I don’t think I truly believe in anything. I have doubt.
Am I a skeptic or a nihilist?
I am a virgin, and have never witnessed sex in ‘real life’. I don’t believe it or anything else is real. What is reality. I could doubt it all as illusion.
After viewing some porn tonight, and thinking about it, I don’t believe in anything. But what about emotion?..Maybe I am dazed and fatigued from desiring.
I don’t know anything for certain, but I can accept that I will die eventually…
The Sage desires to be desireless…There isn’t anything in the world I couldn’t doubt?
Is everthing an illusion because it is based on the senses…
You demonstrate your beliefs every day of your life. You don’t run in front of traffic, because you KNOW you will be killed. You eat because you KNOW that will satisfy your hunger.
You KNOW that turning on the television, will produce a picture.
On a cold day, you dress warmly because you will be cold…
The things you believe are endless.
And you could easily prove anyone of these to yourself. Stop eating, see if you don’t get hungry?
I do tend to do things based on other things, but what is knowledge anyway.
I just think I dont BELIEVE in them as I don’t have the utmost faith. I am not one for absolutes. I’m not a believer as a religious christian might put it. I’m just not 100% sold. I still could have doubt.
Ahh, so Its not a lack of faith. I am a normal person, so subjective views and relativism is a factor.
I think maybe I don’t wanna believe. I wanna check out and be more dreamy sometimes. I used to be able to not conform to almost anything in an argument, but now…I used to be different in my thinking than many others.
You can argue yourself into a postion, in which you don’t even believe YOU exist - Which is why we have Descartes reassurance, “I think, therefore I am.”
Perhaps it is not things you disbelieve in, but rather, the explanation(s) of said things. As other posters have pointed out, you would not existed for very long (and thus be able to posit your conjecture) if you did not believe in streetlights. Hopefully this example will illustrate my point: as part of your self-identification you have posted a flag. Within that flag there is another flag, that of the Confederate States of America (CSA). That the stars& bars exists is, i think, beyond dispute. It can be seen, touched, tasted(!), in short be shown to exist by way of appeal to the senses. However, the explanation, the meaning, of the existence of this flag is not subject to sensory appeal. Is it a symbol of systemic racism, or of brave resistance in the face of superior force, or is it merely the cool design on Bo and Luke’s car? Consider the streetlight again: it is not a schizophrenic hallucination. The actions of many different parties attest to its existence. But why does it exist? Is it to ensure the safety of the public, or to protect insurance companies& municipalities from litigation? Or maybe it is part of a grand scheme to adapt our wills to the control of a higher power…I hope this helps you in your ontological pursuits.
This musing was inspired primarily by Thomas Kuhn, with a nod towards de Saussure
Well, look at the entire thread. The OP has reached the “logical” position where he’s not sure that he exists - So I find Descartes an appropriate reassurance…
If you have chosen to doubt your own senses, then no…there is nothing in the world that you could NOT doubt. Knowledge of them can only be obtained through one of your senses. I’ll never understand why someone would doubt their own ability to obtain knowledge, but if you want to…go for it.
Perhaps from time to time, people should “test” themselves. Make believe that whacking yourself with a hammer will not hurt. WILL it to be true, and then whack yourself with a hammer (try to avoid using all your strenth, to save on medical bills).
If it doesn’t hurt, then the world isn’t real, and you’re right, it’s all a matter of belief…
Common knowledge that even if it DOES hurt, the world doesn’t exist, due to the fact that your senses are failing you when they tell you that hammer hurt you.
I hunt mushrooms as a hobby. I met a man who told me he could eat the most poisionus of mushrooms and using his “will” alone, make it harmless to him.
He believed that the world is made of ideas.
While I did not provide him with the mushrooms necessary to test this hypothosis, yet the hypothosis can be tested. Simply WILL the hammer not to hurt. If in fact the world is just ideas in your brain, then just as my friend could change a deadly poison harmless, so anyone could make the hammer not inflict damage on your finger.
Oh darn, and here I thought you were a genius! Ah well, it’s still brilliant, and there’s obviously something to be said for someone smart enough to recognize a good quote and use it.
Chato…your friend sounds interesting…a bit off in my never humble opinion, but interesting.
Why yes, the poison in question is a complex protein. Assuming you eat about 1/2 of the mushroom “Destroying Angel,” one of the Amanita family, why the only cure is a liver transplant.
