interesting article on aetheism from ricky gervais

But, I do have an issue with putting too much faith into the hands of scientists. Theres so much in this world that science can't explain...yet. The most powerful, and harmfull errors of thought are usually very convincing because they contain elements of truth. Science is making interesting discoveries relating to the mind body relationship. Our sciences of mind are among the newest, and least mature. I think buddhism says everything is mind, or something like that. So this suggests there is probably a lot we still dont understand about our main scientific tool. Or what about ghosts? Science has yet to prove they exist ( I think). I'm sure some ghost sightings are completely fabricated, but I'd have a hard time imagining every person who claims to have had a supernatural experience is lying, or mistaken. Is that what an atheist would say? I haven't read too much atheist literature. Or what about people who go for decades with out eating any solid food, only surviving on water and faith (the eucharist too i think)? This is not a common occurence, but it has been documented as happening. I know I can be naive. Maybe too much so. Science is rewriting their own rules everytime a new discovery is made. A big one regarding the creation of life just happened. There is no doubt that religion has done a lot of harm in the world, but it also does a lot of good. The same could be said about science...jen fool

I understand the value of the scientific method. Thats why I said "I <3 science" as the subject. I could have been more clear. Does something not exist, or is it unworthy of faith, unless it's been proven by our scientific method? Is that what you are saying? I'm a little confused, I'll admit. I'm not trying to put words in your mouth. I'm reading Dawkins' God Delusion right now actually. It's not my favorite book, but I am going to force myself to finish it. It would have been funny if in that video there was a telekinetic person in the audience who messed with the ball in his experiment. I believe/hope/have faith that eventually religion and science will see eye to eye. There have been times in history where a limited number of individuals have elevated perspectives, or access to more powerful tools/instruments, which enable them to see a more complete version of the truth, before everyone else. I don't know if thats relevant to any of this. Religion is a broad term, and means many different things to many people. It can be understood as a set of rules/answers that don't change, or it could be understood differently. My understanding is more organic, like a rose, or a giant fruit tree :) ...jen fool

I watched the video, all three parts. It was good. I have respect for his desire to find the truth above all things. However, from what I've seen/read, most of histories greatest religious leaders had the same desire. A blind follower is not the same as a great religious leader in my mind. Religious and scientific people do plenty of stupid things. The best of both have a lot in common. I like that. I read "the demon haunted world" after having a similar conversation with someone about 7 years ago. Its been a while, but I do remember my main problem with it was that he was too quick to dismiss a whole bunch of specific "supernatural" human experiences as hallucinations, and therefore not real. He does this in the video you shared as well. All I can say is that until we have a better understanding of our minds, this is not a good enough argument, for me, against the validity of these experiences, or their potential to help us understand the world and our place in it. Have you seen the movie "what the bleep do we know?" It has some science in it. I don't know how good the science is, but it is interesting...jen fool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSk51Lp-vHU