Psycho-Babble Faith Thread 677

Shown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.

What I Believe...

Posted by fachad on July 23, 2002, at 0:44:15

What do I believe?
A favorite passage of mine said it so well, I'll just quote it directly:
"I DO NOT BELIEVE ANYTHING"
"...It seems to be a hangover of the medieval era that causes most people, even the educated, to think that everybody must "believe" something or other, that if one is not a theist, one must be a dogmatic atheist, and if one does not think Capitalism is perfect, one must believe ferverently in Socialism, and if one does not have blind faith in X, one must alternately have blind faith in not-X or the reverse of X."
"My own opinion is that BELIEF IS THE DEATH OF INTELLIGENCE. As soon as one believes a doctrine of any sort, or assumes certitude, one stops thinking about that aspect of existence. The more certitude one assumes, the less there is left to think about, and a person sure of everything would never have any need to think about anything and might be considered clinically dead by current medical standards, where the absence of brain activity is taken to mean that life has ended"
“Belief in the traditional sense, or certitude, or dogma, amounts to the grandiose delusion, “My current model – or grid – or map – or reality-tunnel – contains the whole universe and will never need to be revised.” In terms of the history of science and of knowledge in general, this appears absurd…”
From Cosmic Trigger: The Final Secret of the Illuminati, by Robert Anton Wilson

well bless yer soul for... » fachad

Posted by alii on July 23, 2002, at 2:36:43

In reply to What I Believe..., posted by fachad on July 23, 2002, at 0:44:15

...posting r.a.w.
you put me to bed with a huge smile on my face. that is mighty nice as of late.
thanks fachad
--alii

Re: well bless yer soul for...

Posted by Lini on July 23, 2002, at 10:45:16

In reply to well bless yer soul for... » fachad, posted by alii on July 23, 2002, at 2:36:43

I sort of view people's belief systems the same way I would view language. Part of being human is the need/ability to communicate in some way. In the same vein, in my opinion, an important part of being human is finding a way to communicate about concepts that our current level of neural/chemical evolution hasn't provided us a way to understand yet . . . namely our origins.
So, in the same way it makes sense to me that a child learns about the world through the language of their caretaker, we also form our initial concepts about our origins as a species from our parents. Some of us speak a bunch of languages, learn other languages later in life, or only speak one, but in my opinion, religion is simply a way that humankind talks about the same thing.

joke

Posted by OddipusRex on July 23, 2002, at 11:25:30

In reply to What I Believe..., posted by fachad on July 23, 2002, at 0:44:15

St Peter went up to God and said Somethings wrong with the new guy Jean Paul Sarte. He just doesn't seem happy.
God went over and said Jean Paul what's the matter. This is Heaven you can have anything you want to make you happy. What can we get for you?

Nothing's wrong JP said. It just isn't what I expected.
Well I can do anything, what did you expect? God asked
Nothing said JP

Re: well bless yer soul for... » alii

Posted by fachad on July 23, 2002, at 11:39:36

In reply to well bless yer soul for... » fachad, posted by alii on July 23, 2002, at 2:36:43

I'm always glad to evoke a smile.
Robert Anton Wilson's writing has been a huge influence on me since I was first blown away by Cosmic Trigger 15 years ago.
So here's another quote, also from the Preface to CT:
"Finally, as a matter of some entertainment value, not all the mail I have received about this book has been intelligent and thoughtful. I have received several quite nutty and unintentionally funny poison-pen letters from Fundamentalist Christians and Fundamentalist Materialists."
"The Fundamentalist Christians have told me that I am a slave of Satan and should have the demons expelled with an exorcism. The Fundamentalist Materialists inform me that I am a liar, a charlatan, fraud, and scoundrel. Aside from this minor difference, the letters are astoundingly similar. Both groups share the same crusading zeal and the same total lack of humor, charity, and common human decency."
"These intolerable cults have served to confirm me in my agnosticism by presenting further evidence to support my contention that when dogma enters the brain, all intellectual activity ceases."
> ...posting r.a.w.
>
> you put me to bed with a huge smile on my face. that is mighty nice as of late.
>
> thanks fachad
>
> --alii

Re: joke - More Sartre Humor

Posted by fachad on July 23, 2002, at 12:04:06

In reply to joke , posted by OddipusRex on July 23, 2002, at 11:25:30

The Jean-Paul Sartre Cookbook
by Marty Smith, Portland OR
forwarded by Alastair Sutherland (kaidan@ix.netcom.com)
from Free Agent March 1987 (a Portland Oregon alternative newspaper), Republished in the Utne Reader Nov./Dec. 1993
We have been lucky to discover several previously lost diaries of French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre stuck in between the cushions of our office sofa. These diaries reveal a young Sartre obsessed not with the void, but with food. Apparently Sartre, before discovering philosophy, had hoped to write "a cookbook that will put to rest all notions of flavor forever." The diaries are excerpted here for your perusal.

October 3
Spoke with Camus today about my cookbook. Though he has never actually eaten, he gave me much encouragement. I rushed home immediately to begin work. How excited I am! I have begun my formula for a Denver omelet.
October 4
Still working on the omelet. There have been stumbling blocks. I keep creating omelets one after another, like soldiers marching into the sea, but each one seems empty, hollow, like stone. I want to create an omelet that expresses the meaninglessness of existence, and instead they taste like cheese. I look at them on the plate, but they do not look back. Tried eating them with the lights off. It did not help. Malraux suggested paprika.
October 6
I have realized that the traditional omelet form (eggs and cheese) is bourgeois. Today I tried making one out of cigarette, some coffee, and four tiny stones. I fed it to Malraux, who puked. I am encouraged, but my journey is still long.
October 10
I find myself trying ever more radical interpretations of traditional dishes, in an effort to somehow express the void I feel so acutely. Today I tried this recipe:
Tuna Casserole
Ingredients: 1 large casserole dish
Place the casserole dish in a cold oven. Place a chair facing the oven and sit in it forever. Think about how hungry you are. When night falls, do not turn on the light.
While a void is expressed in this recipe, I am struck by its inapplicability to the bourgeois lifestyle. How can the eater recognize that the food denied him is a tuna casserole and not some other dish? I am becoming more and more frustated.
October 25
I have been forced to abandon the project of producing an entire cookbook. Rather, I now seek a single recipe which will, by itself, embody the plight of man in a world ruled by an unfeeling God, as well as providing the eater with at least one ingredient from each of the four basic food groups. To this end, I purchased six hundred pounds of foodstuffs from the corner grocery and locked myself in the kitchen, refusing to admit anyone. After several weeks of work, I produced a recipe calling for two eggs, half a cup of flour, four tons of beef, and a leek. While this is a start, I am afraid I still have much work ahead.
November 15
Today I made a Black Forest cake out of five pounds of cherries and a live beaver, challenging the very definition of the word cake. I was very pleased. Malraux said he admired it greatly, but could not stay for dessert. Still, I feel that this may be my most profound achievement yet, and have resolved to enter it in the Betty Crocker Bake-Off.
November 30
Today was the day of the Bake-Off. Alas, things did not go as I had hoped. During the judging, the beaver became agitated and bit Betty Crocker on the wrist. The beaver's powerful jaws are capable of felling blue spruce in less than ten minutes and proved, needless to say, more than a match for the tender limbs of America's favorite homemaker. I only got third place. Moreover, I am now the subject of a rather nasty lawsuit.
December 1
I have been gaining twenty-five pounds a week for two months, and I am now experiencing light tides. It is stupid to be so fat. My pain and ultimate solitude are still as authentic as they were when I was thin, but seem to impress girls far less. From now on, I will live on cigarettes and black coffee.