tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38085367.post3344659498227317580..comments2024-03-19T09:06:21.507-04:00Comments on Irtiqa: Steven Weinberg on life without GodSalman Hameedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04327330113822656571noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38085367.post-82907714978674222972008-09-29T19:33:00.000-04:002008-09-29T19:33:00.000-04:00I also find Weinberg's final statements rather pes...I also find Weinberg's final statements rather pessimistic, and enjoy Carl Sagan's response better. To recognize there is a "knife edge" and we better not slip into nihilism through humor is not enlightening.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15462218340570164741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38085367.post-65604848494833025712008-09-28T13:57:00.000-04:002008-09-28T13:57:00.000-04:00But that's where group identity and other ideologi...<I>But that's where group identity and other ideologies can come in and sacrifice/altruism (is)may, in any case, be hard wired from evolution.</I><BR/><BR/>I don't disagree, but the logical consequences of that are sort of scary. Taken to an extreme, you could call the rise of the Third Reich an evolutionary survival strategy.<BR/><BR/>I do agree with you on altruism, though. My initial question had an unstated bias, namely that these two things are "morally good": that human life has value generally, and that the individual has rights within society. Neither is true of dictatorships. Communist (and radical nationalist) countries would likely place value on human life, but would probably put the value of the individual behind the masses or the nation. It's a different different definition of "morality" is.<BR/><BR/><BR/><I>Now we will have to include the Lambda-CDM model in the story... :)</I><BR/><BR/>God created Cosmology class... God help us.Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18336895080318689408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38085367.post-70793709887766373992008-09-28T12:58:00.000-04:002008-09-28T12:58:00.000-04:00but it must be a very difficult thing to knowingly...<I>but it must be a very difficult thing to knowingly condemn your own soldiers (or the enemy's) to deaths you believe means the end of their existence.</I><BR/>But that's where group identity and other ideologies can come in and sacrifice/altruism (is)may, in any case, be hard wired from evolution. In the case of the US, the rhetoric of "freedom" and "spreading democracy" provides the justification for sacrifice (and of course, godless commies used their version during the cold war).<BR/><BR/><I>I also wonder if much of the decline in religious dogmatism came about not because science can explain some formerly unknown things, but rather because it has made clear how little we understand the universe, even now.</I><BR/>This is an excellent point and you are right that it gets tied to the wider perspective provided by science. We got by with simpler origin narratives for thousands of years - but now its not possible. Now we will have to include the <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda-CDM_model" REL="nofollow">Lambda-CDM model</A> in the story... :)Salman Hameedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04327330113822656571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38085367.post-77903421153969933832008-09-28T09:11:00.000-04:002008-09-28T09:11:00.000-04:00Weinberg's comment at the start of this -- about a...Weinberg's comment at the start of this -- about agnostics or atheists not being electable in the US -- made me wonder: how effective could an atheist be as leader of the US, particularly in his/her role as commander in chief of the armed forces? I'm sure there have been and are atheists in the world's militaries including commanders, but it must be a very difficult thing to knowingly condemn your own soldiers (or the enemy's) to deaths you believe means the end of their existence. It <I>may</I> be easier (certainly not easy but <I>easier</I>) to commit troops to war believing that God will sort things out in the end. I wonder would that be an unconscious factor in the decision-making process even for agnostic and atheist voters?<BR/><BR/>I also wonder if much of the decline in religious dogmatism came about not because science can explain some formerly unknown things, but rather because it has made clear how little we understand the universe, even now. The answers to so many questions about the universe remain elusive that perhaps the dogmatic "Answers" provided by religion either don't have the same credibility anymore or just don't provide the same comfort they did. Or maybe science simply provides a wider perspective with which to view religious dogma.<BR/><BR/>Or maybe it's simply that religion simply doesn't monopolize people's attention and experience the way it used to and therefore has less of an effect. That can be true of anything, not just religion.Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18336895080318689408noreply@blogger.com