scott, in brief

on radio 4's today this morning I woke up to the sound of Richard Dawkins chatting to John Humphries.

nice way to wake up.

Anyway they were discussing the comments of Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor who has warned that public life in Britain must not become a "God free" zone. The basis of the conversation turned to Dawkins belief that there is True and False. Belief is not true because it cannot be proved. believing something is not enough to justify it being true.

you can listen again to the show here. (the interview was around 7:17am.)

In my dozing slumber i wondered about all the things we did believe.

Money - he bank promises to pay an amount in sterling? like how many promises of sterling are in circulation and how much sterling is in the world? (besides, i don't want five pounds of a furniture store. talk about free publicity!)

The Justice system - what is the burdon of proof. If three people who don't know me all say they saw me commit a crime would i be able to avoid being convicted. depends what the jury believes i guess

Science - that is a scientific theory and whats the difference between a theory and fact. what is a scientific Law and when are they ever broken? Has science changed it's mind on something that was fact?

So i ask what do we believe and what is fact. If one day the bus doesn't come as scheduled does that mean the timetable is a matter of belief or fact?

without belief, our monetary system crashes, or system of order and justice crashes and (i guess about) 50% of science is crashed with all the implications those three things mean. thats before we get into the crumbling of modernity, the experience of post modernity and where we are today.

Me I believe.
It's better that way.


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