Why won't people admit that there are things that they will never know.Religion is a just one effort to answer

Question

what cannot be answered. Instead of having many religions each trying in a different way to answer questions to which we will never know the answers (at least not in this life), why don't we just admit that we don't know. That, incidentally, is the one area where an intelligent atheist and an intelligent Christian could find common ground. Admit you don't know.
(And now will come the answers from people who will insist that they do know. Some people can't even be honest with themselves!)

Answer 1

i'm gonna agree to disagree,if we didn't have all these different opinions what would philosophers have to talk about?

Answer 2

Because there is a difference between saying "The world appears flat" and "The world is a plate suspended on the back of a giant turtle."

one is an observation of the senses. The other is a jump to conclusions based off the observation of the senses.

By using the observation "the world appears flat", you add a little geometry and craftsmanship, and you can build a building.

By using the conclusions "the world is a plate suspended on the back of a turtle" you can spur your fellow tribesmen on to war, to hate and kill the other tribe who thinks that the world is a plate suspended on the back of an elephant.

Your senses can always serve as guidance, even if it gives you an answer that you don't want to hear. Faith can never be. It is a delusion, a drug that people take to give their convictions, however false, legitimacy. Just as astronomy has put to rest the silly notion that the Earth is a flat plate; Further understanding of physics will one day put to rest the silly notion that some magical sky daddy snapped his fingers and poofed the Earth into existence.

And I know what you are thinking "but the world isn't flat! It's round!" I used that example on purpose, because people love to cite it as evidence that the senses can't be trusted. But there is nothing false about the statement "the world appears flat." Saying "the world appears to be flat" is logically true, since from your vantage point, it appears flat. If I were to say "The world is a sphere so large that the curvature of the Earth is negligible on a human scale", that is a true statement, truer than saying "the world is a plate on a turtle" and not contradictory to the phrase "the world appears flat to me". The senses never lied to us when it told us the world was flat. The story-teller who weaved tales of the vast, cosmic turtle did.

Knowledge can exist, because the senses can be trusted. Faith can not be trusted. Trust your senses, but know that there is always a possibility that your conclusions may be wrong. A scientist understands this. A person of faith refuses to do so.

Answer 3

Instead of using the word "people", you should have said "you". Just because YOU don't know, doesn't mean some people don't know. Don't put an atheist in the same catergory of a Christian or in fact any religious person. An atheist has NO basis for an intellegent conversation about God since they do not believe in God. Why won't you admit that there are things YOU will never understand or know. Yes, religion is one answer, but if you have no concept of what is involved with religion or heart changes that happen in the human heart. with conversion..you can NOT speak for a or as a spiritual man. Most religions have similar explanations for life and spiritualness. This common ground should not be a mystery AND it should be no mystery that an atheist and a spiritual man have no common ground. I think, you are one of those "some" people who can't be honest with themselves.

Answer 4

I believe you are confusing yourself. Religion is about admitting that human beings are ultimately flawed and that only perfect all-knowing God can redeem us, and he does this if he sees our deeds on this earth have been conscientious. True, we all mess up sometimes, but some of us at least can admit problems and change our ways. So, therefore both atheists and religious people believe that there are things we will never know (ie we will never experience the clarity of god's perfection) But the difference is that atheists reject the challenge of trying to do better and trying to get closer to God. They think that infinite imperfection is more preferable than trying to reach closer to God. (PS nobody f*cks with the Jesus!!!) - Quintana on Big Lebowski

Answer 5

Because humans have a natural tendency towards being righteous - and wanting to impose the control they don't have on life on others via their religious beliefs (which most people refer to as "truth"). Because people are too frightened to admit ignorance or lack of power. Because most people are too intellectually lazy to accept there is a lot of unknown in our existence and need to have answers. Also, a lot of people use their beliefs to justify actions rather than take responsibility for them.

Answer 6

Good point. What is the first step to learning anything? Admitting that you don't know it!
Religion is based on fear, fear of the unknown. Faith is not about knowing, faith is about seeking answers. And being prepared for surprises. To be wrong and keep going.
Why can't they admit they don't know? Pride!
Pride of ignorance. We're all guilty at some time. It can be very embarrassing to be corrected when you honestly think that you are right.

Answer 7

You know what? I can agree with you on one thing. People don't admit they're wrong. But I can tell you one thing with absolute surety: there are some things that I know that most people don't. I'm not going to say any more, but I hope I eased your obviously thoughtful mind.

Answer 8

I have lots of info that I think you will find quite helpful and enlightening:

http://360.yahoo.com/blorm_multaeeneea_lavacom (For tons of inspirational info)

http://ecowellness.multiply.com/ (For all the environmental info)

Let us all strive for a greener/brighter future by helping to create a solid foundation for future generations to build upon, so we can hand them a beautiful world, filled with never ending awe and wonders!!

Where peoples differences and uniqueness are accepted, where we all live as one, helping one another so that we can all play our own mysteriously beautiful melodies in the never ending, awe inspiring, song of life :-)

I truly have faith in humanity and believe that someday our lives and the world in which we live will truly be transformed for the better.

Answer 9

We don't know the answers to anything. We are nothing in the whole universe but a little spot. There is no meaning and we don't have any answers to anything.

Answer 10

Religion = ideas about things we don't know.

What is wrong with having an idea? Should we insist not to speculate? What good would that do?

Answer 11

Well, because they are people and people have something called ego's and pride. These people are more concerned about being right so they are not willing to change and let go of pride or ego.