The password for my books: “Rationality”
by Rob - November 26th, 2010.Filed under: Uncategorized.
Over at the National Post, one of Canada’s national newspapers, Mark Medley asks Canadian novelists to provide passwords for their fiction: single words that might sum up what they’re trying to do. My password was “rationality.”
Rationality: the belief that the universe makes sense, that it is comprehensible to the human mind, that the scientific method and reasoned analysis are the best tools for tackling any problem including those others might cede to religion, that — to quote the Vulcan philosopher Kiri-kin-tha’s First Law of Metaphysics — “nothing unreal exists,” that the supernatural should be abjured, and that a curious mind — in both senses of the word “curious” — is the most wonderful thing of all.You can see other novelists’ choices here.
Robert J. Sawyer online:
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January 11th, 2011 at 9:57 am
Thank you Rob. There might be a glimmer of hope for mankind so long as people who think as you exist. Undoubtedly, such people existed throughout all ages, and at least two exist today. One, however, cannot state with certainty that hope for mankind exists. For people strictly following rationality very rarely make it to positions where they can make a difference. And even if they do, they are in a miserable minority. I wake up every day, watch this civilization getting ever more miserable, and wonder how it made it this far in the first place.