[extropy-chat] Edge: Thank Goodness! By Daniel C. Dennett

[nvitamore at austin.rr.com]

Daniel C. Dennet wrote:

"Two weeks ago, I was rushed by ambulance to a hospital where it was
determined by c-t scan that I had a "dissection of the aorta"-the lining of
the main output vessel carrying blood from my heart had been torn up,
creating a two-channel pipe where there should only be one. Fortunately for
me, the fact that I'd had a coronary artery bypass graft seven years ago
probably saved my life...."

THANK GOODNESS!
by Daniel C. Dennett

But isn't this awfully harsh? Surely it does the world no harm if those who
can honestly do so pray for me! No, I'm not at all sure about that. For one
thing, if they REALLY wanted to do something useful, they could devote
their prayer time and energy to some pressing project that they CAN do
something about. For another, we now have quite solid grounds (e.g., the
recently released Benson study at Harvard) for believing that intercessory
prayer simply doesn't work. Anybody whose practice shrugs off that research
is subtly undermining respect for the very goodness I am thanking. If you
insist on keeping the myth of the effectiveness of prayer alive, you owe
the rest of us a justification in the face of the evidence. Pending such a
justification, I will excuse you for indulging in your tradition; I know
how comforting tradition can be. But I want you to recognize that what you
are doing is morally problematic at best."

This EDGE edition is available online at:
http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge195.html



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