RE: The Case for Theism
March 11, 2013 at 5:31 pm
(This post was last modified: March 11, 2013 at 5:33 pm by ManMachine.)
(March 11, 2013 at 1:53 pm)downbeatplumb Wrote:(March 10, 2013 at 10:00 pm)ManMachine Wrote: Folklore has grown up around an old English King, Canute. It is said he once stood against the waves to demonstrate his power, and as expected the waves carried on and he dissapeared under the water as the tide came in. We can hold science up, Canute-like, against irrational human behaviour but, like ancient Kings, we too will be washed away.
Cnut the great may have done this for the exact opposite reason you suggested.
He was surrounded by sycophantic toadies who insisted he was all powerful. He disagreed and ordered the sea to stop coming in knowing that it wouldn't to prove his point.
Yes, as I've said I am aware of this. However, as we all know the folklore surrounding this was grossly simplified (as folklore tends to do) and the interpretation you just mentioned was a little too sophisticated for most people (the afore mentioned 'folk' who perpetuated the 'lore'). It's a well known misinterpretation (even Sting used the misinterpretation in one of his videos) that I employed to illustrate a point. Oddly enough I was not making a reference to the historical accuracy (or otherwise) of a 12th Century story about a 10th Century Anglo-Saxon King, for the same reason I might employ any other theme from folkish tales without direct reference to the source material (which is probably highly debateable to begin with), because its historical accuracy has nothing to do with the point I'm making.
(I am also aware that St. George didn't really kill a dragon and King Arthur didn't wear full plate armour and sit at the round table now wedged in a wall somewhere in Winchester but I won't be employing them in any conversations in this thread, just in case you were looking out for them).
MM
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
