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September 1, 2013 at 1:44 pm (This post was last modified: September 1, 2013 at 1:46 pm by Mystic.)
(September 1, 2013 at 1:41 pm)Maelstrom Wrote:
(September 1, 2013 at 1:38 pm)MysticKnight Wrote: If somebody bases his life on fiction, that fiction character (like Jesus perhaps) becomes more then fiction at least to that person.
If someone bases his life on a fictional character, like Dumbo perhaps, the character becomes more than fiction only in the individual's deluded mind. In reality, the fictional character remains fiction.
In reality, that person lives. That person concept of himself be it justified or not, is a reality in the sense, this projection is made. That projection also has an impact on other human beings.
If I based my perception of myself on a lie, the lie is not just fiction, it plays to what makes me, me.
What are you? Are you a concept? Is everything that relates to your concept of self true? Are biological and chemicals forces just creating a concept. Or is there a living reality being created? So if fictional characters exist within you, and they also have biological/chemical forces that form the idea of that concept, define in what way, that's it just nothing more than fiction.
September 1, 2013 at 1:56 pm (This post was last modified: September 1, 2013 at 1:57 pm by Foxaèr.)
(September 1, 2013 at 1:49 pm)MysticKnight Wrote: So if fictional characters exist within you, and they also have biological/chemical forces that form the idea of that concept, define in what way, that's it just nothing more than fiction.
If you have to ask that question, then there is no hope for you.
Fiction is called fiction for a reason. Attempting to change the definition of fiction to suit your need for it to be reality does not make it reality.
A fictional concept is not real like the chair upon which I am currently sitting. I can attempt to sit upon the fictional chair I have created in my mind, but my ass is simply going to hit the floor because the fictional chair is not real.
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
Quote:"all people are religious to some extent. They just might not realize it. Even Atheists are religious. They believe in something too. They believe in themselves.".
Holding a belief in a proposition in no wise equates with being religious. There are lots of things in which I believe, but for which I have no unassailable evidence.
-I believe that Buddy Rich was the greatest drummer who ever lived. But there could just as easily have been a drummer better than Rich, of whom I am unaware.
-I believe that Australia is a real place, even though I've never been there. It could simply been a mammoth hoax perpetuated for some as-yet-to-be-determined reason.
-I believe that there is life on other planets and that it proceeds via neo-Darwinian evolutionary mechanisms. But I could be wrong.
-And so on.
But the point remains that none of these beliefs qualifies as religious in nature, unless we take the broadest possible definition ofv 'religion'. I don't worship Buddy Rich, I don't pray to Australia, and I haven't built an altar to Stephen Jay Gould.
The woman you overheard clearly has rather fuzzy notions regarding the meaning of the words 'belief' and 'religion'.
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
(August 31, 2013 at 10:40 pm)mostlysilent Wrote: So this is a new one for me...There is a super religious lady at work who I generally avoid talking to so she is not aware that I am an atheist. She was talking to another person at the desk next to me about all sorts of really nonsensical religious nonsense when all of a sudden this comes out of her mouth:
"all people are religious to some extent. They just might not realize it. Even Atheists are religious. They believe in something too. They believe in themselves.".
WTF?
I wonder if this means I can refer to myself as God now.
for me this is one of those
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
(September 1, 2013 at 2:25 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: -I believe that Australia is a real place, even though I've never been there. It could simply been a mammoth hoax perpetuated for some as-yet-to-be-determined reason.
I've been there. It's very hot in February. Also, the moon is upside-down. And everybody drives backwards like it's normal and shit.
If somebody bases his life on fiction, that fiction character (like Jesus perhaps) becomes more then fiction at least to that person. So the story doesn't become just fiction, it becomes a driving force of perspective. When a fiction character is not seen as a fantasy, but, a possibility, as true, it has even more significance, because a person relates a fictional reality to the real world and he bases his perception on it. Abraham and Moses perhaps never existed, but the impact it has today can be seen in Palestine/Israel.
Still, the notion and idea of what consists of the value and essence of Moses, changed through out history. No one perceives Abraham in the same way. We all have projection image, and a lot of it is random.
When we judge randomly, we often, quickly judge a person on first impression and make too much conclusions. We may even think we know a lot about them just from their clothes or looks.
When we were kids, we think of a murderer, and we have perception, but perhaps for a person who deals with minds of criminals, sees their path, see what lead them to crime, see what made them lose empath or moral obligation, he has a more realistic perspective.
Most humans are happy with just imagining what they want to see in a person and thinking they know enough about them.
What you're saying sounds a lot like
Quote:If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.
Attributed to Goebbels in Publications Relating to Various Aspects of Communism (1946), by United States Congress, House Committee on Un-American Activities, Issues 1-15, p.19, no reliable source has been located, and this is probably simply a further variation of the Big Lie idea
(September 1, 2013 at 1:49 pm)MysticKnight Wrote: What are you? Are you a concept? Is everything that relates to your concept of self true? Are biological and chemicals forces just creating a concept. Or is there a living reality being created? So if fictional characters exist within you, and they also have biological/chemical forces that form the idea of that concept, define in what way, that's it just nothing more than fiction.
WTF dude, get your shit together. If you can't, this is not the place to try to.
I don't like getting into this kind of discussions. But you should talk to a doctor about your psychosis and about your medications. If you don't like what you're taking right now, you can always get a second opinion from another doctor. It's important to take care of your mental health, the brain is responsible for how we think and how we act, both of which we are held responsible for.
