Philosophy and Literature Blog

     So I was reading The End of Faith, was a little bit into it when I ran across the following: "There also seems to be a body of data attesting to the reality of psychic phenomena, much of which has been ignored by mainstream science.  The dictum that "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" remains a reasonable guid in these areas, but this does not mean that the universe isn't far stranger than many of us suppose.  It is important to realize that a healthy, scientific skepticism is compatible with a fundamental openness of mind."(pg 41) In the footnote to this passage he says "There may even be some credible evidence for reincarnation."(pg. 242) Well, I'm not going to let anybody accuse me of being narrow-minded, so I'm going to investigate all this crap, I mean evidence. I'm going to be sure and finish the End of Faith, including his mushy section on consciousness at the end.  I'm going to follow it up by readi...

      You might find it odd that after all my protestations about being a secular humanist that I would pick a book from The Bible, the OLD Testament no less, as the subject of a sequence of blog entries.  It is about time I revisited this book that has had such an important effect on me.       In fact, of all the books I have ever read I cannot think of one that has changed my life the way this one has.  I first read this book when I was 14.  Its first word changed me forever.  Soon thereafter I read Macbeth, my favorite Shakespeare play, containing these words: "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tommorow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time and al our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle! Life's but a walking Shadow a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idi...

Sam Harris suggested that perhaps the very rich should pay their share.  He was then viciously set upon by marauding objectivists: http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/how-to-lose-readers-without-even-trying

     Below is a link to a response from Chomsky on the subject of the "New Atheists".  It is interesting and typical Chomsky: http://richarddawkins.net/discussions/616576-noam-chomsky-on-new-atheists I apparently also missed out on all the fun.  Evidently Hitchens and Chomsky got into it -- in all likelihood initiated by Hitchens, unless I miss my guees -- over 9/11 and the Iraq war.  If you look up something like "Hitchens debates Chomsky" you get a number of nice hits.

http://unpopularveganessays.blogspot.com/2009/06/plant-sentience.html

    Alright, I've had enough of this.  There is zero evidence that plants feel pain.  They do not have the requisite nervous system for such sensations.  They lack a brain and other sense organs.  I'm not a botanist, and it is evident that some plants are able to respond to the environment, but I am unaware of any mechanism any of them possess that would indicate sensory experience of any kind.  Now, animals such as my dog very obviously feel pleasure, pain, etc... ; this applies to cows, chickens, pigs, etc...as well.    Unless there is some paranormal method whereby plants are able to have sensation(though, I don't know what good sensory experience would be to a carrot or a rutabaga), I can find no evidence for it.  It is obvious to me that animals do feel things.  Thus we should try to reduce that suffering since we can.       As for other animals not being sensitive...

     So Easter Sunday a couple of years ago I'm at the Cheesecake Factory with my wife and best friend from church and I order the stuffed mushrooms.  They were incredibly delicious.  I couldn't believe how good they tasted!  I scarfed them down with great gusto and commented frequently how much I liked them. I was thinking to myself self-pityingly how little enjoyment I had in this life and how much I enjoyed these mushrooms.       Well, it turns out the mushrooms were stuffed with sausage!  Thus ended 15 years of vegetarianism.  The next thing I knew I was guzzling Metamucil and stuffing my face with the carcass of every sentient being I could legally order.  In particular I enjoyed steak.  OH MY GOD did I enjoy steak.  I blew a ton of money on every variety of steak, I preferred a good marbled one.  Getting hungry?     I could eat a gargantuan amount of meat in a si...