Throughout human history, people strove to determine truth. In the ancient times, REASON was the prevalent method of determining truth. This worked out fine and much was accomplished. In fact, many profound truths were discovered in this way, and the ancients formed secret societies known as the Mysteries to protect them. Focus for the masses at this time was enjoying life and obtaining wisdom. To obtain the Mystery truths one must be initiated and then pass through a series of tests of the individual's qualities, and once initiated, one can then begin to learn. However, although the existence of these Mysteries is known, their truths are mostly lost.
The creation of the Roman Catholic Church marked a shift in human history. Focus for the masses changed from enjoying life and obtaining wisdom to merely enjoying life, for the Church was truth. After the fall of Rome, the Roman Catholic Church had a stranglehold on Europe. It is during this time, the prevalent method of determining truth was FAITH. During this time, whatever the Church says is considered true, and the focus for the masses changed from enjoying life to staying alive, and getting into heaven. The only way to go to Heaven after you die is if the Church lets you. Passes to Heaven is bought from the Church. However, most people, who were either serfs of peasants, could not afford to buy their way into Heaven, so they would have to work on the Church's land for no pay in order to get into Heaven. So of course, every good faithful peasant did. Then, at the end of the year, the peasants would have to pay a tax to the Church, even though they worked for them for free! Since they usually did not have a lot of money, they would have to pay the church with grain. The granaries of the Church would be full year round and much of it would be spoiled by rats and mold, while the peasants were working hard and barely had any food to eat. Little was accomplished during this time, as the only way to learn was through the Church. Incidentally, the Arabic world flourished, spiritually and intellectually. In fact, almost all the European alchemists had learned their trade from Arabic Mysteries. Not much would happen until the renaissances, to which the Church was outraged, as emphasis in art became the people rather than God. Then, again, there was stagnation in social and intellectual reform. Until Martin Luther, and there was reform, and there were less restrictions. Coincidentally, the Age of REASON beings about a hundred years later (16th Century), to which follows the Age of Enlightenment (17th Century). It is in the Age of Enlightenment that SCIENCE is discovered.
SCIENCE is a way of determining truth defined as truth through experimentation. Essentially, according to SCIENCE, something is true if repeated experiments are observed. Through this method, much as been accomplished... in the physical realm. People began to understand the physical world around them. Life expectancy increased. Industry revolutionized. Things became more convenient and entertaining. Focus for the masses began to shift from staying alive to enjoying life but still get into Heaven. The latter is slowly fading as the Churches grip on the population slowly crumbles. However, SCIENCE is flawed. It can only determine truth in the Physical. It can only determine truth about an observable phenomenon. But with SCIENCE came Technology.
Technology has made it so easy to look up information that there is no reason to think or have to do work. We are now lazy slaves to an economic system where our daily routines alternate from work and play. We are always bombarded with entertainment (and with it, propaganda), as technology has made it possible to reach millions (if not billions) of people at once. It almost seems as there is something missing from our lives. It's because there is. REASON. There is no emphasis on REASON anymore! Why is that? Why is it that people aren't encouraged to exercise REASONING? Even though we are escaping from the mind-slavery of the Church, we are in essence just switching masters! Only REASON can determine truths about the Physical AND the Metaphysical. Perhaps one day, through use of REASON we may discover a method of determining Metaphysical truths with SCIENCE-like efficiency. But first we must shift the focus of the masses from enjoying life to enjoying life and seeking wisdom! Only then will we be truly free.
Showing posts with label reason. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reason. Show all posts
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
On Zeitgeist The Movie
So I recently watched Zeitgeist The Movie (the one on google video, or their website where you can find the sources), and I think it brought up a lot of really good points. First of all, to all those that question the validity of its statements, especially in the first part, I assure you it is true. One of the sources he cited, namely Manly P. Hall's Secret Teachings of All Ages (a very credible book), I have read before, and the information in the video is true to the facts. The information in the second and third parts are completely "googlable". You can also find a comparative chart between Jesus and Horus here:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5.htm
And I know there's this website that claims such things as Attis was never resurrected and such. Here's a link to information refuting this claim:
http://www.bartleby.com/196/81.html
Anyway, the point the video makes is very good. It's not something to just accept blindly as truth because then you are making the same mistake. It's a video, I think, designed to stimulate the minds of the masses into thinking more. Less and less emphasis is being placed on philosophy and reason and more and more emphasis is placed upon the material. Before I can get to my next point, I must first define "bullshit", and I will use Harry Frankfurt's definition from On Bullshit.
To define "bullshit", Frankfurt first defines the difference between lying and bullshitting. When one lies, one consciously knows the truth, but deliberately conveys something different. However, when one is bullshitting, one has no concern for whether or not a statement or action is true, and is only for the betterment of themselves in front of others. Using this definition, you can say that our society is being conditioned into a life of pure bullshit. We are taught to go out and buy bullshit so that we can show it off, such as flashy cars, expensive clothes, or basically anything that we can get to make ourselves better than someone else. And these items have no concern for the truth for this reason: these material things have nothing to do with the true nature of the person. For example, someone driving an expensive dope car and dresses in expensive good looking clothing can be, and usually is, a total douchebag. This does not only apply to personal accessories. This also includes entertainment items we buy to occupy our minds with utter bullshit. Basically, we are conditioned to thrive in apathy.
Over the past couple hundred years, less and less emphasis is placed on philosophy. Philosophy now is often ridiculed and described as an outdated science that leads nowhere but a bunch of men asking "why?". But they are wrong. Reason is the single most important thing ever to grace humanity. But if this was true, why is it that nobody seems to know how to use it anymore? Why is it that everyone is so caught up in the material and can't seem to see that there is much more to this world than what appears? You've heard the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover", why shouldn't you apply this to reality? Why must we judge it as it is? The answer is that we shouldn't. This is where reason comes in. Unlike science, another method of determining truth, reasoning can determine truths in both the physical world and the metaphysical. Now I'm not saying science is a bad method, but instead I'm saying that while science is efficient in finding physical truths, it cannot determine anything we cannot observe. This is because the scientific method involves repeated experimentations and observations of those experiments, and truth is determined by repeated results. However, one cannot observe unobservable things such as concepts and ideas. This is where reason prevails. Only reason can tackle such questions as where we're coming from, where we're going, and why we're here.
The great thing about reason is that it requires no laboratory or facility, no government funding; it has no limitations and it cannot be observed. It is the gift of humanity but people are encouraged to not use it. People are encouraged to go out and buy bullshit to display social class, get married, have 1.4 kids, buy a two story house in the suburbs, put up a white picket fence, and live the remainder of their days in a vicious cycle of work and entertainment, or at least until retirement. But this is not how we humans are meant to live! These are only the most primal of our instincts! Most primates want social class and acceptance, a mate, offspring, territory, and so on. What separates us humans from the rest of the animal kingdom is that we have the ability to reason and create! Therefore, reasoning and creating are the only truly human experiences. However, I'm not saying that one shouldn't want to have a family and be financially secure and so on. What I'm saying is that those goals should not be the all-important. So from now on, PLEASE have an open mind. Accept that nothing is impossible and keep in mind that there is much more to this world than you can perceive. And the only way to discover the imperceivable half of this world is through reasoning, and to discover and understand this world is the purpose of humanity, as we are the only animal (that we know of) that has the ability to do so. So please, don't let reasoning and critical thinking die, and ponder the bigger questions out there. And also apply reasoning to your everyday life by critically analyzing all things passed on to you as "truth". Sorry I don't mean to sound like a preachy douchebag but this is something that I feel strongly about.
Peace and Love!
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5.htm
And I know there's this website that claims such things as Attis was never resurrected and such. Here's a link to information refuting this claim:
http://www.bartleby.com/196/81.html
Anyway, the point the video makes is very good. It's not something to just accept blindly as truth because then you are making the same mistake. It's a video, I think, designed to stimulate the minds of the masses into thinking more. Less and less emphasis is being placed on philosophy and reason and more and more emphasis is placed upon the material. Before I can get to my next point, I must first define "bullshit", and I will use Harry Frankfurt's definition from On Bullshit.
To define "bullshit", Frankfurt first defines the difference between lying and bullshitting. When one lies, one consciously knows the truth, but deliberately conveys something different. However, when one is bullshitting, one has no concern for whether or not a statement or action is true, and is only for the betterment of themselves in front of others. Using this definition, you can say that our society is being conditioned into a life of pure bullshit. We are taught to go out and buy bullshit so that we can show it off, such as flashy cars, expensive clothes, or basically anything that we can get to make ourselves better than someone else. And these items have no concern for the truth for this reason: these material things have nothing to do with the true nature of the person. For example, someone driving an expensive dope car and dresses in expensive good looking clothing can be, and usually is, a total douchebag. This does not only apply to personal accessories. This also includes entertainment items we buy to occupy our minds with utter bullshit. Basically, we are conditioned to thrive in apathy.
Over the past couple hundred years, less and less emphasis is placed on philosophy. Philosophy now is often ridiculed and described as an outdated science that leads nowhere but a bunch of men asking "why?". But they are wrong. Reason is the single most important thing ever to grace humanity. But if this was true, why is it that nobody seems to know how to use it anymore? Why is it that everyone is so caught up in the material and can't seem to see that there is much more to this world than what appears? You've heard the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover", why shouldn't you apply this to reality? Why must we judge it as it is? The answer is that we shouldn't. This is where reason comes in. Unlike science, another method of determining truth, reasoning can determine truths in both the physical world and the metaphysical. Now I'm not saying science is a bad method, but instead I'm saying that while science is efficient in finding physical truths, it cannot determine anything we cannot observe. This is because the scientific method involves repeated experimentations and observations of those experiments, and truth is determined by repeated results. However, one cannot observe unobservable things such as concepts and ideas. This is where reason prevails. Only reason can tackle such questions as where we're coming from, where we're going, and why we're here.
The great thing about reason is that it requires no laboratory or facility, no government funding; it has no limitations and it cannot be observed. It is the gift of humanity but people are encouraged to not use it. People are encouraged to go out and buy bullshit to display social class, get married, have 1.4 kids, buy a two story house in the suburbs, put up a white picket fence, and live the remainder of their days in a vicious cycle of work and entertainment, or at least until retirement. But this is not how we humans are meant to live! These are only the most primal of our instincts! Most primates want social class and acceptance, a mate, offspring, territory, and so on. What separates us humans from the rest of the animal kingdom is that we have the ability to reason and create! Therefore, reasoning and creating are the only truly human experiences. However, I'm not saying that one shouldn't want to have a family and be financially secure and so on. What I'm saying is that those goals should not be the all-important. So from now on, PLEASE have an open mind. Accept that nothing is impossible and keep in mind that there is much more to this world than you can perceive. And the only way to discover the imperceivable half of this world is through reasoning, and to discover and understand this world is the purpose of humanity, as we are the only animal (that we know of) that has the ability to do so. So please, don't let reasoning and critical thinking die, and ponder the bigger questions out there. And also apply reasoning to your everyday life by critically analyzing all things passed on to you as "truth". Sorry I don't mean to sound like a preachy douchebag but this is something that I feel strongly about.
Peace and Love!
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