I am a strong believer in God and christian..but the only thing that is iffy with me is..several times a day. Sometimes you just can't help it. I do believe the pornography and all that, even though I do it
-
Guiltiness?
-
You are definitely going to Hell. Unless you think Jesus likes your masturbating.
-
I know you were joking, Steve, but it's remarkable how widespread the view is that Christianity says that you accumulate merit and demerit during your life and it's all weighed up at the Pearly Gates. It's complete rubbish - the whole point is that no-one can merit heaven, it's entirely a matter of grace.
-
heaven is often portrayed as a perfect life up in the clouds...i think this is just to get christians to act more "christian"... my view of heaven is just a state of existence in which we are fully accepting god's grace
-
Heaven is the place where the planets and moons and gas clouds and background radiation and neutrinos hang out. The rest is fantasy.
-
Wow, this thread moved from a discussion on guilt/sin to a discussion on what heaven is.
Steve, I believe you are actually referring to "outer space". But everyone has their own opinion. What gets to me is Christians who claim to absolutely know *for sure* what happens after death... because someone told them so... or because they interpreted the Bible (which is a questionable source anyway) in a certain way.
-
I'm a christian, and i hav no idea wot it is like after death.The thing is, i believe it must be something, but i don't no wot, coz the first law of physics is 'Nothing Can be created or destroyed'. Your "mind" is something, and when you die, its not in your body any more - or else you would be alive. Therefore it must go somewhere.Also, the famous epression E=MC(squared - can't do small 2), means Energy=MassXSpeed of Light Squared. If you look at the first part: Energy=Mass. Maybe, just maybe, when you die, your conscious mind turns into energy.Not sure if u've noticed, but i've got a religious, but scientific mind Soz if you don't understand it, i can't really describe it by riting it down.
-
The bible is in short, a book of parables, some true, some fake, most of them are exagerated because back then there was no consept of science, all phenominons were discribed as acts of god.
personally i dont think masturbating is wrong at all, what i want to know is how to keep it from being so short.
-
That science makes absolutely no sense. Conscioiusness is a process, not a substance. Energy has absolutely no intelligence.> Your "mind" is somethingWhat is meant by mind? You have a brain that's going through certain processes when you're alive, and decaying when you die...just like your liver. The brain happens to go through electrical and chemical processes, but they stop when you die, just as your live stops what it does. Once the brain stops, consciousness ends.Consciousness has no mass. How would it get converted to energy, any more than then information on a page would?What do you think happens when you pull the plug on your computer? Does its "consciousness" go somewhere?> the first law of physics is 'Nothing Can be created or destroyed'Whose first law of physics? Matter can switch to energy under certain circumstances (like the detonation of a nuclear bomb, the burning of a star, etc.), as you pointed out in Einstein's special theory of relativity. Most people doing start going into thermonuclear fission or fusion when they die. And if they did, they'd be (partially or fully) converted into enery that had absolutely no intelligence.The idea of intelligent energy is very new-age, but completely meaningless.
-
Well, I personally believe that consciousness (the mind) is separate from the brain. I cannot fathom how the brain, as physical matter, could handle what we claim it does. If you try and compare your brain to a computer... how could even the largest computer ever store all the experiences (feelings, images, etc.) that we experience throughout our lives? Each day would require a massive amount of storage and processing power. (I suppose quantum computing could change my view on that though.) Yet we can remember it all in detail... either through memory or hypnosis.I believe the part that is uniquely "you" is made of energy (for lack of a better word) that is not detectable nor understood. Even though many will say that near-death and out-of-body experiences are hallucinations or dreams, I believe they can be real... and that they provide insight on why/how we are not just a body with a brain, but that we just inhabit them while in this physical plane of existence.Call this "new age" if you want, but it makes sense to me.
-
nice to find someone who thinks a bit like me *hugs* :grin:
-
In reply to:Well, I personally believe that consciousness (the mind) is separate from the brain.Why?In reply to:I cannot fathom how the brain, as physical matter, could handle what we claim it does.Oh...because you cannot fathom. What you say in the rest of the paragraph doesn't get us any further, since the largest computer that now exists can't model the brain. The largest computer that existed until the mid-90's couldn't beat a chess master. Now computers regularly beat chess masters. Even before that, the fastest non-horse-powered vehicle couldn't beat a running man.I could understand your saying, "I'm not an expert in neurology or artificial intelligence, so I don't understand how the brain does what it does; in fact, I don't think they folks who are experts in those areas have the whole story. I'll just have to say I don't know how the brain works and leave it at that." Instead you insist on believing a fantastic story that's based on no demonstrable evidence. It's simply a random religious belief.In reply to:I believe the part that is uniquely "you" is made of energy (for lack of a better word) that is not detectable nor understood. Even though many will say that near-death and out-of-body experiences are hallucinations or dreams, I believe they can be real... and that they provide insight on why/how we are not just a body with a brain, but that we just inhabit them while in this physical plane of existence.Not detectable? Then how can you even say anything about it? I can come up with any crazy idea and say "it's not detectable, but I believe it."The near death stuff has been explored scientifically, and it looks like the brain reacts in certain predictable ways to lack of blood or oxygen. No one has ever died and come back, so what does a near-death experience mean? The experience of a brain that was deprived of oxygen for some period?None of what you say is based on anything rational or detectable. It is pure fantasy. It is purely religious.In reply to:Call this "new age" if you want, but it makes sense to me.If it makes you feel good, then by all means, continue to believe it.
-
Yeah thats some pretty good points there. The only kinda scientific thig that i can think of at the moment pointing to god existing is the 36 grams or whatever it is that leaves your body when you die. No one could work out what this was since it wasnt gasses or anything like that. I belive in a religion but I just stopped going to church and following the rules mainly because it didnt make me happy. I dont see whats so bad about doing what makes you happy if it harms no one else. Thats why when masterbaton is talked about as being wrong it pisses me off so much. My religion now is to do what makes me and the people I love happy. Since in the end thats all that matters.
-
> 36 grams or whatever it is that leaves your body when you die
OK, what kind of foolishness is that?
-
Dunno some doctor noticed that there was an certan weight that left a person when they died after taking into account air and any other gasses and shit like that. Some people belive it is your soul or whatever you want to call it leaving your body. Try googling it I would and link you but its 4:10am and I'm too tired.
-
Couldn't find anything on it, but I recall some Russian doctor made that claim a while back. Sounds like complete nonsense. However, I did find that the recommended daily allowance of protein equates to approximately .36 grams of protein per pound of body weight; some folks think anyone who exercises should get more.
-
Yer I'm going to bed now but I may take a look into the claim sometime and see if I can find anything about it then post the link. Since it may sound like nonsense but it sounds rather interesting. Lol I dunno why but a russian doctor just makes it seem kinda comical. I can just imagine him doing tests in his big furr coat and hat in the snow!... must be cus I'm up late that I am laughing at such stupid stuff.
-
Hey, I'm in no way trying to convince you to believe what I do. I respect your opinion... and as you say, there's no way to prove anything I said.
As far as the computer analogy goes, I originally had "even computers in the future" but it didn't fit in my sentence good, so I took it out. What I'm trying to compare it to is storing information in "bits". Of course, our brain does this with some kind of electrochemical process... so the question becomes, how can there be enough synapses to hold all of this information? And then there's the fact (not sure if this is proven though) that we use less that half of our brain anyway... some have even said we only use 10% of it. And then (and I can't remember this in detail) but there was the case of the boy born with 80% of his brain missing, yet he still lived and functioned fairly normally. Of course, you can attack all of this as unproven or inconsequential... and that's fine. I'm just throwing some things out there... just trying to understand life (with the limited capability of my brain).
As far as NDEs and OBEs, there's always a lot of debate as to whether these are real or not. I don't think it deserves to be labeled "pure fantasy" though. There's a lot of credible people who believe it. Could it be caused by a lack of oxygen? Sure, it could be. So anyway, you are right, I cannot prove this stuff. Doesn't mean some of it can't be true though.
I'm not an expert in neurology or artificial intelligence, so I don't understand how the brain does what it does; in fact, I don't think the folks who are experts in those areas have the whole story. I'll just have to say I don't know how the brain works and leave it at that. (Sorry, that was so good, I had to use it.)
In reply to:
If it makes you feel good, then by all means, continue to believe it.
Thanks so much for allowing me to continue to believe what I want. You're the best!
-
...there's no way no way no way to prove anything I said.There's no evidence for it either.> I originally had "even computers in the future"Why not? How do you know how sophisticated and powerful computers will be in 300 years, and how much our understanding of the physiology and function of the brain will increase? You're dismissing science out of hand.> What I'm trying to compare it to is storing information in "bits". Of course, our brain does this with some kind of electrochemical process... so the question becomes, how can there be enough synapses to hold all of this information?Well, there are, believe it or not. If not, where do you think the extra data gets stored in our day-to-day thinking? The brain organizes itself and stores information by forming new neural connections, and modifying thresholds for triggering neurons, etc. There is not a 1-to-1 correspondence between neurons and storage bits.> And then there's the fact (not sure if this is proven though) that we use less that half of our brain anyway... some have even said we only use 10% of it.This is an old fallacy, from misinterpreted experiments. Most if not all of the brain is in use. In fact, there appear to be structures other than neurons that take part in brain activities.> 80% of his brain missing, yet he still lived and functioned fairly normally.I don't know anything about this, but I seriously doubt he functioned on the level of a normal person.> As far as NDEs and OBEs, there's always a lot of debate as to whether these are real or not. I don't think it deserves to be labeled "pure fantasy" though. There's a lot of credible people who believe it. Could it be caused by a lack of oxygen? Sure, it could be. So anyway, you are right, I cannot prove this stuff. Doesn't mean some of it can't be true though.What is there to debate? No one has died and came back. There is a rational explanation for what people perceive when their brain is deprived of oxygen. Why then is it necessary to come up with fantastic, colorful explanations? By your standard, anything can be true. Maybe the moderators here are all witches and warlocks. Can you prove it false?> I'm not an expert in neurology or artificial intelligence, so I don't understand how the brain does what it does; in fact, I don't think the folks who are experts in those areas have the whole story. I'll just have to say I don't know how the brain works and leave it at that. (Sorry, that was so good, I had to use it.)That can be fixed. There are books on the subject that don't require and advanced degree to read, and are interesting reads to boot. In fact, real science is really interesting. The experts don't have the "whole story" and could not completely model the brain, even given a powerful enough computer. But they do have a lot of the story, and I doubt that any expert in the field would agree with your guesses about the physical brain's capacity.> Thanks so much for allowing me to continue to believe what I want. You're the best!I aim to please. Freedom of thought totally kicks ass.
-
I mean this in a good way: you're a tough nut to crack. I also mean no offense in this: I'm glad the whole world doesn't think like you do. So limited. No exploration of that which has not yet been (or maybe cannot be) proven. To put into single words: limited, stilted, boring. I'm not saying everyone should believe anything anyone comes out with. But an open mind can open doors that were not noticed before.In reply to:You said: I could understand your saying, "I'm not an expert in neurology or artificial intelligence, so I don't understand how the brain does what it does; in fact, I don't think they folks who are experts in those areas have the whole story. I'll just have to say I don't know how the brain works and leave it at that." Instead you insist on believing a fantastic story that's based on no demonstrable evidence. It's simply a random religious belief.I said: I'm not an expert in neurology or artificial intelligence, so I don't understand how the brain does what it does; in fact, I don't think the folks who are experts in those areas have the whole story. I'll just have to say I don't know how the brain works and leave it at that. (Sorry, that was so good, I had to use it.)You said: That can be fixed. There are books on the subject that don't require and advanced degree to read, and are interesting reads to boot. In fact, real science is really interesting. The experts don't have the "whole story" and could not completely model the brain, even given a powerful enough computer. But they do have a lot of the story, and I doubt that any expert in the field would agree with your guesses about the physical brain's capacity.Just had to comment on this, my paragraph above came from you. Looks like you accepted that better than anything else I've come up with. Got any more tips on what I should say?