Therapy for the Mind!

I just ran across an absolutely delightfull site call "Meme Therapy" which looks at the world and everything in it from a science fiction point of view.
You may think this is rather juvenile, but remember that most great dicoveries were foretold in science fiction stories.
As a matter of fact they often helped create these discoveries! All sorts of interesting topics are covered here by world renown scientists and academics and range from physics to cosmology to philosophy to theology to psychology to....... well you get the idea!

I will give you the web address here http://memetherapy.net/ Two comments I was very impressed with are here for your consideration!

The first is by an academic and writer named Steven Leigh who writes on the subject of "Should scientists criticize religion?"

I’m not a believer in any religion, but I find both science and religion utterly fascinating. I don’t find that there is necessarily an inconsistency between someone being a scientist while believing in a God or gods.

Science is a path to understanding this universe in which we live — whether I believe in God or not, that’s still a compelling quest.

Personally, I don’t see the need for a Creator-being who constructed it in the first place, but I can understand a scientist who does believe and who considers science as the tool-of-choice for examining the underpinnings of the world.

I don’t see any implicit disconnect there — the dichotomy comes when someone regards the ancient mythology of their religion as irrefutable ‘fact’ and refuses to accept any evidence science gives them.

This universe and this world don’t become any less beautiful or intriguing because we understand them better; neither should someone’s faith. In science, we explore the evidence and adjust our beliefs accordingly; religions should do the same.

If I were a believer, I’d be of the opinion that God left us this wonderful puzzle and gifted us with the intelligence to figure it out, and that we’re doing exactly what She wants in using science and logic to understand how it all fits together… because by understanding the world, we also come to understand Her.

But that’s my "perfect world," I know it’s not reality. I don’t feel that any scientist should be shy about stating their findings and presenting their evidence, even if it might ‘contradict’ someone’s cherished religious beliefs.

Next is a piece from an old freind of mine, Les Jenkins, who hosts the site stupidevilbastard.com and made these comments on: "What's the strangest thing you believe in?"

At first glance this question appears simple enough. I can think of many fascinating subjects I have read about over the years; nanotech, “gray goo”, 11-dimensional space, relativity, the possibility of time travel, quantum entanglement, wave particle duality, virtual reality.

There flows a never ending stream of ideas that wells up from the spring that is the Mind of Man.

I could have selected any item from this list, or more, and would have provided a reasonably interesting response. How does one choose from such a fantastical array of knowledge?

Technology can indeed appear strange or magical to one unfamiliar with a particular field of study. Some feel that medical wonders, from stem-cell research and genetic engineering to face transplants, are the definition of the word “strange”. Others may perceive the political and ideological mindset of their “enemies” to be the pinnacle of the eldritch.

But, to ask an atheist what he “believes” to be true introduces quite a different “texture” to the question posed. The meaning of the word “believe” may easily be misconstrued. I am often bewildered by the multiple usage of some words from the English language.

To some, “belief” is only given to that which has overwhelming evidence to support it, such evidence that there is no point to even use the word “believe”. Does one say: “I believe the sky is blue”? No. We say: “The sky is blue”. We can test this statement through many types of observation, experimentation, and verification. We know the sky is blue.

Some use the word “believe” in the same manner that they use the word “think”, e.g. “I believe I’ll have another beer!” - the two words are interchangeable here.

Then we come, of course, to the most common meaning of the word “believe”, that equivalent to “faith”; acceptance of a proposition without any need, or desire, for supporting evidence whatsoever.

I avoid the use of the words “believe” and “belief” because of their imprecise usage. There are, however, certain words I’ll use in spite of their misuse. For example, I have no qualms stating that I’m an “atheist” even though that word has been intentionally misused and demonized, perhaps since its inception. An atheist is simply one who does not believe.

To be an atheist one need only answer “no” to the question “Do you believe [in God(s)]?” No further assertion is made.

I prefer to use the verb “know” instead of “believe” and, like Great Lady Science, accept that knowledge can be transitory and must evolve as new evidence is discovered.
Ironically, my answer to the question “What is the strangest thing you know to be true?” would bring me back to the issue of faith.

The strangest thing I know of is the ability of the human mind to accept the most incredible of statements by the simple application of the magic word “faith”.

How is it that, in the 21st century, we still have people that believe the world is only 6000 years old in light of the evidence from various fields of science in support of its vastly older age? How can one ignore mounds of fossil evidence for the progression of evolution and only see the “gaps”.

What is it that allows the brilliant scientist who, otherwise, demands empirical data to advance his theories, to assert that there is a god when no one has presented any evidence to corroborate the existence of said deity?

Is it a mental blind spot, a type of intellectual laziness used to avoid investigating fully the reason one believes one fable over another?

This strange thing called faith intrigues me. I have studied several of the mythologies of various civilizations throughout history and I find the subject fascinating.

The majority of us appear to be so desperate for answers that we will accept any concept of reality that we are subjected to at an early age. We indoctrinate our children into a system of thought handed down by our progenitors and our children will usually teach their own children the same vision; the meme propagates.

The evolution of religion presents the prime example of this strange ability to close the mind to healthy skepticism and reason. I wonder if we have herein evidence for the existence of a parasitic meme, one that propagates from the pulpit and lives in symbiosis with those that hunger for its anesthetic affects.

I look forward to a future where such strange ideas as faith and belief have faded into obscurity and disrepute as have the gods of old. A future where the unknown is regarded as an opportunity, not an enemy to be feared and obscured by the blinders of myth.

Hope you found this as interesting as I did and if you would like to learn more about "religious meme's" go to the site for my book www.God-101.com "The Plain Truth about God-101 (what the church doesn't want you to know!)
Look up the chapter on meme's called "Thanks for the meme-ories!"

Your Entertaining Scribe;
Allan W Janssen