01 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Thinking About Aliens Stretches the Imagination
The virtue of thinking about life elsewhere is that it forces us to stretch our
imaginations. Can we think of alternative solutions to biological problems already
solved in one particular way on Earth? For example, the wheel is a comparatively
recent invention on the planet Earth. It seems to have been invented in the ancient
Near East less than ten thousand years ago. In fact, the high civilizations of Meso-
America, the Aztecs and the Mayas, never employed the wheel, except for children's t... 1 
notes
notesThe possible life that could evolve in other environments is an imaginative treasure chest.
(TODO: The wheeled organisms described here appear in the Amber Spyglass by Pullman)
10 AUG 2011 by ideonexus
Nonexistence is Preferable to the Afterlife
“What will happen? When we leave the world of the dead, will we live again? Or will we vanish as our daemons did? Brothers, sisters, we shouldn’t follow this child anywhere till we know what’s going to happen to us!”
Others took up the question: “Yes, tell us where we’re going! Tell us what to expect! We won’t go unless we know what’ll happen to us!”
Lyra turned to Will in despair, but he said, “Tell them the truth. Ask the alethiometer, and tell them what it says.”
... 1 notes
notesIn Pullman's vision of the afterlife, things are dreary and static, the dead long to dissipate and have their atoms return to the world and become other things. An atheist alternative to the boredom of heaven.
10 AUG 2011 by ideonexus
The Republic of Heaven
“But what does Lord Asriel intend? What is this world, and why has he come here?”
“He led us here because this world is empty. Empty of conscious life, that is. We are not colonialists, Mrs. Coulter. We haven’t come to conquer, but to build.”
“And is he going to attack the Kingdom of Heaven?”
Ogunwe looked at her levelly.
“We’re not going to invade the Kingdom,” he said, “but if the Kingdom invades us, they had better be ready for war, because we are prepared. Mrs. C... 1 notes
notesThe rebels in Pullman's book intend to overthrow the Kingdom of Heaven and replace it with a Republic.
10 AUG 2011 by ideonexus
A Deceptive God
Balthamos said quietly, “The Authority, God, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the Father, the Almighty, those were all names he gave himself. He was never the creator. He was an angel like ourselves, the first angel, true, the most powerful, but he was formed of Dust as we are, and Dust is only a name for what happens when matter begins to understand itself. Matter loves matter. It seeks to know more about itself, and Dust is formed. The first angels condensed out of Dus... 1 notes
notesUsually a fake god is described as someone with special powers, but Pullman's god is merely an angel that preceded other angels into existence and lied to them about their origins, when, in fact, we are all products of the natural world.
