Our relationship to miracles and the miraculous is ambivalent. On the one hand, we crave the extraordinary and devour all reports and rumors of the occurrence of an event believed impossible; on the other hand, we fear such events because we perceive the unplanned, unwanted, unforeseen as a threat to our security. By contrast, the attitude of science is unambiguous. It scorns the miracle and mocks all who believe in it. If the validity of the laws of nature does by definition not allow any exception, there can be no miracles. (5) The Familiar and the Commonplace weiterlesen
Kategorie: Philosophy
(4) By their fruits you shall know them!
Not only the saying from the Gospel of Matthew emphasizes the connection between right thinking and right acting. It stands to reason that every religion, indeed every worldview in general, takes this connection for granted. If thought and belief were without any influence on our actions, we would rightly regard them as superfluous. (4) By their fruits you shall know them! weiterlesen
(3) Shadows of the Miraculous
Every time, every people lives by ideas that they strive for, that are worth living for. Our epoch has lived for about two hundred years on the guiding idea that man, by his own intellectual power, will not only be able to decipher the world completely, but also to master it to any degree of perfection. (3) Shadows of the Miraculous weiterlesen
The Miraculous and its enemies (2)
Democratic Antignosis – knowing the limits
In this book, I want to encourage the reader to become aware of the miraculous. However, my approach, will not consist in quoting authorities or presenting mere assertions. Rather, I want to guide the reader by stimulating his or her own approach. The Miraculous and its enemies (2) weiterlesen
The Miraculous and its Enemies (1)
This is an excerpt from my new book „Das Wunderbare und seine Feinde“. The english translation „The Miraculous and its Enemies” will be completed within a few weeks.
The Miraculous and its Enemies (1) weiterlesenThe Lucifer Principle
(Conversation between Lucifer, Howard Bloom and a certain GJ – statements in italics are quotes from Bloom)
The Lucifer Principle weiterlesenA guest of Mephisto – What distinguishes chimpanzees from alpha males?
HIM: At times, I like to hear The Ancient’s word!
A guest of Mephisto – What distinguishes chimpanzees from alpha males? weiterlesenNation state or Homo technicus universalis?
Abstract:
The „Clash of Cultures“ due to irreconcilable religions and ideologies belongs to the past. In contrast, the „Clash of Civilizations“, i.e. the worldwide struggle for an equally high and, if possible, ever higher material standard of living, is darkening our common future, since the last resources are being plundered and nature increasingly poisoned in the name of progress. Mankind will only escape this struggle against itself and against nature by submitting to a global authority that demands the same restrictions from all of us.
Nation state or Homo technicus universalis? weiterlesenAdolf Hitler in private – a jolly good Fellow?
Experts are surrounded by their own aura. They know everything about a certain subject, which they have usually studied all their lives – this seems to make them unassailable. But why, then, does a popular German saying deny them a truly profound knowledge? There is often but a single step from specialism to professional blindness! Adolf Hitler in private – a jolly good Fellow? weiterlesen
Are we still in control of our Brave New Artificial World? (Decomplexation I)
All countries that have the means to do so regard the digitization of information and its transmission as one of the most important technical tasks. In this way, growing volumes of data can be utilized in ever shorter time intervals. Nuclear power plants, ballistic missiles, drones, driverless cars, and surgical procedures can be controlled remotely. State surveillance of entire populations is just as possible as influencing the voting behavior of perfectly screened citizens. Are we still in control of our Brave New Artificial World? (Decomplexation I) weiterlesen
Ye shall know them by their Fruits!
This classic saying from the New Testament (Matthew 7:16) confronts effect and cause. A bad effect is not likely to have a good cause, and vice versa. Thorns do not bear grapes, and we find no figs on thistles. We should therefore not rely on fine words and theories. What counts are the effects that arise from them.
Charles Darwin, Chance and the good Lord – a Philosophical Excursion
In 1970 Jacques Monod’s seminal book „Le Hasard et la Nécessité“ (Chance and Necessity) was published, on the cover of which the renowned biochemist summed up in a single and concise formula the world view that had dominated first Europe and then the entire world since the 17th century. For the objective scientist, so Monod’s message, the world is nothing but chance and necessity. For there is nothing in the world but these two principles alone: on the one hand, necessity representing that order, which the natural sciences explore in the shape of laws, and on the other hand, chance, which denotes the void within this order – in other words, a meaningless nothing with which science does not know what to do. Since Monod established this formula, neurology has made tremendous progress, his book is certainly no longer „up-to-date“, but the view that reality has nothing else to offer but these two dimensions has become even more entrenched. According to a now prevalent view, our world is made of calculable mechanisms of the physical and neuronal world, and the yawning emptiness of meaningless chance.
Charles Darwin, Chance and the good Lord – a Philosophical Excursion weiterlesen