“Ultimate Reality”?

It’s tempting to be sold on the idea of “ultimate reality”; that there exists something deeper than the reality we have, and that is the real arbiter that justifies or disconfirms the validity of our beliefs; the very concept of truth or even the mark scheme against which beliefs are considered more or less defensible…

Is it the Best Myth for the Goal?

Myths ― and the idea of them As I argued a few weeks ago, the material world definitely exists. The material seems concrete to us, and it exists in the most agreeable sense of the word. We are all aware that there is a deeper sense to this, and that the material is simply mind-driven…

Do you deny the link between Darwin’s theory, the Holocaust and Stalin’s genocide?

There’s a fantastic theory in science, called gravity. Gravity describes things being attracted to large masses. Despite this rather concrete description of reality, humans have not confined themselves to a prescription of gravity. Instead, we have built planes and rockets and space shuttles and we’ve had the cheek to launch things right out of our…

Can I trust my brain?

According to some apologists, the mind can only work if it is designed or permitted to work by a God. The mind can only access ‘logic’ and reason because such things are authored and exist in some sort of platonic realm. If the world were different to this ― i.e. if it were strictly natural…

Does our solar system point to God?

Obviously, our solar system is not arrow shaped: if it has a shape, it’s a slightly oval disc. It literally does not point to anything. But, is there something remarkably unique about our solar system that would lead a sufficiently curious and rational mind to believe it counts as evidence in favour of the existence…

The Human Ecosystem: knowledge and philosophy

All species exist within their ecology and niche. This is a combination of physical things, both favourable and unfavourable: nutrients and prey, predators and toxins, hot and cold, water and salt. If you imagine a deer in the woods, it exists among the trees, eating grass and bark. Humans are not like this. We live…

Completion: Finishing the questions I can’t finish.

At the start of all this I admitted to losing my cool a little. And this is the post it all happened in. And it's quite a fitting climax, because I think that was the goal. It's a complete spread (informally known as a Gish Gallop); it's too many questions, too loosely related and requires…

(Not Very) Clever Questions Atheists can’t (be Bothered to) Answer

Here is a list of questions the author thinks atheists are unable to answer. There is a good chance the questions are insincere and the questions have done the round before. In places they have been answered better, but what's the point in blogging if I won't say something someone else has already said better (Lord…

Life, Non-Life and Nature (Science has made a lot of progress)

Book Excerpt: To not know

Not knowing. We've all had the religious try to shoehorn in their preferred deity where science has had the humility to admit it doesn't know. The arrogance may even have struck and annoyed many of us. So, I thought it would earn a full place in my book, and here are the 3,000 words I've…