History, Evolution, and the Darwin Debate
Tropical Coral Could Be Used to Create Novel Sunscreens for Human Use, Say Scientists
ScienceDaily (Aug. 30, 2011) — Researchers at King’s College London have discovered how coral produces natural sunscreen compounds to protect itself from damaging UV rays, leading scientists to believe these compounds could form the basis of a new type of sunscreen for humans.
Theism/Atheism: The God Debates
One of the ironies of atheism lies in the thinking of Schopenhauer whose brilliant suggestion that the independent category of the ‘will’ stands beyond the realm of phenomena shows another possibiliant take on supra-natural design.
I doubt if Eagleton would approve of this usage, but just to check out his idea we will use it once in our own context. It it is not what was intended, we can move on, no harm done:
The point is that I have been a possibilian of sorts for years, with this, however, blended often with a kind of agnosticism.
The students of historical samkhya are confronted an atheist legacy that allows multiple reinventions of post-theistic concepts, free from the usual ‘god’ concepts. These are not rigorous proofs, objects of belief, but definite suspicions about what is possible, and the dangers of dogmatic atheism (mirror image to theism). The triads of Samkhya suggest at once a resolution of the ‘god’ muddle in the triadic source of an unknown something.
The problem here is that this is the original monotheism! The ‘god’ talk of Xtianity/Judaism is a decline of the ‘possibilian’ brand of ‘god’ reference, the unspoken names of god, IHVH. The total corruption of this original tradition is a poor argument for experiments here. To make things worse the samkhya approach, ripped off early on, became the hopeless nonsense of the ‘trinity’!!!
Enough said.
http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/eagleman-vs-harris-a-big-fizzle/
Asked whether he was an atheist or a religious person on a National Public Radio interview in February, 2009, he replied “I call myself a Possibilian: I’m open to ideas that we don’t have any way of testing right now.” In a subsequent interview with the New York Times, Eagleman expanded on the definition:
“Our ignorance of the cosmos is too vast to commit to atheism, and yet we know too much to commit to a particular religion. A third position, agnosticism, is often an uninteresting stance in which a person simply questions whether his traditional religious story (say, a man with a beard on a cloud) is true or not true. But with Possibilianism I’m hoping to define a new position — one that emphasizes the exploration of new, unconsidered possibilities. Possibilianism is comfortable holding multiple ideas in mind; it is not interested in committing to any particular story.”
Supercomputers Allow First Detailed Milky Way Simulation
By STAFF – INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES
Added: Tuesday, 30 August 2011 at 7:23 PM
http://richarddawkins.net/videos/642885-supercomputers-allow-first-detailed-milky-way-simulation
Science center settles lawsuit over ‘Darwin’s Dilemma’
‘This is the 1st free-speech victory for the Intelligent Design movement’
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Read more: Science center settles lawsuit over ‘Darwin’s Dilemma’ http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=339237#ixzz1Wd3uryjd
‘Landlubber’ Fish Leap for Love When Tide Is Right: Research Sheds Light On How Animal Life First Evolved to Colonize Land
ScienceDaily (Aug. 31, 2011) — One of the world’s strangest animals — a unique fish that lives on land and can leap large distances despite having no legs — has a rich and complex social life, a new study has found.
How the Brain Stores Information for Short Periods of TimeScienceDaily (Aug. 24, 2011) — Freiburg biologist Dr. Aristides Arrenberg and his American colleagues studied mechanisms used by the brain to store information for a short period of time. The cells of several neural circuits store information by maintaining a persistent level of activity: A short-lived stimulus triggers the activity of neurons, and this activity is then maintained for several seconds. The mechanisms of this information storage have not yet been sufficiently described, although this phenomenon occurs in very many areas of the brain.
Localizing Language in the Brain: Study Pinpoints Areas of the Brain Used Exclusively for Language
ScienceDaily (Aug. 30, 2011) — New research from MIT suggests that there are parts of our brain dedicated to language and only language, a finding that marks a major advance in the search for brain regions specialized for sophisticated mental functions.
Operation Ranch Hand
http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/08/31/the-toxic-legacy-of-agent-orange/
by Carol Miller
On Aug. 10, 1961, the United States began spraying Agent Orange in Vietnam, in a campaign called “Operation Ranch Hand.” The spraying lasted nearly 10 years and resulted in death and dis ability for more than 3 million Vietnamese, including the children and grandchildren of those directly exposed.
In addition this deadly defoliant seriously damaged the environment of Vietnam. An area of 7.5 million acres were sprayed affecting nearly 26,000 villages and hamlets. Large areas still contain hot spots of contamination. (Source: Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/ Dioxin)
What was our government thinking?
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> A once-secret CIA history detail how the American spy agency came to the
> rescue of and cut deals with authoritarian governments in Central America.
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> *http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28978.htm*
Greenpeace: Greenpeace Challenges Chicken of the Sea to Reform Destructive Fishing Practices
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/08/30-5
Danny Schechter: Oh, The Pain of The Believer: Barack’s Betrayals Offer Lessons We Can’t Deny
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/30-3
Beth Buczynski: Equal Energy For All: Can We Democratize the Grid?
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/30-6
Hundreds Arrested in Sustained Tar Sands Protests at White House
http://www.commondreams.org/video/2011/08/30-0
Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson Respond to Cheney’s Version of History
http://www.commondreams.org/video/2011/08/30
Corruption, The ‘War on Terror’ Hindering Food Aid to Southern Somalia
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/30-3
Feds: Earthquake May Have Exceeded Virginia Nuclear Plant’s Safeguards
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/30-5
Daryl Hannah, Dozens More Arrested At Pipeline Protest
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/30-13
Message to Washington: ‘Put America Back To Work’
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/30-10
It’s Official: Obama Not Serious About Economic Recovery
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/30-12
Sam Pizzigati: Remembering the Moment Our CEOs Dug In
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/30-8
Cars Could Run On Recycled Newspaper, Scientists Say
ScienceDaily (Aug. 26, 2011) — Here’s one way that old-fashioned newsprint beats the Internet. Tulane University scientists have discovered a novel bacterial strain, dubbed “TU-103,” that can use paper to produce butanol, a biofuel that can serve as a substitute for gasoline. They are currently experimenting with old editions of the Times Picayune, New Orleans’ venerable daily newspaper, with great success.
A New Age Begins
Seeing an ‘axial age’ in the modern transition is hard for those who separate religion from secularism, which is a fallacy imposed on the data.
A Rebirth of Freedom…
The catch in most treatments of the Axial Age lies in the way it is connected to a larger pattern. Karen Armstrong (because she had read my book) suspected this, and finessed a consideration of that point. But Bellah seems unaware of the larger dimension.
Repost:
Bellah’s book (discussed today) has an obvious advantageover mine, on one level. My treatment is not about the ‘content’ but the overall dynamics, and that is abstract. The Axial Age chapter: I can see why people get confused on the subject of the Axial Age. And why the abstract dynamics approach in World History and The Eonic Effect leaves people non-plussed. But if you try to understand this phenomenon without any of the tools needed to understand evolutionary aspects you will zero in in confusion. You must understand the different levels at work, and not confuse the ‘System’ dynamics with the ‘Individual’ action that realizes that dynamics. And it is here that people simply fail to grasp what is going on with the Axial period. Christians think the Old Testament is a record of divine action. But that has confused the issue: we see a macro effect, and a micro effect of those who realize that macro mystery in practive. The result has all the limitations of the human agents at work in creating something new. This double aspect is what confuses people: either it is an issue of revelation, the ‘word of god’, or it is all nonsense. The dynamics of the Axial Age can give us a hint of what is really going on.
My review just came online at Amazon: Evolution and the Axial Age enigma.
I am going to continue commenting on this book: I have been, I fear, too fair. Bellah, like Armstrong, has read my book World History and The Eonic Effect and turned around to try and save the Axial Age from Darwin dissent. The results are incoherent, as Bellah’s book shows, read carefully. The problem is, what caused the Axial Age? These commentators can’t answer that.