“My gut reaction is to say that it only comes through cultural indoctrination,…” - CJ
First, even the notion of ‘cultural indoctrination’ itself is but a small subset of what I said…”previous experience(s)”. So in this respect, we are on the same page. “… that an unexposed child would never form an idea of God….” – CJ Well, as interesting and apparently cogent as this is, there are numerous issues with what you suggest, this even though I have suggested the very same thing elsewhere…using a smiley. First, we are dealing with your gut reaction, so how should I come to accept what you propose? Yes, as I said, it appears to be cogent and I have that notion within my psyche, however, considering just a couple of obvious issues one would most likely reject it as being reality. First, there is nothing at all that would preclude such a hypothetical child from questioning how everything that they perceive came about and then attributing such a creation to some more powerful and perhaps parent like figure..such a figure that due to their powers must be of at least one level higher than human beings. That is, god or a god. Of course, I am not presenting my personal belief here nor even that this is a probability, just one possibility that arises in my thinking. There are countless other possibilities too…some supporting a deity and some not. Also, said hypothetical might not even question how stuff came to be! Now, going beyond this level of analysis, what you suggest is absolutely impossible just by using common sense. IF this hypothetical unexposed child, and by extension, all unexposed children never form an/any idea of god or even of a god, the fact that much of humanity now holds such ideas/beliefs could never have come into existence. Yes, I know that there could be some explanations to show how this has happened, but none that make much sense, at least not to me if one accepts your premise. [Yes, I know there are defined types of argumentation that would say not to accept generalizing from a specific...try to roll with it for now, OK?] Now, when you have studied recollection, a notion I pointed at earlier, yet another reason for the notion of god coming about could be seen. I think I remember Neil debunking it long ago, but there it is as a possibility anyway. On Jul 30, 9:54 pm, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > My gut reaction is to say that it only comes through cultural > indoctrination, that an unexposed child would never form an idea of God. > I'll have to find some time for heavy reading for your suggested sources > before I get back to the topic. Having moved this week, I'm still living out > of boxes, and my bookshelf is still in the garage. > > On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 12:45 AM, ornamentalmind > <[email protected]>wrote: > > > > > > > “..so where does the knowledge come from?...” – CJ > > > The obvious answer was to be found within my post: > > “…previous experience(s),…” > > > More esoteric answers require much more space…like a new topic. > > > One quick example could be seen as Plato’s notion of ‘recollection’ as > > found in the words he gives to Socrates. > > See his “Meno” and his “Phaedo” to start with. > > > On Jul 30, 7:55 pm, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I'm digging on this...you have to know it to not believe it, so where > > does > > > the knowledge come from? *idea sort of forming* > > > Am I on the right track? > > > > On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 10:46 PM, ornamentalmind > > > <[email protected]>wrote: > > > > > Due to the heat where I live (106 yesterday), I almost don’t have the > > > > energy to engage in theology discussions today…and… > > > > (Here it comes again for the old timers here! ;-) ) > > > > > I am a sort of a Gnostic/atheist….if one must assign terms. When it > > > > comes to belief(s), the very notion of belief leaves me perplexed. I > > > > can say that things I know about I can decide to give attention to. > > > > Also, other things I know about I can not give attention to. In both > > > > cases, one must have some knowledge/wisdom about the notion in > > > > question. > > > > > I project on others that they too must have some sort of notion of > > > > what god must be/be like…what attributes are involved. This I find to > > > > be the case whether they are theistic or atheistic. So, again in both > > > > cases, the person knows about the thing being addressed, god in this > > > > context. Some decide, based on some previous experience(s), to reject > > > > the notion and others decide to embrace it. For me, the main question > > > > here is what has led to the ‘now’ that produces a choice? An adjunct > > > > question involves the above named attributes…but that is not the > > > > foundation of this question. It does need to be addressed for people > > > > to be clear in interaction about the divine though. > > > > > I’ll stop here and see if anyone wishes to continue… > > > > > On Jul 30, 12:11 pm, deripsni <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > HaHa Yes, it's a good replacement for normalcy as well. However, what > > > > > some people consider weird, others consider normal, so it's really > > > > > relegated to ones perception. And I agree about the problem of > > > > > understanding religion through "normal" eyes. > > > > > > On Jul 30, 2:17 pm, Lonlaz <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > I find weirdness relieving. I think it's because it gives me a > > break > > > > > > from tirelessly (without tires) trying to make sense of everything. > > > > > > This is especially helpful when it comes to religion.- Hide quoted > > text > > > > - > > > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
