debdodd

what the hell jaej .... old ladies need jumped by a sex fiend now and then too!
Oh, and hehehe ..what was LC doing in your back seat? Never mind answering that ..... hehehehehe

__________________
"Ubi dubium ibi libertas."

"We are all lone souls. It pays to know humility, lest the delusion of control, of mastery, overwhelms. And indeed, we seem a species prone to that delusion, again and ever again ....."

jaej

???

Obviously you don't know how much junk is there.

'cackles evilly'

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rstrats

Sapphira1212,

re: “Well then you obviously haven't been keeping your eyes open. “


That would be incorrect. I have read very carefully all the replies to my request for a demonstration of a person’s ability to consciously CHOOSE to believe things and so far no one has been responsive to that request - including yourself. You write:

“...you have to consciously choose not to be afraid of the dark, and to believe he's not real. “

“Bigfoot, you consciously choose to believe in him or not.”

“Like math, if it makes sense to you, you believe it and use it. If it doesn't, then you choose not to believe it works...”


So it would seem that you are still saying that you can consciously CHOOSE to believe things. Therefore, I would ask you to reread my post #7 and follow what it is asking of you.

milligal

Here's an example. A couple decides to become baptized in a faith when they are newly married, they go one to have many children and raise them in this faith. After ten or twenty years the hypocrasy and the lies are adding up until their faith is damaged. But now this couple is older, their children are full grown and following the faith, all their friends are in this faith and it is their lifestyle. Despite their knowledge that it is probably not the one true religion the CHOOSE to continue believeing it is. To do otherwise would hurt relationships, pride, and upset life. So they dismiss the bad and search desperately for the good.

This, I think is an example of choosing to believe something.

rstrats

milligal,

re: “This, I think is an example of choosing to believe something.”

Thanks for responding, but I am not looking for an example of something that someone might be able to consciously CHOOSE to believe is true. I am looking for someone to actually demonstrate, in realtime, their ability to consciously CHOOSE to believe something. If you think that you can do that, I would ask you to comply with my post #7.

milligal

You're asking someone to tell you they are now deciding to believe something? There are a million holes in a question like that. I don't see how any response could fulfill your request.

rstrats

milligal,

re: “You're asking someone to tell you they are now deciding to believe something?”

Yes, that is what I am asking.


re: “There are a million holes in a question like that.”

A million, huh? What might one of them be?


re: “I don't see how any response could fulfill your request.”


The following response from you would fulfill at least the first part of my request:

“I believed - was convinced without a doubt - that there were no such things as leprechauns, but because you asked me to believe that there were, I went ahead and consciously CHOSE to change that belief, and now I am honestly convinced that they do indeed exist.”

Now even if you weren’t able to fulfill the second part of my request by explaining how you were able to make the instantaneous transition from the one state of mind to the other, I would at least know that a belief can be consciously CHOSEN.

Mac

That is a very interesting question, rstrats. For myself, I don't think I can choose to believe anything. I examine information and make a judgement based on the information, but I can't say that I believe anything that has not been satisfactorily demonstrated to me. So I don't think that I can "choose" to believe in a diety, even though I would like to. I can choose to believe that my keyboard exisits because I have enough evidence in front of me to allow myself that belief. Choosing to believe in something sounds like faith to me, which I believe is different that believing in something that doesn't require that leap of faith.

milligal

That's ridiculaous. If someone chooses to believe in leprachauns then the belief is not inherant. That's like saying I choose to believe the sky is red (but to choose this I have to start with the knowledge that it is not red so I can choose my belief).

A million holes. Hole #1:
There is no way to find an accurate response when it is based on someone telling you they consciously chose their belief. It would be more accurate for someone to share a story of what they've SEEN or OBSERVED the belief of choice. Then there is evidence of the choice being made.

rstrats

milligal,

re: “ That's ridiculaous. If someone chooses to believe in leprachauns then the belief is not inherant. “


I’m afraid I do not understand what that means. Could you please elaborate.


re: “Hole #1:There is no way to find an accurate response when it is based on someone telling you they consciously chose their belief.

I am prepared to accept that you are being honest when you say that you have just consciously CHOSEN to believe in leprechauns and that you are now convinced that they exist.