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5 bombshells some atheists are not aware of
May 1, 2014 at 5:11 pm
(This post was last modified: May 1, 2014 at 5:15 pm by ManMachine.)
Following on from a recent post in another thread I decided to drop a few very interesting bombshells.
These can all be verified with a little effort (I'm not doing all the work for you).
1. Darwin never once uses either the word ‘ape’ or ‘apes’ in his work ‘On The Origin of Species’, so he could never have said Humans were descendants of or shared a common ancestor with apes.
2. Richard Dawkins has never called himself an atheist, he actually considers himself to be agnostic.
3. Early on in Dawkins’ book, ‘The God Delusion’, he points out that no one can have total certainty that God does or does not exist.
4. Darwin had little faith in fossil records ever proving his theory of Evolution, he considered them too incomplete.
5. Sir Isaac Newton had an interest in the occult, he studied alchemy and believed he would discover The Philosopher’s Stone, a material capable of turning base metal into gold. He also believed that metals ‘possessed a sort of life’.
Enjoy,
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)
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RE: 5 bombshells some atheists are not aware of
May 1, 2014 at 5:19 pm
(May 1, 2014 at 5:11 pm)ManMachine Wrote: 2. Richard Dawkins has never called himself an atheist, he actually considers himself to be agnostic.
3. Early on in Dawkins’ book, ‘The God Delusion’, he points out that no one can have total certainty that God does or does not exist.
Unsurprising - I personally consider very few things to be certain.
(May 1, 2014 at 5:11 pm)ManMachine Wrote: 5. Sir Isaac Newton had an interest in the occult, he studied alchemy and believed he would discover The Philosopher’s Stone, a material capable of turning base metal into gold. He also believed that metals ‘possessed a sort of life’.
While Newton was brilliant in many regards, he lived at least part of his live as a recluse and was a bit of a kook.
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RE: 5 bombshells some atheists are not aware of
May 1, 2014 at 5:22 pm
(May 1, 2014 at 5:19 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote: (May 1, 2014 at 5:11 pm)ManMachine Wrote: 2. Richard Dawkins has never called himself an atheist, he actually considers himself to be agnostic.
3. Early on in Dawkins’ book, ‘The God Delusion’, he points out that no one can have total certainty that God does or does not exist.
Unsurprising - I personally consider very few things to be certain.
(May 1, 2014 at 5:11 pm)ManMachine Wrote: 5. Sir Isaac Newton had an interest in the occult, he studied alchemy and believed he would discover The Philosopher’s Stone, a material capable of turning base metal into gold. He also believed that metals ‘possessed a sort of life’.
While Newton was brilliant in many regards, he lived at least part of his live as a recluse and was a bit of a kook.
Newton really didn't get into his flow until after his breakdown, which many believed was mercury or lead poisoning from his alchemy experiments. His early interest in the occult may have inadvertently unlocked his later genius, in a roundabout way.
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)
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RE: 5 bombshells some atheists are not aware of
May 1, 2014 at 5:24 pm
(May 1, 2014 at 5:22 pm)ManMachine Wrote: Newton really didn't get into his flow until after his breakdown, which many believed was mercury or lead poisoning from his alchemy experiments. His early interest in the occult may have inadvertently unlocked his later genius, in a roundabout way.
Could be. Wasn't his "Principa" written while he was in his reclusive period?
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RE: 5 bombshells some atheists are not aware of
May 1, 2014 at 5:30 pm
(May 1, 2014 at 5:24 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote: (May 1, 2014 at 5:22 pm)ManMachine Wrote: Newton really didn't get into his flow until after his breakdown, which many believed was mercury or lead poisoning from his alchemy experiments. His early interest in the occult may have inadvertently unlocked his later genius, in a roundabout way.
Could be. Wasn't his "Principa" written while he was in his reclusive period?
I think he became reclusive to avoid criticism of his work and it wasn't until 1703 when he was elected to President of the Royal Society that he came back into the public eye.
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)
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RE: 5 bombshells some atheists are not aware of
May 1, 2014 at 5:30 pm
(May 1, 2014 at 5:22 pm)ManMachine Wrote: Newton really didn't get into his flow until after his breakdown, which many believed was mercury or lead poisoning from his alchemy experiments. His early interest in the occult may have inadvertently unlocked his later genius, in a roundabout way.
MM
Quite unlikely given Newton's brilliance was definitively established at least as early as when he was 23, which is when he invented calculus. 
"The reason things will never get better is because people keep electing these rich cocksuckers who don't give a shit about you."
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RE: 5 bombshells some atheists are not aware of
May 1, 2014 at 5:32 pm
(This post was last modified: May 1, 2014 at 5:37 pm by ManMachine.)
(May 1, 2014 at 5:30 pm)MindForgedManacle Wrote: (May 1, 2014 at 5:22 pm)ManMachine Wrote: Newton really didn't get into his flow until after his breakdown, which many believed was mercury or lead poisoning from his alchemy experiments. His early interest in the occult may have inadvertently unlocked his later genius, in a roundabout way.
MM
Quite unlikely given Newton's brilliance was definitively established at least as early as when he was 23, which is when he invented calculus.
I'm not saying he wasn't a genius as a young man, I'm saying he went off the rails for a bit due to not being able to handle criticism of his early works and didn't regain his academic composure until 1703, his 'later genius' as it were.
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)
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RE: 5 bombshells some atheists are not aware of
May 1, 2014 at 5:38 pm
Xtians don't seem to know that Darwin believed in a creator.
Quote:To my mind it accords better with what we know of the laws impressed on matter by the Creator, that the production and extinction of the past and present inhabitants of the world should have been due to secondary causes, like those determining the birth and death of the individual. When I view all beings not as special creations, but as the lineal descendants of some few beings which lived long before the first bed of the Silurian system was deposited, they seem to me to become ennobled.
Origin of Species, Bk XIV
One of the few things he got totally wrong.. although I'm sure that now he would gladly admit it.
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RE: 5 bombshells some atheists are not aware of
May 1, 2014 at 5:41 pm
(This post was last modified: May 1, 2014 at 5:44 pm by ManMachine.)
(May 1, 2014 at 5:38 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Xtians don't seem to know that Darwin believed in a creator.
Quote:To my mind it accords better with what we know of the laws impressed on matter by the Creator, that the production and extinction of the past and present inhabitants of the world should have been due to secondary causes, like those determining the birth and death of the individual. When I view all beings not as special creations, but as the lineal descendants of some few beings which lived long before the first bed of the Silurian system was deposited, they seem to me to become ennobled.
Origin of Species, Bk XIV
One of the few things he got totally wrong.. although I'm sure that now he would gladly admit it.
I think you make a really valuable point here, and it was kind of what I hoped would get picked up from my original post.
When religious people throw ideas around such as 'Darwin said man descended from apes', we should challenge those misrepresentations. These are valuable ideas and I feel we need to be better informed in their defence. Plus they are quite fun facts.
Other interesting 'bombshells' are very welcome.
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)
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RE: 5 bombshells some atheists are not aware of
May 1, 2014 at 5:44 pm
Yeah, true....but remember you are dealing with a bunch of shitheads who think a dead jew came back to life to atone for their sins.
The stupid is very strong with that crowd.
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