I like to appear smart. Even if it turns out I am not. It is a little quirk of mine. In case some of you also like to appear smart, here is a little trick to do so. It works surprisingly often. Just use Latin names for things that everyone knows. People seem to think knowing the Latin name for a concept shows an...

With debates like this representing much of the argument that makes it through to the public, it is inevitable that people will become disenchanted with argument. Just to remind us of what argument could be, let’s take a look at some of it’s virtues. The many uses of Argument 1) To find the right conclusion Logic is...

I read an article the other day (and lost the address) the explained that it might be possible to resuscitate people quite a long time after their heart has stopped beating. Despite expectations, cells seem to be able to survive relatively long periods without oxygen. The cells just have to be brought back into the...

Pascal’s Wager has a premise that is often taken for granted. This premise is almost unsupportable, yet the whole argument relies upon it. Pascal’s Wager assumes that there are only two divine possibilities: An all knowing, all powerful, and perfectly moral God exists There is no God This premise is false. The world’s...

God is Immoral A recently popular response to Pascal’s Wager argues that if God exists, he is not worthy of our devotion. This is not an argument against the existence of God, but one that encourages ‘just resistance’ to God. The basic thrust of the argument is that if God is willing to reward and punish for the...

Pascal’s Wager is an argument for the belief in God, whether or not he exists. This argument looks at the pros and cons of believing in God. In essence Pascal’s Wager says “what’s in it for me.” As the argument goes, the main advantages of belief in God are after one dies. Going to heaven being the ultimate reward...

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you saw no reason to believe in a world outside of your mind. It doesn’t really change much. You still react to what your senses tell you. What else are you going to do? But, you just don’t believe that your senses are necessarily truthfully reporting some “objective reality.”...

At the risk of getting myself labeled a techie or a nerd I’m going to talk about something a little uncommon for this blog. I find Linux, as a social phenomena, incredibly interesting. Aside from that I have recently been quite impressed with the quality of this operating system. Here are my top five reasons why....