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Are you closed minded?

Vinayaka

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
charlie sc said:
Concerning god, most atheists are agnostic atheists or soft atheists. Therefore, their belief has some form of uncertainty. I, and I think other soft atheists, believe god(s) are possible, but unlikely.

Contrary to this, it seems most theists are absolutely certain god(s) exist. I’ve noticed, some theists will even say it’s possible their god does not exist but immediately deny what they said with some tangent. Therefore, they’re absolutely certain.

I propose that people who are absolutely certain about a topic, especially one as controversial as this, are closed minded. People who are closed minded cannot accept new information to the contrary; they’ll dismiss it without a thought. Even Socrates understood the immense problems with certainty. Even science does not use absolutely certainty.

Are you absolutely certain god exists or not?
VS Do you believe it’s most likely god exist but possible god does not exist or it’s unlikely but possible?

Here, I’ll go first.

I think it’s possible but unlikely god(s) exist. The end.

Let’s see how open minded or closed minded you are.

As a tracker, I'm going to see how many atheists vs theists answer this question. I'll try update this as much as I can and I won't name people to respect their identity :)

Atheists: 15 - Theists: 11
Uncertain atheists: 12 - Uncertain theists: 4
Absolutely Certain atheists: 3 - Absolutely Certain theists: 7
Click to expand...

I'm a slightly agnostic theist about the God I believe in. (call it Brahman) . I'm only going by my own experience, but accept that it may be some trick, like a delusion, although that's very unlikely, as many others share the same sorts of experiences.

But I'm totally atheistic to the Abrahamic God version that is like a master puppeteer, totally separate from his creation.

So the answer varies according to which version of God I'm looking at. In other words, no definitive answer.
 
shunyadragon

shunyadragon

shunyadragon
Premium Member
Vinayaka said:
But I'm totally atheistic to the Abrahamic God version that is like a master puppeteer, totally separate from his creation.

So the answer varies according to which version of God I'm looking at. In other words, no definitive answer.
Click to expand...

As far as Abrahamic religions I believe the Baha'i Faith presents a different view, of an apophatic instead of anthropomorphic arbitrary hands on God.

God is not a chess player
with the white pieces.
God is the sea and
we are the fishes.
 
syo

syo

Well-Known Member
Evangelicalhumanist said:
You see, you are just doing what I said you would do. You are providing yourself your own, home-made justification.

So now, I'll ask you a question: what is it that you think god was doing (since you think it impossible for god not to exist) before the universe and everything in it...including time...were created?

And let me point out something that you find a bit hard to grasp: since time came into being with the (created, you suppose) universe, then god and the universe must in some way be simultaneous, since without time, creation...especially creation involving planning and deliberation...is impossible.
Click to expand...
He had other universe.
 
Koldo

Koldo

Outstanding Member
charlie sc said:
Concerning god, most atheists are agnostic atheists or soft atheists. Therefore, their belief has some form of uncertainty. I, and I think other soft atheists, believe god(s) are possible, but unlikely.

Contrary to this, it seems most theists are absolutely certain god(s) exist. I’ve noticed, some theists will even say it’s possible their god does not exist but immediately deny what they said with some tangent. Therefore, they’re absolutely certain.

I propose that people who are absolutely certain about a topic, especially one as controversial as this, are closed minded. People who are closed minded cannot accept new information to the contrary; they’ll dismiss it without a thought. Even Socrates understood the immense problems with certainty. Even science does not use absolutely certainty.

Are you absolutely certain god exists or not?
VS Do you believe it’s most likely god exist but possible god does not exist or it’s unlikely but possible?

Here, I’ll go first.

I think it’s possible but unlikely god(s) exist. The end.

Let’s see how open minded or closed minded you are.

As a tracker, I'm going to see how many atheists vs theists answer this question. I'll try update this as much as I can and I won't name people to respect their identity :)

Atheists: 15 - Theists: 11
Uncertain atheists: 12 - Uncertain theists: 4
Absolutely Certain atheists: 3 - Absolutely Certain theists: 7
Click to expand...

I disagree with the assertion that being absolutely certain about something entails being closed minded.
One might be absolutely certain about something and yet be open to evidence that proves the contrary.
For instance, I might be absolutely certain you are a real human being and yet be open to evidence that you are not.
 
Link

Link

Veteran Member
Premium Member
I will elaborate if asked for but:

Doubt is only beneficial if we know when to stop doubting or otherwise it ceases to provide a useful purpose.
 
JustWondering

JustWondering

Jerk
Vinayaka said:
I'm a slightly agnostic theist about the God I believe in. (call it Brahman) . I'm only going by my own experience, but accept that it may be some trick, like a delusion, although that's very unlikely, as many others share the same sorts of experiences.

But I'm totally atheistic to the Abrahamic God version that is like a master puppeteer, totally separate from his creation.

So the answer varies according to which version of God I'm looking at. In other words, no definitive answer.
Click to expand...

I had an experience once during a stressful part of my life that I attributed to the Biblical God, only because that was all I knew, what I was raised to believe. Later, thinking back on the experience, there was obviously nothing about the experience itself that suggested that it came from a divine source let alone the biblical god. It was likely just a psychological response to stress, hasn't happened since. I've long ago rid myself of magical thinking and expecting some invisible entity to make my life better or give me a free pass to an eternal amusement park in the sky after I die. There is fantasy and reality. There is magical thinking and reason. I've never seen any gods, neither have my parents or their parents. There is no objective, physical evidence of any god. So why should I believe in one? Because of stories and myths from ancient times when superstition ruled the earth? Not a good enough reason for me.
 
Trailblazer

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
Koldo said:
I disagree with the assertion that being absolutely certain about something entails being closed minded.
One might be absolutely certain about something and yet be open to evidence that proves the contrary.
Click to expand...
I agree. I am absolutely certain of my religious beliefs, but I am open to any evidence that might disprove them.
All someone would have to do is discredit the Prophet of my religion and I would be out of this religion so fast you would not even see my shadow. You see, I do not really like religion very much. I only believe it because it is drop dead obviously the Truth from God and I have never been able to disprove it, try as I did. And I generally do not like the idea of rejecting God, as there could be consequences.
 
charlie sc

charlie sc

Well-Known Member
SalixIncendium said:
one may awaken at any time from that reality that is perceived to be true into another.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure. Some people know they're dreaming.

SalixIncendium said:
In other words, there is no way to be certain that relative reality, the reality you are experiencing right now, is true reality.
Click to expand...
Well, this is the heart of being a sceptic ;)

SalixIncendium said:
As post #2 indicates, I am certain of what I experienced. I have experienced a perspective outside of the relative reality and experienced my daughter experiencing a similar, if not the same, perspective.
Click to expand...
How certain are you and, how do you know it's outside of reality ;) ?

SalixIncendium said:
So certain? No. Confident? Indeed.
Click to expand...
Ok, so uncertain theist. Thanks

Oh, I can't edit the OP anymore. So, that's that.
 
charlie sc

charlie sc

Well-Known Member
loverofhumanity said:
Just wanted to add. There’s good closed mindedness and bad closed mindedness. Let’s call it detachment because people can be attached or detached from anything or anyone or any idea.

I’m definitely closed minded to things like hatred, prejudice, war and discrimination but open minded to what will serve and better humanity, to what will bring peace, love, unity and happiness to the world and to see the good in people.

So for me there is attachment to noble and good things while detachment from all forms of evil.

So closed mindedness if towards good things can be bad but if one is closed minded to evil then that is a good thing.
Click to expand...
Here's something for you to wrap your head around.

Bad/evil people usually think they're the good guys ;)
 
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