^TagScientism

^{Type
post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
March 30, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Applied Science, Arcane, Arts & Culture, C.S. Lewis, Magic, Netflix, science, Scientism, Technocracy, Technology, The Abolition of Man, TV shows}

The Moral Genius of Arcane

_{The show reveals how pursuing knowledge for the sake of greater manipulation, power, and control can open the floodgates of chaos} _{Peter Biles

March 30, 2023

4

Arts & Culture}

The 2021 show Arcane, based on the video game League of Legends, is fantastic. The animation style, writing, and world-building all merit its 100 percent scored rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Apart from its entertainment value, which is formidable, Arcane explores the pertinent themes of power, progress, and the promises and pitfalls of technological advancement. It does this without heavy-handedness, “instructing by delighting,” in the words of C.S. Lewis. A Powerful Civilization and a Chaotic Underworld The story takes place in the utopian city of Piltover, which prides itself on its innovations in science, technology, and infrastructure. On the lower edges of the city lies the unruly Zaun, an oppressed underworld overrun with crime and an addictive drug called “Shimmer.” The Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
March 28, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Technocracy

Tagged
C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Materialism, Michael Aeschliman, Scientism, virtue}

Michael Aeschliman on C.S. Lewis and Scientism

_{Aeschliman observes how technological progress and scientific mastery, when it isn't wedded with virtue and moral knowledge, wreaks havoc} _{Peter Biles

March 28, 2023

5

Arts & Culture, Technocracy}

Michael D. Aeschliman first wrote The Restoration of Man: C.S. Lewis and the Continuing Case Against Scientism in 1983. It was praised as a remarkable achievement upon its arrival by eminent writers and thinkers like Russell Kirk, Malcolm Muggeridge, and George Gilder. Discovery Institute Press published an expanded and updated edition of the book in 2019, and a recent podcast episode featuring Aeschliman piqued my own interest in the book. Aeschliman writes on the advent of “scientism,” the belief that science is the only viable path to knowledge and should therefore be esteemed above all other disciplines. Such a view leads to the reckless moral relativism and “will to power” that arguably brought about the bloodbaths of the twentieth century, Read More ›

A man on the background of a gloomy city

^{Type
post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
December 29, 2022

Categorized
Technocracy

Tagged
Christian, Control, COVID-19, CS Lewis, Eastern Orthodox, First Things, government, Icon, Paul Kingsnorth, Scientism, Technology, totalitarianism}

Science, Safety, & Slavery to the State

_{Revisiting a 2022 conversation between Paul Kingsnorth and Jonathan Pageau} _{Peter Biles

December 29, 2022

4

Technocracy}

Paul Kingsnorth is a writer and novelist living in Ireland who operates a Substack account called the Abbey of Misrule. For years his work has focused on the many forms of civilizational control that human beings seek to exert over their fellow man and how such power, whether it be technological, governmental, or corporate, diminishes our humanity and freedom. He is also a newly converted Christian, and he wrote his conversion story for First Things last summer, which you can find here. In April, Kingsnorth joined Jonathan Pageau on his YouTube channel. Pageau is an Eastern Orthodox iconographer from Canada. In their discussion, Kingsnorth uses the word “Machine” to describe the massive technological control that’s now not so subtly creeping up on many western countries. From Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 28, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy, Religion, Science, Social Media

Tagged
Bacteria, Casey Luskin, Darwinian evolution theory, Evolution, Featured, Human brain (as complex), Isaac Asimov (on human brain), Jerry Coyne, Michael Egnor, New Atheism, Orac (pseudonym), Panda's Thumb (blog), Positivism, Rubik's cube (and specified complexity), Scientism, Specified Complexity, Steven Novella, Why Evolution is True (blog)}

When a Neurosurgeon and a Biologist Keep On Arguing…

_{… we suspect some pretty basic science issues are involved} _{News

June 28, 2022

11

Philosophy, Religion, Science, Social Media}

In a recent ID: The Future podcast (June 24, 2022) Casey Luskin interviews pediatric neurosurgeon Michael Egnor on his blogosphere debates with evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne. Egnor, who has authored many research papers, espouses a non-materialist view of the mind — and of life in general — with which Dr. Coyne, a committed atheist, emphatically disagrees. Here’s a partial transcript from “A Brain Surgeon Debates Evolutionist Jerry Coyne and Other Atheists”: Casey Luskin: We’re going to talk about these debates you’ve had with Dr. Coyne and others. Some of the arguments you’ve made, I think, have been very compelling. But before we get into that, I’d like to ask, why do you focus your writing so much on Dr. Jerry Read More ›

Man reading a book on a background with science formulas

^{Type
post

Author
Caitlin Bassett
Date
August 17, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Nikola Danaylov, Scientism, Singularity Weblog}

Science’s Limitations According to a Futurist

_{Danaylov rightly warns against a blind embrace of science} _{Caitlin Bassett

August 17, 2021

4

Philosophy, Science}

“[S]cience on its own has not and cannot ensure our progress or future survival,” writes Nikola Danaylov. In our last post, we introduced Nikola Danaylov, futurist author and speaker. Danaylov is currently in the middle of an online series about the story of humanity and how science and technology fit into that story in our past, present, and future. Danaylov begins his series with his main thesis: “[O]ur future is indeed determined. But not by some unbreakable and deterministic law of nature. No. Our future is determined by a story that we have created.” In other words, the way we narrate our own lives matters because it determines how we will act in the future. The Power of Story Danaylov spends the Read More ›

Brain mind way soul and hope concept art, illustration, surreal mystery artwork, imagination painting, conceptual idea of success

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 28, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Aboutness concept, Arjuna Das, Atheism, Featured, Franz Brentano, Materialism, Michael Egnor, Scientism, Theology Unleashed}

How we can know mental states are real?

_{Mental states are always “about” something; physical states are not “about” anything} _{News

July 28, 2021

8

Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Science}

Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor did a recent podcast with Arjuna Das at Theology Unleashed, “where Eastern theology meets Western skepticism.” In this section, they talk about how we can know that the mind is real and how materialist philosophy has just plain gone bad: Here is a partial transcript and notes for the twenty to thirty-one minute mark: Michael Egnor: There was a philosopher named Franz Brentano (1838–1917) in the 19th century who proposed what I think is the best definition of what distinguishes a mental state from a physical state. Brentano asks, is there any unique thing that all mental states have that no physical state has? He said, it’s intentionality, and by intentionality he meant that every mental state Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
April 18, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Creator, god, Goldbach's Conjecture, Incompleteness theorems (Gödel), Kurt Gödel, Peter Atkins, Proof (in mathematics), Scientific materialism, Scientism, Stephen Hawking, String theory, Theism, Theory of Everything, William Lane Craig}

How Materialism Proves Unbounded Scientific Ignorance

_{There is an infinite number of things that are true that we cannot prove scientifically and never will} _{Robert J. Marks

April 18, 2021

6

Philosophy, Science}

Science is based on a glut of laws from physics, chemistry, mathematics, and other areas. The assumption of scientific materialism, as I understand it, is that science has explained or will explain everything. The final conclusion of scientific materialism, also known as scientism, is nicely captured in a question chemist Peter Atkins asked philosopher William Lane Craig in a debate: “Do you deny that science can account for everything?” Scientism’s assumption that science can establish everything is self-refuting. Careful analysis shows that there is an infinite number of things that are true that we cannot prove scientifically and never will. Stephen Hawking saw the tip of the iceberg of this truth when he said, “Up to now, most people have Read More ›