Subject:
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Re: Be careful what you ask for in case you actually get it (was: slight)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Thu, 18 Jul 2002 16:10:42 GMT
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Viewed:
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3436 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, David Koudys writes:
> Is my *faith* a phenomena? I don't know--never thought about it that way.
> But I *do* have it. It might not be scientifically rational, but it is
> there--it *does* exist--I *can* say that my faith exists, therefore
> *something* is *outside* the purview of science. Science cannot, with logic
> and rationality, deny it--it's there, and yet science cannot dispense with
> it, either, for it's not rational--it does not exist within the domain of
> science.
Faulty thinking and faulty assumptions again. Your having faith is an
observable phenomenon that can be studied.
Science would not deny that existence of your *having* faith -- it might
study the chemical or physical reasons that you maintain a faith, however.
The truth value of "what you have faith in" is irrelevant to science because
there is no material evidence one way or the other. But "having faith", the
act of believing, involves a series of electro-chemical processes in the
brain that can be studied.
Famously, schizophrenic people often have the positive symptoms of delusions
and hallucinations. From a scientific standpoint, I suppose you might say
"to everyone else in the room", a schizophrenic's assertions about the
nature of reality would not be accepted. For example: a schizophrenic
person may believe that they are being hunted or persecuted in some way --
absent such evidence of being hunted or persecuted clinicians would see this
as a delusion. Another example: a schizophrenic person may claim that they
can see the Norse God of Thunder standing a few feet away -- absent material
evidence of such a god in that specific location clinicians would probably
treat this as an hallucination. Brain processes are studied, and if need
be, treated.
Please be clear that I am not saying that people of faith are
schizophrenics. I am just saying that "having faith" -- the act of
believing -- is a phenomenon that can be studied; I was merely using the
example of the schizophrenic to show the manner in which you know it IS
done. I mean, you know that psychiatrists and schizophrenics exist and
interact, right?
As a kind of ending to my part in this I would just like to recall to mind
an idea attributed to Aristotle -- the idea that "I don't know" is the way
to begin the understanding of anything. What I do know encompasses few
things, what "I don't know" encompasses a good deal greater number of
things. Starting from the standpoint of "I don't know" -- then studying
phenomena with a great deal of skepticism and the refusal to accept things
not evidenced -- will get you a good deal farther than any known alternative.
-- Hop-Frog
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