My intro of self to AIR meetup.

2010.02.28

250 char max for the intro:

Hi, I'm David. I'm in Gwinnett and am intrigued, Richard, over your joining of "inspiration" and "reason" in AIR's name: I love logic and reason, yet find life would be of no use to me were it not for the stuff of inspiration. How about a meetup?

An addendum to my self-intro at [Richard's} AIR Meetup page...

2010.02.28

An addendum to my self-intro at [Richard's} AIR Meetup page ...

~~~

Richard, I learned of AIR by seeing that Laurie [of GUST] generated not only the GUST Meetup page, but your AIR Meetup page as well. Laurie then referred me to you.

I attended a GUST get-together once (GUST's Christmas get-together this past December). While I love logic and reason and have no real need for faith... when I read, at the GUST web page, members' comments and intros, I felt GUST may not be an ideal fit for me: I don't reject "God"; I reject only irrational beliefs about a god.

I do like GUST. I can find there camaraderie with others who reject, as I do, faith in religious dogma, finding such faith irrational. But, again, my fit with GUST is not ideal: it seems to me that Rationalism, as it is commonly used, often not all that rational; and I do not subscribe to the common Rationalist notion that Science can address every important question.

I either reject the notion of a universal "God", or subscribe to the possibility that one may exist, based on whatever definition of "God" is at hand.

I find no discomfort with the notion of "God" as defined simply as some kind of source for beauty and joy. All true scientists, I argue, appreciate the beauty of nature and the joy of a rational exploration of nature. THIS, it seems to me, does not oppose the thinking of either Albert Einstein or Charles Darwin... nor even the thinking of Richard Dawkins.

Furthermore, I do not preclude the existence... beyond the extents of my personal ranges of perceptions, and further, beyond the ranges of perceptions which modern Science can claim... I do not preclude the existence of a singular, aware, universal entity. And, it seems to me, contemporary quantum interpretations for the most part, fundamentally do not preclude such a universal "God". (I'm speaking here of a sheer existentiality of such a “God”, apart from any commonly supposed characteristics or proclivities of such a “God”. )

So, I find pleasure in contemplating the possibility for a universal god, but I hold no "beliefs" about that which - if existent - certainly does not see your and my physical selves as really real. (Logic, it seems to me, dictates that conclusion.)

~~~

Now, to You, Richard, and to AIR:

On your use of the word "inspiration" in AIR's name: whence inspiration, Richard? Why did you choose that word? Inspiration, as You know, very often connotes a reception of an idea from not only a source outside You, but beyond you, beyond a merely four-dimensional existence.

I'd really like to chat with you about AIR, and where you'd ideally like to see it go. We could meet at the next GUST meeting (Mon, March 8 at UUCG).

Alternately, please feel free to either call me (cell: 770.378.4512) or email me (amadian01@gmail.com)

David Kapp

~~~

"I believe in intuition and inspiration. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research."

- Albert Einstein, 1931

"Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious."

- Albert Einstein, 1927

".... From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist."

- Albert Einstein, 1945