Quote Originally Posted by Lucky27 View Post
But you almost seem like a radical for the other side.
In what way? My beliefs may be 'radical' in the sense that they are unconventional but they are thought out and rational. If you disagree, say how. Because my opinions are thought out and rational, I don't have to be radical. I can let my opinions/beliefs be. The distinction is that I own my opinions/beliefs because I have subjected them to rational scrutiny. My opinions/beliefs don't own me which is the case for people that buy into the judeo-christian-islamic mythology.

Quote Originally Posted by Lucky27 View Post
I guess that point I'm trying to make goes back to what Sephiroth mentioned. A lot of people just burn out and become set in their ways and ideals. It's like working with clay, if you get lazy and let that shit harden, it's hard to get it working again, and after too long...well you become like Bill O'reilly.
I appreciate your analogy. It's a very good one. I don't think that it applies to someone of the scientific mindset. Think about the beliefs or items of faith that someone of the scientific mindset holds. I can only think of two: "Our perceptions of reality are a good approximation of it and the extent to which they are not can be described in a known way" and "the universe behaves in a consistent manner." That's it. In the pure model, there's not much to get stale because, if you are being intellectually honest, you must be open to new data. Contrast this with judeo-christian-islamicism in which you couldn't even begin to list the amount of things which you have to take on faith.


Quote Originally Posted by Lucky27 View Post
Knowing what you're talking about takes not just knowledge but experience as well. There's a difference between simply knowing facts and actually understanding how things work.
For the most part, I agree completely. I disagree that you always need experience. If you think about it, experience is nothing more than one way to get facts and understanding of why they are facts.

You also said something about judeo-christian-islamic mythology encouraging morals and ethics. Kromoh and xei pretty much had their way with that statement, imo. I contributed a funny class of arguments for your position but that doesn't discredit it.