I got a question for you!

[ChristineES]

Question: Are you willing to believe that Bob is real?

Sure, whether he is a flesh and blood person or a person made up in your mind- then he is real. He is either real or a character in your mind that has been told to others, and each person who hears about him have them in their minds as well.
Think about it- Bugs Bunny isn't real rabbit but he does exist in cartoons that were drawn. The same would be for anything else.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Sure, whether he is a flesh and blood person or a person made up in your mind- then he is real. He is either real or a character in your mind that has been told to others, and each person who hears about him have them in their minds as well.
Think about it- Bugs Bunny isn't real rabbit but he does exist in cartoons that were drawn. The same would be for anything else.

So you think Santa Claus is real then? What about Allah? The Christian God? Is there any material difference between the three?

 

[Father Heathen]

Okay, here it goes. I'm gonna ask you a question, the preffered answer i would like is 1. your answer to said question and 2. your religion.


This is a kind of poll im doing, i want to see how people respond and what kind of religion or belief system they have. im trying to prove a point to myself, if no one else.


Now for the explanation: Let us say that i have a friend named Bob. Bob is special. Only i can hear Bob. Noone, including myself, can see, touch, taste, etc... him. I can hear him, noone else, but that is all.


Question: Are you willing to believe that Bob is real?


Now, i cannot prove to anyone in anyway that he is real, but then again, that is the point of my question. Please do not respond to the other parts of my message, please just give me an answer, cause i am curious.

Thanks for your help in my little experiment.

I would say his is "real" as far as being a schizophrenic induced delusion.

 

[ChristineES]

So you think Santa Claus is real then? What about Allah? The Christian God? Is there any material difference between the three?

Santa is real to the little kids who get up in the morning and open their presents. Most of us know that the parents are actually "Santa Claus". In that way, Santa Claus is real and as a kind of a spirit that causes people to want to give.
Allah and the Christian God and the Jewish God are all the same God. The Hindu God and others may also be the same God, as well. I believe that God really exists- but for those who don't believe in God, God will still exist in your mind, even if it you don't believe that He is a true entity/person/being.

 

[Quagmire]

Yes. DWBHist.

I would be willing to believe that Bob was real but I would speculate that he's more than likely an aspect of your own psyche (and just as real as any other aspect).

 

[rageoftyrael]

Not bad. Still a little divergence, but that is to be expected, lol. The purpose of my experiment honestly is to see about how people WITH faith react. Unfortunately, a lot of people WITHOUT faith are answering, but then again that will still help in my experiment anyway. And now that you've mentioned it, i will probably start a thread about percieved reality and reality as a whole. And then those of you who want to argue with me about reality can do so there, lol.

 

[Eddy Daze]

Not bad. Still a little divergence, but that is to be expected, lol. The purpose of my experiment honestly is to see about how people WITH faith react. Unfortunately, a lot of people WITHOUT faith are answering, but then again that will still help in my experiment anyway. And now that you've mentioned it, i will probably start a thread about percieved reality and reality as a whole. And then those of you who want to argue with me about reality can do so there, lol.

I think most people have faith or trust in certain stuff whether religious or not, but it has to be built up. A portion ff people in our society have trust and faith in peer reviewed scientific papers for instance

 

[rageoftyrael]

I honestly dont trust anything. I have to assume things are right on a daily basis to live my life, but i dont really trust that anything i read is right. I will take information that i have gotten from what i've read and heard to argue, but all that means im taking what i "know" and forming an opinion. That is the basis of what makes me an agnostic, which is that it is really hard to actually be sure of an answer, ever. I might act firm in an opinion, but i can never be sure of it, religion or anything else.

 

[Beaudreaux]

Not bad. Still a little divergence, but that is to be expected, lol. The purpose of my experiment honestly is to see about how people WITH faith react. Unfortunately, a lot of people WITHOUT faith are answering, but then again that will still help in my experiment anyway. And now that you've mentioned it, i will probably start a thread about percieved reality and reality as a whole. And then those of you who want to argue with me about reality can do so there, lol.

Change Bob's name to "Jesus" and you'll get a tone of "I believe" responses.

 

[BucephalusBB]

Change Bob's name to "Jesus" and you'll get a tone of "I believe" responses.

If it wasn't for tons of differences between the two, you almost had a good one

 

[whereismynotecard]

Okay, here it goes. I'm gonna ask you a question, the preffered answer i would like is 1. your answer to said question and 2. your religion.


This is a kind of poll im doing, i want to see how people respond and what kind of religion or belief system they have. im trying to prove a point to myself, if no one else.


Now for the explanation: Let us say that i have a friend named Bob. Bob is special. Only i can hear Bob. Noone, including myself, can see, touch, taste, etc... him. I can hear him, noone else, but that is all.


Question: Are you willing to believe that Bob is real?


Now, i cannot prove to anyone in anyway that he is real, but then again, that is the point of my question. Please do not respond to the other parts of my message, please just give me an answer, cause i am curious.

Thanks for your help in my little experiment.

I don't believe he is real. I think you are imagining him either due to a lot of stress, or maybe you're going "crazy." But I don't believe in crazy. That's what others might call it though... Just for some reason, you are hallucinating about a guy who isn't there. Maybe he's an imaginary friend. There's nothing wrong with that. Or maybe he is your alter-ego.

My non-religion is Nihilism.

 

[Quagmire]

I guess if I were to be completely honest I'd have to admit I'm a really Bobnostic.

 

[whereismynotecard]

I guess if I were to be completely honest I'd have to admit I'm a really Bobnostic.

I'm abobtheist, or maybe Nihil-bobist. I don't believe in anything about Bob.

 

[science_is_my_god]

Okay, here it goes. I'm gonna ask you a question, the preffered answer i would like is 1. your answer to said question and 2. your religion.


This is a kind of poll im doing, i want to see how people respond and what kind of religion or belief system they have. im trying to prove a point to myself, if no one else.


Now for the explanation: Let us say that i have a friend named Bob. Bob is special. Only i can hear Bob. Noone, including myself, can see, touch, taste, etc... him. I can hear him, noone else, but that is all.


Question: Are you willing to believe that Bob is real?


Now, i cannot prove to anyone in anyway that he is real, but then again, that is the point of my question. Please do not respond to the other parts of my message, please just give me an answer, cause i am curious.

Thanks for your help in my little experiment.

Sure. I'd believe in "Bob." But I would believe in "it" not "him." I would see it as an abnormal brain function and not an actual person. Bob would be "real" in the sense that "he" exists in my mind, but not real in the sense of existing in reality. And even so, I would probably keep my mouth shut. I wouldn't go spreading a new radical religion of Bobism. I wouldn't go preaching "Thou shall be saved by faith in Bob." My "religion" is atheism, in case you couldn't tell.

 

[McBell]

I'm abobtheist, or maybe Nihil-bobist. I don't believe in anything about Bob.

Abobtheist?
Does that mean you do not think that Bob is god?

 

[bobhikes]

Your answer to your question is Bob is real to you.

My religion is none. I know the answer.

 

[ChristineES]

But what happens if Bob is an actual guy that rageoftyrael knows?

 

[bobhikes]

But what happens if Bob is an actual guy that rageoftyrael knows?

He admits he knows him but he is personal friend that no one else can know. Do you think he has him locked up somewhere. Should we get the cops involved.

 

[ChristineES]

He admits he knows him but he is personal friend that no one else can know. Do you think he has him locked up somewhere. Should we get the cops involved.

Of course, I can't know Bob if he doesn't post here at the RF. We are not in the same place as of now. I mean, that is a way we could take that statement. Or maybe Bob is locked up in a basement, but the police don't necessarily have to be involved since Bob may be there voluntarily. :angel2:
I was just trying to say that if someone tells me of a friend that I can't see at that point in time doesn't mean that this friend doesn't exist. :flirt:

 

[Valjean]

As a Vedanti (Hindu) the resolution is clear.

There are levels of reality. Many subjective worlds, one Objective Reality. The scriptures say: "Knowledge is structured in consciousness."
Before you can discuss a question like this it is imperative that you clarify what level of reality you're coming from. Otherwise the debate will sound like a madman's convention.

Bob is absolutely real -- subjectively real. In the subjective reality of others he may not exist, but he is real to whoever perceives him. He is not, however, objectively real.

To clarify, a comparison:
The pressure cooker on my stove is real. I see it. Visitors see it. I use it all the time. It is part of my subjective reality and, therefore, subjectively real.

The pressure cooker on my stove is physically impossible. It violates the laws of physics and, thus, cannnot be Real. It is subjectively real to me, as I am presently dreaming it, but it does not Really exist. It is a hallucination (as is my whole world).

So, Bob is both subjectively real and metaphysically unreal.