04-27-2006, 05:29 PM
I'm back. Couldn't resist.
It is interesting how we work. The human mind is wondrous and complex. We are full of talents. In particular we have a real talent for believing things. For some this drive to believe a belief means that belief is actually founded. Hmmm. For others, like me, this drive to believe is wondrous but also something to be suspicious of. We see shapes in clouds; we see forms in shapeless things; we see causes where there is randomness; we make connections between independent events; we believe stories that cannot be verified simply because we like the sound of the story that touches our emotions. We are so wonderful and yet, AND YET that does not make our beliefs true.
I do not believe the "beliefs" described above. Indeed I honestly believe that I am being far less ideological than those that claim to believe the "beliefs" described above. Those that believe have ideologically decided to believe and have ideologically decided to downplay rationality and "science". They claim to be open and yet they, ironically, are the rigid ones and are sadly blind. They see nothing because they only see what they wish to see. They see shapes and don't see the clouds. But what is more sad is that they see shapes but do not notice how their minds work. We are wondrous and it is worth studying how we tick. Turn the lights on. Don't live in darkness.
If you believe something, ask yourself "How do I know it is true?" If you brush this question aside as not pertinent then you are a hopeless case and are very human! We are all, in different ways, hopeless cases! Nothing personal. Just philosophy, as old as consciousness.
It is interesting how we work. The human mind is wondrous and complex. We are full of talents. In particular we have a real talent for believing things. For some this drive to believe a belief means that belief is actually founded. Hmmm. For others, like me, this drive to believe is wondrous but also something to be suspicious of. We see shapes in clouds; we see forms in shapeless things; we see causes where there is randomness; we make connections between independent events; we believe stories that cannot be verified simply because we like the sound of the story that touches our emotions. We are so wonderful and yet, AND YET that does not make our beliefs true.
I do not believe the "beliefs" described above. Indeed I honestly believe that I am being far less ideological than those that claim to believe the "beliefs" described above. Those that believe have ideologically decided to believe and have ideologically decided to downplay rationality and "science". They claim to be open and yet they, ironically, are the rigid ones and are sadly blind. They see nothing because they only see what they wish to see. They see shapes and don't see the clouds. But what is more sad is that they see shapes but do not notice how their minds work. We are wondrous and it is worth studying how we tick. Turn the lights on. Don't live in darkness.
If you believe something, ask yourself "How do I know it is true?" If you brush this question aside as not pertinent then you are a hopeless case and are very human! We are all, in different ways, hopeless cases! Nothing personal. Just philosophy, as old as consciousness.
Jeffery Wyss
"Si vos es non secui of solutio tunc vos es secui of preciptate."
"Si vos es non secui of solutio tunc vos es secui of preciptate."
