The Possibilian Manifesto
Posted by Greg at 13:53, 11 Jan 2011Are you completely over the whole 'fundamentalist religion vs militant atheism' scene? Do you embrace the tools of science, but love to speculate on what could possibly be. Of course you do, you're a regular visitor to The Daily Grail. Well then, my friend, you may just be a 'Possibilian'.
Here's neuroscientist and author Dr David Eagleman discussing the philosophical stance he calls 'Possibilianism':
Sure, you could say that Eagleman writes off psi from his list of possibles a bit too quickly. You could also argue that not everything explanatory has to be about objective scientific fact (for example, Eagleman's apparent assumption that creation myths of various cultures are solely a 'best guess' about how things actually happened). But I don't mind this Possibilian crowd at all, they seem like my type of people. Just as long as I don't have to sign away my life savings and drink some Kool-Aid, I'm in!
By the way, if Eagleman's name rings a bell, it may be because we've mentioned some of his research previously - he's the neuroscientist who tried to figure out if the 'time dilation' experienced during a near-death experience allowed real-world slow-motion recall. He's also the author of Sum: Forty Tales of the Afterlives (Amazon US and UK).
And if that pose he's striking in the still-frame to the video is anything to go by, he's got the whole 'starting a new religion' thing down to a fine art...
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28 November 2004
1 year 42 weeks
Just as long as I don't have to sign away my life savings and drink some Kool-Aid, I'm in!
I'm pretty much down for any movement that is better than the current XD
Personally, for the lack of faith I found in religions, I found in the humble idea of infinity ∞ ∞ ∞ And what ever revolution that happens would be environmentally-conscious and pro-education so YAY SCIENCE!
p.s. Good luck with the floods out there Greg!
p.p.s. Don't get sentimental with your possessions if you need to leave them HAHA Oh Wait not the iPad!
Sometimes we get what we need instead of what we want.
12 April 2007
25 min 39 sec
I too did take issue with some of his premises —Science being comfortable with holding multiple hypotheses on the table? tell that to the guys having a war over a peer-reviewed paper on PSI that hasn't even been published yet! also, the idea that we all are "products of our culture" and that we don't see different opposing ideas evenly distributed in the social landscape fails to observe the impact of counter-culture, and that not all ideas get the same level of "air-time" on the communications channel.
But I did like this. Give me a possibilian any time over a die-hard atheist or fundamentalism. At least they are showing a bit more humility —not too much, though.
It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
_______________
@red_pill_junkie
30 September 2006
5 days 21 hours
Um ... it all sounds terribly well kinda Buddhist to me. I mean it's hip and has its own domain name and appeals to the pluralist masses and all but ... as they say: It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
cf blog.teledyn.com
14 April 2009
7 weeks 5 days
Yes, the spirit of Model Agnosticism lives on!
(~12 models of what QM really means. ~11 models of evolution. At least 4 models of logic. It's all good)
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All that lives is holy, life delights in life.
--William Blake
4 February 2011
2 years 19 weeks
Great stuff!
Those who believe in an external truth are at an advantage, but those that think they understand that truth are at a disadvantage, beautifully described by possibilianariatarianism.
Don't believe in God, know there's a God, but don't you come quantifying the unquantifiable to me! As the 'G' word is so controversial, I'll end with the phrase - God is not offended by the word cunt.
12 April 2007
25 min 39 sec
You know, last time I checked, Greg Taylor didn't wear a big white beard or threw lightning bolts out of his hand.
My point: The Grail might be a haven, but that's partly because we *do* have a language etiquette around here. So please, a bit of restraint when writing those comments, which are more than welcome —as are you :)
It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
_______________
@red_pill_junkie