Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Secular Pinoy · 03-28-2002, 10:45 PM

I don't know if this website has been posted here before, but George Hammond has been going around the Yahoo Groups mailing lists evangelizing his scientific proofs for god's existence.

Supposedly he's a PhD candidate in physics, and since I'm not a physics major, I can't intelligently comment on his thesis. Here's his URL:

<a href="http://home.attbi.com/~ghammond/index.html" target="_blank">http://home.attbi.com/~ghammond/index.html</a>

Bill · 03-29-2002, 02:32 AM

<a href="http://home.attbi.com/~ghammond/Zygonpaper.html" target="_blank">That paper</a> is incomprehensible gobbldygook to me. Contrast it with <a href="http://mist.npl.washington.edu/npl/int_rep/tiqm/TI_toc.html" target="_blank">Cramer's seminal paper on quantum mechanics</a> for instance. A seminal paper on a complex subject need not be incomprehensible to a person of average (or even above-average) intelligence. To me, an incomprehensible scientific paper means one of two things: either 1) the paper is all about an extremely minor and highly-technical point in some scientific discipline; or 2) the author had his head up his rear when he wrote it. Hammond's paper appears to me to be in Class 2.

On the other hand, the thesis that Hammond seems to be defending doesn't seem to me to be all that weird. His abstract says this:

Quote:

Abstract:-- This paper follows The Cartesian Theory (Hammond, New Ideas in Psychology Vol. 12(2), 1994). There the author advanced Cartesian Brain Geometry as the cause of the Structural Model of Personality. This paper goes one step further by unifying Intelligence and Personality in a 4D space consisting of Eysenck�s E,N,P plus psychometric g. The higher order Factor of [E,N,P,g] is identified as the Secular Trend and is shown to be Factor Analytically caused by Einstein�s Curvature of real space via Cartesian Brain Geometry. Elementary science then suffices to identify and confirm that the Factor is "God". Thus it is axiomatically proven and experimentally confirmed that God exists, and is caused by Gravity.

Being charitible, I don't find the ideas which seem to underlie Hammond's paper to be all that different from the ideas expressed in <a href="http://www.secweb.org/bookstore/bookdetail.asp?BookID=690" target="_blank">Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief</a> by Andrew B. Newberg, Eugene G. D'Aquili, and Vince Rause. In both cases, the authors seem to be asserting that the persistance of religion is in some way due to a predisposition of the human brain towards belief in God.

However, the incoherance of Hammond's theories can be easily understood by examining this one paragraph taken from the final set of assertions in the main part of his paper:

Quote:

No one of us will ever live to see Kingdom Come, the end of the Secular Trend. That has raised the speculation that there may be Life After Death. This speculation holds that there is a phenomenon of death in which the Unconscious Mind becomes conscious and Eternal Life is realized in a spiritual world. It is said that we "go to Heaven". Interestingly, the present theory makes the conjecture more reasonable since death could contain a "consciousness time dilation" expanding the last moments of life into years. Death looks instantaneous, but could continue as a relativistic time dilation for the deceased. Life after death then, might be life before death, which only appears to extend beyond death. However, this discovery of a proof of God contains no new information about death. Moreover, it depends on the theory of Gravity and the complete theory of Gravity is unknown, Quantum Gravity. Until we have a complete theory of Gravity, we cannot have a complete theory of God. So Life After Death remains a mystery, despite the fact that we have confirmed Eternal Life and even discovered that Eternal Life will actually exist on Earth someday.

The idea of a "'consciousness time dilation' expanding the last moments of life into years" is patently absurd. In physics, time dialation is something which happens to somebody else as you observe them accellerate away from you. The time dialation is never perceptable within one's own frame of reference, and in this case, the living and the soon-to-be-dead are contained within the same frame of reference.

=====

Frankly, I think that a careful reading of Hammond's paper would tend to support an atheistic worldview, as Hammond seems to be claiming that everything we know about God and religion is actually an illusion caused in our brains by gravity. Gravity probably does affect our brains, but not so as to cause us to have illusions!

=====

Anyway, my personal evaluation of Hammond's paper is that it is virtually worthless...... <surprise, surprise>.

== Bill

Vorkosigan · 03-29-2002, 02:59 AM

It's complete babble....

Hastur · 03-29-2002, 06:46 AM

But at least it answers the infinite-regress question for theists.

Q- "What caused God?"
A- "Gravity!"

Steven S · 03-29-2002, 11:44 AM

Hammand has been trolling around the sci.physics newgroups for years. He is a crackpot of the highest degree.

Steven S

Corey Hammer · 03-31-2002, 07:46 PM

A complete loon. He doesn't even get the psychology right. It's so far off that I don't feel like debunking. Suffice to say, he offers no evidence that his mental hallucinations predict anything.

Automaton · 04-03-2002, 05:45 AM

Hahaha, does anyone else find this as hilarious as I do?

Proxima Centauri · 04-13-2002, 06:09 AM

Jesus what a load of ----.

Just
Examine
Such
Unscientific
Sources.

and

Come
Happily
Round
Into
Secular
Thinking.

J-ust
E-xamine
S-uch
U-nscientific
S-ources.

and

C-ome
H-apppily
R-ound
I-nto
S-ecular
T-hinking.

Christ! What can we expect next?

[ April 13, 2002: Message edited by: B.Shack ]

[ April 30, 2002: Message edited by: B.Shack ]</p>

Coragyps · 04-13-2002, 11:04 AM

I don't know where Hammond got his information, but he must be wrong. <a href="http://www.bensys.mcmail.com/Islam.htm" target="_blank">This site</a> conclusively proves that Allah is the one that exists, not JHWH. Sheesh!

03-28-2002, 10:45 PM	#1
Secular Pinoy Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Quezon City, Philippines Posts: 1,994	George Hammond's- Scientific Proof Of God Website I don't know if this website has been posted here before, but George Hammond has been going around the Yahoo Groups mailing lists evangelizing his scientific proofs for god's existence. Supposedly he's a PhD candidate in physics, and since I'm not a physics major, I can't intelligently comment on his thesis. Here's his URL: <a href="http://home.attbi.com/~ghammond/index.html" target="_blank">http://home.attbi.com/~ghammond/index.html</a>

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

03-29-2002, 02:59 AM	#3
Vorkosigan Contributor Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Barrayar Posts: 11,866	It's complete babble....

03-29-2002, 06:46 AM	#4
Hastur Regular Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Carcosa Posts: 238	But at least it answers the infinite-regress question for theists. Q- "What caused God?" A- "Gravity!"

03-29-2002, 11:44 AM	#5
Steven S Regular Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 167	Hammand has been trolling around the sci.physics newgroups for years. He is a crackpot of the highest degree. Steven S

03-31-2002, 07:46 PM	#6
Corey Hammer Regular Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Chicago Posts: 368	A complete loon. He doesn't even get the psychology right. It's so far off that I don't feel like debunking. Suffice to say, he offers no evidence that his mental hallucinations predict anything.

04-03-2002, 05:45 AM	#7
Automaton Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 717	Hahaha, does anyone else find this as hilarious as I do?

04-13-2002, 06:09 AM	#8
Proxima Centauri Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: England, the EU. Posts: 2,403	Jesus what a load of ----. Just Examine Such Unscientific Sources. and Come Happily Round Into Secular Thinking. J-ust E-xamine S-uch U-nscientific S-ources. and C-ome H-apppily R-ound I-nto S-ecular T-hinking. Christ! What can we expect next? [ April 13, 2002: Message edited by: B.Shack ] [ April 30, 2002: Message edited by: B.Shack ]</p>

04-13-2002, 11:04 AM	#9
Coragyps Veteran Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Snyder,Texas,USA Posts: 4,411	I don't know where Hammond got his information, but he must be wrong. <a href="http://www.bensys.mcmail.com/Islam.htm" target="_blank">This site</a> conclusively proves that Allah is the one that exists, not JHWH. Sheesh!

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.