Chapter Five: The Metaphysical Claims of Religion Are False
Hitchens begins this chapter by saying that the strong faith that could stand up to any form of reason is long gone. He compares the popular knowledge of the world in Thomas Aquinas' time to what we now know about the world. He uses the example of Laplace ("It works well enough without that hypothesis [God]")[9] to demonstrate that Laplace didn't need God to explain things, and neither do we. He claims that religion becomes obsolete as an explanation when it becomes optional or one among many different beliefs. He concludes by saying that the leap of faith is not one leap; it is a leap that is repeatedly made, and people find it difficult to rely on faith, instead attempting to "prove" God's existence.
@petitionman: Thomas Aquinas stands up today to Hitchens. It's devastatingly stupid to believe that you can outthink the greatest logician in history. And besides, Hitchens is an overinflated drunk buffoon.
Aquinas firmly believed that spiritual matters simply could not be evidenced in the physical universe. His notion was that faith was "the certainty of evidence which we DO NOT YET HAVE".
Besides which, even IF the hypotheses of our worlds work without the notion of God (which they do), that in no way disproves the existence of God. Simply showing that he does not HAVE to exist for the purposes of one question is different from showing that he does NOT exist.
Yes! Blind faith in science! Science can only lead to the "good!" It can solve all problems, everywhere, and has nothing to do with power! Not at all like messy religious logic, never!
This sarcastic Foucauldian response brought to you by my finals, and my never-ending quest to avoid them.
In a more lighthearted vein: Yes, but can science explain... EL CHUPACABRA?
@petitionman: Not all myths are based in science. The classical philosophers were pretty clear in explaining that the Priests of ancient Greece made up most of their cosmogeny to placate and control the masses.
@bakana: The Greek model of the universe was as scientifically accurate as they knew how to make it. In fact, their model of the universe was so mathematically precise it lasted until Gallileo/Copernicus came around.
Although that whole Zeus thing was pretty bonko though.
What really surprises me is that some folks find a bunch of bones and having no explanation for their origin, they invent something mystical, magical, write books about it, burn people at the stake for the suspiction of working on behalf of the creature...you get the point i hope.
Just say NO to religion, save everyone of us from future shame.
Well, probably because it is the Science and Industry museum and HP is certainly an industry all to itself as well as a good example of the publishing and film industry at their most elaborate.
Harry Potter has a very mechanistic approach to magic more along the lines of alchemy, and the museum probably understands that a lot of genre fans don't put up walls between the different subsections of speculative fiction so crossover traffic will be high.
They had the Titanic exhibit which is only arguably scientific but was nevertheless fascinating and had much to do with the time period when the world switched full gear into being a full-on industrialized society.
I'm sure they'll do a nice job making the HP exhibit educational and informative. They always do.
@JennaW: Harry Potter is an industry itself? Isn't that kind of stretching the nominal term of the museum's title? I mean, why not put up an exhibit to game shows, since they're an "industry?"
Jesus, there's a museum that should be terminally defunded.
@BadUncle: Have you been to the museum? I have, several times, and it has a lot of interesting displays on a wide variety of topics that probably "stretch the nominal term of the museum's title" -- whatever that means.
Gotta tell you, io9. The fuddy duddy buzzkill quotient on this blog has gone WAY up since the early days.
@JennaW: sorry, I was being a crabby asshole. I'm just annoyed at the erosion of standards for scientific education in this country. And look, I'm no scientist. I'm dislexic designer that can barely add. But I've been slowly horrified as the US public withdraws from critical reasoning, and seeks out mysticism.
I've got nothing against the magical fiction. I love vampire movies and the PRINCE OF DARKNESS. But that's all about suspension of disbelief. And I don't think kids should be encouraged to blur the distinction between reason and fantasy. It leads to things like "Creation Science."
@tetracycloide: it is arguably in incomprehensable leap in logic
It is also arguably a comprehensible leap in logic. Real writers - like Spinoza and Descartes in the Age of Reason, and Carl Sagan in our age - would say it's the inevitable bi-product of a less-than-rigorous approach to science.
They had a star wars exhibit and even more years ago they had a star trek exhibit. It's all about bringing people into the museum. But while you are there, check out that nifty coal exhibit which hasn't changed in years, or yeah, the WW2 submarine which has also been there for years, or everyone's favorite the bisected slices of an actual human being. Its like body worlds but much lamer. Poor MSI :-(
True Blood is exactly the kind of thing people think of when they hear the phrase "urban fantasy."
The modern setting of HP does not make HP urban fantasy, but I invite you to constantly refer to the series as urban fantasy and see how many weird looks you get.
The reason is simple - the people in charge of the Museum Industry don't actually care about the historical missions of their museums. What they care about is visitor numbers, because visitor numbers are the key to winning grants.
It's all about the money, as depressing as that is.
On a tangent, why is the "number of views" icon a teardrop?
@rek: Because it's also an urban fantasy blog, and while the books did skew strongly to the fantasy, there was living going on in a relatively contemporary england too.
Urban fantasy is, essentially, any contemporary fantasy that is set in the real world rather than some imagined one. It's not a matter of urban versus rural settings. Lord of the Rings would be fantasy because it's set in Middle Earth. Harry Potter would, at least in part, be urban fantasy because it takes place in contemporary England. Likewise, True Blood (and the corresponding Sookie Stackhouse books) are another example of urban fantasy in a rural setting.
@beccamb: Boston MOS also had a Lord of the Rings exhibit (I worked in the gift shop for it)- but it was focused on the science/tech stuff that went into production. Maybe some of this exhibit in Chicago will be similar.
12/13/08
Chapter Five: The Metaphysical Claims of Religion Are False
Hitchens begins this chapter by saying that the strong faith that could stand up to any form of reason is long gone. He compares the popular knowledge of the world in Thomas Aquinas' time to what we now know about the world. He uses the example of Laplace ("It works well enough without that hypothesis [God]")[9] to demonstrate that Laplace didn't need God to explain things, and neither do we. He claims that religion becomes obsolete as an explanation when it becomes optional or one among many different beliefs. He concludes by saying that the leap of faith is not one leap; it is a leap that is repeatedly made, and people find it difficult to rely on faith, instead attempting to "prove" God's existence.
12/14/08
Aquinas firmly believed that spiritual matters simply could not be evidenced in the physical universe. His notion was that faith was "the certainty of evidence which we DO NOT YET HAVE".
Besides which, even IF the hypotheses of our worlds work without the notion of God (which they do), that in no way disproves the existence of God. Simply showing that he does not HAVE to exist for the purposes of one question is different from showing that he does NOT exist.
12/13/08
This sarcastic Foucauldian response brought to you by my finals, and my never-ending quest to avoid them.
In a more lighthearted vein: Yes, but can science explain... EL CHUPACABRA?
12/13/08
12/13/08
12/14/08
12/14/08
Although that whole Zeus thing was pretty bonko though.
12/13/08
Just say NO to religion, save everyone of us from future shame.
12/14/08
I think yours is the religion of maybe mixing mescaline with lsd?
12/13/08
12/13/08
12/12/08
12/12/08
Harry Potter has a very mechanistic approach to magic more along the lines of alchemy, and the museum probably understands that a lot of genre fans don't put up walls between the different subsections of speculative fiction so crossover traffic will be high.
They had the Titanic exhibit which is only arguably scientific but was nevertheless fascinating and had much to do with the time period when the world switched full gear into being a full-on industrialized society.
I'm sure they'll do a nice job making the HP exhibit educational and informative. They always do.
12/12/08
Jesus, there's a museum that should be terminally defunded.
12/12/08
Gotta tell you, io9. The fuddy duddy buzzkill quotient on this blog has gone WAY up since the early days.
12/12/08
12/12/08
Nice.
12/12/08
12/12/08
I've got nothing against the magical fiction. I love vampire movies and the PRINCE OF DARKNESS. But that's all about suspension of disbelief. And I don't think kids should be encouraged to blur the distinction between reason and fantasy. It leads to things like "Creation Science."
Again, sorry to be a prick.
12/12/08
12/12/08
It is also arguably a comprehensible leap in logic. Real writers - like Spinoza and Descartes in the Age of Reason, and Carl Sagan in our age - would say it's the inevitable bi-product of a less-than-rigorous approach to science.
12/12/08
12/12/08
12/12/08
True Blood is exactly the kind of thing people think of when they hear the phrase "urban fantasy."
The modern setting of HP does not make HP urban fantasy, but I invite you to constantly refer to the series as urban fantasy and see how many weird looks you get.
12/12/08
It's all about the money, as depressing as that is.
On a tangent, why is the "number of views" icon a teardrop?
-Kle.
12/12/08
12/12/08
It's always been one of my favorite places.
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...
12/12/08
12/12/08
HP as urban fantasy... HILARIOUS!
12/12/08
12/12/08
[letmegooglethatforyou.com]
Urban fantasy is, essentially, any contemporary fantasy that is set in the real world rather than some imagined one. It's not a matter of urban versus rural settings. Lord of the Rings would be fantasy because it's set in Middle Earth. Harry Potter would, at least in part, be urban fantasy because it takes place in contemporary England. Likewise, True Blood (and the corresponding Sookie Stackhouse books) are another example of urban fantasy in a rural setting.
12/12/08
To sum up: Wev.
12/12/08
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12/12/08
Maybe it's an attempt to get kids interested in science again...
12/12/08
12/12/08
It'll fit right in... right next to the fantasy Moon landing display.
12/12/08