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  • The wise man proportions his belief to the evidence

    —David Hume

    William James used to preach the "will to believe." For my part, I should wish to preach the "will to doubt."... What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out, which is the exact opposite.

    —Bertrand Russell, Skeptical Essays (1928)

    One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike—and yet it is the most precious thing we have.

    —Albert Einstein

    [T]he hallmark of scientific behavior is a certain scepticism even towards one's most cherished theories. Blind commitment to a theory is not an intellectual virtue: it is an intellectual crime.

    —Imre Lakatos

    A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.

    —Albert Einstein

    Selling eternal life is an unbeatable business, with no customers ever asking for their money back after the goods are not delivered.

    —Victor J. Stenger

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Monday, 27 June 2005

Thou Shalt Not Display the Decalogue in Courts

Just in from CNN: Supreme Court bars Ten Commandments at courthouses

YES!!

22:56 Posted in Et cetera | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: religion

Sunday, 12 June 2005

Star Wars: Return of the Sithcom

Toward the end of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, ping-ponging from being enthralled by the flick and analyzing it, I just couldn't help noticing that Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin were dueling close to and then later on right on a river of lava. Now lava is hot. Extremely hot! Clothing will catch fire within meters of such a huge source of heat as that shown in the film. So it was really quite jarring to my scientific sensibilities to see these two men able to survive that inferno, and even able to breathe the air that's been baked to temperatures of hundreds of degrees.

Some may argue that the Jedi are able to harness "The Force" and create some ForceShield (I'll be registering that trademark) around them to keep themselves and the air they inhale cool. Well, I say that's an ad hoc hypothesis ;-)

So while I was "going with the flow," losing myself in the climax, there was this undercurrent of unease, knowing how ridiculous this scenario was.

00:00 Posted in Et cetera | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this