Today I was listening to music on my speaker system and realized that I have not watched TV in weeks. The reason I noticed is that I have one power cord that will either power my speakers or my TV. It has not left my speakers this month. This is not something I did on purpose. I just have not had the desire to watch TV. I can not even find the remote. For me this is strange since I always liked watching TV and now I am either on my computer, reading a book or both.
Some consequences of this are that since I always relied on TV for the news and weather, I don’t know what is going in the world or if I need an umbrella tomorrow. I am starting to use the internet for that information but it is hard to remember to do that.
Since I am reading more now, again not on purpose it is just a consequence of no TV I have decided to read a non-non-fiction book without being forced. I always stick to science or math books for pleasure reading but I am going to read a novel. Any suggestions would be nice.
By the way I am an atheist currently reading “The Language of God” by Francis Collins where he claims to be providing evidence for his belief in God. I am not very convinced of his argument since just before I finished reading “The Greatest Show on Earth” by Richard Dawkins where he shows the evidence for evolution. In the Dawkins book he puts forth strong testable evidence for the fact of evolution whereas Collins seems to be showing that God and science do not have to be mutually exclusive. Collins argument (so far, not done yet) is OK but not nearly as strong as the evidence for evolution. Any suggestions for books along these lines that perhaps builds a stronger case for God?
Just to add Collins does believe in evolution but I have not gotten to the part if he believes it the way most scientist believe it.
Any particular kind of novel? (People who like math and science often tend to like science fiction.) Any novels you’ve enjoyed in the past? There is a sticky thread at the top of Cafe Society, with links to many past book suggestion threads.
I think the answer is basically yes, except that he believes that God is behind evolution, which of course not all scientists agree with. The part of the book I appreciated most was, in the latter part, where Collins argues, from a Christian perspective, for evolution and against its alternatives (like Intelligent Design).
Many believers, including Collins himself, would claim that you can’t build a case for (or against) God on scientific grounds (as opposed to philosophical, historical, or experiential grounds). From his introduction to the book I will mention below:
[QUOTE=Francis Collins]
If God has any real significance, God must be at least in part outside of nature (unless you are a pantheist, who belives that God and nature are the same thing). Science, including the science of evolution, is limited to exploring and understanding the natural world. Therefore, to apply scientific arguments to the question of God’s existence, as if this were somehow a showstopper, is committing a category error.
[/QUOTE]
So if you’re looking for a book that builds the same sort of case for God as Dawkins builds for evolution, you’re probably going to be disappointed. But if you want to read some of the arguments, classical and modern, for belief in God, a good place to start might be an anthology that Collins himself edited, called Belief: Readings on the Reason for Faith.
When I moved to my current home, we were tired and the tv was heavy and the truck was full, so we left it. I really didn’t/don’t miss it. I’m used to checking the news online and weather reports come to my phone.
This might not be the fluff reading you want…but the ending is very different than what I expected. I was reading it at lunch and laughing because it was so entertaining. I’m a bibliophile, and most novels have a script. This one went very different from the script.