God VS Science

I found this as a Facebook note. I'm not so sure of it's veracity, but I wanted to share nevertheless. I made minor edits for clarity.

'Let me explain the problem science has with
religion.' The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class
and then asks one of his new students to stand.

'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?'

'Yes sir,' the student says.

'So you believe in God?'


'Absolutely.'


'Is God good?'


'Sure! God's good.'


'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?'


'Yes'


'Are you good or evil?'


'The Bible says I'm evil.'


The professor grins knowingly. 'Aha! The Bible!' He
considers for a moment. 'Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick
person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help
him? Would you try?'


'Yes sir, I would.'


'So you're good...!'


'I wouldn't say that.'


'But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed
person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't.'


The student does not answer, so the professor
continues. 'He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died
of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this
Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?'


The student remains silent.


'No, you can't, can you?' the professor says. He
takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time
to relax.


'Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?'


'Er..yes,' the student says.


'Is Satan good?'


The student doesn't hesitate on this one. 'No.'


'Then where does Satan come from?'


The student falters. 'From God'


'That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me,
son. Is there evil in this world?'


'Yes, sir.'


'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make
everything, correct?'


'Yes'


'So who created evil?' The professor continued,
'If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists,
and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then
God is evil.'


Again, the student has no answer. 'Is there
sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do
they exist in this world?'


The student squirms on his feet. 'Yes.'


'So who created them?'


The student does not answer again, so the professor
repeats his question. 'Who created them?' There is still no answer.
Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom.
The class is mesmerized. 'Tell me,' he continues onto another student.
'Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?'


The student's voice betrays him and cracks. 'Yes,
professor, I do.'


The old man stops pacing. 'Science says you have
five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have
you ever seen Jesus?'


'No sir. I've never seen Him.'


'Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?'


'No, sir, I have not.'


'Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus
or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus
Christ, or God for that matter?'


'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'


'Yet you still believe in him?'


'Yes'


'According to the rules of empirical, testable,
demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do
you say to that, son?'


'Nothing,' the student replies. 'I only have my faith.'


'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats. 'And that is
the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.'


The student stands quietly for a moment, before
asking a question of his own. 'Professor, is there such thing as heat?'



' yes'.


'And is there such a thing as cold?'


'Yes, son, there's cold too.'


'No sir, there isn't.'


The professor turns to face the student, obviously
interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins
to explain. 'You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat,
mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but
we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees
below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that.
There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go even
colder than -458 degrees.'


'Every body or object is susceptible to study when
it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter
have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence
of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the
absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in
thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of
heat, sir, just the absence of it.'


Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in
the classroom, sounding like a hammer.


'What about darkness, professor. Is there such a
thing as darkness?'


'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation.
'What is night if it isn't darkness?'


'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not
something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light,
normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light
constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's
the meaning we use to define the word.'

'In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would
be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'


The professor begins to smile at the student in
front of him. This will be a good semester. 'So what point are you
making, young man?'


'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical
premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be
flawed.'


The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this
time. 'Flawed? Can you explain how?'


'You are working on the premise of duality,' the
student explains.. 'You argue that there is life and then there's
death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as
something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even
explain a thought.'


'It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never
seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the
opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist
as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the
absence of it.'


'Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students
that they evolved from a monkey?'


'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary
process, young man, yes, of course I do.'


'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?'


The professor begins to shake his head, still
smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good
semester, indeed.


'Since no one has ever observed the process of
evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an
on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now
not a scientist, but a preacher?'


The class is in uproar. The student remains silent
until the commotion has subsided.


'To continue the point you were making earlier to
the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.'


The student looks around the room. 'Is there anyone
in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?' The class
breaks out into laughter.


'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the
professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the
professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to
the established rules of empirical, stable, and demonstrable protocol,
science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.'

'So if science says you have no brain, how can we
trust your lectures, sir?'


Now the room is silent. The professor just stares
at the student, his face unreadable.


Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man
answers. 'I guess you'll have to take them on faith.'


'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact,
faith exists with life,' the student continues. 'Now, sir, is there
such a thing as evil?'


Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course,
there is. We see it everyday It is in the daily example of man's
inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence
everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but
evil.'


To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist
sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the
absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has
created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil
is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love
present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no
heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.'


The professor sat down.

The Chef's House-Review

I went to the the Chef's House, a restaurant run by the culinary and hospitality students at George Brown. Maclean's gave it a 5 star rating, and web testimonials across the web raved, so I was pretty hopeful. I went to the art gallery too, but that's later. Check out these pictures. (and captions!)

First Impressions: It's a nice place, nothing extravagant- but there's an open kitchen. Televisions sprinkled throughout allow you to watch your meal being cooked. There were more servers and chefs than customers, with a seemingly 3:1 ratio at the beginning of lunch.

Starter: Arugula Salad, Chevre, Citrus Vinagrette
 

Pretty standard fare. The goat cheese was appropriately tart, but after the second bite, the salad became ridiculously salty. I actually think there was salt on it. I had a bit of a headache after, because of all the sodium intake, but since there were still a few courses left, I braved it out.

Starter 2 (yes, you can order two): Salad of Crabmeat and Avocado, Red Pepper Coulis

 

This was probably my favourite part of the meal. It was avocado, with some crabmeat, and a delicious mystery white sauce on top,  a cheese cracker, and red pepper coulis. Let's be honest here though: the red pepper coulis tasted suspiciously similar to tomato sauce :)

Main: Grilled Herb Marinated Salmon with Feta, tomato and Olive salad

 
 

Well, this looked nice, but it was pretty mediocre. It was seasoned as you would expect, with a bed of vegetables underneath. Unexciting stuff.

Dessert: Jonathan's Dark Chocolate Cake, Ice Cream of the Day

 
 

Not so great. The ice cream was half melted. I didn't even like the flavour (it was something of a cross between citrus, and vanilla), but that's just personal taste. The cake was super fudgy, and was too rich for my palette. It tasted like a cheap, store-made confection.

Here's the table setting:
 

And the menu:
 

Of course, I went to the AGO after, just to check out what Ghery had done. It was okay, but nothing special.

Volunteering at VBS

Man. Chasing after lots of little kids, and screaming at the top of your lungs is tiring.

More after the week.

Ultrasonic Frequencies- Can you hear 'em?

Check this link. Press the play button on each one.
How high of a frequency can you hear?

It's pretty weird. Even on the highest one, I couldn't hear it, but my ears sensed there was a sound. It feels as if there's pressure on your ears, but without the sound.

Something Store

The something store is awesome.

Pay ten bucks, and 4.75 shipping to Canada, and you'll get a box in the mail with something. It could be anything. Yes, it could be useless, but it also might be something cool. It's a risk that I would take (if only I had a credit card :P).


A cool gadget, rare book, table game, handmade necklace, reverse clock, box of gourmet chocolates, set of shiny shower curtains, popular video game, big-box retailer gift card, the latest version of a software, a set of kitchen knives, a pair of designer jeans, garden tool, kitchen appliance, unique home decor item, electronic equipment, magazine subscription, office supply item, or ...

Oh the cool stuff you find online...

Derren Brown

Derren Brown is absolutely amazing. He's an illusionist, and a mentalist. Don't understand? Watch these videos. Now, I know you may say, "I don't have time, I'll just skip this post"- but you've got to see these. It is amazing, crazy, unbelievable stuff. For some reason, the videos can't be embedded.

Do a search for "Derren Brown" on YouTube. It's worth your time.

Trying to Watch the Jackson Memorial

CNN Live, like usual has a great feed, with facebook integration. The same one was used for Obama's inauguration.


But my flash player isn't new enough, and I'm having update trouble.
Oh well. Maybe I'll go down to my TV.

My attempt to get a free PSP

Okay, so EB Games is having a deal. Trade in 8 games, with a minimum trade-in value of $8 each, and get a free PSP. Free. As in $0.00. Of course, the amount of money I originally paid for these games is well over the price of a PSP, but I figured that I'd rather have a new PSP, than a whole bunch of games I don't want.

So I excitedly spent an hour (probably more), digging up all my games. I found 11 that were either DS, or Wii. Only 6 of them are worth more than eight bucks. And the thing is, since I'm trading in Mario Kart, it only really counts as $8, even though I could get $25 for it on its own. That sucks.

So I'm off to find two more games that are cheap, and have high trade-in values. Not an easy task. If any of you R4 owning readers have some extra games to spare (actually, games from any system would be great), please drop me a line.

But if all else fails, I'll go out and buy Brain age 2, and Tetris, both of which are $20 retail, but have trade in values over $8. How that makes sense? I don't know.

But I want my free PSP.

Pretty cool stuff.

(Stolen from Toronto Mike)This is a pretty awesome optical illusion. What colours do you see? Green and blue? I thought so too. THe lines are the same colour. Don't believe me?

There's some add ons for Firefox that identify colours. Check if you want. Both are RGB (0, 255, 150)

"The reason they look different colors is because our brain judges the color of an object by comparing it to surrounding colors. In this case, the stripes are not continuous as they appear at first glance. The orange stripes don’t go through the "blue" spiral, and the magenta ones don’t go through the "green" one."

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day everyone!

I'm heading down to Queen's Park to check out the festivities today. I've got my Canadian flag pin on my collar, so we're all set to go.