Bruce Allen
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Bruce Allen commented on Can Intention Create Matter From Potential? on May 3, 2008, 7:32 PM
HZ -- I guess it would have greatly improved your chances of success, if your wife had asked for the same thing .
Bruce Allen commented on Time is directly associated to responsiblity on April 18, 2008, 11:08 PM
DF -- An interesting proposition. However, I see an entirely different explanation for the perceived different rates of time.Many years back, I read a work of fiction called [ I think ] "The Accelerator". The concept was that this person could speed up his metabolism, creating the impression that the world was was running very slowly. And this is exactly what changes [ slows down ] as we age -- the metabolic-rate. Another biological effect related to this, is the fact that we see things in slow-motion when we get an overdose of adrenalin. To me, this has been a valid explanation for my own lack of enough time to do all that I would like.I really should look up that book and give due credit to the author.[ Disclaimer: Biology & Medicine are not my fields, so I apologise if some of the references here are not entirely accurate ].
Bruce Allen commented on Answering Believers on April 17, 2008, 6:18 AM
HR -- You've done an excellent job of summarizing the debate about God.I took a break from posting in "Faith & Beliefs", basically because the level of debate was deteriorating. As this is a forum aimed at Thinkers, I had expected flexibility and a degree of logic to be part of the discussions.Too often, the "Debate about God" is taken to be all about God. To my mind, it is all about "Debate", and therefore logical-arguments should prevail. The God-question is the perfect candidate for debate -- there is no right or wrong answer.My view from the mountain shows the surrounding valleys occupied by various religious camps, all with wagons circled, ready to repel any intruder with the audacity to approach waving a 'logic-stick'. If any religion had the 'right' answers, it should be obvious to all, and would not require a high-level defence. OK -- I've shown my colours. I found no compelling reason to subscribe to any of the off-the-shelf religions, so I invented my own [ ref To Whom Is God Answerable? ]. Don't laugh... in the last month alone, our numbers have DOUBLED [ admittedly from a VERY low base ].One thing I would like to add, as I have on other occasions, is that science is often mischaracterised. Science is all about MODELLING; postulating theories to fit the observable world. Rather than suggest that any particular model might be the end-point, scientists actively encourage their peers to find flaws in their ideas, and perhaps provide enhancements. I cannot see a parallel with the God-modellers.
Bruce Allen commented on Re: To Whom is God Answerable? on March 25, 2008, 10:53 PM
TeddyBear -- I welcome the fact you finally conceded that your argument was going around in circles. I sensed this might be the outcome when, a while back, you inferred that the validity of a circular-argument was somehow dependent upon its radius -- there was an 'event-horizon' attached to each argument, outside which the circular-argument suddenly became logical. I have wanted to challenge this notion, and your departure may deny me the opportunity [grin].Back to my original proposition which you branded "absurd". I would hope that the discussion here has made you more flexible in your approach to developing a God-model. And let's be honest -- your Christian faith is only one of many religious-models, all of which have equal credibility. The "Tiered model", where God [ the Creator ] is separate from various forms of religious implementation, makes every bit as much sense to me as your model does.
Science and Engineering degrees, Melbourne University. Ex Schlumberger Oil-services engineer. Inventor - Australia's first Electronic-Phone, Dolphin-Drive, etc. Author [ unpublished ] "Brain Transmission - An Alternative to Reincarnation", "The Bathtub of Creation" & the upcoming autobiography "An Obfuscated Life". Software Developer. And most importantly... CLOSET COSMOLOGIST.
Bruce Allen commented on To Whom is God Answerable? on May 7, 2008, 6:05 PM
Hi Pokoj -- thanks for your input.The aim in this thread has been to develop an all embracing MODEL of what the gods might be about. Your beliefs will be based on the model you have chosen -- and it is a choice, not an absolute [ a point missed by many in this forum ].Don't go down the path of "parallel universes", a lesson well learned by Stephen Hawking. If you follow this stuff, you will know that he almost undid his lifetime's credibility in promoting this concept to the scientific community.