According to Reuters, an Italian scientist predicted a major earthquake around the Italian city of L'Aquila weeks before the earthquake struck the city on Monday, killing dozens of people. The scientist was duly reported to authorities for spreading panic among the population.
Echoes of the free-speech suppression plaguing Canada, the UK and, coming soon to a legistlature near you, the US.
Mustn't Say Unsettling Things. Unsettling speech might make Italians quake; better wait for the real thing.
This provides us an update to the old chestnut about not yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theatre. Mustn't yell "Earthquake coming!". But what if it turns out to be true?!
Think about it.
It's OK to tell people humankind faces imminent collapse due to global warming, but not to predict a local earthquake.
The scientist would have been better off if he had predicted an earthquake caused by global warming. Then, he would have received media coverage and adoration.
It's not what you say; it's how you say it, and what secular gods you bow down to.
My prediction: Mark Steyn's gonna have something to say about this.
And that's the way the shaken, not stirred, Ball bounces.
4 comments:
I think the timescales involved are the difference here Richard.
By the way, we should strike up another "Does God Exist" thread...
I miss the old days.
The timeframes were indeed a bit misaligned. I realized this after I dashed this off, but felt it was at least within the ballpark.
For what it's worth, the scientist involved is demanding an apology.
Does God Exist -- I'm pursuing a line of reasoning about why atheists ought to wish that God did exist: because, in a godless, cold, heartless material universe, higher-value concepts such as meaning, purpose, value, worth, honor, integrity, virtue, etc., in other words, all the things that make us truly human -- are absurdities, and atheism thus diminishes man beyond recognition.
Of course, no atheist actually lives this way -- it's an unliveable philosophy. I suppose the ones that do commit suicide in despair.
"I'm pursuing a line of reasoning about why atheists ought to wish that God did exist"
Why we "ought to wish"?? It's not a case of wanting or not-wanting to believe in god. "wish"ing it existed doesn't help at all...
The idea that atheists (like me) resist a belief in god, or actively work on our disbelief, is ludicrous! There has never been one single reason for me to take the idea of god seriously. It's not something that I can turn on or off.
"Of course, no atheist actually lives this way..."
Of course not... we're all pretenders.(roll eyes).
Why would anyone believe in god and all that comes with it - and ~choose~ to reject it? They would knowingly be banishing themselves to hell for all eternity.
No - I assure... I truly believe there is no god.
"I suppose the ones that do commit suicide in despair."
Ha! funny stuff... I guess this is the stuff you believers have to tell yourselves to get you through the day. Reality left your world long ago - just go on assuming to know what atheists think and how terrible it must be... whatever floats your boat!
Joe Agnost.
So-and-so admitted that holding to atheism can bring one to depressing conclusions about life.
That fact, however, does not prove religions' "wishful thinking" about an afterlife, he said.
True, but it at least ought to make one sad, and wish that human life did have ultimate meaning, value, worth, and purpose -- all of which are erased to zero in a godless universe.
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