Watch Videos below.
More from Tim…
This meme (above) popped up on my Twitter feed today.
I was not sure if the person who posted it was seriously asking this question, or was just trolling those of us who believe in Special creation and reject Evolution.
It matters not, for irrespective of the motive for making this post I took the opportunity to throw in my personal opinion about Evolution as being pseudo-science…
This quickly solicited a response that inferred the Evolution hypothesis could be falsified…
I was able to rebut this assertion with little fuss on my part.
Did my accurate rebuttal phase my antagonist in any way? No.
He simply repeated his original claim. So I expanded my original rebuttal.
Unflinching, he continued to spiel unsubstantiated evolutionary jargon as if it was science…adding he thought Darwin’s ignorance of genetics to be ‘irrelevant’!
It’s far from ‘irrelevant’ for it was only in the vacuum of ignorance about genetics that Darwin’s bunk ideas were able to take hold of the imagination.
He then tried to justify evolution by suggesting that getting new genes was not necessary for evolution (below)!!
I immediately pointed out the error of his contention, and that in fact this was more evidence against evolution…
Mutations do not result in new Genes. There has never been a new creature discovered via Mutation. Even Darwin recognised Mutation as having massive negative impacts on the fitness of Species. The math is so far against the claim that mutations are an evolutionary force as to render the postulate utterly delusional.
Evolutionists clutch at such straws notwithstanding.
Like a stuck record… and he even admitted such (saying for the third time) he repeated what he had already repeated… but also threw in some Ad Hominem attacks on my personal intelligence and learning! That’s what these people do!
This is a signature characteristic of an indoctrinated mind. When confronted with cogent arguments that are completely at variance with what they themselves have been led to believe. Instead of taking time to cognate the plausibility of what they have been proffered, instead they start to assume this line of reasoning can only come from ignorance of what they have assume to be unquestionable truths.!
At this point the poor fellow started to implode… denying his original proposition!
Realising nothing I marshalled would penetrate the stone walls of his fortified mind I felt best to draw this thread to a close… yet not without firing the obligatory parting volley!
Yet not to be bested he fired his own… not realising he again shot himself in the foot by re-asserting the notion that *Evolution would be falsifiable* *if only there were no variations*! This is a falacy of circular reasoning…
“Evolution could be falsified if we found no variations, yet because we find variations Evolution cant be falsified!”
When he said “For the third time: evolution is the change in heritable characteristics in populations of organisms…” The sneak snuck in quite a significant modification to his original contention.
At least he was trying another more nuanced approach. Yet alas thereby he sinks his own ship…
Most of you will be familiar with how Social media debates play out. They do not always flow in a linear fashion from point A to Z as it is possible to read, and re-read the debate and randomly throw in commentary as and when we feel moved to do so. This means the debate can ‘jump about’.
In this Blog article I have done my best to present the argument fairly, yet as a matter of course I have juxtaposed the screen shots in a way that best suits my argument. not in real linear time. I do not mean to disadvantage my antagonist by not declaring this home advantage I have…
Ultimately if this guy wanted to be both honest and maintain his integrity, After I had shown him how variations are explicable without any evolution, he simply ought to have retracted his original claim that Evolution could be falsified via the means of *no variation*. That is patently false. Not only that yet he set up a standard that could not be falsified… as variation is a fact.
If Evolutionists want to defend their Mythical tale as an actual scientific theory they will have to find a better argument for it’s falsifiability.
So my Premise stands… Evolution is Pseudoscience because it is unfalsifiable.
I’d be happy to accept any challenges to this Granite solid proposition.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian Libertarianism.
Update:
I informed ‘Fortune’ that I had turned our debate into a Blog article and that if he did not think I represented him faily that he should write a retort in the comments (below) and that I would let it stand as his right of reply. this was his response…
Ask yourself why is it necessary to cast slurs on a person’s character simply because they rigorously oppose something you hold to be true?
Is it not possible to disagree yet remain civil?
This is a requisite IMO for a free and enlightened society.
More from Tim…
THE WALLS ARE CLOSING IN ON ATHEISM… NOT THEISM.
WHY HAVE WE NOT MET ALIENS? ARE WE ALONE IN THIS UNIVERSE?
THAT MOMENT WHEN THEY BEGIN TO EXPLAIN THAT ABIOGENESIS IS NOT SPONTANIOUS GENERATION.
PASTEUR’S LAW, CREATION SCIENCE VS NOSE BONE ATHEISM.
DINGBAT ATHEIST PSEUDO-SCIENCE. INSTANT LIFE… JUST ADD WATER!
THE WALLS ARE CLOSING IN ON ATHEISM… NOT THEISM.
The myth making processes of Pseudo Science. The Epic Tale of the Simple cell. (Part 1)
David Berlinski—Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions
Evolutionary ‘Mumbo Jumbo’ of the the Week. “Why Do Humans Cry?”
Multiplying Absurdities Equals Certainty… The Math Magic of Modern Atheist Astrologers!
Dingbat Atheist Pseudo-science. Instant Life… just add water!
Science goes Ga Ga! The Spirit Temple-Material Interface. The Human Brain.
Russell’s Teapot really refutes Atheism not Theism!
The Ludicrous Claims of Evolution! Why not ESP?
Faith, Science, and Reason. The Pomposity of Atheism.
Square Circles. When Continuity is claimed as Evolution
The Lies of Atheist Pseudo Science.
GENESIS IS REAL HISTORY: EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THE ACCOUNT OF NOAH.
EVOLUTIONISTS ADMIT GLOBAL FLOOD. JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE.
NOAH’S ARK GIVEN THE SEAWORTHY SEAL OF APPROVAL BY PHYSICISTS. NZ HERALD
11am 7-4-23 In the process of Editing.
Is there any meaning or purpose to human existence?
I’m bad to the bone.
I know this. Some might say I am unfit to write this blog article about Easter. They may be correct.
Just recently I was proscribed medication to lower my blood pressure. It’s high.
It’s partly to do with my age, partly my genes, but mostly to do with my bad habits… too much craft beer… too little sleep, etc.
Though I am a happy person, I am highly strung, and don’t ever relax… even when I’m chilling… I have inner tension at all times.
I find myself holding my breath.
Though I am ready to meet my Maker, I don’t want to die. I have a young son I wish to finish raising, and I believe I have more to contribute to society and in sowing, watering the soil for the Gospel.
My chief inner contradiction is that I’m an optimist in outlook, yet being proscribed heart meds has done nothing to alleviate my life-long fatalism.
By fatalism I esp mean my ever-present sense of approaching demise.
Optimism and Fatalism in one bag means I’m happy, yet always have a sense of urgency that I must take care of business before I check out.
I may live 20 more years, or I may not last out the day.
I have faith that if Today is the day… then praise the Lord… it’s my day! Thanks for a wonderful life. Thanks for the grace that has given me these decades, these friends, this family.
This is not a sympathy seeking ‘poor me’ article. I’m not a victim. I own my own circumstances.
I needed to say these things for context of the real message I wish to make for my Easter 2023 Blog article.
In my family, and in my associations, I’m the Black Sheep of my generation. I accept this because my thoughts are often the polar opposite of my peers. I am grateful most of them have grown to appreciate that’s just how I roll, and chuckle whenever I open my mouth. I have little doubt most question my IQ and believe I am ill informed.
Yet… and here is the punchline… to maintain even this strained relationship, requires I keep expression of certain forbidden opinions to a minimum.
For context most of my Family are Socialists politically, and Atheists spiritually. Many of my friends and colleagues are A-Political/ A-religious… so they are not open to free discourse on these subjects. They tolerate me as long as I don’t get ‘Preachy’.
I fully understand that nobody should harass others on subjects they prefer to avoid… yet still The years pass by quickly and is it not sad to think you have wonderful friends and family yet never have been able to fully discuss such essential aspects of life?
It is especially hard when you have dedicated your life in the pursuit of truth… and have discovered mind-blowing facts and arguments that you must keep to yourself for fear of being scorned and outcast by hard hearted loved ones who have no intention of challenging their own entrenched beliefs.
Remember my opening paragraph how I have a sense of urgency… and a repetitive source of despair in my life is watching my loved ones… friends, associates, and Family either sailing away never to be seen again… or pass away without having communicated with them truths I believe are essential to their Eternal well being. My own time is limited too. When I pass away my opportunity to persuade my people to Trust in the Cross of Christ, and in the miracle of his resurrection will be finished.
Yet I still have a bag of wind left in me, and I will take the opportunity that Easter long weekend provides to openly speak today.
I’m a Libertarian Christian, which means I believe in self responsibility and religious liberty.
This means I know there are limits to my duty, and ability to communicate truths to others.
The Bible says not to cast our pearls before swine… where they will not be received with gladness, but instead simply be trodden underfoot.(don’t take offence… it’s only a metaphor)
The Bible talks about the heart condition of lost souls.
Some have been softened… some are good fertile soil in which the seed of the Gospel can take root and flourish. Others cannot receive the seed.
This is my Easter message… An appeal to anyone reading this article who is honest enough to admit the origin and meaning of life has alluded them so far… to dare to remove the Blinders that prevent their minds from being able to take Christianity seriously. Ideological blinders that render them incapable actually contemplating the possibility, that Christ really was the Son of The Almighty… God Incarnate…. Sinless… and that he willingly went to the cross to suffer a criminals death… a redemptive sacrifice…. paying for the sins of humanity.. and rising from the dead on the third day day as proof of his victory over both sin and death… and that whosoever chooses to believe that gospel… shall be freely forgiven of all sin, and shall enter God’s presence in perfect newness of eternal life.
It’s a fantastic mind-blowing thing to even contemplate!
How can *that* possibly be true?
Is not that a demonstration of humanities wishful thinking and capacity for believing absurdities?
Easter cant be relevant in 2023…. can it?????
I once thought that way.
I have written several accounts of my own conversion from Militant Atheism to Christianity (links below) and it remains vivid in my mind the process… indeed the moment the scales fell from my eyes.
I won’t repeat what I have said elsewhere except to say the miracle of my own conversion depended first of all upon unusual circumstances that caused me to unwittingly lower my cognitive shield and actually give Christian apologists a fair hearing.
Holy Smoke!
For the life of me I never dreamed that I would be persuaded to believe the bible!
My conversion took many months of discussion, argument, presentation of historic and scientific facts… the miracle being that I even gave them 5 minutes of my time to discuss matters I strongly considered to be beneath contempt, ridiculous, false.
My testimony today is to tell my reader that there is overwhelming evidence and logic to Believe the Gospel is true… in spite of how incredible it appears to the atheist mind that is trapped in the false materialist paradigm.
My Easter appeal to the gospel is for any honest atheists, or people of other faiths, Is to ‘seek with an open heart… and ye shall find’… yet should you harden your own heart and remain of closed mind… there is nothing I can do. If my appeal falls on deaf ears, it is not me you have rejected… but Jesus Christ and the Love, Grace, and mercy of the Almighty.
One truth that weighs heaviest in my own soul is the knowledge of my own wickedness… my own unworthiness.
When I was an atheist I had absolutely no sense of my own spiritual corruption. I thought reality was ultimately A-moral… a nihilistic reality in which Human individuals were valueless and meaningless in a cold and indifferent Universe.
You can’t understand the importance of the cross unless you first have a realisation of your own fallen Moral condition.
Our Evil deeds really are evil, and God is not Mocked… Divine Justice is a real thing. And we will all have an appointment with the Great Judge, and will give account as to our acceptance or rejection of Christ’s work of Atonement on the Cross.
Some undoubtedly will say I’m employing fear-tactics to cajole feeble minds into religious subjection.
I know that is a thing, yet If what I am saying is Objectively true… it matters not whether or not the facts are pleasing to our personal inclinations… The truth is the truth irrespective.
God sets the terms and conditions for Salvation, not us.
It is the nature of fallen humanity to rebel against the Sovereignty of the Almighty. That is a piece of Deep irrefutable psychology. Know thyself! Understand how your deep innate nature pre-conditions your thoughts.
We are all children of Fallen Adam and eve.
These are Facts of Reality.
Facts of History.
Facts of Science.
Facts of knowledge founded upon personal experience.
The explanatory power of the Bible has no equal.
The Materialist cosmology/faith is utterly inadequate and filled with absurdities.
It cannot be honestly entertained by informed thinkers in the light of Modern science.
My advise is you go spend some time on Youtube listening to high caliber Christian apologetics, such as William Lane Craig, and Gary Habermas debating the likes of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, etc.
The Truth is there ready and waiting for you to descover… and have your mind blown!
Christ is worthy of worship.
I’m not worthy to worship him.
My only hope is that his grace is sufficient for a wretch like me.
The Easter Story specks of the Love of God towards us sinners.
Will it still be legal to celebrate Easter in 10 years time?
The light is fading.
Satan Laughing spreads his wings.
To my last breath I will declare Jesus is Risen!
Amazing Grace!
How sweet the sound!
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found.
Was blind but now I see.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian Libertarian.
More from Tim.
DEATH OF AN ATHEIST. FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE.
THE ROCK OF DIVINE REVELATION.
HELL IS FOR THE SELF RIGHTEOUS, HEAVEN IS FOR SINNERS.
CHRIST’S WORK OF SALVATION ON THE CROSS… THE GREAT EQUALISER.
RAPTUROUS AMAZEMENT! THE ADVANCE OF SCIENCE CONVERTS THE HIGH PRIEST OF ATHEISM TO DEISM. A FLEW.
THE WALLS ARE CLOSING IN ON ATHEISM… NOT THEISM.
RUSSELL’S TEAPOT REALLY REFUTES ATHEISM NOT THEISM!
FAITH, SCIENCE, AND REASON. THE POMPOSITY OF ATHEISM.
PASTEUR’S LAW, CREATION SCIENCE VS NOSE BONE ATHEISM.
HOW CAN A GOOD GOD EXIST WHEN THERE IS SO MUCH EVIL IN THE WORLD? (PART1) ATHEIST NIHILISM.
I belong to a ‘Physics’ social media page.
On it a certain person seeking to justify belief in the Natural Unguided Evolution of everything posted the following….
Do you consider the following scenario impossible, and if so , why? I think the following scenario is possibly true:
“We are all part of the same universe that appears to trend towards disorder in the forward direction of time, following laws of nature. And we are all subject to “mistakes” that a universe makes as it does its thing. And we are all subject to “successes” that a universe makes as it does it’s thig. And what one of us perceives as a “mistake” , another may well perceive as a “success”. All as the universe (with us as a part of it) continues simply doing it’s thing, following laws of nature.
@Tim Wikiriwhitagging you as this is the main post requested.”
He also attached the following video…
***********
I begin my critique….
Ok…. very interesting Ideas… yet when you analyze the premises we do not find true ‘Chaos’… but a chain of causation. Materialistic Determinism.
There is a lot going on here… for example the multi-pendulums appear to be behaving quite differently when in reality they are all obeying the same ‘natural laws’… so it is wrong to see this as any significant difference… or chaos.
The Lady says @ 3:18 ‘Our Future has not been written yet’ … which is contradictory to the fundamental premises…. for if we could describe the infinitesimal differences between the starting points of the pendulums, and other conditional differences they encounter (including Einsteinian level fluxations) in their motions… we could predict where their motions into the future and explain why they appear very different…. ‘no real chaos’ involved.
Under this cosmology everything we see in this universe must be explicable via an unbroken chain of natural causation all the way back to when the Big Bang exploded… including what you perceive as all your personal virtues… and vises…. unfulfilled hopes and dreams!
It is because things like Objectively binding morals and values cannot be derived from Materialist premises that those who are committed to the materialist idea are forced to arbitrarily deem such things to be illusory.
In the same way any notion of ‘Beauty’ also must be ultimately meaningless…. for beauty is a value judgement that has no place in the cold reality of Elements and motion… and yet we have a perception of Beauty.
now the ultimate question is this… can such ‘Chaos theory’… as enunciated in the video… working with the materials we find in this universe… have sufficient explanatory power to answer how it is we humans exist on this planet… orbiting the Sun?
My answer is an emphatic No!
There is a missing essential paradigm…
I will speak more of this tomorrow… yet lets contemplate the Space Station…. How it orbits the Earth… How in doing so it fully complies with the Laws of Nature…. and yet while it does not contradict the Laws of Nature… it’s existence cannot be explained in purely natural terms… via a chain of causation that leads back to the Big Bang.
There is a special element that needs to understood…. and I will leave it here… and carry on tomorrow.
Just one or two or three more things to ponder… What was the cause of the Big Bang… from where did this universe ‘pop’ into existence? And what prevents your rationale from hanging upon the absurdity of ‘Infinite regression’? For If this universe is not eternal… it had a beginning… and if it had a beginning it must have had a cause… was there by your reckoning… an infinite chain of causation? Or Ultimately do you accept the necessity that there exists *some un created Ultimate reality*?
For the first question of Philosophy is …. ‘why is there something rather than nothing?’
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christian Libertarian.
More from Tim…
Faith, Science, and Reason. The Pomposity of Atheism.
Et tu Brute? What is Scientism: William Lane Craig
Willful Ignorance and the Limits of human reason (without Divine Revelation.)
The Rock of Divine Revelation.
Death of an Atheist. Follow the evidence.
Rapturous Amazement! The Advance of Science Converts The High Priest of Atheism to Deism. A Flew.
Pasteur’s Law, Creation Science vs Nose Bone Atheism.
Russell’s Teapot really refutes Atheism not Theism!
Biomimicry… Plagiarizing God’s designs.
How can a Good God exist when there is so much evil in the world? (part1) Atheist Nihilism.
Materialism renders Man Nought. Meaning-less, Value-less, Right-less
We are not Robots Ayn Rand. We are Moral Agents.
Monism: Evolutionary Psychology and the Death of Morality, Reason and Freewill.
I like to chillax and contemplate this mind blowing relationship and the appreciation that everything is in motion… Craft IPA in hand.
This is obviously an artistic child-like interpretation… very simplistic yet one step above the usual static Sun conception.
Not to scale… and only contends with the Sun, Earth, and Moon… so no ‘orbital plane’ (which itself is only something relative to a static Sun… and which ought to inspire awe given the whole conglomerate is in serious motion) .
All the bodies themselves rotate.
These simplified types of visual still have value, helping us expand our notions and make them more sophisticated, and yet we would be very disturbed should such a visualisation be made to scale… with the correct motions for example the Sun does not travel in a straight line but itself follows an orbital curve.
Yet I am not sure anything better than this abstract conception could be presented in this format?
Helical pitch greater than the diameter.
The distance between the Sun and the Earth is way off,(proportional to the diameter of the Sun), the Earth and Moon are at least 10x too big by the same measure, and the ‘pitch of ‘the helical Screw’ @ 800,000/hour ( year length) ought to be about 7x the Orbital circumference length of the Earth about the Sun, which would barely be recognisable as comparative to this artistic impression… placing our helical path at an extreme acute angle comparative to this… esp so if our orbit is not in fact perpendicular to the suns motion … as this diagram suggests… which is also probably an inaccurate simplification.
If our orbit is skewed to the Suns motion, then for an outside observer moving in parallel to the Sun it would appear that at times we would be accelerating slightly past the moving Sun, and then dropping behind it…
Trying to visualise the actual motions is mind-bending… esp how far out into space the gravitational effects of the Sun extends… dragging even Jupiter along for the ride… at breakneck speed!
Anyone see fault in my musings?
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian Libertarian.
Engineer.
Further thoughts that continue on from Part 1 here.
Science is no escape from the human condition… that gospel purported by many…is false.
Though we may increase in mastery over nature…certainty will always escape us… thus science is a pragmatic pursuit, not a source of absolute knowledge.
With every new answer comes new questions.
We will always rely on axioms and presuppositions… we cannot escape the need for faith… which underpins what we think we know… even the things we are most sure about….
I guess my original post could have been called… ‘Beware of Scientism’.
History shows you can ‘prove’ almost anything by fiddling with numbers.
It must be understood that not even math escapes the human condition… I know many people will be loosing their lunch over my impertinence… yet with time I hope to explain the many ways math can be corrupted.
When reading about various types of weird ‘inferred postulates’ like Dark Matter, The Big Bang, etc we always find two camps of thought.
Simpletons who think the said phenomena are rock solid facts and proceed to treat them as such in all their forthcoming activities… and others who have the intellectual depth and integrity to admit these cherished theories are full of holes… and proceed with caution in any further speculations that could follow.
It depends on which article you read as to whether or not you are encouraged to accept such phenomena are real … or to remain skeptical.
It is particularly scary when the political class pick up on certain theories… because they suit their political agendas… and begin to compel whole populations into accepting them as indisputable… and then using usurpatious powers proceed to embed them in Laws and institutions… Pouring Tax billions into the pockets of scientists who just so happen to produce politically correct ‘findings’… while critics are deplatformed and thrown out of Seats of learning… and making it nearly a crime to question ‘the official line’.
Science has died.
The Balance has been skewed.
What we are left with is Pure Pseudo science… very much like the Social Darwinism of the Nazis which Sub-humanised the Jews.
What is funny is that so many people naively assume such shocking corruption is not going on today!
The truth is there are many factors that can corrupt science… Money and political agendas being two biggies… and anywhere the State is pouring money into ‘research’… it becomes highly dubious.
Another funny yet erroneous stereotype that was born of the Materialist religion of ‘Scientism’ is the image of Doctors and scientists in white lab coats with thick reading glasses… and expressionless demeanor.
The psychological impact of this upon gullible minds is the impression that scientists are not only way smarter than other mortals… but esp that they embody a ‘Spock-like’ power of Objectivity… that all their utterances are devoid of personal prejudices… all this is designed to get the gullible to trust them.
Their white overcoats serve the very same purpose as the priestly gab of any religious cult!
The truth is the exact opposite.
You would struggle to find in any other area of life a more opinionated, conceited, biased, Vain, Greedy, unprincipled, and obstinate bunch of human beings than you find in science departments!
Pseudo-science are myths dressed up in Scientific Gab/ jargon.
Is it any wonder why there are so many pseudo-scientific ideas that hold sway among the masses???
When false postulates and theories are accepted as fact whole magnificent edifices are constructed upon these corrupt foundations.
Entire lifetimes, and reputations, and industries can be wasted building ‘White Elephants’… and strong vested interests assemble to carry on the lies… because the longer the sham continues… the bigger the mess when it topples… and people fear facing the ugly truth… and paying the price of correction.
The lies become so embedded that it seems like madness to question them…. Cognitive dissonance becomes the norm… an incapacity to acknowledge uncomfortable novel truths.
Progress has always had to battle with entrenched Mass-held delusions. What is funny/sad is so many Moderns only apply this precept in their warped conception that Science has always struggled against religion… a very inaccurate and simplistic apprehension of history… utterly failing to guard themselves against all the other personal bents that can prevent them from grasping new and challenging evidences.
esp their own modern post-Christian quazi-religious bents.
I ask people if they dare to entertain any controversial propositions that are at variance with the mainstream?
For it is a signal of an independent mind to walk it’s own path and have the courage to diverge at certain points from the herd.
The herd has been trained to pour derision and hate upon anyone who steps out of line and does not submit to the ‘orthodoxy’ of their times.
It may amaze people that I am talking about *The scientific community*… not some religious sect.
Understand that the scientific community is as prone to Backwards, erroneous dogma as any other Human endeavor is.
What is essential then is to write a code of ethics of which the scientific method is just one aspect of what entails the correct mental processes that are conducive to the scientific enterprise.
. to guard ourselves from slipping into a mire of our own subjectivity… eg with the interpretation of evidence.
Ultimately all we can do is acknowledge the human factor will always be lurking about… like a madman.
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christian Libertarian.
More from Tim… and others…
ET TU BRUTE? WHAT IS SCIENTISM: WILLIAM LANE CRAIG
THE FOLLY OF SCIENTISM. AUSTIN L. HUGHES
MULTIPLYING ABSURDITIES EQUALS CERTAINTY… THE MATH MAGIC OF MODERN ATHEIST ASTROLOGERS!
DAVID BERLINSKI—ATHEISM AND ITS SCIENTIFIC PRETENSIONS
Below are some thoughts I threw together for a Social media post.
Not sure how they will weather… lets see!
This has now extended into 2 parts of which this is part 1.
Science is no escape from the human condition… that gospel purported by many…is false.
Though we may increase in mastery over nature…certainty will always escape us… thus science is a pragmatic pursuit, not a source of absolute knowledge.
With every new answer comes new question.
We will always rely on axioms and presuppositions… we cannot escape the need for faith… which underpins what we think we know… even the things we are most sure about….
I am an Engineer by trade having served as an apprentice back in the 80s.
I studied General science and Engineering at high school… two subjects I excelled in given I enjoyed them both, yet to get into the Engineers class meant not being allowed to study ‘physics’ and ‘chemistry’ as two independent classes that were more specialist than general science.
The School must have thought General science was sufficient for engineers! (There is an element of truth to this)
Anyway I have never regretted my decision to learn a trade via ‘Hands on apprenticeship system’… we would spend several months a year at a Technical institute learning theory, the rest was learning on the job. I did a ‘fitting and turning’ apprenticeship which is machine work… lathes mills, etc plus ‘fitting’ which was welding and fabrication, and mechanic stuff. Best of all at you are earning coin and don’t graduate with a massive student debt.
Yet you learn ‘different’ things via an apprenticeship than what you learn when you go to University.
We learn mostly Newtons theories of Physics rather than Einstein’s.
And that does in the end have it’s disadvantages as I will confess to struggling with matters of Relativity and the claims of Quantum Physics… which I must do my best to learn at home by dent of my own desire to learn.
I must content myself at best with Laymen’s understanding.
I do accept that Einstein had a more accurate model for how the universe functions and that the State of the Art requires utilisation of his equations.
This achievement of Einstein to challenge Newton in itself must be one of the most important contentions that must be factored into… and embodied in any ‘philosophy of science’ if you hope to have a valid understanding of what science is… and what it is not.
Newton appeared absolute and unquestionable!
That was ‘the verdict of Science’.
Anyone who questioned him was automatically a crackpot.
Mad Einstein did exactly that… and in so doing exploded the notion that Science is a foundation for absolute truth… absolute knowledge… Newton was overthrown, and cracks are beginning to appear even in Einstein. This should at least rattle the nerves of arrogant ‘know it alls’ who think they have attained God-like certainty and omniscience!
Given we now know how little we know that such attitudes still hold sway says more about Human beings irrationality and prejudice… and incapacity for objectivity. Don’t you think?
On the other hand by grounding myself in swaff and metal filings … and big hammers and avoiding the indoctrinations of ivory tower intellectuals has given me ‘a freedom of thought’… whereby I stand on the outside… looking in at all the whack claims being made by Quantum physics, etc… and intuitively I can see these guys are wallowing in math-madness…
for example their massive claims about Dark matter! To me it is as mythical as the Loch Ness monster! I don’t buy into it…. and sure enough new theories arise that relegate ‘Dark matter’ to the dustbin of vain imagination.
Science is a learning process at best… never mistake wild assertions as actual facts!
For the sort of Engineering I do Newton is still King!
Yet we learn that ‘correlation does not prove causation…’ a very important thing to understand in our age of computer modeling whereby almost any hair-brain idea can be given ‘credence’ by fiddling with numbers and parameters.
I would suggest that Global warming is founded upon such pseudo-scientific modeling that was bespoke made to accommodate Political aspirations…
Michael Mann’s ‘Hockey stick graph’ is today absolutely debunked yet the damage it has done in skewing science has been incalculable.
The science is far from settled… on anything.
Have a nice day!
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christian Libertarian.
“Has anyone provided proof of God’s inexistence? Not even close. Has quantum cosmology explained the emergence of the universe or why it is here? Not even close. Have our sciences explained why our universe seems to be fine-tuned to allow for the existence of life? Not even close. Are physicists and biologists willing to believe in anything so long as it is not religious thought? Close enough. Has rationalism and moral thought provided us with an understanding of what is good, what is right, and what is moral? Not close enough. Has secularism in the terrible 20th century been a force for good? Not even close, to being close. Is there a narrow and oppressive orthodoxy in the sciences? Close enough. Does anything in the sciences or their philosophy justify the claim that religious belief is irrational? Not even in the ball park. Is scientific atheism a frivolous exercise in intellectual contempt? Dead on.”
David Berlinski
“If somebody says something to me particularly stupid, yet they say it with Proper Grammar… Then I immediately assume the following…What Graduate school did you attend?…”
Dennis Prager.
“The Chaotic forces have taken over education…”
Watch this great video (below)
Anthony McClean, Portia McPhail, Anthony Mulder, Tara Gregory, Huan (Tom) Hsu, Natasha Bray, and Floyd Fernandes drowned in the Mangatepopo Gorge. (Stuff)
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the river tragedy that took the lives of 6 Elim Christian School students and their teacher Anthony McClean.
Such a terrible event, Yet from the first time I herd the story of Anthony’s heroic exploit I have been overwhelmed and affected by a sense of awe at his humanity and sense of Christian duty that he demonstrated on this fateful day, and though 6 others lost their lives this blogpost is my personal tribute to him in particular… as an exemplar of character and the sort of loving soul that every parent desires in a tutor of their children.
When the River surged trapping the group in a dire situation, Anthony was faced with a Great moral Dilemma… abandon his pupils and Save himself… or… strive to save a physically disabled student cerebral palsy sufferer Tom Hsu, 16, by tying him to his own back and to risk his own life for their sake.
Visualizing this in my mind, I am transported in time and space to witnessing this act of heroism first hand…and I am overcome.
His heroism cost him his life… they died together… yet ten years later the example he set still moves and inspires me and thousands of other New Zealanders.
It ranks in the highest order of Noble deeds… Christ-like… who said “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends…” John15vs13.
His action is the equal of any Teacher who has in such moments of fate… given their lives for their students, and I am reminded of such stories we often read about when there is a US school massacre… the teachers who put themselves between the killers and their Pupils… May God Bless and Keep them all.
Read more about Anthony’s exploit here… Teacher tied himself to disabled teen in bid to save him
This is the spirit of Altruism… the voluntary self sacrifice of personal benefits… out of love…for the sake of others.
True Heroism is not about personal glory, and is impossible for the person who puts their own life as the highest value.
This is taking the Vocation of teaching to its Highest end… placing the life of your students ahead of your own.
Teachers like Anthony McClean demonstrate the *Real virtue* of the vocation… Teaching was never about High wages and Fame… and all about being able to fulfill your personal desire to serve others… The opportunity and privilege to instill wisdom and values in the youth under your care… to empower them to take care of themselves, raise happy and healthy families, and to live great and fulfilling lives.
And the best teachers teach the most important lessons of character… by example… living (and dying) by the values they expound.
Teachers who dont have this quality may be technically smart… yet can never be *Great*… and when any troubles arise… even minor troubles… they will put their own interests ahead of your children.
What parent can have confidence in a Selfish teacher to look after their child, and instill values?
Anthony Mulder was one of the Students who lost his life that day… yet not before performing selfless deeds of heroism!
He positioned himself in the torrent and helped his fellow students to get across.
” Kish Proctor and Sarah Brooks, two of the survivors from the canyoning group, said Ant was an inspiration for his selfless, loving nature and steadfast belief in God.
Fellow Elim youth leader and Pakuranga College student Jessica Hancock described him as a “humble, patient, peaceful, generous and loving guy who has changed so many lives”.
Speaking after the memorial service, Ant’s friends said healing moments had been time spent in his bedroom and talking about the good times they shared with him.
Kish said Ant was voted group leader while at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoors Pursuits Centre because he was a seasoned tramper and led by example.
“He stood in the middle of the current and helped all of us across it,” he said.”
Read more here Anthony Mulder – a gentle giant
Let us Remember this Tragic Day… esp the Deeds of these Two Heroes.
Lets us take inspiration from their selfless actions in the Darkest of hours and endeavour to emulate them in our own lives.
And as Christians… we live in the hope of the Gospel.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian Libertarian.
Stephen Hawking was not afraid of the dark or of bullshit and he had some good advice.
Mind over matter or matter over mind? (The right answer is mind over matter.)