Religious Beliefs

[Coco Pops]

My theory and unique take on human consciousness ........

My theory

Brain is little more then a very sensitive antenna array of over
a billion cells which picks up our consciousness as a radio would
tune in to your favourite station. Our bodies are little more then
a vehicle which this resides in and the actual consciousness that
is us sits in a small quantum pocket dimension which the brain
tunes into.

[Monbackey]

"Bad" stuff? Why be so judgemental? Has it ever been scientifically proven that death is bad for you? What reason do we have to assume that existence is good and non-existence is bad?

Hitting the ground at 124 mph will cause the human brain to be destroyed. No brain, no thought, no life. Hence, bad stuff.

[Womble]

All living things fight against non-existence, do they not?

But that is no proof that non-existence is bad. Living things tend to be shortsighted and fight against things that are meant to be good for them if the transition moment is associated with pain or inconvenience. If you don't believe me, try to give a cat a pill

P.S. Or try to give medical treatment to a crocodile

[Womble]

Hitting the ground at 124 mph will cause the human brain to be destroyed. No brain, no thought, no life. Hence, bad stuff.

And no life is a bad thing because...?

[Monbackey]

And no life is a bad thing because...?

LOL, because you are dead. Sure its not really a bad thing for you, because when you are not alive nothing "bad" can happen, but nothing good will happen either, because you're dead. And don't bring in heaven, because its something that was made up and not been proven despite the BILLIONS of people who have devoted their lives to the belief in it. Of course, I realize it is not my job to come in here and try to make people give up their beliefs in a book written thousands of years ago which they follow and devote themselves to.

If you don't believe me, try to give a cat a pill

I'm pretty sure cats have not evolved to the point they are over the past several thousand years with Homo Sapiens constantly shoving foreign objects down their throats. I don't see how ignoring self preservation is proof that something exists after death. If there is something so good after death, why don't people who believe it just go kill themselves? It's the instinct of self preservation that stops them, which should be prove enough that death should be feared by all living things, as they will not be able to procreate.

[Womble]

LOL, because you are dead. Sure its not really a bad thing for you, because when you are not alive nothing "bad" can happen, but nothing good will happen either, because you're dead.

Ah, but there is no symmetry here.

Bear with me for a moment:

1)Pain is always bad.
2)Absence of pain is always good. This includes the cases in which the source or the recipient of pain does not exist, as deprivation of pain still takes place. Were there no wasps, not getting stung would still have been a good thing.
3)Pleasure is always good.
4)Absence of pleasure is bad... UNLESS the source or the recipient of that pleasure does not exist, because in that case no deprivation is taking place. Were there no chocolate, you would not have been harmed by never knowing its taste. In this case, the absence of pleasure or other good things isn't bad, but neutral.

Relative quantities of pain and pleasure do not matter in either case, the principle remains the same.

Now, suppose you have a choice between two packages. One of them contains a good thing and a bad thing; the other contains a good thing and a neutral thing. Unless we make some sort of prior assumption that artificially assigns additional values to the things in question, the good+neutral package is logically to be preferred.

The first package, the good+bad one, is the one where we exist, as we are bound to experience both pleasure (good) and pain (bad) in some measure. The second package, one that contains no pain (good) but also no pleasure (neutral) is the one in which we do not exist.

I don't see how ignoring self preservation is proof that something exists after death.

It's not. It is merely a counterargument to s09119's claim that because living things tend to instinctively prefer existence over non-existence, it necessarily means that existence is the better option.

[jenks]

I don't see omnipotence as logically impossible. Also if God is omni-whatever, that would mean that God is infinite, and normal logic does not work when dealing with infinity. They said that over and over in my calculus classes.

I actually LOL'd when I read this, it's almost as pathetic as the 'god moves in mysterious ways' line. The problem is with omnipotence, no-one or no-thing can be omnipotent (all powerful), it's impossible and can contradict itself too easily. Answer me this, could god create a rule which he himself could not break?

Are you sure you are keeping the genera in mind when reading? Also in the original Hebrew many passages have patterns and other meanings.

Which meanings are the correct ones?

Knowing something is going to happen does not mean it is predetermined. It is also said that God is not bound to time, so he might see all events of time all at once.

Therefore they're predetermined.

Actually God knew evil would enter the world and planned out what he would do as well, he planned to send Jesus before the world was created. Also he doesn't exactly send people to hell. Hell is separation from God, and those that reject God are not forced to go to him.

Of course he did, because he allegedly made it that way! But why did he do that? If he's all powerful surely he could have stopped it?

[Ltcolshepjumper]

But that is no proof that non-existence is bad. Living things tend to be shortsighted and fight against things that are meant to be good for them if the transition moment is associated with pain or inconvenience. If you don't believe me, try to give a cat a pill

P.S. Or try to give medical treatment to a crocodile

So true. And, to be honest, non-existence is hard to desdcribe as good or bad. It certainly is not good, because it has no benefit. But, then it necessarily isn't bad, not fro the person who ceases to exist anyway. But, it would be bad for those who still do exist.

If you believe that there is nothing after death.

My theory and unique take on human consciousness ........

My theory

Brain is little more then a very sensitive antenna array of over
a billion cells which picks up our consciousness as a radio would
tune in to your favourite station. Our bodies are little more then
a vehicle which this resides in and the actual consciousness that
is us sits in a small quantum pocket dimension which the brain
tunes into.

I agree, sort of. Yes, the body is just a vehicle, but, it is inseparable from our consciousness (except, of course, you die). But what exactly is a consciousness? I believe it is a soul. Physically inseparable from the human body, but still a soul. Now, When a person dies, I believe that they do continue to exist, them being their soul, who they really are. The body decays, but the soul is eternal. So, death is this paradox of a good thing and a bad thing.

[AvatarIII]

My theory and unique take on human consciousness ........

My theory

Brain is little more then a very sensitive antenna array of over
a billion cells which picks up our consciousness as a radio would
tune in to your favourite station. Our bodies are little more then
a vehicle which this resides in and the actual consciousness that
is us sits in a small quantum pocket dimension which the brain
tunes into.

i like that theory, in fact it's very similar to the whole plot to one of my favourite books, however there is no way to prove or disprove it yet, so for now it will just stay a theory!

[Coco Pops]

i like that theory, in fact it's very similar to the whole plot to one of my favourite books, however there is no way to prove or disprove it yet, so for now it will just stay a theory!

I got the ideo for my theory from a little horror movie called
"shadowzone" where they were doing experiments on sleeping
people and dream states.

But things go horribly wrong when one of the beings from that
other dimension enter th e real world and run amok.. The ending
of the movie sees one of the creators of the experiment taken
away physically to the land of other consciousness by one of
these things.

[SoulReaver]

Answer me this, could god create a rule which he himself could not break?

religious beliefs aside (personally I'm neither atheist nor religious), the answer would be no

(and 10/1 I know what you're gonna say next )

[AvatarIII]

I got the ideo for my theory from a little horror movie called
"shadowzone" where they were doing experiments on sleeping
people and dream states.

But things go horribly wrong when one of the beings from that
other dimension enter th e real world and run amok.. The ending
of the movie sees one of the creators of the experiment taken
away physically to the land of other consciousness by one of
these things.

wow, extremely similar...
the books are called the nights dawn trilogy, about when there is a dimensional breach and human souls that have passed onto the dimension known as "the beyond" begin to possess living humans and they run amok!

[2ndgenerationalteran]

I know theres a diety out there but he is definately not benevolent. Every time i think i have something it is snatched away, so frequently i simply dont really give a **** about religion anymore. If that ******* God really loves his people he will stop ****ing with their lives, its not called testing its sadistic humor. And if he stops maybe i wont be a heathen. Son of a ***** made me this way...

[Coco Pops]

I know theres a diety out there but he is definately not benevolent. Every time i think i have something it is snatched away, so frequently i simply dont really give a **** about religion anymore. If that ******* God really loves his people he will stop ****ing with their lives, its not called testing its sadistic humor. And if he stops maybe i wont be a heathen. Son of a ***** made me this way...

Oooh sounds like my life .....

Every time I get intimate or close to someone or such they seem
to get snatched away in some other activity or they meet another
person.... Happens every single time just about......

[2ndgenerationalteran]

how about getting close to some one but the day you are planning to ask her out your parents tell you first thing when you wake up that they probably will separate. Your day goes sour then but you eventually shake it off though your chance is spoiled. An opportunity arises again and you try to seize it but a pattern is seeming to repeat its self?