Uncovering the science of belief

Advances in the investigation of the physical universe we live in.
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Heracleum Persicum
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Uncovering the science of belief

Post by Heracleum Persicum »

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From Pope Francis to Phil Robertson :
Why are some people of faith generous — while others are nuts ?



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.. the most interesting question about religion isn’t whether God exists but why so many people are religious.

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Endovelico
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Re: Uncovering the science of belief

Post by Endovelico »

Heracleum Persicum wrote:.
... the most interesting question about religion isn’t whether God exists but why so many people are religious.
People want to know why they exist. And when they can't find a reasonable answer, they invent. And what they invent is religion, probably the silliest of all human delusions... People who realize that there are things for which an answer is not yet available, do not usually care about religion. They prefer to dedicate whatever intellectual resources they may have to finding reasonable answers. And when they fail, they simply keep trying. Which is better than cutting their foreskins, not cutting portions of their hair or beard, abstaining from eating certain food, praying turned to some particular geographical point, or abstaining from sexual intercourse before marriage...
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Alexis
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About intelligence and humility

Post by Alexis »

Extract from Gravity and Grace, by Simone Weil

The extract is in the original French. Here is my translation to English:
We know, thanks to intelligence, that what intelligence cannot comprehend is more real that what it can. Within the domain of intelligence, the virtue of humility is nothing else than the power of attention. There is nothing closer to true humility than intelligence. It is impossible to be proud of one's intelligence at the time when one is using it in reality. And when one uses it, one is not bound to it. For one knows that, even though one would become stupid the next moment and for the rest of one's life, truth would continue to be. However, intelligence must recognize through its specific means, that is observation and demonstration, the superiority of love. It must submit only while knowing why, and this in a perfectly precise and clear way. Without that, its submission is an error, and what it submits to, in spite of the label, is something else than supranatural love. For example, it can be social influence.

The privileged role of intelligence in true love stems from the fact that the nature of intelligence is to be something that steps aside by the very fact that it is used. I can make an effort to go towards the truths, but when they are there, then they are and I am in no way a cause to them.
Simone Weil was a French philosopher, Christian mystic, and political activist of the 20th century.
noddy
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Re: Uncovering the science of belief

Post by noddy »

why is it only the religous bonkers who get isolated in these kind of analysis.

90% of all populations are bonkers to my own personal viewpoints and many of them consider me bonkers aswell.

which pretty much leaves this subject matter, bonkers.

with an added dash of smug self supremacy and a juvenile need to ridicule the "other".
ultracrepidarian
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