For anyone who stumbles upon this BLoG, I have a little exercise for you.
Try going through one day without using the word “is,” and instead replacing it with “it appears to me” or “it seems to me.”
It’s called E-Prime, and you can read more about it HERE via Wikipedia. This is something I first learned about by watching a YouTube video with Robert Anton Wilson.
Now, this may be very hard for some people to do(at first), but if you try it, you will start to notice a change in the way you analyze things in this world.
How can you prove that something really “is?” Something may appear to you in one way, but to someone other than yourself it could seem completely different.
Example…You might happen to like the music of The Beatles, while a friend of yours really admires 50 Cent.
It would be unintelligent to say: “The Beatles music ‘is’ better than that of 50 cent’s” or vice-versa.
Instead…you should try saying “The Beatles’ music ‘appears to me’ to be better than that of 50 Cent’s.”
It seems to be difficult but, if you try it you will start to notice that your pre-programmed prejudices start to undue themselves.
Warning, this will hurt your ego…but in a good way. =)
**Applying this to other subjects**
In this seemingly Halfass Backwards world, a lot of people blindly put their foot down and believe that something simply “is” without having any “real” knowledge on something or actual proof.
…On the subject of “GOD”
Example…How many people have you encountered that believe that there “is” a “GOD?”
Answer: Far too many!!!
Alternatively… How many people have you met that have ‘concrete’ proof/evidence that “GOD” exists?(The Bible doesn’t count)
Answer: ZERO! NONE! ZILCH! NADA! (yet people still naively/blindly believe.)
How could you comfortably believe something that you cannot prove? Just because your parents/teachers/peers fill your head with unproven ideas, does not necessarily make them true.
What say you?
Everything You Know "is" Halfass Backwards!
One last thing that really applies to today’s society…
In America, where I live, I decided to start asking friends & co-workers what they think about Middle Eastern people(seems how we are in a “War ON Terror” or “War OF Terror”).
The answers I got were perplexing, let alone down right shocking! Every single person I asked had a strong view point about Middle Eastern people as a whole.
Then, I followed up with the questions, “Have you ever been to the middle east? Do you know anyone from the middle east?”
Everyone I asked said the same thing, “NO.”
So, I wonder how these people have come to form such a warped/uneducated/broad opinion on a subject they have no first hand knowledge of? Seems
Do they form their opinions by repeating what they heard on television? or read on the Internet?
Blah…
-Ego
On the subject of GOD, it appears to me that GOD exists.
“Even if the omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent God of Christianity does not exist, that does not mean that there is no God at all. We cannot fully comprehend God, therefore we cannot be completely sure that He possesses or does not possess certain qualities (such as omnipotence, omniscience, and omnibenevolence). Thus, any argument that attacks these qualities in an attempt to disprove the existence of God is ultimately irrelevant, since we do not know if God has these qualities or not. However, I believe in the Christian God, so my arguments will defend the existence of the omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent God of Christianity.”
“The air we breathe cannot be seen, heard, tasted, smelled, or touched, yet it most certainly exists. The force of gravity cannot be seen, heard, tasted, smelled, or touched, yet we know that it exists. Emotions, values, beliefs, and thoughts cannot be found by using any of our senses, yet they are as real as rocks or trees. Emotions can be “felt”, but this feeling is not physical. Thus, simply because something cannot be found through the use of the five senses does not mean that it does not exist”
Some atheists say that no God has been found through the use of the senses, therefore no God exists. But simply because God cannot be found by way of the senses does not mean that He does not exist. Christians believe in a supernatural or non-material God. They believe that God has manifested Himself in material form and in material ways on certain occasions (such as the Incarnation, and when He spoke audibly to Moses at Mount Sinai). However, God is spirit (John 4:24), and in His “normal” state He cannot be found by the use of the senses. Therefore, any attempt to reach God by way of the senses would be virtually pointless.
“Wind can only be seen indirectly (leaves moving, dust scattering, trees swaying, etc). Christians believe that, like wind, God can be seen indirectly. They believe that He can be seen indirectly through Creation (Nature), conscience, morality, etc. They also believe that a “touch” from God can be “felt”. This feeling is spiritual, though sometimes it may produce physical or emotional sensations. Thus, even though a natural or material God does not exist, that does not mean that there is no God at all. A supernatural or non-material God can be just as real as a natural, tangible God.”
“The word ‘conscience’ can be defined as “the internal sense of what is right and wrong that governs somebody’s thoughts and actions, urging him or her to do right rather than wrong.” This ‘conscience’ is consistent, it always urges us to do right, and is not merely one of our desires or preferences. Feeling a desire to help is quite different from feeling that you ought to help whether you want to or not. Suppose you hear a cry for help from a drowning man. You will probably feel two desires: one desire to give help, the other a desire to keep out of danger. But you will find inside you, in addition to these two desires, a third thing which tells you that you ought to follow the impulse to help, and suppress the impulse to run away. This thing that judges between the two impulses, that decides which should be encouraged, cannot itself be either of them. This third thing is our ‘conscience’.”
This perfect design of the universe hardly seems to be the outcome of chance.
..I could continue to quote the rest of this website, “http://aaron_mp.tripod.com/id2.html” however that would take too long. In short, I agree with most of what this author has to say.
yum yum
I started doing this after reading too much Sartre (I had to! It fulfilled a requirement.) I do not use ‘it appears to me’ but instead replace it with something more active. Being behaves in a passive, solid, foundational manner. I believe the world changes moment to moment, and I like my language to reflect what is.
What is evidence to you? A scientific experiment will not discover God. During the scientific revolution science became a way of talking about the world without appealing to religion. If anyone discovers God scientifically they have the wrong God and the wrong conception of science. I do agree that people should question their beliefs, but questioning is not the same as disbelieving. Beliefs are precious things and rather hard to come by. (Ones that do others harm like the war on terror excepted.) They should be questioned to be understood and corrected, but also nurtured and encouraged.
You said, “On the subject of GOD, it appears to me that GOD exists.”
That’s great, you’ve completely understood the point that I, as well as others are trying to make, that the theory of existence of any one thing is relative to the thought’s of that individual.
…and the quoted material is basically what I was getting at(but, heavy on the subject of ‘Christianity’), point being, believe nothing & question everything.
Once you begin to eliminate the “is” then you start understanding that things are not exactly as they seem…everyone views things differently.
-Ego
Thank you for such a great response! Very thought provoking and exactly what I needed!
I am constantly changing, both in my physical and mental ‘world,’ and the more I read into spiritual and religious subjects, I find that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to pin-point what ‘proof/evidence’ of “GOD” really is. A lot of what I’ve been reading talks in depth about how we each ‘create’ our own unique perception of the world. Mind over matter. All of this leaves me thirsty for more, and on as I go, I find I know very little. So in a sense it confuses me as to why so many people are firm in their own beliefs, yet without hard-evidence(and many cease to question & refine). But I guess evidence could mean ‘something in a physical sense’ but it also can differ depending on that individual’s own unique definition of what ‘GOD’ is or is not.
Question:
Was ‘GOD’ found when Albert Hofmann discovered LSD-25? Many people have had a religious/spiritual journey while on LSD, and most come out with an overall feeling of interconnectivity with mankind as a whole.
I guess what I am getting at now, is that “GOD” seems to be unique to the thinker, just as a fingerprint is.