Episode #80
News Items
The Whole God Thing
- I enjoy your podcast, and listen regularly. Other than Perry’s persistently whiney complaints about things clearly over his head (though, I know, he’s a ‘personality’), your crew seems like a decent, balanced bunch. In particular, Steven’s breadth and depth gives credibility to the whole affair.Other than my observations of dubious merit, I do have a question: I have enjoyed riding the recent tidal wave of interest generated by Dawkin’s ‘God Delusion’ and Harris’ ‘Letter To …’, and read both with nodding head. (I’m most of the way through Harris’ ‘The End of Faith’, a great companion/compliment to ‘The God Delusion’, btw).After reading Dawkin’s book, though, I felt dissatisfied with his refutation of the ontological arguments for the existence of God. (E.G., the one that begins ‘Can you imagine a being such that there is no greater being…He must be real b/c that’s greater still’ I spare you the full argument, as I trust you know it. If not, consult the text and/or the web). He essentially dismisses them as simply ‘prestidigitation’ without really going into adequate detail (from my point of view) as to why. Now, these arguments seem to lack common sense to me, but greater minds than mine – and, dare I say, Dawkin’s – have wrestled at length with these constructions, including logician Bertrand Russell’s formidable grey matter. I’d love a more complete exploration of them, and their weakness(es).So, the question: Do you think you might pause your witty banter for sufficient time to tackle so weighty a topic, and provide a more compelling refutation of these ‘God Proofs’?(And, I trust you read my jibes as they were written: tongue planted firmly in cheek)Cheers,’Skip’ TickolAlbaniaThe ontological argument: www.philosophyofreligion.info/ontological.html
- Dr. Novella,Hello I am a sophomore at Loyola University of Chicago. I love your show, but my attempts to get my fellow students into it are usually to no avail. When the panel talked about scientology, you spoke about it like it is a scam and nonsense. But what is the difference between scientology and any other religion? Cannot following Jesus and the Bible be just as ‘crazy’ as following L. Ron Hubbard and Dianetics? And in terms of being a scam, how much money do Christians and Muslims spend on their church? I doubt any of you are too religious, but don’t you think it is hypocritical for religious people to dismiss scientology, or for people to take some religions seriously while calling scientologists fools? Thank you, and will you write me a recommendation? (Joking)Ross DonnellyChicago, United Stateswww.refocus.org/charcult.htmlwww.csj.org/infoserv_cult101/checklis.htm
Science or Fiction
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Item #1
Science
New study shows that men enjoy romantic movies, so-called chick flicks almost as much as women.
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Item #2
Fiction
A recent study has found that the most unpleasant sound to humans is the sound of nails scratching across a blackboard.
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Item #3
Science
Researchers have witnessed free-ranging spider monkeys anointing themselves with crushed aromatic plants that they believe is used as a type of perfume.