g r o t t o 1 1

Peeve Farm
Breeding peeves for show, not just to keep as pets
  Blog \Blôg\, n. [Jrg, fr. Jrg. "Web-log".
     See {Blogger, BlogSpot, LiveJournal}.]
     A stream-of-consciousness Web journal, containing
     links, commentary, and pointless drivel.


On My Blog Menu:

InstaPundit
USS Clueless
James Lileks
Little Green Footballs
As the Apple Turns
Entropicana
Cold Fury
Capitalist Lion
Red Letter Day
Eric S. Raymond
Tal G in Jerusalem
Secular Islam
Aziz Poonawalla
Corsair the Rational Pirate
.clue

« ? Blogging Brians # »





Book Plug:

Buy it and I get
money. I think.
BSD Mall




 10/6/2003 -  10/8/2003
 9/29/2003 -  10/5/2003
 9/22/2003 -  9/28/2003
 9/15/2003 -  9/21/2003
  9/8/2003 -  9/14/2003
  9/1/2003 -   9/7/2003
 8/25/2003 -  8/31/2003
 8/18/2003 -  8/24/2003
 8/11/2003 -  8/17/2003
  8/4/2003 -  8/10/2003
 7/28/2003 -   8/3/2003
 7/21/2003 -  7/27/2003
 7/14/2003 -  7/20/2003
  7/7/2003 -  7/13/2003
 6/30/2003 -   7/6/2003
 6/23/2003 -  6/29/2003
 6/16/2003 -  6/22/2003
  6/9/2003 -  6/15/2003
  6/2/2003 -   6/8/2003
 5/26/2003 -   6/1/2003
 5/19/2003 -  5/25/2003
 5/12/2003 -  5/18/2003
  5/5/2003 -  5/11/2003
 4/28/2003 -   5/4/2003
 4/21/2003 -  4/27/2003
 4/14/2003 -  4/20/2003
  4/7/2003 -  4/13/2003
 3/31/2003 -   4/6/2003
 3/24/2003 -  3/30/2003
 3/17/2003 -  3/23/2003
 3/10/2003 -  3/16/2003
  3/3/2003 -   3/9/2003
 2/24/2003 -   3/2/2003
 2/17/2003 -  2/23/2003
 2/10/2003 -  2/16/2003
  2/3/2003 -   2/9/2003
 1/27/2003 -   2/2/2003
 1/20/2003 -  1/26/2003
 1/13/2003 -  1/19/2003
  1/6/2003 -  1/12/2003
12/30/2002 -   1/5/2003
12/23/2002 - 12/29/2002
12/16/2002 - 12/22/2002
 12/9/2002 - 12/15/2002
 12/2/2002 -  12/8/2002
11/25/2002 -  12/1/2002
11/18/2002 - 11/24/2002
11/11/2002 - 11/17/2002
 11/4/2002 - 11/10/2002
10/28/2002 -  11/3/2002
10/21/2002 - 10/27/2002
10/14/2002 - 10/20/2002
 10/7/2002 - 10/13/2002
 9/30/2002 -  10/6/2002
 9/23/2002 -  9/29/2002
 9/16/2002 -  9/22/2002
  9/9/2002 -  9/15/2002
  9/2/2002 -   9/8/2002
 8/26/2002 -   9/1/2002
 8/19/2002 -  8/25/2002
 8/12/2002 -  8/18/2002
  8/5/2002 -  8/11/2002
 7/29/2002 -   8/4/2002
 7/22/2002 -  7/28/2002
 7/15/2002 -  7/21/2002
  7/8/2002 -  7/14/2002
  7/1/2002 -   7/7/2002
 6/24/2002 -  6/30/2002
 6/17/2002 -  6/23/2002
 6/10/2002 -  6/16/2002
  6/3/2002 -   6/9/2002
 5/27/2002 -   6/2/2002
 5/20/2002 -  5/26/2002
 5/13/2002 -  5/19/2002
  5/6/2002 -  5/12/2002
 4/29/2002 -   5/5/2002
 4/22/2002 -  4/28/2002
 4/15/2002 -  4/21/2002
  4/8/2002 -  4/14/2002
  4/1/2002 -   4/7/2002
 3/25/2002 -  3/31/2002
 3/18/2002 -  3/24/2002
 3/11/2002 -  3/17/2002
  3/4/2002 -  3/10/2002
 2/25/2002 -   3/3/2002
 2/18/2002 -  2/24/2002
 2/11/2002 -  2/17/2002
  2/4/2002 -  2/10/2002
 1/28/2002 -   2/3/2002
 1/21/2002 -  1/27/2002
 1/14/2002 -  1/20/2002
  1/7/2002 -  1/13/2002
12/31/2001 -   1/6/2002
12/24/2001 - 12/30/2001
12/17/2001 - 12/23/2001
Tuesday, July 30, 2002
13:24 - Arr, ye scurvy gods
http://corsair.blogspot.com/2002_07_01_corsair_archive.html#79595446

(top) link
Corsair has some snarky comments about people's religiously-bent reactions to the rescue of the miners in Pennsylvania.

What it might have been was men and women and machines and processes working the way that they were built, trained, and employed. These people did not just show up there at random and begin drilling. They had a plan develped by men and carried out by deceidedly ungodlike individuals.

Why then is God getting all the credit and none of the blame? He did, in fact, move that old mine that was filled with water 300 feet in closer to the new mine so that the miners would break through and almost drown. That was the real miracle! Oh, he didn't do that? That was a faulty map drawn by men many years ago? I see. well, couldn't he have intervened back then when the map was being drawn and fixed so that the nine miners wouldn't become trapped in 2002? A little proactive miracling would seem to work wonders.

It's a question as old as the genre of edgy cynical fiction (Dante up through Vertigo comics): Why is every good thing that happens in the world a "miracle", and every bad thing that happens simply "God's will"? Why does God allow bad stuff to happen in the world at all?

I think what we have in this case is simply a question of vocabulary. "God", as invoked by these people, is a concept-- a shorthand for the good will of humans and for luck. You don't see people holding up signs saying "Thank the rescuers!" or "All hail the rescue equipment designers!" or "We had good fortune!" or anything, but everybody pretty much knows that's taken as read. Thanking "God" is a well-understood and comfortable way to express relief that everything went right.

There could have been some serious injuries down there that claimed lives, for instance. The equipment could have broken down in a freak accident resulting from poor maintenance or clumsy usage or whatever. But it didn't; and the ingenuity of human beings, while fully capable of solving a problem like this in an ideal world (or even in a realistic one), was not hampered by unforeseen and inexorable events. Their human genius was left free to work as intended. And that's what has left people relieved.

I think what this shows is that we're a humble species by nature, and we have a pandemic guilty conscience. We're really not all that high-and-mighty in our attitudes when there's a disaster to face. Deep down in our biology, we're conditioned to accept loss, to write off death that results from accidents or disasters over which we have no control. We know to look the other way. We move on. We don't blame God in a societal bloc for things that go wrong, because as humble and fearful as we are conditioned to be, we assume that such reaction would just be inviting more misfortune. Instead, we react with surprise and joy when everything turns out all right. We have a lot of emotions to express in that kind of circumstance, and the way we're conditioned to do it is to recognize that Fortune was kind-- or in other words, that "it was a miracle".

I really don't mind it when people use this kind of vocabulary to express their feelings of relief-- none of it ever is intended to trivialize the ingenuity or the efforts of the humans involved. I don't think anybody in the town thought the rescue could have happened without those things-- or if they did, they're a statistical outlier, like the people who believe that all modern medicine is quackery and only prayer can cure disease. Most people are rational. Even sports stars who thank God for getting them to the World Series know that what they're really saying is that they're relieved that everything has gone right so far, that despite whatever hardships or injuries or disadvantages were in the way, he got there anyway-- and what he's treating as a miracle is the fact that it wasn't bad enough that it would have forced him to quit. That's the modern sense of "miracle": that nothing fell out of the sky to screw it all up beyond recovery. Not a trivial concept, that.

But that said, I commiserate with your frustration, me matey. There's so much in this world that would seem so much easier to deal with if we could just call everything by its right name: human kindness, perseverance, ingenuity, quickness, endurance, selflessness, and dumb luck.

But there are also times when if given the choice between having things the way they are now, and having them such that we treat everything turning out right as the default expected behavior and throwing irrational tantrums and railing against misfortune or evil when something like 9/11 occurs, I would pick the former.

Back to Top


© Brian Tiemann