Vitality

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. …

No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others. – Martha Graham

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Welcome to the dark side

Yeah, I broke down. So be it, Jedi.

Facts and Theories

Stephen J. Gould:

In the American vernacular, “theory” often means “imperfect fact”—part of a hierarchy of confidence running downhill from fact to theory to hypothesis to guess. Thus the power of the creationist argument: evolution is “only” a theory and intense debate now rages about many aspects of the theory. If evolution is worse than a fact, and scientists can’t even make up their minds about the theory, then what confidence can we have in it? Indeed, President Reagan echoed this argument before an evangelical group in Dallas when he said (in what I devoutly hope was campaign rhetoric): “Well, it is a theory. It is a scientific theory only, and it has in recent years been challenged in the world of science–that is, not believed in the scientific community to be as infallible as it once was.”

Well evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world’s data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don’t go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein’s theory of gravitation replaced Newton’s in this century, but apples didn’t suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape-like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin’s proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered.

Moreover, “fact” doesn’t mean “absolute certainty”; there ain’t no such animal in an exciting and complex world. The final proofs of logic and mathematics flow deductively from stated premises and achieve certainty only because they are not about the empirical world. Evolutionists make no claim for perpetual truth, though creationists often do (and then attack us falsely for a style of argument that they themselves favor). In science “fact” can only mean “confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional consent.” I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms.

Evolutionists have been very clear about this distinction of fact and theory from the very beginning, if only because we have always acknowledged how far we are from completely understanding the mechanisms (theory) by which evolution (fact) occurred. Darwin continually emphasized the difference between his two great and separate accomplishments: establishing the fact of evolution, and proposing a theory–natural selection–to explain the mechanism of evolution.

“Oh, evolution is just a theory.” Just? Yes, it’s a theory. Precisely why it’s true.

Nutjobs, all around

A bit of religious craze for the lunch break. “Religious group sued for allegedly inciting harm through prayers.”

1. Prayer isn’t the issue. I mean, of course it isn’t. Prayer is neither benevolent or malevolent. It’s just meaningless.

2. “‘I never prayed for anyone’s violence [...] All I did was quote the Scriptures.’” As if abhorrent behavior or words are excused as long as it’s derived from a book that’s really old.

So, one religious hooligan versue another religious hooligan. The only sensible thing to do is make some popcorn and pull up a chair. Game on!

Struggle?

I’ve long understood anything worth doing has a certain amount of pain involved but sometimes it’s best to just stop and do something else. It’s certainly a way to avoid aches and pains of all types. If being a part of a particular faith is a struggle, perhaps it’s time to look elsewhere.

Of course, one of the gimmicks of all the popular religions is that “the struggle” is a test from God and, if you just have enough faith or belief – as if there are degrees of either – you’ll be just fine and, perhaps, closer to God than before.

Testing faith is nonsense on its face. Faith is belief without evidence. How do you test that? Why would you want to? Who would want to? Would a God be so insecure he needs to test his followers? Moreover, does God test nonbelievers as well, or does he only throw rocks in the path of the righteous? Seems an odd way to reward the faithful if God is dickpunching them over and over while letting nonbelievers go scott free.