Russell’s Tea Party: Discussion Meeting
Posted on February 13th, 2009 by Sarah| Mar ’09 |
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| 8:00 PM |
| Apr ’09 |
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| 8:00 PM |
| Apr ’09 |
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| 8:00 PM |
Location: Sassafras Room
Description: Bertrand Russell, a British philosopher (among other things), is the namesake of our biweekly discussion meetings. They are called tea parties to honor the religious analogy he came up with called Russell’s Teapot, which stated
If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is an intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time.
Though this analogy is a parody of religion, our group does not debate or even discuss religion at every meeting. Our topics range from political to religious to philosophical to scientific. We have discussed evolution, morality, education, and other topics.
If you have ideas or suggestions for future Russell’s Tea Party topics, please post them on the forum. Or join us at our next meeting!
Whenever a situation arises for which you might imagine someone saying something like, “I’ll say a prayer” or “I’ll pray for you,” I like to say, “I’ll think good thoughts.”
I really like this simple exclamation and practice because it emphasizes humanity, empathy, and good intentions without specifically invoking or relying on anything divine. However, the supposition that ‘good thoughts’ could make a difference, suggests that we may be capable of some form of telepathy or inducing change or action through our thoughts. This is somewhat troubling because it’s supernatural; unless there is science to support such a concept?
When is the next Russell’s Tea Party discussion? I’d like to attend if I’m able.
I suppose that the nature of the world is such that everything is part of a system of parts that co-react to each other. In other words, I think your thoughts are part of a rippling chain reaction involving the way your self and body manipulate the world around you causing what I have heard called biofeedback. Are we not points toward which which action, and information move? Are we points from which those things reflect or bounce off of carrying, back out through the system, some kind of property attributed to being reflected from us?
Is the world not just objects with relative properties and values existing in a system?
Am I making sense?