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Truth, Epistemology, and Purpose

Chany

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A humanist is an atheist. Humanism does not recognize any God. The god in humanism is human.

A secular humanist is an atheist/agnostic/skeptic, but not all atheists/agnostic/skeptics are secular humanists.

I'm done discussing this. I want to focus on my epistemological questions and discussions.
 
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leftrightleftrightleft

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Chany,

I like what you said but I have some questions and/or disagreements:


What about that astronomy masters student studying some particular star 400 light years away which we can never reach and has no impact on our planet? What is the purpose of the knowledge or truth gleaned from this exercise?


I'm not sure I agree. Can truth not be sought just for truth's sake? I am reminded of the astronomy student studying that star 400 light years away. Many aspects of truth-seeking are not "practical" or "useful". Why are we spending billions of dollars on the LHC to find some particles that interact so weakly with matter that they will likely have no usefulness to us? Why search for echoes from the Big Bang when that past history has little to no impact for our life on Earth? Why search for signatures of life on other planets hundreds of light years away?

I think one of the highest ideals of science is to search for truth for truth's sake, not for our own practical uses. Curiosity is the only requirement.


Truth does not have to affect decision-making. When they found the Higgs-Boson, the way I make decisions did not change. And the vast majority of humanity, even the scientists working on the project, did not change their decision-making processes based on the discovery of the Higgs particle. Was all the work in the LHC worthless?



Great thoughts. Thanks
 
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juvenissun

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A secular humanist is an atheist/agnostic/skeptic, but not all atheists/agnostic/skeptics are secular humanists.

I'm done discussing this. I want to focus on my epistemological questions and discussions.

Agree.
 
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GrowingSmaller

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OP. Ok if you know of no purpose, then why not hand to me your life savings? If you know of no difference it would make, having no access to reality via comprehension of truth.... then why not?

If you are a complete nihilist you may do that, but I feel you know it would have adverse affects. Hence you can know of effects, and implicitally that you have preferabilities disclosed to you.

Of course we cannot be 100% sure about everything, but that does not entail we know nothing. Thats extremism, black and white thinking. You are unwilling to go to extremes sor the sake of philosophy I imagine, which implies you have art least a "hunch" or sub conscious understanding that I may be onto something. QED, or bank details....?

BTW I would much prefer not to exploit someone for a percieved "philosophical weakness", but help them come to the "truth" if possible. ANd what goes round comes round, make sense to me.
 
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