Seems that, completely unintentionally, my return to blogging has been marked by posts featuring interesting stuff I've seen lately on Facebook. Why stop now? This entry may seem a bit random, but that's okay. I'm just having a little fun. Here's some more Facebook-inspired reading for you: quotes I've seen and/or shared on Facebook. Enjoy...
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."
- The Buddha
I'm not a Buddhist, but I have studied Buddhism extensively, and I always seem to find little gems of insight here and there (just don't get too caught up on the metaphysics).
Speaking of gems of insight (how's that for a seque - nailed it) I found this great quote from one of my favorite YouTubers, QualiaSoup, that was shared on an interesting Facebook page called Atheism, philosophy, and science:
There is a statement I often encounter, "A belief in science (or being an atheist) requires the same amount of faith as a belief in god/gods."
This statement is incorrect, while faith is certainly needed to believe in god, science is geared up to removing reliance in faith.
Science is the systematic acquisition and application of knowledge in the structure and behaviour of the physical universe gained via empirical evidence through observation, measurement and experimentation.
It does not enlist faith.
Atheism is a lack of belief.
Many believe that atheism should be defined as a belief that no gods exist because they want to make it seem like a position of faith.
Clearly, if the faithful feel at a disadvantage because their beliefs are faith based and insupportable by logic or evidence. Then pretending that those who lack their belief also have a faith based position demand much less intellectual discipline is a much easier option than facing up to the burden of proof they give when insisting they believe what they do.
But one doesn't have to believe no gods exist to recognise and expose theistic claims as indefensible.
Check out that definition of science: "Science is the systematic acquisition and application of knowledge in the structure and behaviour of the physical universe gained via empirical evidence through observation, measurement and experimentation." Science relies on testing ideas with evidence gathered from the natural world. Science is continually refining and expanding our knowledge of the universe, which leads to new questions that require further research and study; consequently, science will never be completed. It's an ongoing search to keep improving our knowledge of the world.
Those of you who are my friends on Facebook know that I use my Facebook profile to post good quotes, information about martial arts, and other random stuff I find interesting. Look me up and friend request me! And for those of you who don't know, Dead-Logic has it's own Facebook page as well. Check it out! Now, here's a pile of some of my favorite quotes I've collected to bring you a little closer to enlightenment:
"A religious creed differs from a scientific theory in claiming to embody eternal and absolutely certain truth, whereas science is always tentative, expecting that modification in its present theories will sooner or later be found necessary, and aware that its method is one which is logically incapable of arriving at a complete and final demonstration.”
- Bertrand Russell
"It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas … If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you … On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish the useful ideas from the worthless ones."
- Carl Sagan
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
- Steve Jobs
"In the mountains of truth you will never climb in vain: either you will get up higher today or you will exercise your strength so as to be able to get up higher tomorrow."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
"There is no such thing as maturity. There is instead an ever-evolving process of maturing. Because when there is a maturity, there is a conclusion and a cessation. That’s the end. That’s when the coffin is closed. You might be deteriorating physically in the long process of aging, but your personal process of daily discovery is ongoing. You continue to learn more and more about yourself every day."
- Bruce Lee
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, prepare to die."
- Klingon Proverb
"It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas … If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you … On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish the useful ideas from the worthless ones."
- Carl Sagan
"Let us think the unthinkable, let us do the undoable, let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all."
- Douglas Adams
"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear." - M
- Douglas Adams
"Modern science has been a voyage into the unknown, with a lesson in humility waiting at every stop. Many passengers would rather have stayed home."
- Carl Sagan
"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge."
- Bertrand Russell
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level."
- Bruce Lee
"Live life fully while you're here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You're going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don't try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human."
- Anthony Robbins
