tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post2175176902306341808..comments2023-10-15T10:29:12.991+01:00Comments on Karyn's erratic learning journey: A new humilityThe upsychohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345558899662051670noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-33953742525413388262009-06-27T21:13:14.214+01:002009-06-27T21:13:14.214+01:00@Garry How utterly at odds with my own perception!...@Garry How utterly at odds with my own perception! Interesting!The upsychohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06345558899662051670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-60604333957127669692009-06-27T16:35:58.513+01:002009-06-27T16:35:58.513+01:00Whilst melting in the heat and reading Christopher...Whilst melting in the heat and reading Christopher Potter’s book ‘You Are Here’ I came across this interesting observation today which while not relating directly to your observations at least runs parallel to them for a short way before veering wildly away.<br /><br />‘We do not like to think about the universe because we fear the immensity that is everything. The universe reduces us to a nub, making it difficult to escape the idea that size matters. After all who can deny the universe when there is so much of it? “Spiritual aspirations threaten to be swallowed up by this senseless bulk into a sort of nightmare of meaninglessness,” wrote the Anglo-German scholar Edward Conze (1904 – 1979) “The enormous quantity of matter that we perceive around us, compared with the trembling little flicker of spiritual insight that we perceive within us, seems to tell strongly in favour of a materialistic outlook on life.” We know that we must lose if we are to contest the universe.’Garry Platthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12684534108960971346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-87360776051297820752009-06-24T21:50:45.353+01:002009-06-24T21:50:45.353+01:00@Garry I'm not Catholic and have no qualms abo...@Garry I'm not Catholic and have no qualms about seeing the pope as a human being, no more or less flawed than the rest of us.<br /><br />There is a guy called Louis Giglio who has delivered sermons that more or less capture my sense of perspective on this subject. One in particular can be seen in two parts <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGxsI8ksX8Q" rel="nofollow">here</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfNiZrt5FjU" rel="nofollow">here</a>. These are well worth watching, by the way, even if you have no personal faith, just for an insight into the proportions it explores.<br /><br />I don't know about empirical evidence. I only that, as my own awareness of the vastness and intricacy of (what I call) Creation grows, so my awe of the Creator deepens. All this emphasises just how very small we are, which - to my mind - makes our self-importance ludicrous.<br /><br />Even without a belief in a Creator, just a recognition of the sheer size of everything in relation to us, and how little of it we've explored, must surely tell us how unlikely it is that we've got anything of great import properly 'sussed'. But it does take a measure of self-awareness, I grant you. Certainly among those of my own friends who share my faith, this is pretty much the norm.The upsychohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06345558899662051670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-69995941596981669282009-06-24T17:07:05.069+01:002009-06-24T17:07:05.069+01:00I am intrigued by one particular statement here. I...I am intrigued by one particular statement here. I can perhaps understand how being a deist might help or support an individual to accept and recognise their own ‘limitations’ especially when contrasting those abilities with that of a supernatural entity who created everything and knows everything. <br /><br />Belief in a supreme being in many cases however appears to lead to the absence of self awareness in some cases. We have for instance the head of the Catholic Church on earth who apparently believes and is believed to be infallible. <br /><br />Perhaps I am assuming too much here but I don’t recognise that a deist belief system might lead more directly to a state of self awareness, where as an existentialist might have a more circuitous route to navigate. Is there any real evidence for this?<br /><br />Interesting posting!Garry Platthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12684534108960971346noreply@blogger.com