A book recommendation: The Enigma of Reason. It argues that the human facility of reason exists not to analyze cold hard facts, but to come up with arguments proving you are right and the other guy is wrong. Doesn’t matter if they are good arguments — the point is winning. (That’s why you see so many bad arguments. They’re easy to come up with, and sometimes they work. And if they don’t, you can always try again and maybe come up with something better).
And interesting consequence is that reason only functions well in social setting, where arguments can actually happen, and at least some of the time you may actually succeed in persuading the group that you are right. Reason is useless when you are reasoning on your own, because you simply come up with reasons to believe whatever you want to believe, and there is no pushback.
The religious have shamelessly tried to use Liz Windsors state funeral to futher their delusions via sort of a validation through pageantry and tradtion suddenly, denying the god-king is high treason….the spunk wombles are strutting round like pompous twats usIng history to validate their pompous bigotry….
Well M27Holts, she was Regina Dei Gratia… Queen by the grace of god, right? So it must be true, because no god has ever lied to us, right? 😀
I’m kidding of course. I do think the British royalty probably learned to limit themselves to pomp and ceremony by the example of Charles I. They do pomp so well.
Has anyone beside me noticed that when Charles III bared his teeth (when he was annoyed at the placement of pens), he looked a lot like Wallace from Wallace and Gromit?
Fun true fact; the manner with which people form their ideas about science is roughly as reliable as the manner with which people for their beliefs re religion.
I think it might have been in a Lex Fridman interview I listened to, sorry, right now I can’t recall where I heard this, but it was in the summer of 2022…
Jesus & Mo (the characters) are absurd, blinkered, and oddly very sweet. J&M (the cartoon) is brilliant: sharp, delicious, irresistible. Salman Rushdie
Jesus and Mo cartoons are wonderfully funny and true. Richard Dawkins
Jesus and Mo make the world a better place, bless their little hearts. Ophelia Benson
In a world defined by outrage and offence and liberal spinelessness, Jesus and Mo is a treasure, whose value we should never fail to recognize. Read them. Laugh. And think. Kenan Malik
The brilliant, celebrated, freaking hilarious atheist comic strip ... Greta Christina
...rays of sanity in a befuddled world. Keri Hulme
The liveliest depictions of Muhammad currently available... Malise Ruthven
J & Mo is the funniest and most consistently thought-provoking cartoon strip on the Net. In a saner world, it would run in a major newspaper. Nelson Jones, Heresy Corner
Consistently amusing, frequently thought-provoking and often heart-warming. New Humanist
Jesus & Mo is one of the most wonderful things on the internet.. JT Eberhard
Wittily captures much of the absurdity of religious apologetics. Mano Singham
I love jesusandmo.net cartoons - witty and sharp! Katha Pollitt
Often hilarious, frequently wry, these cartoons do what all the best cartoons do: they tell the truth through humour. Terry Sanderson, NSS President
...a wonderfully acid British cartoonist... Nick Cohen
I love the scrappy mockery of Jesus and Mo. Freedom of speech
includes the freedom to mock any person, any thing, any activity, and
any belief -- and J&M stands up for this unflinchingly Richard Stallman
...empowering, important and deeply progressive, not to mention hilarious... Council of Ex-Muslims
January 14, 2009
The barmaid enjoys her chats that is for sure, I think she is being unfair – getting into a war of wits with two unarmed men…
A book recommendation: The Enigma of Reason. It argues that the human facility of reason exists not to analyze cold hard facts, but to come up with arguments proving you are right and the other guy is wrong. Doesn’t matter if they are good arguments — the point is winning. (That’s why you see so many bad arguments. They’re easy to come up with, and sometimes they work. And if they don’t, you can always try again and maybe come up with something better).
And interesting consequence is that reason only functions well in social setting, where arguments can actually happen, and at least some of the time you may actually succeed in persuading the group that you are right. Reason is useless when you are reasoning on your own, because you simply come up with reasons to believe whatever you want to believe, and there is no pushback.
(Hmm, a Google search tells me I have mentioned this book before. No matter — it’s still a great book).
My grandma’s favourite saying…”There’s none so blind as those that won’t see”…
Exactly!
M27Holts, ironically your grandma’s favorite saying (attributable to John Heywood) is likely a paraphrase of a line in the Book of Jeremiah:
Jer. 5:21 Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes, but do not see,
who have ears, but do not hear.
I suppose I could change context and suggest..”There are none so closed-minded as those who won’t think”
Not called ‘blind faith’ for no reason.
The Flat Earth conspiracists are probably the most obvious example…
Jer. 5:21 Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes, but do not see,
who have ears, but do not hear.
~ So, he could see through all the bible bullshit too? ~
The line “QE, as always, D.” somehow seems very relevant after HME2’s death.
The religious have shamelessly tried to use Liz Windsors state funeral to futher their delusions via sort of a validation through pageantry and tradtion suddenly, denying the god-king is high treason….the spunk wombles are strutting round like pompous twats usIng history to validate their pompous bigotry….
Well M27Holts, she was Regina Dei Gratia… Queen by the grace of god, right? So it must be true, because no god has ever lied to us, right? 😀
I’m kidding of course. I do think the British royalty probably learned to limit themselves to pomp and ceremony by the example of Charles I. They do pomp so well.
Has anyone beside me noticed that when Charles III bared his teeth (when he was annoyed at the placement of pens), he looked a lot like Wallace from Wallace and Gromit?
Fun true fact; the manner with which people form their ideas about science is roughly as reliable as the manner with which people for their beliefs re religion.
I think it might have been in a Lex Fridman interview I listened to, sorry, right now I can’t recall where I heard this, but it was in the summer of 2022…
-atheist, btw