Well, I don't actually agree with the first part of your Catch-22. At least, not entirely.
Tom Send a noteboard - 30/11/2010 02:43:13 PM
No life other than us makes it easier to say that the emergence of life in the universe was an accident, a one-off sort of thing that happened for no reason despite our best efforts to impute a reason.
Life everywhere makes life seem like a natural progression of the growth of the universe. If sentient life exists elsewhere, then sentience is a natural goal of the universe, which may support the idea that conscious existence is something the universe is striving for.
Combine that with the cyclical reality that is presupposed by the "echoes of pre-Big Bang events" that removes the linear isolation of the universe and you have a much richer reality being hinted at.
Life everywhere makes life seem like a natural progression of the growth of the universe. If sentient life exists elsewhere, then sentience is a natural goal of the universe, which may support the idea that conscious existence is something the universe is striving for.
Combine that with the cyclical reality that is presupposed by the "echoes of pre-Big Bang events" that removes the linear isolation of the universe and you have a much richer reality being hinted at.
Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
Is NASA set to reveal on Thursday signs of possible extraterrestial life within the solar system?
30/11/2010 03:49:40 AM
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photsynthesis using arsnic hmm I am going to have to check this out
30/11/2010 05:07:22 AM
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If there is life in the solar system then it is likely a natural development in the universe.
30/11/2010 05:12:38 AM
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Re: If there is life in the solar system then it is likely a natural development in the universe.
30/11/2010 05:18:05 AM
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Seems to put atheists in a bit of a catch-22 there.
30/11/2010 05:54:25 AM
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Bwa?
30/11/2010 06:45:33 AM
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Well, I don't actually agree with the first part of your Catch-22. At least, not entirely.
30/11/2010 02:43:13 PM
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Using anthropomorphic terms to describe the universe only reflects on you, not on the universe. *NM*
30/11/2010 07:31:04 PM
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What an arbitrary and meaningless statement. *NM*
30/11/2010 07:52:13 PM
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Anthropomorphizing concepts is a cognitive bias.
30/11/2010 11:19:23 PM
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Only given a certain metaphysical framework.
01/12/2010 12:18:09 AM
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Mind dumbing that down a bit?
01/12/2010 12:43:47 AM
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I think he is saying
01/12/2010 01:26:34 AM
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In short, demanding that everyone use your particular worldview is unfair.
01/12/2010 02:21:26 AM
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Those worldviews are unsupported by empirical evidence.
01/12/2010 01:41:27 AM
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Empiricism is unsupported by empirical evidence. *NM*
01/12/2010 02:21:52 AM
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Empirical evidence is the only objective standard.
01/12/2010 02:59:18 AM
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Empirical evidence cannot fully explain reality.
01/12/2010 03:28:41 AM
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Re: Question (use google now!): what's the net energy of the universe?
01/12/2010 03:35:57 AM
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Time does not exist separately from space, as Einstein demonstrated almost a century ago.
01/12/2010 03:36:56 AM
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I have my own theories about time, but they're not ready for presentation yet
01/12/2010 03:56:38 AM
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Re: I have my own theories about time, but they're not ready for presentation yet
01/12/2010 04:30:44 AM
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Hey, there's a name I recognize, "Iron Lisa"
30/11/2010 09:25:01 AM
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WE'RE ALL GONNA DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
30/11/2010 02:33:30 PM
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I, for one, welcome our new alien overlords. *NM*
30/11/2010 02:35:04 PM
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"I, for one, welcome our new INSECT overlords"!
01/12/2010 12:40:27 AM
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but we don't know if they're insects yet!
01/12/2010 12:55:52 AM
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I'll not bow to any mere Bacterial Overlords, Eukaryote Overlords only!!! *NM*
01/12/2010 01:02:20 AM
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So you're prejudiced against the nuclearly challenged?
01/12/2010 01:09:57 AM
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It's this kind of blind adherence to political correctness that is tearing us apart!
01/12/2010 01:28:39 AM
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They had better have a green man *NM*
30/11/2010 10:45:56 AM
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Because you need somebody to attack Aginor and Balthamel? *NM*
01/12/2010 01:04:23 AM
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Oh no you didn't *NM*
01/12/2010 01:14:55 AM
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