Kiselm's submitted quotes
Imagine a world in which generations of human beings come to believe that certain films were made by God or that specific software was coded by him. Imagine a future in which millions of our descendants murder each other over rival interpretations of Star Wars or Windows 98. Could anything - anything - be more ridiculous? And yet, this would be no more ridiculous than the world we are living in.
Where we have reasons for what we believe, we have no need of faith; where we have no reasons, we have lost both our connection to the world and to one another.
The problem with faith, is that it really is a conversation stopper. Faith is a declaration of immunity to the powers of conversation. It is a reason, why you do not have to give reasons, for what you believe.
We must find our way to a time when faith, without evidence, disgraces anyone who would claim it.
The difference between science and religion is the difference between a willingness to dispassionately consider new evidence and new arguments, and a passionate unwillingness to do so.
You can`t take credit for your talents, but it matters that you use them. You can`t really be blamed for your weaknesses, but it matters that you correct them. So pride and shame don`t make a lot of sense, in the final analysis, but they weren`t much fun anyway.
The less competent a person is in a given domain, the more he will tend to overestimate his abilities. This often produces an ugly marriage of confidence and ignorance that is very difficult to correct for.
It is merely an accident of history that it is considered normal in our society to believe that the Creator of the universe can hear your thoughts while it is demonstrative of mental illness to believe that he is communicating with you by having the rain tap in Morse code on your bedroom window.
The only angels we need invoke are those of our better nature: reason, honesty, and love. The only demons we must fear are those that lurk inside every human mind: ignorance, hatred, greed, and faith, which is surely the devil's masterpiece.
There is no such thing as philosophy-free science; there is only science whose philosophical baggage is taken on board without examination.
Contrary to what marketers would have you believe, you are not what you own. You are you, and things are things; no physical or mathematical alchemy can alter these boundaries, despite what that full-page magazine ad or clever commercial tries to tell you.
How many times have you heard that "more is better, " "fake it ‘til you make it, " or "clothes make the man?" They tell us that more stuff means more happiness, when in fact, more stuff often means more headaches and more debt.
When your space is clear, your mind is clear - you can work without distraction, and be more productive.
In 99 percent of the stuff we do, perfection is superfluous. It’s not necessary, not expected, and likely won’t be noticed or appreciated.