[extropy-chat] Re: John Wright Finds God

[Adrian Tymes]

--- john-c-wright at sff.net wrote:
> what does an honest and 
> rational 
> man do when he has a supernatural experience? 

Keep an open mind about the possible causes, and
integrate that one experience with all the rest of
the evidence one has perceived.  Perhaps science
can't explain everything (yet).  But just because we
don't know why X happened, doesn't automatically mean
that God or aliens caused X.  True, it *may be
possible*, but there are other possible explanations,
some of them more wondrous than simply blaming it on
mystical beings that happen not to show up whenever
we specifically look for them.

For instance, the human soul.  A fragment of
ineffable supernatural substance that gets stamped out
factory-style by God is simple to understand, but
rather bla, IMO.  But consider when each mind/soul is
actually the product of an incredible number of
biochemical interactions and stimuli from the
environment - many of which have been extraordinarily
fine-tuned through millions of years of evolution, yet
many more are in combination unique to each
individual, producing such a wondrous array of
possibilities and potentials (both between people, and
in one's own future choices and resulting paths).  Far
more fascinating, and worthy of promoting the nobility
of the human soul (at least, those souls that are
noble), than just saying "God did it", no?