Is faith a reliable path to knowledge?

Jan Ardena said:
You'd need to go into more detail, so I can see what you mean by them.
jan.
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My quote is not good enough for you?

Ooops, why does the sin Pride (vanity) come to mind?..:?

Are you really Walking the Talk...:?
 
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Write4U said:
My quote is not good enough for you?

Ooops, why does the sin Pride (vanity) come to mind?..:?

Are you really Walking the Talk...:?
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What part of ''You'd need to go into more detail, so I can see what you mean by them'' don't you understand?

Write4U said:
No I don't, if you don't understand what I am saying then it's off limits to you.
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Seeing as you don't want to elaborate further, I will consider it a secret. So yes, secrets are off limits to anyone, unless they are in on them.

jan.
 
Write4U said:
As always George Carlin explained these "profound" questions best;
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Sanctity of life is an inherent concept of the majority of the human population. Most will cringe at the idea of killing or seeing death. It is instilled in us as a preservation tactic. Both preservation of our species, and the preservation of our environment (the chain of the natural world (creatures other than human)). (In preservation of environment there is preservation of species)

I don't think we humans fit into the natural order of this planet. We are the Apex. (Naturally or unnaturally I am not sure) It is a theory that I do not believe, but consider, that we were installed on this planet by another intelligence. Be it a non-corporeal being or another intelligent and inquisitive race I am not certain.

If there is a creator he instilled this quality, the sanctity of life, for our longevity.

If no creator, then it is instilled via evolution for preservation.

Though we are in the decline of the Heath of our planet, the human race has had its fruitfulness.

I don't believe in an entity known as god or etc. BUT I do feel that there is more than what our perceptions present to us. I do believe in dimensions that are locked away do to the limitations of our perceptions and senses. There may be a 6th sense that we can never truly envelop, and there may be realms beyond.
I don't believe in an afterlife, but one could very well exist in a realm we can only glimpse of in our living existence.

I am slightly nihilistic and completely agnostic. I don't have faith that there isn't a god, as much as the contrary.

Life be with you. Live it with as much fullness as could be.
:)
 
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I think that versatile knowledge is developed completely separate from faith. A lot of stupidity, and I don't even mean minor things, come from being bound to a belief. Wars. Prejudicial hate.
"Imagine" lennon
 
FU2 and then sum it up said:
Sanctity of life is an inherent concept of the majority of the human population. Most will cringe at the idea of killing or seeing death. It is instilled in us as a preservation tactic. Both preservation of our species, and the preservation of our environment (the chain of the natural world (creatures other than human)). (In preservation of environment there is preservation of species)
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You mean, the sanctity of life is an inherent concept of the majority of the living population. Self-interest.

Nature doesn't care about life or death, it just deals in changing form of expression. As Carlin said; "if everything that ever lived is dead and everything that is alive now, will die, where's the sanctity of life"?

Actually we do have an immortal species of jellyfish. They can be killed, but if nor fatally wounded they can regenerate forever.
Turritopsis dohrnii, the immortal jellyfish, is a species of small, biologically immortal jellyfish[2][3] found in the Mediterranean Sea and in the waters of Japan. It is one of the few known cases of animals capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary individual.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_dohrnii
Pretty neat.
 
Transdifferentiation, also known as lineage reprogramming,[1] is a process in which one mature somatic cell transforms into another mature somatic cell without undergoing an intermediate pluripotent state or progenitor cell type.[2] It is a type of metaplasia, which includes all cell fate switches, including the interconversion of stem cells. Current uses of transdifferentiation include disease modeling and drug discovery and in the future may include gene therapy and regenerative medicine.[3] The term 'transdifferentiation' was originally coined by Selman and Kafatos[4] in 1974 to describe a change in cell properties as cuticle producing cells became salt-secreting cells in silk moths undergoing metamorphosis.
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Other species include the slime mold and in the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly.
 
James R said:
1. Do you admit that your belief in God is based, at least in part, on faith?
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I've always felt that life was more than simply living and dying, that there was a spiritual element. Maybe that is where faith comes from--you know it is there but you can't quite put your finger on it.

2. What percentage of your belief in God would you put down to evidence, and how much to faith?
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It depends on how you define evidence. What I might consider evidence you might consider consequential. Also, when does faith become conviction?

Is there anything else I've overlooked that leads to your knowledge of God's existence?
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I think it is a personal experience, much like an ah-ha moment. Not something that can be package and passed to others easily, though many have tried.

3. Apart from your belief in God, is there any other area of your life where you rely on faith to make decisions or choices, or to believe in something?
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Not in the past.
 
Confirmation Bias results in Empathy, the ability to see from another's perspective. The ability to share the same emotional experience is a remarkable ability of humans, but to a greater or lesser degree in all animals, whaterver it takes to survive and mate.

I also confirms and enforces your perspective of reality as well. Unfortunately this confirmation bias is a double edged sword which, if you live in Empathy, can lead to a vibrant inventive a varied symbiotic species, or in the absence of Emapthy can lead to a mutually destructive relationship and war by the Tulpas of Apathy, Antagony, or Apostacy.

These are abstract concepts and really can only be practiced in the abstract world of mysticism, where the Demonic Concepts of Approval and Confirmation (flattery) are very powerful Tulpas with great power of Persuasion and Temptation.

But with help of the Angels of Objectivety, Consideration, and Wisdom, we might attain a meaningful life.

What did I just say? Does it have any meaning? Does anyone care? Do I care? ....:)
 
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James R said:
Most believers in God, when asked, will say that their belief is based in part on certain types of evidence that they trust, and in part on faith. The weight given to evidence and faith varies from person to person, but with a little pushing the honest believer will usually admit that God's existence cannot be established on the basis of evidence alone, and that faith is always involved.

I would like to explore in this thread the question of whether faith is a good way to arrive at reliable knowledge about the nature of the world and the things in it. In particular, I would like to discuss whether it is reasonable to believe in God because one has faith that God exists.

Let me start by getting one potential point of contention out of the way. People say things like "I have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow", or "I have faith that my mother loves me". This is not the kind of faith I want to discuss here, and it is important that we have that clear at the start. Our "faith" that the sun will rise tomorrow is based on past experience - that the sun has risen every day of our lives without fail, and there's no reason to suppose it won't continue to do so in the near future. And your "faith" that your mother loves you (if you have it) is based on your lived experience, too. Probably your mother cared for you as a child. You probably keep in touch regularly. Your mother does things for you without always expecting you to do things in return. And so on and so forth.

So, this "faith" that the sun will rise tomorrow is actually evidence-based, and so is the "faith" that your mother loves you. This is different from the kind of the religious faith I want to discuss here.

Religious faith might be defined, approximately, as "belief even in the absence of good evidence". The term "leap of faith" is commonly used in this context. Perhaps as a believer you went to church, read the bible (or other religious text), and concluded that there's some evidence that God exists. But the evidence alone doesn't quite get you across the line. So, you make a final "leap of faith" - a choice to believe in God regardless of the lack of definite proof that God exists. This is the kind of faith that I'm talking about.

My question is this: is this religious kind of faith - belief even in the absence of evidence - a good way to go about obtaining reliable knowledge about the world and what is in it?

To start the ball rolling, I would like to ask the believers in God who are here the following questions:

1. Do you admit that your belief in God is based, at least in part, on faith?
2. What percentage of your belief in God would you put down to evidence, and how much to faith? Is there anything else I've overlooked that leads to your knowledge of God's existence?
3. Apart from your belief in God, is there any other area of your life where you rely on faith to make decisions or choices, or to believe in something? Please give an example or two if your answer is "yes". And keep in mind my definition of faith - belief even in the absence of evidence.

I look forward to your responses.
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Some idea about above questions can be available in "Sp ritual Terms defined?" thread posted by me in Religion sub-forum.
 
Faith is usually defined as belief in the absence of evidence.

To the extent that the above definition applies, it cannot be a reliable path to knowledge.
 
True faith should be reliable path to knowledge like children keep true faith in their mother and learn a lot.
 
KUMAR5 said:
True faith should be reliable path to knowledge like children keep true faith in their mother and learn a lot.
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Of course it should be but there is no reason that faith is reliable even when you have built this faith using knowledge gained from those who should know and really do wish to guide you as best they can well intentioned and very much with good intention by passing on their faith and demonstrations of how that faith has been of benefit for them so for them it is a precious gift but you must look in other places for what may be other input that may further help but the key is perhaps be prepared to consider things that you may never have considered until now which as a pay off for you may take you past where all those who helped in fostering your development and growth and well no doubt but I am not entirely sure but I would say I am sure you know what I am driving at is probably now somewhat apparent and you may or even say yes well that had crossed my mind but it is only now by having someone on the outside of my life and thoughts look in to help distil various thoughts but as I said you have possibly considered similar.
Alex
 
Xelasnave.1947 said:
Of course it should be but there is no reason that faith is reliable even when you have built this faith using knowledge gained from those who should know and really do wish to guide you as best they can well intentioned and very much with good intention by passing on their faith and demonstrations of how that faith has been of benefit for them so for them it is a precious gift but you must look in other places for what may be other input that may further help but the key is perhaps be prepared to consider things that you may never have considered until now which as a pay off for you may take you past where all those who helped in fostering your development and growth and well no doubt but I am not entirely sure but I would say I am sure you know what I am driving at is probably now somewhat apparent and you may or even say yes well that had crossed my mind but it is only now by having someone on the outside of my life and thoughts look in to help distil various thoughts but as I said you have possibly considered similar.
Alex
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Yes but while judging a true faith, selfish interests & lies are not counted. Those are just seen. We do not count selfish interests & lies in mother-child relationship.
 
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