thoughtful ideas on life's big questions
I have been interested in astronomy and cosmology since I was a boy, and in recent years have done a bit of reading on the science of universal fine-tuning, and the philosophical questions that the science brings to our attention. Various cosmologists have written on the subject – Martin Rees and Paul Davies are two […]
I started my previous post with the observation that the internet is full of discussions between believers and unbelievers, and not all of them are civil, respectful and constructive.
Arguing about the existence of God seems to be a major part of the internet. But I wonder how much it achieves.
I have always found astronomy and cosmology fascinating since I was a boy, and so I follow several science blogs. Recently two of them published interesting blog posts on probability and Bayes Theorem. Even if you’re not much interested in maths, I think there’s plenty worth looking at in these posts.
Food for Thought I sometimes get into discussions on the web where the subject of prayer, healing and the existence of God come up. Distressingly, they too often seem to take a similar course.
Food for Thought It is easy for human beings to become set in our thinking, quite satisfied that we know the truth about some matter, and therefore quite unwilling to change, or even consider other ideas. We can become quite “tribal” about our viewpoints, and defend even small differences quite vigorously. It can be as […]
Terrorism is on many people’s minds at the moment, and many connect it with religion. Several years ago I wrote a page on this website about religion and terrorism, and it is one of the pages I have had to update most often, because of new understandings. I have just updated it again, with new […]
Science and history are both complex disciplines that require significant knowledge and skills to do well. A research scientist has to have a good theoretical background in their branch of science, keep up with others working in his or her field, probably have a good working understanding of mathematics and statistics and be able to […]
Are we alone in the cosmos? Or are there other, perhaps many other, intelligent life forms out there? An associated question is whether earth is unique, or whether there are many other planets that could support life. This is a scientific question, but also has importance (for some people) for the question of the existence […]
Victor Reppert is a philosopher. His book, CS Lewis’s Dangerous Idea discusses the theistic argument from reason. His blog, Dangerous Idea has long been a source of information and ideas for me, and many others. Recently he responded to the argument that there is no evidence for God, and summarised his reasons for believing in […]