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News Briefs 06-05-2008

Time for a nice cuppa.

Thanks Greg

Quote of the Day:

My friends, as I have discovered myself, there are no disasters, only opportunities. And, indeed, opportunities for fresh disasters.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London

  1. Figments of Imagination
    “Not thou alone, but all humanity doth in its progress fable emulate. Whence came thy rocket-ships and submarines if not from Nautilus, from Cavorite?

    “Your trustiest companions since the cave, we apparitions guided mankind’s tread, our planet, unseen counterpart to thine, as permanent, as ven’rable, as true.

    “On dream’s foundation matter’s mudyards rest. Two sketching hands, each one the other draws: the fantasies thou’ve fashioned fashion thee.”

    “If we mere insubstantial fancies be, how more so thee, who from us substance stole?”

    Prospero, at the end of LoEG: The Black Dossier, by Al Moore and Kevin O’Neill.

    1. Aha!
      [quote=Matt]”On dream’s foundation matter’s mudyards rest. Two sketching hands, each one the other draws: the fantasies thou’ve fashioned fashion thee.”[/quote]

      Like this? 🙂

      PS: What are we talking about, again? 😉
      —–
      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

      1. …in one!
        Spot on! I liked how the article largely avoided a “therefore it’s nonsense” conclusion. It reminded me of the speech from the end of the book: Moore’s lecturette on the symbiosis between the real and imaginary. From today’s news I now know this may be true for thunder dancing apes too!

        Matt

        1. The title of the piece
          The title of the piece (Religion a figment of the imagination) is misleading, as the first sentence merely implies that imagination is a prerequisite to religion.

          This is not an unreasonable statement. Imagination grants us the ability to ask ‘What if there’s a God?’ or ‘Am I part of a larger whole?’

          However, the fact that humans can use their imagination is not an alternative to the idea that ‘religion evolved and spread because it promoted social bonding’.

          The anthropologist speculates that imagination was born (at the same time as cave art began to appear) as a result of a development in neural architecture.

          I think that the idea, explored in Graham Hancock’s Supernatural (Amazon US & UK), that hallucinogens kick-started imagination/spirituality/religion etc has a lot more going for it.

          ——

          I don’t believe in belief!

          Perceval

          1. Super…
            I’d say yes, it’s a very worthwhile read. It’s an eye-opening and scholarly account of the parallels between prehistoric cave art, shamanic experiences (including his own entheogen-induced hallucinations), accounts of abductions by fairies and aliens, building to a ‘unified theory’ of all things supernatural.

            A few too many examples for the impatient reader, I feel, but they do reinforce his case (if making the book a little bloated).

            It doesn’t really reach a firm conclusion, leads up some very strange speculative avenues with regard to the role of DNA, and inevitably leaves many questions unanswered.

            But do read it – it’s an important book IMO.

            ——

            I don’t believe in belief!

            Perceval

  2. the naturmobil, a one-horse power vehicle
    The article did not mention the cost of this crazy contraption.

    —–
    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

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