Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Mistress of the Cosmos
Ann Druyan is probably more famous for being the spouse of Carl Sagan. She often collaborated with her husband and now runs Cosmos Studios, a science-based entertainment company. Her company helped to finance Cosmos 1, the world's first solar sail spacecraft set to be launched soon. She was recently asked if there is anything wrong with someone believing in the intangible and I enjoyed her response:
"There's nothing wrong with having a sense of wonder about the things you don't understand, but I think it's wrong to commit to a belief in the abscence of evidence, especially when what you believe is transparently a pallative for your fear. The search itself should be never ending. That's why conclusive religions do no satisfy me the way science does."
Ann Druyan is probably more famous for being the spouse of Carl Sagan. She often collaborated with her husband and now runs Cosmos Studios, a science-based entertainment company. Her company helped to finance Cosmos 1, the world's first solar sail spacecraft set to be launched soon. She was recently asked if there is anything wrong with someone believing in the intangible and I enjoyed her response:
"There's nothing wrong with having a sense of wonder about the things you don't understand, but I think it's wrong to commit to a belief in the abscence of evidence, especially when what you believe is transparently a pallative for your fear. The search itself should be never ending. That's why conclusive religions do no satisfy me the way science does."
Friday, October 17, 2003
The Power of Prayer
In the largest study to date they've found no evidence to indicate that prayer helps to heal the sick. Dr. Krucoff had suprisingly found that there could be evidence to indicate prayer helped in much smaller studies. He extended the study to over 750 people where names were drawn at random and sent to 12 prayer groups. He found no signifcant differences in the recover of people prayed for vs. those who were not. Of course, anyone with a vested interest (ie. church leaders) praised the smaller studies but have quickly backtracked on this latest study criticizing it as crude and you cannot test god in this fashion. I guess that's to be expected.
In the largest study to date they've found no evidence to indicate that prayer helps to heal the sick. Dr. Krucoff had suprisingly found that there could be evidence to indicate prayer helped in much smaller studies. He extended the study to over 750 people where names were drawn at random and sent to 12 prayer groups. He found no signifcant differences in the recover of people prayed for vs. those who were not. Of course, anyone with a vested interest (ie. church leaders) praised the smaller studies but have quickly backtracked on this latest study criticizing it as crude and you cannot test god in this fashion. I guess that's to be expected.
Monday, October 06, 2003
The Last Luvly Sister
My Great Aunt, Patsy Ronan, passed away this week, the last of her generation. After my grandmother passed away earlier this year she was the last surviving member of her family. I think Patsy lost the will to live after her passing. Shortly after, Patsy asked me why god had choosen her to live. I couldn't answer that honestly so I just told her that perhaps he thought her to be the strongest.
I was a little shocked at Patsy's passing this morning. Patsy was always full of life and I don't recall her every not having a smile or a coookie ready at the door of her home. I can't escape the irony that Patsy and I won a little euchre tournament held after my grandmother's service only a few months earlier this year. I can't help but feel the world is a little less cheerful today. I only know that I'll be ready with a deck of cards after her funeral. It's what she would've wanted. Only I won't try and cheat as much eh ;o)
My Great Aunt, Patsy Ronan, passed away this week, the last of her generation. After my grandmother passed away earlier this year she was the last surviving member of her family. I think Patsy lost the will to live after her passing. Shortly after, Patsy asked me why god had choosen her to live. I couldn't answer that honestly so I just told her that perhaps he thought her to be the strongest.
I was a little shocked at Patsy's passing this morning. Patsy was always full of life and I don't recall her every not having a smile or a coookie ready at the door of her home. I can't escape the irony that Patsy and I won a little euchre tournament held after my grandmother's service only a few months earlier this year. I can't help but feel the world is a little less cheerful today. I only know that I'll be ready with a deck of cards after her funeral. It's what she would've wanted. Only I won't try and cheat as much eh ;o)
