bioneural.net » religion

A meme of eight random things

Bruce — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 01:15:16 +0000

Baby-brained Lynn—a reference to present uterine cf. cerebral capacity—has tagged me to propagate a blog meme. What is a meme? We all know that genes transmit biological inheritance from one generation to another. Darwinist Richard Dawkins termed the concept of transmitting units of cultural inheritance a "meme". A meme is transmitted (e.g. by imitation or teaching) from person-to-person or group-to-group, as a single (e.g The Lord's Prayer) or related set of ideas/ concepts/ factoids (a "memeplex" e.g. Christianity) and—like genes—may be subject to mutation (the basis of Darwinian evolution). You can read more on this subject here. The term "memetics" is used to denote the study of memes. Memes seem to spread fairly rapidly on the web, so I guess you could think of them as a sort of ideological contagion. Many of these "ideas" may be deemed to be of passing value, and this would certainly seem to be the case for the chain letter kind of meme propagated from one blogger to the next. Some blog-propagated memes have a specific focus ("What is your favourite...?") while others are more general ("10 random things about me"). In a social networking sense that later type is particularly interesting, because it highlights how little those in the blogosphere know about each other. As an exercise, try listing 10 things you know about each of the most frequent visitors to your blog. Hard isn't it? I even tried to start a creative writing meme once, but it failed. Evolution is like that sometimes. On with the ...

US divorces fact from science

Bruce — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 22:39:35 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Nine in 10 Americans believe in God but only half in the scientific basis for evolution yet 1 in 3 college graduates accept the Biblical account of creation as fact (Newsweek). Thought-provoking stats from a superpower at the forefront of science and technology. Too little education or too much ignorance? Follow the ugly debate on Slashdot.

Christmas on the beach

Simone — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 09:04:24 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

For the past 13 years Bruce and I have been living in the UK, spending Christmas with my family in Germany. Ever since we first met I kept hearing about family BBQs on the beach for Christmas—something that is difficult to imagine when Christmas to me means dark cold nights lit by candles and the Christmas story. This year we decided to go and live in New Zealand for some time, trying out life on the other side of the world for me, and looking whether the grass really is greener here for Mr Kiwi (and not just at Christmas). The run up to Christmas The run up to Christmas could not have been more different: light evenings invited strolls along the waterfront with an ice-cream in hand or a pizza in the park. Salad, not Stollen, was on the menu. In Europe, we do lots of warming rich foods in wintertime. Hot, spicy tea & mulled wine warm the Sunday afternoons in Advent, spent with friends and family over games or conversation in a warm house. Here you want light chilled summer wines, BBQs or picnics in the countryside (at least that's the idea; the summer so far has been condensed to about 4 days, 2 days here in Wellington when I was working and—luckily—Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with the family in Northland). No decorations: In Europe you can't escape Christmas, despite the actions of the oh-so politically correct hypocrites who want to ban all outward signs of Christianity ...

Cults vs. sects vs. mainstream religion

Bruce — Sun, 13 Jun 2004 10:00:00 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

What's the difference between a cult, a sect, and mainstream religion? Is it simply a matter of connotation—like freedom fighter vs. terrorist? Cult n. a system of religious worship esp. as expressed in ritual... devotion to a person or thing (OCED). So Catholicism is a cult then? Catholics certainly have an established ritual of worhsip, and that worship is directed toward a person (Jesus) and thing (God). In a wider context, is Christianity itself not therefore simply a monotheistic cult with the same "rights of existence" as the bull-worshipping Minoans? Throughout history we have worshipped over 1600 Gods (see Godchecker.com); is it fair to assert that all other religions aside from our own are cults?In our society, as Wikipedia asserts: ... the term cult has taken on a pejorative and sometimes offensive connotation... the quintessential modern cult is thought to be religion taken to the extreme, usually characterized by high levels of dependency and obedience to the cult's leadership, by separation from family and non-believers, and by the infiltration of religion into nearly every aspect of daily life... [skeptics] say that the only difference between a cult and a religion is that the latter is older and has more followers and as a consequence seems less controversial because society has become used to it. It would seem therefore that the traditional meaning of "cult" is not the meaning that we generally infer today, despite disagreement over what we actually mean by the word. "Cult" is a term like "freedom fighter" or "terrorist"—it depends upon ...

Excerpt from Buddhist literature

Bruce — Thu, 13 May 2004 16:25:24 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

I don't know who wrote this, but they are fine words. Can you identify the author so I can properly attribute them? In referring to the religious devotion of the author, this prose succinctly captures his or her wonder at the beauty of Creation (or, if you prefer, the environment on the third planet from the Sun). It shows an appreciation for the physical world around us, and demonstrates how this appreciation can be enhanced by giving it a spiritual context. You don't need to be religious to be spiritual: prophet and scientist alike may draw inspiration from these words. My footsteps I know you hear night and day. Your pleasure Blooms in the purple of autumn's dawn, Sparkles in the springtime shower of blossoms. The nearer I come to you on your path, The livelier dances the sea. Like lotus-petals my life unfolds From birth to birth, And your crowding suns and stars Circle men in wonder. The blossom of the world woven of light Fills your offering hands, And your shy heaven Unfolds its love, Petal by petal, In my sky.

Human = fragile

Bruce — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 15:34:17 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

To be human is to be aware of your own fragility. Sometimes references to the delicate nature of our own flesh and blood are stark. Burned into my mind is the image of a small child in an Intensive Care Unit who had breathed in sewege as he floundered in a septic tank outflow. Surrounded by electronics that blink and go ping, he lay entangled in wiring and tubes like the hub of a spagetti-armed starfish, unconscious and paralysed in a fragile interface between boy and machine. Many movies refer to the fragility of human bodies and minds. Having recently re-watched The Matrix on DVD, my mind drew some parallels between the fictional machine-dependence in the film, and the very real but strikingly similar image of that boy I saw in the ICU. The Matrix © 1999 Warner Bros. The Matrix © 1999 Warner Bros. Although our weakness are both multiple and varied (jealousy cf. a speck of dirt in the eye), the image of machine-dependence is a particularly potent reminder of our vulnerability to forces beyond our control. This is at the same time an indication of our growing power to modify and control our environment, and to use technology to take our bodies places they were not designed to go. We continue to look for something absolute to define our humanity and our consciousness. Language was a candidate, but it seems that other species can communicate verbally, or in the case of Great Apes, even learn the use of rudimentary symbols. Tool use ...

Experience is unique

Bruce — Sun, 11 Apr 2004 07:16:57 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Akka Mahadevi was an Indian poet living in the 1100s. Although here she is writing about non-devotees, there is also a message about the uniqueness and strength of perception derived from experience. If you haven't done it, you haven't lived it. If you weren't there, you didn't really experience it. Value the diversity in perspective that others bring to a situation... Would a circling surface vulture know such depths of sky as the moon would know? Would a weed in the riverbank know such depths of water as the lotus would know? Would a fly darting nearby know the smell of flowers as the bee would know? Bee on a rata flower (a New Zealand native) Extract from: Ramanujan AK (translator). Speaking of Siva. Harmondsworth: Penguin; 1973: 123.

The inspiration of Kahlil Gibran

Bruce — Thu, 05 Feb 2004 07:35:04 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

If you ever feel the need to take a moment to reflect on the goings-on in life, look to Kahlil Gibran for inspiration. First published in 1926, a paperback edition of this philosopher-poet's The Prophet has accompanied me since 1989. I heartily recommend it as an aid to reflection, and share here a few choice extracts... On Death: For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and melt into the sun? And what is it to cease breathing but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered? For Opa, d. 2 February 2004 aged 96. On Marriage: Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it be rather a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. For my wife, with whom the sum is indeed greater than its parts. On Joy and Sorrow: When you are sorrowful, look again into your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. For my parting colleagues as we come to terms with change. All extracts from Gibran K. The Prophet. London: William Heinemann; 1980.

Cosmic orphan

Bruce — Thu, 22 Jan 2004 16:13:19 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

The story of humankind is one of an incredible journey, so dramatically told in this passage by Eiseley. Today, perhaps more than anything, it is our technological achievements that define us as a species, that make us unique. In modern society technological innovation continues our evolution with seemingly unstoppable momentum... The following extract is taken from one of my favourite essays, The cosmic orphan by Loren Eiseley (Published in Propaedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edn. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica; 1981): Orion as seen from Brandberg, Namibia, Dec 2002 The Orphan cried out in protest, as the cold of naked space entered his bones, "Who am I?" And once more science answered. "You are a changeling." "You are linked by a genetic chain to all the vertebrates. The thing that is you bears the still aching wounds of evolution in body and in brain. Your hands are made-over fins, your lungs come from a creature gasping in a swamp, your femur has been twisted upright. Your foot is a reworked climbing pad. You are a rag doll resewn from the skins of extinct animals. Long ago, 2,000,000 years perhaps, you were smaller, your brain was not so large. We are not confident that you could speak. Seventy million years before that you were an even smaller climbing creature known as a tupaiid. You were the size of a rat. You ate insects. Now you fly to the Moon."

Religion vs. Science

Bruce — Sat, 10 Jan 2004 14:19:56 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Are they different? Are they two equally viable alternatives to the same problem? Cerro San Cristóbal, Santiago, Chile Nov 2003 On the large hill overlooking the city of Santiago de Chile that is Cerro San Cristóbal sits a statue of the Virgin together with a tall radio mast. Most photographs I've seen try to cut out the later, but the juxtaposition of the two has much to say. Here we have two pillars of society occupying the same ground—religion and science/ technological progress. In this image I see two icons reaching out to the masses, each positioned close to the heavens both theological and celestial. Some worship one, some worship the other. Others see them as alternative but compatible solutions to the same problem: understanding our universe and believing in our role within it. While in Chile I read a novel by Brown called "Angels and Demons" which, although fiction, contained some enlightening observations on the differences and similarities between religion and science. In reflecting on these ideas I scribbled a note to myself that read: Religion is too old to believe. Science is too young to understand. In other words, religion has perhaps become too established in its ways to have faith in the ability of science to provide part answers to the Big Questions. Likewise, science is perhaps too naive to comprehend that uncertainty is sometimes not enough; that proof does not always substitute for the security of conviction.