21–30 of 50 posts
Can you imagine being there when these images were first compiled and revealed? I would have gaped in disbelief, and then wept. From a minuscule patch of nothingness, bottomless infinity has been glimpsed. It's unfathomable. And it's out there, right now, part of our existence. How awesome and thrilling.
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How humbling. And this is where religion gets it all wrong, the claim that all that was made just for us is so totally off the wall that I find it hard to believe that religion is changing so slowly to reflect the reality as we know it today.
And this is where religion gets it all wrong, the claim that all that was made just for us.... Are you thinking about some particular religion, or religion in general?
Their continued over simplification of the cosmic truths that are literally staring us in the face make it difficult to engage in reasoned debate.
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This was the one for me: "To be fair though, when confronted by the sheer enormity of distances between the stars, better minds than the one responsible for the Guide's introduction have faltered. Some invite you to consider for a moment a peanut in reading and a small walnut in Johannesburg, and other such dizzying concepts." Like TP, he had an amazing penchant for explaining the unexplainable :)
TP ?
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TP ?
I'd guess Terry Pratchett.
Terry Pratchett is entertaining but he can't hold a candle to Douglas Adams. It's more like he's found a formula and markets the hell out of it (he's a good businessman though!).
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This was the one for me: "To be fair though, when confronted by the sheer enormity of distances between the stars, better minds than the one responsible for the Guide's introduction have faltered. Some invite you to consider for a moment a peanut in reading and a small walnut in Johannesburg, and other such dizzying concepts." Like TP, he had an amazing penchant for explaining the unexplainable :)
TP ?
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Yes but technology does not progress linearly. So to us it may seem so impossible by methods we possess, but it may be closer than we think to travel throughout the universe. So a flash in the pan may be moot depending on the right technology. For example captain Jack sparrow trying to locate a ship in the ocean may seem like a huge task, and today it would be too if we use the same method back then. But if that ship…
I agree. Imagine gathering the hundreds of people that worked on the Apollo missions and fitting them in the room that housed the project's main computers. They might all fit. Then tell them before most of them were dead they would be able to put all of those computers in their pocket. Ok. Now imagine that we don't kill ourselves for the next thousand years. What are going to be able to do? What about ten thousand? I…
1. While indeed we're likely not alone, I see no reason to think that the density of life in the universe is anything like as big as the density of life on earth.
2. What's technologically possible is clearly limited by the laws of nature, whatever they turn out to be. It could very well be that there simply is no way to travel faster than light, for instance.
3. I would be interested to know your evidence that the planet will eventually be controlled by mild-mannered nerds. (And: given your (1) and (2), isn't control of this planet rather a feeble goal anyway?)
Perhaps I'm just too much of a nerd, but I think it's important to believe things on the basis of evidence and reasoning, not on the basis of whether they feel good.
Can you imagine being there when these images were first compiled and revealed? I would have gaped in disbelief, and then wept. From a minuscule patch of nothingness, bottomless infinity has been glimpsed. It's unfathomable. And it's out there, right now, part of our existence. How awesome and thrilling.
How humbling. And this is where religion gets it all wrong, the claim that all that was made just for us is so totally off the wall that I find it hard to believe that religion is changing so slowly to reflect the reality as we know it today.
Not my experience.
The biggest thing that I have learned from my religion is that there is that in the universe that is mysterious, bigger than us, and incomprehensible. Hubble Deep Space provides excellent supporting data.
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I'd guess Terry Pratchett.
Ah, ok, I was thinking along the lines of Richard Feynman, Carl Sagan or Stephen Hawking... Terry Pratchett is entertaining but he can't hold a candle to Douglas Adams. It's more like he's found a formula and markets the hell out of it (he's a good businessman though!).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How humbling. And this is where religion gets it all wrong, the claim that all that was made just for us is so totally off the wall that I find it hard to believe that religion is changing so slowly to reflect the reality as we know it today.
And this is where religion gets it all wrong, Not my experience. The biggest thing that I have learned from my religion is that there is that in the universe that is mysterious, bigger than us, and incomprehensible. Hubble Deep Space provides excellent supporting data.
That sounds like a worthwhile variation on the theme.
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And this is where religion gets it all wrong, the claim that all that was made just for us.... Are you thinking about some particular religion, or religion in general?
Most western religions, judeo-christians + splinter groups up front. Their continued over simplification of the cosmic truths that are literally staring us in the face make it difficult to engage in reasoned debate.
There's a reason some minds stand the test of centuries, if not more. Those on the TV today are mere flickering quarks. Those whose names we still utter are galaxies of thought.
I think it's a mistake to dismiss, out-of-hand, the thoughts that lie at the foundations of Western civilization. Religious organizations have always been run by humans. Yet those structures also sheltered and promoted the arts and sciences for hundreds of years without a democracy in sight.
Consider: Your last statement is an example of itself.
Rejecting religion doesn't mean rejecting the religious.