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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E who wrote (8636)	3/15/2001 12:00:24 PM
From: one_less	Respond to of 82486

Sure E... Here is a response (not meant to be a theological treatise on my beliefs) to a poster who had a problem with my use of the word "certainty". It was meant to dispell the excitement over concerns that any "certainty" in this existence is equivilant to attempts to oppress and tyrannize others or that it would contradict scientific principle. "The fact is I do feel certainty in life. I am certain that I am alive and I don't have to go through an existential analysis to prove it. I am certain that I am not all powerful or all knowing. I am certain that I do not control anything in life but am able to act as an agent in life. I am certain that there is goodness and evil, as well as right and wrong actions one can take in life. There are also grey areas that are neither. I understand that there are principles to promote a good life, just as there are principles that promote good scientific inquiry. I am certain that there is purpose in life. I am certain that the Universe has order and purpose. And much more. None of this do I see as a reason not to study, research, invent, or just learn for the sake of learning. Those are your conclusions not mine." I was responding to this statement..."This is a provable statement because if you survey all the beliefs you will find that MOST of the strong tenets are in conflict with other such belief systems. They also have almost no predictive value." " Not true. I believe, for example, that fidelity is a good principle to live by and that it is more likely to lead to the kinds of rewards I seek in life than infidelity. This is a belief that meets well with our human condition and has been proven true throughout the ages of recorded history. They also have almost no predictive value. wrong. Now E, these are statements of what I believe I can be certain of. I believe other people "can" make the same statements and find certainty there in. I do not say that others have to claim, or give thought to, or believe anything. I do not in my example imply that other people live according to a principle like fidelity. I simply state that I believe it holds true and that it is predictive. Other posters...for who knows what reason...want a tyrannical fundamentalist to throw darts at. If I was one we probably could have an interesting brawl. Given who I am, the discussion just sort of fizzled into out of context snipes and attributions. Too bad. I think, given the moderate nature of the "sides" on this thread, we could have a meaningful discussion on where and if certainty has a useful and good application in this existence.