tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11425001.post1580341140183450626..comments2024-03-25T16:16:30.872-04:00Comments on YGB - יג"ב: Great Op-Ed from today's NYTYosef Gavriel Bechhoferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10264311760560329892noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11425001.post-88355586807230554722007-11-29T09:55:00.000-05:002007-11-29T09:55:00.000-05:00As my Rebbe, HaRav Aharon Soloveichik ZT"L said, t...As my Rebbe, HaRav Aharon Soloveichik ZT"L said, those who have studied the laws of physics can proclaim with full Kavanah every morning in Tfilas Shacharis: "Mah Rabu Maasecha HASHEM, Kulam BeChachmah Asisa!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11425001.post-39472882384051934892007-11-29T00:34:00.000-05:002007-11-29T00:34:00.000-05:00Over the years I have often asked my physicist col...<I>Over the years I have often asked my physicist colleagues why the laws of physics are what they are. The answers vary from “that’s not a scientific question” to “nobody knows.” The favorite reply is, “There is no reason they are what they are — they just are.”</I><BR/>Very Brisker lomdishe answers from the collegues!eLamdanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07421138991513814819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11425001.post-11115888264383090952007-11-27T00:38:00.000-05:002007-11-27T00:38:00.000-05:00OR HAGNUZ:A light that lets you see from one end o...OR HAGNUZ:A light that lets you see from one end of the world to the other anyone seen a fiber optic wire latelyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11425001.post-86475432711419770222007-11-26T21:08:00.000-05:002007-11-26T21:08:00.000-05:00Ron:The theory of evolution is contrary to the Tor...Ron:<BR/>The theory of evolution is contrary to the Torah HaKedoshah, which states clearly and unequivocally that HASHEM created the Universe in six days. Even if you refuse to believe the account of Creation -- in six days -- at the beginning of Bereishis, you cannot deny that at least twice in Sefer Shmos (in the Aseres HaDibros in Parshas Yisro, and again in "VeShamru" in Parshas Ki Sisa) the six days of Creation are clearly stated.<BR/><BR/>In fact, by reciting these two references from Sefer Shmos in the Shabbos morning Kiddush, we attest that through our observance of Shabbos every seventh day we are emulating the actions of the Creator: a day of rest after six days of Creation!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11425001.post-28809971348955895872007-11-26T14:26:00.000-05:002007-11-26T14:26:00.000-05:00It is unclear whether Einstein was a Deist, a Pant...It is unclear whether Einstein was a Deist, a Pantheist, or an atheist who spoke about G-d as a metaphor for the design one finds in the universe. I get the impression he wavered.<BR/><BR/>However, Aristotle and Newton were staunch monotheists, and even Einstein was obviously a product of monotheistic culture. I think there is a solid reason for this -- polytheism doesn't promote the assumptions necessary to produce science.<BR/><BR/>The problem with the multiverse is more than just that it shifts the question to the metalaws of the multiverse. Rather than positing a Creator, it posits a different non-testable infinity. There is no logical reason to prefer one assumption over the other; just the emotional one of being able to continue in one's atheism.<BR/><BR/>-Michamichahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13610506439687098313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11425001.post-85680549980492799092007-11-26T01:40:00.000-05:002007-11-26T01:40:00.000-05:00Didn't Einstein make this point?Didn't Einstein make this point?eLamdanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07421138991513814819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11425001.post-56837133827125400342007-11-25T01:50:00.000-05:002007-11-25T01:50:00.000-05:00Great article! I don't agree with every line, but...Great article! I don't agree with every line, but he makes a good point that I have made before.<BR/><BR/>It is directly relavent in my opinion to the issue of evolution.<BR/><BR/>I never understood why people (frum Jews) were so afraid of evolution. <BR/><BR/>If someone belives the world was created 6000 years ago looking old, then evolution is part of that "looking old" and is to be ignored.<BR/><BR/>If someone believes the world is billions of years old, and beleives there really were dinasours and trilobytes, then why should evolution be a problem? <BR/><BR/>Even if the "laws" of "nature" dictate the evolution of life into humans (which is a large stretch considering the huge theoritical gaps in macroevolution theory), whats the problelm? Where do those laws come from to begin with? From Hashem! He set those patterns in motion, created those "laws" and knew what He was doing, in order to have those laws form humans, goats, etc.<BR/><BR/>And, on top of that, that would be the case if the laws were completeley deterministic which we now are pretty sure they are not! <BR/><BR/>Evolution relies (shakingly) on "random" mutations which when you get down to the particle level of why some protien moved here and not there, is goverened by quantum mechanical probabilities. <BR/><BR/>Now, although the probabilities are known quantities, where a single particle will go is UNKNOWABLE. So, physists call it "random" (of course bounded by the probability function). <BR/><BR/>However, for us Jews, we know that Hashem is constantly maintaining/creating the universe, and knows all, therefore there can be no such thing as "random". <BR/><BR/>Unknowable and instrisic randomness in the laws of nature are a really good way for Hashem to activly change things in a subtle, hidden, and non-miraculous/free-will-depriving way. I don't know if He actually does use that method (maybe physics is too incomplete to say for sure), but as of now, it definitly can look that way. <BR/><BR/>That being so, the evolutionary process (if, and a huge IF it is true) shoudn't cause a problem for anyone. It is simply Hashem's way of forming the world the way we know it. <BR/><BR/>People who are scared of evolution because it "takes G-d out of the picture" in my opinion are far too influenced by scientism. We have to step outside of the bounds of "laws" and ask where they came from and Who keeps them going!<BR/><BR/>So whether one is a 6000-yr-old-looks-old person or a 13.2-billion-yr-old person, evolution should not be a problem.<BR/><BR/>(Of course one would still have to maintain that Adam Ha Reshon was formed miraculously (i.e. extreamly improbable quantum movements/teleportations of protons etc in dirt forming the right way into a human being) from dirt.<BR/><BR/>Just my thoughts...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14966897250137125790noreply@blogger.com