Searcherman… I am continuing this thread on account the Mass paper is important… I hope you do not mind…
You wrote:
I thought I'd start a new thread on this:
1/ What are your views concerning the Omega Point?
I just learned what this is. I will have to read more on it. But I look to science on how the universe began, and how it will end. I can't let what I want the universe to be override the science. The best available science says Dark Energy will dominate and tear the cosmos apart. We just discovered gravity waves and this is an exciting time for cosmological discovery. Stay tuned.
2/ What makes Humanistic Scientific Scepticism a superior aesthetic say over Roman Catholicism?
If you mean in the arts, I can't say my views, or aesthetic preferences, are superior. It would be arrogant for me to say so. The Catholic clergy and laity I know are better educated in the arts and history than I. I try to learn from them.
3/ What does the sentence "We are the universe experiencing itself" mean to you?
"we are made of star stuff", one of my most favorite Sagan quotes. Our brains chemicals came from those stars. This vid by Neal deGrasse Tyson says it all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D05ej8u-gU
4/ What does the role of "kindness" play in Humanistic Scientific Scepticism?
This might be a start. We believe our capacity for good comes when we see our whole planet as our tribe:
http://americanhumanist.org/humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_II
Here's another gem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5dlbCh8lY
Regarding the Omega Point… It is the Frank Tipler version I was thinking of… because essentially it would correspond to a surface Atheist Metaphysic, i.e.
A Universe that uses the Feynman idea that the universe is a giant quantum computer… that is bootstrapped to a Gold type universe… a universe that does have a Purpose using the Holographic universe approach… all grounded within Spinoza metaphysics.
This metaphysic would also describe the Sagan quote: “We are the universe exploring itself.” i.e. implies Purpose to the universe.
The question concerning aesthetics is important in this regard: Is aesthetics objective or subjective?
Here, I imagine that you are referring to the importance of what one looks at rather than what one looks like… and what one looks at makes the person… so, questions like… what is your favourite book, what is your favourite piece of music… what is your favourite piece of architecture, what is your favourite piece of art, etc. are fundamentally important… right?
The Sagan quote is also revealing in the sense that it suggests that the audience humans act for are themselves only, i.e. there is no absolute audience… God for example.
Here, the writings of Richard Rorty would be most informative… Rorty is the only atheist philosopher I am aware of who has fundamentally examined what it is to be an atheist…(interestingly, at the end of his life he regretted that he did not spend more time looking into aesthetics).
Now, the question concerning kindness is interesting…
Here I am referring to the posts you made suggesting the Witch Hunt and its affects…. Again, in many ways reflects Sagans quote, i.e. a human audience does have the ability to humiliate other humans… which suggests that the Atheist goal is Happiness…I am not suggesting that humiliating humans is the goal of atheism... all I am suggesting is that two dynamics exist in the atheist view of the world, i.e. individual freedom and group judgement... and that this dynamic fluctuates, i.e. one minute one is praised and the other minute one is blamed....and the stability of this dynamic leads to Happiness...so the goal of an Atheist Metaphysic is to contrive a critical stability between human freedom & human group judgement...
So, the question is…. How does Humanistic Scientific Scepticism lead to Human Happiness?