Thursday, May 15, 2008

Great Minds

Many have debated Einstein's beliefs on the subject of religion.

A little-known letter that he wrote, which should clarify his beliefs, is going up for auction this week in London.

The news article on it is here.

Some key quotes from the letter are:

"The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish."

and

"For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions."

My thoughts exactly. I guess great minds do think alike!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Why Faith Works

Faith does work sometimes, but it's explained easily. Two words: placebo effect.

Placebos are used routinely by pharmaceutical companies to test the effectiveness of their drugs. It is a widely known fact that the brain can have an influence on the body. Expose a person to something they truly believe is poison ivy, and they can have an outbreak. Belief at work.

Concurrently, if they know it's not really poison ivy, they will not have an outbreak. This would be a non-event "caused" by the lack of belief or faith.

Psychosomatic illnesses can be healed if one has enough faith in the element of healing. Nobody will ever be able to regrow a leg, however, based on faith alone, because it is not a psychosomatic malady.