The limits of reason: Philip Pullman on why we believe in magic | Books A new exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford brings together a multitude of objects and artworks – there’s a “poppet” or rag doll with a stiletto stuck through its face, an amulet containing a human heart, a wisp of “ectoplasm” apparently extruded by a medium in Wales, and too many others to count – from a dark world of nonsense and superstition that we ought to have outgrown a long time ago. At least, that’s how I imagine rationality would view it. I find myself in an awkward position rationality-wise, because my name is listed on the website of the Rationalist Association as a supporter, and at the same time I think this exhibition is full of illuminating things, and the mental world it illustrates is an important – no, an essential part of the life we live. I’ll start with William James. And of course she’s not alone. The universe of magic is a large place. But rationalism doesn’t make the magical universe go away. But we have to be clear about what our imagination is.
5 things you might not know about Pokemon - Video Games Blog Plugged In Pokemon Black/White - Nintendo Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, the Pokemon series has been one of gaming's most successful. Not content with a smash hit series of portable games, it's spawned full-size console spin-offs, a card game, a TV show, a successful series of movies, a string of comic books, and more toys, action figures, and other tchotckes than you can shake a Spearow at. But did you know that it was borne out of the designer's love of bugs? It's the biggest seller this side of Mario. Describing Pokemon as being popular is rather like describing the Hindenburg disaster as "a bit of an oopsie." Forget The Sims, Bejeweled or WarCraft -- Pokemon is second only to Mario as the franchise to have generated the most sales in the history of video games, and that's before you factor in the vast amount of cash it's earned from its astonishing quantity of merchandise and spin-offs. Check out the craziest game collections It owes its life to bugs. Catching them all ain't easy.
Cured mom: Newman event 'experience of a thousand lifetimes' | Angelus News The Chicago mother healed from a potentially lethal hemorrhage at the intercession of St. John Henry Newman has described his canonization as "the experience of a thousand lifetimes." Melissa Villalobos attended the Oct. 13 ceremony at the Vatican with her husband and their seven children, and together they carried the offertory gifts to Pope Francis, who blessed her youngest sons, John Henry and Blaise. The pope also met Gemma, 5, who as an unborn baby was saved when heavy bleeding from a torn placenta came to a sudden halt after her mother prayed to the English cardinal for help. "It is difficult to express in mere words the immense joy and gratitude I feel in my heart to have had my entire family in Rome, including Gemma, for the canonization of St. "If not for him, we could not all be there," she said. "I am grateful to almighty God for this gift to our church and to the world, and I'm grateful for the many people who have prayed throughout the years for his canonization.
Learn The Guitar Fingerboard Thoroughly in 16 Days Photo by John W. Tuggle If I have to name two things that took my guitar playing to the next level I would say music theory and memorizing the fingerboard. It made me understand the big picture. Combining music theory (understanding scales, modes, chord structure, improvising over chord progressions, etc, etc.) and knowing all the notes on the fingerboard will open up a whole new world. Guitar playing becomes more fun when you know what, when en where to play it on the fingerboard. When you want to know where to play any type of chord shape instantly it’s pretty helpful if know the notes. To know the name of the chord you need to know all the notes on the low E-string. A Bb major chord shape (x13331) can also be played on any fret. To know the name of this Esus2 chord shape: (xx2452) on any fret you need to know the notes on the D-string. The same applies to scale shapes, triads, arpeggios, licks, etc. Here’s how you do it: First things first. Example 1: A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A
Newman miracle mother: Canonisation events ‘experience of a thousand lifetimes’ The Chicago mother healed from a potentially lethal haemorrhage at the intercession of St John Henry Newman has described his canonisation as “the experience of a thousand lifetimes.” Melissa Villalobos attended the October 13 ceremony at the Vatican with her husband and their seven children, and together they carried the offertory gifts to Pope Francis, who blessed her youngest sons, John Henry and Blaise. The Pope also met Gemma, 5, who as an unborn baby was saved when heavy bleeding from a torn placenta came to a sudden halt after her mother prayed to the English cardinal for help. “It is difficult to express in mere words the immense joy and gratitude I feel in my heart to have had my entire family in Rome, including Gemma, for the canonization of St. John Henry Newman,” Villalobos said in an email to Catholic News Service. “If not for him, we could not all be there,” she said. Villalobos was healed May 15, 2013, when she woke in a pool of blood.
Wanderfly | Spark Your Journey Missouri Boy's heart starts beating after his mother prays aloud to God A Missouri boy's heart started beating after his mother prayed aloud to God in a hospital room, she says. John Smith fell through ice on top of a lake and stayed under for 15 minutes, KDSK reported. Two of his friends also made the fall, with the NBC affiliate reporting 'When rescuers arrived, one was almost out of the water, another was holding onto the ice and one couldn't be found.' The 14-year-old was reportedly taken to SSM St. Scroll down for video Survival: John Smith, seen in an interview with The St. The teenager was unresponsive to 27 minutes of CPR at the hospital, according to KDSK. Dr. KDSK reported the boy's mother, Joyce Smith, was asked to enter the room by Sutterer so he could tell her it wasn't looking good. Sutterer said that 'John's mom [Joyce Smith] came in and she started praying loudly.' 'Within a matter of a minute or two, his heart started again,' the doctor said. Joyce Smith told KDSK 'I don't remember what all I said. The 14-year-old was reportedly taken to SSM St.
6 great party board games - Video Games Blog Plugged In Classic party games like Trivial Pursuit, Taboo and Twister have enlivened countless millions of get-togethers over the years. But how many more games of Pictionary can you really stand? There comes a point where you just need something new -- and thankfully, there's a whole host of lesser-known party games out there that'll give your next shindig a jolt of newfangled fun. Here are six of our favorites. Wits and Wagers A classic Trivial Pursuit may be, but it's not the most forgiving of games. Telestrations How big are your parties? Time's Up! Celebrity lovers, grab your partners: here's one for you. Wise and Otherwise You can take a horse to water, but you can't fit a quart into a pint pot. Apples to Apples The word-matching masterpiece has dominated the past decade of board game partying for good reason: it's a hoot. Cranium Hoopla Cranium If you've heard of any of the other games on this list, you've almost certainly heard of Cranium.
Fatima at 100: Can a scientist take the Miracle of the Sun seriously? The crowd looking at 'the Miracle of the Sun', which happened during the Our Lady of Fatima apparitions (Wikimedia Commons) A scientific perspective does not rule out miracles. We must remain open to exploring the unexplained The question in the headline implies that the expected answer is “no”, but as a former particle physicist, my response is “Why not?” Contrary to a common prejudice, a scientific perspective does not rule out miracles, and the event at Fatima is, in the view of many, particularly credible. As regards miracles in general, the usual prejudice against them takes one of two forms. But such laws say nothing about what happens when a system is not isolated, especially when a free personal agent intervenes. A second form of the prejudice is to claim that a combination of natural causes can and should be found to explain what appears to be miraculous, reducing the miraculous to the providential. From the perspective of 2017, the timing also seems propitious.
Musicovery Spinoza, part 2: Miracles and God's will | Clare Carlisle | Opinion At the heart of Baruch Spinoza's philosophy is a challenge to the traditional Judeo-Christian view of the relationship between God and the world. While the Hebrew Bible and the Christian scriptures share a conception of God as the creator of the natural world and the director of human history, Spinoza argues that everything that exists is an aspect of God that expresses something of the divine nature. This idea that God is not separate from the world is expounded systematically in the Ethics, Spinoza's magnum opus. In chapter six of the Theologico-Political Treatise, Spinoza addresses the "confused ideas of the vulgar" on the subject of miracles. For Spinoza, however, talk of miracles is evidence not of divine power, but of human ignorance. From this it follows that God's presence and character is revealed not through apparently miraculous, supernatural events, but through nature itself. • See here for Spinoza, part 1: Philosophy as a way of life