"What is the meaning and purpose of life"? Aligning with Mike Johnson then? You do not have to be christian to believe in some higher unknown power that gives meaning and purpose to life. (I don't, but it is possible). Both Johnson's and Ayan's motivations are political, whether they know/admit or not. I am not condemning, I just do not want to delude myself.
As a lifelong atheist and very much a part of the "new atheist" thing in the late 2000s and early 2010s, I was quite as bit surprised, a little bit disappointed, but not at all angry at this news about Ayaan. It is actually more important to me these days that people I have admired for a long time are "anti-woke" than an atheist. I remember I was very disappointed when Matt Dillahunty displayed his woke credentials by stating that "trans women" were women, and I even got into an argument with him on Twitter which left me a bit bewildered. A lot of the people I tend to agree with on woke issues are religious, like Jordan Peterson and Dinesh D'Souza (the latter I always respected for his debating abilities in my atheist activist days, even if I disagreed with him).
Actually, on hearing about Ayaan, I wondered to myself what Hitch would make of her conversion. I know he adored Ayaan. I would also love to hear Sam Harris' reaction, as I believe he is pretty close to her. I assume she has read his "Letter To A Christian Nation".
1. I found some equally astonishing facts about Speaker Johnson while researching my thedailymemes.subtack post on "The Arc That That No One Wants to Noah About." And I admit I had fun lampooning him yesterday in "Why America Is So OK with AK-47s."
2. I've read "White Holes" twice and still can't grok how they preserve info., much less cross Einstein-Rosen bridges. Loved your talk with Rovelli but remain unsure how open-minded you are compared to David Gross, who seemed to scowl when you Zoomed with him and sweet Carlo.
I didn't do a joint zoom with David and Carlo.. and I suspect David is less open minded. :) Interesting to hear more astronishing things about Johnson.
my gossip about johnson depresses me; he comes from a genuine if not intellectually cognizant place as so many do. u are right it was some other guy Phil something or other who had gross and rovelli zooming theoretically against each other. and am i wrong to remember that you questioned the utility of david's string theories a couple of years ago on Zoom or shrooms? methinks homo sapiens SAPIEN sometimes can try to grab empirical things, but as you know there's usually some subjectively normative about even the best scientific theories. judge o w holmes put it best when he said "the life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience. Am now on phone with my son Leonid who's working with Alex Filippenko (his real first name lol is Vladimir; we all have our secrets) at UC Berkeley. WOrking with is a big exaggerated; mostly what they're doing is programing Python and other AI platforms to look at the great beyond. Anyway though I wrongly attributed carlo v gross, they did spar in ways that our above my hoi polloi head. I'm looking forward to future (if dumbed down to my level) tiffs between you and other theoretical physicists. I'm a populizer and contextualizer by trade and I think people in your field haven't done enough to at least frame today's dueling physical constructs.
Another quick thing: I'm trying to persuade god to read Physical Review D and construct the cosmos so it accords perfectly with your and gross's and carlo's theories. Methinks Speaker Johnson would approve of my holy Zooms
There seems to be a tactical coherence in the behavior of modern Christians, I find this strange because the beliefs they promulgate seem incoherent, so to me this implies a type of abbreviated rationality. I'm referring to The Ark concept, both Jordan P. and Mike J. are pushing this symbol to the front of the discourse, Mike is building a museum and Jordan held a conference and both made a reference to Noah, I would try to get to bottom of it, but I'm sure it's based upon reasoning I would find painfully flawed.
A very gentle and generous perspective on recent developments in Ayaan's life. Thank you for this calm contribution to the conversation.
"What is the meaning and purpose of life"? Aligning with Mike Johnson then? You do not have to be christian to believe in some higher unknown power that gives meaning and purpose to life. (I don't, but it is possible). Both Johnson's and Ayan's motivations are political, whether they know/admit or not. I am not condemning, I just do not want to delude myself.
As a lifelong atheist and very much a part of the "new atheist" thing in the late 2000s and early 2010s, I was quite as bit surprised, a little bit disappointed, but not at all angry at this news about Ayaan. It is actually more important to me these days that people I have admired for a long time are "anti-woke" than an atheist. I remember I was very disappointed when Matt Dillahunty displayed his woke credentials by stating that "trans women" were women, and I even got into an argument with him on Twitter which left me a bit bewildered. A lot of the people I tend to agree with on woke issues are religious, like Jordan Peterson and Dinesh D'Souza (the latter I always respected for his debating abilities in my atheist activist days, even if I disagreed with him).
Actually, on hearing about Ayaan, I wondered to myself what Hitch would make of her conversion. I know he adored Ayaan. I would also love to hear Sam Harris' reaction, as I believe he is pretty close to her. I assume she has read his "Letter To A Christian Nation".
"Religion is officially a plague,
no one is immune"...from: movie: "The Menu"
HI Larry, two points:
1. I found some equally astonishing facts about Speaker Johnson while researching my thedailymemes.subtack post on "The Arc That That No One Wants to Noah About." And I admit I had fun lampooning him yesterday in "Why America Is So OK with AK-47s."
2. I've read "White Holes" twice and still can't grok how they preserve info., much less cross Einstein-Rosen bridges. Loved your talk with Rovelli but remain unsure how open-minded you are compared to David Gross, who seemed to scowl when you Zoomed with him and sweet Carlo.
I didn't do a joint zoom with David and Carlo.. and I suspect David is less open minded. :) Interesting to hear more astronishing things about Johnson.
my gossip about johnson depresses me; he comes from a genuine if not intellectually cognizant place as so many do. u are right it was some other guy Phil something or other who had gross and rovelli zooming theoretically against each other. and am i wrong to remember that you questioned the utility of david's string theories a couple of years ago on Zoom or shrooms? methinks homo sapiens SAPIEN sometimes can try to grab empirical things, but as you know there's usually some subjectively normative about even the best scientific theories. judge o w holmes put it best when he said "the life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience. Am now on phone with my son Leonid who's working with Alex Filippenko (his real first name lol is Vladimir; we all have our secrets) at UC Berkeley. WOrking with is a big exaggerated; mostly what they're doing is programing Python and other AI platforms to look at the great beyond. Anyway though I wrongly attributed carlo v gross, they did spar in ways that our above my hoi polloi head. I'm looking forward to future (if dumbed down to my level) tiffs between you and other theoretical physicists. I'm a populizer and contextualizer by trade and I think people in your field haven't done enough to at least frame today's dueling physical constructs.
Another quick thing: I'm trying to persuade god to read Physical Review D and construct the cosmos so it accords perfectly with your and gross's and carlo's theories. Methinks Speaker Johnson would approve of my holy Zooms
There seems to be a tactical coherence in the behavior of modern Christians, I find this strange because the beliefs they promulgate seem incoherent, so to me this implies a type of abbreviated rationality. I'm referring to The Ark concept, both Jordan P. and Mike J. are pushing this symbol to the front of the discourse, Mike is building a museum and Jordan held a conference and both made a reference to Noah, I would try to get to bottom of it, but I'm sure it's based upon reasoning I would find painfully flawed.