Only if you are constantly hallucinating. At the end of the day, even if one accepts that science or knowledge involves "faith", that doesn't change objective reality. Someone who has faith in vaccines will get a different result than someone who has faith in prayer circles. But you'll never get a scientific test that shows prayer circles work instead of vaccines. What I am saying, Vector, is that ultimately I have seen enough applied knowledge to feel justified in believing that we can know things through the proper procedure, and that procedure is science.
After those two or three weeks, the tension between what I think is true and what other people think is true was somewhat enhanced (I'd been having paranoid delusions that people were trying to kill me for about a year prior). Things aren't true just because a majority--even a vast majority--says so... things are true because they are true. Right? But there are so many instances of science being fallible. That isn't to say we should throw scientific theory out with the bathwater! It's just to say that I'm not particularly likely to point at something and say "that's true." I think it's more appropriate to say: "This is what we think is true right now."
The thing is, we can look at the findings of the past, some pseudoscientific, and say: "Those were not science." But at the time they were seen as science; they were known to be scientific; they were believed in with the same fervor in which we believe in the science of our own time.
What I'm saying is, the tyranny of the present has a nontrivial impact here. It may be decreasing, but I'm a skeptic and so there.
Also, if being a nihilist means that there is no objective purpose to life, then I'm apparently that.
I guess I am, too... ? Feh. The taxonomy of all this gets confusing.
C'mon, how many religion threads have we had? And how many have devolved into flame wars and eventual locks?
Fine, I'll cut to the chase. I am in a very bad position in terms of dating because the atheists think I'm a moron and the religious folk seem to think I'm bound for hell or to be converted, and a great many people don't understand the idea of "I am a theist and I refuse to affiliate. With anything."
Thus far, I have dated: atheists. I am scared of dating a: Catholic, because the: internet talks a whole lot of smack about how people of different faiths cannot know each other fully blah bah blah wouldn't it be great if your partner converted. And I think the person is interested, because he is sure as heck acting kind of interested, and I'm scared. My mom was raised Serious Catholic; my father was raised Serious Lutheran; neither of them converted and I have never heard them dispute religion once; I'm still scared.
So there. That's why I'm shouting about religion in the sad thread. Because I'm scared and I've never thought making my heart submit to unemotional reason (i.e. telling it to stop falling in love) was a positive, therefore I feel stupid.
We can talk about my being scared, if you want. I might even feel better.
friend-of-friend who I've only heard the name of and maybe seen once or twice committed suicide.
This affected me emotionally more than I would expect.
My condolences... I'm sorry for your loss.
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Topic: Things that made you sad today thread. (Read 9703807 times)