On becoming atheist - the tug of war (page 20)

Nickolas

I can tell, zid, you compose carefully and deliberately. That you write beautifully is apparent. You write what you want people to read. Light when you want to be, heavy when you don't. Sometimes I scratch my head but I scratch my head with other very bright people in here, too. Many of whom have contributed to the thread.

designs

Nickolas-

They were part of the undeclared and burgeoning Atheist movement within the scientific community of that era. God was being redefined as fast as the Natural World and the Cosmos could be studied.

ziddina

"...zid, you compose carefully and deliberately. That you write beautifully is apparent. You write what you want people to read. Light when you want to be, heavy when you don't. Sometimes I scratch my head but I scratch my head with other very bright people in here, too. Many of whom have contributed to the thread. ..."

Wowwieee... High praise indeed - and totally undeserved... But thanks!!

Uh, oh... Day - yamm, have I gotten too far off-topic - aGAIN?? whoopsies...

Nickolas

Ah, got it, curtains. Sometimes the connections don't happen that fast for me anymore. All that single malt scotch and wine, no doubt.

No, zid, you did precisely the opposite.

Nickolas

I of course meant to say I got it, designs. Brain fart. Large one. I think I'll have another scotch after I clean up the mess ...

Does it help if I tell you that my mother used to call out my name to come home for supper, would start with the name of my elder brother, would sometimes substitute the name of one of my sisters, and once even called out the name of the family dog? It must be genetic. My apologies.

SweetBabyCheezits

Nick: Yes, it is possible (downright probable) that some extremely selfish individuals will figure out the exclusion dynamic and merely pretend to be altruistic, thereby providing their genes the opportunity to prevail within the gene pool of the group. It is also probable that the group will evolve the means to detect such deceptions and thereby minimise the effects of it.

SBC: [searches Amazon frantically for "Exclusion Dynamic for Dummies" and "Deceiving those who have evolved the means to detect such deceptions and thereby minimise the effects of it"]

Nick: I'm merely extrapolating from what I have read so far in Dawkins' treatise, SBC.

And t'was a beautiful extrapolation, Sir Nick! I was just implying that I'm an 'extremely selfish individual trying to figure out the exclusion dynamic...' aw, never mind. It was supposed to be a level of self-deprecation, then irony, then... phbbbbt - it was a big dud.

Nickolas

I'm just a regurgitator, too. We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us and do very well if we merely manage not to get too far behind.

Almost midnight here. And so, here we are again at the end of my evening just ahead of my bed. I have enjoyed some excellent, intelligent conversation today. Thank you. Sincerely. I have also enjoyed a fine Argentine malbec reserva and a couple of doubles of Ardbeg Islay in self-sympathy of today's failed dental implant attempt mentioned earlier. It's just an excuse, of course. My dentist did a bone graft and it'll be good to go in 6 months. So, my tongue gets to play with this empty spot in my jaw for awhile longer. Then it will get to play with the same spot when it is suddenly filled with a brand new artificial tooth after more than a year of vacancy. Why is it tongues seem have a life all their own? Lost the molar to an absess, which locally mushed the jawbone. Flossed daily for years but it wasn't enough. There was sometimes a tiny particle of food I couldn't get at and that's all it took. Isn't growing old fun? Something we all get to experience, unless of course we die young. I'm not sure which is preferable. All part of the process, apropos to this thread. Life and the process of dying.

And, it turns out there's a bit of a storm brewing over Lake Erie as I write this and that puts the kibosh on my plans for tomorrow with my wife, which was hauling in 8+ pound walleye like we've been doing off and on these past several weeks and getting the freezer stocked for the winter with vacuum packed boneless fillets of the best tasting freshwater fish in the world, which happen to school this time of year in this particular end of one of the roughest lakes in the world. The Lake is like a subset of life. It will blithely kill you and make you disappear if you don't respect it. There are an estimated 8,000 shipwrecks on Erie, less than 300 found. We've been out in 8 foot waves and were in no danger because the Lund is large enough to take it, but you can't do anything but try not to puke, and it makes peeing in the bucket difficult unless you can do it standing up. Sometimes there are water spouts and really big waves and that's when you're more likely to disappear. But even mere 4 footers mess up your day. 1-2 foot waves let you control the action of your lures and you can really haul in the big ones if you know where to go and what to use. Now looking more like Saturday, which is too bad because there are always a lot more boats on the weekend trying to get access to the launch. All of which to say I guess I'll be around tomorrow to check up on this thread, just in case it wakes up.

Nickolas, member of the top of the evolutionary food chain and living his life accordingly, signing off. Good night, all.

AGuest

'Nite, dear Nick (peace to you!)... and thank you for your comments... and patience.

Read your links, Bohm (peace to you, as well!)... and the links on the links... and a few of the links on THOSE links... but only ended up with more questions. Unfortunately, they are my "kind" of questions and given your reaction to the last time I asked questions, I'm just going to refrain for now. It just isn't worth it to me to TRY and understand, if the result is someone who believes themselves "smarter" than me (which I don't dispute, not at all) only attempts to remind me of just how stoopid... and crazy... HE thinks I am. Just don't have the energy for that, right now.

That's not to say we won't revisit this... and other topics... another day - I am sure dear Nick and others are more than willing to give me another shot at stating my perceptions and posing my questions. But it may have to wait until I'm able to better articulate my thoughts and questions. You know, in a way that won't result in direct insults right off the bat.

In the meantime, peace to you, both!

A slave of Christ,

SA

P.S. I've been typing so much , dear Nick... and reading so many posts... that, yeah, I confused Hawking with Dawkins (Stephen Hawking is someone who's material I actually follow from time to time, so I do know the difference). Surely, though, you can see how that might happen?

SweetBabyCheezits

Gnite, Nickolas, and the rest of the fair citizens of JWN. I agree - helluva thread. Great comments from all.

Nickolas

I am sure dear Nick and others are more than willing to give me another shot at stating my perceptions and posing my questions.

Yes, and I can only promise to do my best providing snippets of information and logic from what I have read, recognising that I will probably need to read over the current book I have open at least once again before I can scratch the surface a little deeper on genetics. Point being, if it takes me reading and rereading 300 or so pages to grasp a concept, it will be difficult for me to help you grasp it too with highly condensed posts. I am also not an especially good teacher.

Surely, though, you can see how that might happen?

Of course. Happens to me, too. I called designs curtains just above.

On becoming atheist - the tug of war

Share this