How I work, thoughts on faith, science and me
In an attempt to shed some light on how I work let me share some things.
- I don't believe in God.
- I don't believe in fate.
- I don't believe in Astrology.
- I don't believe in any sort of other power or other being or other force or any other name you want to put on it.
I base all my beliefs on one thing. The scientific method. Is conclusion X supported by the scientific method? Yes or No?
Now, I will be the first to admit that I do not always act in intelligent or rational ways. Sometimes I am feeling lazy. Or I am upset. Or I am jealous. Or I am bitter. I could go on: excited, vengeful, depressed, motivated, ....
So, the point is not that I always act in a manner according to this belief (because I don't). The point is that when I try and make sense of the world, or try and pause and think through something, I try and ground my thoughts and my conclusions in ideas that are based on the scientific method. And a secondary point being that I don't really accept conclusions or ideas that aren't developed in this way.
This is how I work. This is deeply ingrained in who I am.
So, right now I am going to apologize up front if I ever get angry at you or frustrated with you or offend you over things like religion or faith or gut feelings. It isn't an excuse, I know, (I am really am rational enough not to be a jackass) but this is why.
Now, lots of things have contributed to this.
My father was a doctor and my mother was a dietician. Both scientific disciplines.
Neither of my parents are religious (as far as I know).
My favorite toy as a child was Legos. You build up magnificent worlds and cities and stories from concrete building blocks that all combine into something greater than their whole.
I have a mathematical brain (in that math makes me happy, not in the "I'm really good at math" sort of way). Given X, I can deduce Y. Given Y, I can deduce Z. And it goes the other way as well. Given Z, what makes sense for Y? Given Y, what makes sense for X?
It makes sense. Everything I have seen of the world convinces me of this. And nothing even remotely tempts me to think of there being any thing other sort of way to explain things.
Now, I hate to pull out the "brother card" (because I don't like how easily it is to manipulate people with it) but I can't deny that it has influenced me in this regard. My brother died a horrible, random, painful, sudden, terrifying death that left everyone who knew about it changed in some way. And here is how it relates to this topic: There is no way you can tell me some omniscient deity decided it would be best if someone broke into my house and held my brother at knife point. There is no way you can argue that my innocent 12 year old brother deserved that (karma like). There is no way that "it was his fate" is any sort of acceptable response. The answer is that there is no rhyme or reason for why things happened. The only thing we can makes sense of in this world is the rules, and then do what we can to make the best of it.
Anyway, so when it comes down to an argument or discussion or idea, for me it comes down to whether or not it can be supported by scientific results. And that's it.
I'm not sure what my goal is of writing this post. It is a bit of a rant. I guess it had two goals.
- To put in writing as best I can, my understanding of how I work. For my own benefit.
- To help explain my actions and thoughts to other people. A la this old post from 2006
17 May 2009 08:06am UTC • 285 views • 1 comment
Tagged with introspective, religion, science, fate, rant, me
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1 comment
Peon Peetie
18 May 2009 01:52pm UTC
i hear you man. i also don't want to offend anyone, but i don't understand how people can deny their [god given?] logic and call it "faith". that means denying what your brain is telling you. it doesn't make you stronger, i think, to deny logic.
(sorry, i don't want to piss anyone off. so i'll keep it short)