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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Father Terrence who wrote (29543)	1/30/1999 11:50:00 PM
From: Graystone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

The Oak or The Lightning that Strikes It The sound "Duh" is, in Druidic lore, both the Oak and the Lightning that strikes it. Science did not start with Franklin, earlier people did grasp lightning. The use of willow bark, predated the advent of Bayer. Science and alchemy are not that different. Chemistry and Alchemy Astronomy and Astrology Feeling and Thinking Religion and Science Newtonian Physics and Quantam Physics Tell me again about your rights, I like the organ music too, I imagine that comforts you when the bullets fly.

To: Father Terrence who wrote (29543)	1/31/1999 9:41:00 AM
From: Edwarda	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

Mysticism, occultism, supernatural, paranormal. All these things are basically worthless unless and until we can discover the science behind them. It was worthless for the ancients to Ooooh and Aaaah at lightening. Real knowledge began to become assimilated when Franklin flew his kite. My boy, you must not get too carried away in the sweep of your own rhetoric. You have drawn an analogy so full of holes that one could drive the proverbial truck through it. Turning to the interesting part of your statement, does worth have to be tangible in some way? Must it accord with hard science? Putting the question another way, string theory may be pure hokum, but it offers what I consider to be worthwhile effort to comprehend and explain the universe. Do you disagree?

To: Father Terrence who wrote (29543)	1/31/1999 9:58:00 AM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

It may have been worthless for the ancients to OOOOH AAAAH at lightening, if indeed they did ooh aah. Mostly I think they soiled their pants (loin cloths?)- until they devised a system of thought that could displace the fear enough for them to continue to function. That is the same purpose magical systems of belief serve in children. In situations of severe stress one has a resource to fall back on- one can make the world a friendlier, or at the very least more understandable place, than it would be by using reason. Of course there have to be a few men and woman willing to face the world without relying on mysticism, or whatever, willing to advance knowledge- but not everyone is capable of discovering the science behind things. And some of those people, who turn away from reason, make other contributions- some of them write great novels, some of them become great humanitarians, so I would not say it inevitably makes someone evil or worthless to turn towards their irrational side. It totally depends on what they do with their life- but then I am a utilitarian, relativistic, humanist.