trollface
Quantum Scribe
Not automatically accepting everything I percieve as reality, and requiring soe form of proof for the more extraordinary claims.
I will not deny that there is faith that all of us hold - I have faith that I wasn't created with false memories a nanosecond ago, that America actually exists and isn't some big conspiracy even though I've never set foot in the place, that when I wake up tomorrow gravity will still be working, and so on. these things it serves me to believe, and I have found consistently to hold true. That is, at the most basic level, no guarentee that they will remain true in the future, but until they are proven to be wrong, I think my life will be best lived by continuing to assume they are true.
On the other hand, I must have more than just the word of someone* to believe that their consiousness can leave their body as someone's consiousness, in my opinion, is nothng but electrical and chemical changes in the brain. Now if people can travel millions of miles, or can move a few feet, at their discretion, as is claimed, then surely it's not too much to ask for them to read a word on a bit of paper?** I've been told that people can home in on souls, and that souls can be read through the internet. So, anyone that claims these things and wants to convince me of their truth can find my soul, find my sleeping body, look round my room and tell me what my guitar looks like. It's a very small task, a very small request on the side of the person making the claim, and yet will be a major, major thing to me.
*I include myself in this, BTW. I was more credulous for a period in my teens, and believed I could Astrally Project and see Auras. As I grew older and learned more, I doubted my experiences more and have accepted that I was deliberately sheilding myself from some things that were self-evident, because these were things I wanted to believe, partially because they made me feel a bit special. Now I'm more demanding of myself, and of those around me.
**This is an even smaller request and would require much less effort. And would earn a million dollars. They wouldn't even have to leave their house. Details here: http://www.randi.org/research/
I will not deny that there is faith that all of us hold - I have faith that I wasn't created with false memories a nanosecond ago, that America actually exists and isn't some big conspiracy even though I've never set foot in the place, that when I wake up tomorrow gravity will still be working, and so on. these things it serves me to believe, and I have found consistently to hold true. That is, at the most basic level, no guarentee that they will remain true in the future, but until they are proven to be wrong, I think my life will be best lived by continuing to assume they are true.
On the other hand, I must have more than just the word of someone* to believe that their consiousness can leave their body as someone's consiousness, in my opinion, is nothng but electrical and chemical changes in the brain. Now if people can travel millions of miles, or can move a few feet, at their discretion, as is claimed, then surely it's not too much to ask for them to read a word on a bit of paper?** I've been told that people can home in on souls, and that souls can be read through the internet. So, anyone that claims these things and wants to convince me of their truth can find my soul, find my sleeping body, look round my room and tell me what my guitar looks like. It's a very small task, a very small request on the side of the person making the claim, and yet will be a major, major thing to me.
*I include myself in this, BTW. I was more credulous for a period in my teens, and believed I could Astrally Project and see Auras. As I grew older and learned more, I doubted my experiences more and have accepted that I was deliberately sheilding myself from some things that were self-evident, because these were things I wanted to believe, partially because they made me feel a bit special. Now I'm more demanding of myself, and of those around me.
**This is an even smaller request and would require much less effort. And would earn a million dollars. They wouldn't even have to leave their house. Details here: http://www.randi.org/research/
