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[stone space]

This message was self-deleted by its author (stone space) on Mon Feb 23, 2015, 09:20 AM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Rene Descartes walked into a bar,

sat down and ordered a drink. The bartender observed that he was already drunk, and said, "Sorry, I can't serve you. You've already had too much to drink."

Descartes indignantly replied, "I think not!"

and disappeared.

[stone space]

2. Love it! (nt)

[JDPriestly]

3. I think we are individual parts of a whole.

So we exist both as individuals in that we have a sense of separation from the whole, but we are part of the whole.

But then I would call that whole God and I would call the part of me that knows that I am part of the whole (which most of the time I'm not really very conscious of) my soul.

A lot of this is semantics, the meanings that we attach to the words that describe our experience, our beliefs and, of course, the reality. As for reality, we know part of reality but not all of it.

Those are my beliefs.

I was raised in a very religious (in the good, liberal sense) family. I became convinced of the theory I describe above not just through my spiritual practice but also through gardening. The interdependence of living things in my garden has amazed me. Even the pesky squirrels and the nasty raccoons are a part of the whole. That is what I observe in my garden.

[rogerashton]

8. Sounds a lot like the ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson

I was much influenced by Emerson -- without really knowing it, at first, as Emerson's ideas were so much a part of the American Zeitgeist in the 'fifties, when I was growing up. I guess I would describe these ideas as "opinions" or "guesses" rather than beliefs but I have been able to improve on them only in minor details.

[AtheistCrusader]

4. Define 'exist'.

[stone space]

5. I'll let you define it.

I just use a backwards "E", but I'm not sure that I have much to say about what it actually means.

If push comes to shove, I'll say something weird like, "is preserved under the automorphisms of reality", whatever that might mean.

[DetlefK]

6. I once tried to disproof God...

I showed it some mathematicians and they ridiculed me because I couldn't come up with a definition of "reality" that every person in the world would agree on...

"Reality defined as identical perceptions by different perceptors? That's what YOU say."

[trotsky]

9. If you're asking the question, you have to define what you mean by it.

[stone space]

10. Please don't try to hijack the thread.

There's no reason for anybody to do that.

[trotsky]

11. LMAO

Asking you to clarify your terms is hijacking the thread, eh? You carry on then.

[stone space]

12. This is not a goat thread. (nt)

[trotsky]

13. Hey, they're just pictures.

Define your terms if you are up to the challenge.

[stone space]

14. OK, I'm out of this thread. I'll try again. (nt)

[DetlefK]

7. "Individuum" means "something that is indivisible by two".

If I chop you in half and you turn into two people, then you weren't an individual.