Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post

Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post ;..  The ancient world at this time understood the relationship of earth to heaven as one of moving up and down. This is not only directional, as if one is on an escalator -- though the Old Testament patriarch Jacob did have a vision of a ladder that went up to heaven (Genesis 28:10-19) and some tried to build a ziggurat to heaven, known popularly as theTower of Babel (Genesis 11:5-8) -- but also an act of moving from imperfection below toward perfection above.

This perception of the universe lasted for millennia.

Are humans getting better? | New Europe

Are humans getting better? | New Europe ;.. We might think that evolution leads to the selection of individuals who think only of their own interests, and those of their kin, because genes for such traits would be more likely to spread. But, as I argued then, the development of reason could take us in a different direction.




On the one hand, having a capacity to reason confers an obvious evolutionary advantage, because it makes it possible to solve problems and to plan to avoid dangers, thereby increasing the prospects of survival. Yet, on the other hand, reason is more than a neutral problem-solving tool. It is more like an escalator: once we get on it, we are liable to be taken to places that we never expected to reach. In particular, reason enables us to see that others, previously outside the bounds of our moral view, are like us in relevant respects. Excluding them from the sphere of beings to whom we owe moral consideration can then seem arbitrary, or just plain wrong.

World News - Like a Dan Brown book? Vatican allows mobster to be exhumed

World News - Like a Dan Brown book? Vatican allows mobster to be exhumed ;..  Authorities later revealed that the tomb "only contains the remains of a man." 

Pietro Orlandi, Emanuela’s brother, told journalists outside of the church that he believes "cooperation between the Vatican and investigators is an important step to shed some light on what really happened."

Newsvine - Dalai Lama alleges poison plot; China cries foul

Newsvine - Dalai Lama alleges poison plot; China cries foul ;.. The Tibetan Buddhist leader told the Telegraph he had been warned that the Chinese government was training female Tibetan agents to put poison in their hair or scarves and to seek his blessings or touch his hand.

Hundreds of thousands of people take pilgrimages each year to northern Indian town of Dharmsala, where the Dalai Lama lives under tight security. Huge crowds also surround him during his travels abroad. The Tibetan leader usually places his hand over the heads of devotees seeking his blessing.

He told the newspaper he may ending up being the last Dalai Lama because of Chinese interference in finding his reincarnation after his death.

Smiles everyone! World’s biggest smiley formed by people in Bangkok

Smiles everyone! World’s biggest smiley formed by people in Bangkok