been an infinite amount of time before now. The example he presents is that if he offers to give me a chocolate bar after an infinite amount of time has passed, would I ever be able to claim the bar? Therefore he concludes that an infinite amount of time could not have already passed.
The problem I have with this is the use of the word 'amount.' Is infinity an amount? Certainly not! In fact isn't it quite the opposite? Infinite is the lack of amount. It is the status of not being finite. Instead of being an amount, infinity is more of a condition, or an assumption. If I asked how many integers exist, you would assume that there is no end to the progression of integers (hence, infinite).
An infinite amount of time could not have already passed because infinite is not an amount. Amounts of time pass, like two minutes or three days. For an amount of time to pass, it must have a beginning and an end. Saying "three days passed" means absolutely nothing without context. Saying "an hour has passed since I took a bath" marks a definite beginning and end: the finish of my bath, and now. So to say "an infinite amount of time can pass" is absurd. There is no beginning, for one thing, and there is no amount for another.
Sorry for the lack of updates here; school has kept me busy! In hispanic lit, we were assigned to read this story, and it is an excellent one. It's called San Manuel Bueno, Martir, and I recommend it. Here's a link to the english version (the spanish version is too complicated for me) http://personal.ecu.edu/mayberryn/sanmanuel.htm
It's basically a woman's memoir of how her life was affected by a very well-intentioned catholic priest, but the priest doesn't quite accept what he preaches. He feels that religion is necessary to keep people happy. Anyway, a good read, certainly a classic. An excerpt or two from said priest:
"Yes, I know that one
of those leaders of the so-called social revolution said that religion
is the opiate of the people. Opiate,...opiate...opiate, yes. Let us give
them opium, that they may sleep and dream. I myself with this crazy activity
am administering opium to myself. And I don’t succeed in sleeping well
and even less in dreaming well. ...This terrible nightmare! And I also
can say with the Divine Master “My soul is sad unto death”. No Lazaro,
no nothing of unions on our part. If they form them it will seem fine to
me, because they will be distracted. Let them play at unions if that makes
them happy.”
"My life, Lazaro, is like a continuous suicide, a combat against
suicide that is the same, but let them live, let our people live. Here the river eddies into the lake for a while, going down
to the tableland, then hastening into falls, rapids and torrents through
the ravines and gorges next to the city, and so does life eddy, here, in
the village. But the temptation of suicide is greatest here, next to the
eddy that mirrors the stars at night, not next to the falls, that make
one frightened. See, Lazaro, I have helped poor villagers in the last rites
who were ignorant, illiterate, who had scarcely left the village, and I
have been able to know from their lips, and when I didn’t guess it, the
true cause of their mortal illness, and I have seen there at the head of
their death bed, all the blackness of the abyss of the tedium of life.
A thousand times worse than hunger. Let us continue then, Lazaro, committing
suicide in our work and in our people, that they may dream this life, like
the lake dreams the sky.”
Often
I am asked, “Why don’t you go out and kill people? You have no God to
answer to, so is it okay?” Of course I don’t think murder is okay. I think
the person who asked that understands that also. Their question is
asking where an atheist’s morals come from. Basically, atheists go by what’s good for humankind. From what I've seen, they’re always willing to lend a hand or help
out in some way, like anyone else does. There’s a quote that says “Two hands working are more
useful than a thousand clasped in prayer. While a theist is praying for
a miracle, an atheist is working on the miracle. That’s why it seems
like prayers work.”
I pose this question to you: When was the last time
you heard about an angry atheist breaking into a church and killing
several people? I’ve never heard of it. In history God has
been one of the leading causes of murder amongst people. Islams killed
Jews. Christians killed ... um ... anyone pretty much in the crusades.. It was all in the name of
their god. You never hear about that atheist crusade, or atheist holy
wars. My point is that atheists care about other people just as much
(or in some cases, more than) their religious counterparts. Nevermind if they complain about the Ten Commandments in a courthouse. That's the extent of their rage. Pretty sweet deal, eh?
