Dirge

Im just wondering..
to be plain about my beliefs - I don't know if there is a higher power. If there is, he/she's doing his job, and I'm doing mine.
I don't believe that humans are knowledgable enough at the moment to come up with a straight answer. And with saying that, I hate the human instinct to find answers. And if they don't know what it is, than they'll start blabbering on with theories.
WHY??
Why is finding an answer so impoortant??!!
i don't understand why people can't just go on with life, agreeing that they don't know everything and that there are some things that are beyond our mental capabilities at the moment..
Since th begining of time people where afraid of what they dont know, like being afraid of the dark because you dont know what lurks there. So answers and theories overtook reason and reality.
I don't believe or agree with psychology for those very same reasons. Not everything has to be answered as if we are always right.

I'm not sure how pure of an Agnostic I can be, since most of the idea lies behind wanting only the truth with no exceptions; but what if I don't want an answer, and am happy with the way things are careless for reasons and explanations?


I'd love to hear comments, thanks.

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Og

Many certainly do take this route. Listen to country music some time. It speaks to a whole culture of people who live with jesus on sunday, promethius on monday through friday, and then get drunk and sing sad songs on saturday.

It's all about what mental structure gets you from birth to death. I'd tend to think that curiosity and critical thought would drive innovation which would increase survival and that that's the only reason that human are curious creatures. Animals that don't want to understand their environment are less likely to survive (so they don't). So we're left with this instinct to understand.

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The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

jor.pandolfo

haha, country music, but good point. Thats why I listen to the blues, its sad(but sweet) all the time.

jaej

Anything but emo..lol

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lauraclay

I love this topic. Why do we want to know? I think so much goes into it.

There's this sense of fear. You are content not knowing. Most people aren't. Most people need to know everything, and if they don't they can't understand and if they can't understand they can't control and if they can't control life is chaos and if life is chaos....Imagine how comforting it must be to think, "As long as I live well and repent my sins I will be ok." You never have to spend that agonizing time figuring out right from wrong, you're already told. Sure, you might spend some time trying to twist it to make sin ok, but you know in the back of your head already.

Breaking the mold is hard. Why do you think so many 'heroes' and legends are known for going against society or their culture? If you are raised to be Catholic, denying your faith is scary and hard. You have to go against your family, your community, your childhood, the basic tenements of your faith.

And then there's that sense of community. "Knowing" together is a wonderful feeling of empowerment. Are you wrong? Maybe, but wait, here's a couple thousand people who agree with you. And they're here for you. Life isn't so hard after all.

Knowing gives you a sense of superiority. You can lord it over those who don't know and 'save' them. It's like being given a million dollars. You can give some to charity, but I bet you spend the bulk of it on making yourself seem better than the average joe.

An answer would provide justification for one's actions. Why does the ruler conquer this land and kill thousands? God told him to. Can't argue that one.

You know how when you're a little kid and you have mommy and daddy to tell you what to do and take care of the big and scary things in life? They keep you in line, make sure everything's alright, comfort you in the bad times. Well, then you grow up. And mommy and daddy are a couple of hundred miles away. What protects you now? The Answer.

Fighting is so much fun. If we took religion out of the equation, what would we fight about?

I apologize in advance to anyone I have unintentionally offended.

I know some of this more directly answers why do we believe than why do we need an answer. But I think the difference is slight enough for me to throw it in.

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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.

debdodd

Hey JJ what's wrong with emo? I kinda like some of them! Which emo bands don't you like? Deb

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"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 ....."

lauraclay

Emo as a concept is horrible. While some emo bands are good, they're just labelled that. Emo is all about how nothing is ever good and everything is miserable and nothing is your fault and woe is me, life sucks, whine, whine, whine....Ugh. It is so obnoxious. I just wish some emo kids would suck it up and move on. Live life. It is not that bad.

__________________

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.

Og

We want to know the answer to such questions because we are curious about our environment. Why are we curious about our environment? Because it helps us understand the environment. Organisms with processing power that develop better understandings of their environment go on to survive better than those that don't.

So we evolve curiosity. It's pretty simple. There's no reason that you should want to know (this drive may not be there in some people or it may be tempered by development a la nature vs nurture).

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Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

jaej

Ooh Og you have 666 posts. And since this one was at 2 i can only assume it was the last one. Congrats. lol

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jaej

Spam aside, are you saying Og that people are conditioned to care or not care?

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