Hey, look! We got a reply!
:hooray:
The way I was taught to use those words is:
- Reality: the actual physical world and it's goings.
- Fact: An accurate description of a physical event, which could be very restricted in scope.
- Truth: The description of a physical event as interpreted by an individual, with all the potential faults in his sensory apparatus and mental constructs. One example: guy is driving his space-ship along and skips a red light. He's pulled over by a cop, but the guy swears he saw the light as green. It was green, to him... because he was going at roughly half the speed of light and got dopler shifted.
Atheism is the interpretation which disregards all claims made by other humans concerning any god(s), given that all the information about said god(s) available to mankind seems to come from other humans... and never from any outer source.
If (or when) such an outer source manifests itself, it will be thoroughly tested until the god hypothesis passes and becomes accepted.
If you trust your family with its apparent delusion of the divine then you will become a delusional person who perpetuates the delusion.
If you trust yourself, you may come to see the delusion as an unbroken chain of human dreams and wishes... and when you see it that way, you tend to break the chain.
But humanity is a social species, the chain is not really a chain, but rather a net.
Some have managed to cut holes in the net... but intact areas still exist.
Do keep coming back!
:hooray:
(April 22, 2014 at 6:09 pm)ns1452 Wrote: I would like to begin with thanking everyone for responding to my Post. I was surprised how quickly everyone responded and I appreciate your input.You're welcome.
(April 22, 2014 at 6:09 pm)ns1452 Wrote: Many of you critiqued that I used the vague words, "accept" and "love". In addition, many questioned which God I was referring too. I realize that the question was vague, but it facilitated precisely what I was hoping it would. If I may summarize, the vast majority rejected (with exceptions of course) the very premise of the question because of a lack of "demonstrable" (empirical) proof. I would like to use this summation to discuss what the theist and atheist "metaphysical dream" may look like. Could those on this post please discuss what they think of the following proposal:Ah.... truth, fact, reality...
1) What is the difference between fact and truth?
Many of you have pointed to the lack of evidence. But do facts mean truth? Are they synonymous?
The way I was taught to use those words is:
- Reality: the actual physical world and it's goings.
- Fact: An accurate description of a physical event, which could be very restricted in scope.
- Truth: The description of a physical event as interpreted by an individual, with all the potential faults in his sensory apparatus and mental constructs. One example: guy is driving his space-ship along and skips a red light. He's pulled over by a cop, but the guy swears he saw the light as green. It was green, to him... because he was going at roughly half the speed of light and got dopler shifted.
(April 22, 2014 at 6:09 pm)ns1452 Wrote: In my opinion, facts are simply points on our mental grid of what we interpret reality to be. Atheism is simply an interpretation of how these facts (points) intersect with one another.
Atheism is the interpretation which disregards all claims made by other humans concerning any god(s), given that all the information about said god(s) available to mankind seems to come from other humans... and never from any outer source.
If (or when) such an outer source manifests itself, it will be thoroughly tested until the god hypothesis passes and becomes accepted.
(April 22, 2014 at 6:09 pm)ns1452 Wrote: So is the issue between a theist and an atheist simply about facts (evidence)?It's about who do you trust.
If you trust your family with its apparent delusion of the divine then you will become a delusional person who perpetuates the delusion.
If you trust yourself, you may come to see the delusion as an unbroken chain of human dreams and wishes... and when you see it that way, you tend to break the chain.
But humanity is a social species, the chain is not really a chain, but rather a net.
Some have managed to cut holes in the net... but intact areas still exist.
(April 22, 2014 at 6:09 pm)ns1452 Wrote: FYI, For those who critiqued that I have not responded. I first posted yesterday afternoon. I am a full time graduate student with a 2 and 3 year old. Therefore, I will respond as I am able to, but this will likely be only once a day. I hope you understand the demands on my schedule and I will be as active as my time allows.Meh... full-time post-doc with a 10, 8 and 5 year old.
Do keep coming back!
