Hi, my name is Bo.
And I have a
personal relationship with reason.
Allow me to introduce you to logic, critical thinking, and reason.
Reason loves you.
Seven Success Myths
This is a summary/outline of my live presentation on "Seven Success Myths" which I am planning to make public on YouTube after the live recording on May 5, 2012. UPDATE: I modified it greatly to the "Three Success Myths". The video is posted below.
If there is any one group most guilty of making invalid causal connections, it is success gurus telling you what you need to do succeed. These gurus usually found success in one aspect of their lives, inferred some causal connections where only correlation exists, then proceed to regurgitate what they think they know as success "laws", "rules", and/or "secrets". Instead of being helpful, those who follow these "rules" and don't find success, end up blaming themselves and often give up in the pursuit of success. The following list will help you better understand the nature of success and ultimately help you with its achievement.
Add a comment Add a commentDoes Omnipotence Require Omniscience?
People throughout history have left the confines of Christian dogma after honestly thinking about the problem of evil. In short, the problem of evil is a result of the idea that there is a God who is all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient), and perfectly good, yet allows Satan to exist and influence people, allows children to die of cancer, baby fawns to burn to death in forest fires started by lightening, and allows about 80% of the all humanity to suffer in eternity in Hell. Over the centuries, there have been many attempts to justify the "evil" in the world. One such method is to deny that the Christian God of the Bible is actually omnipotent and/or omniscient. While the Bible clearly contains verses and stories that both confirm and deny omnipotence and omniscience as part of God's nature, and one can use the Bible to support virtually any position, philosophically speaking, if one is to accept that God is omnipotent, one must accept that he is also omniscient.
Add a comment Add a commentPeace Be With Me
My mother was a wonderful, and interesting, woman. She was a believer in virtually everything supernatural and mystical. Her library included the Bible, the many works of L. Ron Hubbard, books on UFO's and alien encounters, ghosts, hauntings, magic healing crystals --you name it, she's read it, and believed it all. She would explain these strange worlds to me, perhaps to open my mind to other possibilities, which I believe it did. But it also had a side effect; these thoughts of body-snatching aliens, soul-possessing demons, voyeuristic angels, and other "spiritual" beings with a seemingly strong motive to enter my room at night, terrified me for the first 37 years of my life.
Add a comment Add a commentPascal's Wager: The Epitome of Irrational Rationality
Blaise Pascal, one of the greatest minds of the rational revolution, is a perfect example of how one can be blinded by faith, causing oneself to form irrational conclusions even though he or she may be using valid reasoning. Pascal, perhaps most well know for his work in mathematical probabilities, used probability in an argument he developed to evangelize his own religious beliefs. In short, his argument states that it is a more reasonable bet, to wager that God does exists, than to risk being wrong (Hell implied). Now although no serious theistic debater uses this argument (due to it's many problems) it remains one of the most common arguments used on those not skilled in philosophy, probability, or critical thinking. The purpose of this article is not necessarily refute Pascal's argument, since it has been already refuted ad nauseam; the purpose is to show how rational thinking, when limited by a predetermined conclusion (in this case, that the Christian God exists), can easily lead to irrationality. And Pascal's wager just happens to be a perfect example.
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