Re: OT: Sam Harris on Francis Collins

Once Upon a Midnight Dreary, While ShariG Pondered, Weak and Weary,
Over Many a Quaint and Curious Forgotten Post, s/he wrote:
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Interesting essay . . .

http://www.reasonproject.org/index.php/archive/item/the_strange_case_of_francis_collins2/

I read that the other day. Sam Harris has a distinct ability to
clearly state the obvious. Like:

"Finally, we come to the kernel of confusion that has been the subject
of this essay?the irrelevant claim that ?a great many scientists
believe in God with no sense of internal contradiction.?[10] The fact
that certain people can reason poorly with a clear conscience?or can
do so while saying that they have a clear conscience?proves absolutely
nothing about the compatibility of specific ideas, goals, and modes of
thought. It is possible to be wrong and to not know it (we call this
?ignorance?). It is possible to be wrong and to know it, but to be
reluctant to incur the social cost of admitting this publicly (we call
this ?hypocrisy?). And it may also be possible to be wrong, to dimly
glimpse this fact, but to allow the fear of being wrong to increase
one?s commitment to one?s erroneous beliefs (we call this
?self-deception?). It seems clear that these frames of mind do an
unusual amount of work in the service of religion.'

or

"He [Collins] claims that the human mind cannot be the product of the
human brain or the human brain the product of unguided evolution:
rather, at some glorious moment in the development of our species God
inserted crucial components?including an immortal soul, free will, the
moral law, spiritual hunger, genuine altruism, etc. This claim makes a
mockery of whole fields of study?neuroscience, psychology, cognitive
science, behavioral economics, among others?and, if taken seriously,
would obliterate our growing understanding of the human mind. If we
must look to religion to explain our moral sense, what should we make
of the deficits of moral reasoning associated with conditions like
autism, frontal lobe syndrome, and psychopathy? Are these disorders
best addressed by theology?"

It's a great essay, and will be ignored by people who shouldn't.

John P
.

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