Suppose there were no intelligence behind the universe. In that case nobody designed my brain for the purpose of thinking. Thought is merely the by product of some atomes within my skull. But if so, how can I trust my own thinking to be true?...But if I can't trust my own thinking, of course, I can't trust the arguments leading toward atheism, and therefore have no reason to be an athiest, or anything else.
Bottom Line:
Unless I believe in God, I can't believe in thought; so I can never use thought to disbelieve in God
2007-01-22 14:54:08 · 37 answers · asked by Theoretically Speaking 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Come on, I'm fifteen and I understand this. It's not that hard.
2007-01-22 14:58:39 · update #1
Chong. That was so funny. I almost peed in my pajamas.
2007-01-22 15:01:32 · answer #1 · answered by MrsOcultyThomas 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
The way you can trust your thoughts is that you learn that when you act on them, you get results. This is a life-long process. And you don't start with the question of God. You start with things like, "Do I know what 'red' is?" or "If I touch the red stove, will it hurt?"
After a while, you learn that your thoughts, by and large, help you interact with the world. And because you have language, you can learn from the experience of others, not just yourself.
It is through experience that you learn also that trial and error experiments are a great way to learn the causes of events. And if you're lucky enough to go to a good school with a good science teacher, you learn how to manage the scientific method. You begin to trust that because thanks to the scientific method, you can get a microwave oven, a computer, an iPod, a car, and myriad other things.
So you begin to trust your thoughts ever more. Now let's suppose that one of the thoughts that was handed to you was that if you step on a sidewalk crack, it will break your mother's back. This is a serious correlation of events that could lead to injury. You have always avoided sidewalk cracks, but then a friend of yours walks willy-nilly down the sidewalk, stepping on cracks with every 3rd step.
"Stop!" you bellow. "Your mother must be writhing in pain by now!"
"Don't be silly!" he says. "That's just an old superstition."
Bottom line: You've been listening to those who have passed on the superstitions about God and the Bible. You're having a hard time accepting that maybe there are other ideas, that there are people who live their lives quite comfortably without believing in God. But we do, and honestly, I trust your thoughts to figure this out just as much as you trust your thoughts enough to find your toothbrush in the morning. Because you use those thoughts effectively every day.
2007-01-22 15:08:53 · answer #2 · answered by NHBaritone 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Conversely, if, as You said, "can't trust my own thinking" then surely You must need to have someone or something do it for You. Correct, or not? Religion is there fore, by Your own admission, for those who cannot think, as well as for those who lack the mental thought processes to question the thoughts of others. Think about that for a nano second or two! You posess a child-like sense of logic. So here goes. Try this quick quiz. Pick one of the following to best ilustrate what a total lack of reasoning would produce?
1 Congenital idiots,
2 Genetic throwbacks,
3 Brain dead automotons,
4 Religious zealots.
You be the judge, it was after all Your choice.
2007-01-22 15:03:22 · answer #3 · answered by Ashleigh 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, of course your "reasoning" makes sense to you. It just doesn't make sense to anybody else. Your understanding of neurology is extremely primitive, for starters. ("Thought is merely the by product of some 'atomes' within my skull.")
I don't think it's required that one believes in a deity to accept that there is a "design" to the universe and organic matter.
2007-01-22 15:16:04 · answer #4 · answered by Lunarsight 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm sorry, but that doesn't make any sense.
The problem is where you say "But if so, how can I trust my own thinking to be true?". You just assumed without reason that thinking produced by natural means is less trustworthy than thinking would be if produced supernaturally, and you didn't give any reason to make that assumption.
I'm sure that this seems like a good argument to you, but it isn't.
2007-01-22 15:03:23 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Wow, one of the worst arguments I ever heard. Bet you thought you was going to end the questions once and for all. How long did you think about that? First get a grip on reality then come back with a rebutal. And I'm not even atheist. And every 15 year old think they have all the answers. Ignorance is bliss.
2007-01-22 15:03:18 · answer #6 · answered by Jayclark 3 · 7⤊ 0⤋
thinking is the recycling and continuation of a certain combination of reactions that deal with many things including chemistry, physics... many things.
an atom randomly reacts but after it's finished it would usually recycle it's movements and other atoms may copy it so on a large scale, atoms continue doing something...
coincidentally while our molecular particles come together, the brain was made by these reactions and thinking is just information getting analized by the brain. thinking is a process that had randomly been 'done' by atoms and is continuous so we continue to think.
can mentally disabled people think? why do you think they are like that.
2007-01-22 15:00:26 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Here's the bad news, you can't trust your own thinking to be true.
Have a look at "Why We Believe What We Believe," by Andrew Newberg. It's a very clear examination of the neurobiology of belief. I'm sure you'd find it fascinating.
2007-01-22 15:07:18 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
As delusional as people are what makes you think you can trust your thoughts and perceptions? Andrea Yeates was dead sure that Jesus told her to drown her kids. Should she have trusted her own perception? Given that you think God made this, I guess you can't trust it even if you think there is a god.
You have to question every thing and the best that you can do is go with the best available evidence and be willing to adapt as the evidence changes.
2007-01-22 15:02:34 · answer #9 · answered by Alex 6 · 6⤊ 1⤋
just because thoughts are a "by product of some atomes within your skull", that doesn't mean you can't trust them. the thought process is quite trust worthy actually. it's been shaped by hundreds of millions of years of evolution. it may not be perfect, but it's better than nothing.
that having been said, i'm going to continue trusting my thoughts, and i hope you start listening to yours.
2007-01-22 15:09:55 · answer #10 · answered by tobykeogh 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Its your opening line that makes me not want to read the rest of this crap. Lets not suppose. Lets think of what makes sense. I beleive that I share a common ancestor with hominids. I believe that it took 4 million years for us to evolve into what we are today. I DO NOT believe that I came from a rib. And I dont beleive that all of you Christians coming up with petty questions is going to make me not beleive the truth. Dont you have anything better to do than try to make people believe this nonsense??
2007-01-22 15:01:20 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 2⤋