by Mecurious? 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
If a god exists, he can choose to show himself at any time. If he continues not to do this, we can never be certain he's not there. He may - as always - be hiding.
He revealed Himself in creation. We know He exits, by the impossibility of the contrary. D Dog
NOT YET
According to Chaos Theory, Quantum Indeterminacy and Godel's proof, nope!
I really wanna win the lottery and spend a couple years in a major university. I continue
to believe that science is biased towards unproven materialist assumptions. What exactly
is the 'bottom rung' of reality? Is there a bottom rung? Can we fairly assume that all features
of our world are simply reduceable to a few particles in combinations? Are some phenomena
irreduceable and primary? More than all this, could consciousness itself be the primary
foundation of reality?
As for extraterrestrials, they have sense enough not to openly appear because we're
not prepared for the shock. Too many Muslims and Fundamentalists hanging around..
metatron
Zen:
Reality exists independent of perception.
The movies the Matrix and the 13th Floor are fairy tales just as the Bible is a book of fairy tales and cannot be used as a reliable guide.
I really wanna win the lottery and spend a couple years in a major university. I continueto believe that science is biased towards unproven materialist assumptions. What exactly
is the 'bottom rung' of reality? Is there a bottom rung? Can we fairly assume that all features
of our world are simply reduceable to a few particles in combinations? Are some phenomena
irreduceable and primary? More than all this, could consciousness itself be the primary
foundation of reality?
Essentially a meaningless dichotomy. Shakespeare's plays are "mere" letters of the alphabet in combination. So what? The meaning of the play is not at that level.
We find "meaning" at certain levels and not at others. Think of it as focusing your eyes. At a certain aperature you have clarity.
Our life; our consciousness and our self all exist at certain levels and not at others. When does water become steam? At a certain point when the molecules come loose. Is water steam? Well, not really. Is ice really water? Well, not really; but, kinda. The distinctions are only meaningful if we are trying to assign a CONCEPTUAL tag which contains definitions for the purpose of identifying a phenomenon against a background.
IS can fool you. It is a convenient short hand way of doing a "freeze frame" and assigning identity to a phenomenon at a certain moment and context. IS becomes our way of keeping track at a rather slow and low level of comprehension.
Listen to a Bach fugue and there are many instances of a theme in various guises chasing about intertwined and often intricately plotted. The music and its "meaning" are not the identical phenomena of horsehair rubbed across catgut strings and felt hammers striking wound wire cables. No, the meaning is at a certain focus; no more and no less than just......so.
These are preferences we humans have. To go beyond what our tools of thought are and turn them upon themselves is merely to invite the comedy of paradox.
Consciousness turned upon itself cancels out self like a sound wave. That's what Transcendental Meditation leads to; a shutdown of the part of the brain that keeps track of "self".
T.
science or better yet scientific method informs us about the world. Social value placed upon the 'world' is drawn from subjectives like ethics and priorities. Science can tell us what does what but not whether it should be done. The 'shoulds' come from a collective conscience that determines the acceptable risks for perceived benefit.
"How" questions? Yes. "Why" questions? No.
Yup!
Science can prove physical things but not spiritual things.
St Thomas Aquinas, spoke of five ways in which a believer can "figure out" that there is a god.
1- motion: the universe is constantly moving, changing every instant and going on to what it will become in the next instant. There must be a first mover who set off this universal motion.
2. Cause: Every effect has a cause. There must be something that caused the existance of the universe.
3. Necessary: Everything in creation is possible, but there must be one who is necessary to the universe for its possibilities to unfold.
4. perfection: Human beings seek perfection in everything. There must be one who is perfect for human beings to seek it.
5. Pattern: The universe works so well, and has such an inner pattern or design that there must be one great intelligence that designed it.
The astronaut John Glenn, spoke of the way in which his travels in space had confirmed his belief in God.
"Galaxies, millions of light years across, all travelling in prescibed orbits in relation to one another. Could all of this have just happened? was this an accident that some flotsam and jetsam, and it suddenly started making these orbits of its own accord? I can't believe that's really true. I think this was a definite plan. This is one thing in space that shows me there is a god, some power that put all this into orbit and keeps it there. It wasn't just an accident"
Look at this site http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/GodProof.htm I find the site funny!
Evanescence
Science or the pusuit of knowledge can be quite spiritual. Contemplating the infinitely small and large anchors a person in a humble reality.
As for Aquinas, philosophy was his escape from what was for him a nagging reality. Rather than embrace life for what it is some pressume there is more than what meets the senses and are always seeking what will neveer be found. I challenge whether people really seek 'perfection' , healthy minded people insist upon it neither from others nor themselves. Perfection is philosopher's rheteric. People seek saftety from harm and satisfaction of the senses, nothing 'perfect' is implied in either.
Reality exists independent of perception.The movies the Matrix and the 13th Floor are fairy tales just as the Bible is a book of fairy tales and cannot be used as a reliable guide.
thats a nice theory, prove it
