Morality is not determined by the church you attend nor the faith you embrace. It is determined by the quality of your character and the positive impact you have on those you meet along your journey
Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Final thought of the day from the brilliant Sam Harris.
Sam Harris of course is a famous freethinker and the author of one of my favorite books, The End of Faith.
“So far, up to 50 years old, I’ve been remarkably healthy,” Christie said. “And my doctor continues to warn me that my luck is going to run out relatively soon, so believe me it’s something that I’m very conscious of. But in terms of people in the state being concerned as to whether or not it prevents me from being able to do my job effectively, I think they’ve seen the results of that.”
He's a neuroscientist who came late to his field and hasn't accomplished anything of note. He's playing it safe with these comments. Smart man in some ways, but he's no philosopher.
He, like the NRA's crazy leader, believes the only way to stop a bad guys with a guns is to introduce more good guys with a guns.
Genius? No way. The result of that kind of thinking ends with a police state and that's clearly not genius.
Could he also from time to time spout some platitude that's not insane? Sure, why not, even an idiot can be trained to repeat simple phrases.
The real test is consistency, and on that note, Sam Harris is just as likely to spout idiotic nonsense as he is to say something that makes sense.
Genius as idiot savant? That means you have to know when your guru is spouting idiocy and when it's the other way around. Might as well flip a coin when you hear something and just use that method to decide whether it's genius or idiocy. Sam Harris as genius? Nope, not buying into that trope.
Eskimos were a pretty mellow, reasonable bunch. Whalers ran roughshod over them. Same with Aleuts when the Russians showed up in Alaska.
ReplyDeleteThe Tlingets on the other hand were about as unreasonable and warlike as a people could be and the Russians never did get around to conquering them.
I'd also say European Jews tried to be reasonable pre Third Reich, and look what that got them. Isreal seems to prove they learned their lesson.
Sometimes, reasonableness is seen as a weakness and used against you by the unreasonable.
Yes, but what happens if everyone is reasonable? I think that might be the question to ask. Have we ever asked it?
DeleteYou forgot this in your rant-
ReplyDelete“So far, up to 50 years old, I’ve been remarkably healthy,” Christie said. “And my doctor continues to warn me that my luck is going to run out relatively soon, so believe me it’s something that I’m very conscious of. But in terms of people in the state being concerned as to whether or not it prevents me from being able to do my job effectively, I think they’ve seen the results of that.”
He's a neuroscientist who came late to his field and hasn't accomplished anything of note. He's playing it safe with these comments. Smart man in some ways, but he's no philosopher.
ReplyDeleteSam Harris is simply not a genius.
ReplyDeleteHe, like the NRA's crazy leader, believes the only way to stop a bad guys with a guns is to introduce more good guys with a guns.
Genius? No way. The result of that kind of thinking ends with a police state and that's clearly not genius.
Could he also from time to time spout some platitude that's not insane? Sure, why not, even an idiot can be trained to repeat simple phrases.
The real test is consistency, and on that note, Sam Harris is just as likely to spout idiotic nonsense as he is to say something that makes sense.
Genius as idiot savant? That means you have to know when your guru is spouting idiocy and when it's the other way around. Might as well flip a coin when you hear something and just use that method to decide whether it's genius or idiocy. Sam Harris as genius? Nope, not buying into that trope.
Definitely buying this!
ReplyDelete