August 15, 2011

I don't know

... and there isn't anything wrong with that.



From the Gita (slightly edited)...

"For certain is death for the born; Therefore over the inevitable Thou shouldst not grieve"
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With a H/T to PZ. I'd not found this group before.

5 Comments:

jbrock said...

That's a good cross-section of people and a nicely done presentation.

I'm virtually 100% certain that the 'Golden Rule' predates the Abrahamic religions, but I still almost spewed soda out my nose when PZ Myers, a self-described 'raging Atheist', invoked it in all sincerity. My brain, though, says there's no reason why he shouldn't.

I've actually warmed up to Prof. Myers quite a bit in the past year or so, despite his usual approach not being the one that I personally find most persuasive.

Mule Breath said...

PZ is caustic... abrasive... confrontational... often shrill... frequently controversial...

But he is seldom off topic or off point. Paul does not consider using such tactics a violation of the golden rule. He is merely correcting a misperception with the best interest of the victim at heart.

jbrock said...

PZ is [...] seldom off topic or off point [...] Paul does not consider using such tactics a violation of the golden rule.

From his perspective, they wouldn't be a violation, for the reasons you point out above. He strikes me as a fellow who says precisely what's on his mind, with little or no filtering. In that sense, I'm not sure he'd even consider his tactics to even be ... well, tactics at all.

From a purely stylistic standpoint I tend to prefer Dawkins' generally calmer approach. Still, that doesn't work for everyone, and if I ever get the chance to buy Myers a beer--a nonzero probability, assuming I can actually make it to TAM or some similar shindig next year--I'll certainly attempt to.

BTW, my referring to him by his surname here isn't meant to be insulting. I'm just too reserved to call the man "PZ" given that I don't know him.

Mule Breath said...

Although I've met him and swapped palm, to the truest definition of "knowing," perhaps I don't. Still, PZ has made it clear that his preference is to be addressed as such. Where I took liberty was to call him by the given "Paul."

Richard Dawkins is known to the world as Dawkins. Christopher Hitchens is Hitch., and Paul Zachary Myers is known simply as PZ. This is the natural order of things.

Old Weird Libra said...

I had enjoyed reading some of PZ's blogs which you had made reference to in earlier entries, but I enjoyed even more this chance to see him on video. Thank you for the link.