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PZ Myers

PZ Myers Books

Scientist

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“Plantinga has written a short, 5 page summary of his views on evolution and naturalism, and it’s lucid (for Plantinga) and goes straight to his main points. The workings of the man's mind sit there naked and exposed, and all the stripped gears and misaligned cogs and broken engines of his misperception are there for easy examination. Read it, and you'll wonder how a man so confused could have acquired such a high reputation; you might even think that philosophy has been Sokaled.”

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“We godless lack that certainty, and we know the world is a complex place that requires compromise and is not ruled by a moral force - virtue is subject to negotiation, and is found in working together with others to find mutually satisfactory solutions. Good is not absolute, it is an emergent property that arises from successful networks of individuals. It is also something that is measured by evidence: we look at the good that people do, not the promises that they make and never keep, or the lies that dovetail nicely into dogma. Competence is a virtue. Intent is meaningless without action.”

PeopleKnowsWorldLooksActionTogetherLyingFoundIndividualForceMoralVirtueSuccessfulSubjectsPromiseSolutionsEvidenceAbsolutesPropertyComplexesAtheistAriseCompromiseCertaintyWorking TogetherMeaninglessDogmaNegotiationCompetence
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“Many of the religious apologists out there are not stupid people, they are often brilliant. People working in the field of theology and philosophy smart people everywhere. What they are those religious apologists are smart poeple who can build these amazingly intricate rationalizations for whatever weird practice they favor. Whether it's ritual cannibalism, or praying to spirits, or treating women as chattel. And they always building this on terrible shaky foundation of false premises.”

PeoplePhilosophySpiritReligiousPracticeStupidFieldsBuildingPrayingTerribleSmartFoundationBrilliantFavorsTheologyRitualPremisesStupid PeopleIntricateSmart PeopleNot StupidCannibalism
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“FAITH. No one word personifies the absolute worst and most wicked properties of religion better than that. Faith is mind-rot. It’s the poison that destroys critical thinking, undermines evidence, and leads people into lives dedicated to absurdity. It’s a parasite regarded as a virtue. I speak as a representative of the scientific faction of atheism: it’s one thing we simply cannot compromise on. Faith is wrong.”

PeopleThinkingMindSpeakVirtueOne ThingAtheismWorstEvidenceAbsolutesPropertyCriticalCompromisePoisonWickedDedicatedRepresentativesAbsurdityOne WordCritical ThinkingFactionsParasites
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“Most of what happens in the world is just a consequence of natural, universal laws- laws that apply everywhere and to everything, with no special exemptions or amplifications for your benefit- given variety by the input of chance. Everything that you as a human being consider cosmically important is an accident.”

WorldHumansImportantHappensLawGivenNaturalChanceHuman BeingsSpecialBenefitsConsequenceUniversalAccidentsVarietyExistentialismInputUniversal LawsExemptionAmplification
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“The mediocrity principle simply states that you aren't special. The universe does not revolve around you; this planet isn't privileged in any unique way; your country is not the perfect product of directed, intentional fate; and that tuna sandwich you had for lunch was not plotting to give you indigestion.”

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