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Chapter 1: The most precious thing

#136: Feb. - Mar. 2015 (Non-Fiction)
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ant

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Re: Chapter 1: The most precious thing

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It's considered part of the middle age epoch - late middle ages

You can quibble about what inventions and medical advances should fall into early, middle, mid late, and late middle ages all you want.
,And the practical developments achieved thereafter.
The fact is that there are inventions and advancements overlooked mostly by those who wish to hold on the the now rejected view by scholars that the age was "dark" with ignorance.

Its essentially cheap whig history thats commonly promoted
Last edited by ant on Sun Jan 25, 2015 4:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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LanDroid

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Re: Chapter 1: The most precious thing

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Ooops. deleted. wrong chapter.
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President Camacho

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Re: Chapter 1: The most precious thing

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Herodotus 450(ish) B.C.E.

For if anyone, no matter who were given the opportunity of choosing from amongst all the nations in the world the beliefs which he thought best, he would inevitably choose his own native customs, and the religion he was brought up in, to be the best; and that being so, it is unlikely that anyone but a madman would mock at such things. There is abundant evidence that this is the universal feeling about the ancient custom of one's country. One might recall, in particular, an account told of Darius. When he was king of Persia, he summoned the Greeks who happened to be present at his court, and asked them what they would take to eat the dead bodies of their fathers. They replied that they would not do it for any money in the world. Later, in the presence of the Greeks, and through an interpreter, so that they could understand what was said, he asked some Indians, of the tribe called Callatiae, who do in fact eat their parents' dead bodies, what they would take to burn them. They uttered a cry of horror and forbade him to mention such a dreadful thing. One can see by this what custom can do, and Pindar, in my opinion, was right when he called it 'king of all.'

Pindar: 'Custom, the king of all/ of mortals and immortals,/ leads, justifying that which is most violent/ by its very powerful hand.'

Sagan, in my opinion, is sharing with the reader his fight... how he wasn't brow beat with religion and so was free to choose - how early on he wondered and how his parents supported his search for truth and reproached him with things which weren't true.

How true Herodotus or how true Sagan's little stories about his childhood or chauffeur are - the message is delivered. The fight against culture is an extremely difficult one. It's one only, in H's mind, that a madman would attempt to make. Sagan has more hope.

How does religion change? War and death. Replacement by force in most cases. The world today still shows this method taking place but in developed nations an effort is being made to overcome such a ridiculous struggle.

Sagan, as always, points to more important things than pretty shadows. He is, again, trying to show how reality is just as fascinating as anything in a comic book but is more awesome because it is REAL. He is showing his struggle. He's showing the army massed against him. He really has written an excellent first chapter. It's pure Sagan... still fighting :)

Carl even identifies some of science's shortcomings and dangers. He's aware that science can't provide elements such as dreams of a heaven or life after death to keep people drunk. He knows the sobering action of science.
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Re: Chapter 1: The most precious thing

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President C wrote:

For if anyone, no matter who were given the opportunity of choosing from amongst all the nations in the world the beliefs which he thought best, he would inevitably choose his own native customs, and the religion he was brought up in, to be the best;
In the sixties we youth took on the Hindu/Buddhist teachings of the Maharishi and such. Even though those teachings have become out of date now - my whole philosophy of life, and that of many of my contemporaries, was altered completely by books like 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'. I abandoned my Christian church and embraced the teachings of my Yoga teacher, who also taught us the philosophy behind Yoga. I know I have had a much happier life because of that 'learned' attitude. A nation like India has all kinds of religion. Hindu being the most common, then Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and finally Sikism which is a comparitively new faith.

It is not a matter of which we think is best. It is not a competition. I think it where one feels most at home. I feel most at home in a society where ones spiritual growth is seen as just as important as ones physical or intellectual growth.
Only those become weary of angling who bring nothing to it but the idea of catching fish.

He was born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world is mad....

Rafael Sabatini
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President Camacho

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Re: Chapter 1: The most precious thing

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Sagan is fighting against what's comfy and what's true. Where one feels most at home... that's something Sagan is trying to address. I think he admits that science can be rather boring but that it can also be more fascinating and compelling than any fiction created by man.

I think Sagan wonders why people don't choose true science. Why they'd want to make their "home" out of straw instead of something more substantial.

One more thing... competition.
This very book is competing with television, internet cat videos, pornography, alcohol, drugs, etc. for attention. It's competing with a whole lot for attention. Science is doing the same. It's work competing with play. It's going to have a very difficult time if there aren't more people like Sagan who try to show that the outcome is worth the effort.
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Re: Chapter 1: The most precious thing

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I ask your indulgence but after reading the last few posts I feel the need to ask whether the fault is outside or inside ourselves? Were "we" bored, or fickle? Is it hard, or is 'our' attention span microscopic?
n=Infinity
Sum n = -1/12
n=1

where n are natural numbers.
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President Camacho

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Re: Chapter 1: The most precious thing

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That's an easy answer and I think you already know it. Everyone's definition of work is different and how we value reward for such work differs as well. It's not about attention span so much as something more plain jane... work. We all have needs and work that produces great reward has competition from something that's very easy with some reward. People see this as a grocery store purchase but it's more serious than that because we're not talking about a single life but the timeline of humanity and what it can achieve in the least amount of time in order to survive. You take this very serious endeavor and introduce things like religion and in the long term, for me, you see a huge speed bump - a slow driver - someone who - albeit you have respect for their resolve - is just damn doing it wrong and is in the way of forward movement and the ultimate prize.

Why bear the brunt? In this life we won't get the ultimate prize. What's the ultimate prize? I don't know but as long as there is something else to find out - the challenge is on! To stop, to limit ourselves, may be a great check but defense is a LOSING proposition. It's always been a losing proposition and always will be. Sagan knows this when he talks about nuclear bombs. Science created those but science has also provided a way for cheaper food production, medicines... so on. It's saved more lives than not. Sagan is not only trying to gear people away from harmful things like drugs (religion and alcohol) but towards using science for good and being responsible with it.
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President Camacho

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Re: Chapter 1: The most precious thing

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Imagine not achieving anything than what we have today. Imagine the world uninhabitable tomorrow. Imagine the human race ended. Read its history. Would you cry?
youkrst

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Re: Chapter 1: The most precious thing

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reminds me of that tune

cry me a river
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Re: Chapter 1: The most precious thing

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PC, you claim religion is a speed bump but the scientific 'progress' in the past few centuries owes its success to churchmen of the incorrectly maligned middled ages. Pop culture and scientists in general fawn over Einstein but rarely acknowledge the debt owe to Maxwell. If you consider the impacts on daily life of these two individuals, Maxwell's is orders or magnitude more than Einstein's and yet Maxwell was a string Christian. And what about all the Nobel prize winners who were Christians? How can you justify calling religion a speed bump.

Further, religion - primarily Christianity devotes significant resources to works of charity. What resources dies science devote to charity?
n=Infinity
Sum n = -1/12
n=1

where n are natural numbers.
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