----- Original Message ----- From: "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 7:05 PM Subject: Re: Religion, the good side > > Thomas Edison said genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, and I > tend to agree with him.
He was also a much better promoter than inventor. >In my experience, it is generally the people who > work hardest and longest who accomplish the most. In my experience it is not. The folks who invented directional drilling (worth about 125 million/day to the world ecconomy).did it by BSing in their offices most of the day. They showed up later, took long lunches, and just fiddled around a bit. After a couple of years of, they had a system that worked. So, management wanted them to work "properly." Productivity went way down. As one guy put it "How can I come up with a solution unless I'm distracted." Dan M. > > > Finally, I have to say that there's something ironic about people > > expressing anti-religious ideas in a discussion forum that centers on > > science fiction! If you believe that the story of Christ is fiction > > and thus should be dismissed as a giant trick played on humanity, > > then what do you believe about David Brin's fiction? What's the > > distinction, since Brin's works clearly have some kind of impact on > > the world? Or have I created a straw man there? > > To me, the best part of science fiction is imagining future > possibilities, which allows us to consider what the human race could > become in the future based on choices which we make now. > > Are saying that your view of religion is that it allows imagining > a better world so that you(pl.) can help to make the present world > more like the imagined world? I guess I wouldn't argue so much if I > thought that was the way most religious people thought about their > religion. But I really don't see many religious people thinking like > that. The "next life" is usually quite vaguely imagined, nothing like > the detailed worlds we see in good SF. And I don't often see religious > people evaluating possible futures, picking the best, and trying to > influence the world to be like their imagined world. It is usually more > like, my religion advocates this so I will advocate it, period. > > > > -- > "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/ > _______________________________________________ > http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l > _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
