|  kiwigirl06 | Jun 29, 2006 12:35pm | Could it be that the optimistic or faithful walk into the unknown with eyes wide open, looking for signs on the way.
Whereas the sceptic narrows his eyes and anaylises the situation first? |
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| | italian-scallion | Jun 29, 2006 12:49pm | I think the faithful believe because they want to believe. Certainly there are some who believe because they need for their supernatural belief to be true.
One instance that comes to mind was featured on Penn and Teller's show "Bullshit". A devout Christian woman believed Jesus's eyes were in her wooden bathroom door. The illusion of eyes was formed by knots in the wood of two identical cuts placed side by side, with one flipped horizontally so it mirrored the other. This woman cried every time she spoke about it and falls down on her knees to pray.
Any rational person knows there is nothing supernatural about the door. They are detached and approach the situation from a logical point of view. I'm positive there is no way to convince that woman she has a perfectly ordinary door. To even bring that up would probably reduce her to sobs and prayer chants. If you could make her believe there's nothing special about it, it'd probably shatter her world.
I feel it would be more accurate to say skeptics are the ones looking for signs that the claimed phenomena is real; believers look at the wrong signs and/or imagine new signs to suit their desired outcome. |
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| | kiwigirl06 | Jun 29, 2006 1:40pm | I agree with you.
Since the world as we know it is limited to our sensory perceptions, which in turn are shaped by our genetic's which in turn shape our psychology etc; then who is to say what is actually the truth or reality of anything perceived.
An autistic's view for instance is their reality.
Reality for us all is what we percieve and is dependent on our individual make-up.
I guess the sceptic's need for reason, is simply a well developed survival instinct. No one's pulling the wool over our eyes :) |
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Skeptics and Believers → Discussion
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