Inaugural Post

In this first post, I hope to outline the purpose of this blog and give some kind of idea about what can be expected in future posts. My primary reason for writing this is to collect and organize my thoughts about why I have chosen an empirical epistemology as my worldview. In other words, I will attempt to advocate for a more rational approach in deciding what is true and what is false, one based on the scientific method of experience and experiment, and not, for example, on revelation, received knowledge, or superstition. This is not to say that supernatural explanations have been excluded a priori, but rather it will be clear (hopefully) that materialist explanations have invariably been shown to be superior. Many of the posts on this blog will be essays about why I think religion, pseudoscience, and superstition are wrong. Although I don't try to offend my readers' sensibilities, I understand that some people may be scandalized. My humble request is that, whether you agree with me or not, you keep an open mind. As you will find, I have a strong aversion to ad hominem arguments, and I firmly believe in the value of evaluating issues on their merits. My goal is that people (including and especially me), will think critically about what he or she believes and why. Periodically, I might also feel the urge to throw some political opinion into the mix, but, ironically, these will probably be the least controversial posts.

In conclusion, I want to show that the real world is fascinating and awe-inspiring enough on it own. We don't need to embellish it by inventing deities, spirits or other superstitions. While all these may be natural human reactions to an unknown and frightening world (as I hope to explain later), I feel that it is in our capability as rational beings to do a better job about deciding what to accept as true. Above all, we should never lose our sense of wonder about the Universe we find ourselves in. This is the best we can hope for during our short time on this planet.