Quote Originally Posted by Oneironaut
I'm not even going to take the time to respond to such nonsense. Some people are too encapsulated with the supernatural idea to accept reality for what it is, I guess. Enjoy your fantasy world of thinking orchids, magical sky wizards and immortality; I'm going to smoke a bowl down here on earth.

Besides, why shouldn't I be condescending to ideas that don't make any sense? I'm going to express my opinion regardless of what anybody else thinks. I'm not going to "respect" your beliefs just because you hold them. If your beliefs are silly or stupid, I'm going to make fun of them. Like the idea that Jesus exorcised demons out of people to miraculously heal them. That is silly and stupid, now that we know what really causes diseases.
hehehe..dude, you just did

I'm all about accepting reality for what it is. The news though is that we haven't even begun to get a handle on all the facts of what that reality is all about.

And by all means express your opinion with passion! It would be far more interesting if you had an opinion of your own though and not that tiresome rhetoric handed down from your botany professor and his collegues.

Yes, yes, we've all read Cosmos and Broca's Brain--but didn't you check out Contact while you were at it? It looks like Carl Sagan, whom you quote a lot, had 'Sky Wizards' who were so advanced they could appear as the protagonists father. And even in their exalted state they didn't know who built the worm hole highways they used. (sometimes I think ol' Carl was a closet theist...lol)

....and you shouldn't be condescending because it's not very polite It's great talking to smart people because there's so much to learn. Unfortunately many smart people are just a touch insecure about their intelligence because they're not quite as smart as they want to be. --or they were brow-beaten by some professor in grad school and they think it's their responsibility to pass it on. So to get a conversation out of them you have to put up with a lot of bullshit snobbery just so they can jerk off their egos and feel smarter than the next shmuck.

If you really want to dazzle give us something original dude! Sneering and mocking are just weak tactics employed by the pseudo-intellectuals to feel good about themselves.--it's old, tiresome and completely transparent. You're a stoner man! Use that herbal imagination! Then we'll really be in awe of you!...hehe

"We wish to find the truth, no matter where it lies. But to find the truth we need imagination and skepticism both. We will not be afraid to speculate, but we will be careful to distinguish speculation from fact."

Carl Sagan