who reads this stuff??

On an average day there are about 3 of you joyous (I hope you're joyous) citizens of the interweb who visit this blog; this has gone up to about 7 on special occasions. This year there have been ~50-100 individuals who've shown more than fleeting interest.

WHO ARE YOU?

Sure, I have my loyal followers who've outed themselves officially, but so few that I can count them on my digits and have plenty spare to type with. It seems that there must be others apart from the random Russian person and spambots who have visited.

If anyone brave reads this, they'd be most welcome to leave their name in a comment, it would help prop up my ego, which slips without constant reinforcement ;) More importantly, please tell me what to write about, or else the creative juices will dry up and/or the blog will become increasingly bizarre and detached from reality as my self-esteem plummets :(

In future times I might write about: Natural Selection, the Multiverse, Poverty, Fair Trade, 'Trust' in Science, the Theology of Genesis, Scientific Law and Symmetry, the early Church and the Philosophy of Mind; I might produce some more poetry (though I think I'm about out for a while) and update and publish some longer essays from my phil courses or which I've posted elsewhere - if anyone cares about (e.g.) the Natural Law tradition, Scientific Realism in the history of Astronomy, Plato's view of the soul or Hume's argument against miracles. But predominantly, in the absence of comments, the blog, should it continue, will turn into a summary of my lectures and thoughts on them, in order that I may achieve these elusive "A+s" that I've heard about.

Have a cool day.

another one bites the dust

There aren't too many leading philosophers whose passing I shall note. This, however, is one.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/7586929/Professor-Antony-Flew.html

Two atheists I've discovered today who actually went the whole way are Edward Feser, a Roman Catholic philosopher and David S Oderberg, influential in non-consequentialist ethics (I've read his stuff before, but didn't realise he was previously skeptically inclined.)

"I thought you had to be pretty keen to sign up for something like that."

''Nero dipped Christians in tar and lit his driveway with burning Christians..."

Picture: Wikipedia

Finally, he gives us some Economics!

Well, kind of.

It's not often that I shall quote my textbook on International Trade (mine in the sense that I bought it off trademe, not that I wrote it) but as I just opened it (also not something I have done, or likely will do, often) this struck me:

God did not bestow all products upon all parts of the earth, but distributed His gifts over different regions, to the end that men might cultivate a social relationship because one would have need of the help of another. And so He called commerce into being, that all men might be able to have common enjoyment of the fruits of the earth, no matter where produced.
Libanius (AD 314-393), Orations (III) [quoted in Feenstra & Taylor, International Trade, p95]

Libanius was a pagan, but had a brain on him nonetheless; or so it would seem.

on another note

Please don't die from laughter.

I warned you.

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/03/7-games-you-can-play-with-brick.html
"Duck, Duck, ..."

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/02/boyfriend-doesnt-have-ebola-probably.html
perhaps my favourite: "I am actively being mauled by a bear."

too mchu religion

(we all know that atheists, since they spend most of their time on the internet (why, yes sir, I do believe in the existence of hypocrites) cannot spell.)

Anyway, you may like me be wondering why there is so much religion in such a small blog. Why hasn't it succumbed to Natural Selection and died? I guess it's just one of those random results that you get when your 'universe' is part of a multiverse..

But slightly more on topic, I found a book today & almost bought it; "68 Great NZ Scientists" (or somesuch.) It seemed to cover a wide time span; I assume our nation's short history.

Guess who was in it? (Yes, I had to check.) Dr Jeff Tallon. This one, (whose achievements include being a fellow of Trinity College Cambridge a while back) : http://thinkingmatters.org.nz/2010/03/has-science-disproved-god/

Guess who wasn't? A certain professor-lecturer of 1st yr biosci, one of the reasons I am into apologetics. One of his more obvious anti-Christian episodes involved criticising a respected retired professor from our university for having "too much religion." Sorry mate, but whatever you've got in the Science field, it wasn't enough. He was one of my most distinguished lecturers thus far - but on an international scale, many are small fry. Don't worship them, friends.

post number 134

Bought one of these on special today & composed a poem instead of studying or having a life:

The Bible

Is not like other books
Mine has fancy-as looks
With gold lettering and such
It’s blinging.

But strip that all away
That stuff ain’t here to stay
It’s not what this is about
Ensure it’s shouted out:

Donkeys will talk if you cannot;
like Balaam. It’s in there and more.
God is real – check out the Kalam
Argument. He will not be mocked
and He’s left us all a record.

It’s a righteous
list of commands;
demands, made of us
and fulfilled for us.
By Jesus.

It’s about the law and Moses,
and about Good News;
for the Jews, Ethiopians, Croatians
& other nations from star dust;
a God who loves us, He loves you.

The Bible.
It’s the key to revival;
i.e. renewing soci’ty.
BE QUIET PLEASE;
Cos I’m talking ‘bout the Bible

It’s my guide to survival
like a cross between MacGyver
and Night-Rider (some 80s shows)
inanimate but animate
an’ it speaks to yo.

It ain’t dead.
So, it’s like Christ
pressed onto pages;
the eternal rock o’ ages
in small text.

And it’s about sex. And marriage.
Prideful sin and its damage;
the groom and his bride.
The answers: they are not eastside
o’ even westside; they’ inside

The Bible.

Open yours today.


I could have got a waterproof New Testament for about the same price. In hindsight, it could've spawned some pretty cool party tricks. *Oops, just got coke (not beer of course) all over my BIBLE.* Oh yeah, don't worry guys, it's STAIN RESISTANT! Cue awkward Christian laughter. Aha. God loves you. Aha.

You think I'm lame? You know what's lame? Not turning up to parties with a water-resistant Bible. That's what's lame.

stuff I read

I have a large stack of books on the shelf I'm not gonna be reading for a while and a couple in the philosophy of science that I should be reading; but of more interest to you, perhaps, there are various blogs & people around on the internet which seem worth my time, if not yours:

This guy is a NZer and seems to make pretty cool podcasts on various things like philosophy, theology and philosophical theology - and maybe even theological philosophy: http://www.beretta-online.com/wordpress/ He's in the South Island so haven't met him yet, but sooner or later it seems likely. Educational and entertaining; if you have the bandwidth to listen to them, please do - and if you're wealthy and Christian (it's well known that all Christians are either dirt-poor hillbillies or rich televangelists), see his site & help him get to a conference at Oxford.

Alvin Plantinga is excellent, genuinely funny in a subtle way, which is not something I'll say often of Christian philosophers or philosophers in general - there is a debate of him and Dan Dennett floating around somewhere well worth listening to.

"Theaters are the new Church of the Masses -- where people sit huddled in the dark listening to people in the light tell them what it is to be human." A quote from a 1930s film critic was quoted again here: http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/ - and reminded me of things that Mark Strom, of Laidlaw college has said. What it means to be human is quite an important question.

Here's another BOOK (if you're not sure what these strange papery things are, I can lend you some easy ones to get you started) added to the wishlist http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1586174312?ie=UTF8&tag=jescre-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1586174312#noop

Is Science for Real?

Do scientific theories aim to describe reality and are they reasonably successful? I do think so; and as such am a scientific realist of some kind or another.
Reasons:
*The scientific project seems to be doing well, i.e. is progressing.
*Theoretical science is proving to have practical applications.
*Theories have assisted in making impressively-confirmed predictions.
* ...

Is Science for Real, Is God for Real; Is Science for God?

Tentatively, "Yes, Yes, Yes".

You see, an important implied idea in the previous discussion in favour of scientific realism is the so-called “Principle of the Uniformity of Nature” (PUN) and I assure you this is no joke. Without this principle our science, for all its shinyness, is of limited value.
This relates to the concept of "trust in science" that I've mentioned before; science is predicated upon certain forms of trust which scientists have concerning the material world.
…

More on this once I’ve done more reading for my essay and beyond; I have some ideas but would like them confirmed by the cogitations of experts before I attempt a serious contribution.

Theology 101

God, in heavenly glory, came to earth
He likes to mix things upside down

The King wore purple;
a robe and a crown
of thorns
In early life visited by Magi,
choirs of angels
and shepherds, in a manger
He is friends with wealthy men,
thieves and prostitutes
Utilises the weak
and the despised
to shame the wise
The Lord is sarcastic,
a stern judge
and hilarious

He loves us
I cannot get enough

So, I've been thinking about Christianity

AND I SUDDENLY REALISED IT'S A CLEVERLY CONSTRUCTED MYTH, WHICH I'VE WASTED HUNDREDS OF HOURS OF MY TIME ON!!?! IT'S OK GUYS, IGNORE WHAT I"VE SUGGESTED; JUST KEEP ON LIVING AS PER USUAL, NO NEED TO CONCERN YOURSELF WITH JESUS &CO - I WAS WRONG, IT'S ALL JUST BRUTE-FACTOID ATOMS AND YOU WERE ALL SO SO RIGHT, IF THAT WORD MEANS MUCH NOW! WHY DIDN'T I SEE BEFORE HOW POINTLESS IT ALL IS??? WE *ARE* OBVIOUSLY ENTIRELY THE RESULT OF PURPOSELESS PROCESSES AND THE ARGUMENTS FOR GOD'S EXISTENCE ARE ALL CRAP - HEY, YOU MAY AS WELL BELIEVE IN SANTA, DUMBASSES! IN FACT, I'M FEELING SO LIBERATED I'LL HAVE TO MAKE MY NEW BELIEFS PUBLIC.


that was a good example of a clumsy april fools post

If you actually want a summary of truth, go to the apostle's creed. Have a nice Easter; I shall in any case.

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With every Easter egg or hot cross bun purchased, you may not know it, but we receive this unlimited offer, albeit for a limited time.

It's free, it's for real; here's the deal:

With every purchase, considered purchase or other activity somehow related to Easter, He provides:

i) Life to the fullest
ii) Freedom from past wrongs of your own and others
iii) Personal communiqués from the Creator of the universe
iv) Help with your studies (limited warranty on this item)
v) Healing in the mental/emotional, spiritual and physical realms
vi) Down-payment (includes various other items): the Holy Spirit
vii) Life after deceasement, with the triune God
(provider: God. Addr: 1 Heavenly Place. He answers all cellphone calls, bedroom-phone calls, soccer-field-phone calls, education-institute-phone calls and ordinary prayers.)

Too good to be true or just truly good? It's a free gift, the only cost is your life (which will be given back to you in a vastly upgraded form; a trade-in worth considering IMHO.)

If I haven't been blunt enough already on this blog (maybe you doubt I'm as hardcore as some Christians you've heard of), here's the gist: accept the proclamations of the witnesses to His glory and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and you shall receive all 7 provisions outlined above, over a short period of time. I've already got the first six and you can call me crazy but I'm expecting the seventh in God's good timing.

All of the money you've directly spent on reading this blogpost shall be returned to you if you are unsatisfied.


This is not an April Fools' Day joke.