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Believing
- Thread starter Sally Sue
- Start date
WalterTrull
Godfella
I saved Tinkerbell !!
To cause it to be. To see the invisible. To think in abstraction.
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
Experience
Jeremiah Ames
Well-Known Member
Do you believe in logic?
Do you believe in rational thought?
Do you believe you can think?
Can you see any of the above?
Can you prove the last one?
Sufficient evidence.
Geoff-Allen
Resident megalomaniac
I might add a couple more to your list - can you "see" love or compassion or kindness or wonder or awe or curiosity etc etc ...
I am also reminded of an famous quote - "I think I am therefore I am, I think."
Ponder This
Well-Known Member
The most important part of religion isn't what you believe - it's the act of believing.
I understand that humans are sight-dominant, but we do have other senses. Would you ask this person of someone who is totally blind?
"Of course you are my bright little star,I might add a couple more to your list - can you "see" love or compassion or kindness or wonder or awe or curiosity etc etc ...
I am also reminded of an famous quote - "I think I am therefore I am, I think."
I've miles
And miles
Of files
Pretty files of your forefather's fruit
And now to suit our
Great computer,
You're magnetic ink.
I'm more than that, I know I am, at least, I think I must be.
[Inner Man:] There you go man, keep as cool as you can.
Face piles
And piles
Of trials
With smiles.
It riles them to believe
That you perceive
The web they weave
And keep on thinking free."
Generally speaking? Most belief-based concepts are parts of some a representational model of some kind.
Which is to say, those beliefs are never meant to be taken very seriously. On the contrary, even; they are only useful to the extent that the models that use them prove to be worth the while.
Such beliefs are tools, not goals. And they are definitely not meant to be taken as "true".
Grammerllama
The Devil's Advocate
I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and take "see" as in something that is currently unproven by human standards or things one hasn't personally experienced.
And it is an interesting question with a lot of answers. For me, I believed because it was all I knew. All I knew in my life was that there was a Heaven, Hell, God, Angels, Demons, and in the middle of it was my soul and choices that tallied sins or virtues. I believed because I was scared. Then again, I may be biased with those two whole exorcisms and other religious abuse under my belt, but that is just my experience.
Why don't I believe now? I guess because I haven't "seen" yet what everyone else has seen. No sky-daddy has come down to me and revealed previously unknown truths. I haven't had a burning bush or an angel from the all high say to me, "yeah, god is pretty real, m'dude."
I don't know for everyone else; this is just my reasons for why and why not.
And it is an interesting question with a lot of answers. For me, I believed because it was all I knew. All I knew in my life was that there was a Heaven, Hell, God, Angels, Demons, and in the middle of it was my soul and choices that tallied sins or virtues. I believed because I was scared. Then again, I may be biased with those two whole exorcisms and other religious abuse under my belt, but that is just my experience.
Why don't I believe now? I guess because I haven't "seen" yet what everyone else has seen. No sky-daddy has come down to me and revealed previously unknown truths. I haven't had a burning bush or an angel from the all high say to me, "yeah, god is pretty real, m'dude."
I don't know for everyone else; this is just my reasons for why and why not.
Remté
Active Member
I dare say your words have no meaning.
Ponder This
Well-Known Member
Statements intended for reflection often appear that way.
dfnj
Well-Known Member
I agree, dark matter, dark energy, time, Universal constants, are all not real. They simply exist in our minds to make the math work. They are imaginary constructs like the flying spaghetti monster.