zannahdoll

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Posts by zannahdoll

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  120

  Evidence! How did you come to know reality?

  by zannahdoll in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is it possible that when we (as a people) make an advancement in science and learn new facts that they sometimes disprove what was once considered fact?

  unless you test something for yourself you are taking the word of someone else.

  or do you trust that things are certain?

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  zannahdoll

  cyberjesus

  definition of faith

  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faith

  faith

  –noun

  1.

  confidence or TRUST in a person or thing: faith in another'sability.

  Synonyms for faith

  http://thesaurus.com/browse/faith

  Main Entry:	faith
  Part of Speech:	noun
  Definition:	trust in something
  Synonyms:	acceptance , allegiance, assent, assurance,belief, certainty, certitude, confidence,constancy, conviction, credence, credit, credulity, dependence, faithfulness, fealty,fidelity, hope, loyalty, reliance, stock, store,sureness, surety, troth, truth, truthfulness
• 
  120

  Evidence! How did you come to know reality?

  by zannahdoll in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is it possible that when we (as a people) make an advancement in science and learn new facts that they sometimes disprove what was once considered fact?

  unless you test something for yourself you are taking the word of someone else.

  or do you trust that things are certain?

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  zannahdoll

  alice.in.wonderland

  Objectivism regards reason as an absolute.

  Absolutes... what about in light of new facts and further reason? Read a good mystery novel or study a true life crime and we find out our original reasoning isn't always accurate. We are limited by what we know.

  It holds that all knowledge is based on the evidence of the senses.

  Do your senses never play tricks on you? Some people sincerely believe they have SEEN aliens. Big Foot, Loch Ness Monster... they were spotted. Some people believe they have SEEN Mary, Jesus' mother. I have known people whose rosaries, with beads made of wood or porcelain, turned to gold in their hands as they were praying... So, all knowledge is based on the evidence of the senses?

  It holds that all beliefs, conclusions, and convictions must be established by logical methods of inquiry and tested by logical methods of verification. In short, it holds that the scientific approach applies to all areas of knowledge.

  I can't speak for other religions, but as a Catholic I know that there are many miracles that the church tests to authenticate... There are many C.E. miracles that have been proven by the church researchers and investigators. I'm sure you wouldn't trust these because of the people researching... however there are people to verify such things happen. One of my favorites is the story of Bernadette in Lourdes, France. They made a movie on her life that won an Academy Award for best picture. Currently there is this huge uproar about Medjugorje, which has not yet been verified by the church, and there are lots of witnesses who are our contemporaries. The Catholic Church is still waiting to see if it is valid...

  belief not based on evidence, or based on such spurious forms of "evidence" as revelation and authority.

  So with Objectivism there is no "revelation" or "authority" You don't have experts? Scientists? So on and so forth?

  What really interested me was when I googled Objectivism the first thing to pop up was Wikipedia and Ayn Rand: how she invented the concept so that we could bring metaphysical concepts into reality using such mediums as art.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)

  Objectivism is a philosophy created by the Russian-American philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand (1905–1982). Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of consciousness, that man has direct contact with reality through sense perception, that one can attain objective knowledge from perception through the process of concept formation and inductiveand deductive logic, that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or rational self-interest, that the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in pure laissez fairecapitalism, and that the role of art in human life is to transform man's widest metaphysical ideas, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form—a work of art—that he can comprehend and to which he can respond emotionally.

  Rand originally expressed her philosophical ideas in her novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and other works. She further elaborated on them in her magazines The Objectivist Newsletter, The Objectivist, and The Ayn Rand Letter, and in non-fiction books such as Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology and The Virtue of Selfishness. [ 1 ]

  The name "Objectivism" derives from the principle that human knowledge and values are objective: they are not created by the thoughts one has, but are determined by the nature of reality, to be discovered by man's mind. [ 2 ] Rand stated that she chose the name because her preferred term for a philosophy based on the primacy of existence – "existentialism" – had already been taken. [ 3 ]
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  67

  SERIOUS QUESTION: just how many demons will fit inside a person?

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  are demons big or little?

  do they take up space?.

  do they infest our cells and peer out like they are trapped inside a jelly bean?.

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  zannahdoll

  okay notverylikely... so can you experience the past? Can you experience the future? Or do you only remember the past and plan/hope/predict for the future?
• 
  67

  SERIOUS QUESTION: just how many demons will fit inside a person?

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  are demons big or little?

  do they take up space?.

  do they infest our cells and peer out like they are trapped inside a jelly bean?.

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  zannahdoll

  Terry

  We are storytellers by nature. We like connecting dots.

  The less we know the greater the distance between dots.

  Sometimes connecting the dots isn't fiction, isn't that how we make up hypothesizes to test?

  Are my hypothesizes so far fetched? Is there really a past and present? Or just what is current?

  I think asking how many demons are in a person is a similar question as to asking: How do we fit all these thoughts and memories in our heads? They don't take up any physical space at all.
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  120

  Evidence! How did you come to know reality?

  by zannahdoll in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is it possible that when we (as a people) make an advancement in science and learn new facts that they sometimes disprove what was once considered fact?

  unless you test something for yourself you are taking the word of someone else.

  or do you trust that things are certain?

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  2. 
  3. 
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  zannahdoll

  Twitch

  Ever read Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance?

  No, I haven't. What is the concept, who is the author? I've been interested in the concept of reality since I was a kid. I wrote a paper and did a speech for an academic decathlon when I was in the 8th grade. What are your insights?
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  120

  Evidence! How did you come to know reality?

  by zannahdoll in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is it possible that when we (as a people) make an advancement in science and learn new facts that they sometimes disprove what was once considered fact?

  unless you test something for yourself you are taking the word of someone else.

  or do you trust that things are certain?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  zannahdoll

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence#Types_of_evidence

  Problems in evidence

  The theory of evidence is a field wrought with dispute. Many of these disputes stem from the limits of human knowing, a field known as epistemology. Possibly the most salient question of evidence is how, if, and what, one can know. (Or, in other words, the question is to what extent is it even possible to fulfill the burden of proof.) This is the question of evidence's limits. Some believe all evidence to be circumstantial, denying the possibility of direct evidence.

  To help deal with this problem, many fields have found it useful to talk about levels of evidence and certainty, particularly the field of law.

  ..........................................................

  Types of evidence

  • Intuition
  • Personal experience
  • Testimonial
  • Anecdotal evidence
  • Scientific evidence

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_evidence

  Philosophic versus Scientific Views of Scientific Evidence

  The Philosophic community has invested extensive resources to address logical requirements for scientific evidence by examination of the relationship between evidence and hypotheses, in contrast to scientific approaches which focus on the candidate facts and their context [9] . Bechtel, as an example of a scientific approach, provides factors (clarity of the data, replication by others, consistency with results arrived at by alternative methods and consistency with plausible theories) useful for determination if facts rise to the level of scientific evidence [10] .

  A variety of philosophical approaches are available for the evaluation of evidence, many of which focus on the relationship between the evidence and the hypothesis, to determine if the facts rise to the level of evidence. Carnap recommends distinguishing such theories of evidence using three concepts: whether the theory is classificatory (does the evidence confirm the hypothesis), comparative (does the evidence support a first hypothesis more than an alternative hypothesis) or quantitative (the degree to which the evidence supports a hypothesis) [11] . Achinstein provides a concise presentation by prominent philosophers on evidence, including Carl Hempel (Confirmation),Nelson Goodman (of grue fame), R. B. Braithwaite, Norwood Russell Hanson, Wesley C. Salmon, Clark Glymour and Rudolf Carnap [12]

  Based on the philosophical assumption of the Strong Church-Turing Universe Thesis , a mathematical criterion for evaluation of evidence has been proven, with the criterion having a resemblance to the idea of Occam's Razor that the simplest comprehensive description of the evidence is most likely correct. It states formally, "The ideal principle states that the prior probability associated with the hypothesis should be given by the algorithmic universal probability, and the sum of the log universal probability of the model plus the log of the probability of the data given the model should be minimized." [13]
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  120

  Evidence! How did you come to know reality?

  by zannahdoll in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is it possible that when we (as a people) make an advancement in science and learn new facts that they sometimes disprove what was once considered fact?

  unless you test something for yourself you are taking the word of someone else.

  or do you trust that things are certain?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  zannahdoll

  What is fact to you? How do you know? You test it? What is the test based on? Our senses (touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight)? Logical, Valid Arguments? What would the premises be based on? ... the senses? Where do you get your information? Did you personally test all the things you know to be true? Are you an astronomer, biologist, chemist... etc? How did the scientists come to know? Their senses? Mathematical Equations? Where do you read what their findings are? Books? Internet? You trust other's accounts? Only some people's accounts for things but not other people's accounts? Would you agree that the more we learn the more we don't know? Is it possible that when we (as a people) make an advancement in science and learn NEW facts that they sometimes disprove what was once considered fact? Do we know, with absolute certainty, that our sun will be there tomorrow? Do we trust it will because that is what history and science tell us?

  In my experience: Evidence is the favorite buzz word of atheists/anti-theists/agnostics. Unless you test something for yourself you are taking the word of someone else. Possibly multiple experts. However we all know that only because many people will atest that something is true doesn't always make it so (example: cults). If you test something for yourself then you are limited to the facts and logic that are available to you (I think we can all agree that we do not have the full picture) and you are limited to your senses (I think we can agree that our senses can play tricks on us).

  SO: do you know anything for certain? Or do you TRUST that things are certain? Can we only say that MOST LIKELY things are true and that is how we come to KNOW something? If you are trusting that things are so, without fully and actually knowing, isn't that then a leap of faith?

  Not one person functions without feeling they have some kind of trust... Example: knowing how to get places and expecting them to be there when we show up... However, for all we know a tree could have fallen on a house or a place could be burned down and it is no longer there. We act on the likelihood that it WILL be there. Otherwise we would not go anywhere.

  Atheists/Agnostics/Anti-Theists take a leap of faith every day! Interesting to me that some of you consider taking a leap of faith a fault in theists, claiming that they do not think, when we all do the same and take a leap of faith no matter what you believe or lack belief in.
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  13

  Three Types of Attention

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am working on a theory here.

  please add your thoughts.. when children seek attention from adults, they generally receive three types:.

  no attention.

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  zannahdoll

  OnTheWayOut

  It seems to me that children who are generally well adjusted had someone who wanted to spend time with them.

  I might agree with cyberjesus that no attention isn't a type of attention, but I still see that it does have an effect. (maybe re-title your concept as something other then 3 types of attention) ... then again: is the absence of something still a type? Example: Black is considered the absence of color while white is all colors combined... yet both are considered a color. So maybe no attention/lack of attention is still a type of attention...

  http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060801040143AATQkFQ

  What is the color of absence of color?

  Technically, black is the absence of color. Color is determined by what we see reflected off of an object. For example, an orange is orange because it absorbs all other colors(light), but reflects orange back to our eyes. White is a combination of all colors being reflected off of an object. Black is THE ABSENCE OF ANY COLOR being reflected off of an object.

  Source(s):

  8th grade science

  So I don't know if no attention is a type of attention or not. I would suppose that if someone is consciously ignoring someone else then there is some level of attention going on. I think to ignore something you are aware of the thing that is being ignored to ignore it in the first place. - However if someone isn't ignoring another person because they have no knowledge or concept of the person to be ignored... then that could be absence of attention. Would ignoring someone be negative attention? Neglect?

  I do believe that there is negative attention. I don't understand cyberjesus saying that there isn't... people can put their heart and mind into paying attention to someone in a negative way: in the extreme: rape, murder, hitting, abuse, calling names, belittling, insulting... etc... OnTheWayOut, I have always thought, to do the reverse of the dad in your story, when children do something you don't like: don't give them attention. Put them on a time out and "ignore" them for one minute of their age. I have to be aware of them that they don't run amuck. I use this when I babysit. It's very effective. I play with children and give them lots of attention when they are well behaved. For the most part they are! I think it's because I'm spending time with them.
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  90

  Do You Personally Know Of Anyone That Committed Suicide?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  lately, i've come to find out that a more than a few people in the area had killed themselves.

  most of the people i know of were in their early twenties or forties.

  for those loved ones surviving them, it was mostly a shock!

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  zannahdoll

  I know a man whose wife passed away and he committed suicide within the year.

  One guy I dated told me he attempted suicide as a teenager when he was involved with gangs...

  About 5 years ago maybe, I ran into a girl friend I was once close to and lost touch with her. We became friends maybe over 10 years ago, and I lost touch with her for a couple of years. She disappeared for awhile because she was in a deep depression. She didn't talk to anyone. She was raped on a date, a guy she met and trusted from church. Then she became an alcoholic. She went to rehab and I ran into her where she was working at a bookstore (she lost that job shortly). She has been in and out of the hospital and rehab (at least 5 times) ever since - somewhere in the middle of that I offered her a bedroom in my house to live with me for a little while to help her out financially. Later she married a man who beat her and ended up in the hospital again. She told me she would disconnect her number to avoid him - about a year ago I lost touch with her completely too, unless she calls me...

  Today: I don't know where she is now or if she is even alive. It is all very sad because I love my friend. Before the rape and alcoholism she was happy, social, got her masters in college, working on her career and giving back to the community.

  I've lived with a lot of depression in my family. My grandfather was manic-depressed, my father clinically depressed... sometimes I think I have a tendency for it.

  I'm sorry to all of you who have lost someone you love. It is such a horrible, sad thing. Thank you for sharing your stories.
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  31

  For Shelby, Tec and others who believe in Christ but not necessarily the bible...

  by elderelite in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i read with great interest that some believe in christ but notnecessarily the authenticity of the bible... could you please elaborate on that?

  i have to admit i am very interested in where people have ended up after leaving the wt.

  i am on that road and enjoy seeing where people have followed it.

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  zannahdoll

  tec: Well put.