THE ORIGIN OF RELIGION
  • HOME
  • BEN'S BLOG
  • About The Book
    • BookStore
  • Reviews
  • About The Origin of Religion
  • The origin of spirit
  • FINAL CONCLUSION
  • Contact

BEN'S  BLOG
Click on "Archives" for all blogs since November  2013

PROOF OF EXISTENCE

7/9/2018

0 Comments

 
There are so many beliefs in this world, not only religious, but also non-religious ones, such as beliefs in astrology, UFOlogy, psychic ability (ESP), NDEs, conspiracy theories, numerology, ghosts, and more, which depend on the existence of a supernatural realm that  it  needs to be proven to exist before one can accept these beliefs as being true. We employ the following ‘methods’ to discover reality.
 
Science
Scientific, empirical (verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic), testable and observable methods, are the best means for determining what is real and what is imaginary. By using our senses and extensions thereof, using various technologies, we embark upon an ongoing, accelerating process that is self-correcting whenever new discoveries are made. As an example, we are able to observe gravity and measure its properties, and although we don’t yet fully understand it we do have definite proof of its existence.
 
There is a considerable amount of pseudo science where real science findings are distorted and misrepresented. Unwarranted conclusions are drawn or one theory is chosen out of many others so one must carefully check the sources to see if they are reliable and generally accepted by most of the academia as “proof.”
 
Philosophy
Philosophical speculations and theories which could lead to experiments, and great discoveries are, in themselves, not proof of anything until scientifically verified. Many philosophical ideas have turned out to be viable but many have not and must be disregarded. Ancient philosophers have given us great insights but their lack of scientific knowledge produced unviable philosophies, in many cases, such as the geocentric model of the cosmos proposed by Aristotle and Ptolemy.
 
Faith
Faith, which is belief in speculations and suppositions created in the brains of human subjects, is not reality. Humans have evolved a strong desire (instinct), an evolutionarily useful trait, to develop rituals to influence the powerful natural forces and to predict the future through heavenly observations. Rituals, such as praying and offering among many others, attempt to counter the fear of death and to promote wishful thinking. They are founded in emotions rather than knowledge.
 
Illusions
Illusions are distortions of the senses. There are many forms of illusions. There are optical and auditory illusions which sometimes are taken to be real and used as “proof” of the supernatural.
 
Delusions
Delusions are held with strong convictions even when superior evidence to the contrary is presented, Cognitive dissonance also plays a role here. Dreams, hallucinations (which can be natural or drug induced), spiritual experiences, mass-hypnoses, mass- hysteria and other delusions are perceived as “reality” but they are not proof of the existence of the supernatural.

In conclusion, the scientific method is the only method available to tease out reality. Before we accept any speculation requiring a supernatural explanation, we should first find scientific proof through the scientific method that this speculated phenomena exists. Otherwise, although philosophy is a useful endeavor that can lead to scientific discovery, we waste our time on Faith, Illusions and Delusions. We have no substitute for the scientific method.

Picture
Be sure to click on the RSS feed for some previous blogs or on the Archives which will access all the blogs I have written since Nov 2013.  Check out the "HOME" page which list some chapters of the book “Why You Won’t Go To Hell” on the leftside. You can also use  the  homepage  search box  and  type  in  any  subject, then click on the Q.  You might be surprised by what you'll find there.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Ben Vande       
    Weerdhof
    Andrews


    Retired Teacher
    Author
    Videographer






    Archives of
    previous Blogs

    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

    Click RSS feed for previous blogs

Ben's Blog

About Origin OF Religion

About THe Book

BooKStore

Contact

  • HOME
  • BEN'S BLOG
  • About The Book
    • BookStore
  • Reviews
  • About The Origin of Religion
  • The origin of spirit
  • FINAL CONCLUSION
  • Contact