Today, I have felt the most odd string of emotions. This mornin, at 5 AM, I felt completely content and at peace with the world. By seven, I felt stressed. So far, all was normal. Then, though, at 9 I felt warm-fuzzy. LAter, fatigue set in. Happy returned for a period, then a period of darker sensations settled over me. At dinner I felt content, and the for no reason unbridled fustration rose in me. As I looked at my friends list on facebook, I was unwarrantedly overcome with tears. I have felt every emotion today.
Every emotion, that it, except one. My mind refuses to feel lonely. Loneliness is right there, poking and pordding me, reminding me that she isn't on the other end of the phone if I pick it up, that she won't answer the text if I send it. We're e-mailing back and forht, but her voice isn't there. Loneliness so desperately wants inside my head for the next week.
So, my mind is occupying itself with other emotions. They make no sense at times, and I've laughed at the upheaval of every single one, but it's a sobering thing to figure out why I'm doing this.
I care about her a lot. A lot more than I've realized before.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Evolution's Ethical Problem: Creator's Prerogative
Hey All,
So, I'm working on an argument for why Evolution and Christianity cannot meld from an ethical perspective. Emphasis on WORKING. This post is the first of probably a lot to reach a complete argument, but I decided to throw my thoughts out there, and start getting feedback. After all, that's how philosophical arguments get refined. So, here we go:
A man goes out and buys gears, pulleys, a battery, a smoth flat disc, some black paint, a chain, some sheet metal, and two thin strips of iron, one slightly longer than the other, but both short. He begins constructing what he hopes will accurately keep measure of the passage of the day and marcate the different sections of a day by numerical distinction. After weeks of effort, he creates his prototype pocketwatch. He puts the battery in, and it doesn't work as he wanted it to. His first thought is to try another battery. When that doesn't work, he begins refining the gears and pulleys to try and fix the problem, until eventually the watch works. He will now expect the watch to perform its function as long as he supplies battery power. If it doesn't, he will consider it broken and will either fix it or discard it, whichever he chooses.
Here's my argument based on the above thought experiment:
P1: The Watchmaker has invested everything needed to create the pocketwatch
P2: The Watchmaker has a specific purpose and function in mind as he creates this watch
P3: Once it is successfully created, he continues to provide everything the watch needs to function properly
C: The Watchmaker has the right to expect the watch to function properly without exception
I would like to call this conclusion the Creator's Prerogative, the sole right of any inventor, maker, or creator to put expectations, purposes, and even requirements into the existences of their creations. Generalized, the principle looks more like this:
P1: The Creator has invested everything needed to make their creation
P2: The Creator has a specific purpose and function intended for their creation
P3: The Creator continually provides everything needed for the creation to function according to the Creator's intentions
C: Therefore, the Creator has Creator's Prerogative, the right to expect and require the creation to function according to the purposes and intentions of the Creator, and even to create consequences in the event of failure to do so.
Ok, that's what I have so far. Major roadblock already: this argument works flawlessly for any inanimate or animate thing loacking a will of its own. That means it doesn't work for things with a will of their own, such as humans, so I'm still working on that.
Barring that roadblock, what issues do you have with this argument? Where is it weak? What do you like about it so far?
So, I'm working on an argument for why Evolution and Christianity cannot meld from an ethical perspective. Emphasis on WORKING. This post is the first of probably a lot to reach a complete argument, but I decided to throw my thoughts out there, and start getting feedback. After all, that's how philosophical arguments get refined. So, here we go:
A man goes out and buys gears, pulleys, a battery, a smoth flat disc, some black paint, a chain, some sheet metal, and two thin strips of iron, one slightly longer than the other, but both short. He begins constructing what he hopes will accurately keep measure of the passage of the day and marcate the different sections of a day by numerical distinction. After weeks of effort, he creates his prototype pocketwatch. He puts the battery in, and it doesn't work as he wanted it to. His first thought is to try another battery. When that doesn't work, he begins refining the gears and pulleys to try and fix the problem, until eventually the watch works. He will now expect the watch to perform its function as long as he supplies battery power. If it doesn't, he will consider it broken and will either fix it or discard it, whichever he chooses.
Here's my argument based on the above thought experiment:
P1: The Watchmaker has invested everything needed to create the pocketwatch
P2: The Watchmaker has a specific purpose and function in mind as he creates this watch
P3: Once it is successfully created, he continues to provide everything the watch needs to function properly
C: The Watchmaker has the right to expect the watch to function properly without exception
I would like to call this conclusion the Creator's Prerogative, the sole right of any inventor, maker, or creator to put expectations, purposes, and even requirements into the existences of their creations. Generalized, the principle looks more like this:
P1: The Creator has invested everything needed to make their creation
P2: The Creator has a specific purpose and function intended for their creation
P3: The Creator continually provides everything needed for the creation to function according to the Creator's intentions
C: Therefore, the Creator has Creator's Prerogative, the right to expect and require the creation to function according to the purposes and intentions of the Creator, and even to create consequences in the event of failure to do so.
Ok, that's what I have so far. Major roadblock already: this argument works flawlessly for any inanimate or animate thing loacking a will of its own. That means it doesn't work for things with a will of their own, such as humans, so I'm still working on that.
Barring that roadblock, what issues do you have with this argument? Where is it weak? What do you like about it so far?
Monday, November 10, 2008
Verbs of God
Dancing in every corner
of my unbridled mind,
Rejoicing resounds from every
crevice of the revelrous parade.
You've freed me, saved me,
held me, loved me, made me
one of Your very own.
Joy abounds like a flowing
brook babbling through my rocky mind.
Peace descends and covers each
department like a tranquil fog.
You've lifted me, carried me,
whitewashed me, embraced me, knitted me
together to be who I am today.
Past events have all been
erased from the annals of memory.
Healing flows through every
limb of my troubled mind.
You've befriended me, amended me,
confounded me, forgiven me, protected me
from my anguish here on earth.
Thank you.
of my unbridled mind,
Rejoicing resounds from every
crevice of the revelrous parade.
You've freed me, saved me,
held me, loved me, made me
one of Your very own.
Joy abounds like a flowing
brook babbling through my rocky mind.
Peace descends and covers each
department like a tranquil fog.
You've lifted me, carried me,
whitewashed me, embraced me, knitted me
together to be who I am today.
Past events have all been
erased from the annals of memory.
Healing flows through every
limb of my troubled mind.
You've befriended me, amended me,
confounded me, forgiven me, protected me
from my anguish here on earth.
Thank you.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Sound Advice
Walked away from the door today,
Went and sat at my desk.
Was the first time in weeks I looked away,
Wanted to clear my head and get some rest.
For weeks I had sat and I had stared
Frustrated and filled with emotional strife.
Fomenting rebellion as much as I dared,
Foisting my impatience in the Lord of Life.
"Come to me, spend time with me,"
Called my Father God each hour.
"Cling to my teachings and be free,
Cast your cares on me, stop giving them power."
So I sat at my desk and began to pray,
Seeking my Lord and forgetting the door.
Somewhere during the chat I heard Him say,
"She's a girl worth waiting for."
Went and sat at my desk.
Was the first time in weeks I looked away,
Wanted to clear my head and get some rest.
For weeks I had sat and I had stared
Frustrated and filled with emotional strife.
Fomenting rebellion as much as I dared,
Foisting my impatience in the Lord of Life.
"Come to me, spend time with me,"
Called my Father God each hour.
"Cling to my teachings and be free,
Cast your cares on me, stop giving them power."
So I sat at my desk and began to pray,
Seeking my Lord and forgetting the door.
Somewhere during the chat I heard Him say,
"She's a girl worth waiting for."
Sunday, November 2, 2008
A Weary Plea
Pensive
I wander through my mind
Days have passed wihout time for this repast.
Weary of effort.
Rest seems so far off and distant.
Stop this endless cavalcade of doing.
Draw me into Your arms.
Write rest on my drooping eyelids
Tell me to take a break.
I know You want me to do Your will
Yet You're not trying to kill me
Everything is draining me.
Eagles' wings
Grant me rest and eagles' wings
And that shall be enough.
Pensive
Sing over my heart, Father God,
Grant me rest and eagles' wings.
I wander through my mind
Days have passed wihout time for this repast.
Weary of effort.
Rest seems so far off and distant.
Stop this endless cavalcade of doing.
Draw me into Your arms.
Write rest on my drooping eyelids
Tell me to take a break.
I know You want me to do Your will
Yet You're not trying to kill me
Everything is draining me.
Eagles' wings
Grant me rest and eagles' wings
And that shall be enough.
Pensive
Sing over my heart, Father God,
Grant me rest and eagles' wings.
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