Vlog #1 - Intellectual Placebos and Dithering

[effyleven]

Boring.... (yawn)

[ScoloCentipede]

Also duly noted. :D

[Hakazaba]

I see free will is needed for society because it allows all of the other aspects of society to evolve.

Religion is damaging to the society because it restricts freedom of speech and freedom of thought (watch Jesus Camp for a sickening example) and thus slows down or even stops the evolution of the society.

[ScoloCentipede]

I'll say that religion often has that effect, but it doesn't _have_ to. I'm not about to deny that there are large segments of nearly all major world religions which restrict speech and thought, and that's a shame since these things can and should be vehicles for great good.

[Hakazaba]

How does it not have to?

Since religion is just a large group of people who believe the same superstition and are very reluctant to question the ideals set down by that , then it must slow down such progress as it becomes more difficult to change existing societal constraints.

[ScoloCentipede]

One can argue that all of Western society is a large group of people who believe in the same superstitions of freedom of speech and conscience, which are ideals we have created rather than anything "real."

While the reluctance is generally true, it doesn't have to be. While religions generally claim absolute truth, they don't have to. While religions generally ignore or suppress disagreement, they don't have to.

What they _are_ is not what they _could be_, my thinking goes, and that's sad.

[Hakazaba]

Thats an interesting statement considering we are here right now questioning ourselves and ideals.

Have you ever seen a religion that doesn't claim absolute truth?

Buddhism seems to be the best example to me, but they still have a predefined set of absolute ideals.

How could they be?

I genuinely don't understand how, Give an example on a religion like that, even one that dose not exist.

I can't.

[ScoloCentipede]

Let's say there is a religion that believes in a God as a prime mover and is dedicated towards introspection, personal truth, and community service. It has a series of rituals that foster a sense of community but don't necessarily have any sort of greater "meaning." Meditation and introspection are encouraged and, if that introspection leads to disagreements with the religion, that's fine--go your way in peace. Above all it would have to assert that it is not The Truth, just an attempt at it.

[Hakazaba]

Then why add a god?

[ScoloCentipede]

To provide an "external" (as far as the existentialist crisis is concerned) reason for existence--a comfort blanket, if you will. After all, the faith is by definition irrational, though it may be taken for a rational reason. At that point the "why" would depend on any given believer.

There's no reason that gods have to be lawgivers and judges; that's just what we're used to because such Abrahamic gods have dominated our cultural history (at least in the West).

[FedorCroCop44]

loser

[ScoloCentipede]

Duly noted. :)

[Edbrad]

Cool i talk to myself aloud as well!

Thought i was just a freak lol...maybe I still am

[AronRa]

How ironic that you have a halo in this video.

[ScoloCentipede]

Actually, the halo was intentional when I discovered what my old German lamp in the background looked like. I don't _actually_ have a Messiah complex or anything. Honest. ;)

[harkying99]

Hey at least youre honest.Kent Hovind would have lied.

[ScoloCentipede]

Ouch! Comparing me to that hack _wounds_ me, sir! ...but at least it's a positive comparison. :D

(this is where it goes!)

[okeeffdp]

Check out Apophenia.

[ScoloCentipede]

How does drawing false positives of patterns in random data relate to what I'm trying to describe here? I already know my faith in a higher power is irrational; I'm not trying to rationalize -it-, rather, simply rationalize my -reasons- behind my belief. In an objective sense it doesn't matter one jot if I'm right or wrong; I make no claims towards objective truth.

Just trying to understand is all. :D

[okeeffdp]

@ScoloCentipede

To quote you,

"Humans generally like to have the world make sense."

To be honest, i didn't get what you were trying to say( maybe due to my selective hearing). But i thought that apophenia was what you were talking about.

[ScoloCentipede]

Ah, I see. I didn't mean in the sense that humans are pattern-recognizing (or enforcing) machines, I meant in a philosophical sense: the lack of obvious objective purpose in our lives fills us with doubt and uncertainty; this is the existential crisis--"why do we exist?"

Even if there actually is no objective "why" behind our existence, we as humans will tend to create one so we can be in a state of "knowing" our purpose. Whether that "purpose" is actually true or not is less important to us.

[okeeffdp]

@ScoloCentipede

There is something about what you are saying thats pissing me off. I honestly don't know what it is. It started with the wolf. Don't compare humans to another species, if you are aren't going to treat us as a species.

I think think evolution can explain every behaviour a human expresses. Even your

"philosophical sense: the lack of obvious objective purpose in our lives fills us with doubt and uncertainty; this is the existential crisis--"why do we exist?""

[ScoloCentipede]

I do treat us as a species. I'm not against evolution; I think that we're a species capable of conceptualizing and communicating complex abstract thoughts, and that this capability evolved based on the needs of organizing larger and larger social groups.

Evolution is "how do we exist." The question "WHY do we exist" presumes a motive or reason (of course, the answer could be "no reason").

[okeeffdp]

@ScoloCentipede

Ya I have nothing against you or what your saying. It just bugs me the way you say it. Its a "something bigger than ourselves" view. That just irritates me. Psychologists do it too and it doesn't work.

Your one question has many implied. Why are you making a video? What mechanisms got you to this point? What is your objective now and in the future? etc.

I wont be able to explain what im trying to say in a 500 character comment box. Your view is expressed in a video.

[ScoloCentipede]

I'd be glad to discuss it via video with you if you'd like. I've got nothing against you or your opinion either, after all, and as a wannabe philosopher I find respectful disagreements fun and enlightening. I am sorry that my opinions seem to anger you, though.

[okeeffdp]

@ScoloCentipede

lol, I didn't mean to sound like that. Your opinions don't anger me. Your conclusions are the same as mine, but how you came to that conclusion is what gets me.

Okay to clarify, I'm a zoology student. I went to psychology lecture posing as a biology lecture. He didn't do the topic jutice because he looked at the topic while leaving out other organisms. I agreed with his idea of apophenia and your video seemed related to that and I just thought id mention that to you

[okeeffdp]

If you are going to ask

"Why are we here?", why not ask why are all the organisms here?

[ScoloCentipede]

I'm an aerospace engineer and admittedly a dilettante in all the rest. I still think it could be an interesting discussion to have in alternating videos; I could even explain my position in better detail if you'd like and then we could go from there.

"No thanks" is also a perfectly acceptable answer too. It's up to you. :D

[okeeffdp]

@ScoloCentipede

Honestly, I'd love to but my shyness of the camera and my lack of one make my answer no.

Keep blogging and maybe we can in the future.

[ScoloCentipede]

I understand what that's like; I used to be quite shy myself.

Thanks for the support, though! :D