[Buddha-l] Rice & Dragons

[Richard Hayes]

On Apr 15, 2012, at 6:40 PM, Luc Tartar <luctartar at gmail.com> wrote:

> I missed the beginning of the thread, so that I do not know why it is
> called Rice & Dragons

It is probably one of the most confusing threads in the history of Buddha-L. I also came in late and have no idea what the topic is. If you ever make sense of it, please let us know. 

> However, it should not stop anyone from pointing out errors made in
> science, and doing so has nothing to do with supporting or not one of
> the simple-minded religious points of view.

One expects errors in science. That science is a process of advancing hypotheses and then doing everything possible to question them is what distinguishes it from religion, which is largely a process of making claims and doing everything possible to defend them. (Caveat: I am hopelessly naive and uncritically enthusiastic about science and tediously and predictably hostile toward religion, so I should be thoroughly ignored. Everyone but Dan Lusthaus knows that by now.)

> because he obviously chose to be a brainwasher
> instead of being a teacher

A man after my heart! I love a clean brain much mote than a dirty mind. But, pray tell, what is the difference between a teacher and a brainwasher? Are we not all in the business of shamelessly indoctrinating young people so that they will repeat our folly?

> The big-bang theory is full of brainwashing. First of all, there is
> mathematically no way to decide if there was a beginning or if there
> was none, but most people have been brainwashed by various religions
> about a creation, so that they cannot imagine that we may live in a
> universe having always existed.

I can neither imagine a universe that has always been here nor a universe that began with a bang of any size. What's worse, I can't even imagine why anyone would care how or why we got here. What difference does it make? Here we are. 

Or are we?

Richard Hayes