Nearly all the posts are bilingual.
Presque tous les articles sont bilingues.

English spoken. On parle français. (وكمان منفهم عربي، حبيبي)

Most of this blog's contents is subject to copyright. For instance, many of the latest illustrations I've made myself. I'm the cooperative type. If you intend to borrow some material, please contact me by leaving a comment. :-)
La plupart du contenu de ce blog est soumis aux droits d'auteurs. Par exemple, nombre des illustrations les plus récentes sont faites par moi. Je suis du genre coulant. Si vous comptez emprunter du contenu, SVP contactez-moi en laissant un commentaire. :-)

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

(G)astronomy

'Tis midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Strange thoughts come at such a time and place. I'm in the mood for a midnight snack. An apple, maybe?
Ack! No! Anything but the apple, you daft woman!

You know, some very odd pious believers picture to us the Creator of All that Is like some sort of twisted pervert who gave us senses, instincts, desires, solely to have fun forbidding us to draw the slightest pleasure from them. "Fast, refrain, chastite, I will it, bwahaha!" How sadistic.
Curiously, the official Satanists (Church of Saint Szandor LaVey) assure us that on the other hand the Devil, even though he did NOT make us (phew! I would've had to call him "Dad"), encourages us to enjoy existence, which according to them would be an excellent reason to switch allegiances. It's a bit as if General Motors told us to stop polluting the weather with their 4-wheel-drives, while pedestrian associations would encourage us to jump-start the crising economy by buying american cars to floor it in road trips along Road 66. (Or 666.)
And yet, I was told that "cruelty towards a child or an animal is the only true sin" according to the "Bible" of those unbridled Satanist hedonists, which is a pleasant change from the scandals of pedophile abuses, even pederastic ones, from the Boston Churches to the Madrasas of Islamabad "selling" us the Allah-Yahve marketing concept. (Copyrighted, all rights revulsed, watch out from our lawyers.)
This paradox probably explains why the pedagogy of devotion doesn't seem to have properly caught on me.

As my father once told one of these austerists : "How about when you're praying, doesn't it bring YOU great pleasure? So, when you pray God, is it also a sin?" Or did God also give us a brain with total forbiddedness of using our logical intelligence?
Basta, take this cilice away from my sight!
Carmelite nun Teresa of Ávila had in her prayer trances the perfect and physical equivalent of orgasms. Lucky her. Had I been taught to do that, in Catechism, I guarantee to you that I would've assimilated better!!! Instead of thinking about girls to fight off the boredom of classes.

''Oh, God! OH GOD!!!''Mystic saint Teresa of Ávila, in supreme ecstasy when "the fire spear of the handsome smiling young Angel lovingly pierces her to the heart". Bernini statue, Roma.

Don't let the gloomy bigots con you into believing the contrary : God loves pleasures. God loves Pleasure.
Quite often, at the moment of our death, a mechanism occurs which is totally superfluous from the evolutionary point of view, and an endorphins discharge flooding our brain fills us with serenity, even well-being, at the moment when we're about to check whether God does exist (and how many arms He's got, by Vishnu). Only the (superstitious) fear of death can prevent this final pleasure. My own grandfather went like this from fear to serenity. A dying cat purrs when its final minute comes, did you know that? It made some ignorants suggest that "therefore, purring isn't the same pleasure sign as a human smile". Philistines.

If it is possible to become a drug addict, it's precisely because our brain, similarly to most animals, including insects, is fundamentally designed to feel pleasure, up to the most intense there is. We're made that way, it's our nature!
Samely, the feminine orgasm is totally unjustified by the sole logic of biological Evolution. It's just a bonus from the Maker given to our beloved lifemates. A nice present, nothing else. The Species doesn't need it to last.
God created the pleasure of sex so that its invincible lure in the male ensured the survival of all species, including ours, "and God saw that it was good". [Genesis 1: 25-27] In fact, "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." No comment. Before carefully recommending "Be fruitful, and multiply" to really make the point, and there aren't 50,000 ways to do so! Nowhere is chastity mentioned as something that pleases Him, our Maker who so resembles us. (Minus the calamitous defects. Cellulitis, premature baldness, crow's feet, body odors, gut-bely, pilosity excess... ;-)

But let us look a bit further. To do like God, let us frankly back off, let's acquire some perspective.
The entire Universe is good. Yes it is. Hop it!
Indeed, the Universe, viewed at a large scale, has the frothy texture of whipped cream. Bubbles of space surrounded with... galaxies, which as you all know get their name from the greek galaktos which means "milk".
The Universe is a dark red color, as Edwin Hubble demonstrated when he formulated the laws of spectral shift of the aforementioned galaxies. It's the Doppler effect applied to light waves. Yup. There.

Seiya, red shifting SaintRedshift, the cosmic shift of light towards red, is quite visible in Saint Seiya, Pegasus Knight of Bronze.

The Universe is cold, but not freezing. In its average matter density of 3 atoms per cubic meter (is that light, or what?), is an average temperature of about 3 degrees above absolute Zero. Icy-cold, that? Are you kidding? In nuclear demagnetising laboratories using vitamined lasers, we puny humans manage to go down to a billionth of degree Kelvin, not THAT's really butt-freezing cold. Cold is logarithmic, and getting close to absolute Zero is like aiming for the speed of light : a flirt with infinity.
Very recently was witnessed, this is serious now, the strong presence of ethyl formate in the cosmos. Otherwise put, raspberry flavor. "Bah? Humbug?" Nay, I tell you. Let me explain. Fruit flavor comes, quite often, from a single chemical molecule, that allows us to say without hesitation "this is the taste of apple, of orange, banana, peach, strawberry, etcætera". (Me, I love etcætera. And cinnamon, too.) It is by synthetically reproducing this molecule, identically, that artificial flavorings are made in candy and more or less in most sweet foods in today's world of simulacra. Lo and behold, ethyl formate is very precisely the flavor of raspberry. And the Universe is full of it!
Finally, the whole Cosmos is humming. Auuuummmm! The unfathomable expansion (incorrectly called "explosion") of the Big Bang has released, precisely, a detonation more deafening than anything you can possibly imagine. (You're trying right now, but no, it's still far more gigantic than that. And even more yet. Give it up.) Today, akin to the echo in our ringing eardrums of an over-enthusiastic 4th of July firecracker, that "explosion" has become a tenuous humming, or its cosmic equivalent, discretely resonating everywhere we are. Absolutely everywhere, I tell you, needless to zip 12 billion light-years away, you'll still hear it just the same. It's called the cosmic background radiation, for naturally it's not made of moving air. I'd say it's a bit similar to the light flight of a ladybug. Hush! Listen, can you hear it, that sound as soft as the rising evening wind?

Saint Shun's got the BluesThe Andromeda nebula, tutelary galaxy of Saint Shun "mister Blues", is one of the few cosmic bodies to display a blue shift, showing that it's getting closer to us. This is out of the norm. So is Shun, for he's markedly effeminate.

Let's sum up : the entire Universe is dark red. It hums imperceptibly like a flying ladybug, it's chilly but not freezing, it tastes like raspberries, and has the frothy texture of whipped cream. The Universe is one gigantic raspberry ice-cream, laden with Milky Ways. In Springtime.
The Great Astronomer is a great gastronome. And a ruddy poet on top! (Even more so than handsome and romantic Shun, my sweet maiden.)
So, love, live, listen to music, enjoy Nature, and savour everything which is good, especially a chilled raspberry milkshake on a calm evening terrace. It is God's will. For He loves us and wants our life to be beautiful.
It is written in the Stars. It is our Destiny. Thus spake Zarathustra. 42.
Amen.

« 'Tis night: now do all gushing fountains speak louder. And my soul also is a gushing fountain.
'Tis night: now only do all songs of the loving ones awake. And my soul also is the song of a loving one. » - [Zarathustra, cosmic spirit]





Il est minuit dans le Jardin du Bien et du Mal. D'étranges idées viennent en un tel temps et lieu. J'ai envie d'un casse-croûte nocturne. Une pomme, peut-être?
Ah non! Surtout pas la pomme, malheureuse!

Vous savez, certains pieux croyants bien étranges nous présentent le Créateur de Tout ce qui Est comme une espèce de tordu pervers qui nous aurait donné des sens, des instincts, des désirs, uniquement pour s'amuser à nous interdire d'en tirer le moindre plaisir. "Jeûnez, réfrénez, chastez, je le veux, gnahaha!" Quel sadisme.
Curieusement, les Satanistes officiels (Eglise de Saint Szandor LaVey) nous assurent que le Démon, lui, qui pourtant ne nous a nullement faits (ouf! j'aurais dû l'appeler "Papa"), nous encourage à savourer l'existence, ce qui à les écouter serait une excellente raison de changer d'allégeances. C'est un peu comme si General Motors nous disait d'arrêter de polluer le climat avec leurs 4x4, tandis que les associations de piétons nous encourageraient à faire redémarrer l'économie en crise en achetant des voitures américaines pour des
road trips à compteur bloqué sur la Route 66. (Ou 666.)
Ceci dit, l'on raconte que "la cruauté envers un enfant ou un animal est le seul vrai péché" selon la "Bible" de ces hédonistes débridés de Satanistes, ce qui change agréablement des scandales d'abus pédophiles, voire pédérastiques, depuis les Eglises de Boston jusqu'aux Madrassas d'Islamabad qui nous "vendent" le concept marketing d'Allah-Yahvé. (Copyrighté, tous droits révulsés, gare à nos avocats.)
Ce paradoxe explique probablement pourquoi la pédagogie de la dévotion ne semble pas avoir bien pris sur moi.

Comme disait mon père à un de ces austéristes : "Et quand tu pries, toi, ça ne te procure pas un grand plaisir? Alors, quand tu pries Dieu, c'est aussi un péché?" Ou bien Dieu nous a aussi donné un cerveau avec interdification formelle de se servir de notre intelligence logique?
Basta, cachez ce cilice que je ne saurais voir!
La carmélite Therèse d'Ávila avait dans ses transes de prière l'équivalent parfait et physique d'orgasmes. La veinarde. On m'aurait appris à faire ça, au Catéchisme, je vous garantis que j'aurais mieux assimilé!!! Au lieu de penser aux filles pour tromper l'ennui en classe.

''Oh, mon Dieu! OH MON DIEU!!!''La sainte mystique Therèse d'Ávila, en extase suprême lorsque "la lance de feu du beau jeune Ange souriant la transperce jusqu'au cœur avec amour". Statue de Bernini, Rome.

Ne laissez pas les bigots lugubres vous faire accroire le contraire : Dieu aime les plaisirs. LE plaisir.
Bien souvent, au moment de notre mort, un mécanisme totalement superflu sur le plan évolutif survient, et une décharge d'endorphines inondant notre cerveau nous remplit de sérénité, voire de bien-être, au moment où nous allons vérifier si Dieu existe bien (et combien de bras Il a, par Vishnou). Seule la peur (superstitieuse) de la mort peut empêcher ce plaisir final. Mon propre grand-père est ainsi passé de la peur à la sérénité. Un chat mourant ronronne quand sa dernière minute arrive, le saviez-vous? Cela a conduits certains ignorants à suggérer que "donc, le ronronnement n'est pas le même signe de plaisir que le sourire humain". Béotiens.

S'il est possible de devenir toxicomane, c'est bien parce que notre cerveau, ainsi que celui de la plupart des animaux, insectes compris, est conçu fondamentalement pour ressentir le plaisir, jusqu'au plus intense qui soit. Nous sommes fabriqués ainsi, c'est notre nature!
De même, l'orgasme féminin est totalement immotivé par la seule logique de l'Evolution biologique. C'est juste un bonus du Fabricant donné à nos chères compagnes. Un cadeau sympa, rien d'autre. L'Espèce n'en a pas besoin pour perdurer.
Dieu a créé le plaisir du sexe pour que son attrait invincible chez le mâle assure la survie de toutes les espèces, dont la nôtre, "et Dieu vit que cela était bon". [Genèse 1: 25-27] D'ailleurs, "Dieu créa l’être humain à son image, il le créa à l’image de Dieu, il créa l’homme et la femme." No comment. Avant de bien recommander "croissez et multipliez" pour bien marquer le coup, et il n'y a pas 50.000 façons de ce faire! Nulle part il n'est fait mention de la chasteté comme une chose qui Lui plaît, à notre Créateur qui nous ressemble tant. (Les défauts calamiteux en moins. Cellulite, calvitie précoce, pattes d'oie, odeurs corporelles, bedaine, excédents pileux... ;-)

Mais voyons un peu plus loin. Pour faire comme Dieu, prenons franchement du recul, acquérons de la perspective.
L'Univers tout entier est bon. Si. Hop!
De fait, l'Univers, vu à grande échelle, a la texture mousseuse de la crème fouettée. Des bulles d'espace entourées de... galaxies, qui comme chacun sait doivent leur nom au grec
galaktos qui signifie "lait".
L'Univers est de couleur rouge sombre, comme l'a démontré Edwin Hubble en formulant les lois du décalage spectral des susmentionnées galaxies. C'est l'effet Doppler appliqué aux ondes lumineuses. Oui. Voilà.

Seiya, Saint décalé qui voit rougeLe redshift, décalage cosmique vers le rouge, est bien visible chez Saint Seiya, Chevalier de Bronze de Pégase.

L'Univers est froid, mais non glacial. Dans sa densité moyenne de matière de 3 atomes par mètre cube (c'est-y léger, ou quoi?), il règne une température d'environ 3 degrés au-dessus du Zéro absolu. Glacial, ça? Vous rigolez! En laboratoire de désaimantation nucléaire aux lasers vitaminés, nous autres insignifiants Terriens arrivons à descendre à un milliardième de degré Kelvin, alors ÇA c'est glacial à s'en geler les fesses. Le froid, c'est logarithmique, et s'approcher du Zéro absolu c'est comme viser la vitesse de la lumière : un flirt avec l'infini.
Tout récemment, on a constaté, c'est tout ce qu'il y a de sérieux, la forte présence de formate d'éthyle dans le cosmos. Autrement dit, l'arôme de framboise. "Bof? Billevesées?" Que nenni. Je vous explique. Le goût des fruits est, bien souvent, dû à une unique molécule chimique, qui nous permet de dire sans hésiter "c'est le goût de pomme, d'orange, de banane, de pêche, de fraise, etcætera". (Moi, j'adore l'etcætera. Et aussi la cannelle.) C'est en reproduisant synthétiquement cette molécule, à l'identique, qu'on fabrique les arômes artificiels dans les bonbons et peu ou prou la plupart des aliments sucrés actuels dans notre monde de simulacres. Or, le formate d'éthyle, c'est le parfum de la framboise, très précisément. Et il y en a plein l'Univers!
Enfin, le Cosmos tout entier bourdonne. Aoooouuuummmm! L'incommensurable expansion (incorrectement appelée "explosion") du Big Bang a libéré, justement, une détonation plus assourdissante que tout ce que vous pouvez imaginer. (Vous êtes en train d'essayer à l'instant, mais non, c'est encore bien plus gigantesque que ça. Et même davantage encore. Renoncez.) Aujourd'hui, tel l'écho dans nos tympans vibrants d'un pétard du 14 juillet trop enthousiaste, cette "explosion" est devenue un infime bourdonnement, ou son équivalent cosmique, qui résonne discrètement partout où l'on se trouve. Absolument partout, je vous dis, inutile de filer à 12 milliards d'années-lumière, vous l'entendrez tout pareil. On l'appelle le rayonnement de fond cosmologique, car bien entendu il n'est pas fait d'air en mouvement. Je dirais que c'est un peu similaire au vol léger d'une coccinelle. Chut! Ecoute, l'entends-tu, ce son doux comme le vent du soir qui se lève?

Saint Shun a le BluesLa nébuleuse d'Andromède, galaxie tutélaire de Saint Shun "mister Blues", est un des rares corps cosmiques à présenter un décalage vers le bleu, montrant qu'elle se rapproche de nous. C'est hors-norme. Shun aussi, car il est notablement efféminé.

Résumons-nous : l'Univers tout entier est de couleur rouge sombre. Il fredonne imperceptiblement comme une coccinelle en vol, il est bien froid mais pas glacial, il a le goût des framboises, et la texture mousseuse de la crème fouettée. L'Univers est une gigantesque glace à la framboise traversée par des Voies Lactées. Au Printemps.
Le Grand Astronome est un grand gastronome. Et un bon sang de poète, en prime! (Plus encore que le beau et romantique Shun, ma douce mie.)
Alors, aimez, vivez, écoutez de la musique, savourez la Nature, et dégustez tout ce qui est bon, surtout un milkshake glacé à la framboise sur une terrasse calme le soir. Dieu le veut. Car Il nous aime et veut que notre vie soit belle.
C'est inscrit dans les Etoiles. C'est notre Destin. Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra. 42.
Amen.

« Il fait nuit : voici que s'élève plus haut la voix des fontaines jaillissantes. Et mon âme, elle aussi, est une fontaine jaillissante.
Il fait nuit : voici que s'éveillent tous les chants des amoureux. Et mon âme, elle aussi, est un chant d'amoureux. » - [Zarathoustra, esprit cosmique]

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Carmelite nun Teresa of Ávila had in her prayer trances the perfect and physical equivalent of orgasms. Lucky her. Had I been taught to do that, in Catechism, I guarantee to you that I would've assimilated better!!!

Yes, that would be a nice skill to have.

Don't let the gloomy bigots con you into believing the contrary : God loves pleasures. God loves Pleasure.

You could only believe this if you ignore all the evidence to the contrary. Throw your Bible on the fire.

Quite often, at the moment of our death, a mechanism occurs which is totally superfluous from the evolutionary point of view, and an endorphins discharge flooding our brain fills us with serenity, even well-being, at the moment when we're about to check whether God does exist (and how many arms He's got, by Vishnu).

Considering how little is known about the brain, I'd hesitate to say it's superfluous. After all, our brains are designed in a way that makes us crave explanations. Even the junk explanations religion offers - anything is better than nothing.

Only the (superstitious) fear of death can prevent this final pleasure.

How is it superstitious? It is only natural that we should fear the total extinction of the personality. We may not matter in the grand scheme of things (and if you disagree, try this Total Perspective Vortex I've got over here) but we think we matter, and it seems grossly unfair and unjust that we should cease to be.

Samely, the feminine orgasm is totally unjustified by the sole logic of biological Evolution. It's just a bonus from the Maker given to our beloved lifemates. A nice present, nothing else. The Species doesn't need it to last.

It's not unjustified. It reinforces the pair bond.

Hopefully this was all just a big joke...

Let's sum up : the entire Universe is dark red. It hums imperceptibly like a flying ladybug, it's chilly but not freezing, it tastes like raspberries, and has the frothy texture of whipped cream. The Universe is one gigantic raspberry ice-cream, laden with Milky Ways. In Springtime.

Let's get working on that Spelloscope.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Why, Joe, on your photo you look... changed! Have you cut your hair? ;-)

"Throw your Bible on the fire."
Did I say it was the God from the Bible? The same God who would forget how he created a spheric post-galilean planet, or mention unicorns, leviathans and dragons but forget about dinosaurs? And acts like a petty spoiled child-tyrant WISHING for omnipotence to make up for his blatant insecurity?
Besides, I would never follow your here advice. As somebody said during the Muhammad Cartoons affair: "Religion is like nitroglycerin. Don't shake it too much or it might explode."
I'm NOT throwing nitro in the fire! Nuh-unh.

"Considering how little is known about the brain, I'd hesitate to say it's superfluous."
Under the POV of Evolution, which is supposed to select traits with some use for the survival of the species, pre-death serenity is totally useless. And yet it seems nearly universal!
It really, really sounds like a gratuitous gift of mercy bestowed upon us.
And, very interestingly, upon all animals with any known awareness of some degree.

This is most interesting when you ponder that, also, in one's final moments, many beings are capable of efforts which at any other time would be officially superhuman. We can go fighting, or we can go smiling.
We can also go kicking and screaming... For instance, in case we feel nostalgic about our wedding day! ;-p

"How is it superstitious? It is only natural that we should fear the total extinction of the personality."
That's not the kind of fear I meant.
Also, we know that from the instant we are born, we're going to die some day. When the time comes naturally, fear is pointless. Whether it bothers you or not, natural, timely death is as it should be.
"Fear not that you shall die. But fear that you should have not lived."

And I really believe that even being an atheist is no reason to suddenly fear when your clock stops ticking. "Be a man!"
But, what I really meant, is that very pious people suddenly start trembling. I've heard of atheists suddenly finding faith on their death bead ("you know, just in case..."). But the opposite? It's the saddening proof that some people, even the most seemingly believing, have a faith which is little more than elaborate superstition, that they Believe out of conformism, not out of true Faith. So when the time for the real trial comes, their facade of fakeness crumbles, and they start doubting it all.
Ultimately, this oscillates between ridiculous, embarrassing, and pity-inspiring. (And having three possible sides between which to fall make this balance most precarious!)

[to be continued]

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

"It's not unjustified. It reinforces the pair bond."
Do not mistake it with affection. Lots of species mate without the female having orgasm. For instance, in felines, if the coitus is not PAINFUL to the female, it's fruitless, and she doesn't ovulate.
In humans, the woman can only hope to experience it during mating if the male is caring and sharing.
Typically, the male climaxes first, and is selfish, and doesn't bother with preliminaries. I mean, in the standard caveman scenario.
Which a great many so-called "modern" men still play out. Ain't no shortage of macho Douraks on this planet.
If feminine orgasm was biologically necessary, all macho societies would've come extinct. You wish!

There comes a point when you can't help but consider these things with the philosophical angle, because cold reason alone doesn't explain all.
And traditional religion, let's not even mention what THAT "explains"!

"Hopefully this was all just a big joke."
If you mean the part about feminine orgasm, actually that was the most dead-serious part of my whole post.
And consider that the ethyl formate bit is absolutely genuine, so...

Giving orgasms to one's mate is simply a moral duty to any loving man claiming to be more than a selfish animal. To remain, biologically, it is no more necessary that love was for marriage in the last 60 centuries or so.

Biology doesn't explain everything. But the "traditional" competitors in the explaining domain, namely traditional religion? Not even worth mentioning.
So I just use the best options currently available : sense, philosophy, and my loving optimistic nature. Never underestimate the powers of a good intuition, most of the time mine has proven right.
All those, supposedly given to me by a God that's immensely unlike what the fanatics "sell".
No, I'm not an atheist. Not philosophically. I'm not a sheep in the Church's flock, either. I'm an infuriatingly independant maverick, running neither with the herd nor the opposite way, but where I please. One side, you hapless cattle en route to the slaughterhouse! Me, I exist, I'm my own mind.

Don't ask me who the lasso-spinning cow-boys are supposed to be in THAT image. It's late, and I'm off to bed.
Zzzzzzzzzz.........

Anonymous said...

We're distantly related to the bonobo and if you look at them you can see how the female orgasm has a purpose and why evolution would select for it. I'm not sure about chimps. They are much more like us, really - extremely violent, and all conflicts always resolved by violence instead of by doin' it like with the bonobos.

I'm just sayin' that before we go attributing anything to any god - whether it's that fucked up nutjob from the Old Testament or anyone else - we should remind ourselves that, as Isaac Asimov said, to surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Who ever said I wasn't premature myself? Do I sound mature to you? ;-)

What about the raspberry milkshake, hunh? Don't tell me THAT's not a proof of a Go(d)urmet's existence. Beats the classic Great Clocksmith argument, no? :-)
Though I deeply venerate Asimov. He didn't create the Universe, but definitely created modern Robots and their Laws. Amen.
(swish-swish, does the hexagonal Bolt sign)

Personally, I'm more the bonobo type... You know, all that insufferably romantic "make love not war" shit.

But about our Bonobo relatives, precisely...

- First, it's still unclear which of the great apes ARE the closest to us. Bonobos, or chimps? According to some criterias, it would seem to be gorillas! Even though they're strict herbivores, and we're not. Also, gorillas are far less brutal than chimpanzees, that's another one against their case. Mitochondrial DNA seemed to say our closest relatives were the orang-utans. Go figgyer.
So, while I markedly lean towards chimps and/or bonobos (as our closest relatives IN GENERAL, I mean!!!), we can't take the latter as definitive proof regarding our own evolution and us "being like them".
Besides, what creationnists never got yet, is that Apes are NOT claimed to be our ancestors. They're our cousins from a remote common ancestor. A bit like Jews and Arabs are related through Abraham's two kids. Just a wee bit.

- Second, bonobos do indeed boink all the time, but most of these "fond hellos", or "intimate smoochies" if you prefer, don't end up in the female's orgasm, and in fact not always the male's either. I guess they're just addicted to smut for the sake of their own perversion, not even because of the lure of orgasm... ;-)

- And finally, what I said about the "non-necessariness" of orgasm in human females was from an article precisely about those, which you'll admit are far more interesting than hairy apes, no matter how these latter are endearingly fond of sex.

Of course, I said there was no BIOLOGICAL necessity for feminine orgasm, and if you've read a bit of sexology you'll know that many a prolific mother has never known it in her whole life. How sad, I know. Some, nay, MANY Douraks are so thick, they don't even mind if their spouse doesn't simulate, they only care about getting their own selfish macho pleasure. And yet, look at how prolific the Arabs are, for instance.
If the feminine orgasm was vital to the species, men would put far greater care into being good lovers.
I rest my case.

How can anybody possibly be happily married by living in selfishness is beyond me. I guess it's all about that sickening and near-universal misconception that love is possessiveness instead of sharing.

That's not what my pussy at home says.
I've got a cat that's smarter than a majority of human males! ):-P

Feminine orgasm is necessary for psychological reasons, for couple harmony and women's well-being. But that's not an evolutionary process. If you're to rely on the religious Books, it's not even Old-Style God's will. What a waste of the Book of Proverbs... Wasn't that more important to tell than Lot's, um, "private family matters"? None of them manuscripts prescribe "thou shalt share ecstasy with thy woman".

Well, the Kâma Sûtra excepted. I stand corrected.
At ease, Little Paulie. Enough standing now. Down, boy. Easy.
(Sorry, Joe, I guess Little Paulie's feeling competitive. Can you cover this avatar image of yours for five minutes? Thanks.)

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

I've just remembered something about drug addictions.
In an "intelligent design" perspective, opiates like Cocaine or Morphin would also be a gift of mercy. Properly used instead of abused, they're awesome pharmaceutical tools. Giving us general anaesthetics for surgery, Codein against cough, and morphin is THE best response so far to the inhumane pains of terminal cancer.
Yup. If "Someone Up There" (wherever "up there" is in Space) made us and Everything There Is, He/She/It isn't the meanie bully we invented for ourselves through the misty visions of our unconscious nightmares, thus unwittingly revealing our own very human fears.

My deist belief, is that we invented an image that doesn't correspond to God, and wrote solemn Books based on the supposition that our intrinsic fears of Mighty Angry Power, for instance "divine" dictators Pharaoh or Caesar, applied samely to a Perfect being... of Love?!?
Only the deep-rooted tyranny of Traditions prevents us from seeing the illocical silliness of believing in a bullying, fear-monger Divinity. The same way we believe that a good parent HAS to be a very strict and severe one.

I seriously expect that there IS something awaiting the non-material part of us spiritual beings after we die. And probably some very poorly known influence on the Big Picture of our lives. I also firmly believe that no surveilance cameras in the clouds serve to monitor our every slip and focus the targeting systems of vengeful lightning bolts. ;-p

At worst, like you seem to state, religion is just a heap of long-outdated superstitions and the People's Opium to keep the masses under convenient control. At best, like I believe, it's cluttered a huge bunch of naiveness like a curtain in front of the real Truth, which some might have glimpsed on occasions, and it usually misleads us (even genuine saints) from clearly seeing what really lies there. Like a muleta shaken before the bull, who can only fixate on the lure of the moving fabric.

But I don't like bulls. Milky Ways come gushing from the boobs of peaceful cows.

Anonymous said...

Apes are NOT claimed to be our ancestors. They're our cousins from a remote common ancestor.

Preachin' to the choir. It's standard for creationists to say "If we're descended from apes, why are there still apes?" I just figure if you're going to argue about something like that, do your homework!

if you've read a bit of sexology

I let my subscription to Hustler lapse, unfortunately. ;-)

But that's not an evolutionary process.

My reasoning was only that from a gene's point of view, the best thing we can do is reproduce and pass on those genes. And the female orgasm might play some part in that. To say it has no evolutionary purpose I think may not be entirely correct because it has a bearing on other things that are.

Can you cover this avatar image of yours for five minutes?

Can't do it, sorry!

morphin is THE best response so far to the inhumane pains of terminal cancer.

Wouldn't heroin be better?

I seriously expect that there IS something awaiting the non-material part of us spiritual beings after we die.

Possible, but the point is that there isn't actually any evidence that's true. Plus I don't agree that it could be a god of love. Creating a universe where cruelty obviously reigns on all levels. Take a look at nature. Nothing peaceful or beautiful there. It's a brutal, unfair, largely pointless struggle for survival and supremacy. A god of love created this? If it was the work of anyone, it was some Dark Lord who gets his rocks off on misery and pain.

At worst, like you seem to state, religion is just a heap of long-outdated superstitions

I do. Unfortunately those superstitions, slavishly followed, lead to great evil. Stephen Weinberg said: "With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." 'Nuff said!

it's cluttered a huge bunch of naiveness like a curtain in front of the real Truth, which some might have glimpsed on occasions, and it usually misleads us (even genuine saints) from clearly seeing what really lies there.

Science will uncover those truths and philosophy or religion never could. If any god or gods exist, if an afterlife exists, if the soul exists - it'll be science that proves it. There can be no supernatural things. If you prove they exist, then they're not supernatural.

But I don't like bulls. Milky Ways come gushing from the boobs of peaceful cows.

Now you've just got me craving a Frosty Chocolate Milkshake. And boobs.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

"Preachin' to the choir."
Like any good pastor choosing the easy way. :-)
But you keep forgetting there's a public behind, too. Let's teach the slow learners as well.

"Wouldn't heroin be better?"
Actually, no.
Poppy extract gives base morphin, which is then converted by drug merchants into heroin. The reason, is that it's much more addictive.
Gives more pleasure, but also lots more problems, while morphin not only is easier to control, but works best against pain.
Morphin isn't very goot to "get off". But it's swell for medical treatment.

"the point is that there isn't actually any evidence that's true."
Well, undoubtedly, no-one should feel compelled to believe in God. Not even amicably pressured.
But let's not AGAIN drone about my religious education. (Especially since I'm trying to save on therapy expenditures.)

"it was some Dark Lord who gets his rocks off on misery and pain."
What next? You going to tell me that hurting kids and/or animals is wrong?
I just *knew* you were a closet Satanist!
(Okay, I admit, still better than finding a man in your wife's closet.)

"for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."
(sigh) Don't. Get. Me. Started.
BTW, racism does the job pretty nicely too, don't you think?
Granted, quite often religion SANCTIONED racism.
"Savages, they have no soul!" - (Pocahontas, by Disney)

"Science will uncover those truths"
Science has its limits, you know.
Could science ever tell, of two formally impeccable poems, which is beautiful, moving, romantic... and which is just blah-blah?

This is, in fact, one of the strongest point of Science, IMO : that it admits having limits, that it announces that "I can't explain everything, only objective things".
Only imbeciles never doubt.
But enough about the former U.S. President already!

"it'll be science that proves it."
Again, science has established that some things it can't prove.
First, by its very definition. What depends on belief, you can neither prove nor disprove. If you never catch a sea serpent in a thousand years, doesn't prove that sea serpents don't exist.
And second, science has established the absolute impossibility to tell whether our Universe is even real or not. To summarize it in lay man's terms, "If we were all Sims in some gigantic computer simulation, programmed by some geek we're calling "God", then it would be impossible to us from within to know anything else than what was programmed, to use any other rules [a.k.a. laws of physics] than those made available to us."
That is, IF the Universe isn't real, if it's merely information. But the paradoxes of Quantum physics have already proven that all we know is in the end information, perceived from within this Universe. The rest, is the domain of belief and unverifyable suppositions.

Or, otherwise put, "any hypothesis which doesn't imply the possibility to verify it, is non-scientific, and science shouldn't even bother with it."
You once saw a ghost? Can you show us the ghost again, in controlled conditions? No? Then science doesn't give a lab rodent's rump.

Even the Vatican finally came to realize, with Galileo, that they had sponsored more than religion was capable of handling. Namely, verifiable facts like cosmology.
Nowadays, they wisely stick to arbitrary moral norms and denial of foul intent in the paedophilia scandals cover-ups. Stuff that's strictly about taking their word for it.

"Now you've just got me craving"
Hey, these two go along great!
"Holy cow!", as the Hinduists would say.

Anonymous said...

Morphin isn't very goot to "get off". But it's swell for medical treatment.

Yes, when I was in this accident once and had morphine in the hospital. While it didn't exactly give a "high" I do remember not really being aware of the passage of time. Hours went by and felt like minutes. It was the only thing that did anything for the pain. Tylenol 3?! Are you kidding?! Get that shit out of here, I want the good stuff!

Science has its limits, you know.

Weinberg acknowledged this in an interview with Richard Dawkins. I forget what he gave as an example, but he said there are some things that just might be unknowable because there's just no way to study them. Plus you've got that pesky Uncertainty Principle.

Could science ever tell, of two formally impeccable poems, which is beautiful, moving, romantic... and which is just blah-blah?

Probably not, but that's a completely different thing. We're talking about uncovering things like the existence of a soul, and jazz like that, which are tangible. It's not like personal opinion, where Person A can say "This poem is great! It's the bees knees!" and Person A says "This is a huge fucking stinking pile of elephant dung."

"I can't explain everything, only objective things".

But we are talking about things which must be proved that way or else they have no meaning.

Again, science has established that some things it can't prove.

I believe it is that science has acknowledged there may be some things it can't prove, but we can't know whether that's true at this point. Will they ever unify relativity and quantum mechanics? Who knows? Scientists would never say "We can't design a formula to tell what poetry is good, and what is bad." The idea that science could do this or that it would have any meaning as far as the truth of existence, yadda yadda yadda, is kind of ridiculous really.

What depends on belief, you can neither prove nor disprove.

That is true, but of course no one can be called upon to disprove anything. If you believe in unicorns, you're the one who has to prove they exist; I wouldn't, as a unicorn atheist, have to prove they don't exist.

If you never catch a sea serpent in a thousand years, doesn't prove that sea serpents don't exist.

And conversely it doesn't prove they do, which to my mind makes it kind of pointless to believe in them. If you don't believe in them, that's that. You're not going once a week to The Church of No Sea Serpent and proclaiming your lack of belief in it.

And second, science has established the absolute impossibility to tell whether our Universe is even real or not. To summarize it in lay man's terms, "If we were all Sims in some gigantic computer simulation, programmed by some geek we're calling "God", then it would be impossible to us from within to know anything else than what was programmed, to use any other rules [a.k.a. laws of physics] than those made available to us."
That is, IF the Universe isn't real, if it's merely information. But the paradoxes of Quantum physics have already proven that all we know is in the end information, perceived from within this Universe. The rest, is the domain of belief and unverifyable suppositions.


I'd hold off on making statements like that, as science is basically in its infancy. Maybe there's more to the puzzle. If humanity manages to not destroy itself and civilization continues, what might we know in one million years? I acknowledge that there may be limits to what science can tell us but I'm not about to turn to prematurely turn to alternative, baseless supernatural or other explanations.

Anonymous said...

Nowadays, they wisely stick to arbitrary moral norms and denial of foul intent in the paedophilia scandals cover-ups.

Which is working out great! ;-)

Anonymous said...

An interesting discussion but some lack of clarity on both sides made it longer than it had to be.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

"I believe it is that science has acknowledged there may be some things it can't prove"
Nope. Logic is a scientific discipline. And it contains many examples, some of which very simple, of statements that are "non-logical", which isn't the same as illogical.
Illogical is something that logic proves to be false.
Non-logical is something which logic is pointless to argue about.

Take the example of one who says to you: "I am a liar."
Paradox. If he lies, then what he says is false, then he's not a liar, then what he said is true, then he IS...
Textbook example (literally) of non-scientific talk. It might be true, it might even be of the utmost importance, but you'll have to rely on your instincts on that one.

"Plus you've got that pesky Uncertainty Principle."
And the Little Prince Photon said to the stranded spaceman: "Please, draw me a Shrödinger sheep in a closed box."

"We're talking about uncovering things like the existence of a soul, and jazz like that, which are tangible."
Tangible, the soul? I think not.
The etymology of tangible means "which you can touch".
Light's not tangible. But at least we can detect it easily.
So far, the soul is like the Sea Serpent.
Fornit some fornus.

"If you believe in unicorns, you're the one who has to prove they exist"

Not so. I believe in the Invisible Pink Unicorn. Which conveniently happens to be intangible/untouchable, odorless, and stealthily silent.
I also believe in Ponypuff Princesses with their translucent butterfly wings living in a pearly castle over the rainbowy clouds, but that's just because I play with my 3y/o niece.

"I wouldn't, as a unicorn atheist, have to prove they don't exist."
Ah, you don't HAVE to prove your love, but still, you better be convincing about it. Darling. ;-)

"You're not going once a week to The Church of No Sea Serpent and proclaiming your lack of belief in it."
Well, this would kind of ruin the whole purpose of being an atheist, wouldn't it? I mean, imagine ritually gathering on a regular basis just to collectively profess in a chanting voice: "We're not the praying types."
Although... that's kinda what Brother Saint Osama does, innit? Practically incanting (incantating?) all the time that "I believe all those with different beliefs are infidels which I absolutely must destroy, it is Allah's will and command".

"If humanity manages to not destroy itself and civilization continues, what might we know in one million years?"
We'll at the very least know the events of what is today "the far Future".
That is, provided anybody cares. If you extrapolate on what holds the interest of today's school students about "old boring History"... ;-p

"but I'm not about to turn to prematurely turn to alternative, baseless supernatural or other explanations."
Good old Joe. Always doing things the hard way.
Religion makes everything SO simple, doesn't it?
This might help explain Dubya's great interest in it...

"Nowadays, they wisely stick to arbitrary moral norms and denial of foul intent in the paedophilia scandals cover-ups."
Which is working out great! ;-)

Forgive me for again expressing impious doubt, oh Great Dick of the Standing Stone.
But I seem to have heard that religious fervor is receding in most of the advanced world. Leaving zealotism to the more primitive continents. (*cough*LEBANON!*cough*)

Jimbo,
are you in cahoots with Blogger?
They seem to conspire to force me into discussion comments no longer than 4,096 characters.
Which, of course, proves that my Faith is the True one. Since I'm being persecuted by the meanies. "Quod erat demonstrandum, parlam latinem, minus habens, coitus interruptus" , and all that.
Amen.

[As anybody who's anybdy well knows, the A-Team was entirely composed of A-Men. Booya! A-MEN, ASSEMBLE!]

Anonymous said...

Tangible, the soul? I think not.
The etymology of tangible means "which you can touch".
Light's not tangible. But at least we can detect it easily.
So far, the soul is like the Sea Serpent.


Nice try, but unworthy of you, Pascal. Tangible does not just mean something that can be touched, but anything material or substantial. Beware of judging a word's definition in English by it's original meaning - in this case from the Latin word "to touch." My point was that if it exists it must have substance. It's sort of like the confusion many people have about the natural and the supernatural. If something can be proven to exist, it's a part of the natural world (or universe, whatever). If the existence of God, any god, were proved (although it would be easy for us to be fooled by a supremely advanced alien species), he would not be supernatural.

This might help explain Dubya's great interest in it...

That's the appeal for most people. Except there's always the exception. What are we to do when men like Isaac Newton believe in alchemy, or your namesake who despite being a brillian mathematician believed in some pretty weird shit too. Or in modern times, Francis Collins who despite being a geneticist and his leadership of the Human Genome Project is a devout Christian (or so he claims; though I don't know why he'd lie).

Leaving zealotism to the more primitive continents.

And the united states, where according to some people Fundamentalism is on the rise.

(*cough*LEBANON!*cough*)

You should see someone about that, Pascal.

Take the example of one who says to you: "I am a liar."
Paradox. If he lies, then what he says is false, then he's not a liar, then what he said is true, then he IS...
Textbook example (literally) of non-scientific talk. It might be true, it might even be of the utmost importance, but you'll have to rely on your instincts on that one.


Hm, I don't know, Pascal, that's right up there with "what is the sound of one hand clapping."

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

"My point was that if it exists it must have substance."
Does light? ;-)
Substance equals matter. Energy exists too. Not to mention information, whose meaning is independant of its material (or energetic) support. Hamlet in paper book or digital .TXT format always contains the exact same words for you to read.

"What are we to do when men like Isaac Newton believe in alchemy"
Uhm... snicker?
Just because someone's a genius doesn't mean they can't ALSO be naive. You think a seasoned con artist would've had a very hard time getting Einstein's money?
I bet I'm more immune to such people than the Great Albert... because I follow "social news" such as classic-but-clever scams, and he didn't!

"(or so he claims; though I don't know why he'd lie)"
I can think up a few reasons to lie... What if, say, his dear old Aunt May is hopelessly worried about his entering Heaven in spite of all that "scientific straying temptation"? Her heart wouldn't stand the shock of the truth, Peter!

"And the united states"
Like I said, "more primitive continents"! ;-)
And no, if you ask me WHICH continent exactly isn't primitive, I wouldn't jump and yell "Europe!". I was thinking more of Russia.
Have you any idea of how MASSIVELY the Russians have contributed to music, philosophy, mathematics, culture, literature, architecture, and pretty much any element of civilization, including videogames, that you could think of?
Yukud Thinkov, now that does sound very russian, you'll have to agree.

"You should see someone about that, Pascal."
Ack!... Too... late...
Remember, I'm a Doctor. I already know there's no cure for THAT nasty condition.
Well, not on this planet and the current millenium, there isn't.
Maybe in some more civilized stellar system... Like the Alastor cluster. I should check there. I'm in pretty good terms with the Connatic, Emperor of the 30,000 Worlds. (Speaking of which, I long for a good vacation on Trullion, now that their space pirates problem has been solved.)

Hm, I don't know, Pascal, that's right up there with "what is the sound of one hand clapping."
A question which the great philosopher Bartholomew H. Simpson already answered.
One hand clapping doesn't make a lot of noise, but it CAN clap on itself. You just have to bend those fingers fast. :-)
But good luck in getting the waiter's attention that way. I'd rather snap them fingers to get my raspberry sloshie faster.
Ooh, brain freeze! Cool.

Anonymous said...

"My point was that if it exists it must have substance."
Does light? ;-)


Yes.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Well, if you consider that physical energy has substance, then you're right.
This is getting pretty metaphysical. And you know I'm not used to metaphysics. ;-)

The thing is, you can always take that reasoning one step further, in the strict frame of science.

Beliefs are thoughts. Thoughts are information. Information is energy, has substance, and physically exists by itself.

A wall that's built has informational substance that makes it different from a random pile of bricks. Order, information, entropy, thoughts... they all DO exist.
This is how Hawking demonstrated that the Arrow of Time could only be PERCEIVED by us the way we do. Because our brains use energy and entropy to process the information. (Cf A Brief History of Time)

Because ideas have a life of their own, even the silliest superstitions do have substance. Remember Discworld: "Dragons don't exist, unless you believe in them. But now people on the street have started believing in this killer dragon rumour, so we have a problem. I mean, YOU have a problem, Rincewind."

The cause of a riot, by itself, has substance.
Oh, look, a hair! Excuse me, I'm going to try splitting it in four.
Tetracapillotomy is a very ancient and respected traditional Chinese art, you know.

Your friendly neighborhood R.A.F. said...

All this fancy-shmancy argumentation of yours doesn't give the EXISTENCE of God any more substance than the power of black cats and four-leaf clovers over your stepping on bana peels. You haven't made a single relevant point there.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Dang, I was SO hoping nobody would notice!

Anonymous said...

Dang, I was SO hoping nobody would notice!

You can't put one over on RAF! (I'd wondered where he'd got to!)

Anonymous said...

Based on recent haps over at Eolake's pad (no longer my happening, as it freaks me out), I would actually kind of welcome the wit and sophistication of RAF. Or even Josie.

Anonymous said...

You really have to watch out for talentless hacks who think they are artists. They are the worst. Combine that with being a pseudo intellectual and man you better watch out. They really hate it when you call them on it too.

*Note: This type of person will often be into photography as they think it requires no artistic ability

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

I know there's no artistic ability in my photography, no need to rub it in!

That's precisely why I usually steal the images for my blog. A slight editing, and I claim it to be "original work" with my copyright slapped on it! ;-)

For instance, that here photo of a beautiful woman's face in ecstasy? It's actually NOT my very first girlfriend.

joe d (not dimaggio) said...

That's odd, even though I no longer have a blogger account I got sent this reply by the Good Doctor. I mean I was sent it automatically by blogger (which I keep wanting to type globber) but the reply is by OBP-04R (Our Beloved P-04 Referent). I wonder sometimes if this anonymous and eolake's are the same, but if they are they should put down the crack pipe once in a while.

Justin De Lucia said...

Hey, I heard of Saint Seiya.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

I think "Gobbler" memorizes the forwarding e-mail address you subscribed to on any post. As long as this address is active and you don't unsubscribe, you'll stay informed.

Firebird said...

Hi Pascal,

The people you describe are pathologically insane misogynists.

I'm surprised more people don't recognise this.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

The trouble is, when this pathological insanity becomes the "noble praiseworthy norm", noticing anything will earn you the Chair. Or the stake. Or a good stoning.
Or getting stoned on Coke while eating your steackburger on a chair, if you're sentenced to getting mcdonadized.
Pick your poison, fellow heretic!
The loons have taken control of the Asylum.
"Tha-tha-tha...that's all, Fox!" (As that infidel swine in the form of a blasphemous cartoon would say.)

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