Spirituality
05 Jan 23
Who here is actually open to evidence that contradicts their current beliefs?
If you are, please give an example of one current belief you hold, and the evidence that might cause you to reconsider.
I'll start. I currently do not believe in the supernatural. However, I believe I would convinced otherwise if something naturally impossible was done. Let's say, a voice said, "BigDogg, I grow tired of your skepticism. Let us see how you explain THIS!" and next thing I know, I was teleported to a faraway city on top of a very tall building, and allowed to walk around and see, touch and smell that I really was in that environment, and not dreaming.
I think that would make me much more open to supernatural possibilities.
06 Jan 23
@bigdogg saidI believe life is designed, due to read-write properties, stop-start mechanisms, and feedback loops for error checking, all processes within life are directed by instructions found in the genetic code. Please show me how a mindless, goalless, uncaring process that could do all of this through chance and necessity, would be a blow to my faith.
Who here is actually open to evidence that contradicts their current beliefs?
If you are, please give an example of one current belief you hold, and the evidence that might cause you to reconsider.
I'll start. I currently do not believe in the supernatural. However, I believe I would convinced otherwise if something naturally impossible was done. Let's say, a voice said ...[text shortened]... nment, and not dreaming.
I think that would make me much more open to supernatural possibilities.
@bigdogg saidI believe morality [and other kinds of learning] evolved through the interaction of human consciousness and humans' needs as communal beings.
Who here is actually open to evidence that contradicts their current beliefs?
If you are, please give an example of one current belief you hold, and the evidence that might cause you to reconsider.
My current belief is that [1] it might have been created, although not by a human-like "person", and [2] I don't think the narrative surrounding the various versions of the Abrahamic God explains morality.
As for "evidence that might cause [me] to reconsider", it would be something that demonstrated that believers in the Abrahamic God were more morally sound in their actions than those who don't believe in the Abrahamic God.
@kellyjay saidPlease show me how a mindless, goalless, uncaring process that could do all of this through chance and necessity.
I believe life is designed, due to read-write properties, stop-start mechanisms, and feedback loops for error checking, all processes within life are directed by instructions found in the genetic code.
Aside from finding out if your belief is true or false when you die, what evidence might cause you to reconsider it while still living?
06 Jan 23
@bigdogg saidI don't think I have any good reason to believe that a Jewish rabbi called "Jesus" rose from the dead 2,000+ years ago. If there were credible contemporaneous accounts or actual eyewitnesses ~ as opposed to tracts written by earnest believers several decades later ~ then it might cause me to reconsider.
Who here is actually open to evidence that contradicts their current beliefs?
If you are, please give an example of one current belief you hold, and the evidence that might cause you to reconsider.
06 Jan 23
@bigdogg saidOne of my current beliefs is that the whole notion of eternal torture in burning flames is nonsense. Evidence that might cause me to reconsider would be some sort of credible access to dead people or their legitimate testimony, rather than scripture-based assertions by living people who just so happen to believe the torture is real
Who here is actually open to evidence that contradicts their current beliefs?
If you are, please give an example of one current belief you hold, and the evidence that might cause you to reconsider.
06 Jan 23
@bigdogg saidWhile I do think prayer can have a cathartic effect, I do not currently believe that it can result in supernatural intervention. I might reconsider this disbelief if experiments yielded empirical data that demonstrated that I was mistaken.
.I'll start. I currently do not believe in the supernatural.
06 Jan 23
@kellyjay saidThat's a lot of computer programming analogies! (Which is fine ... I enjoy coding.)
I believe life is designed, due to read-write properties, stop-start mechanisms, and feedback loops for error checking, all processes within life are directed by instructions found in the genetic code. Please show me how a mindless, goalless, uncaring process that could do all of this through chance and necessity, would be a blow to my faith.
I won't be able to show you what you asked, as I've tried before and gotten nowhere. My goal in this thread is not to even attempt to change anyone's belief.
I'm asking what sort of evidence you might run into, on your own, that might compel you to change a belief you hold.
I am mainly curious how much different people's strong beliefs limit their ability to be open minded and able to learn new truths on the subject.
06 Jan 23
1 edit
@bigdogg saidTypically a strong belief is based on things people believe to be true, showing they
That's a lot of computer programming analogies! (Which is fine ... I enjoy coding.)
I won't be able to show you what you asked, as I've tried before and gotten nowhere. My goal in this thread is not to even attempt to change anyone's belief.
I'm asking what sort of evidence you might run into, on your own, that might compel you to change a belief you hold.
I am mainl ...[text shortened]... 's strong beliefs limit their ability to be open minded and able to learn new truths on the subject.
are wrong even with strong evidence, will not be enough many times. Some refuse
to accept anything that runs contrary to their beliefs and will not spend time
looking too intensely at what it is that could show they are wrong. Any ole excuse
will do, if nothing else all it takes for someone not to take any evidence seriously is
to remove the focus from the evidential topic, and instead, move it to the person,
spend time simply saying, "well that is what you think" and you've succeeded in
avoiding something uncomfortable while running down the one who brought it up.
I believe the Bible calls that suppressing the truth.
There is zero evidence that the things I've talked about could come about through
mindless activity, those types of things always require a mind, reading, and writing,
stop and starts to perform complex tasks with more opportunities for failure than
there are for success is always directed by a mind, not only that improve in time
becoming more functionally complex doing more and more sophisticated
operational tasks. You cannot even take any energy source and apply the
energy to do specified work without a mechanism designed to use it properly,
otherwise its useless.
06 Jan 23
@bigdogg saidShouldn't you be looking for the unexplained nature of nature, depending on the
Who here is actually open to evidence that contradicts their current beliefs?
If you are, please give an example of one current belief you hold, and the evidence that might cause you to reconsider.
I'll start. I currently do not believe in the supernatural. However, I believe I would convinced otherwise if something naturally impossible was done. Let's say, a voice said ...[text shortened]... nment, and not dreaming.
I think that would make me much more open to supernatural possibilities.
beginning of all things, how what we see, hear, taste, feel, think, and so on either has
a cause explained by the material world, or not.