... but who cares? Einstein & Faith. (Hat tip, Joe of New York.)
"There are people who say there is no God," he told a friend. "But what makes me really angry is that they quote me for support of such views."
"What separates me from most so-called atheists is a feeling of utter humility toward the unattainable secrets of the harmony of the cosmos," he explained.
This runs counter to what Dawkins has to say about Einstein in The God Delusion.
There is alot of wisdom in Blake's lines,
ReplyDelete"He who responds to words of doubt
Doth put the light of knowledge out."
If one sees the world in colour, one isn't going to be particularly interested in wasting one's time with the thoughts of someone claiming all is in black & white, and anyone claiming otherwise is lying or mad. Which is the position of an avowed atheist towards someone of a mystical awareness. Another way of looking at a Dawkins is as an isolated ego insisting on, and unwilling to let go of, his isolated egoness. Perhaps the best attitude towards such ego-people is exemplified by, "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."
Though in line with the essence of the thread a few thoughts of Einstein:
"Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe- a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort."
Also..."A knowledge of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty-it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude...in this sense I am a deeply religious man."
Also..."The most beautiful and most profound experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger ...is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and most radiant beauty...this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness."
Einstein says:"...The situation may be expressed by an image: science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
ReplyDelete"If one sees the world in colour, one isn't going to be particularly interested in wasting one's time with the thoughts of someone claiming all is in black & white, and THAT anyone claiming otherwise is lying or mad."
ReplyDeleteWithout the "that", my earlier' post's meaning could be muddied.
William Blake:
ReplyDelete"When I tell the truth, it is not for the sake of convincing those who do not know it, but for the sake of defending those that do. "
"Really—I don't know what the meaning or purpose of life is. But it looks exactly as if something were meant by it."
ReplyDelete--C.G. Jung