RE: Are some people truly better off believing?
May 20, 2015 at 4:40 pm
(This post was last modified: May 20, 2015 at 4:40 pm by Razzle.)
(May 20, 2015 at 4:31 pm)Dystopia Wrote:Quote: (2) You assume that the truth matters the most when sometimes I wonder if values like happiness aren't more important. In theory, if I consider happiness superior to the truth and believing in god makes me happier then I could argue belief in god can be rational. I'm not being a theist apologist, it's just something to think about. If I was born in another country I might not be an atheist posting here but a very devout believer. Nature and nurturing change everything. I happen to value the truth - But I don' see anything as absolute truth, just the most likely possibility.
I think the value of anything, including truth, is determined by its effect on well-being. That's what 'value' is - a measurement of how something makes us feel. Usually, knowing the truth about things helps us effectively manipulate the world to promote positive emotional states and reduce negative ones, but occasionally, a particular person believing something false will do that instead.
"Faith is a state of openness or trust. To have faith is like when you trust yourself to the water. You don't grab hold of the water when you swim, because if you do you will become stiff and tight in the water, and sink. You have to relax, and the attitude of faith is the very opposite of clinging, and holding on. In other words, a person who is fanatic in matters of religion, and clings to certain ideas about the nature of God and the universe becomes a person who has no faith at all. Instead they are holding tight. But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be."
Alan Watts
Alan Watts
