RE: Responsibility transfer for atheists - dealing with uncertainty
November 28, 2016 at 8:43 pm
Almost exactly a year later and my beliefs have changed a bit. I've given a lot more thought to the value of different types of beliefs, and I can now accept the value of maintaining a sort of schizophrenic stance towards those things called "spiritual" - knowing them to be false while still enjoying them (and sort of believing them). You do have to be careful they don't influence important decisions, but I see little harm and quite a bit of satisfaction in allowing them to affect less meaningful decisions.
Some of these types of beliefs are almost wordless and verge on being feelings. I've found that there's a sense of "fate" that comes with being more invested in your life. Things happen which are in fact meaningless, yet feel as if they were somehow planned for you. If you are invested in the things you do, you inevitably tell yourself stories about them. Then the world will create strange and interesting twists as it often does, and these feel meaningful. It is an enjoyable and comforting feeling, as long as you don't vote based on it. I guess I've moved closer to being what Daniel Dennett describes as a "murky" - one who values the mystery in our experiences. As humans with emotions, I think we have to accept some level of irrationality. We may as well find what joy in it we can.
To the original topic, I've found a non-spiritual entity to which I'm comfortable relinquishing responsibility - my subconscious. If you've ever learned to play an instrument, you've probably noticed that you sometimes wake up and just play better. Your subconscious has been at work rearranging neural pathways and doing whatever else it does. I am comfortable extending my belief in this capability to other problems. Does it work? Who knows. Can I use it to relieve anxiety? Sure. Does it require irrational beliefs? Maybe a little, but I'm ok with that at this point. There are many problems that the conscious, cognitive mind just can't contribute much to. It's great at math, but terrible at finding context for painful experiences or changing the way you feel about something - you'll just spin your wheels and waste good cognitive time!
I threw that book away. I didn't want my girlfriend to see it. Perhaps ironically, my underdeveloped social skills now put the relationship in jeopardy, and at this point I'd like to look at it again. But maybe it's a good thing that I didn't get too wrapped up in those ideas at the time. There you are - a (probably) meaningless decision made to feel meaningful by the context of lived events. Experience is the best teacher - when a hard problem paralyzes you with doubt, go out and live!
Some of these types of beliefs are almost wordless and verge on being feelings. I've found that there's a sense of "fate" that comes with being more invested in your life. Things happen which are in fact meaningless, yet feel as if they were somehow planned for you. If you are invested in the things you do, you inevitably tell yourself stories about them. Then the world will create strange and interesting twists as it often does, and these feel meaningful. It is an enjoyable and comforting feeling, as long as you don't vote based on it. I guess I've moved closer to being what Daniel Dennett describes as a "murky" - one who values the mystery in our experiences. As humans with emotions, I think we have to accept some level of irrationality. We may as well find what joy in it we can.
To the original topic, I've found a non-spiritual entity to which I'm comfortable relinquishing responsibility - my subconscious. If you've ever learned to play an instrument, you've probably noticed that you sometimes wake up and just play better. Your subconscious has been at work rearranging neural pathways and doing whatever else it does. I am comfortable extending my belief in this capability to other problems. Does it work? Who knows. Can I use it to relieve anxiety? Sure. Does it require irrational beliefs? Maybe a little, but I'm ok with that at this point. There are many problems that the conscious, cognitive mind just can't contribute much to. It's great at math, but terrible at finding context for painful experiences or changing the way you feel about something - you'll just spin your wheels and waste good cognitive time!
I threw that book away. I didn't want my girlfriend to see it. Perhaps ironically, my underdeveloped social skills now put the relationship in jeopardy, and at this point I'd like to look at it again. But maybe it's a good thing that I didn't get too wrapped up in those ideas at the time. There you are - a (probably) meaningless decision made to feel meaningful by the context of lived events. Experience is the best teacher - when a hard problem paralyzes you with doubt, go out and live!
