2007 April | Way of the Mind

Monthly Archive for April, 2007

Barbaric wisdom

Published

on April 30, 2007

. 3 Comments

I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom’s realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer’s Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is an illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content.

- Conan of Cimmeria, Queen of the Black Coast, Robert E. Howard

The first Humanist Symposium

Published

Pedro Timóteo

on April 30, 2007

in atheism and humanism

. 1 Comment

The first edition of the Humanist Symposion is out. I just noticed it, and wanted to promote it here immediately; I haven’t read its articles (except for those who also appeared in Planet Atheism) yet.

Unfortunately, I ended up not participating in this one. Lack of time, and laziness, mostly. Maybe the next one…

"True atheists" and redefining words

Published

Pedro Timóteo

on April 26, 2007

in atheism, definitions and logic

. 7 Comments

On Bligbi, there is a recent post called On true atheists, about the fact that some “atheists” attempt to set what “true atheists” must be like.

I agree with KC on this, of course; atheism is simply the lack of belief in gods, nothing more. To say “you are not a true atheist” for any reason other than “well, you do believe in a god” is an obvious example of the No true Scotsman fallacy.

It is, indeed, something I’ve mentioned in the past: how some people, for varied reasons, redefine words to mean something other than the accepted definintion, up to a point where you can’t have a useful conversation with them.

Some do it to escape from a negative association. E.g. “yes, the Inquisition was horrible, but those were not true Christians.”

Others, like the ones mentioned in the Bligbi post, do so to make the term fit with their own view. “I consider myself an atheist, and I like X, therefore true atheists must also like X.”

And some people are weirder. They make something up, but are not self-confident enough to admit their own originality, so they “steal” an accepted term and use it for what they just came up with. For instance, inventing a really weird set of beliefs — today — and calling it “Christianity”. For bonus points, say that it’s the only “true” Christianity, and that people have been wrong (see, Jesus was actually an alien, and to be saved you must worship pink things… while standing on one foot) for 2000 years.

On work, honesty, integrity, and having a "keep things running smoothly" job

Published

Pedro Timóteo

on April 24, 2007

in computers and work

. 0 Comments

Usually, I don’t cross-link posts from one blog to another, but I believe this one is related to some subjects (no, not atheism or religion ) discussed here in the past.

So, without further ado… Why I’m not a Sysadmin anymore.

I’ll welcome any opinions, comments, etc., over there, of course.

(Note: I don’t have that kind of job — or indeed, any kind — since last August. That post is a collection of thoughts about a decade or so of a particular kind of work, not about my current situation — as the post itself says, near the end.)

Bligbi: "If it wasn’t for Hell, I’d kill you but that doesn’t make me a bad person"

Published

Pedro Timóteo

on April 23, 2007

in atheism, christianity, morality and religion

. 3 Comments

Remember this Atheism FAQ entry, Without belief in an afterlife / fear of hell, how can people be moral?? The common argument (which theists keep using, without even noticing what it really says about them) that an atheist doesn’t have any reason to be moral, since he doesn’t believe in heaven or hell? In other words, that there is no morality without the supernatural, and that “morality” is simply not doing things due to fear of punishment?

Bligbi has said shortened that argument — and its implication — in a simple, brilliant way: If it wasn’t for Hell, I’d kill you but that doesn’t make me a bad person.

New features: Editing and Subscribing to comments

Published

Pedro Timóteo

on April 19, 2007

in way of the mind (site)

. 5 Comments

I’ve just added two plugins to WotM, which provide the following new features:

Edit your comments: for 30 minutes after posting a comment, you can edit it as you will. This allows you to correct typos or any other mistakes you notice immediately after posting, or to add something you remembered when you were re-reading what you just posted. The 30-minute limit is so that users can’t cowardly pretend that they didn’t say something way back in the discussion.
Subscribe to comments: below the comment text box, there is a checkbox labeled Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. By checking it when posting a comment, you can be warned of replies to that discussion by email (of course, you’ll have to include a real email address in the “email” field for it to work; that email is never shown to other readers, though). Every email includes a working “unsubscribe” link, in case you change your mind later.

Any problems, please let me know.

The Humanist Symposium, humanism, and a few thoughts

Published

Pedro Timóteo

on April 10, 2007

in atheism and humanism

. 4 Comments

I’ve never participated in a blog carnival before, mostly due to laziness, but this one may just be too interesting to pass up.

If you’re not familiar with the term, a blog carnival is when a blogger invites other bloggers to write about a particular subject, and then links to (and usually writes a synopsis of) the submitted posts. In effect, it becomes like a single issue of a magazine, with several contributors. Carnivals also tend to be have new “editions” periodically, which makes the “magazine” metaphor even more appropriate.

A popular atheism-related one is the Carnival of the Godless. However, Ebonmuse, author of the wonderful Daylight Atheism blog and the Ebon Musings collection of essays, has noticed a trend in most atheism posts and blogs: we spend too much time writing negatively about religion (what’s wrong with it, debunking myths, spotting contradictions and atrocities in the Bible, denouncing the actions of some of the worst theists, and so on), and too little writing positively about being free from religion. So he’s created a new one: The Humanist Symposium.

Continue reading ‘The Humanist Symposium, humanism, and a few thoughts’

Different claims

Published

Pedro Timóteo

on April 9, 2007

in atheism, religion and short posts

. 6 Comments

An atheist’s typical claim is simple: there is no god.

A theist’s typical claim, on the other hand, is a little more complex: there is a god, and he is exactly like I think he is, wants what I think he wants, and hates what I think he hates.

Coming soon: short posts

Published

Pedro Timóteo

on April 9, 2007

in way of the mind (site)

. 1 Comment

No, I’m not saying that all my posts will be shorter from now on. What I mean is that I’m thinking of creating a new category on Way of the Mind, with (yes) shorter posts, which, unlike the “normal” ones, will simply suggest an idea, a point, a thought… without being followed by any kind of opinion or conclusion from me. They’ll be “short” precisely because of that.

Obviously, any comments on those posts (and, indeed, on any post) will be welcome.

Hopefully, the first one will appear tomorrow; I already know what it’ll be about. But don’t worry, the “normal” posts will still be written from time to time.