tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1160895395634617774.post6015742345281240100..comments2023-04-24T09:36:27.739-05:00Comments on Off the Grid in Minneapolis: Free EnergyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1160895395634617774.post-28758277552450735242012-02-11T15:06:21.721-06:002012-02-11T15:06:21.721-06:00Well that seems a silly claim, Michael. There have...Well that seems a silly claim, Michael. There have been many human civilizations, communities and tribes in the past that have lived well and sustainably on a particular piece of land for thousands of years without benefit of scientific materialism. It hardly is our only hope. It's been around a short time in the history of humanity and so far has failed to create a particularly just or sustainable existence.<br /><br />That doesn't mean that scientific materialism hasn't provided some wonderful benefits, or that it has no place in the future. I think it does, but it needs to be seriously constrained for it to prove as useful and nondestructive as it could be. If we continue on with the thought process that scientific materialism is the only legitimate way to understand the world, then we will destroy ourselves in the process. That's the path we're on, and the continued unfettered belief in scientific materialism as the only legitimate knowledge will keep us on that path.<br /><br />One of the problems with scientific materialism as a religion--which it most certainly is--is that it leads us to believe that we can eventually know and understand everything about the world and thus control it and craft it to our perfect liking. This is a ridiculous belief, but it is a belief that has become common in the scientific world. And indeed, that's the main way in which we have been using scientific knowledge of late. We have to get away from that, and it seems to me that to do that, we are going to have to recognize the validity of many other forms of knowledge, as well as understand the shortcomings of scientific knowledge.<br /><br />Anyway, thank you for this post, William. I think it's fantastic, and I hadn't seen that article before.<br /><br />Joel<br /><a href="http://www.ofthehands.com/" rel="nofollow">Of The Hands</a>Joel Carishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18384203614010320491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1160895395634617774.post-68839585464232765072012-01-25T13:56:08.703-06:002012-01-25T13:56:08.703-06:00Michael,
I think to suggest that anything is our ...Michael,<br /><br />I think to suggest that anything is our only hope, is to suggest that it is not. As to slander, I'm merely asking scientists and scientific materialists to ask themselves if it's a good idea to turn the globe into a GMO mono-crop farm, entirely dependent on fossil fuels. My hope is that something remains of science, after the collapse that is likely to come. I'm just as wary of the children of God as you are.William Hunter Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03659156353754825272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1160895395634617774.post-42278562497290569962012-01-25T11:12:23.714-06:002012-01-25T11:12:23.714-06:00On what basis does scientific materialism get the ...On what basis does scientific materialism get the blame for cornucopianism? Because capitalists have used science? That's hardly an adequate explanation.<br /><br />Scientific materialism is our only hope, in fact. It is, among other things, the only proper basis for both ecology and human rights/politics.<br /><br />Please stop slandering it.Michael Dawsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09353560855423670828noreply@blogger.com