markdohle's Blog

All beliefs are a madness unto itself. 

40 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

All beliefs are a madness unto itself. 

Billions of people experience the spiritual, or as it was put so nicely above: sense the sacred.

It's simply not objective to dismiss them all as insane. Even if you suffer from the spiritual disability.

Imagine a blind man accusing those who can see that they're insane when they claim eyes have purpose and visual information can guide you through space. 

Then a shared madness. Riding the emotional rollercoaster of belief. 

How's that for the 'sacred'. 

1 hour ago, XenoFish said:

Then a shared madness. Riding the emotional rollercoaster of belief. 

How's that for the 'sacred'. 

It's rather irrational on your part, to be honest.

Do you ever stop to think - what if majority of the human race is right and the handful of nihilists is wrong? 

Besides, it never felt as an rollercoaster in my case. I just know because I can feel. It's very simple and very constant. My rationale changes somewhat with years, but the feeling does not. I'm connected. We all are. Sometimes that connection can even be seen in various 'coincidences' and synchronicity. Little signs of order in seeming chaos.

We're so young - intellectually and spiritually - we don't really know anything yet. It's no wonder we get confused so easily. And with confusion comes frustration. I think that in this particular life I've managed to make a small step towards realisation that the source of my frustration lies mostly within myself, so I'm trying to learn to go with the flow sometimes.       

 

Also, are you aware that you can draw the attention of others to yourself with positive approach too? Your constant negative nagging is truly one of the fastest ways to have everyone's attention, but it's also guaranteed to drive people away at record speed, you know. 

Come on, you're intelligent, you can say something constructive too. Or god forbid friendly. Try it, you might like it. Seriously.  

Spirituality is nothing more than an emotional response to belief. That's it. A feeling generated because you believe something to be true, regardless if it is true or not. That's spirituality in a nutshell. 

1 hour ago, XenoFish said:

Spirituality is nothing more than an emotional response to belief. That's it. A feeling generated because you believe something to be true, regardless if it is true or not. That's spirituality in a nutshell. 

If you wish to believe it is so, contrary to the evidence in form of entire human experience during the whole history, who am I to stop you?

I'd just note that there are far more logical and healthier beliefs out there. 

Just because a collective believes something to be true, doesn't make it true. God if it exist, doesn't care. People worship ideas. 

1 hour ago, XenoFish said:

Just because a collective believes something to be true, doesn't make it true.

True  

But since any given collective during the entire history came up with pretty similar conclusions, we would be idiots if we would dismiss it all, just because we can't measure it with currently existing units. 

 

Quote

God if it exist, doesn't care. People worship ideas. 

Ah, so you do allow the possibility of the existence of the higher power. That's much more logical than dogmatic atheism/materialism/whatnot 

So, if there's this all-encompassing, impossible to describe especially in short, higher power that we call god/gods... how can you assume it doesn't care? We're not just within in, we're part of it. Only we were given own existences, own free will, to make it better. Which were the fun starts, by the way, with that free will... not that I would give up mine, but there's a lot of work when you're free to make you own choices. 

Anyway, I'm so glad there's a little spark of hope inside you. I promise not to tell anyone   

 

There really isn't any hope within me. 

30 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

There really isn't any hope within me. 

I know it's sometimes easier without hope. It can be a wise temporary decision, that can help us cope with truly hopeless situations. 

But it's neither wise nor logical to lose hope in the meaningfulness of life, after discovering it's tough.

Is a journey worthless and devoid of meaning if it was difficult? Personally, I remember the toughest trails more fondly than simple walks, which are mostly forgotten. And I learned more from the situations that went wrong.  

Which is why I get sightly confused when people claim there can be no God because they are not having it easy enough. It's sort of... the other way around, I think... if someone wants you to develop, grow in strength and confidence... they'll take you uphill, not let you roll down like any turd can.  

There is no true meaning in life. None can every be found. Even the artificial meanings are just illusions, even delusions. I can't pretend some higher power cares about me or anyone for that matter. I just don't see it. So I can't delude myself into believing it. Hope is an expectation, expectations are a disappointment waiting to happen. 

Xeno, good hearing from you.  Your beliefs are also emotional, and irrational.   When you say there is no true meaning in life, you are speaking for yourself, for that is a subjective experience........It is obvious to me that the universe is filled with intelligence, and people experience all of the time, though your own thought on the matter may be different, which is ok.  Your unbelief is a form of security blanket for you, so you will not be hurt again, or disappointed.  Soooo, how do you like me telling you why you believe the way you do......probably not very much....well perhaps others do not like being told why they believe either.  Faith in God goes way beyond the simplistic responses that many give who are not believers themselves. 

 

peace
mark

1 hour ago, XenoFish said:

There is no true meaning in life. None can every be found. Even the artificial meanings are just illusions, even delusions. I can't pretend some higher power cares about me or anyone for that matter. I just don't see it. So I can't delude myself into believing it. Hope is an expectation, expectations are a disappointment waiting to happen. 

 Forgive me for laughing, but basically, you just said you can't see the forest from all these trees. Damn trees! Where's that forest these insane people are talking about! No forest! Only trees! *bong* and another one...

 

Well, like I said, who am I to tell you what you'll believe... and you won't believe me, but I don't just believe, I know, because I feel and what I feel is not mere self-delusion, because there are these little synchronicities swarming around us each time we open up to that, that has no scientific definition and what truly contains this painful but interesting material world. (Not that I base my opinion on synchronicities alone, but they are nice little sort of indication if not the 'proof' of order, thus the meaning, the 'sceptical' people want to see.)

 

Anyway, I have to go now. Which is one pleasant surprise and it proves you shouldn't be so afraid of disappointments, since, obviously, miracles do happen too  

And I'll add this about disappointment:

The disappointments hardest to bear are those which never come.

11 minutes ago, markdohle said:

Xeno, good hearing from you.  Your beliefs are also emotional, and irrational.   When you say there is no true meaning in life, you are speaking for yourself, for that is a subjective experience

You like the rest of us were born into this world with no set purpose or a defined meaning to your existence, same for all of us. There is no meaning to it at all. All meanings are artificial. Something that you create or that is drilled into your head. 

........It is obvious to me that the universe is filled with intelligence, and people experience all of the time, though your own thought on the matter may be different, which is ok.  Your unbelief is a form of security blanket for you, so you will not be hurt again, or disappointed. 

All of that is just associations people wish to apply the universe in order to make sense of it. My "unbelief" is based on how results are extremely lacking in regards to god's supposed power. 

Soooo, how do you like me telling you why you believe the way you do......probably not very much....well perhaps others do not like being told why they believe either.  Faith in God goes way beyond the simplistic responses that many give who are not believers themselves. 

I honestly don't care at all. If others do not like my opinion that's on them. Faith in a god any god is just an emotional need for control, power, and meaning to a finite and ultimately pointless existence. It's the results of indoctrination into a belief system. False hope.

 

peace
mark

 

 

3 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

I honestly don't care at all.

'scuse me for posting after I said I'm gone   but I must note that you post awfully lot for someone who doesn't care at all. 

All right, now I'm gone. 

10 minutes ago, Helen of Annoy said:

 Forgive me for laughing, but basically, you just said you can't see the forest from all these trees. Damn trees! Where's that forest these insane people are talking about! No forest! Only trees! *bong* and another one...

 

Well, like I said, who am I to tell you what you'll believe... and you won't believe me, but I don't just believe, I know, because I feel and what I feel is not mere self-delusion, because there are these little synchronicities swarming around us each time we open up to that, that has no scientific definition and what truly contains this painful but interesting material world. (Not that I base my opinion on synchronicities alone, but they are nice little sort of indication if not the 'proof' of order, thus the meaning, the 'sceptical' people want to see.)

 

Anyway, I have to go now. Which is one pleasant surprise and it proves you shouldn't be so afraid of disappointments, since, obviously, miracles do happen too  

I've chosen not the wear the same rose-tinted glasses are you. And a lot of others like yourself. You are no one to tell me what to believe. Even you admit it's a feeling. 

1 minute ago, Helen of Annoy said:

 

'scuse me for posting after I said I'm gone   but I must note that you post awfully lot for someone who doesn't care at all. 

All right, now I'm gone. 

It's funny really. I do not agree with or accept the beliefs of a cult and I'm the bad guy. I'm not a part of the herd mentality that is for the religious. You are trying to rid the high road. Good luck with that. 

1 hour ago, XenoFish said:

I've chosen not the wear the same rose-tinted glasses are you. And a lot of others like yourself. You are no one to tell me what to believe. Even you admit it's a feeling. 

Aaaaand I'm back because you quoted me, which I understood as your desire to keep talking to me.  

 

Well, yes, that's exactly what I told you few times now... who am I to tell you what to believe. But I think the same about your right to tell others what to believe - you do not have that power. Each decides on their own. 

As you might have noticed, I find your need to inform others that you've decided there's no meaning to life, quite amusing. Thousands of years, billions of lives, reaching near identical conclusions - it's all dismissed, Xeno has decided - you are all deluded, only he's got the answer and the answer is that the Universe is meaningless  

Forgive me laughing, again, but it's so... *shakes head*

Actually, I will tell you openly what I think it is. It's hilariously egocentric. 

 

1 hour ago, XenoFish said:

It's funny really. I do not agree with or accept the beliefs of a cult and I'm the bad guy. I'm not a part of the herd mentality that is for the religious. You are trying to rid the high road. Good luck with that. 

You're not the bad guy. You're the complaining guy.

We're all confused and frustrated, each to own extent. You've chosen to stick to that unfortunate pattern of reaction to frustration: blaming and complaining to no end.

I keep suspecting that you actually wish to hear why you're wrong. But it's not something that can be told. It has to be experienced. Nothing stops you, at your own pace. In the meantime, you'll keep complaining, of course, which is understandable to some extent, but it's not really productive. 

2 minutes ago, Helen of Annoy said:

s you might have noticed, I find your need to inform others that you've decided there's no meaning to life, quite amusing. Thousands of years, billions of lives, reaching near identical conclusions - it's all dismissed, Xeno has decided - you are all deluded, only he's got the answer and the answer is that the Universe is meaningless 

Our brains are meaning making machines and we love patterns. By default there is no meaning, point, or purpose for our existence. This is the default. It is only through our definitions that things take shape. This is meaningful, that is meaningful, etc. But those things, whatever they be, are only as meaningful as the value we place upon them. Without that value they are meaningless, even with that value by the nature of the thing it is meaningless. There is no point to our existence, we simply exist. However once we define our existence by whatever value appeals the emotions. Same goes for the point/purpose to existence. It is only through how we define it that it has definition. What you have chosen to do, like so many others, it create the illusion of meaning. By following what someone else has decided it should be.

This is called Bad Faith. By attaching yourself to the ideologies of others, you have refused to define your own course. Instead following the wide path. My problem is an existential one, knowing that life has no meaning yet striving to give it meaning. Tossed between bad faith and embracing The Absurd.

Nothing is true, everything is permitted. 

Do not think me an ignorant fool. That I am somehow stupid and blind. That is a mistake. 

13 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

Our brains are meaning making machines and we love patterns. By default there is no meaning, point, or purpose for our existence. This is the default. It is only through our definitions that things take shape. This is meaningful, that is meaningful, etc. But those things, whatever they be, are only as meaningful as the value we place upon them. Without that value they are meaningless, even with that value by the nature of the thing it is meaningless. There is no point to our existence, we simply exist. However once we define our existence by whatever value appeals the emotions. Same goes for the point/purpose to existence. It is only through how we define it that it has definition. What you have chosen to do, like so many others, it create the illusion of meaning. By following what someone else has decided it should be.

This is called Bad Faith. By attaching yourself to the ideologies of others, you have refused to define your own course. Instead following the wide path. My problem is an existential one, knowing that life has no meaning yet striving to give it meaning. Tossed between bad faith and embracing The Absurd.

Nothing is true, everything is permitted. 

Do not think me an ignorant fool. That I am somehow stupid and blind. That is a mistake. 

Ah, so the philosophy can be trusted, as long as it supports the meaningless opinion. 

You don't notice there's certain... subjectivity on your part?  

I don't think you're stupid. I already told you I think you're smart. Which is why I'm convinced you'll grow out of this complaining and negative attention seeking phase of yours.  

Hopefully sooner than later  

Well if we didnt believe in the sacred like the other dimensions such as heaven and hell, the possibilities of miracles then we wouldnt be in the unexplained-mysteries would we now... a fantastic book is homodeous which explains how we are progressing as a society and how we can rationalize some mysteries from within that are manifested for unknown reasons. But the idea of why humans are leaving the notion of the divine is because we are now taking that role by being the creators with technology so now there is a greater  non acceptance of spirituality. Not to mention that people are more progressive and a lot of spirituality is dominated by religious groups or groups nonetheless that umbrella existence as this or that but we can all agree that there's more than one way to interpret this life we all live. Not that I care whether you agree or not ha! 

what do they say, laugh and the world laughs with you, cry, and you cry alone. The world doesn't need "misery guts". The best thing to help you feel better, is to help make others feel better, and there are always plenty with that need.

Our human compassion is one of the best things about us. 

 

The widespread and growing and always increasingly adamant denial of God and the repudiation of the spiritual dimension can be difficult to comprehend.

Is it really that difficult to comprehend as the population becomes more educated?  Gone are the days when the Church held that advantage.

It has long seemed to me that the inability to sense the sacred is a disability.

The lack of critical thinking is a far more debilitating disability.