Ideas > Beliefs

Let me begin by saying that despite what others will have you believe, evolution is a fact. True, their are some minor oddities and unanswered questions but the vast repository of data regarding this topic overwhelming points to its existence. When I was ten, my science teacher began teaching my class and I about the origin of life. First she taught evolution, and then introduced this alternate method called creationism. As a ten year old, I was supremely confused. Evolution had punctured my thoughts and piqued my interest in science and the natural progression of the world. I saw innate beauty in its dual simplicity and complexity. I couldn't accept creationism as fact and grew angry with my teacher for trying to pass off this fiction for science. To this day it continues to amaze me that people cling to the idea of creationism and aim to discredit the perpetual theory of evolution.
I took up reading the bible and researching Christianity to better understand why people of denominated religious faith believe these things that seem so outlandish to me. This is what I have discovered and a few thoughts
1. The bible was written 90 years after Jesus Christ was said to have died.
I can imagine this would be like trying to write a book on Theodore Roosevelt based on hearsay.
2. It has been translated back and forth from different languages and then rewritten many times. (some dispute this...kind of like evolution)
One time I saw this version of Lord of The Rings that was translated to chinese and then from chinese back into english and dubbed over. The result was hillarious, but the movie wasn't nearly the same as the original. nuff said.
3. The bible is chock full of amazing metaphors.
Most of the metaphors were probably lost on me due to the thousands of years of evolving language and my general dissinterest in ancient languages, but it was at least clear to me that many of the points that people take literally are in fact cleverly designed metaphors.

I apologize if it seems that I'm bashing relgion...I just saw the documentary "Jesus Camp" and I got very irritated how they brainwashed and stifled all childhood imagination and creativity. This was my lash out.


To end, here's a little dialoge from "Dogma." This is exactly the way I choose to view religion and I thank Kevin Smith for articulating it so nicely for me.

"
Bethany: Having beliefs isn't good?
Rufus: I think it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier. Life should malleable and progressive; working from idea to idea permits that. Beliefs anchor you to certain points and limit growth; new ideas can't generate. Life becomes stagnant.
"

My Cell phone is hawt

Recent class discussions have got me thinking. What is it that makes something beautiful? To me it is a certain level of ambiguity, I see beauty in things that I don't fully understand. With recognition of beauty comes a feeling of appreciation, for the artist, the piece, and one’s self. It takes commitment and critical thinking to identify beauty, it is not passive.
So now the question is…How can I relate my own definition of beauty to technology? Is my cell phone beautiful?
Aesthetically? No. It cost 10 dollars and though there may be hints of beauty in its simplicity I don’t see it. If anything I’m just angry that it’s not an iPhone.
Functionally? Absolutely. I really have very little understanding of how it works but the appreciation I have for it is astounding. Even with its limited capability it allows me to effectively navigate my social network in a way that can only be described as beautiful.