Spinoza

I just discovered the philosophy of Benedictus de Spinoza or Baruch de Spinoza (1632-1677) - The Dutch Jewish philosopher known as a Rationalist.

He is best known for his "Ethics"( check it out here on google books), a "monumental work that presents an ethical vision unfolding out of a monistic metaphysics in which God and Nature are identified. God is no longer the transcendent creator of the universe who rules it via providence, but Nature itself, understood as an infinite, necessary, and fully deterministic system of which humans are a part. Humans find happiness only through a rational understanding of this system and their place within it. " (from: "http://www.iep.utm.edu/s/spinoza.htm)

I like thinking of the concept of G-d in this way. In Judaism, Jews are not supposed to use G-d's name in vain.
here are some interesting links on G-d's names in Judaism:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/name.html
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/05-Worship/section-12.html

Jews are also not supposed to draw or represent the image of G-d in drawings or sculpture. Giving something a name classifies it and thus boxes it in. The concept of Infinity, is much harder to box in and is much harder to draw a picture of.

Earth's relative size

a bit of perspective on Earth's size:

Reverse Engineering Life

Check out this posting about how scientists are able to reverse the Krebs cycle :

New insights into the origin of life on Earth from PhysOrg.com

In an advance toward understanding the origin of life on Earth, scientists have shown that parts of the Krebs cycle can run in reverse, producing biomolecules that could jump-start life with only sunlight and a mineral present in the primordial oceans.

[...]

It brings to mind some thoughts on reverse engineering. Ray Kurzweil has some interesting things to say on this topic: He believes that "a $1,000 personal computer will match the computing speed and capacity of the human brain by around the year 2020." From there we can only hope for brain 2.0. wonder what that will look like.

The Atheist Delusion Takes a sarcastic look at the Science vs. G-d Debate. Once again drawing a line in the sand and staking a claim in what the Universe is.

If G-d is everything and science is part of everything wouldn't science be part of G-d... and if Science is everything and G-d is part of everything wouldn't G-d be part of science?
-not trying to preach here... but I often feel like the debate between G-d and Science feels like a political race. Republicancs vs. Democrats... and they're both neck and neck.. this video reminds me of a slander campaign that you would see on TV during a race... as in "does my apponent REALLY care about healthcare?... didn't he sign the bill cutting taxes for healthcare last year...etc. etc..."

I really don't mean to sound like the wishy washy centrist, but does it really matter? I don't think truly religous people would ever try to prove science wrong. And Scientists should study the universe through experimentation and research .. for example String theory is highly theoretical... yet some scientists have faith that it exists ... faith is present in all forms of study.. why not in philosophy/theology?