Posts by stuffwotifink

175

How confident are you about various so called facts?

by slimboyfat in

no facts about the world are absolutely certain.

that being the case i wonder how others would rank amd rate their confidence in various factual statements about the world.

i am going to rate my confidence in ten items of "knowledge" as a percentage.

stuffwotifink

Facts are just things we believe we know with such certainty that we struggle to muster up an honest doubt about them. Knowledge is just belief, well justified.
All is simply belief.

Certainty is no measure of truth. Doubt, no measure of falsehood.

12

Astral Projection

by Black Man in

jw
friends

so what are your thoughts on astral projection?

have a co-worker who claims to know how to induce this on himself.

is he crazy?

stuffwotifink

It's similar to lucid dreaming. If you look at the techniques used to induce AP and those used to induce a LD from the waking state (W.I.L.D), they are the same.

Having had a few experiences that seemed and felt like I was leaving my body and floating round my house, I can understand why the people who believe in it, do so.
It feels shockingly real, the first few times I became lucid in a dream the shock woke me up. It seems real.
(and going from the waking state into the hypnagogic state is a trippy experience, full of imagery not unlike what you get with hallucinogens, though milder, ofc)

It's just a state of self-induced hypnagogia, imo.
False awakenings are the most similar phenomenon to AP - also the best example of how perfectly the mind can map out a false reality for you, which is hard to tell from the real thing.

20

Crazy bible logic

by OverlappingGeneralizations in

i was thinking the other day (i know, i know, bad dub, no thinking allowed!)...

did you ever notice the screwy logic that we are led to believe is the truth?

like ezekiel 33:8:.

stuffwotifink

Also, for lolzy bible logic, take:

God is love - 1 John 4:8
Love is not jealous - 1 Corinthians 13:4
God is jealous - Exodus 13:14

20

Crazy bible logic

by OverlappingGeneralizations in

i was thinking the other day (i know, i know, bad dub, no thinking allowed!)...

did you ever notice the screwy logic that we are led to believe is the truth?

like ezekiel 33:8:.

stuffwotifink

I always wondered why God sent anyone to say anything on His behalf, ever.

If the rocks and pebbles worldwide all started shouting the same thing: I suspect people would pay more attention than they do to the smelly, beardy dudes in sandals, God usually asks to pass on His messages.
Luke 19:40

Perhaps God needs to "meditate" on the meaning of Proverbs 18:9

372

On respect for the belief of others. Sorry for the long post

by StarTrekAngel in

i am inclined to start this thread in response to some comments made in other threads.

i have been coming around these forum for quite some time now so whatever you find in here is not just related to something someone may have said this week.

it can go months back as well.. i have seen many who claim to respect the belief of others but when it comes down to applying it into practice, things take a whole different tune.

stuffwotifink

Before they were born you knew they were conceived and growing in the womb. Had you been unknowing of their existence, could you then have loved them?

You loved some cars and planes once you knew how they were designed. (Or looked, depending upon what you meant by loving their design.)

If you have "loved" women you have simply seen in magazines, I'd suggest that either we have very differing ideas of what "love" is, or that you loved how they looked.
Which depended upon you knowing how they looked, no?

Perhaps it's my lack of imagination but I can't think of anything I ever loved that I knew nothing about.
(I may just be misunderstanding the sense in which you are suggesting that knowledge is somehow antithetical to love and barking up the wrong tree as a result.)

372

On respect for the belief of others. Sorry for the long post

by StarTrekAngel in

i am inclined to start this thread in response to some comments made in other threads.

i have been coming around these forum for quite some time now so whatever you find in here is not just related to something someone may have said this week.

it can go months back as well.. i have seen many who claim to respect the belief of others but when it comes down to applying it into practice, things take a whole different tune.

stuffwotifink

Can anyone "love" something they have no "knowledge" of?

I think knowledge is a prerequisite for love.

11

Is there actually a valid Translation of the Bible ?

by Phizzy in

i saw a vid on-line awhile ago, i cannot remember the title so can't find it, but the guy was some sort of expert in the languages of the bible, and he made a very good case that there has never been a proper translation of the bible.. what he was saying was that all translators fall into the same trap of an overly slavish use of the etymology of words rather than how language was actually used at the time of writing.. he said that what was needed were scholars who were familiar with secular contemporaneous writings, and knew how language was used at the time.. this looks like a very interesting argument.. any thoughts ?

?.

stuffwotifink

I remember some shit on the telly I watched a while back - someone made the point that historical films about Rome, tell us more about the eras they were filmed in than they do about Rome.

I suspect that the bible is similar in this regard.

3

JW Mindset Songs

by Simon in

i heard this and suddenly had an image of jws singing it.

it seems to sum up their self delusion.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sttqxeq2l-y.

how i feel about them and their fake affection.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uvnt4wvigy.

stuffwotifink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG-fxbEdOAU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5R8kok_4d4

212

Why Do You No Longer Believe in God?

by Tenacious in

i know this question has popped up from time to time but i really would like to know how you guys, those that no longer believe, came to that conclusion?

was it the wts and all its crap?

was it something you read?

stuffwotifink

Is it your normal tactic to claim that people who disagree with you don't understand what you are talking about?

It is my normal tactic to point out that people who don't seem to know what they are talking about: don't seem to know what they are talking about.

Am I supposed to think that someone who claims everyone is an evidentialist and thinks that "epistemology isn't about evidence", knows what they are talking about?
If I honestly think that a person lacks understanding about something, should I hide my opinion?

Well I am open to being persuaded by evidence

Good for you. I hope you find someone who cares to try and persuade you. That person is not me.

I feel no obligation to a person who pops up (with what seems like a very poor grasp of what epistemology actually is) to say "epistemology has no value" and then demands that I persuade them of its value.
I have drying paint that needs watching first.

212

Why Do You No Longer Believe in God?

by Tenacious in

i know this question has popped up from time to time but i really would like to know how you guys, those that no longer believe, came to that conclusion?

was it the wts and all its crap?

was it something you read?

stuffwotifink

Nope. Lots of people are no such thing.
They are, it's why rational people don't walk out of second floor windows. I suggest you look up 'last thursdayism' as I think it applies to anything that comes from a study of epistemology.

You may want to find out what "Evidentialism" actually is, before stating that "everyone" is an evidentialist, perhaps.

If you think Last Thursdayism applies to "anything that comes from a study of epistemology": It is clear you don't understand epistemology very well.
(Assuming that you are using "anything", here, as synonymous with "everything", which you seem to be doing, given the context.)

I wasn't trying to convince you. Your opinion of epistemology doesn't effect me, one way or the other.
You bought it up, not me. If you don't want to discuss your own contribution to a discussion forum then why are you here?

I did mention epistemology, that is very true, have a cookie.
You then popped up and said that, according to what you see as the "evidence", epistemology has no "predictive power" (I've no idea at all why you think it should have) "or value".

In what way did you think that voicing your opinion of the lack of value in epistemology, was encouraging my further "discussion" of it with you?

An article you may find enlightening, maybe:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/evidence/#EviWhiJusBel