Hello All

[Weston Minot]

It appears I may be older than most on the forum, having retired some years ago from commercial aviation.  I decided to retire as early as possible after realizing that the regulations had become so numerous and so complex, while at the same time often being so vague and open to interpretation, that it had become virtually impossible to do my job without also doing something that could be interpreted as a violation of some regulation.  Most disturbing was the recognition that the regulatory nightmare was primarily a strategy of domination and control, providing a constant threat and the means to destroy the livelihood of any who gave the slightest offense, however inadvertent or harmless, to the regulators or their enforcement agents.

I've always preferred to stay away from politics and avoided as much as possible dealing with statists, but it has become clear in the last decade that they have no intention of allowing a live-and-let-live society to exist, and that naked tyranny is most definitely in our future if we don't make a stand against it.  With that in mind, I recently started a youtube channel, Weston Minot, and the videos there express some of my views on government and, I hope, give some food for thought.

As yet, I've seen only a few of Stefan's videos and listened to a couple of podcasts.  On the subjects of government and economics, I've found myself in full agreement with the ideas expressed; not so much on the subject of atheism.  Although I see a great deal of irrational nonsense in all religions, and there's been a horrendous amount of evil done in the name of religion (consequently, I have no religious affiliation), I suspect that the basic idea of an intelligent plan, purpose, and power behind the creation of the universe may be correct.  But in the end, I doubt that the existence of God can be either proved or disproved by mental gymnastics, such proof perhaps requiring a subjective spiritual sense that may be an altogether different capacity than the limited human intellect.  Therefore, I prefer to acknowlege that I just don't know whether God exists, and instead focus on examining morality and ethics--on understanding what constitutes right human relations in the here and now.

I'm looking forward to exploring more fully the wealth of material on the website.

[ChainsofFear]

Welcome, Weston. I enjoyed your videos; you have a talent for communicating your thoughts through them

[Jake Danczyk]

 

On the subjects of government and economics, I've found myself in full agreement with the ideas expressed; not so much on the subject of atheism.  Although I see a great deal of irrational nonsense in all religions, and there's been a horrendous amount of evil done in the name of religion (consequently, I have no religious affiliation), I suspect that the basic idea of an intelligent plan, purpose, and power behind the creation of the universe may be correct.  But in the end, I doubt that the existence of God can be either proved or disproved by mental gymnastics, such proof perhaps requiring a subjective spiritual sense that may be an altogether different capacity than the limited human intellect.  Therefore, I prefer to acknowlege that I just don't know whether God exists, and instead focus on examining morality and ethics--on understanding what constitutes right human relations in the here and now.

 

Your suspicion is most likely incorrect. The Universe exists, and certainly it is a complex object. Our knowledge of the laws of physics is vastly more powerful and sophisticated than mere animal intuition, yet we likely remain a fair way off from the Universal laws of physics. 

Theism proposes that not only does this Universe exist, but in addition an entity exists which is either 'outside of the Universe' or 'everywhere in the Universe at once' and in either case has total knowlede of the Universe. Thus, the theist looks at the Univese and says "This universe is mind-boggilingly complex, it must have come from  something. It must have had a cause." But the proposed answer is, in fact, no such thing. In fact, the answer of 'God did it' only makes the situation more implausible. If God is at least as complex as the Universe, and if the Universe must have a source, then how does proposing "God did it" answer the Prime Mover argument? What 'moved' God? You must either make an immediate contradiction "Everything has cause and effect, God has no cause", or you must suggest an infinite recursion of Gods creating Gods. Which is absurd. 

Look around you. The universalization of ethics is true good morality. We here know this, that is why we are voluntarists. If there exists an entity which has total control over the Universe, and this entity chose to create a Universe which spawned the Earth, then this entity is responsible for every act of violence and suffering which has ever occured. Any proposed God figure must necessarily be evil or ambivalent. In either case, not virtuous. 

[Weston Minot]

If there exists an entity which has total control over the Universe, and this entity chose to create a Universe which spawned the Earth, then this entity is responsible for every act of violence and suffering which has ever occured. Any proposed God figure must necessarily be evil or ambivalent. In either case, not virtuous. 

Is the creator of a machine or a tool responsible if another person chooses to use it in an unintended and harmful way?

I think it quite possible that the universe is no more or less than an incredibly huge and complex machine, operating according to definite, predictable laws of physics, but which we are not capable of fully understanding at our current level of development.  When we make mistakes and harm ourselves by our ignorance or by a willful misuse of the machine, I believe that's our failure, not the failure of the machine's creator.

But if there is an intelligent creator, why weren't we created with knowledge of how everything works and how we should use it, and without the will to act in a contrary manner?  Perhaps for the same reason children aren't born with all the knowledge they will need to live in the world, and without the will to make choices for themselves.  Maybe life is designed to be a gradual learning process, through trial and error, that produces creative individuals, as opposed to pre-programmed machines without the will to alter their programming.  Perhaps we are the creation of beings far more advanced than ourselves, who allow us to make the unpleasant mistakes that will drive us to expand our consciousness, to learn the laws of the universe, and eventually to grow into fully aware, responsible and creative adults.  Maybe this is much the same, and no more evil or ambivalent, than a parent who allows a child to make mistakes that serve as valuable and necessary learning experiences if the child is to become a responsible, independent adult.

Perhaps this is a planned evolutionary process that takes place over millions of years, and we are still in our infancy.  Perhaps consciousness, the essence of what we are, survives death and returns many times in a succession of physical bodies, not retaining specific memories of previous lives, but having incorporated the essence of what was previously mastered, in the form of talents or instincts.  Maybe this is part of the explanation for the wide variation in personalities and individual characteristics and abilities.

As for the Prime Mover question, that's one I consider to be beyond my capacity in the same way quantum physics is beyond the capacity of an infant.  I'm content to leave it until more immediate questions are answered and until belief becomes experiential knowlege that provides a solid foundation on which to build.

But once again, this is speculation and I don't know if God exists.  These ideas make sense to me at this point in time and so I view them as working but unproven hypotheses that will be either proven or disproven at some unknown point in the future.  All I do know is that these ideas are certainly rudimentary and incomplete and will eventually change.

Thanks for prompting me to think about these things that I haven't thought about in awhile.

[Weston Minot]

 

Welcome, Weston. I enjoyed your videos; you have a talent for communicating your thoughts through them

 

Thanks for watching the videos. They seem to satisfy an occasional urge to spout off.