1. Sam Harris seems like a nice fellow, but very confused

Comment #78760 by Ironwolf on October 14, 2007 at 6:39 pm

Labels are simply tools. We pick them up and use them when they suit our needs and put them down when we're done with them. The right tool can be used to build, or to cause harm. Certainly that is true with the label, "atheist." Context is critical, and habitually using the same tool as novel situations arise is usually counterproductive.

Did Sam go overboard with his rhetoric? Consider that the audience before which he made his remarks was largely already familiar with his arguments and his rhetorical style. Sam was essentially faced with the dull prospect of "preaching to the choir." Or, smart guy that he is, he could instead take the opportunity to "stir the pot." I think he made the right choice in the latter. By dropping the comfortable, conventional labels on the floor with a loud thud and proclaiming their obsolescence, I think it very unlikely he was expecting his audience to comply en masse. But I think he succeeded in his real goal of getting more people to think about the use of labels as a mindless rallying cry, and to consider the conditions under which they can, temporarily or permanently, be jettisoned.

We are not our tools.

2. Out of Thin Air

Comment #72948 by Ironwolf on September 23, 2007 at 3:53 pm

Wow... I had no idea that Max Headroom is a creationist.

3. Consciousness Without Faith

Comment #16683 by Ironwolf on January 8, 2007 at 3:50 am

Ann Druyan (Carl Sagan's collaborator and widow) is another prominent thinker who feels that the word "Spiritual" should not be ceded to supernaturalists. I have quoted a relevant passage from an interview she recently did for the Point of Inquiry podcast on my blog here:

http://ironwolf.dangerousgames.com/blog/archives/243