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Pope Says Technology Causes Confusion Between Reality and Fiction

Posted by samzenpus on from the where's-the-reset-button dept.

Pope Benedict XVI has warned that people are in danger of being unable to discern reality from fiction because of new technologies, and not old books. "New technologies and the progress they bring can make it impossible to distinguish truth from illusion and can lead to confusion between reality and virtual reality. The image can also become independent from reality, it can give birth to a virtual world, with various consequences -- above all the risk of indifference towards real life," he said.

7 of 779 comments (clear)

  1. Hmm by OhHellWithIt · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "New technologies and the progress they bring can make it impossible to distinguish truth from illusion and can lead to confusion between reality and virtual reality. The image can also become independent from reality, it can give birth to a virtual world, with various consequences -- above all the risk of indifference towards real life."

    That's funny. It's arguable that the same could be said about the Bible. How many thousands of pages have been written about the workings of the Divine, or of the afterlife, when no one has truly seen either?

    --
    "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
    1. Re:Hmm by Pojut · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Not to mention how many pages have been changed.

      The fact that there are different "versions" of the Bible amuse me to no end. If it was truly god's word, wouldn't there be just one version?

      I'm not referring to words or phrases lost in translation...I'm talking about things like King James versions, etc.

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    2. Re:Hmm by Pojut · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Uh...actually, if anything, the bible proves free will doesn't exist either. god's supposed omnipotence makes free will an impossibility.

      If someone already knows what you are going to do, how is it a choice?

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    3. Re:Hmm by dkleinsc · · Score: 3, Interesting

      A very key example of God actively interfering with the free will of a human, for those who believe the literal truth of the Bible: In Exodus 7-11, God repeatedly "hardens the heart" of Pharoah, so that Pharoah won't actually give in to Moses' demands until after God has wiped out all the firstborn sons.

      So the Bible actually teaches that God grants you free will unless that will somehow interfere with a divine plan, in which case you're screwed.

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    4. Re:Hmm by MysteriousPreacher · · Score: 3, Interesting

      God's chosen and righteous man, Lot, having drunken sex with his two daughters not hot enough for you?

      Check out Ezekiel 23:20-21.

      "There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.

      So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.

      It's not exactly a Mills & Boon romance, but I reckon it's enough to get a priest's wang wobbling.

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      -- Using the preview button since 2005
    5. Re:Hmm by BotnetZombie · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You're talking about Abe, but here's a link to the new version.

  2. And he knows were NOT virtual how? by gestalt_n_pepper · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I mean, the whole monotheism thing strongly suggests we ourselves are in a layer of simulation. So how real is virtual reality under those circumstances?

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