[lit-ideas] Re: The Piano Man
- From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 12:03:38 -0400
> [Original Message]
> From: Paul Stone <pas@xxxxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 8/23/2005 11:07:19 AM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: The Piano Man
>
>
> >So you don't believe in the unconscious. How do you explain compulsions
> >and obsessions? Do you believe in evolution?
>
> I don't "believe" in ANYTHING for more than about 5 minutes. I'm in flux.
I
> can watch a hokey show like "ufo insiders" with the unctious Robert O
Dean
> and amid the laughter, I can think "you know, that's really interesting".
> Then I can go outside and pick up Roger Penrose's "Road to Reality" and
> immerse myself in the beauty of math. Then I come in and catch Kent
Hovind
> [drdino.com] on the tele and think "what if.... nah!!!". I read an
article
> about Islam and read some of the Qu'ran and think "interesting". Then I
see
> the havoc and think "maybe not so interesting". I marvel at the
conspiracy
> theorists and RC nutjobs who actually take Dan Brown's books to heart,
all
> the while, reading them myself and wondering "what's the fuss about?" I
> tune into the big discussion over on Theoria about Dawkin's " The Selfish
> Gene" and start thinking about evolution. Then I read Behe's "Darwin's
> Black Box" and consider ID seriously.
>
> So, you ask me what I believe in? When I'm dreaming, I believe in the
> unconscious. When I have deja vu, I believe in clairvoyance. When I'm
> extraordinarily lucky or unlucky, I believe in fate. When I'm at work, I
> believe in Hell. When I look at the northern Lights on the hood of my car
> at 3 a.m. with no one around, I believe in God.
>
> I don't need to explain compulsions and obsessions. They just are, just
> like Phil Enns' love for his favourite flavour of ice cream.
>
That's where we're different. I do have a hard and fast belief in science.
I don't believe in God or the supernatural under any circumstances. I
don't believe in UFO's. I do believe in the immense power of the mind and
in the power of suggestion. I do not believe in clairvoyance. I also
don't believe things just are. There's an explanation for everything, even
if we don't know what that explanation is. The laws of physics and the
elements are constant throughout the universe. We are uncovering those
laws bit by bit and finding out that we on earth are subject to them along
with the rest of the universe. I believe the mind also follows certain
principles that are slowly showing themselves. I believe there are reasons
for obsessions, compulsions, depressions, love, hate, phobias, whatever,
just like there are reasons for everything else. Saying things just are
seems a statement of hopelessness in my opinion.
I think Dan Brown raises interesting questions. His playing fast and loose
with some of the historical facts doesn't invalidate his questions, and his
fast and loose is no faster or looser than anyone else's, including that of
the Bible and other "holy" books.
Andy Amago
> inscrutably yours,
> p
>
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