Of Ancient Egypt

[JohnEmmett]

Sure… but how do you distinguish truth from non-truth?

every Sage accepts the afterlife


except for skeptic Sages, I guess

 

[SelfSim]

every Sage accepts the afterlife
except for skeptic Sages, I guess

'Sage'(?)... ahh .. someone regarded as possessing wisdom.
Wisdom is a human virtue, yes? Wisdom amounts to accumulating knowledge and having it mean something. Knowledge has no meaning until our minds give it one.

 

[JohnEmmett]

well… doubt is debilitating

sorry to say…

 

[SelfSim]

... except for skeptic Sages, I guess
...
well… doubt is debilitating

Can hardly exclude all of them from consideration though ... They're still humans (when last I checked).

 

[SelfSim]

well… doubt is debilitating
sorry to say…

Only if you have 'doubt' meaning something which always holds back the acquisition of wisdom.
Why do that?

 

[SelfSim]

... Why do that?

The view that doubt is debilitating would seem to be the root cause of not seeing 'the truth'?

 

[JohnEmmett]

The view that doubt is debilitating would seem to be the root cause of not seeing 'the truth'?

doubt prevents acceptance of the truth


also doubt prevents finding the truth

 

[Tinker Grey]

Failure to doubt is gullibility.

 

[JohnEmmett]

Failure to doubt is gullibility.

perhaps you just don't like the truth


hence you tell yourself you're skeptical

 

[Tinker Grey]

perhaps you just don't like the truth


hence you tell yourself you're skeptical

Perhaps you just like the truth and therefore lie to yourself and call it the truth.

 

[JohnEmmett]

Perhaps you just like the truth and therefore lie to yourself.

I like the truth


though people I care about are in trouble


since they're skeptical

 

[SelfSim]

I like the truth
though people I care about are in trouble
since they're skeptical

I'm still waiting for you to show how existence of an afterlife becomes 'truth' (other than by way of blind, unskeptical acceptance).

Y'know:
- 'Keep your minds open .. but not so open that your brains fall out';

or even better:
- 'the object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid'.

 

[JohnEmmett]

I'm still waiting for you to show how existence of an afterlife becomes 'truth'

Buddha said there is an afterlife

that he could see…

 

[SelfSim]

Buddha said there is an afterlife
that he could see…

Finally .. thank you.
So you hold that Buddha was the only source of the truth about the existence of an afterlife(?)

 

[JohnEmmett]

So you hold that Buddha was the only source of the truth?

Buddha was uniquely enlightened


yet everyone finds there is an afterlife…

 

[SelfSim]

Buddha was uniquely enlightened
yet everyone finds there is an afterlife…

Well, if by 'enlightened' you mean 'wise', then I personally don't see many issues in that part of what you claim.

However, Christians, (just as one eg), would disagree on him being a 'unique' source of truth about an afterlife.

Both your view and Christians' however, seem to use the same means of arriving at the same conclusion about the source of truth here though(?)

 

[JohnEmmett]

faith is like a muscle


people use their strength to lift heavy subjects


like the afterlife

 

[SelfSim]

people use their strength to lift heavy subjects
like the afterlife

There are other more general motivations .. for example: curiosity and a determination to acquire wisdom .. (just like Buddha used).
The scientific process shares in this motivation .. its just a different way of going about giving meaning to truth.

 

[JohnEmmett]

science can only better this life

we should be concerned about eternity

I myself need to remember this

 

[SelfSim]

... we should be concerned about eternity
I myself need to remember this

So you are saying here that concerns about 'eternity' are your own personally chosen priorities then, no?

Whereas most other people on the planet, using the products (or tools) of science, are concerned with the here, now, today issues.

Different choices .. different outcomes .. but still choices.