Einstein quote

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. He who knows it not and can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out candle. It was the experience of mystery - even if mixed with fear - that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which are only accessible to our reason in their most elementary forms-it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man. I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves. An individual who should survive his physical death is also beyond my comprehension, nor do I wish it otherwise; such notions are for the fears or absurd egoism of feeble souls. Enough for me the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvellous structure of reality, together with the single-hearted endeavour to comprehend a portion, be it never so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature.

-Albert Einstein, The world as I see it

Zeitgeist - Realize the truth

Who doesn't love a good conspiracy theory? This Zeitgeist movie, cut into three separate videos are all highly interesting and thought provoking. A comprehensive list of source material can be found here and the public statement he's trying to make is here.

The Greatest Story Ever Told (26:20 minutes)

The program shows Jesus as being the same old Sun God that people have worshiped for ages. That the stories in the Bible are incredibly similar to the stories of other older religions. Of course people borrow ideas and stories from things they've heard or read before, but the similarities shown are astounding. I'd say it's a very valid analysis of religion and how to make one.

All The World's A Stage (33:24 minutes)

This movie is scary and highly provocative. Basically it says that 9/11 was performed by the US government to increase it's own power. It shows exactly how many coincidences that had to happen at the precise time for this "terrorist attack" to be as devastating as it was. T

Don't mind the men behind the curtain (47:05 minutes)

I've read articles concerning this before, but the presentation here is exceptional and worth a careful view. It shows just how much power the international bankers have and how that the economy of a country is so totally in control of the Central bank. The Central bank controls the interest rates and the inflation, constantly loaning money to the government with an interest. The bank also regulates the value of the currency by increasing or decreasing the amount of money being printed. The focus is on the American Federal Reserve and it's tight ties to the major banking families in the US. The Wall street crash of 1929 is described as biggest robbery of all time. I'm highly surprised that The Fed is privately owned and that they wanted USA to join the WW I, the WW II and the Vietnam war to earn even more money. And with a pointer to the second video, the American governments War on Terrorism is the same thing all over again. According to the movie it's all a huge money scam.

The last 20 minutes describes an intricate plan to come to a point in the future where we have a "One world government". It's somewhat of a doomsday scenario, and a scary one indeed. A good background to have in regard to the power of media is to watch Outfoxed. Who are all these "men behind the curtain"?

As the statement said, the whole purpose of these videos is to act as an eye opener for people to look more critically at the world around us. I've always thought I've tried to look at the world from all angles but these films really act as a cold shower wake up. I guess the end comment in the statement sums it up perfectly:

"It is my hope that people will not take what is said in the film as the truth, but find out for themselves, for truth is not told, it is realized."

Time for all of us to realize.

(Updated links to the correct Google Video)

The evolution of religion

New York Times had a great article called Darwin’s God last Sunday. It's a lot to read, but absolutely well worth it.

I definitely think that religion and superstition is a byproduct of something that was actually useful for human survival. Stephen Jay Gould used the architectural term "spandrel" for it and I guess that's as good as any. Unfortunately I think religion has a more negative than positive impact in our society, mainly because it can so easily be misused to control followers.

Just read the article, the writing style is excellent and the topic is fascinating!