A little bit of a personal crisis

[SilentVex]

So, yes, you used pretty good logic to become a disbeliever.

There are stronger reasons to disbelieve than yours, but you still applied reason and critical thinking.

That leads to an obvious question. Why don't you apply the same critical thinking to your 'Aether' belief'? Why do you rely and your personal feeling for that belief?

Because at the same time I cannot think of a logical reason to disbelieve in it, and have not found one offered to me. At least, not one that I cannot explain with my own beliefs.

For example one could argue that life i not comprised of such energy because science cannot discover it. However at the same time we do know that life is comprised of molecules and elements. And molecules are bonded together by energy are they not?

This energy bonding of atoms and molecules i supported by nuclear fission and fusion, both of which involve the separation or bonding of atoms and elements, and produce large amounts of energy. So energy does exist in the universe between atoms and elements and molecules.

Saying then that there is energy connecting all living things together is not entirely far fetched, and that it would recycle itself into new life is just as plausible. And that it might exist on a more spiritual level is simply a feeling that, silly as it is to others, seems plausible to me. So then I believe.

TL;DR - Energy does scientifically exist in the world, so making aether plausible, so I don't find it illogical to believe.

[FatAndFaithless]

So, yes, you used pretty good logic to become a disbeliever.

There are stronger reasons to disbelieve than yours, but you still applied reason and critical thinking.

That leads to an obvious question. Why don't you apply the same critical thinking to your 'Aether' belief'? Why do you rely and your personal feeling for that belief?

Because at the same time I cannot think of a logical reason to disbelieve in it, and have not found one offered to me. At least, not one that I cannot explain with my own beliefs.

For example one could argue that life i not comprised of such energy because science cannot discover it. However at the same time we do know that life is comprised of molecules and elements. And molecules are bonded together by energy are they not?

This energy bonding of atoms and molecules i supported by nuclear fission and fusion, both of which involve the separation or bonding of atoms and elements, and produce large amounts of energy. So energy does exist in the universe between atoms and elements and molecules.

Saying then that there is energy connecting all living things together is not entirely far fetched, and that it would recycle itself into new life is just as plausible. And that it might exist on a more spiritual level is simply a feeling that, silly as it is to others, seems plausible to me. So then I believe.

TL;DR - Energy does scientifically exist in the world, so making aether plausible, so I don't find it illogical to believe.

Saying something is possible or plausible doesn't make it logical to believe..

Additionally, what you described is simply the potential or chemical energy present in the atoms and molecules of which the universe consists. That's just science, and pretty well-described science at that. If all you're saying is that you believe in the energy that's inside atoms in molecules, there's nothing fantastic or transcendent about that, it's just fact.

What you haven't done is really describe what this Aether thing is, how to measure or observe it, or really anything about it. A vague 'everything is connected' idea is so broad and ill-defined it's rather useless. And if you can't really define or measure or observe or describe something, I think it's pretty illogical to believe in it.

[Bad Wolf]

I searched deep inside myself over several years, thinking on if I was atheist, diest, theist, or what. Over that time I couldn't deny a feeling of being connected to the world on a deeper level than simply living on it.

So long story short, from inside myself I came to the conclusion of an energy connecting everything. I named it Aether so I could talk about it with people and not have people make comments pretending I was some sort of Jedi.

Oh so you feel that you are right instead of thinking? You've come up with your own theory? How is this energy measured? In Joules? Is it testable? Repeatable? Demostrable? Hell, is it even tangible?

[SilentVex]

Saying something is possible or plausible doesn't make it logical to believe..

But it doesn't make it illogical to believe either. Which is the point I'm trying to make..

[FatAndFaithless]

Saying something is possible or plausible doesn't make it logical to believe..

But it doesn't make it illogical to believe either. Which is the point I'm trying to make..

Check my reply again, I edited in some stuff that I meant to say.

[Crossless2.0]

Aether? Did I just wander into the 19th century?

[SilentVex]

Check my reply again, I edited in some stuff that I meant to say.

Well that's a little more to respond to.

Yes I realize that the potential energy in molecules isn't particularly transcendent (though I would argue the fantastic bit just because it kind of is in a way). What my belief is is that's only one bit of the whole picture.

my beliefs mean that we are essentially energy and that when we die that energy disperses, reforms, and becomes something new in the future. I don't find that illogical because chemically that's something that happens every day with living things.

If I were to die in the forest, for example, my body would decompose and energy would be released as different atoms in my body separated. That energy is absorbed by other living things, fungi, wolves, etc., and formed into new molecules and forms.

What my belief says is that this energy eventually becomes a new life somewhere of some sort, multiple lives even. My body dies I'm a part of the wolf cub that used the energy (aether) and nutrients from my body that their mother provided in the womb, a part of another human in the same way, a part of the plant that ued the energy to create a seed...

Does that make sense?

[Simon Moon]

Because at the same time I cannot think of a logical reason to disbelieve in it, and have not found one offered to me. At least, not one that I cannot explain with my own beliefs.

I guess I overestimated your grasp of logic.


Believing something that is unsupported with evidence because it has not been proven wrong is a logic 101 FAIL.

You are passing the burden of proof. The logical reason to disbelieve it is because it is not supported by evidence.

If you believe things until they are proven wrong, that puts in the position to believe all sorts of unsupported claims. It also puts you in the position where you are unable to criticize others unsupported beliefs if they believe them for the same reasons you believe yours.

For example one could argue that life i not comprised of such energy because science cannot discover it. However at the same time we do know that life is comprised of molecules and elements. And molecules are bonded together by energy are they not?

This energy bonding of atoms and molecules i supported by nuclear fission and fusion, both of which involve the separation or bonding of atoms and elements, and produce large amounts of energy. So energy does exist in the universe between atoms and elements and molecules.

Saying then that there is energy connecting all living things together is not entirely far fetched, and that it would recycle itself into new life is just as plausible. And that it might exist on a more spiritual level is simply a feeling that, silly as it is to others, seems plausible to me. So then I believe.

TL;DR - Energy does scientifically exist in the world, so making aether plausible, so I don't find it illogical to believe.

Energy does exist. It continues on after we die. It is utilized by other organisms.

There is nothing plausible in the claim that our energy continues on in any conscious way.

[Cato]

Does that make sense?

Not even a little.

Did you fail chemistry?

[FatAndFaithless]

Check my reply again, I edited in some stuff that I meant to say.

Well that's a little more to respond to.

Yes I realize that the potential energy in molecules isn't particularly transcendent (though I would argue the fantastic bit just because it kind of is in a way). What my belief is is that's only one bit of the whole picture.

my beliefs mean that we are essentially energy and that when we die that energy disperses, reforms, and becomes something new in the future. I don't find that illogical because chemically that's something that happens every day with living things.

If I were to die in the forest, for example, my body would decompose and energy would be released as different atoms in my body separated. That energy is absorbed by other living things, fungi, wolves, etc., and formed into new molecules and forms.

What my belief says is that this energy eventually becomes a new life somewhere of some sort, multiple lives even. My body dies I'm a part of the wolf cub that used the energy (aether) and nutrients from my body that their mother provided in the womb, a part of another human in the same way, a part of the plant that ued the energy to create a seed...

Does that make sense?

It makes 'sense' in the sense that it's a bit clearer, but still just as unfounded as it was before. Once you die, the atoms that comprised your body disperse, and they aren't 'your body' or 'your energy' because they were never yours to begin with. Your body is comprised of atoms that have comprised countless other people, plants, animals, or minerals before you ever existed, and will comprise countless more after you're gone. The whole use of "I" in your belief system is rendered rather useless because once you're dead, you cease to exist. There is no "I" that can be a part of something else.

It's still bizarre and completely untouchable by science, this ''after I die" stuff. Still illogical to believe.