New religion: Palynkaism

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
what it boils down to is this, that the very basis of scientific thought, cannot be demonstrated nor is it subject to the scientific model, therefore science is a 'belief',

a belief? like a religion? hell no lol
"the very basis of scientific thought"
what is this very basic thought then?

Religion stands on storys from the past.
Science stands on facts.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
actually statistics show, ( i have to laugh at this), that religious people lead happier and more purposeful lives than the non religious!

No, they don't. Happiness is not measurable. What the studies show is what people answer when asked if they're happy or not, or to say how happy they are on a scale of 1-10.

Happiness means very different things to different people, with different backgrounds.

And don't get me started on defining what a purposeful life is and whether "purpose" by itself is, in any way, positive somehow.

Originally posted by Palynka
No, they don't. Happiness is not measurable. What the studies show is what people answer when asked if they're happy or not, or to say how happy they are on a scale of 1-10.

Happiness means very different things to different people, with different backgrounds.

And don't get me started on defining what a purposeful life is and whether "purpose" by itself is, in any way, positive somehow.

'My purpose is to exterminate people who wear blue. God told me to do it. I am more purposeful and happier than you."

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
actually statistics show, ( i have to laugh at this), that religious people lead happier and more purposeful lives than the non religious!

I am sure that statistics would show that certain classes of mental disease result in the sufferer appearing (and reporting to be) happier than the average sane person.
The real question is whether or not you would willingly delude yourself into a belief that you believe will lead to you being happier.
If I can convince you that there is a group of people who believe in Santa Claus who are significantly happier than everyone else, would you join them?
I am also under the impression that scientologists are generally very happy people. Will you join them?
I believe some budhist teachings include learning how to stop worrying or feeling pain etc. Would you like to study them?

And finally, can you present your statistics as I am not convinced that it is true. And are we talking about the devoutly religious as opposed to the less devout or the difference between those professing to be a theist as opposed to those professing atheism?

Originally posted by zozozozo
a belief? like a religion? hell no lol
"[b]the very basis of scientific thought"
what is this very basic thought then?

Religion stands on storys from the past.
Science stands on facts.[/b]

facts Lol, hell no! i will say this for the last time just to put it in perspective, science cannot even recreate a blade of flippin grass!

Originally posted by Palynka
No, they don't. Happiness is not measurable. What the studies show is what people answer when asked if they're happy or not, or to say how happy they are on a scale of 1-10.

Happiness means very different things to different people, with different backgrounds.

And don't get me started on defining what a purposeful life is and whether "purpose" by itself is, in any way, positive somehow.

yes they are!, and yes happiness is measurable, oh glum and downcast ones, dig this ya'all, taken from the times online, 2008




The more religious you are the happier you are likely to be according to new research.

A study of the effect of religion on quality of life claims that religious people are happier the more often they go to church and pray.

The research, presented to the Royal Economic Society, gathered data from thousands across Europe including the UK and found that religious people have better “life satisfaction” than their non-religious counterparts.

But the author of the study, Professor Andrew Clark, admitted that other factors could be at work. He said benefits of a religious upbringing unrelated to belief such as a stable family home, could have influenced the outcome.

The report found that religious people suffer less psychologically if they become unemployed. But believers are lazier when it comes to looking for work when they are out of a job, say researchers Professor Clark and Dr Orsolya Lelkes.

Other traumas, such as divorce, have less of an impact on the state of mind of believers according to researchers, who say that religion acts as a type of “insurance” against personal disaster.

This is not the first study showing a positive correlation between religious belief and perceived quality of life, but this one began as an investigation into why there were different levels of unemployment benefits across Europe.

Professor Clark said: "We originally started the research to work out why some European countries had more generous unemployment benefits than others, but our analysis suggested that religious people suffered less psychological harm from unemployment than the non-religious.

"They had higher levels of life satisfaction".

Terry Sanderson, director of the National Secular Society, dismissed the findings. “Non-believers can’t just turn on a faith in order to be happy,” he said. “If you find religious claims incredible, then you won’t believe them, whatever the supposed rewards in terms of personal fulfilment.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3577517.ece

refute it if you will Palynka my friend, otherwise renounce your faith in atheism and make a recantation, and come and meet the Emperor, it is your destiny young skywalker!



by the way, i would never be found dead nor alive in a church, that's the last place one should go to attain an understanding of ones faith!

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
'My purpose is to exterminate people who wear blue. God told me to do it. I am more purposeful and happier than you."

see quoted text above, oh blue meanie!

Originally posted by twhitehead
I am sure that statistics would show that certain classes of mental disease result in the sufferer appearing (and reporting to be) happier than the average sane person.
The real question is whether or not you would willingly delude yourself into a belief that you believe will lead to you being happier.
If I can convince you that there is a group of peop ...[text shortened]... r the difference between those professing to be a theist as opposed to those professing atheism?

see text above Whitey my son, and you cannot argue that simply because something makes one happier it is delusional, oh no, this has no sound reasonable basis, to do so would be like saying that religious beliefs are like a good old dose of Lysergic acid diethylamide, the facts of the matter are, religious people lead simpler, happier and more purposeful lives!

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
facts Lol, hell no! i will say this for the last time just to put it in perspective, science cannot even recreate a blade of flippin grass!

Hell Yes!

the fact that we cannot let life (grass) create itself is because of the lack of time we have.

This has Nothing to do with weather science is based on facts or not.

We know alot about grass, how it grows, what it needs to grow, water pathways, what molecules inside the grass look like, how photosynthesis works etc.
all Fact Fact Facts we can add to our knowledge thanks to science.

What does religion tell us about grass?
God created it, the cow eats it....

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
A study of the effect of religion on quality of life claims that religious people are happier the more often they go to church and pray.

This means they are less happy when they do not go to church. Which means that the ppl are afraid of god;
"oh my, i didnt go to church all week, id better go next week or else god will kick my ass."
This is not something to be proud of, it is something to be ashamed off.

Religious ppl are probably very unhappy, u know, praying all day, 'god' never answering them...id get pretty pissed off. But they are afraid to admit it, when the research comes they will answer that they are very happy, bcoz they think 'god' is watching them and if they will answer that they are unhappy bcoz the basterd never answers them they think Xe will kick thier arse back to hell when they come knocking on Xis door!

yeah:p

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
yes they are!, and yes happiness is measurable, oh glum and downcast ones, dig this ya'all, taken from the times online, 2008




The more religious you are the happier you are likely to be according to new research.

A study of the effect of religion on quality of life claims that religious people are happier the more often they go to church in a church, that's the last place one should go to attain an understanding of ones faith!

I refute it in the name of sound economics, not atheism.

Do you know how Andrew Clark measured happiness? That's right, he asked people if they were happy. Here is the exact question he asked:

“All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole nowadays”?
Answers were on a 0 to 10 scale. You see, that's EXACTLY how I described the problem above.

What Andrew Clark failed to control for is that subjective happiness has been roundly proven to be misleading. It means different things to different people and no standard of happiness can be compared across individuals.

It's funny because I once saw Prof. Clarke presenting his paper Deliver us from evil: Religion as insurance where he was roundly mocked for not being able to explain in what religion, in his paper, was different from any group activity. (the exact question was "What can religion do for happiness in your paper that a tennis club cannot?" He failed to answer it meaningfully). This was after he was unable to answer criticism about his use of subjective happiness.

Edit - By the way, Prof. Clarke's paper has been around since 2005 and it's still a working paper, which means it hasn't been accepted for publication as of yet. I'm sure you'll say that it's a conspiracy.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
see text above Whitey my son,

Thank you. I am not entirely convinced but will leave it at that for now.

and you cannot argue that simply because something makes one happier it is delusional, oh no,
And I didn't argue that at all. What I did argue was that it is unreasonable to become delusional in order to make yourself happier. You seem to think it is a good idea (for example you suggest that Palynka does so).

this has no sound reasonable basis, to do so would be like saying that religious beliefs are like a good old dose of Lysergic acid diethylamide, the facts of the matter are, religious people lead simpler, happier and more purposeful lives!
That may be so, but would you willingly choose to be deluded in order to achieve that goal? I don't think you have answered that question yet.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
The more religious you are the happier you are likely to be according to new research.

Oh, and can we have one study done in an Islamic country to see if they too get the benefits?

I notice that he only surveyed Christian Europeans as he doesn't say much about Mosques and synagogues.

On looking through your quote again I see that it is not in fact a comparison of religious people verses atheist but rather religious people verses theists who do not go to Church a whole lot.

Originally posted by Palynka
I refute it in the name of sound economics, not atheism.

Do you know how Andrew Clark measured happiness? That's right, he asked people if they were happy. Here is the [b]exact question he asked:

“All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole nowadays”?
Answers were on a 0 to 10 scale. You see, that's EXACTLY how I been accepted for publication as of yet. I'm sure you'll say that it's a conspiracy.[/b]

lol, in the name of sound economics, (another monster which seems destined to devour us!), anyhow, actualy i being an ignorant and pathetic theist would never dare to impute something as subversive as a conspiracy theory to the aforementioned work, however, it does beg beleif, how someone so eminently qualified, should not a least, have taken the precaution to be more comprehensive in his questioning! Flip sake, why can i not get a job like his?

it is an incredibly interesting question that he was unable to answer, perhaps, it was sprung on him, and with some reflection, he would better be able to answer it.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
lol, actualy i being an ignorant and pathetic theist would never dare to impute something as subversive as a conspiracy theory to the aforementioned work, however, it does beg beleif, how someone so eminently qualified, should not a least, have taken the precaution to be more comprehensive in his questioning! Flip sake, why can i not get a job like ...[text shortened]... , perhaps, it was sprung on him, and with some reflection, he would better be able to answer it.

He's a very good researcher in other areas, it's not easy at all having a job like his. It's just that nobody is immune to error.

To make it with a job like his, you need to think and write constantly on things that nobody ever did before. I'd say it's probably one of the hardest jobs in the world.