See Canuck, Mako, Bug, obvious proof of God's existance! Surely there couldn't be this many Jesus sightings without divine intervention, and not simply a lot of overly hopeful believers? ;-)
"People who ride motorcycles should believe in God" Ain't that the truth?
Helldiver, I respect your right to have your own opinions, beliefs and such as well as someone who is not afraid to state them, so no disrespect toward you, now it's my turn..
Pareidolia, anyone ever heard of that? This is a psychological phenomenon that is hardwired into our brains, through many eons of evolution and obviously natural selection, to help in one of the most important aspects of being, one's survival. By "seeing" faces we recognize at a distance in low light (minimal detail), we know who our friends are and who our enemies are. This unique hard-wiring has us constantly seeing "faces" in inanimate objects and differences in lighting or shading. We all see "The man on the Moon", the "Face on Mars". Some see the Virgin Mary, Jesus, Allah on toast, tortilla's and wood-grain. Almost any cloud, tree bark, wood veneer door, you can see someones face.
This year in magnetoencephalography studies, research scientists have located that exact point in the brain, it is called the ventral fusiform cortex. This is done while timing the speed at which a real face is recognized, compared to how fast recognition of Jesus on wheat toast is. These are then compared to recognition of other common objects. Studies show that the speed that the ventral fusiform cortex "lights up" in the face or face like toast tests are almost the same, proving that it is indeed "hardwired" into our brains and not a merely a late cognitive reinterpretation phenomenon.
Yes helldiver, I got the sarcasm. I guess I needed a jump-in point and you were it. I think we can have evolution/natural selection and God or some supreme entity in the same scheme of things. I'm not so narrow minded as to exclude the very real possibility that this "entity" could have been the creator of evolution/natural selection. The more I learn about the bigness of the universe, to the smallness of quantum mechanics and everything in between, the more it appears a guiding hand of supreme intelligence had a role. My religious beliefs are still in flux as I strive for my need for empirical evidence. One thing I'm certain of, I don't believe anyone on this Earth has it right....yet. Just too many Gods, too many different beliefs, too much hypocrisy. As humans, we are just an infinitesimally small collection of atoms, on an infinitesimally small planet, in an infinitesimally small solar system, within an infinitesimally small galaxy, whizzing through space/time along with an incomprehensible number of other galaxies. All this known to be in our "observable universe". What lies beyond that?
Thanks Chaz, I'm not all blood and guts, seems as if that's what people gravitate to here, or should I say men. Men and explosions, the words just go together, men carry on a symbiotic relationship with explosions. Explosions could not exist without men, matches, and napalm. Men, in turn, benefit from the satisfying glow and resulting destruction of the detonation.
As the saying goes, %u201CPower corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, which results in explosions.%u201D How many times have you been in a really uncomfortable situation? One where you wish you could just disappear? As in %u201CMan this is awkward. Why couldn't%u2019t I have a grenade right now, so as to blow the whole situation to pieces, albeit from a safe distance?%u201D Men can be cowards, and we%u2019re often more willing to blow a gaping hole in the music than face it. So I guess I've exploited common ground between men here, I couldn't be more willing to oblige!
Miter...I believe as you do, it appears. I think there's ample room for a supreme being AND all the things we see, all the things we know, and all the things we theorize. I see no conflict between the notion of an all powerful spiritual being and the theory of evolution (now pretty much taken as fact). We live at a time when man is beginning to understand how much is unknown in our universe, yet at a time when breathtaking discoveries and innovations are happening at an ever more rapid pace. For me, randomness just can not account for all we are learning about our moment of existence, neither our virtually infinite expanse of space, nor the exquisite smallness of its particles.
Thing is, I don't worry about trying to make the two concepts explain each other. And I don't need to proselytize others. And I don't need to hear from others any demeaning of my beliefs. Both these schools are equally guilty of arrogance of thought, in my opinion.
Just thought I'd sort of augment your exposition, FWIW.
Pareidolia is an interesting phenomenon.
There is an argument, from some sceptical scientists, that it confers an evolutionary benefit since it would not be beneficial to recognize things that appear benign but infact might be disasterous.
The tests often used (including Rorshach) encourage certain recognitions and can be constructed to lead in that way.
Phenomenon-yes
Eveloutionary advantage-doubtful
As far as the video goes... meh, whatever. Its a wicked and foolish generation that looks for "signs." ... Either believe or dont, there is no reason to look for signs. People are nuts, but the media is full of rude douche bags too.
So ancient cave men listened to lions fart, and heard the words of Satan? And of course, those men close enough to listen to lions farting, were promptly eaten, punishing them for listening to Satan's word. And the clear evolutionary advantage was established... I'm with you, not buying it.
Bingo
Unless lion's developed a farting mechanism that sounded like a Satanic lure of some sort...this attracted the sick and weak men who, in turn, became lion food.
Both selections are now satisfied.
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