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29-12-2011 There are spiritualists that believe we chose this before we were born.It probably causes more questions than it answers though. It would imply that we chose some kind of existential amnesia regarding this decision. I'm not sure if I find that totally absurd based on the experiential. In order to fully experience something, one may need to believe in the reality of it. Tough questions are one, that those who believe this, must have figured it out, thus negating the amnesia and it's effect. They appear to see themselves as Bodhisattvas or something. Two, what about those that never figure it out, or seem to not enjoy it or grow from it? I guess there are those that pay good money for BDSM, but that's a weak rationale at best. Anyway, here's a link with this ideology, not saying I buy it. I don't buy anything yet objectively, but it is curious to me. I do lean to believing in something regarding the experiential, as you know, but that means to me, to find my own way, and that my experience can only be figured out by me in it's own context. http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research01.html |
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29-12-2011
I do lean to believing in something regarding the experiential, as you know, but that means to me, to find my own way, and that my experience can only be figured out by me in it's own context. And Ive just totally abandoned the idea of trying to explain what exactly is going on and where it all started and why (if why is even a permissible question here, maybe there was no reason at all). So many theories trying to address these questions, all claiming they've got the truth. Sticking to any of them requires a leap of faith which means Im not finding the truth, but choosing to believe something is true. As long as I know that its all bout making a choice, I may just choose to admit that I simply don't know and also have good reasons to suspect I never will. People much smarter than I am have been wrecking their heads with these questions for ages, why should I be convinced Ill get it right? Good point about the contradiction between the necessity to forget if one later remembers. From the link you provided: People who choose to be born into a life of extreme suffering through handicaps, have decided to attain greater soul growth in a single lifetime than most people Reminds me of Karma doctrine I once believed. I must admit, its great having such views. But today such attempts at explaining suffering in the world to me look like a manifistation of the just world hypothetis Noone wants to live in the malevolent Universe. |
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18-03-2012 Great post..I see the Genesis story as a creation of man; an analogy of our rise. I can't believe the story is taken literally at all. I see it as describing the state of early evolutionary man/woman, in a lush natural earth where man trusted nature and his life to the natural process. Then I see the choice of the apple as representative of the divisive cortex in the mind evolving and finding gnosis, or knowledge, and starting to control nature and ceasing to trust what was. I see this as a concise story for what elders must have observed over generations of change. The hell is created when people ceased to trust and began to control and fight. Analogy through stories is the most common form of relaying deep material through text. Especially in antiquity. |
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19-03-2012
Analogy through stories is the most common form of relaying deep material through text. Methaphor. Id say its a great way to make sure your readers will come up with dozens of different interpretations. Thats why we avoid poetic language when writing the laws. |
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21-03-2012 Yeah, I'd really like to learn more about this.. the origins of the Bible and related text.We really should be taught exactly where it came from! I heard more dead sea scrolls were found that might tie more of the contexts together. |
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10-08-2012 Jajajajaja this is the best piece i've ever read on the topic of free will!!!Thank you so much, Irina, for this! Absolutely outraging! Honestly, I can't stop laughing... my God!!! (go to Hell, by the way, my God...) Best wishes for you, and everybody! |
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10-08-2012 Btw (by the way),just let me tell you something I've learnt in my life, NO-ONE, NOTHING (no religion, least of all), NEVER... will EVER justify the unspeakable suffering in this world (past, present, future). No question, and no doubt about that... Dot. But, IF there is an afterlife (and there are many hints there could be... according, at least, to my life-long research into this topic - too long to relate here-), then let's be over-extremely generous and let them have the opportunity to explain... before rebelling and checking out from the whole trandenscental business... because I really cannot work out how I could possibly be convinced not to... I've long had your Woody Allen pic"e ("If there is a god, I hope he/she/it has a good excuse") among my favourite pics on Facebook... Nice good antinatalist fella that Woody... |
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11-08-2012
NO-ONE, NOTHING (no religion, least of all), NEVER... will EVER justify the unspeakable suffering in this world (past, present, future). Couldn't agree more. |
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11-08-2012 Hi again! I've been reading some more posts in your blog (tremendous fun)... and obviously I didn't discover America for you in my previous entry...But, somehow, I knew as much from the very beginning... (I knew you already knew)... yet it feels good to speak up your mind and be able to say such kind of "atrocities" to a knowledgeable audience from time to time... I just hope it all goes down fine and uneventfully with other kinds of audiences as well. Best of lucks! |
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11-08-2012
I really don't know what's so tremendously funny, especially in this post. But if you find smth funny thats great. Yep, people need to be able to speak their mind somewhere. Thats why I have this blog. You're free to submit comments)) |
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12-08-2012 (sorry for monopolizing your comment section... I'll stop for a while after this one)Brief attempt at explaining why I find your posts so funny (and, yes, especially this one, but others too): - first of all, I actually do laugh, I assure you, while reading them, no pretence here... (maybe not out loud, mostly innerly to myself...) - for mysterious reasons, I was born with/have developed (don't know which) an hyper-sensitive soft spot for metaphysical dark humour, I love it (pity it is soo rare..., but no wonder, what in a planet where you can get lynched/tortured for just the smallest hint of a joke about their (respective) God, holy bibles, holy ministers and believers, you name it...) - many of your posts (this one, for instance) tend to contain a pretty good dose of that kind of irreverent metaphysical satire... - ...apart from an (equally rare and hard-to-find) bright analysis of the real situation in each case There are surely more things that could fully explain why I go splitting my sides (laughing)every time I read something like this... but I won't take up any more of your time for now. Much obliged, for both reading my comments and providing such thoughtful and honest responses. See you any other day! |
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31-03-2013 I have read recently two books about free will I really recommend:- 'The Self Illusion', Bruce Hood, 2012 - 'Free Will', Sam Harris, 2012 According to them, free will simply does not exist, or better, is an illusion. Our free will is as free as planet Earth orbiting around the sun, and yet, it is a persistent illusion. Implications for religion are immediate. Actually, Sam Harris writes this book after 'The End of Faith'. Personally, I find this way of interpreting life more intriguing than discouraging. I would be glad to hear your opinions about this issue. |
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31-03-2013
Thanks, I'll check out the books sometime. You might like this presentation if you haven't seen it yet. Based on what I know now it appears that free will as such indeed doesn't exist and we act on the illusion that it does. But I don't feel like I'm ready for any serious discussion on the topic because I haven't read any books on the topic, haven't weighed any arguments 'pro' and 'against'.
Haha. Ok :) I find it headache-inducing sometimes. |
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31-03-2013 Thank you for the link to the video. I have already downloaded it and I'll watch it later. But I noticed 36 comments, some removed, some spam, some liked it and some did not. It remains a sensitive issue.Yes, I agree: 'it appears that free will as such indeed doesn't exist and we act on the illusion that it does' For me, it is important for us to know ourselves better. Yes, sometimes makes my head spin, but I admit that sometimes I indulge entertaining myself thinking about these issues, especially when I'm driving or walking alone. I have recently discovered your blog and, though I have not seen everything, I agree with most of your points of view, and you write them in a very nice and direct way. Congratulations! |
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01-04-2013
I have recently discovered your blog and, though I have not seen everything, I agree with most of your points of view, and you write them in a very nice and direct way. Congratulations! Thanks! Watched Bruce Hood's presentation yesterday. I've been thinking of self being an illusion for a long time, with all the buddhist philosophy and such... Logically, of course, if self is illusory then whose free will is in question? It's just stimula - reaction thing. In between - there's a computer with memory, some logic and some genetical predispositions and biological drives. |
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