Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith -- Dr. Andy Thomson from Kurt Volkan on Vimeo.
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Monday, May 09, 2011
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Thought for the day
"I do not know which makes a man more conservative — to know nothing but the present, or nothing but the past."
-- John Maynard Keynes
My comment:
My experience suggests it is a knowledge of the present in the absence of a knowledge of the past that is the key factor. The history taught in school is at best superficial and at worst distorted. Knowledge of the past filtered through the rosy glow of contemporary high school history texts warps opinions. My friends who are most conservative seem to have the least real knowledge of the past ... though, in their opinion, their knowledge in that area is superior. After all, they tested well in high school history.
As a demonstration, if you think you know something about history, give "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James W. Loewen (Touchstone) a read. (1, 2, 3) The title may be a little off putting (I found it so*) but the content is what counts. The book represents a critical analysis of 12 American history text books used commonly across the United States in the teaching of high school history - a survey of their strengths (there are few) and their weaknesses (there are many).
Which brings us to a lovely quote from Winston Churchill:
"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened."
* The title implies that teachers are liars. I don't believe it. Here's why. If a teacher is taught from a text book that doesn't have the story straight, then goes on to teach the text book, the teacher may not be teaching the truth ... but it is not the teacher who is the liar.
-- John Maynard Keynes
My comment:
My experience suggests it is a knowledge of the present in the absence of a knowledge of the past that is the key factor. The history taught in school is at best superficial and at worst distorted. Knowledge of the past filtered through the rosy glow of contemporary high school history texts warps opinions. My friends who are most conservative seem to have the least real knowledge of the past ... though, in their opinion, their knowledge in that area is superior. After all, they tested well in high school history.
As a demonstration, if you think you know something about history, give "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James W. Loewen (Touchstone) a read. (1, 2, 3) The title may be a little off putting (I found it so*) but the content is what counts. The book represents a critical analysis of 12 American history text books used commonly across the United States in the teaching of high school history - a survey of their strengths (there are few) and their weaknesses (there are many).
Which brings us to a lovely quote from Winston Churchill:
"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened."
* The title implies that teachers are liars. I don't believe it. Here's why. If a teacher is taught from a text book that doesn't have the story straight, then goes on to teach the text book, the teacher may not be teaching the truth ... but it is not the teacher who is the liar.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Compare and Contrast
Fahrenheit 451 / Science Fiction by Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 takes place in an unspecified future time in a hedonistic and rabidly anti-intellectual America that has completely abandoned self-control and bans the reading of books. People are now only entertained by in-ear radio and an interactive form of television. The protagonist, Guy Montag, is a fireman, certain that his job -— burning books, and the houses that hold them, and persecuting those who own them -— is the right thing to do.
In Fahrenheit 451, the job of firefighter had morphed from putting out fires to a kind of "thought police" who were charged with ferreting out people who owned contraband books or other proscribed materials or who might harbor "thoughts" that were deemed hostile to or critical of the state -- which maintained constant surveillance of its citizens.
with ... current headlines
Firefighters Being Trained To Notice Terror Planning
City firefighters are being trained to fight terrorism, but that's not sitting well with many civil libertarians.
The Department of Homeland Security began testing a program with the FDNY last December where firefighters are trained to identify material or behavior that may point toward terrorist activity.
Unlike police, firefighters don't need warrants to get into homes and buildings, putting them in a unique position to be aware of possible terror planning. But some critics say the program is a step toward limiting people's privacy rights.
The American Civil Liberties Union says the program is similar to a White House proposal from 2002 to have workers with access to private homes, like postal workers, report suspicious behavior to the FBI.
My comment: The future is here. 9/11 changed everything. We are sacrificing everything that has made us a great nation in order to preserve our greatness? "They" hate us for our freedoms? So, the obvious thing is to eliminate those freedoms so then maybe "they" won't hate us? What a strange strategy.
If you haven't read Fahrenheit 451, you really should ... but if you do, destroy your copy after reading it ... before the fire department comes and finds it in your house.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Shooting War
It's five o'clock in the morning. I've been up for a couple of hours ... no an unusual set of circumstances. The usual drill is to bring up my news reader and skim the headlines, looking for something interesting to share. This morning brought something quite interesting.
Shooting War
A graphic novel by Anthony Lappe and Dan Goldman
The year is 2011 and the situation in Baghdad hasn't improved. President McCain is still occupying Iraq, a mushroom cloud just rose over India and the network news is as news-less as ever. Enter 25-year-old Jimmy Burns, a 25-year-old New York City hipster with bad facial hair and a porn habit, who prompts the questions: what is journalism and what is a journalist?
Less a comment on the never ending war than it is a comment on how the news is manipulated.
The web version of the graphic novel is a beta version of the book. There are enough plot twists to keep you "turning pages". It's an interesting perspective, to say the least. It even has at least one reference to my favorite terrorist, Milton Freedman. My opinion? highly recommended and I'm not all that big on graphic novels.
Welcome to 2011; Welcome to Baghdad and who's zoomin' who?.
Shooting War
A graphic novel by Anthony Lappe and Dan Goldman
The year is 2011 and the situation in Baghdad hasn't improved. President McCain is still occupying Iraq, a mushroom cloud just rose over India and the network news is as news-less as ever. Enter 25-year-old Jimmy Burns, a 25-year-old New York City hipster with bad facial hair and a porn habit, who prompts the questions: what is journalism and what is a journalist?
Less a comment on the never ending war than it is a comment on how the news is manipulated.
The web version of the graphic novel is a beta version of the book. There are enough plot twists to keep you "turning pages". It's an interesting perspective, to say the least. It even has at least one reference to my favorite terrorist, Milton Freedman. My opinion? highly recommended and I'm not all that big on graphic novels.
Welcome to 2011; Welcome to Baghdad and who's zoomin' who?.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
‘The Nine’
Book says Souter mulled resignation after Bush v. Gore
According to Jeffrey Toobin’s new book on the Supreme Court, Justice David Souter nearly resigned in the wake of Bush v. Gore, so distraught was he over the decision that effectively ended the Florida recount and installed George W. Bush as president.
In “The Nine,” which goes on sale Sept. 18, Toobin writes that while the other justices tried to put the case behind them, “David Souter alone was shattered,” at times weeping when he thought of the case. “For many months, it was not at all clear whether he would remain as a justice,” Toobin continues. “That the Court met in a city he loathed made the decision even harder. At the urging of a handful of close friends, he decided to stay on, but his attitude toward the Court was never the same.”
More here.
Bush hasn't been my president from "hello". I guess Bush wasn't Souter's president, either.
According to Jeffrey Toobin’s new book on the Supreme Court, Justice David Souter nearly resigned in the wake of Bush v. Gore, so distraught was he over the decision that effectively ended the Florida recount and installed George W. Bush as president.
In “The Nine,” which goes on sale Sept. 18, Toobin writes that while the other justices tried to put the case behind them, “David Souter alone was shattered,” at times weeping when he thought of the case. “For many months, it was not at all clear whether he would remain as a justice,” Toobin continues. “That the Court met in a city he loathed made the decision even harder. At the urging of a handful of close friends, he decided to stay on, but his attitude toward the Court was never the same.”
More here.
Bush hasn't been my president from "hello". I guess Bush wasn't Souter's president, either.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Enemies of the People: Who Are They?
by Dan Agin / Huffington Post contributor
One hundred and twenty five years ago, in 1882, the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen presented the first performance of his play, An Enemy of the People.
Like many of Ibsen's plays, this play is a social commentary, a piece of literature that in addition to providing a window into human character also defines both individuals and society in sociopolitical terms.
Finish the thought here ...
One hundred and twenty five years ago, in 1882, the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen presented the first performance of his play, An Enemy of the People.
Like many of Ibsen's plays, this play is a social commentary, a piece of literature that in addition to providing a window into human character also defines both individuals and society in sociopolitical terms.
Finish the thought here ...
Saturday, August 18, 2007
God Bless Me, It's a Best-Seller!
(Christopher Hitchens shares his notes from his recent book tour. Rapier sharp wit that kept me chuckling all the way through. Very much worth the read!)
One of America's most seminal books is William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience, in which he argues that the subjective experience of the divine can be understood only by the believer. I have just been finding out how true this is. You hear all the time that America is an intensely religious nation, but what you don't hear is that there are almost as many religions as there are believers. Moreover, many ostensible believers are quite unsure of what they actually believe. And, to put it mildly, the different faiths don't think that highly of one another. The emerging picture is not at all monolithic.
People seem to be lying to the opinion polls, as well. They claim to go to church in much larger numbers than they actually do (there aren't enough churches in the country to hold the hordes who boast of attending), and they sometimes seem to believe more in Satan and in the Virgin Birth than in the theory of evolution. But every single time that the teaching of "intelligent design" has actually been proposed in conservative districts, it has been defeated overwhelmingly by both courts and school boards. A fascinating new book, 40 Days and 40 Nights, describes this happening in detail in the small town of Dover, Pennsylvania. Its author, Matthew Chapman, is the great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, which helps make Dover the modern version of the Scopes "Monkey Trial," in Dayton, Tennessee, in 1925, with the difference that this time the decision went the other way. A Republican-appointed judge described the school board's creationist effort as "breathtaking inanity."
Full article in Vanity Fair ...
One of America's most seminal books is William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience, in which he argues that the subjective experience of the divine can be understood only by the believer. I have just been finding out how true this is. You hear all the time that America is an intensely religious nation, but what you don't hear is that there are almost as many religions as there are believers. Moreover, many ostensible believers are quite unsure of what they actually believe. And, to put it mildly, the different faiths don't think that highly of one another. The emerging picture is not at all monolithic.
People seem to be lying to the opinion polls, as well. They claim to go to church in much larger numbers than they actually do (there aren't enough churches in the country to hold the hordes who boast of attending), and they sometimes seem to believe more in Satan and in the Virgin Birth than in the theory of evolution. But every single time that the teaching of "intelligent design" has actually been proposed in conservative districts, it has been defeated overwhelmingly by both courts and school boards. A fascinating new book, 40 Days and 40 Nights, describes this happening in detail in the small town of Dover, Pennsylvania. Its author, Matthew Chapman, is the great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, which helps make Dover the modern version of the Scopes "Monkey Trial," in Dayton, Tennessee, in 1925, with the difference that this time the decision went the other way. A Republican-appointed judge described the school board's creationist effort as "breathtaking inanity."
Full article in Vanity Fair ...
Friday, August 17, 2007
Times that try men's souls
These are difficult times for rational people, particularly in the United States. Those of us who believe that scientific evidence should be the bedrock of policy formation, that logic should be the basis for argument and that uncertainty should beget tolerance are not honored in the political world. Rather, scientific evidence is ignored when it leads to politically unacceptable conclusions, logic is tossed aside when faith is involved, and tolerance for minority opinions is simply out of political fashion. Why should this be? For one thing, we seem to be becoming an increasingly religious country, and because religion supplants evidence and logic with faith—and faith can mean anything you want it to—politicians can get away with appealing to faith without having to justify themselves.
Book review at American Scientist Online.
Book review at American Scientist Online.
Monday, August 13, 2007
The Bible's literary sins
from theblogbooks - Sam Jordison
Finish the thought here ...
Actually, I've read through it. It's not an easy read nor is it a particularly enlightening read ... at least not in the way it was intended. It found the Tao Te Ching much more spiritual, peaceful, and enlightening (in the way it was intended).
The Tao doesn't take sides;
it gives birth to both good and evil.
The Master doesn't take sides;
she welcomes both saints and sinners.
The Tao is like a bellows:
it is empty yet infinitely capable.
The more you use it, the more it produces;
the more you talk of it, the less you understand.
Hold on to the center.
Whether its central character exists or not is beside the point - the Christian scriptures are a barely readable mess.
Contrary to popular belief, the Bible is not a good book. I'm not talking in a moral sense and it's not my purpose to discuss its malign social influence, scientific absurdity, historical implausibility and the rather sordid origins of Christian orthodoxy. There's been plenty of that kind of thing recently from Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. I'm talking about the book purely as one that an intelligent person may enjoy reading, or (discounting the pretty slim possibility that labouring through the Testaments may win you a pass card through to heaven) find rewarding.
The literary quality of the Bible is an issue that I think is worth addressing. Firstly, there's the simple point that if the Bible really were the word of God, you'd think that He would be able to make it more interesting. Secondly, there's a war being waged against reason at the moment and it's gone time that reason started landing a few punches of its own. Why not freely state the obvious, but hitherto rarely mentioned, truth? The Good Book is not, as is so often suggested, a damn good read. It's crap. If the two Testaments tell the greatest story ever told, I am a monkey (and not just the distant descendant of one).
Now, I'm aware that saying the Bible is crap rather a crude statement. So, let me introduce a few points to qualify my basic assertion.
Finish the thought here ...
Actually, I've read through it. It's not an easy read nor is it a particularly enlightening read ... at least not in the way it was intended. It found the Tao Te Ching much more spiritual, peaceful, and enlightening (in the way it was intended).
The Tao doesn't take sides;
it gives birth to both good and evil.
The Master doesn't take sides;
she welcomes both saints and sinners.
The Tao is like a bellows:
it is empty yet infinitely capable.
The more you use it, the more it produces;
the more you talk of it, the less you understand.
Hold on to the center.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The Assault on Reason
The Gore Book: Sweeping Indictment, Rousing Challenge, Massive Best-seller
Brent Budowsky
The real presidential campaign begins now with the publication of Al Gore’s sweeping, passionate and uncompromising indictment of Bush, Bushism and American politics in the Bush era.
This book will be a massive and gigantic best-seller as Americans vote with their book-buying bucks. This book will have dramatic impact on the presidential campaign by setting the gold standard for what a Loyal Opposition should stand for.
The rest of the review is here ...
The book, "The Assault on Reason", is here ...
and for those who are still severely misinformed and who actually believe Rush Limbaugh's assertion that Al Gore "claimed" to invent the internet ... because they're gullible ditto-heads... read this.
Brent Budowsky
The real presidential campaign begins now with the publication of Al Gore’s sweeping, passionate and uncompromising indictment of Bush, Bushism and American politics in the Bush era.
This book will be a massive and gigantic best-seller as Americans vote with their book-buying bucks. This book will have dramatic impact on the presidential campaign by setting the gold standard for what a Loyal Opposition should stand for.
The rest of the review is here ...
The book, "The Assault on Reason", is here ...
and for those who are still severely misinformed and who actually believe Rush Limbaugh's assertion that Al Gore "claimed" to invent the internet ... because they're gullible ditto-heads... read this.
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