I usually shorten this to "things that exist dont stop existing because you stop believing in them", but its the same idea, I think.Quote by: Cephus
And there are a lot of believers who cannot grasp this concept.
if you could actually demonstrate the accuracy of your collected knowledge before getting to the afterlife, sure. until then, its speculation based on your opinion, since we have no objective evidence even for the existence of an afterlife, much less its workings.
You missed by a mile. Watch it if you have the time.
Has anyone watched it?
Religion is poison because it asks us to give up our most precious faculty, which is that of reason, and to believe things without evidence. It then asks us to respect this, which it calls faith. - Christopher Hitchens
"Atheism appears to be a death cult because we're the only people who admit that death is real."
"If atheists are right about death, death is not the problem. Life is the problem."
"Without eternal life after death, life appears to be an emergency."
"Things are going very wrong in this place. Even if you're having the best time of your life a glance at a newspaper will reveal that it's possible to have no fun at all."
Religion is poison because it asks us to give up our most precious faculty, which is that of reason, and to believe things without evidence. It then asks us to respect this, which it calls faith. - Christopher Hitchens
Perhaps, you have limited knowledge of those mechanics and haven't unveiled the workings.
Thought is nothing without memory. So thought is nothing without biology. It's simple logic.
As the pattern gets more intricate and subtle, being swept along is no longer enough.
"I don't think they really walk like that on the moon, it just doesn't seem progressive."
That is exactly my point. If no memory persists of some extraneous thought, how would we know it occurred? Perhaps it does. Who can say?
No. Thoughts literally stem from the memory cells in the cerebral cortex. A thought cannot occur until it is stored in memory and processed.
Boy I don't know about that conclusion. Seems a believer in a God would say the same to you. God exists and doesn't stop existing because you stop believing in Him. I don't think you've accomplished a darn thing there.
Absolutely spot on. Demonstration; experience is the key, though I don't get what you mean about collected knowledge. It's speculation not on my part but on the parts of those who've not the demonstration; the experience. Knowledge from experience is the basis of Gnosticism. I'll put it this way. Presuming you've not jumped from an airplane here.if you could actually demonstrate the accuracy of your collected knowledge before getting to the afterlife, sure. until then, its speculation based on your opinion, since we have no objective evidence even for the existence of an afterlife, much less its workings.
It's speculation on your part that you will be able to demonstrate sufficient self control of fear to survive an emergency after a solo jump. It's not a speculation on my part. You can watch me handle an emergency yet I cannot give you that experience. Or suddenly you find yourself in the cockpit of an airplane, alone, with no previous experience in navigating the craft to your desires. If knowing there was an upcoming change of some sort, no one is forced to explore the boundaries of existence in the body, nor forced to acknowledge the upcoming change of scenery as a thing that can be studied for in preparation. But initiations can be prepped for. By the very nature of an initiation there is an expected change of perspective.
Trying to find an hour to do it, Peter. Don't Panic.
I don't want to understand the workings. (Well, in my weaker moments some, but it is a trap of the negative to pursue) I don't see understanding memory workings, in toto, necessary to exploiting mind and memory's potential if trained to effect in order to engage circuits to alter the "normal" functioning of the perceptive interface. There is sourced NDEs (Near Death Experiences), OBEs (Out of Body Experiences), dreams, and the Christian salvation that, in spite of popular belief, is part of life. http://www.spiritualtravel.org/
Caution! Such experiences have the power to create fanatics from a preset priming of flying saucer abduction study, demonology, Christianity, voodoo, Cthulhu, Juju, Scientology, Party Politics, etc... where the more knowledge of systems before the journey is begun gives better results of the effort and better odds of remaining functional after returning. A full belly of diverse study; the 7 course meal is better than a strict fruitarian single meal before setting out. Your actual mileage will vary depending on your car's condition, optional equipment, and how and where you drive. Not responsible for acts of God.
A muscle can be trained to better performance. Memory? For a fact it responds to a disciplined will. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_of_memory
Memory while conscious operates from a hysteresis threshold understanding. If the signal is not of sufficiently engaged by brain's circuits there will be no memory as in sleep. Can those be manipulated at will? Yes, but it's not accomplished with the ease of shaking salt on a burger. Some disruption of default pathways is the challenge that will must deal with in order to gain access to reality beyond the perceptive interface and remember it.
If the terrain and the map do not agree, follow the terrain.
When motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result of ignorance or accident, its children will become a new race.
They can say all they want, but im not the one making supernatural claims, and I dont have the burden of proof on the claim. and what I said, and what cephus said, is true. It doesnt matter if one believes in something, if it is real. It will exist regardless. and things that exist should be demonstrable, especially if its something that interacts with our universe, and considering the claims usually involve personal interaction of some sort, it shouldnt be hard to demonstrate this personal interaction.
Instead, we get "you have to have faith before god reveals himself" or "the ghosts dont like it when skeptics are around, so they choose not to show themselves" or "nonbelievers send out negative mind waves and interfere with my psychic powers", instead of actual testable evidence.
Maybe more people will watch the video now that Jack has posted it with a much better lead-in.
Religion is poison because it asks us to give up our most precious faculty, which is that of reason, and to believe things without evidence. It then asks us to respect this, which it calls faith. - Christopher Hitchens
Can you prove, absolutely, that there is not an aethereal invisible unicorn in your room watching you type? Or that there is not a teapot orbiting the moon?
While it is impossible to discount either possibility absolutely, by the same to ken there is absolutely no reason to believe them.
Society may be formed so as to exist without crime, without poverty, […] no obstacle whatsoever intervenes at this moment except ignorance to prevent such a state of society.
Robert Owen
Atheists tend to fall back on this type of reasoning. Which at the end of the day only attest to their faith that there is no God whom they'll have to give an accounting of their lives with. No one has an instinctual desire to be a part of an ethereal invisible unicorn or lunar orbiting teapots. Time isn't recorded around their advent into the physical universe. Comparing apples to oranges is always a non argument that is tantamount to a concession of faith.
"The trouble with people is not so much with their ignorance as it is with their knowing so many things that are not so." ~ William Alanson White
Time is not recorded around Jesus. The calendar most widely used in the world is divided into two eras using the terms B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini). The Gregorian calendar is a modification of the Roman calendar introduced by a Pope. Of course the calendar is going to be centered around Jesus. Throughout history different calendars have been used. Currently we use the Gregorian calendar but there is no reason that will not change especially for accuracy.
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