Some terms and phrases are common to this particular brand of blog. Though I do my best to avoid obscure verbiage when, or rather if, this blog grows and commentators see fit to express their opinions here, some confusion may ensue. To that end I will keep a glossary of commonly used terms and phrases that apply in this type of conversation as an easy reference for visitors that may be unfamiliar with some of these terms.
If you have a term or phrase that you feel should be included please post up below with it, along with an accepted definition.
~AP~
*All definitions pulled from one of the Wiki’s*
Anthropic Principle – In physics and cosmology, the anthropic principle is the collective name for several ways of asserting that physical and chemical theories, especially astrophysics and cosmology, need to take into account that there is life on Earth, and that one form of that life, Homo sapiens, has attained sapience. The only kind of universe humans can occupy is one that is similar to the current one.
A priori - The terms “a priori” and “a posteriori” are used in philosophy (epistemology) to distinguish two types of knowledge, justifications or arguments. A priori knowledge or justification is independent of experience (for example ‘All bachelors are unmarried’); a posteriori knowledge or justification is dependent on experience or empirical evidence (for example ‘Some bachelors are very happy’). A priori justification makes no reference to experience; the issue concerns how one knows the proposition or claim in question—what justifies or grounds one’s belief in it.
Irreducible Complexity – (IC) is an argument made by proponents of intelligent design that certain biological systems are too complex to have evolved from simpler, or “less complete” predecessors, through natural selection acting upon a series of advantageous naturally occurring chance mutations. It is one of two main arguments intended to support intelligent design, the other being specified complexity. It is rejected by the scientific community.
The Ontological Argument – The argument examines the concept of God and argues that if we can conceive of God he must exist.
Pascal’s Wager - Pascal’s Wager (or Pascal’s Gambit) is a suggestion posed by the French philosopher Blaise Pascal that even though the existence of God cannot be determined through reason, a person should “wager” as though God exists, because so living has everything to gain, and nothing to lose. It was set out in note 233 of his Pensées, a posthumously published collection of notes made by Pascal in his last years as he worked on a treatise on Christian apologetics.
Poe’s Law - Poe’s Law states:
“ Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won’t mistake for the real thing.”
Poe’s Law relates to fundamentalism, and the difficulty of identifying actual parodies thereof. It suggests that, in general, it is hard to tell fake fundamentalism from the real thing, since they may both espouse equally extreme beliefs. Poe’s law also works in reverse: real fundamentalism can also be indistinguishable from parody fundamentalism. For example, some conservatives consider noted homophobe Fred Phelps to be so over-the-top that they think he’s a “deep cover liberal” trying to discredit more mainstream homophobes.
Zeitgeist – is a German language expression literally translated: Zeit, time; Geist, spirit, meaning “the spirit of the age and its society”. The word zeitgeist describes the intellectual, cultural, ethical and political climate, ambience and morals of an era or also a trend.
