h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Welcome Ix .

But what is evil? Before we can ascribe this to a deity or deities we must first define this force or concept.

Personally I see evil as a completely human construct, not a divine one, just the same as good. Evil is that which the consensus reality of a society defines as that which is an anathema to it.

Thus in certain Islamic states adultery is evil and deserves the ultimate penalty. In Britain adultery is considered unfortunate, but not worth prosecuting. In France it is quite legitimate as they believe you cannot legislate for affairs of the heart.

On your second point I agree that most people believe in something, some rationale for their lives, some purpose. Whether they ascribe that purpose to a deity, a natural force or a philosophy is what we are all deabating . However, I would not go as far as to say 'worship'. This indicates a subservient relationship that many do not recognise.

Blessings,
Matholwch the Apostate /|\.

I thought that we agreed about a thousand postings ago that time is mans way of marking off his travel through space. That would mean that is is is for only the moment and becomes forever was after the moment has passed. No cycle.

But I thought we'd also agreed that infinity doesn't exist/isn't possible and what you decribe is infinite.

Hi Math. I guess we would have to call that a helical view: like a spiral staircase. I also think it is a view of the universe/world/nature rather than of time itself. It's all too easy to speak loosely about these matters, unless one actually is a mathematician, I guess.

"It's all too easy to speak loosely about these matters, unless one actually is a mathematician, I guess."!

Perhaps it is all too easy to talk rigidly about these matters, unless one is actually not a mathematician, I guess.

I'm sure there are plenty of easy forms of rigidity and dogmatism that don't require a mathematical background.

That's a relief! But that means (according to Math anyway)that time is a spiral!

Jordan, Ix, Diversity, I think I'd go with the first half of 3 and with 4...

Hey! Greetings, fellow NT Hippie!

Let's show the world some love...

- Jordan

Mathematics certainly doesn't make you rigid.

...

Though it compensates for a distinct lack of rigidity, in my case.

There are areas of mathematics that are so hard to understand, and so counter-intuitive that we are forced to take an entirely new, unblinkered look at the world. The 'matching birthdays' problem is one, while the Monty Hall problem, Gödel's paradox, Einstein's Relativity and quantum theory are others (the latter two being the most wide-ranging, in a real, physical sense). There are areas of mathematics in which even the most hardened mathematician feels lost - simply look to Zorn's lemma and the Axiom of Choice.

http://www.math.uiuc.edu/~mileti/choice.html
Describes the Axiom of Choice.
http://www.math.uiuc.edu/~dan/ShortProofs/Zorn.pdf
A mathematical proof of Zorn's Lemma.

Pretty stuff. (Or nasty, depending on how you feel about that sort of thing...

- Jordan

well..... i personly think that maths should not
be uesd to prove a philosophical point

You need a certain amount of rigidity to stand up, and a certain amount of flexibility to make progress. Same goes for arguments.

Or - You can't doubt/believe everything at once, or the doubt/belief has no meaning.

Most people have some sort of intellectual "bottom line" that constitutes, implicitly or explicitly, their primary philosophical commitment(s).

We didn't invent time. We inherited it.

Jordan's version of the many worlds theory is interesting, although it's not strictly cyclical. I'm not sure what you would call it though.

Anyway, I'm going to watch Horizon now, on the origin of thinking.

Noggin

i agree with the meny worelds theory
but i think that if you try to qualify everything with
numbers and maths it getts too complex
i dont think you give a value to something which may not exist

Hi!

- Jordan

"Mathematics certainly doesn't make you rigid."

Who said it did?

You did!

"Perhaps it is all too easy to talk rigidly about these matters, unless one is actually not a mathematician, I guess. "

And so did I, though in a very different way...

- Jordan

Everybody wants to go to heaven

But nobody wants to die!

Hi Noggin!
"We didn't invent time. We inherited it."

I like that, and agree. Since we inherited it, I propose an Estate Sale of time. We should try and get whatever we can for it, and use the proceeds to get something nice for ourselves.
Diversity

Jordan
Was reversing the view that Toxx gave that gave me the impression that if you were't a mathematician you could only be a loose thinker.

Hehehe. I ain't a mathematician either, Hass. I've been discussing infinity and Hilbert's hotel on another board. Guess I made my point without the maths.