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I'd say it's more of an emergent property...

eh? Not sure I do. The place we came from ain't a place we want to go back to. The idea of some uncorrupted ideal lost to an idyllic past is a myth. Heck, even the 1950s were a lot uglier and grimmer than nostalgia makes them out to be. (Not that I was there.)

Perhaps more accurate to say we are not "holding on" to our humanity so much as growing into it.

Maybe God's nickname should be Q

If you are referring to the artificial limb article I posted, that was actually a bit of irony relating to the title of the thread, pointing out man's diligent efforts to solve a problem that prayer has not helped. Re the "shut up who cares" posts, most of those actually came from atheists...

Just a quick note, it is actually fallibilist, not fallibist, as in fallible / fallibilism. My fault for the original typo, typing too quickly.

I agree with you that it would take extreme conviction--and indeed, faith--to assert definitively that there is no first mover of any kind. However, consider the fallibist view of things... a view that strikes me as both useful and honest. If one has the intellectual courage to operate from...

It's not so unique. It just so happens that humans have more imagination than any other inhabitants on the planet. If dolphins and apes had the chops to imagine and theorize, they would be drawn towards comforting explanations too. In otherwords, theism is not an interesting phenomenon in its...

The assumption is a process of one step removed: how is it helpful to explain the complexity of the universe by postulating the existence of a being even more complex than the universe itself? It's not really a solution so much as a black box, as Ricky Gervais subtly points out. (And he did it...

And now, for a levity break, Ricky Gervais' take on Genesis: http://www.vsocial.com/video/?d=39855

Didn't say that. Although one can wonder about the ascetic stuff (don't worry about food or shelter, give away all you have), the anti-social stuff (hate the world, hate your life, hate your loved ones) and the psychotic stuff (cut off your hand, pluck out your eye).... At some point...

Yes, that was Melanchthon , I believe (the diversity / unity / charity bit). However, even when it comes to salvation you have plenty of shouting and an absolute mess: Protestants, Catholics, Calvinists, Arminians, Legalists, Charismatics Gnostics, Adventists, Wesleyans, Southern Baptists...

The bible is actully more confusing to believers than nonbelievers. Think about it. And by the way, when you manage to clear away the thicket of maddeningly complex doctrinal issues that every denomination and sect still struggle with to this day, let me know.

don't worry, if you can't understand your temporary outperformance it's probably just a matter of time before mean reversion kicks in and you feel normal again :)

Nope. Read Sociobiology by E.O. Wilson.

If god does exist, however, there is 'strong evidence' that he / she / it is not the biblical god. For one thing, any omnipotent being that refuses to reveal its true nature in the face of so much religious confusion--religion against religion, doctrine against doctrine, sect against...

For what it's worth, my personal experience has been the exact opposite. It's all about gradual progress--and that progress is very real. Every once in a while the big a-ha! moments seem to burst out of nowhere, but in reality they are the result of a slow build, the steady accumulation of...

In a sociology college course, taken long ago, the professor gave example of a tribe that punished infidelity by applying burning hot coals' to the offenders' genitals. First world missionaries eventually made contact with this tribe--I don't recall if they were specifically religious or...

If your faith is based on fact, there is certainly no display of it in that post. Why couldn't a Muslim make the same argument and condemn you for failing to worship Allah? Or a Jehovah's witness, or a Mormon, or... Heck, Tom Cruise could have written your post almost word for word as a...

No problemo -- it explained a lot for me too, particularly in helping to understand my father and grandfather better. Re dogballoon's comments on 'fixing' one's self--or what I like to think of as pursuit of the integrated self--Phillip Eby has some intriguing thoughts...