Shawn sez:
Beliefs are one thing you should keep emotions out of.
NO FUN IN THAT MATE.
BUILD YOUR MEMES!
r
When Your Beliefs Are Challenged, How Do You React?
by The wanderer 26 Replies latest jw friends
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steve2
I think of the sleepless nights and angst I used to suffer trying desperately to shore up my belief in the Watchtower Society. What a sad waste of time and energy trying to convince others and myself that certain beliefs were true. Older age and I hope some wisdom have helped me become much less reactive when my "beliefs" are challenged. it's part of living in an open society and I'd rather have my "beliefs" challenged than live in an environment where questioning beliefs is equated with Life or Death.
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Dogpatch
The lack of a consistent, rigorous and precise understanding of what typically makes up one unit of cultural transmission remains a problem in debates about memetics.
R
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Dogpatch
from Wikipedia:
Memetics, the study of memes, remains a controversial field among many scientists and skeptics. Memetics originated when Richard Dawkins reduced the process of biological genetic evolution to its most fundamental unit: the replicator (or gene). Dawkins, in a search for parallels and other things that he might classify as replicators, suggested that the information and ideas in brains — culture, for example — could function as replicators as well. Computer software may represent another form of replicator with which evolution may eventually build grand things, whether socially as in the open source movement, or through the use of evolutionary algorithms.
Memetics offers maximum explanatory value in cases where one cannot demonstrate the truth of the contents of the meme. For example, one can readily show that washing hands helps to prevent illness, so the best explanation for the widespread popularity of this practice is that "it works", though memetics still helps explain the rate of spread, and details such as why the practice of washing hands before surgery took so long to catch on. Memetics, however, excels in explaining the spread of certain value-judgements ("chastity is important"), preferences ("pork is repulsive"), superstitions ("black cats bring bad luck") and other scientifically unverifiable beliefs ("'X' is the one true God"); since one cannot easily account for any of these phenomena by conventional scientific methods. Calling someone's ideas/beliefs/action a "meme", therefore, does not constitute an insult, but dismissing it as "just a meme" does. Calling a belief a meme does not constitute an insult in that most people who believe in memes regard all beliefs as memes anyway. For example, an atheist who classified a given theist belief-system as a meme would likely also classify his own atheist belief-system as a meme.
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Flowerpetal
If I am talking to someone (a workmate, friend) I let them bring the subject up. And if they ask me what my beliefs are, I just tell them I'm taking a break from all belief systems and re-evaluating myself.
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The wanderer
Dear friends:
Thank you for the tremendous commentary regarding
the subject of beliefs and challenges toward them.
In particular, poppers and shawn struck gold with
some of their commentary regarding beliefs.
"To have them challenged often brings a defensive reaction because that challenge subverts their identity, and who wants that?"-Poppers
"As new information is gathered, YOUR BELIEFS SHOULD CHANGE ON A DAILY BASIS."-Shawn
Respectfully,
Richard -
unique1
Nope I just shrug and say we are all entitled to our own opinions.
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Sad emo
I'm with Keyser:
It depends on how it's presented. I never have a problem with a contrary opinion. But I'm far more likely to accept that opinion if it's presented in a tactful way. I don't respond to smugness or hostility, no matter how much validity there is to what is being said.
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quietlyleaving
When individuals question or challenge you about your beliefs, how do you react?
Usually quite passionately lol - i tend to need that impetus to get me thinking around an idea. Have to kick start my brain.
How about today, do you react with anger, defensiveness or hostility when your beliefs undergo challenges?
If people's perception is that I am reacting with hostility and anger then I'd hope that they'd point it out to me. At the same time a different individual may feel that I am being merely passionate and not hostile. -
jaguarbass
I dont believe in much of anything that matters. I think Bush is a jerk. No one can contest that. Or let me say 8 out of 10 agree with me for you knucleheads in the 2%. The 2% are probaly on his payroll of graff and his culture of corruption.
I believe were all going to die and pay taxes till we do.
I think anything is possible. But everything is not probable.
I believe we were designed, but I dont necessarily believe in the god of the bible or let me clarify and say I dont understand him. If people want to believe in evolution. I just figure I was good at math and logic, and not everyone is. But thats kind of arrogant, Ill just say some people think that a whole bunch of things that are mathematically impossible or extremly improbable and not replicable in the labartory, which would make them scientific, have happened and here we are. I have read Darwin and Sagan and personally I dont buy evolution. As far as I can honestly say, I have no vested interest. There are intelligent people that believe in evolution and intelligent people that believe in design everybody is not going to agree on those issues. Relgion and politics. Whether one believes in evolution or design it is not going to change much in the big picture. I say design verses creation. Creation reminds me of religion and backward dark middle ages thinking. But who ever designed us seems to have lost interest and I guess looking at the bottom line thats as good as having evolved.