To Marcus and Group, If there are multiple points of view of any event, which one of the many can be true, or are all true in some respect? If every view point is contaminated by default belief/delusion how can we decide which is true? Consensus or democracy seems appealing but it is a very simple matter of numerical superiority with no better a chance of being right. The collective opinion is reduced to one and gains nothing by addition. Parallax is the simplest such example, left eye versus right eye and the brain merges the disparate 2D images into a 3D mapping. We could decide to blind one eye in favour of the other but then the value of the map is compromised.
Control Freaks would prefer their working eye or viewpoint to be the only one ever considered. So the control freak must annihilate all contradiction and be elevated in the esteem of the group ( whose opinions have also been squashed as the admission price) . Harris may simply be indulging in a manoeuvre to appear as an "authority" and enrich himself at the expense of a naïve group. Quite Normal. But none of that makes him right but only wealthier than some. There is something so medieval about pitting an atheist against a believer in an arena each using bludgeons to assert their position. Well if both are deluded in some manner there will never be truth , who so ever gets the killing blow in first conflates assassination with the victory of his argument. ad hominem fallacy Everyone seems to assume that one is either a Believer or an Atheist as if there are only two possibilities. As a "judge", neither side can force me to adopt certain limitations, or petitions. If the judge is outside of any group affiliation he is free to shrug off fallacious arguments as they appear. The litigants have no right to enforce their contrived rules on the judges, or do they? anymore than the left eye has tricks to exclude the right eye. Harris may also be motivated by a need for status as well as funds, the drive for literary quality may be very small. vib -----Original Message----- From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Marcus G. Daniels Sent: January-26-15 2:17 PM To: friam@redfish.com Subject: Re: [FRIAM] clinical diagnosis of [a]theism? Glen writes: "but Harris, having authored so many books, should be much better at it than he seems to be." It may not be such a bad approach, depending on his goals. Does he want to persuade anyone or just a certain type of person? Wrong approach for a politician, but adequate for tenured faculty or a cult leader. Marcus ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
