Sunday, February 10, 2008
By and by
The high priests of Gaia have been shouting loudly of late. They shriek that Christians such as Huckabee should not be allowed anywhere near the government, because Christians are closed-minded and incapable of comprehending data. They bellow that politicians who refuse to march in line with the diktats of Gaia should be jailed.
Okay, let's compare a typical "emanation" from fundamentalist Christianity with a typical "emanation" from the Gaia priesthood.
[The Christian text is by J.R. Baxter, the Gaian by Lawrence Krauss.]
Now let's ask a basic question.
How is science supposed to proceed?
The textbook answer: With humility, through an incremental process of adversarial argument, always open to contrary alternatives, willing to suspend judgment until more data is available.
Which of these two "emanations" comes closer to the proper attitude of science?
Got it?
= = = = =
PS: Here is an especially fine rendition of the left-side emanation above. Click on "Access this Item" near the top of the page to play the recording. A bit of explanation is needed for modern listeners who may find this rendition difficult to comprehend: The four voices in this recording are emitting different pitches at the same time. You will observe that the different pitches sometimes agree and sometimes disagree. This was an archaic technique known as harmony, no longer implemented by modern enlightened performers. One very loud note is all you need when you're an enlightened follower of Lenin. Or Allah. Or Gaia.
Okay, let's compare a typical "emanation" from fundamentalist Christianity with a typical "emanation" from the Gaia priesthood.
[The Christian text is by J.R. Baxter, the Gaian by Lawrence Krauss.]
Now let's ask a basic question.
How is science supposed to proceed?
The textbook answer: With humility, through an incremental process of adversarial argument, always open to contrary alternatives, willing to suspend judgment until more data is available.
Which of these two "emanations" comes closer to the proper attitude of science?
Got it?
= = = = =
PS: Here is an especially fine rendition of the left-side emanation above. Click on "Access this Item" near the top of the page to play the recording. A bit of explanation is needed for modern listeners who may find this rendition difficult to comprehend: The four voices in this recording are emitting different pitches at the same time. You will observe that the different pitches sometimes agree and sometimes disagree. This was an archaic technique known as harmony, no longer implemented by modern enlightened performers. One very loud note is all you need when you're an enlightened follower of Lenin. Or Allah. Or Gaia.
Labels: Krauss
¶ 9:23 AM
