What If We Are Alone? Scientist insit we must spend $£€ mega on trying to contact alien life forms. But putting aside the thought that such aliens may be hostile and hungry, why do we need to. There is a uinverse of ideas we can explore right here in our minds. Sady scientists lack the imagination to understand that..
Dr. Pangloss Said All Is For The Best
So You Think You're An Anarchist (Anarchy for Beginners - part 2)
Anarchy In The UK - and elsewhere.
Getting Started With Existentialism
Theosophy For Beginners
The War Between Science and Religion
When cosmologist Martin Rees was awarded the Templeton Prize for scientific work enhancing the spiritual side of life the militant atheists reacted with predicatable angry intolderance. Their intolerant attitude seems to have done more to harm the scientific community than to turn paople against faith and religion.
Alchemy For Beginners - Part 1: A Condensed history Of Alchemy
Quantum Metaphysics or The God Experiments
Are The Cultural Poles FlippingReligion and Science (which some people have turned into their religion) have failed to provide the certainties, the sense of security, that many people seek. First religious convicion was eroded by science and then faith in science collapsed when it's certainties dod not stand up to the logical tests of the real world. Can existentialims offer a third way or is its acceptance of uncertainty to challenging?
Not Intelligent Design But A Designer Universe.
Liberal? What Does That Mean?
Is It Time To Ban Maths From Schools?
The Abuses Of Science
Silly Secular Society Leader Makes Year's Most Stupid Statement
The Power Of Positive.
A Short history of Contraception and Abortion: Part 3.
Ever been irritated all those exhortations to "look on the bright side"and "be positive" Felt let down by hopey-changey stuff and people who say "lets join hands and sing kumbiya to create utopia" but fail to deliver. This article might be just what you need to read
Reincarnation: Is There Scientific Proof We Can Live Again?
by Ian R Thorpe.
What happens to us after death? It is a question humans have asked since men first stood erect (fnrr, fnrr). Is there scientific proof of reincarnation or are such things just superstitious delusions? All the main religions and there many branches believe something of us survives physical death but is ir possible the non phyical portion of our being (the soul?) can inhabit more than one physical body? Might there be scientific proof of reincarnation?
Anarchy as has been said in these pages before is not lawlessness but a well thought out political philosophy which rejects the kind of collectivism imposed by certral governmet hierarchies. Supporters of anarchism are not the bearded conspirators of cheap fiction but people who believe in individualism, self determination and minimal government interference in personal lives. Anarchy is the thing oligarchs fear most because it is the hardest to control... [Philo and Sophia}
Principled Agnosticism
Principled Agnosticism, a phrase coined by UK writer Madeline Bunting offer a path between absolute faith and absolute atheism of the militant, science worshipping kind.
An outbreak of rioting, violence and looting in Britain's inner city communities in August 2011 was described by the media as anarchy. But to dismiss what was simple criminality as anarchy disrespects a well thought our political philosophy. In the real world anarchism would be unworkable as a system of government but the ideas it offers us are a powerful antidote to the control freakery of the political and corporate establishment.
In our section on philosophy existentialism had to be a major focal points. The world is constantly being defrauded by false prophets and self styled messiahs with promises of deliverance from the constant dangers and uncertainties of life. Established religion, faith and belief systems such as Christianity, Islam and Judaeism and systems of thought like Hindu and Buddhist philosophies at least offer the comfort of belonging and the refuge of ritual while the new crypto-religions of science and psychology arrogantly claim infallibility while failing to deliver on all fronts. Existentialism however is the philosophy of personal responsibility.
Those two old friends of Greenteth Multi Media, Philo and Sophia, are dedicated to spreading wisdom and understanding. It's natural then that their page here should include a sub menu on Theosophy, an almost forgotten belief system now although it was only founded in the nineteenth century. Theosophy is based on the ideas of Helena Blavatsky and while it drawns on the ancient wisom found in Hindu, Budhist and Zoroastrian teachings it is fully compatible with Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox versions of Christianity as well as Jewish and Muslim beliefs.
Religion and Science have in recent times not been comfortable bedfellows. Strange then that the earliest scientists were priests, people who chose todevote their lives to the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. One early science much derided by modern scientists was Alchemy, the quest to turn base metals like lead into Gold. But was the althemists idea reeally daft?
The noise from militant atheists is becoming unbearable as they scream and shout about superstition and magical thinking. So what if science came up with something that turns upside down everything we thought we knew about the nature of the universe. Well it has, twenty years ago. Quantum entanglements, non - separability, oneness, once it enters the public perception we will suddenly have to see ourselves differently.
The Flight From FreedomFleeing from freedom seems like a contradiction, after all we usually asdsiciate flight with escaping from captivity. In this first part of Existentialism for Beginners however the author identifies a human instinct that predisposes us to seek illusory safety by conforming and being part of the crowd rather than embarking on the lonely life of the free thinker, the person who truly makes their own decisions and follows their own path.
Can We Change? Mystics Say Yes, Science Says No - Or Does It?
Medical science has always insisted we cannot change the way our brain works but now that view is changing. A number of scientific studies have proved various things that have nade a lot of science fanatics look silly. The brain can be rewired after traumatic injury, meditation can change the way we think, prayer, riyual and superstition are all beneficial and the placebo effect is a powerful healing tool.
At the risk of making to sciencyheads kick off about intelligent design we must enter the argument between science and creationism to pose the possibility that the universe did have a designer - not a god such as the creation myths describe but a race of intelligent (?) beings who, live ourselves could not resist meddling with things they did not fully understand thus incurring unforeseen consequences.
What is a liberal? Is it something to do with the kind of politically correct thinking that obsesses over minority rights while seeking to marginalise mainstream society? Is liberalism an authoritarian system that seeks to impose politically correct left wing ideology on everybody. Or is a liberal, as is argued here, a very respectable political postion whose name has been usurped by people reluctant to acknowledge their inner Nazi.
Academics and politicians are always banging on about how school pulpils have no interest in maths and science. They blame everybody but themselves of course. When you get down to it, maybe the way Maths and Science are taught in schools is to blame. Or maybe it is the nerds who teach it and try to infect pupils with their own irrational enthusiasm for the uttrly pointless that has made these subjects so uncool.
With science evangelists increasingly on the back foot as more and more "breakthroughs" are exposed as fraud at worst and hyperbolic self publicizing at best Mary Midgely argues that where scientits went wrong was in denying that science has limitations that rener it unsuitable to answer the questions raised by philosophers.
Terry Sanderson, President Of The National Secular Society says: “I look at it this way. If science disappeared from human memory, we would soon be living in caves again. If theology disappeared from human memory, no one would notice. Theology is a completely and utterly useless pursuit. It is self-indulgence of the first order. It grieves me that public money is spent on theological colleges while real education struggles to gain the funds it needs to maintain itself.” The Daily Stirrer's Ian R Thorpe presents a balanced argument that proves Sanderson is a very secular piece of the female anatomy.Book Review: How To Talk About Books You Haven't Read.
Can we really talk about books we haven't read as the title of the book reviewed here suggests? The author, french literature academic Pierre Bayard argues that it is perfectly feasible as books are not so much about narrative and characters as ideas. Does Bayard's argument hold up? Poet Ian R. Thorpe reviews How To Talk About Books You Haven't Read (without having read it of course)
There are many cod philosophies based on positive thinking. But when does positive thinking stop and self delusion start. Are the positive addicts really trying to help with their positive thinking tips or are they really just trying to share their addiction and draw you into their bubble of unreality. Ian R Thorpe bursts the positive thinking bubble...
Populist Authoritarianism
The Labour Party may talk of socialism but their Nanny State tyle of ovrbearing governmental control freakery rather than protecting the weak according to the political philosophy of John Locke seeks to suppress individualism and impose uniformity by spreading fear and panic. This approach achieves equality by making all weak and dependent. Unfortunately it debilitates the nation.A Marriage Of Unequals
Since the election of barak Obama the gay and lesbian community in the USA have ben kicking off about single sex marriage rights. It is a stupid issue and one that can only arouse hostility and division. This article takes a critical look at the evolution and development of western Christian marriage rite highlighting the way middle eastern male supremacist customs were superimposed on the more pragmatic and egalitarian pagan marriage customs. Some shocking stuff here, did you know for example that in English law until 1870 a man was allowed to beat his wife "providing the stick was no thicker than his thumb. And they call it Holy Matrimony.Atheists Miss The Bus
There have been concerns recently among mainstream atheists, non-theists and non specific non belieers that while we can get along with people who make religion a part of their lives for whatever reason, the mititant type of atheism being promoted by a clique consisting mostly of London based media type and academics in the sciences is attacking that mutual tolerance that has existed between followers of moderate faiths and people who choose to reject faith. An example of the way these atheists are trying to turn non-belief into a religion is summed up in their decision to put advertisments on London buses stating "There is probable no God, now stop worrying and enjoy your lives. The idiotic arrogance of the assumptions behind that line are gobsmacking.Our Debt To Islam
In the dark ages the light of wisdom was almost extinguished in Europe and North Africa by the religious fanaticism of Christians. Read how the scientific knowledge accumulated by ancient civilisations in India, the Middle East and around the Mediterranean Sea was kept alive in the Islamic world and retransmiited to Europe through the independence of Christian monastic orders. Blake's Heaven
Its amazing how many people can talk of a sense of deep calm, of oneness when looking at the ocean. Maybe it is the vastness, perhaps that water is so essential to all life and such a large part of us. Or again, maybe deep in the subconscious there dwells a realisation that the sea is the cradle of all life. But is the ocean instilling that sense of spiritual oneness or does it merely reflect our being?
A Short history of Contraception and Abortion: Part 1.
Cavewomen and Contraception: first in a four part series on the way removing women's right to control their bodies was a powerful tool in subjugating the gender. This opener deals with the earliest beginnings among the mother worshipping tribes and clans of the neolithic age. A Short history of Contraception and Abortion: Part 2.
Bronze Age Birth Control: Part 2 of the four - parter moves on to the Bronze Age when great advances were made in technology and healing resulting in huge improvements in the quality of human life. As the seeds of civilisation were sown so began the dominance of the Patriarchal God and the male hierarchies that served him.
Medieval to Modern: The concluding part deals with the explosion of the birth rate after the Induistrial Revolution, the corresponding high infant mortality rate and the appalling incidence of deaths in childbirth. We relate the story of the brave women who stood up to church and state to win back womens' rights to control their bodies.A Short history of Contraception and Abortion: Part 4.
Witchcraft, The Burning Issue: moving forward to the Christian era and the determination to stamp out anything the Church could not control. This led to the persecuaion of women who practiced herbalism and had the skills to use parts of plants and shrubs to prevent or terminate pregnancy.Before The Big Bang - Part 1: Ian Thorpe : Space and Time
Ian brings a comedy writers perspective to this examination of the cosmology proposed by the theoretical physicists who unequivocally support the Big Bang theory
Before the Big Bang - Part 2 : Ian Thorpe : Space and Time
In Part 2 of this less than totally serious examination of Big Bang theory Ian steps sideways in time to show how wrong the experts might actually be.
Talent For Motivation : Ian Thorpe :
The New Testament Parable Of the Talents retold from an atheists perspective reveals a very different message to the sanctimonious interpretation this story, which has its origins in pagan mythology, is usually given by Chistian preachers.
by Ian R Thorpe
2009-09-26
In one of our very first Boggart Blog posts titled The Bullshit Factor we revealed scientific proof that bullshit and not money makes the world go round.
Everything is bullshit these days, even doing something simple like ordering a cup of coffee, you know you are only going to get a cup of bullshit. We always knew of course that those multinational chains that sell plastic foam in plastic foam cups were selling...
CLICK HERE to read Decaffinated Bullshit
Have We Forgotten How To Be
The introduction and menu page to Meditations, the Labyrinth's guide to rediscovering the art of just being
ELSEWHERE
Philosophy versus Faith In God
There is nothing quite so entertaining as intellectuals having a falling out. For sheer bitchiness they beat writers, old tarts and screaming queens any day.
Sir Michael Dummett, the retired Wykeham Professor of Logic at Oxford, has accused Professor John Haldane of St Andrews of a style of thought that is "old-fashioned and cramped".
In a review of Professor Haldane's book Reasonable Faith (Routledge, £21.99) Sir Michael declares that "a man's philosophy ought not to be controlled by his religious beliefs". He then says: "If the results of someone's philosophising appear to be coming into conflict with what he otherwise firmly believes, he ought to conclude that they cannot be correct, although he is unable at present to see where or how they have gone wrong."
