well. the gravity problem is like this: if you stand in the middle of a room, and several other people in different positions of the room are pulling you towards them with a rope, then how do you work out in which direction you will be pulled toward? basically, the guy in the video was saying that Newton found it difficult to solve this problem.
Wow. Tyson kicks serious a$$. I'd actually pay to hear him lecture. Summary for the impatient: Basically he draws a parallel between present day America and the Islamic world in the 9th - 12th centuries. Like modern America, the Islamic world during that time was on a path of knowledge, scientific discovery, and reason. That period was in fact when they devised the number system we use today, among other innovations. That is, until an influential Imam decreed that mathematics is the work of the devil. As a result, all such technological breakthroughs, innovations, and discoveries from the Islamic world ceased for the most part after the 12th century. To this day, 800 years later, the Islamic world still hasn't recovered. The implications for modern day America are obvious. Here's his full lecture: http://thesciencenetwork.org/BeyondBelief/watch/watch.php?Video=Session 2 Here's the rest of the lectures from the event: http://thesciencenetwork.org/BeyondBelief/watch/
The smartest person I know. http://cohesion.rice.edu/naturalsciences/chemistry/FacultyDetail.cfm?RiceID=1027 http://www.jmtour.com/?page_id=17
(p.s. the potential for condescension is ridiculously high in this thread, as it was in the thread before...be better than that, whether you believe or whether you think it's fairy tale)
I am not sure what smarts have to do with faith. There are tons of smart people on both sides of the faith/religion question. I believe that most people question their beliefs, but then ultimatly come to their own conclusions. I find the article to be completelly biased and condescending to people of faith. Just because you have faith/belief does not mean your intelligence should be questioned. There are plenty of smart people who believe in God, and plenty of them who don't..... DD
I wasn't going to respond in this thread because it generally seems to be a game of "smart people have big egos and think they are god" vs "stupid people are stupid". But, with your post I have decided to give my two cents. Modern scholarship and academic standards really started in the 18th century. That is when things were codified, classified, and canons (not the metal weapons) were created. Uhh...the previous alliteration was actually unintentional for once. The Enlightenment and academic standards corresponded with political and social revolutions that sought to challenge the stagnant, often oppressive, aristocratic governments and social rules. These, of course, were often backed p by religion. Just as a person's individual freedom was limited by a Louis XVI, so too was academic freedom and thought. So just as people revolted against governments scholars began revolting against "thought control" often found through religion. At this time Satan even began to get a bit of a following - not in the satanic ritual kind of thing but seeing Lucifer as the "original rebel" who allowed himself to be cast out of heaven in order for humans to have free will and thought. This (and pretty much everything else) exploded even more in the 19th century. So this tradition of questioning was passed down and the more time you spend in school the more time you question everything. Further, if you are in school and studying any "big thinker" from this period (1750-1914), that person will most likely have been an atheist. Perhaps that also adds to it - intellectual heroes posthumously influencing modern students. I am not saying this is definitely the reason, but it could explain the reason why more academics are atheist/agnostic than the general crowd. If it was just intelligence then that would really have nothing to do with degrees and everyone who was "intelligent" would believe the same thing. People get hung up on the idea that degrees mean smart or intelligent but all it means is you had money, time, patience, and stamina to "outlast the bastards".
The fact is that religious institutions fly in the face of science. Things like being again evolution, abortion, and other issues which look ridiculous when viewed upon from a scientific viewpoint. It only makes sense that intelligent people would be turned off by these ideas and thus become less religious. not arrogance, just obvious observation really. religion really is dope for the masses after all. it's away to avoid thinking and introspection - not to encourage it.
Explain how being against Abortion look ridiculous when viewed upon from a scientific viewpoint Rocket River
I haven't read this thread past the title, so maybe this has been said. But it seems to me a false question. Belief in God has nothing to do with intelligence. It's about faith in a thing that can't be proved. In fact is it a result of whatever small intelligence I might possess that I consider myself agnostic rather than atheist. I see no evidence of God, I don't feel His presence and I have no religious faith. But my intelligence tells me that the only thing I can know for sure is that I can't know anything for sure. There are many wonders in this world that were unknown and unthinkable to prior generations. It wouldn't surprise me to learn there is a God. In fact, I'd be thrilled to learn that. But, as of today, we can only guess at such things. I don't think a guess (or even the conviction of a deeply held faith) in either direction has anything to do with intelligence.
...that study sounds so flawed from what I've seen that I can't even begin to fathom it being considered seriously. Who are the "intelligent elite"? The study also implies people who measure higher on some scale (average intelligence; that doesn't sound sketchy) are better at judging whether or not religion is a valuable concept; I'd love to see this "scale" of sorts, seeing as how NOBODY has conclusive proof on the existance or non-existance of God. The study also relates to the Christian God and as such, is written from a limited Western/Catholic perspective; what about the rest of the world?
I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours, but if there really is indeed a God out there I think he has a sick sense of humour.
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people here regularly call me an idiot, yet, i'm highly ambivalent on the question at hand. not sure it proves anything, of course, unless it does...
I have been happilly married for 34 years. My wife and I have raised five children who are all responsible, show wisdom beyond their years and we all get along really well. I have many close friends and good relationships with most of the people where we live. I have met many very very intelligent people who can't keep a marriage together much less full of joy, many are estranged from their children and their relationships in general look like a soap opera. Intelligence isn't all it's cracked up to be when it comes to the things that are most important- relationships.
because you're talking about a few cells that can't think or feel. i mean, how on earth can it be logical to think it's a crime to kill an ball of a few hundred cells??? it's completely unscientific to say that human life begins at conception. there is no cerebral electrical activity, no nerves to feel pain, no beating heart, no sense of taste, smell, or sound. and yet some people actually think it's murder to destroy an embryo? to me, that's ridiculous. now, i don't mean to offend you in any way - it's just my viewpoint.
