Πίστη. Παρελθόν. Θεοί. / Belief. Old days. Gods.

Παλιά οι άνθρωποι πίστευαν ότι τους γιάτρευε ο Ασκληπιός. Και πράγματι τους γιάτρευε! [Ο Ασκληπιός και οι απαρχές της ιατρικής, Emma και Ludwig Edelstein, εκδόσεις Εξάντας] Μέχρι που τους είπαν ότι δεν τους γιατρεύει…

Παλιά οι άνθρωποι πίστευαν ότι ότι ο Χριστός θεράπευε. Και πράγματι το έκανε! Μέχρι που τους είπαν ότι δεν τους θεράπευε…

Παλιά οι άνθρωποι πίστευαν ότι τους γιάτρευε ο βασιλιάς. Και πράγματι τους γιάτρευε! [1] Μέχρι που τους είπαν ότι δεν τους γιατρεύει...

Παλιά πιστεύαμε στον εαυτό μας.
Παλιά ήμασταν Θεοί.

Τώρα απλά έχουμε το placebo...

[γράφτηκε στις 6/8/2014]

In the old days people believed that Asclepius healed them. And indeed he did! [Asclepius. A collection and interpretation of the testimonies, Emma and Ludwig Edelstein, Baltimore, 1945] Until they were told he did not.

In the old days people believed Christ healed them! And indeed he did! Until they were told he did not.

In the old days people believed the King healed them! And indeed he did! [1] Until they were told he did not.

In the old days we believed in our self.
In the old days we were Gods.

Now we just have placebo...

[written on 6/8/2014]

Philosophy Wire: Parallel universes. Real. But not as your heart.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2016-11-26]: Scientists insist that parallel universes are real. [1] We want to believe in things which will never be proved wrong [science]. Because we are afraid to see those which can be proved [religion]. We stare at parallel universe. Because we are afraid to look into our hearts…

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: All-knowing gods. Humans. Civilization.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2016-05-18]: Beliefs in all-knowing gods that punish wrongdoers helped enable the rise of modern civilizations, a new cross-cultural study suggests. [1] Fear has always made people come together. But fear not of a punisher. But of a God who loves. That is the greatest fear of all humans: that they might not be worthy of such love.

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Science: The reproducibility problem. Humans: The fear problem.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2016-04-12]: Most science research cannot be replicated by other researches. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] Nothing can be proved. Never. Everything is a matter of faith after all. Little people. Wanting to believe that they know the truth. Scared to take over their responsibility…

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Drought in Mexico. Loving God.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2015-12-15]: Drought in Mexico brought a 16th century temple to the surface. [1] The drought of our modern civilization will also bring love for God to the surface. Temporary is the flood. Have we forgotten? On solid earth we have been building for so long...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Hawking. Disease. Faith.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-11-08]: Stephen Hawking declared he is an atheist. [1] As if we hadn't noticed. Funny how the disease makes some people less faithful. While the same disease can make others believe harder... Arrogant scientists think their models can explain everything. But science cannot know what is life or what is death. Science cannot know if disease is something good or bad. For this, one has to search in places where logic has no value. In dark places where only faith can guide you. Too bad Hawking my friend. Dogmatic materialism is not the "truth" as believing you have a flashlight while you are engraved in darkness does not offer the solution. Look inside you. And you will discover that whatever you think you know is wrong... Your body is not ill. You body does not even exist. You are who you are because of your mind. You above all people should know that by now...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Make your own eyes...

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-11-01]: The human eye has inspired physicists to create a processor that can analyse sub-atomic particle collisions 400 times faster than currently possible. In these collisions, protons - ordinary matter - are smashed together at close to light speeds. The experimental processor could speed up the analysis of data from the collisions. Published in the pre-print arXiv server, the algorithm used by the processor has been proposed for possible use in Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments at Cern in 2020. It could also be useful in any field where fast, efficient pattern recognition capabilities are needed. The processor works in a similar way to the retina's incredible ability to recognize patterns extremely quickly. [1] We see things with our eyes. But we create new eyes to see the things we want to believe. Our experience is not enough. We want to create new experiences. Science, unlike religion, is not based on empirical data. It is based on faith. And it needs it's own eyes to "see"...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Doubts about God. Faith in man.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-10-29]:

The archbishop of Canterbury has admitted to having doubts about the existence of God and disclosed that on a recent morning jog with his dog he questioned why the Almighty had failed to intervene to prevent an injustice.

In a light-hearted but personal interview in front of hundreds of people in Bristol cathedral last weekend, Justin Welby said: "There are moments, sure, where you think 'Is there a God? Where is God?'". Welby quickly added that as the leader of the world's 80 million-strong Anglican community this was "probably not what the archbishop of Canterbury should say".

Earlier, the interviewer, BBC Bristol's Lucy Tegg, reminded him of the weight his words carried. "You have a remarkably prominent role within the faith community around the world," Tegg said.

"I've noticed," Welby quipped.

Tegg then asked him: "Do you ever doubt?"

Welby replied: "Yes. I do. In lots of different ways really. It's a very good question. That means I've got to think about what I'm going to say. Yes I do." He added: "I love the Psalms, if you look at Psalm 88, that's full of doubt."

Welby suggested that his doubts were a regular occurrence, by recounting a recent morning run with dog. "The other day I was praying over something as I was running and I ended up saying to God: 'Look, this is all very well but isn't it about time you did something – if you're there' – which is probably not what the archbishop of Canterbury should say."

He added: "It is not about feelings, it is about the fact that God is faithful and the extraordinary thing about being a Christian is that God is faithful when we are not."

Later in the interview, Welby said he was certain about the existence of Jesus, even talking about his presence beside him. "We know about Jesus, we can't explain all the questions in the world, we can't explain about suffering, we can't explain loads of things but we know about Jesus," Welby said.

Asked what he did when life got challenging, Welby said: "I keep going and call to Jesus to help me, and he picks me up". [1]

We lack faith in God.
But we have so much faith in ourselves and what we can prove.
Little arrogant children we are.
Not letting the cherries blossom.

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Analog better than Digital. Inventor of the year. Faith. Stupidity.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-09-15]: The inventor of the year for 2014. [1, 2] His inventions are based on the analog, instead of the digital which seems to be the new god in today's era. And in this way he succeeds results which his "digital" colleagues cannot even dream of. Life is analogical. Why should we convert it to something else? From quantum mechanics to computers, our beliefs drive us away from what we ARE! Take something analog. Convert it to digital. Then convert it to analog again. Repeat after me: "I am stupid". "I am stupid". "I am stupid". Analogically of course...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Beginning, One, Logic, Light. Thoughts.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-05-17]:

Scientists try to recreate the primordial soup of elementary particles which consisted the universe in its initial steps. [1]
We try to recompose the whole from its parts.
We believe things change.
We think time as moving forward.
We believe that SOMETHING existed in the Beginning.
Scientific thought?
Intuition?
Faith?
Or simply... logical?
Simple thoughts.
Shinning through layers of modern dogmatism...
There is no time.
Things do not change.
The whole cannot be divided into parts.
Scientific thought?
Intuition?
Faith?
Or simply... logical?
Simple thoughts.
Shinning through layers of modern dogmatism...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Individuality, religion, repeatability, experiences, statistical oppression...

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-04-06]:

If you ask a religious person why he believes, it is very likely that he tells you he believes in God due to some personal experience he had. And it is also highly likely that we will be embarrassed to admit it. But why? Isn’t science based on empirical data as well? Isn’t religion the science of the person? Some would claim that science is not only based on empirical data but on empirical data that can be confirmed by others as well. Repeatability is the key difference. But wait a minute! The vast majority of the people believes in a religion, in the existence of a God! What makes us think so distorted? What makes us see white as black and black as white? The new religion of science is powerful. Simple prejudices. Simple lies. Ruling the world… 

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Believe and investigate!

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-01-19]: About 14 million Euros spent for a camera to capture the image of an invisible black hole to the existence of which all scientists believe even though they have not seen one. [1] Non-blind faith is part of science more than we are ready to admit... Non-blind faith is part of everything we do! Religion and science alike are governed by beliefs which are based on some observations. Not much. A little something here, a little something there... But all in all, hunting ghosts... Literally.

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Religious archaeology. So?

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2013-12-29]: Remains of a wooden structure at the Buddha’s birthplace dating to at least 2,500 years ago provide a rare glimpse of ancient religious practice in South Asia [1, 2]. Religious archaeology is important. Excavations directly or indirectly validating the story of Buddha or Christ are important. We are so much afraid of the things we believe, that we constantly search for proof of someone else believing them...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: IVF, weird statistics, faith.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2013-12-04]: UK research suggests that asian and black women who have IVF are less likely to become pregnant than white women using similar fertility treatment. [1] Genetics? Or massive consciousness effect? Usually what we have "learned" that works, actually works...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Two feet animal standing, climber... (?)

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2013-05-29]: A new study by archaeologists at the University of York challenges evolutionary theories behind the development of our earliest ancestors from tree dwelling quadrupeds to upright bipeds capable of walking and scrambling. The researchers say our upright gait may have its origins in the rugged landscape of East and South Africa which was shaped during the Pliocene epoch by volcanoes and shifting tectonic plates. [1]

Too bad.

The version which wanted us to stand upright because we wanted to look at the stars in the sky was much more nice and romantic...

At the end it may all come down to what we want to believe for our selves.

Are we climbers? Or Philosophers?

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective...

Philosophy Wire: Santa Clauss exists, parallel universes exist…

A man has been arrested for telling children that Santa Claus does not exist. [source: web news] Many believe that speaking of things that do not exist is immoral and dishonest. But who arrested people talking of parallel universes? Will we ever be able to see them like we see Santa in this photo? And independently of what “reality” actually is, something which I have analyzed too much in this portal (see reality tag), which is really most honest? To talk about things which do not exist so as to get billions of dollars of funding, or to talk about things which do not… “exist” (do not exist? too big words for a philosopher… ask Parmenides if you wish) so as to give kinds joy and happiness?

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective...

The Unbelieving Thomas v3.0

A video showing a golden eagle catching a small child at a park and tried to drag it into the air to eat it, went viral on the Internet in a few hours after its release.[1] Even though the video was absolutely realistic, many people rushed to doubt its trueness. Their doubts were not objective, since they were based not on technical flaws of the video but on the "reaction" of the father of the child which some people found "mild". [2]

But that is not a valid objection to decide if something is "fake" if you ask me. Anyone could be caught off guard from such a strange once-in-a-lifetime event and possibly not react immediatelly. The parent in the video did run towards the child. Was it that he was not screaming weird? Possibly others could find him screaming as an indication of "fake over-reaction". The possibilities are endless.

Finally it was revealed that the video was indeed fake, created by a team of college students studying cinematography. [3] But the lesson to be learned is this: If someone does not want to believe something, then not even a video will make him believe. Not even a photo. Not even a recorded sound. Because in ANY CASE you can find excuses for not believing. After all, isn't that what magicians like Copperfield do? They trick us into believing something that is not real.

But wait a minute...

What are we going to believe then? And based on what "evidence" if all evidence can be tampered with?As a new version of the Unbelieving Thomas, we would not be satisfied by touching the nail marks on Jesus resurrected body. We would examine him over and over again until we found out the "trick". Because if someone does not want to believe something, not even live evidence will convince him.

Maybe finally it is all a matter of choice. What exists is what we CHOOSE to Be. Yes, Quantum Mechanics has showed the way towards such a radical view of the cosmos. We are part of it and as conscious observers we formulate reality at Will.

Maybe that is why imagination develops first and logic second in a child’s life. Maybe Nature tries to tell us something here.

Imagine being. Imagine living. Imagine seeing...

Why Medicine is NOT a pro-Science argument!

When people talk about science they mostly refer to medicine when they want to “prove” that science is “good” (and thus, according to their illogical logic, religion is bad). Medicine is the science which after all makes us well when we are ill. Medicine is the science which keeps us more alive. Correct? Wrong!

If we take a look at what medicine really is we will realize that it is not the best argument one could think of to support science…

First of all, medicine is all based in the very RELIGIOUS idea of "helping the helpless". In all the initial history of civilization, from ancient Greece to the end of the Medieval Times, religion and medicine where highly interconnected [source]. Then the fake "science vs. religion" war came. [see here] But if we were to stay faithful in the Darwinian idea of "The survival of the fittest", then we should leave all the sick people just die and get rid of all the "bad genes"...

Furthermore it is a common mistake to mistake Technology for Medicine. The technology behind a bypass surgery for example is a technology even a plumber could explain and understand: if a pipe is broken, you should fix it. As simple as that. Do not get me wrong. I have talked to people saved by such surgery. What I want to note is that we should not mistake “mechanics” for “science”. Fixing a blood pipe or making a nerve working as it worked before (but without actually knowing what it does when functioning) is too far away from “medical science”. Medicine is a type of applied science, with many elements that are artistic (not "Art", sorry V cannot describe it any other way), theological and/ or philosophical in many ways. (at least this is what is should be - nowadays the "mechanical" aspect of medicine has overshadowed the other elements mentioned above)

And in many ways medicine could really reduce the quality of your life. In the old days people did not have good diagnostic tools and lived happily until their disease reached a critical point. Now someone might learn that he has a gene problem that could lead to his death until his 60th birthday with a probability of 57%. How could that be an improvement of his life?!?!? Relying too much on gene therapy and on gene prognosis can change the name of “medical science” into “eugenics”. And this is certainly not a good thing!

However it is true that medicine makes us live longer. Let us truly examine the question: how important is that? We all live (in the western world) about 80 years more or less. How important is it that a specific technology prolongs the life of a person for 2 or 5 years? How important is it that I get to live X years and you get to live X+2 years? If you look at those numbers from the viewpoint of eternity, the argument of “life extension” becomes ridiculous. What is truly important is to live a good life. (and there are strong indications that medicine HAS NOT PROLONGED LIFE in modern world! - see here)

But isn’t having, for example, painkillers an improvement of life? someone might ask. Yes and No I would say. Pain is something we want to avoid. But so is eating healthy food. If you look back at your life you will see that the pain you felt is what defines you. Not the happy moments. How willing are you to live a life without pain? Would that be life at all? I most certainly use painkillers when I am in pain. I am not claiming that I don’t. However I am a weak human being and as such, my habits on such matters should not be benchmarks for the philosophical analysis of the currently debated matter. If you ask me, I will try to avoid pain if I can. But don’t all philosophers claim that the right path is the path with the most pain involved? Are we really in such a position to argue with them?

Finally and regardless of all the above we should examine the ESSENCE of medicine. And it must be noted that its main characteristic is the doctor-patient relationship. Not the technology used. Not the medicine used. The human relationship between two people is what defines the whole medical profession. The oath of Hippocrates, the psychological support, the effect faith has in healing people (medicine can be too "irrational" and too "unscientific" if we bother to look at the depth of such an effect), the proved fact that people who have lost their will to live die more easily than those who want to stay alive et cetera, all point towards the same point: Medicine is about humans. Not about lifeless sets of bones and blood! Medicine which ignores the spiritual aspects of humans is simply not medicine.

Psychology CAN have a vast effect on human health.. Check out here or here. And this is not all. There are accounts of people who were deemed "ready to die" by medicine and when they went into a stress-free environment got better and lived happily ever after... [source]

Medicine today cares only for the part and not for the whole.

Prognosis is good.
Medicine is good.
Technology is good.

But only if you do not overdo it.

Staying too attached to your body as if it is all there is, is not good.

Humans should live. Not consider themselves “complex machines” and try to prolong their “functioning” while having lost the true meaning of life.