pseudonous

Just found this 3 part miniseries that might interest you

http://www.veoh.com/series/briefhistoryofdisbelief

lauraclay

On the shades of belief and Santa Claus: when you're first discovering that there is no Santa, do you immediately disbelieve his existence? Or is it gradual? First, you believe Santa is real. Then, you believe it, but you have doubts. Why are mommy and daddy moving around so much? Then you don't believe it, but have doubts. How could anyone pull of a hoax so elaborate? Then, you don't believe it. It is a hoax. Maybe this isn't the greatest example. I mean, I read about Santa in a book when I was 3, so I don't even remember believing in him, and I'm pretty sure I learned he didn't exist pretty fast. But everyone has something. Changing your mind in more than an instant proves the million shades of belief.

__________________

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.

The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.

The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to.

Piglet

Rstrats

Then i have given you something new.

NOTHING IS FORBIDDEN.

But i suggest, to be taken seriously, you dont talk about others personal
facets.
Just what they say about questions being debated

I dont talk about WHY you say things.
I talk about WHAT YOU SAY.
This is science and agnosticism.

If you dont want to takeme seriously, then why answer.
If you have ANY emotional commitment to any answer to me
DONT SPEAK TO ME. I do not want to hear it.


piglet.

__________________
Vir prudens non contra ventum mingit

rstrats

Piglet,


re: “If you don’t want to take me seriously, then why answer?”


While I disagree with what I think your position is with regard to the issue of being able to consciously CHOOSE one’s beliefs, when have I said anything that suggests that I think that you are not serious about that position?


re: “And why do you believe that? You were not born knowing it. Did someone tell you that it was a fact?”


No one told me. I would guess that I believe it because of the definition of belief that I have always understood it to be, i.e., a conviction - without any doubt - that someone or something does or doesn’t exist, or that a certain proposition is or isn’t true.


BTW, you have a question directed to you in post #38.

duck

Let me pose this question: How would you feel if I said that another facet to making a conscious choice in beliefs and faith is the element of conditioning?

There are an awful lot of things in life we are conditioned to believe from a very young age.

rstrats

duck,


re: “How would you feel if I said that another facet to making a conscious choice in beliefs and faith is the element of conditioning?”


If you were to make that statement I would probably feel that it is quite likely that conditioning plays a significant role in the engendering of beliefs. However, I would not feel that that engendering of beliefs was brought about by consciously CHOOSING to have them.

lauraclay

To quote someone, use the little button that looks like a speech bubble. It makes posts easier to read.

I just posted this in another thread but:
I think belief is relative. To truly believe something, you think it deep deep down, no doubts, you are 100% sure. In this case, I don't believe in anything. But, if you choose to put most of your stock in one idea, you follow its practices, live by its values, align most of your allegiances with it, then you could also be said to believe in it. The doubtful Christian, therefore, 'believes in God', but may choose to. If strong evidence was shown that there is no God, they may renounce their faith. Which means they probably never believed in the first place. They just chose to.

__________________

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.

The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.

The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to.

mister_lister

BELIEF: 1:Confidence, Trust

BELIEVE: 1: To have religious conviction. 2: To have firm conviction about something: accept as true 3: to hold as an opinion.

CONVICTION: .... 2: The state of being convinced.

CONVINCE: 1: To bring by demonstration or argument to a sure belief

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I believe most beliefs are the result of an automatic deduction of information in the brain, which results in confidence or trust in a given object of thought depending on the knowledge and deductive ability of a person and the evidence available.

There are some beliefs, which are deliberatly maintained despite evidence to the contrary. The question then would be are these actually beliefs or something else.

There is another component that is integral to some beliefs and that is : DESIRE. Favor laid upon cetain concepts, a predispsition to certain conclusions because of a DESIRE for such and such to be true. Aligning of ideas and knowledge in such a way to usurp the natural process of belief, resulting in a conviction which does not confound the "favorite" idea.

In general people prefer certain ideas over others, those that best fit their world view and favoritism. Scientists are not supposed to act this way, but through the scientific method establish a truer representation of reality.

I believe, there is both CHOICE and ABSENCE of choice in the process of belief. Depending on who is doing the believing and what the belief is.

__________________
________________________________________________

"The trouble is not with what we don't know, it is with what we think we know that just ain't so". ~ Mark Twain

Piglet

read this then comment

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

99% of all human belief is crap.
And it's very easy to prove..

AN EXAMPLE . And a very pertinant one

Were there WMD's in Iraq?. No. The term WMD is a fob for the ignorant
NBC is the term.

The war on terror is a joke.. why.?
During 70's and 80's there were 10 times the terror bombings that we see
now.
NOW..nothing is happening.
There is no war on terror. Just the strangling of your rights as free beings.

Rule one. Any one who believes what the media tells them are fools.

Occam

__________________
Vir prudens non contra ventum mingit

rstrats

Piglet,

You have a couple of questions directed to you in posts #38 and #44.