Secular Aggression

[9-10ths_Penguin]

If we only focus on what we can readily observe, doesn't that exclude the potential for future revelation? And does proving something make it more comfortable for those who fear the unknown and how to manage their lives?

Without imagining, there would be no discovery of colorless gases. No discovering viruses, or microscopic particles, et al.

That only seeing outwardly is believing.

What does religion have to do with imagination?

 

[Fool]

What does religion have to do with imagination?

believing for some is seeing and seeing for some is believing. lasers, spaceships, spooky action at a distance, cloaking were all fantasy/fiction for some at one time. someone's fantasy has now become someone's reality

you cannot see what you cannot understand; especially something that is abstract. this is what differentiate humans from lower animals. the ability to see things within a concept/idea and then move it from potential to actual.


believing that a translation of an ancient language into a more modern language captures the idea being conveyed is naive.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

believing for some is seeing and seeing for some is believing. lasers, spaceships, spooky action at a distance, cloaking were all fantasy/fiction for some at one time. someone's fantasy has now become someone's reality

Which religion's tenets include lasers, spaceships, spooky action at a distance, and cloaking?

Besides Scientology, I mean.

 

[FunctionalAtheist]

evangelical atheists.

I've had catholics, baptists, methodists, mormons, and watchtowers knock on my door telling me what I should believe. I don't recall a single atheist ever coming to my house trying to convert me!!!

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

That only seeing outwardly is believing.

I think you are casting this idea with a much larger net than it actually has. I am an atheist, and I don't feel that something only exists if I can see it. However, I also don't ascribe detailed descriptions, or come up with fanciful stories about the things that I cannot see that have actual presence or effect on reality.

And that's why people discovered "colorless gases" - they weren't satisfied with merely MAKING SOMETHING UP to describe what it was they saw reacting to pressure and displacement in real world mechanics. So they poked and prodded, stopped and thought and rethought, examined as closely as they could possibly manage, and then did it again and again as technology advanced. Finally they ended up understanding what it was that they couldn't see.

From my perspective, it is religion and religious belief that most discourage this process of digging further. Who would YOU say is more apt to stop searching and accept a simple explanation for things that relies on absolutely no evidence and not even try to get to any such evidence (i.e. MAKE THE DISCOVERY)? The atheist, or the religious adherent?

 

[Fool]

What does religion have to do with imagination?

an organized belief system is based on culture and culture is based on environment. thus religions come from the imagination and manipulation of the environment in expressing our inner selves outwardly. like a species has its own behaviors but different species having common ancestors and disbursement results in varying attributes.

so it isn't what one wears but how one acts that manifests one's inner nature, one's beliefs, knowledge, and understanding.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

a belief system is based on culture and culture is based on environment. thus religions come from the imagination and manipulation of the environment in expressing our inner selves outwardly. like a species has its own behaviors but different species having common ancestors and disbursement results in varying attributes.

So to paraphrase:

- religious beliefs are fabricated from the imagination.
- a group of people accepting someone else's imagination instead of their own somehow encourages imagination.
- just imagining on your own without having other beliefs imposed on you somehow inhibits imagination.

Do I understand you correctly?

 

[Fool]

So to paraphrase:

- religious beliefs are fabricated from the imagination.

this is the first step to learning from childhood all the way through life. a belief is formed. the belief is tested in reality. if it fails then another belief is formed until the belief aligns with reality. the belief becomes a fact for certain situations. the belief is used until the belief/theory fails. when it fails it is understood the belief works sometimes but not all times. certain situations require different approaches.

if the belief fails against reality and it's retained, then the person runs the risk of developing neurosis and even worse psychosis.

- a group of people accepting someone else's imagination instead of their own somehow encourages imagination.

stealing is a behavior that some choose to engage in. some believe it is ok. some don't believe it's socially acceptable. truth isn't about who, or what, is most popular. that is a judgement, or choice.

people align according to their morals and beliefs. birds of a feather.

- just imagining on your own without having other beliefs imposed on you somehow inhibits imagination.

sharing ideas and beliefs is often a better mode of learning but once in a while a rogue idea/belief will come along and change the group. without these outsiders, or dreamers, we wouldn't have innovation and change. we now have the capability of suspended animation due in part to pioneers who looked outside the box of traditional science, or knowledge. people who have a belief and find a way to make it work. Dr Ross realized his as a result of his daughters demise. that was his catalyst.

Dr. Ross

Suspended Animation

Dr. Ross garnered some of his ideas of suspended animation from the NDE of people.

Do I understand you correctly?