THE RISE OF MODERN EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCES: THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD

TODAY, HUMANITY DOES NOT NEED THE "NEW WORLD ORDER" PROPOSED AND GRADUALLY BEING IMPLEMENTED BY THE IMPERIALIST OF THE WESTERN CIVILIZATION. WHAT WE NEED IS A BENEVOLENT NEW AGE OF REASON.
~ Perman Wilson

The glory of the Age of Reason meant more than the sphere of speculative thinking and theory. The success of seventeenth-century scholars in "mathematicizing the universe" led to the extension of natural law to all the experimental sciences.

Fully convinced that they were working in a mechanistic universe controlled by natural law, scientists turned from theology to experimentation and observation to improve their disciplines. 

Using the telescope, microscope, pendulum clock, barometer, thermometer, and a host of other devices, they set about the task of accumulating a vast amount of accurate data.

Discoveries of scientific facts multiplied, and interest in science grew rapidly.

New scientific organizations, including the Royal Society of London and the French Academy of Sciences, were founded to encourage scholars, publish scientific treatises, perfect and standardize instruments, and coordinate information.

The work of the new scientists had a profound influence on Western civilization, taking rank in importance with the discovery of the "New World" and the Commercial Revolution.

~ Author Unknown

HUMANISM

HUMANISM is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and evidence over acceptance of dogma or superstition

DEFINITION OF TERMS AS USED HERE:

• Agency is the capacity of a person to act in any given environment.
• Critical thinking (also called critical analysis) is clear, rational thinking involving critique.
• Rational thinking is thinking that is reasonable, based on facts or reason.
•  Reason is the capacity for making sense of things, applying logic, establishing and verifying facts, and changing or justifying practices, institutions, and beliefs based on new or existing information.
•  Critique is a method of disciplined, systematic analysis of a written or oral communications.

The meaning of the term humanism has fluctuated according to the successive intellectual movements which have identified with it. The term was coined by Friedrich Niethammer at the beginning of the 19th century.

Generally, however, humanism refers to a perspective that affirms some notion of human freedom and progress.

In modern times, humanist movements are typically aligned with secularism, and today humanism typically refers to a non-theistic centered on human agency and looking to science rather than revelation from a supernatural source to understand the world.

MORE DEFINITION OF TERMS AS USED HERE:

• Secularism is the principle of the separation of government institutions and persons mandated to represent the state from religious institutions and religious dignitaries. One manifestation of secularism is asserting the right to be free from religious rule and teachings, or, in a state declared to be neutral on matters of belief, from the imposition by government of religion or religious practices upon its people. Another manifestation of secularism is the view that public activities and decisions, especially political ones, should be uninfluenced by religious beliefs and/or practices.
• Revelation In religion and theology is the delusional belief that one is communicating with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. 

CRITICAL THINKING (author unknown)

Critical thinking involves a diverse array of skills including:

• analyzing
• conceptualizing
• defining
• examining
• inferring
• listening
• questioning
• reasoning
• synthesizing

Critical thinking includes evaluating information--even our own thoughts--in a disciplined way. This helps us to refine our thought processes, which enables us to think and assess information more comprehensively and become more able to identify and reject false ideas and false ideologies.

Reasoning should be based in sound, consistent logic, not emotions or social pressure. Truth of factual claims is not determined by the emotion that accompanies them or the fact that they may be believed by certain social groups.

Some of the barriers to critical thinking are:

• intellectual arrogance
• intellectual laziness
• unwillingness to listen and learn
• lack of respect for reason
• lack of respect for evidence

Qualities of critical thinkers:

• can handle uncertainty
• prefers to be aware of their areas of ignorance
• can wait for valid evidence
• can wait for evidence-based answers

Critical thinking can give each of us our own key to intellectual independence so that we can solve our own problems for our selves.

It moves us away from rash conclusions, mystification and reluctance to question received wisdom, authority, and tradition.

It moves us towards intellectual discipline, clear expression of ideas, and acceptance of personal responsibility for our own thinking.

People who habitually apply critical thinking tend to be eager to acquire and apply the best knowledge and reason in all fields, are willing to acknowledge and correct flaws in their own thinking, and are better equipped to create more profoundly effective solutions to the challenges we face in living and living together.

When we teach and invest in critical thinking we empower individual lives and invest in our collective future.

THE WORLD NEEDS A NEW AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

If all Europeans had remained obliviously blinded by faith,
the world wouldn't have the internet, television, telephone,
and a host of other technological inventions.

Now we need another Age of Enlightenment
to stop the wars, bigotry, prejudice,
and a host of other ill-thoughts and ill-feelings.

~ Perman Wilson

The Enlightenment, which is also referred to as the Age of Reason (or alternately as the Age of Rationalism), was a period when European philosophers emphasized the use of reason as the best method for learning the truth.


Beginning in the 1600's and lasting through the 1700's, philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), Voltaire (1694-1778), and John Locke (1632-1704) explored issues in education, law, and politics. They published their thoughts, issuing attacks on social injustice, religious superstition, and ignorance. Their ideas fanned the fires of the American and French revolutions in the late 1700s.

EXPERIENCE

Experience is purely subjective without first being processed by pure reason.

He also said that using reason without applying it to experience only leads to theoretical illusions.

SELF-AWARENESS IS A PREREQUISITE FOR SELF-FULFILLMENT

SELF-AWARENESS is conscious knowledge of one's own character, feelings, motives, and desires.

You will acquire and develop self-awareness by discovering and analyzing your feelings, aptitudes, traits, interests, abilities, and needs.

APTITUDE is a natural ability to do something.

TRAIT is a distinguishing quality to do something.

INTEREST is the state of wanting to know or learn about something.

ABILITY is possession of the means or skill to do something.

NEED is a thing that is desired or required.

INSPIRATION: JUST FOR TODAY

JUST FOR TODAY I will enjoy pleasant memories while putting in proper learning perspective unpleasant ones. I will not be too harshly critical of any person, place, or thing in my past--including myself--realizing that I cannot improve my past but I can improve myself and affect an enjoyable and productive present as I persistently and consistently prepare for the best future I can affect. 

JUST FOR TODAY I will enjoy every moment. This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that, “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Optimism rather than pessimism helps. Reasonable self-confidence and wholesome self-esteem also helps.

JUST FOR TODAY I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my “luck” as it comes, and fit myself to it.

JUST FOR TODAY I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will learn something that requires effort, thought and concentration.

JUST FOR TODAY I will exercise my body rigorously for at least 20 minutes. I will also exercise my soul in three ways: I will do some research, study, and/or problem-solving. I will do at least two things I don’t want to do—just to exercise my willpower. I will avoid negative thinking. And, I will be considerate of the possible thoughts, feelings, and actions of others.

JUST FOR TODAY I will be pleasant with everyone with whom I come into contact. I will look pleasing, dress becomingly, speak kindly, act courteously, and avoid unjustly criticizing anyone—including myself. I will consistently write and speak in pleasant tones. If I engage in any controversial discussion, I will do so only to the extent whereas all participants are genuinely trying to find objective truths; I will immediately disengage when subjectivity prevents any party to the conversation from objectively seeking the truth.

JUST FOR TODAY I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. My self-confidence and optimism will prevent worry and indecision. And, if I lack self-confidence or optimism, I will research, study, and practice in order to bolster my self-confidence and/or increase my optimism.

Notes from 'HAPPIER' by Tal Ben-Shahar, Ph.D.

The HAMURGER MODEL – Four Types:

1.   HEDONIST – The first archetypal hamburger is the one that is the tasty junk-food burger.

Eating this hamburger would yield present benefit, in that I would enjoy it, and future detriment, in that I would subsequently not feel well.

The experience of present benefit and future detriment defines the hedonism archetype.

Hedonists live by the maxim “Seek pleasure and avoid pain”;
they focus on enjoying the present while ignoring the potential negative consequences of their actions.

2.   RAT RACER – The second archetypal hamburger is a tasteless vegetarian burger made with only the most healthful ingredients which would yield future benefit, in that I would subsequently feel good and healthy, and present detriment, in that I would not enjoy eating it.

3.   NIHILIST – The third type of hamburger eater eats the worst of all possible burgers, one that is both tasteless and unhealthful.

Eating such a hamburger, I would experience present detriment, in that it tastes bad, and suffer future detriment, in that it is unhealthful.

The nihilism archetype describes the person who has lost the lust for life—someone who neither enjoys the moment nor has a sense of future purpose.

4.   WELL-BALANCED REALIST – The fourth type of hamburger eater is one who eats a delicious veggie burger smothered in a delicious sauce.

Eating this hamburger would yield present benefit, in that I would enjoy it, and future benefit, in that I would enjoy the consequences of having eaten it.

TO FURTHER EXPLAIN:

·         If the rat-race archetype describes the state of living for the future and the hedonism archetype the state of living for the present, then the nihilism archetype captures the state of being chained to the past.

·         Nihilists who have resigned themselves to their present unhappiness and expect the same sort of life in the future are fettered to their past failures to attain happiness. Such attachment to past failures has been described by Martin Seligman as “learned helplessness.”

·         The rat-racer, the hedonist, and the nihilist are all, in their own way, guilty of a fallacy—an inaccurate reading of reality, of the true nature of happiness and what it takes to lead a fulfilling life.

·         The rat-racer suffers from the “arrival fallacy”—the false belief that reaching a valued destination can sustain happiness.

The rat-racer’s illusion is that reaching some future destination will bring him lasting happiness; he or she does not recognize the significance of the journey.

·         The hedonist suffers from the “floating moment fallacy”—the false belief that happiness can be sustained by an ongoing experience of momentary pleasures that are detached from a future purpose.

The hedonist’s illusion is that only the journey is important.

·         Nihilism is also a fallacy, a misreading of reality—the false belief that no matter what one does, one cannot attain happiness.

The nihilist, having given up on both the destination and the journey, is disillusioned with life.

The fallacy of nihilism stems from the inability to see a synthesis between arrivals and floating moments, some third option that may provide a way out of one’s unhappy predicament.

While present and future benefit may sometimes conflict—because some situations demand that we forgo one for the other—it is possible to enjoy both for much of the time.

People (like me) who truly love learning, for instance, derive present benefit from the pleasure they take in discovering new ideas and future benefit from the ways in which those ideas will prepare them (and others with whom they share these ideas) for the rest of life.

For another example, in romantic relationships some couples enjoy their time together and help each other grow and develop.

And, as a final example, those who work at something they love—be it business, medicine, or art—can progress in their career while enjoying the journey.

·         To expect constant happiness, though, is to set ourselves up for failure and disappointment. Not everything that we do can provide us both present and future benefit. It is sometimes worthwhile to forgo present benefit for greater future gain, and in every life some mundane work is unavoidable. The key is to keep in mind, even as one forgoes some present gain for the sake of a larger future gain, that the objective is to spend as much time as possible engaged in activities that provide both present and future benefit.

·         The rat-racer is a slave to the future. The hedonist is a slave to the moment. The nihilist is a slave to the past.

·         Attaining lasting happiness requires that we enjoy the journey on our way toward a destination we deem valuable. Happiness is not about dwelling on or living in the past; it is not about climbing aimlessly around the mountain; and it is not about making it to the peak of the mountain.

·         Attaining lasting happiness requires that we learn from the past, make our best decisions in the present, and prepare for the future—all in an enjoyable, well-balanced, realistic way. ~ Perman Wilson

·         Happiness is the worthwhile experience of climbing toward the peak of the mountain while enjoying every moment of it. ~ Perman Wilson

WHAT VOLTAIRE WROTE ABOUT CHRISTIANITY BEFORE HIS DEATH

Our [religion, Christianity] is assuredly the most ridiculous, the most absurd and the most bloody religion which has ever infected this world.

Your Majesty will do the human race an eternal service by extirpating this infamous superstition, I do not say among the rabble, who are not worthy of being enlightened and who are apt for every yoke; I say among honest people, among men who think, among those who wish to think. 

… My one regret in dying is that I cannot aid you in this noble enterprise, the finest and most respectable which the human mind can point out..

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WAS AMERICA'S GREATEST TEACHER (Part 2)

Some of Benjamin Franklin's wise sayings:  

• Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
• Early to bed and early to rise
  makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
• Lost time is never found again.
• Without continuous growth and progress,
  such words as improvement, achievement, and success
  have no meaning.
• An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
• By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
• We are all born ignorant,
  but one must work hard to remain stupid.
• Either write something worth reading
  or do something worth writing.
• It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation
  and only one bad one to lose it.
• In this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.
• Any fool can criticize and complain,
  and most fools do.
• Well done is better than well said.
• The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.
• Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.
• Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a being a better person.
• From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books.
• All mankind is divided into three groups:
  those that are immovable,
  those that are movable,
  and those that move.
  [another way to say the same thing--rather than "movable":
  those that are non-motivated, those that are motivated by others, and those that are self-motivated.]
• Being ignorant is not so much a shame
  as being unwilling to learn.
• Be slow in choosing a friend,
  slower in changing.
• Mine is better than ours.
• It is much easier to suppress a first desire
  than to satisfy those that follow.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WAS AMERICAS GREATEST TEACHER (Part 1)

Many generations of Americans have learned from Benjamin Franklin's teachings--most without even knowing from whom the thoughts originated.

My endeavor is to continuously self-improve and to help as many others as I can to do likewise. So, to start, I'm going to research principles proclaimed by Benjamin Franklin, and share them with all who are interested.

Besides writing many wise sayings in an almanac, Benjamin Franklin was an inventor, statesman, and publisher.

[An almanac is an annual publication that includes information such as weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and tabular information often arranged according to the calendar. Astronomical data and various statistics are found in almancs, such as the times of the rising and setting of the sun and moon, eclipses, hours of full tide, church festivals, and so on.]
___________

Poor Richard's Almanac 
[Source: Wikipedia]

Poor Richard's Almanac (sometimes Almanack) was a yearly almanac published by Benjamin Franklin, who adopted the pseudonym of "Poor Richard" or "Richard Saunders" for this purpose. The publication appeared continually from 1732 to 1758. It sold exceptionally well for a pamphlet published in the American colonies; print runs reached 10,000 per year.

Franklin, the American inventor, statesman, and publisher, achieved success with Poor Richard's Almanac. Almanacs were very popular books in colonial America, offering a mixture of seasonal weather forecasts, practical household hints, puzzles, and other amusements. Poor Richard's Almanac was also popular for its extensive use of wordplay, and some of the witty phrases coined in the work survive in the contemporary American vernacular. Benjamin Franklin first published the Almanac under the name of "Richard Saunders" in 1732 and continued for 25 years.

________________

THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING IN IT IS ONE

For a better understanding, the mind analyzes or breaks things down into separate parts. This break-down is mentally artificial because the universe is one.

Our total makeup as individuals is physical (the whole body), mental (the brain's productivity), and emotional (the effects of the nervous system--which includes the brain, the spinal cord, and the many nerve cells that conduct information throughout the body).

An individual is not an isolated being; a person is an intricate part of the universe. As human beings, we have to deal with a physical environment, a mental environment, an emotional environment, and a social environment.

Since all is connected, and since we have to adapt or adjust to these ever-changing environments. We must continually balance ourselves in regards to each one in order to be happy or content.

To have and maintain a PHYSICAL BALANCE, we need air, water, food, sunlight, exercise, sleep, and sex.

The MENTAL balancing includes having adequate wisdom, knowledge, and a current flow of information necessary for sufficient awareness.

For an EMOTIONAL balance, it helps to have love and affection as well as to exercise rational and optimistic thinking.

And, the SOCIAL balancing includes getting along with others in one's environment, cooperating with some people for benevolent purposes, and harmonizing oneself in a oneness with all people in a humane way for the good of humanity.

ACCURATE THINKING

What EVERY good thinker who wants to be an accurate thinker should persistently and consistently endeavor to do is to think OBJECTIVELY.

HE OR SHE should persistently and consistently strive to do WHATEVER should be done rather than what he or she wants to do.

NATURE, HUMANITY, AND ONESELF should be considered in EVERY decision that one should make.

GOD IS AN IDEA, NOT A FACT

Any words uttered or symbols presented can make a statement.

A statement is a meaningful communication to someone.

If a statement is not a fact, it's an idea.

A fact is a statement that has been proven.

An idea is a statement that has NOT been proven.

A SCIENTIFIC METHOD

A SCIENTIFIC METHOD is a method of procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION, MEASUREMENT, AND EXPERIMENT, AND THE FORMULATION, TESTING, AND MODIFICATION OF HYPOTHESES.

ANYBODY CAN USE A SCIENTIFIC METHOD TO DISCOVER KNOWLEDGE OR VERIFY INFORMATION OR JUSTIFY BELIEFS.

Science is not some mystical phenomenon that is the domain of the gifted.

SCIENCE MERELY REFERS TO THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED BY USAGE OF A SCIENTIFIC METHOD.

Thus, SCIENTISTS are people who use or have been trained to use a scientific method to discover, verify, or JUSTIFY information or beliefs.

ANY dissemination of information that has not originated by usage of a scientific method has been acquired by using a method antiquated prior to the 17th century.

AND, any so-called knowledge that originated prior to the 17th century and has not been verified using a scientific method is unreliable.

HOW DO I KNOW? (based upon the writings of Chris Redford)

How do I know what is real?
Why do I believe what I believe?
What am I justified to believe?

For years, ancient Greek philosophers argued convincingly that we could know nothing with absolute certainty--that is, until Rene Descartes uttered, "I think, therefore I am." This is the only necessarily true statement that is beyond doubt.

Thus, even if one thinks, then one cannot necessarily justify the existence of other beings; but, if one thinks, one can justify one's own existence as a thinking being.

So, if I purge all of my beliefs and add back only those which I can justify, I can only justify my own existence because my perceptions can be inaccurate. For example, I have been asleep and believing that what was happening was really happening--only to awaken and find out that it was only a dream. Thus I could be dreaming about anything that I perceive to be true.

Therefore, other than knowing that I exist, I don't actually know that anyone or anything else exists so I have to make a presupposition (an assumption) and that presupposition is:

At least some of my perceptions (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) are accurate--that is, that they reflect reality.

Of course, none of my perceptions are necessarily accurate but without this presupposition, I have nowhere to go epistemologically.

[Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that investigates what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.]

Without this presupposition, I can prove nothing to be absolutely true except that I myself exist (but only as a thinking being and only to myself), but I could not prove that anything else exists--not even to myself.

Thus, presupposing that at least some of my perceptions are accurate, how do I make conclusions about reality?

(1) I form beliefs about reality based on physical evidence.

(2) The strength of my beliefs should be directly proportional to the amount of evidence I have for them.

(3) If I ever doubt the validity of a conclusion that I make based on evidence, I can return to that evidence, re-examine it, and see if I come to the same conclusion.

Thus for beliefs to be justified they must be grounded in evidence. Beliefs that have more evidence are more justified, and beliefs that have less evidence are less justified.

(4) It would be unfeasible for me to personally collect all the evidence I use for my beliefs. However, I can gather new types of evidence in the form of the multimedia and testimonies given by other people. But, I cannot place as much confidence in multimedia and testimonies as I can in direct physical evidence.

If I want to maximize my confidence in the physical evidence given to me by other people, I should use such evidence as a starting point and then investigate such evidence myself.

If I refuse to do this with any such belief, I must accept that my confidence is lower than it would be if I had verified such beliefs myself.

NOTES FROM 'THE AGE OF REASON' by Thomas Paine

In the general wreck of superstition, of false systems of government, and of false theology, we lose sight of MORALITY and of HUMANITY.

I believe in the equality of human beings [none are inherently superior to any other].

I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow humane beings happy.

From ESV Bible: 1 Corinthians 15:14 (Paul’s letter to the Corinthians):

14. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

Four propositions undercut the entire foundations of Christianity—THE BELIEF THAT JESUS HAD LITERALLY RISEN FROM A GRAVE:

1. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead involved the resuscitation of his corpse.
2. All statements in the New Testament and other early Christian literature about Jesus’ resurrection are statements of faith, not reports of an historical event.
3. Jesus’ body decayed.
4. Somebody stole the body and disposed of it.
5. His followers lied about his resurrection after he died.
6. Belief in Jesus’ resurrection does not depend on what happened to his body.

Therefore, because nobody living can ever know what really happened to Jesus' body, if there was indeed a man who did die on a cross that came to be called Jesus, it is very likely that the Christian faith is in vain.

Moreover, these differing narratives of Easter in the later Gospels cannot be harmonized to produce a consistent story. They contradict each other too much. It’s clear that the physical resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday is a fictional evolution arising a good half-century after Jesus’ death. It is impossible any longer to accept such a miraculous event.

~ Professor Thomas Shehan

THE MEANING OF LIFE

In all theistic systems--even non-theological mystical systems--there is the assumption of a supernatural realm that transcends normal human perceptions, giving meaning and validity to a person's life in exchange for some sort of obedience or submission to a prescribed way of living (believing, behaving, or worshipping) in accordance with the respective theological or mystical system.

In a non-theistic and non-mystical system, there is no belief in any spiritual realm outside of a person or transcending him or her. The realm of love, reason and justice exists as a reality only because, and inasmuch as, a person has been able to develop these powers in himself or herself throughout the process of his or her self-awareness, self-improvement, and eventual self-fulfillment.

In this non-theistic and non-mystical view there is no meaning to life, except the meaning that the person himself or herself gives to it. Such a person realizes that he or she is utterly alone except inasmuch as he or she cooperates or associates with another.

GOD IS I, INASMUCH AS I AM HUMANE

We can never BE a god, but as we improve and become more in accord with accurate thinking, love, and justice we get closer to becoming our humane godly ideal. 
We must strive to evolve from the superstitious idealizations to humane principles.

The God of Abraham can be loved, or feared, as a father, sometimes his forgiveness, sometimes his anger being the dominant aspect. Inasmuch as God is the father, I am the child. I have not emerged fully from the fantastic wish for omniscience and omnipotence. I have not yet acquired the objectivity to realize my limitations as a human being, my ignorance, my helplessness. I still claim, like a child, that there must be a father who rescues me, who watches me, who punishes me, a father who likes me when I am obedient, who is flattered by my praise and angry because of my disobedience.

Quite obviously, the majority of people have, in their personal development, not overcome this infantile stage, and hence the belief in God to most people is the belief in a helping father—a childish illusion.

In spite of the fact that this concept of religion has been overcome by some of the great teachers of the human race, and by a minority of people, it is still the dominant form of religion.