Are You Religious
- Thread starter Gillythedilf
- Start date
zinedine
Striker
Like all the religion threads. Most of them are started to get arguments going but nobody says anything new. Like the TV licence threads, they're all the same.
Mercia Blackcat
Striker
One of the problems is that the word religious covers such a huge scope of beliefs and non-beliefs. From full blown theists that believe every word of the Bible and claim it was divinely inspired and transmitted to atheist religions like Buddhism that believe there is no god or soul but do believe in celestial deities and reincarnation. Then there are those that accept no real supernatural deities exist at all which they see as simply personifications of natural forces. Where does it begin and end. We never get there but always end up stuck somewhere around the Abrahamic religions which is to be expected because that is what we have learned about most in this country.
JonnotheMackem
Striker
"I'm religious"
"Well, I'm an intellectual genius and everything is chemicals and you are stupid. Look at what the Church has done"
"Well it makes me a better person"
"Well I'm a good person without religion and I am also very intelligent"
High Entropy
Midfield
You're using confirmation bias to suggests it applies to all, when it doesn't. Not all chimps make shrines, not all dolphins get stoned, not all wildebeest risk their lives for their pal - If three different stars blink at me in morse code does that mean all stars blink in morse code.
JonMc
Striker
Neither do all humans. But there is scope for those mammals that feel the need to experiment and do things that make no sense. Likewise with our more developed imaginations we are free to do do the same, and with our developed communication skills we can transmit illogical ideas further.
High Entropy
Midfield
Not all mammals are self aware and man/animals don't really revel in making illogical decisions, there's usually a reason and just because we don't know the reason doesn't mean Chimps believe in god.
tbh I don't even know what you're point is.
JonMc
Striker
I never said that chimps believe in God. Just that some of them do things that aren't logical.
High Entropy
Midfield
How do you know it isn't logical ?
dangermows
Striker
Atheists are always bullying the believers.
hank williams
Striker
I gan to to church but only to chat up the women after & get free wine too 
JonMc
Striker
Where is the logic in wasting time and effort with no logical meaning? A chimp's artistic appreciation society?
High Entropy
Midfield
How do you know it's wasting time and effort, you're just assuming. Google suggests we don't know why they do it but it might be this and it might be that, we call it a shrine because that's what it looks like to us but we don't actually know the what & why.
Even if it is illogical what is your point ?
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jjarra_mackem
Winger
Nope. Hope this helps
Kent_Mackem
Striker
There are very few mammals that are self-aware. It is an exclusive club of which we are members.
Hmmmm.... more straws than the Wizard of Oz scarecrow there mind
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JonMc
Striker
The point is that some mammals display illogical behaviours and trying to persuade some human mammals to think and behave logically is futile. We are a successful species without being a specifically logical species and that's all that counts. We step up to the mark when it comes to problem solving but so do some birds.
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Kent_Mackem
Striker
Do you really think we are a successful species?
In evolutionary terms, a couple of hundred thousand years into the race, we're not even on the scoreboard. Several species of reptiles and insects are orders of magnitude more successful than we are in terms of survival. They will outlast us when we destroy ourselves.
In terms of pure numbers we are top table but is that a good thing? Is it a success? I'd argue it is our greatest threat going forwards.
So what constitutes success? Walking on The Moon? Destroying thousands of other species that share our planet? Splitting the atom? That's going to end well eventually. Being able to talk? Religion? Art? Raging huge and frequent wars amongst ourselves?
We're vermin and scum from the rest of the planet's perspective. We can count on one (or maybe two) hands other species that have benefitted from ourselves. Rats for example... that speaks wonders. We won't be around in such numbers in tens or (if we are lucky) hundreds of years from now. We have no chance of making the millions club like so many other genuinely successful species have.
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High Entropy
Midfield
I couldn't disagree more, we are a successful species only because we're adaptable, we problem solve and being logical is the most efficient method to basic problem solving. The goal is to be more logical, not hang onto illogical things, we have evolved and co-operated to become very good at problem solving using logic, it follows that illogical things will fall by the way-side, like fairies, magic & gods.
They can't be all real, the millions of versions of a caretaker of the universe we have invented.
JonMc
Striker
Yes. We have spread from a couple of African tribes to global domination and if we survive ourselves that could become interplanetary. We might not have survived the test of time like sharks have but we've been successful enough to impact on the species even though we don't live in their space. Unless we problem solve and then we can live quite comfortably in their space.
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Mercia Blackcat
Striker
We do know one thing, that the time will come when we dissolve into emptiness. That we live a temporary existence in a temporary world.
