A bit of blogging elsewhere

RE: the nature of scientific vs. religious inquiry into and apprehension of the Truth:

Me: "There is another crucial difference between science and the Catholic Faith: Catholic truths, whether revealed or revealable, are demonstrably true. The best one can say of scientific theories is that they are not yet falsified by experiment.
Joachim | 10.25.07 - 10:32 am"

J Dave G: "The best one can say of scientific theories is that they are not yet falsified by experiment.

I can say better than that, oh snarky one

Scientific theories are useful. It's handy to know that V=IR. We can predict many outcomes quite well, and design things we all use every day. It ain't much compared to the big questions, but it is something.

Catholic truths, whether revealed or revealable, are demonstrably true.

I believe firmly in those Catholic truths, but at best, that quick remark is an incomplete description leaving faith and other important matters unsaid, and ultimately misleading many of those exact folks who could profit from a bit of education. It might even be worse: a schoolyard taunt "Our proofs are better than your proofs, nyah!" that only pours fuel on the flaming-stupid notion that science and faith are incompatible. Or worse still, it might even be a pompous bit of Catholic agitprop - yeah, some of us Catholics are in that business too.

Of course, we are left to guess what your precise intentions were.
J Dave G | 10.26.07 - 10:25 am |"

Me: "J Dave G, the quickness of my original remark comes from reading and posting to the blog (about Mark's comments; I had yet to read the original article) from my cell phone while at work (I'm a mailman, I don't get a workstation or even a laptop), so let me unpack this a little more.

My main point is that natural science and religion (and Catholicism especially) have different attitudes toward and grasps of (Ultimate) Truth, which is the end of each (in a Thomistic sense). The scientist does not have the benefit of Revelation (supernatural truth) or an immutable deposit of faith, but he is trying to comprehend all natural truths through theory, observation, and experiment. Mark refers, in his post, to dogmas as "the conclusion of thought," and I accept that, but I wish to distinguish religious dogma from scientific axiom. Granted, the scientist accepts that "the universe is intelligible," and "we don't understand everything and are always learning more." The scientist must necessarily assume these things at the beginning, or there is no science at all, and you cannot put these dogmas/axioms to experimental test either.

In layman's terms, the closest the scientist can come to saying "This is true," is "These experimental results confirm those theoretical predictions (or vice versa), so the theory works, for now." Scientific understanding does not develop in the way Christian doctrine does. The Eucharist will always be the Eucharist in a way that scientific concepts are not. Scientific developments may, in a sense, be thought of as real corrections to prior understanding--understanding which makes predictions at variance with later experiments or observations.

I was a physics major in college, so I've always been more comfortable with Newton than Darwin, Forgive me for shifting things a bit. In Newtonian theory, gravity is a force caused by two objects. According to Einstien, gravity is the curvature of space-time. Particle physics tries to make gravity into another mediating particle, the graviton (which is as yet experimentally undetectable). What we have is one explanation (Newton) which worked to a point, before the body of knowledge overall had to be radically re-thought through two different (and mutually irreconcilable, to date) explanations of a phenomenon (Einstein's curvature vs. quantum theory's particle). Each theory still works in its own sphere, but it's more of a patchwork quilt than a tapestry. Einstein said it best, but alas, I must paraphrase: The effort to understand the universe can be compared to that of a man understanding a closed watch--he can observe the object and theorize, but he cannot open the watch, and he cannot even conceive what it means to open the watch. (I remember that Gary Zukav cited the exact quote in "The Dancing Wu Li Masters," Ch. 1--the very first Ch. 1, he numbered all the chapters "1")

So while the scientist is limited to his own fallible, amendable understandings of what will always be unknowable in toto, the Christian has been visited by Truth Himself (and gets to eat him too!), and has the assurance of arriving at that same Truth (God willing). That is the sense of what I was groping for when I said that Catholic Truths are demonstrably true. They have a logical certainty and finality ("the end") that scientific knowledge never will. I did not intend to sound triumphal.

More things that Jesus never Said: "To which of the Scientists, did He at any time, say, "You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free?"

It's like that, I guess. Which makes me ask, scientifically, what IS Darwin's theory? What results does it explain, preferably better than any other scientific explanation? Does it make testable predictions? And, as a layman, why does the secular culture seem to treat it like dogma?
Joachim | 10.26.07 - 6:20 pm |"

J Dave G: "Thanks Joachim, I won't have time to mull this for a few days, but I'll look forward to it. Briefly I'll say that "proofs" in science and theology are different in ways I'm still trying to grasp, and Darwin can't hardly be discussed rationally in this culture with blame on many sides.
J Dave G | 10.26.07 - 10:18 pm |"

Me: "J Dave G, I have heard it said that a common misconception people have about the theory of evolution is that they understand it. I will be a bit busy with a little vacation travelling myself, but I will be checking in from time to time. I agree with you that "proofs" are different for science and religion. I'll put it this way: the scientist must always build from the bottom up; he is limited by what human reason can know (reveal-able, ex., existence of God). The Believer can use reason in like manner, to a point, but can also know things from the top down. (reveal-ed, ex., Triune God)
Joachim | 10.26.07 - 11:15 pm |"

It was fun to work on this over a relaxing afternoon. It'll be interesting to see how this works out.

Time for a Catholic Adventure!

Off to Holland to see some very significant people through next week. One of them is en route as I wrote this.

Went to a StoresOnlinePro seminar this morning, in response to an invitation I got in the mail, but their database caught up with me (well, on a human level, my real name is hard to forget once you've seen it spelled out), and they refused to admit me since I had been to a previous seminar and if I wasn't going to commit to giving them business today, I would be "wasting your time and money to sit through it again." It's just as well.

Got a wheresgeorge hit, my first in Delaware!

Called the office early this evening and found out I moved off the waiting list for annual leave, so I got tomorrow off, but too late to realistically fly out Friday night, so I am departing Sunday as originally planned.

Will try to blog during the week all the same. I must call the phone service to make adjustments to my plan which will make it easier to blog on the job.

Thursday . . .

Found four pennies today so far.

Tracking back, found a penny and a dime on one day, then a penny and a quarter the next. On yet another day, found 6 lonely pennies on the table in the break room near the end of the day.

Rainy day today.

My bag and raincoat are drying out. My dishpan feet dried out sooner.

found a penny and a quarter! (1977)

The rain was on and off, but it really poured.

Took half the marriage mail, but had to cut it from the last three relays to get back in time. Oh, joy.

My hands are not dirty--after every meal, I lick them clean.

By George! Got a hit this morning as I was driving to work. It was found in PA, but was entered in NJ. Yet, it is all good for my score.

Found a penny and a dime yesterday. No wheresgeorge hits. It was very hot and humid, and this is late October!

Ok Day . . .

. . . found one penny in the parking lot as I was going home, and got another wheresgeorge hit, this time from Keyport, NJ.

Stuff

Mounted route today; no chance for pennies.

1 hit from wheresgeorge, in Goshen, NY.

Had to download to K of C podcasts from their site as iTunes seems to have stopped updating the feed.

Slow day.

Today

No pennies today, but two hits from wheresgeorge , one in Brick NJ and the next in Ozone Park NY.

Half an hour O/T on a pivot.

My blog is now set up to receive MMS and SMS posts, so I can blog on the go. I had to pore through the help section to learn that some cell carriers, like mine, assign different sending email addresses for MMS and SMS posts.

Called in today!

Bang-outs today means I got a call to come in! Picked up 14 pennies today, 10 of them in one place. I forgot to bring my mailbag AND my pocket charger. It was the first really fall-ish day so far. I started the recharge when I got back from the street and now I'm posting from my phone.

In the Mailstream . . .

. . . And I thought the Army was always green!

I'm off this weekend!

I guess that means I won't pick up as many pennies as I usually do.

I became the fourth bidder on eBay for Rush Limbaugh's Original Harry Reid Smear Letter, with a bid of $205. Of course I was immediately outbid, but I only wanted to place anyway.

It Is a Great Day to Be a Mailman: Isaiah 55:10--11

"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and return not thither but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth:
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

Picked up 6 pennies today.

It was one of those on-and-off rainy days today, more on than off. I have the dishpan feet to prove it, and to the residents of First Avenue especially, I'm sorry, but when it rains, your mail is going to get more or less wet. Only the government would pay someone to walk around with a bundle of paper regardless of pouring rain!

"People who complain about the weather are usually not walking around in it." --Me.

More coolness:

"Mandelbrot Set"

Type it into a YouTube search box and you get this:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mandelbrot+set&search=Search

Check them out too. Then go here

http://www.ddewey.net/mandelbrot/

for an explanation.

www.wheresgeorge.com

Got another hit today, this one is #59, coming from a dollar bill that I got in the A&P in North Brunswick, and it turned up in a store somewhere in Edison.

It's fun. Check it out.

http://www.wheresgeorge.com

If people can eat with their eyes. . .

. . . can they also see with their mouths? (ex. "That fish isn't just beautiful, he's delicious!")

Today I picked up 4 pennies.

One of the perks of my job:

I get to pick up loose change.

Today I picked up 12 cents.