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cdn2wheeler · 10-24-2007, 12:56 PM

I wasn't quite sure where to put this, so mods feel free to move it if you wish.

I'll cut right to the chase here: Are we willing to be wrong? Are we willing to have our preconceptions altered or smashed?

There's a lively and spirited discussion going on about the nature of evidence that's showing a clear divide between two camps.

Camp 1 says, "Our truth is our truth. We've experienced it for ourselves. We have no need or desire to prove it to anyone, so a request for evidence only shows how fearful the others are."

Camp 2 says, "There IS such a thing as objective truth, whether we like it or not. We seek evidence because that's how we make sense of the world. Denying a request for objective evidence only shows how fearful the others are."

And it goes around in circles, each camp armed to the existential teeth, hurling objections and denials and accusations of fear back and forth like rocks.

(Now, I know that both camps have various off-shoots with people in fluid stages of belief, so it's not nearly as binary as I present it here, but for the purposes of this thread I'm trying to keep it simple.)

For my personal part, I willingly admit that I'm in Camp 2. I've sought evidence (both here an in my life beyond the board... I do have one, really!) through study, argument, technique and wonder but, alas, have come up dry so far. That's not to say that there isn't evidence, it just means that I haven't found it yet.

But I'm willing to be wrong. I discuss these things and search for evidence because that's how I learn. A free exchange of ideas, argument and counter-argument are, to me, vital in expanding my understanding.

So I urge posters in BOTH camps to consider the possibility, however remote, that you may be wrong.

Camp 1-ers, consider the possibility that your experiences are the result of a wonderful imagination, maybe a trick of the brain that we don't understand or some other organic phemomenon, and be open to the spirit of study, evidence and inquiry.

Camp 2-ers, consider the possibility that maybe there is something going on that's not based purely in the physical organics of, say, brain chemistry, or wild imaginings or naturally-occuring altered states that aren't even remotely supernatural.

Be open to possibilities. In the spirit of open inquiry, be willing to be wrong.

10-24-2007, 12:56 PM	#1 (permalink)
cdn2wheeler Family Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 1,016	Spinoff: Are we willing to be wrong? I wasn't quite sure where to put this, so mods feel free to move it if you wish. I'll cut right to the chase here: Are we willing to be wrong? Are we willing to have our preconceptions altered or smashed? There's a lively and spirited discussion going on about the nature of evidence that's showing a clear divide between two camps. Camp 1 says, "Our truth is our truth. We've experienced it for ourselves. We have no need or desire to prove it to anyone, so a request for evidence only shows how fearful the others are." Camp 2 says, "There IS such a thing as objective truth, whether we like it or not. We seek evidence because that's how we make sense of the world. Denying a request for objective evidence only shows how fearful the others are." And it goes around in circles, each camp armed to the existential teeth, hurling objections and denials and accusations of fear back and forth like rocks. (Now, I know that both camps have various off-shoots with people in fluid stages of belief, so it's not nearly as binary as I present it here, but for the purposes of this thread I'm trying to keep it simple.) For my personal part, I willingly admit that I'm in Camp 2. I've sought evidence (both here an in my life beyond the board... I do have one, really!) through study, argument, technique and wonder but, alas, have come up dry so far. That's not to say that there isn't evidence, it just means that I haven't found it yet. But I'm willing to be wrong. I discuss these things and search for evidence because that's how I learn. A free exchange of ideas, argument and counter-argument are, to me, vital in expanding my understanding. So I urge posters in BOTH camps to consider the possibility, however remote, that you may be wrong. Camp 1-ers, consider the possibility that your experiences are the result of a wonderful imagination, maybe a trick of the brain that we don't understand or some other organic phemomenon, and be open to the spirit of study, evidence and inquiry. Camp 2-ers, consider the possibility that maybe there is something going on that's not based purely in the physical organics of, say, brain chemistry, or wild imaginings or naturally-occuring altered states that aren't even remotely supernatural. Be open to possibilities. In the spirit of open inquiry, be willing to be wrong.