Rob Graber

Feb 02, 2010 ⭐ View statistics (Premium feature)

Do Not Multiply Entities without Cause

The gods,
I'd lay odds,
Aren't too many--
If any.

About This Poem

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Country/Region: USA

Comments

Kailashana

16 years 3 months ago

This is absolutely Precious!

This is absolutely Precious! Enough to start another Middle Earth war, Rob! Love the title too. Occam's razor, indeed! ;-) ~A "What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal." Albert Pine

Rob Graber

16 years 3 months ago

4 me 2

Thanks much indeed! It was--is--a fun thing for me too; glad it is contagious! Skeptically yours, Rob

Mark

16 years 3 months ago

oh man, hi Rob

I expected rather longish mind bursting work I have seen here from you. A sort of diveropposide of your writing there lol I certainly agree with Anna Thanks, Mark "some things change, some things do not"

Rob Graber

16 years 3 months ago

Thanks, Mark!

Thanks much indeed!

Skumpfsklub

16 years 3 months ago

The shade of Ogden Nash is smiling

Very nice piece, Rob. I shall refrain from offering my view of 'the razor.' (It's not a bad policy, but not one I can agree with whole-heartedly). That notwithstanding, you do good service here, giving the naive reader an excellent basis for the development of a sound epistemology. Poetically viewed, I should nudge the 'good' up to a 'better than that,' but that option isn't available. 'Great' seems too much---but merely 'good' seems short shrift. Would you take a B minus as insult? Perry

Rob Graber

16 years 3 months ago

lol

Heck no! Ogden N was indeed a major influence on this, specifically his "Reflections on Ice Breaking"; as was your recent blog, where we got into minimal requirements for being a poem. Thanks much indeed!

raskin

16 years 3 months ago

Clean and concise, your

Clean and concise, your comment at the bottom had me laughing. I wore out my Ogden Nash book. Always gave me a laugh. I am a fan of simple. raskin

Rob Graber

16 years 3 months ago

Said 2 B

Said to be the essence of good taste; perhaps of good humor as well? :-,? Thanks!

Victorclaude

16 years 3 months ago

Rob,

Amen to this~! Victor Claude

Rob Graber

16 years 3 months ago

Amen!

Apt indeed! How gently can one's atheism be asserted? You know, sometimes I even like to play devil's advocate by defending theism (for the fun of it)... :-,?

Victorclaude

16 years 3 months ago

Rob,

"sometimes I even like to play devil’s advocate by defending theism (for the fun of it)…" That is fun, isn't it~! Victor

Rob Graber

16 years 3 months ago

Deism

Confession: I am not a sufficiently devout atheist to resist the occasional toying with some kind of anthropologically informed deism... Consciousness raised from the clod, etc....

Victorclaude

16 years 3 months ago

Rob,

"I am not a sufficiently devout atheist . . ." That's OK; at least you are skeptic enough to have your eyes open. Victor

Rob Graber

16 years 3 months ago

Well said. I think often of

Well said. I think often of something Freud is supposed to have said: One who considers himself/herself an agnostic does well to be little doubtful about that too... :-,? (User puffs complacently on his pipe--a bent shape, apparently)

Kailashana

16 years 3 months ago

Theism is such a

Theism is such a multifarious undertaking. The devil takes no advocates. ~A "What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal." Albert Pine

Rob Graber

16 years 3 months ago

Advocates

The devil worshippers are going to be sorry to learn that! :-,?

Skumpfsklub

16 years 3 months ago

Speaking for some theists:

I've said before that I have gods. I recommend to everyone that you make some gods for yourself. They're very convenient, when you take the time to make useful gods. It isn't a difficult task. I made my first god when I was only fourteen. That god wasn't a complete success, but I keep it around anyway, 'cuz a god built awkwardly isn't to be blamed for being awkwardly built. My later gods, built to specific purposes, still serve me well. Perry

Rob Graber

16 years 3 months ago

lol

I think I know what you mean. Probably I take my gods--present in the mode of absence, if you will--more seriously than you; I sometimes suspect myself of lacking a theological sense of humor.

Kailashana

16 years 3 months ago

Well….there be the

Well....there be the punchline....if ever there be one...the gods have an inordinate sense of humour creating (our recreation?)....you....me....this... I mean at this end of my own personal fishbowl. ~A "What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal." Albert Pine

Arrow

16 years 3 months ago

:)

Given how few gods there might be, why must we insist on division by three? (Arrow is struck by lightning!)

Rob Graber

16 years 3 months ago

lol

Noting that most lightning seemed to strike far from human habitations, Lucretius facetiously asked whether it was the gods having target practice...