This is why the joke goes "Ph.D. - Piled Higher and Deeper" - Granite Grok

This is why the joke goes “Ph.D. – Piled Higher and Deeper”

The beginning of this little ditty is B.S., M.S., and PhD – Bulls***, More S***, and the rest is found above.  Well, the British Guardian has a story that reports on a an informal poll "scientists and intellectuals" what is coming in our future.

As a holder of the first two and probably never the third, I can say that a BS degree sees if you are trainable and the second begins to impart some real expertise (emphasis on some).  In a lot of instances, a PhD means that you have toiled mightily to learn lots and lots about a tiny slice about something.

Thus, in reading this, I chuckled, as it showed that

  • These folks ought to keep to their studies
  • Have their own agenda to push and these guys fell for it.

Or both.  Anyways, a few comments:

People’s fascination for religion and superstition will disappear within a few decades as television and the internet make it easier to get information, and scientists get closer to discovering a final theory of everything, leading thinkers argue today.

Really?  I think not.  Many intellectuals are atheists or agnostics, never realizing that their very stances on religion border on or trample into the very dogmatism that they decry. What goes unrealized by this bunch is that while they decry the negative roles of religion in history and the present (and deservedly so), they totally through out the positive aspects as well. 

They also fail to see that this age is one of the most educated in human history (at lease in the First and Second Worlds, less so in the Third World developing nations).  Yet, religion of all types seems to flourish even as the absolute amount of information and knowledge is outstripping past levels.

They also forget the psychological aspects of religion (e.g., the sense of belonging, the sense of absolutes like good and evil or right and wrong, a code of ethics and behavior) can never be replaced by pure science and reason alone.

The web magazine Edge (www.edge.org) asked more than 150 scientists and intellectuals: "What are you optimistic about?" Answers included hope for an extended human life span, a bright future for autistic children, and an end to violent conflicts around the world.

Good luck with this last one.  As long as human nature is as it is, there will always be those that want that which is not theirs (think criminals) or wish to dominate others (think bullies).  Now, combine the two and have them control a country.  Thus, this prognostication, I believe, is DOA (Dead On Arrival). 

Philosopher Daniel Denett believes that within 25 years religion will command little of the awe it seems to instil today. The spread of information through the internet and mobile phones will "gently, irresistibly, undermine the mindsets requisite for religious fanaticism and intolerance".

Not likely.  Again, information is not a prequisite for anything concerning beliefs or religion – this will not do away with religion.  Intolerance and fanaticism?  While some come by this naturally, much of it is taught.  Until that teaching is corrected, it will continue to exist. 

Twenty Five years?  Very wishful thinking – that is only one generation.  With 6 Billion people (going up to 9 Billion) in the world, I hardly think that this is realistic. 

Biologist Richard Dawkins said that physicists would give religion another problem: a theory of everything that would complete Albert Einstein’s dream of unifying the fundamental laws of physics. "This final scientific enlightenment will deal an overdue death blow to religion and other juvenile superstitions."

This guy IS one of the atheistic fanatics (and yes, just as strong as religious fanatics) as he is as dogmatic as any Muslim JiHadi. Do people like this understand that they have become the very people they decry?  This guy is so anti-religion that he believes that teaching religion to children is a form of child abuse (think criminal charges with the attendant punishment).

He is the kind of person that militantly demands that religious people "prove" that God exists.  I certainly could not, but someone cannot prove to me that God does not.  This is not a matter of science, but of belief.  Just because the Grand Unifying Theory may be discovered does not mean that I would immediately stop believing in a God that does love us, and loves me individually.  While he may make points about and against organized religion, he does not understand that true religion is a true communion with God.  Again, something that cannot be proven, just experienced.

Oh, by the way, insulting people that their beliefs are "juvenile" and harmful is a sure way to persuade folks to give them up – don’t you agree?

Leo Chalupa, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Davis, predicted that, by the middle of this century, it would not be uncommon for people to lead active lives well beyond the age of 100. He added: "We will be able to regenerate parts of the brain that have been worn out. So better start thinking what you’ll be doing with all those extra years."

Ah, now someone sticking to their field!  And this would be good news (if I last that long) – more time for posts!

Now, did they mention anything about me finding a life after blogging……

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