Dark Ruminations
The weekend was rather dull, as Trev was out of town. Hence, no gaming. At any rate, Saturday night we had a freak power outage, leaving our complex darker than it has been in my experience. This is actually a good thing, in my mind, as it enabled me to do some serious stargazing. That, and my neighbors thought I was a corpse. At any rate, I did some more thinking.
I've always been puzzled by the fact that humans are afraid of the dark. I mean, darkness is essentially harmless. Night has always been associated with evil and terror and all of that stuff. As I lay on the grass thinking, it occurred to me that perhaps it is because the blindingly obvious truths of the day are no longer obvious. All truths must be grappled with under the cover of night. And, at the same time, we see farther and deeper at night than we could during the day. Think about it. During the day, the farthest visible object is 93,000,000 miles away (the sun). At night, we can see things that are 93,000,000 light years away, namely stars. Furthermore, we aren't just peering into space, but also into time itself, as the things we see are really the echoes of a distant past. That star 93,000,000 light years away could be totally dead for all we know. And yet, we can still see it. Maybe our fear of the night is because these deep truths remind us that we are so cosmically tiny and insignificant. Or maybe I'm mixing metaphore with fact. Doesn't matter. Just thought I'd get that out there.
In other news, Justin and I hung out last night watching the Unex Report. It was miracles, this time, which is slightly less interesting than Aliens, ghosts, and monsters. Sorry. God just isn't as cool as UFOs.
11 Comments:
Definately confusing metaphor for fact. I think the dark is scary because you can't see dark things. In the light, you can, because of contrast, but you can also see light things. In the dark, if something isn't made of light, or lighted, you can't see it, or at most you can see a sort of indistinct outline.
Perhaps I should rephrase myself. Night is scary because you can't see some things. Dark and light may not be as important. And it would seem that a spammer has invaded my site. That is annoying.
I don't think that it is as much what you can't see as what you think you can't see. That will scare the crap out of you! In the day time our senses get in the way and keep us in the "dark." At night without light there are no pesky senses to get in the way of our mind postulating the existance of a horny plush elephant with a knife just waiting to hump our leg! If you flick the lights on our senses cloud that possibility. We can't see anything that would lead us to believe that, nor do we smell the elusive pheramones exuded by the aforementioned lustfilled pacaderm with a shiv. So, let that be a lesson, don't go out in the dark lest you be filled with fear of having your pant leg worn through while you stave off the reak of peanuts and sex.
On another topic, I saw an article that noted philosopher Anthony Flew has become a Deist. Do you think he will be able to convert to Christianity before he dies? Remember that Lewis was a Deist for a while. I don't know that it would do much good in the long run. Although he has published a decent encyclopedia of Philosophy.
I should mention that examples like the above (plush elephant and all) can get you the coveted Chair of Nicholas Hestler Philosophy. I suppose we used to hastle Wyma a bit with our questions and queer examples, but he deserves it. I was reading a paper of his the other day and he actually used the example of setting fire to his wife! I ask you, have you ever seen such a great example? Not since somebody refered to India as a wet dish towel hanging from the southern reaches of Asia! Strive for that title that Will and I have kept in good stead.
Quite possibly. I was at Jordan's birthday. That help any?
Z, you forget that darkness only affects one sense, namely sight. Our hypothetical knife-wielding plush pachyderm cannot actually emit pheromones for us to perceive, lights on or off. Hence, no good. Yes, the mind plays tricks on one at night. That is what I mean when I say that the obvious truths are more difficult to perceive. Plus, you can see some things at night that you can't during the day (i.e. stars, comets, planets).
Yeah, I read that article viz. Anthony Flew. It's certainly a logical possibility that he will go Christian. Tell you what. I'll bet you a case of Obsidion Stout (next time you're up in the 'Kane) he doesn't actually become Christian. After all, by accepting deism, he has managed to jump all the pesky logical pitfalls associated with atheism, without actually having to associate himself with a religious belief. Deism is handy that way. So, will you take that bet?
Well, I assumed, as it was my postulation, that the plush elephant, being animated, had some qualities that one would not expect a normal plush toy to have. My point, possibly obscured by my haste, was that sight is our primary sense used to discern where we are and what threatens us. Sure other senses can come in handy and or be hightened in the blind (a la DareDevil) but for most of us, we don't need to smell taste, or sometimes hear to know that something is a threat. This is why night freaks us out. Our primary resource to tells us about the world has been cut off.
I'm not taking the bet. I think he will stay a Deist. Firstly because he seems (although I haven't talked to him) to have come to the decision by pure reason. This can always get you the theism but almost never to the person of Christ. He made no mention of persuasive Christians who have argued to him for the divinity of Christ nor the necessesity of a personal relaionship with Jesus. Secondly, he has spent far to long, a good 50-60 years as a prominent atheist. Its one thing to switch sides from nothing to something, but I think going all the way to the "smells and bells" would be too much for him. The only contemporary of his that I can think of that would be any use toward a full conversion would be Alasdair MacIntyre. Between these two points, I think the pints will be swinging together from the Deist camp as Will and Dave drink away that stout.
I think you missed my point about the evil plushy, namely, that as a non-existent entity, there are no pheromones to emit. If the plush elephant were an actual entity as opposed to a theoretical entity, I'd buy that there are in fact pheromones (he's got semen, after all).
As to the bet, aww Dave, you're no fun any more. What semi-sacreligious thing shall we bet upon, then? I will remind you that pure reason got me to the divinity of Christ (long story). As to the sudden turnabout, granted, he's no Hilary Putnam (what do you believe is true this week, Hil?), it remains possible. Furthermore, many people who classify themselves as Christians don't go so far as "smells and bells" (that's pretty much just Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox). Furthermore, it isn't out of the question for Flew to adopt a "liberal" interpretation, and claim Christianity. Would you bet that he might do that? We'd collect on the bet on the day of Flew's death (it can't be too terribly long. I give him ten years at most). If he converts to even the most watered-down form of Christianity before he dies, I will buy you that case. If he doesn't, it's your buy. C'mon. We're just betting on this guy's salvation.
Still no dice on the bet. Although it sounds like you are leaning toward the side that Flew will become Christian.
Speaking of Christianity and all things odd, did you see Dateline last night? Usually I don't whore myself out like this, but I couldn't sleep. Anyway, Meyer was on there arguing for ID. It would have been far cooler if they hadn't hacked his sound bites to make him sound worse than he really is.
My apologies... my finger slipped and I hit the enter before I finished. Yeah, so abcnews.com has the whole segment under nightline... did I say "DateLine" I meant "Nightline."
Actually, I'm not betting that Flew will become Christian. I'm trying to get YOU to bet that Flew will become Christian so we can have ourselves a wager. Did not see Nightline, though. And yeah, not really surprised that they hacked off his soundbites to make him sound extremist. Truth is, Meyer is closer to most scientists than the media will give him credit for.
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