SJ Gould says we're part book and have to tar our way to alternate universes

[npetreley]

After reading the gazillionth claim that the Bible clearly says the earth is flat, I figured what's good for the goose...

Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life:

We are the offspring of history and must establish our own paths in this most diverse and interesting of conceivable universes--one indifferent to our suffering, and therefore offering us maximum freedom to thrive, or to fail, in our own chosen way.

Here Gould clearly says that your mother and father are history books. Then he says that there are alternate universes, and that we must lay down asphalt roads to create paths between them in order to travel from one to the next. And then he says it doesn't matter how much we suffer doing it, because we have to whether we like it or not.

Obviously Gould was a complete nut-case for believing any of those things, and anyone who believes anything Gould ever wrote must also be a total nut-case, since they believe in alternate universes, the necessity of paving roads between them, and the fact that our mothers and fathers were history books. A scientist wouldn't use allegory, and this is the clear, literal meaning of the text, after all.

 

[blader]

Haha. That's a good one npetreley. I have another good one:

God, The Bible:

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

Here God clearly says that he personally waved a magic wand around and created all life instantly, including the birds. Then he says that the water multiplied all the life so that there's now a lot of everything. The water multiplied the birds, too, apparently. And then God looked at everything and saw that it's all "Good." And all of this obviously makes evolution false.

Obviously God was a complete nut-case for believing any of those things, and anyone who believes anything God ever wrote must also be a total nut-case, since it seems to be totally against all the observed evidence. God wouldn't use allegory, and this is the clear, literal meaning of the text, after all.

 

[Jerry Smith]

Here Gould clearly says that your mother and father are history books. Then he says that there are alternate universes, and that we must lay down asphalt roads to create paths between them in order to travel from one to the next. And then he says it doesn't matter how much we suffer doing it, because we have to whether we like it or not.

You are pretty good at literalist interpretation. I think you can see why a person who feels compelled to deny science because of their literal understanding of Genesis 1 might feel compelled to do so based on a similar literal reading of the flat/immobile Earth passages. Good... we are getting somewhere...

 

[LiveFreeOrDie]

Good one, Nick! Here's another one:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

And the evening and the morning were the third day.

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Obviously God was a complete nut-case for believing any of those things, and anyone who believes anything God ever wrote must also be a total nut-case, since they believe in creating plants before creating the sun, the necessity of separating day from night, and the fact that God has nipples just like we do. A god wouldn't use allegory, and this is the clear, literal meaning of the text, after all.

 

[Freodin]

Nick, if you really try to give a literal interpretation of this quote, be carefull to do it right.

He does not mention history BOOKS, and he does talk about making paths in THIS universe.

So even if you interprete it in a literal style - your interpretation is wrong.

More luck next time.

 

[npetreley]

Originally posted by Freodin
Nick, if you really try to give a literal interpretation of this quote, be carefull to do it right.

He does not mention history BOOKS, and he does talk about making paths in THIS universe.

So even if you interprete it in a literal style - your interpretation is wrong.

More luck next time.

Sorry, there is no other way to interpret this passage but as I interpreted it. Remember, as a scientist, one has an a-priori commitment to material causes. Gould is a scientist, therefore he must be referring to a material thing, not a concept or idea. So one is left with no other option than to extrapolate the reference to history to mean a history book. Now some liberal interpreters have suggested that he was referring to a history web site, or a history CD, but the culture of his day (being an author) dictates that it must have been a book, or at best, a magazine.

And, of course, there's the precedent laid down by others here that, that because Iiwant to interpret it to mean book, it MUST be book, just as those who insist that because THEY interpret the Bible to mean flat earth, it MUST mean flat earth and anyone who denies it must be ignorant or denying the true intention of the author.

 

[Jerry Smith]

Now, take this reasoning and apply it to "Biblical Creation"... whoa. Never mind.. been done already.

 

[Chris†opher Paul]

Too funny brotha.

 

[livingforJesus-Shaun]

???????