The oddly interesting origin of materialism

[undeather]

I recently discovered this amusing fact about the origin of materialism - so keep it in mind for the next you have a discussion about it.

In August of 1619, a retreating Habsburg army camped in Ulm, which is a small city in the south of germany. They were retreating from a campaign against Prague, where they had successfully deposed the wintered king and queen - and among this group of several thousand troops was a young french adventurer, a soldier of fortune. There was nothing special about him up to this point, but in the night of august the 12th, a mild and cozy summer night, this young individual went to sleep and had 3 subsequent dreams where an angel appeared to him and said:"Conquest of nature is to be achieved through number and measure". 

This young man's name was René Descartes, the originator of the cartesian heuristic  — one of mechanics, formulae and material. Now, Descartes himself was a substance dualist - but his thought is the foundation of what we call "cartesian materialism" in modern philosophy. It's the idea that at some place (or places) in the brain, there is some set of information that directly corresponds to our conscious experience. It's the idea that is held by most of the mainstream scientists and philosophers in todays world. It's what Daniel Denett or Anil Seith believe in. It's ubiquitous.

Now, take all this into account and think about the punchline:
Modern science and the materialistic worldview were created at the behest of an engelic entity 

I guess they wont teach this at our universities....
 

[zurew]

Wow, good stuff. 

Thanks for sharing!