Originally posted by knightmeister
Imagine a man had a PhD in chocolate and had spent his entire life studying chocolate. He had travelled the world studying chocolate in all its forms and had an entire attic full of books on chocolate. He knew every possible chemical variation and make up of any type of chocolate. If you were looking for a world expert on chocolate , this would be the ...[text shortened]... kit- kat and he begins to weep.
(For chocolate read sex , cheese , a sunset , or God?)
So, the woman knows what the brains reaction is to the effect of chocolate on the taste buds (and the other effects of chocolate absorption).
But, given a bar of possible chocolate, which of the two is more likely to be able to really identify whether it truly is chocolate and not some cheap imitation? Surely a good chemist could fool the womans taste buds easier than he could fool the man with a chocolate PhD?
Anyway if we apply your analogy to God, you are basically saying that it is better to experience God than to study him theologically. The experience of an ignorant Christian would be better than the experience of a PhD in Theology. I would agree with you - if we assume that God exists.
However are you trying to say more than that? Are you saying that a PhD holder in Chocolatology could never taste chocolate or possibly that his PhD will negatively affect his tasting experience?
If so, why are you in this forum discussing philosophy? Surely that will negatively impact your experience of life and God?
Or are you saying that the woman (taster) is actually in a better position to identify whether chocolate is real?
Please explain the meaning to your story. Parables can truly be useful in assisting people to understand something but if the meaning is not obvious and no explanation is given then they serve no purpose except to try an obfusticate the truth. The story of Adam and Eve is one such obfustication. Everyone seems to have a different interpretation and I personally have never quite got it. Whenever I try to ask theists about it they often end up showing that they too do not understand it but rather think that they do or simply think that the answer must be there somewhere so leave it at that.