As an atheist (or metaphysical naturalist to be specific) I've arrived at my philosophy/ideology by analysing me and the world around me. More than often I've questioned many things in my enviroment, even miniscule things, so that I may reach the conclusion most satisfactory (satisfactory in the sense of most accurate according to evidence and logic).
I care passionately about the truth, perhaps even too passionately, and I do at times reach conclusions I don't like because of this, even though I end up ignoring my feelings on the matter and attempt to stay as realistic as possible.
There are certain dogmas I still hold which I have yet to explore more fully to be certain of, but I do know that my way of seeing the world was ultimately the road to my atheism. Yet I wonder if that is true. If I question, explore and evolve my belief system to a certain point, isn't it reasonable to assume others do as well? Are there faiths which in my eyes are ridiculous which has been arrived at through the same method as myself?
Basically I have come to doubt if any arrival I make will be an accurate one, and it is only lately that I've realized that the price for truth is uncertainty. What that means is that I can't arrive at anything, because there'll always be a certain probability involved; nothing is 100% certain. Yet even upon realizing this I remain in my position of metaphysical naturalism. It seems I have come to the conclusion that this is the most probable "truth" out there.
It's an endless human endevour to seek truth; to end up in a place of mental satisfaction; to reach a conclusion. The end of the line, or one's stop.
Are we all wrong in walking out of the train at the station one finds most satisfactory? Are all beliefs, philosophies, ideologies, etc inherently of the same character? Are all, some, none or only one of them correct?
They all hold their place in the human world, but they are certainly not all true. I've always maintained stuborn separating fact from ficiton, reality from fantasy. We all rationalize our beliefs, but do any of us rationalize our rationalizations? I know I do, because I keep riding the train uncertain if I even want to stop anywhere.
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Thread questions:
What is the catalyst for which you arrive at your stop? What are your reasons?
How do you view your own rationalizations, and how do you view other rationalizations?
Do you trust your own conclusions?
Have you reached your conclusions based upon what you feel, based upon evidence and logic or perhaps a mixture of both?
Are feelings holding you back from making other conclusions? How do you rationalize this?
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Not sure if this belongs more in the Philosophy forum, but it does basically address faith and reason. Things that have been discussed ruthlessly here for ages. The purpose of this thread is basically to make everyone doubt themselves.![]()
Give word if something needs clarification. My mind tends to wander off a bit sometimes.