Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Atheist Princess on March 28, 2010 at 6:18pm

i belive in ghosts and aliens and big foot and the loch nest monster and alternet universes!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on March 28, 2010 at 6:21pm

I also believe in the Alternet universe, or at least... I know it exists.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Robert M. Reed on July 6, 2010 at 12:26pm

Your silly girl! ;) I believe that aspeagus tastes good, tho I know a great many who dissagree...

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Djeezus Kryst on June 12, 2011 at 12:08am

"alternate"

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Djeezus Kryst on June 12, 2011 at 12:09am

"Loch Ness"

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jacob Eskridge on March 28, 2010 at 7:13pm

I believe in the possibility of aliens existing. Though, that is not to say that I believe they have visited our planet, or that they are even a form of life capable of doing so.

I don't believe that "universal" constants are quite that. I find it quite possible that, say, the speed of light, could be different elsewhere in our universe. Again, this does not mean that I think that the rules that hold true in our part of the universe can be broken elsewhere. Only bent a little.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by jakeatkisson on March 30, 2010 at 2:31am

While I eagerly entertain a great many speculations, hopes and thoughts on things, I have very little belief in many of them. For example, aliens, bigfoot, rogue plesiosaurs and magic.

Aliens? Well...I actually commit myself to a certain degree of belief on the topic of aliens, as the /observable/ universe is REALLY FARKING HUGE. Thousands (THOUSANDS!) of galaxies, each with tens upon tens of billions of stars.

Even if there were just one planet hosting life roughly comparable to ours in each of those galaxies (only one, mind you; one single, lonely little planet in the vastness of an entire galaxy), that's still thousands of worlds.

The probability of sentient life comparable unto our own, at least in terms of sophistication and relative development, is almost certain. The possibility of life far more sophisticated and long-developed than our own, also entirely possible and by no means too much of an illogical notion to invest some limited belief in the probability of.

Bigfoot? I can't help but feel that we'd have found bigfoot by now if there were any bigfeet to find, or at least evidence in the forms of remains or what-have-you for them. I can't entirely discount the possibility; there could be bigfeet in the world; but I'd have to peg it as being a remarkably slim chance that bigfoot is worth investing much belief in.

Loch Ness monster? Now, that's a rather believable and possible thing right there. Creatures of several varieties survived the eons on unto the present. Plesiosaurs very well might have as well, at least in certain places. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that there might very well be beasties from times never even remotely known by mankind still bobbing about on their merry ways in remote depths we landcrawlers cannot traverse with any ease at all.

Do I -believe- in Nessy? I can't really say that I do or that I don't; frankly, I don't really, actually care. The ruddy buggers would never let me ride the dang thing even if it were proven, captured and put in a zoo, so it's really not of any meaningful consequence to me.


Similarly, it wouldn't really alter much in the world if Nessy were 'proven'. Proving bigfoot would at least provide some fiery-edged contention to the notion that we're the only 'advanced' animals on earth, as the bigfoot species would have to be pretty damn clever, aware and cunning to have avoided positive identification and location for this long.

Deliberately clever, specifically aware of at least compelling reasons to avoid we humans and cunning enough to pull it off, that is to say. It almost defies credibility to consider, as it frequently proves difficult for even 'lost tribes' of humans to remain hidden in the face of determined searches, and we've found some pretty wild and archaic tribes off in South America.

But never Bigfoot.

So, onto 'magic'. Just what would magic be, anyway? I'm an avid RPG gamer, sci-fi/fiction reader and hobbyist author, as well as an autodidactic scholar of numerous philosophies and religions, including several that hinge on out-and-out 'magical' practices.

Fantasy-grade magic? Nah. I don't have even one vague reason to believe in anything like that, and honestly, very little desire to. I think of D&D wizards, and I think of what a world government would be able to do with spells like, oh...Mass Domination. Telepathy. Geas.

No. Just ...no. I don't believe in such powers as that, and I'm glad they don't (as far as I know) exist outside fanciful stories.

Magic as is (very loosely) defined by various religious bodies? It all looks like poetic, ritualized self-hypnosis, autosuggestion and psychological self-manipulation to me, as I can (and for some hypothetical testing purposes, have) replicate a great deal of it with none of their rituals or prescribed methods (where and as such are applicable).

Most such practices seem to hinge upon the power of suggestion and/or the suggestibility of another, which plays right back into the power of belief.

And upon that topic, I say that I firmly believe by merit of direct, frequently tested observation that belief holds power in the concerns of the individual. What you believe and why you believe it do matter, and are very important, for nearly innumerable and oft' unquantifiable reasons.

I have no particular reason to believe that any of these are not couched in the psyche, but it does lend some very valid consideration to the power of the psyche in regards to the self.

You can kill yourself by believing strongly enough that you are dying, for example. Seen it bloody happen in the case of a perfectly healthy woman who convinced herself that she was having a heart attack (incidentally, this was when I was a teenager and well before I was involved in any deliberately rigorous scientific practices).

The woman in question was the older sister of one of my close friends, who was a rather direly acute hypochondriac. Time and time again, she'd been diagnosed with a clean bill of health, and every other week, she'd conjure up a new, iron-clad certainty for why she was on the verge of dying.

She behaved in every instance as though it were all real. For her, I think it -was- real; real, and entirely self-inflicted through no overtly conscious decision of her own. In the end, she did in fact die on the way to the hospital during her final 'episode'.

The autopsy report, given some weeks later? Atrial fibrillation. She'd panicked to such a degree that she'd literally sent her own body into what appeared to be shock, and then into fibrillation.

I've since seen various animals do the exact same thing when sufficiently frightened or startled, most notably rabbits and the occasional bird.

So, I would attribute a very real and very observably interactive power to belief in respect to one's own state of being and health...though beyond this?

To attribute it with powers over others, or over events in the world around us without intermediary, manual actions to bring them about (such as 'willing' a fork to bend without grabbing the thing and bending it as one example)? Nah.

I've never seen anything to suggest that it goes so far as all that...nor, honestly, that it really needs to. We can bloody kill ourselves if we believe strongly and forcefully enough that we are dying.

What -else- might we accomplish within the confines of our own selves as such? Could we figure out how to believe ourselves into better health rather than simply antagonize our physiological functions into distress or even outright failure? As an aside, might the much-lauded (and never really proven) 'benefits of prayer' to the health of an individual find root in this potential phenomenon?

I prefer to invest my time and energy into exploring such things as that right there as opposed to trying to figure out if we can will a fireball into existence and fling it at the jerk driving 25 mph in front of us in a clearly posted 45 mph zone.

Cheers!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rachelle Smith on March 30, 2010 at 3:31am

I believe in now.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by damian on March 30, 2010 at 7:44am

uh oh, here it goes. I believe that pets will develop language in the distant future.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Nicole on March 30, 2010 at 11:42am

It would require further development of the brain and vocal cords first. >.>

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rob van Senten on March 30, 2010 at 10:28am

Belief only exists in the absence of evidence, usually it's based upon (at best) incomplete data and shoddy hypotheses that relate more to people's inner feelings then it does to reality.

Therefor i try to limit my beliefs as much as possible. Of course for those who know Descartes, we all make assumptions. Personally i believe the following assumptions to be true:
- I belief that the universe exists
- I belief that it's possible to learn something about the universe by means of Physical Evidence And Reasoned Logic (PEARL)

People that cannot investigate reality beyond their comfort zone are often left with belief. Those who are capable of pushing their boundaries are left with a better understanding of physical reality.

I prefer the stone cold truth above the warm and fuzzy blanket of ignorance.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James on March 31, 2010 at 10:58pm

I believe that Ricky Martin is secretly straight.

I believe Elvis and Tupac are kicking it at Biggie's house in Cuba

I believe that if your gonna kick out illegal immigrants you should start with the FIRST ONES..... ;)

I believe cookie dough ice cream is superior to all other ice creams

I believe Jesus was not a finger baby

I believe the word "fiddle sticks" can be used in almost every instance where the word "god" is used

I believe Lil' Wayne was the death of hip-hop

I believe that I went to war for reasons the government will not admit

I believe that J.LO is hot

I think that's about all that I don't have proof for......OH!!!

I believe that some diseases ie AIDS HIV CANCER where created by the government

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• …
• 12
• Next ›
• Page