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| Author | Topic: Mysterious Questions, Mysterious Answers and Supernaturalism | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Phat Member  Posts: 18350 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
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Phat Member Posts: 18350 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0
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Phat Member Posts: 18350 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
Really, Jon. It is bad form to challenge the point of a topic originating from someone else! It seems clear enough to me.
Rahvin writes: Where does the Sun go at night, and what makes it move across the sky?Why do earthquakes happen? How did all of the numerous varieties of life come to be? These are (or were, once upon a time) all mysterious questions that inspired human curiosity for millenia. A thousand years ago, the answers to these questions were much different from the answers we would give today. Thus, the type of answers Rahvin prefers are answers that are supportable...backed by replicable and unbiased evidence or constructed understanding.
Rahvin writes: What is a mysterious answer? A mysterious answer is an answer lacking in explanatory or predictive power. A mysterious answer is one that does not increase our understanding of the question it attempts to answer, and instead often utilizes vague, poorly defined (if defined at all) terms as a sort of password to stop further investigation and shut down curiosity. At its heart, a mysterious answer is one that appeals to an emotional sense of satisfaction rather than an actual increase in intellectual understanding. I will say that Rahvin believes that human beings are uncomfortable with the unknown, but I would argue that some of us are comfortable with the unknown as it speaks of something or someone greater than human wisdom and reasoning as the cause and source behind it.
Rahvin writes: you cannot answer a mysterious question with a mysterious answer. Good point. If I ask a rational question...say...why are humans greedy, for example...I can choose either a rational answer or a mysterious answer. I would add that if I asked a mysterious question...I would usually conclude that I did not know.
Rahvin writes: Some of us may believe that since we cant know everything, why try. Others would say that "God knows everything.." (Mysterious Answer) which stops all further investigation. Still others would discard the mysterious answers for good...continuing to press forward with rationality. The question for this thread is why people will accept mysterious answers and stop their curiosity when even a few minutes' thought plainly shows that the answer did not actually increase understanding. oh and BTW, Jon. Jon writes: There is certainly no other reason to have started this thread other than to have made a bunch of ridiculous claims about the nature of answers, curiosity, etc. that you knew would rile up those with whom you disagree only to charge anyone of those opponents who attempted to reply to those claims with being off-topic, thus being able to infuriate those folk. So, what is the 'real' topic here? The real topic is framed by Rahvin and Rahvin alone. We can but comment and ask for clarification in a polite and respectful manner. Now lets allow the man to further refine his topic, shall we? 
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Phat Member Posts: 18350 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
It is interesting that you placed this topic in Faith/Belief.
Lets continue this discussion.
What is a mysterious answer? A mysterious answer is an answer lacking in explanatory or predictive power. A mysterious answer is one that does not increase our understanding of the question it attempts to answer, and instead often utilizes vague, poorly defined (if defined at all) terms as a sort of password to stop further investigation and shut down curiosity. At its heart, a mysterious answer is one that appeals to an emotional sense of satisfaction rather than an actual increase in intellectual understanding. One could argue that Faith/Belief in general appeal to an emotional sense of satisfaction, however. On the other hand, God may well desire us as humans to ask questions and further our knowledge. Critics may argue that science and faith are incompatible. On the other hand, why would we even have a brain were we not expected to use it?
Rahvin writes: I agree, but in defense of my faith I find that having no answers hampers my ability to explain my beliefs to others. Simply saying that I believe X because the Bible says this and such is a usual part of the process of explanation regarding my faith. To simply state that GOD if GOD exists is unknowable and that evidence and scientific methodology is all that we have to work with seems to me to at best describe a religion of doubt.
Human beings are uncomfortable with the unknown. Our greatest weakness with regard to rational thought is not that we posses the capacity (and willingness) to make up stories to fill in those unknowns, but rather in our ability to feel satisfied with those stories to the point that we stop investigating mysterious phenomenon even when we still don't have a real explanation. In the case of religion, investigation (and especially the answers gained from further investigation when they contradict existing dogma) has historically been actively resisted in favor of the mysterious answer. despite resistance to discard those emotionally satisfying answers, you cannot answer a mysterious question with a mysterious answer. It's not really an answer at all. And "supernatural" explanations are simply one subset of mysterious answers - they exist outside the bounds of faith as well. Are you saying then that faith needs to be grounded in evidence and verification? Are you saying that mysterious answers actually hurt some peoples faith and belief?
Predictive power is the key to any real answer. If your explanation of a mysterious phenomenon does not allow you to, in advance, make a prediction about the outcome of an experiment regarding that phenomenon that then proves to be accurate, then you don't really have an explanation at all - you have a mysterious answer. Your curiosity is being satisfied, but you really still don't know what's going on. Sounding reasonable is insufficient to be classified as a real explanation. Thus do you mean that in explaining ones personal faith and belief with mysterious answers is, in your opinion, no explanation at all?
In everyday life, mysterious answers are relatively harmless. Most people don't really know how a computer works - and if they ask, a simple answer like "there's a processor inside that uses programs to turn all the ones and zeroes into something you and I can understand and use" is usually enough to stop the average person's curiosity even though they still have no idea how the computer works. That's okay - most people will never find that they need that information anyway. In an ideal world, we would all seek to fully understand every topic and wouldn't waste time with mysterious answer; in reality we all have limited time and attention to spare. In matters of education, I can agree with this assessment. Mysterious answers should not be used by teachers in any context regarding education. But we need to recognize when our answers are mysterious, because confusing a mysterious answer for an actual explanation is dangerous. Confusing a mysterious answer for a real explanation leads to overestimating one's own competence in a field - just because your personal curiosity has been satisfied on a topic does not mean you actually have any real competence. Confusing a mysterious answer for a real explanation can lead to defending the mysterious answer against a real explanation - especially if the mysterious answer offers greater emotional satisfaction than the real explanation. This in a nutshell frames our basic discussion and debate over teaching Biblical Creationism as opposed to evolutionary theory. Confusing a mysterious answer for a real explanation leads to exalting falsehoods while disdaining facts, clinging to emotion while rejecting reason. Recognizing the real extent of our own understanding means ignoring the emotional sense of satisfied curiosity and rationally evaluating the real accuracy of our beliefs, and the limits of one's understanding. However, in a Faith and Belief context, what if no real explanations exist?(Apart from the omnipotence of GOD?)
But what about unknowns, where we don't have sufficient real-world evidence to form a real answer with predictive power? Nearly all "supernatural" hypotheses attempt to answer such questions, or at least this is the case when the hypothesis is generated. People flock to mysterious answers as a solution to their curiosity when there are no alternatives. Is it okay to accept a mysterious answer under such circumstances? Is it acceptable to state with any amount of confidence from "I'm certain" all the way down to "I'm not really sure, but I like to think..." that a mysterious answer in this case is likely to be correct? Edited by Phat, : No reason given. Edited by Phat, : No reason given.Saying, "I don't know," is the same as saying, "Maybe."~ZombieRingo One of the major purposes of debate is to help you hone your arguments. Yours are pretty bad. They can use all the honing they can get.~Ringo
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Phat Member Posts: 18350 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
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