I'm packing up my things...

... and moving to Facebook. Considering it's a more engaging experience overall there, and there is space to write to your heart's content, I figure consolidating the two tasks is a good idea.

If, by chance, anyone happens to read this you're more than welcome to send a friend request - just be sure you search for Daniel Wesley in Kansas.

...of Qualia

"If we acknowledge that a physical theory of mind must account for the subjective character of experience, we must admit that no presently available conception gives us a clue how this could be done." - Thomas Nagel

Random Thought

It's always interesting to find out someone "famous" whose work you enjoy is a believer. In this particular case, I recently learned that the host of my all-time favorite TV show 'Good Eats', Alton Brown, is a Christian.

http://www.altonbrown.com/

John Polkinghorne

One of my favorite authors, Christian or otherwise, is John Polkinghorne. As an eminent particle physicist and a theologian of the Anglican tradition, he is uniquely situated to cogently discuss matters of science and of God. His books on Quantum Theory are just as fascinating as his books on rational Theism - He has a gift for making sense of metaphysical ideas while remaining firmly rooted in the scientific tradition. He is one of the premiere proponents of the notion that science and faith have no real qualm with each other - the only qualm is between those with a predilection of one over the other.

While I may disagree with the finer points of his theology (he is a proponent of Open Theism, an idea I'm not quite sure what to make of yet), I am indebted to him for many of my own ideas. He has opened the door for me to honestly critique both traditional Christian philosophy and contemporary ideas of naturalism without sliding down the slippery slope of liberalism.

Along with the other topics I have previously stated, an additional idea I have to keep myself writing are to select various quotes from his writing and adding my own commentary. For example, a great quote from John via Francis Collins' The Language of God:

"The poverty of an objectivist account is made only too clear when we consider the mystery of music. From a scientific point of view, it is nothing but vibrations in the air, impinging on the eardrums and stimulating neural currents in the brain.

How does it come about that this banal sequence of temporal activity has the power to speak to our hearts of an eternal beauty? The whole range of subjective experience, from perceiving a patch of pink, to being enthralled by a performance of the Mass in B Minor, and on to the mystic's encounter with the ineffable reality of the One, all these truly human experiences are at the center of our encounter with reality, and they are not to be dismissed as epiphenomenal froth on the surface of a universe whose true nature is impersonal and lifeless"

What he is alluding to, is that even with a full and complete understanding of how our subjective experiences may be entirely explained by physical causes and interactions, it does in no way remove the subjective experience itself. At the end of the day, when I've enjoyed spending quality time with my wife and son, I have had a real subjective, positive experience that belies a universe devoid of meaning or purpose. Naturalism, to paraphrase John, is ultimately at a loss to explain its reality except to toss it out as not somehow real.

Why does the brain do what it does?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/08/01/open.brain.surgery/index.html

Yet again another fascinating example of just how amazing the brain is.

It again raises the question, why does the brain do what it does? It's certainly a no-brainer (pun intended) to recognize that mental functions are correlated with physical activity, but is it entirely a natural phenomenon?

Why should a brain do what it does? What physical property/properties suggest mental activity could arise naturally from matter and energy alone? Is it possible that mind is as fundamental to reality as matter, regardless if there is a correlation between the two?

Climbing the Ladder

I've been reflecting on what I've written so far and in an effort to come up with new potential topics to write about, I came up with a sort of 'Ladder to Christian Theism'. What this entails is an attempt to create a rational 'ladder' of steps starting with rejecting Naturalism/Materialism up to embracing Christian Theism.

It's certainly not a novel idea because I can recall reading something very similar in another book. In fact, I think it was in a Normal Geisler book, but that memory might be mistaken. I wanted to try and come up with my own version anyway, so I figured there's no point in trying to find the original and just copying it. Without further adieu:

Step 1 - Rejecting Naturalism/Materialism

Step 2 - Understanding Metaphysics (Reason, Logic, etc...)

Step 3 - The Reality of Personhood

Step 4 - Ethics / Morality

Step 5 - The Possibility of Divine Revelation

Step 6 - Judging Various Scriptures

Step 7 - The Superiority of Christ

This list is in no way, shape, or form intended to be authoritative or definitive. Let me also say that Christian soteriology (salvation) has no requirement other than turning to Christ. One does not need to determine anything prior in order to enter into a saving relationship with Him. However, I believe this list will suffice in helping me come up with future topics.

Yet Another Jumpstart

I've been trying to make the rounds and comment on interesting posts I find throughout the web. I'd like to express my gratitude to Google Alerts - I have it set to notify me whenever it finds new content relating to 'Theism' and it finds interesting things on an almost daily basis.

However, I'm always a bit miffed at myself because I don't feel like I've got enough valuable content here to warrant posting a link to my blog whenever I leave a comment elsewhere. I really want to change that and I've got more ideas I'm going to start posting tomorrow.