2:34 PM, elaborate on my assumptions

  • Notably absent from my previous post was any allusion to a search for Ultimate Truth, something which forms the backbone of many religious quests.  There is a reason for this.  My previous position could have been summarized something like this: “If God wants me to believe in Him/Her/Them/It, s/he knows where to find me”.  My new direction has been motivated by the realization that even lacking any sense of what the Truth is, or even that it is possible for me to know Truth, I still have a need for religion in my life!
  • Under the circumstances, I can’t afford to sit around waiting for Truth to walk up and hit me upside the head.  I need meaning in my life, truth or no truth.
  • So, while leaving the door wide open to revelation, I need to to find some beliefs I can live with, without either getting depressed or laughing so hard at myself I pass out.
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10 Comments

  1. Truth is present, immanent. it needs no revelation. you’re bathing in it. πŸ™‚

    1. In that case, truth tastes like potato chips.

      Blargh, I need better than that πŸ˜›

      1. and what is wrong with the taste of ‘tato chips? πŸ™‚

  2. truth and meaning need not be linked…

    I had a big philosophical discourse on this way back in the day somewhere on here.. if you’re interested.. I’ll go try to find it…

    Basically.. Truth depends on criteria for validity and falsity. However–whether something is true or not does not necessarily imply that it has meaning to anyone.

    Meaning is an entirely subjective experience–that we can attempt to map onto truth claims to whatever extent we wish. Thus, for me, Meaning is more important because it is truly the independent variable.. truth is far more dependent, because it relies upon whatever particular framework of rules that you chooose to follow.

    Example: Parents tell you a fairy tale. You find meaning in the story because it (hopefully) teaches you something–either about morals, or about the kinds of people who write fairy tales, or whatever…

    The Fairy Tale need not be true for this to occur…

    anyway.. let me know if you want further discourse from me on the subject.. πŸ™‚

    1. Re: truth and meaning need not be linked…

      Go ahead, if you’re in the mood… FWIW, I’m right there with ya.

      1. Re: truth and meaning need not be linked…

        I believe in an objective Truth.
        I also think, with one historical exception (which, itself, was not without ambiguity), that objective Truth is submlimated in reality, and all Truth is subjectively experienced.
        The rationale, in my wildly subjective opinion, for this is that the Truth has cast reality as a Free Will zone, and any decrease in the subjectivity/ambiguity factor would destroy that.
        Throwing out an intellectual bagel I got from the writings of Paul Tillich, mankind is existentially estranged from the essential goodness of creation in God’s image.
        Hence, estrangement and Free Will add up to a potential for ungood, as a glance at reality reveals.
        In other words, any individual, internal requirement for meaning becomes a quest for Truth, AFAICT. The alternative is self medication through the diversion of your choice. Which, of course, is a subjective assertion, and therefore may prove tricstmr’s point. πŸ™‚

        1. Re: truth and meaning need not be linked…

          I don’t understand your conclusion… that internal requirement’s for meaning becomes a quest for truth… how does that necessarily follow…
          I don’t see the steps…

          Of course.. all of this posits the existence of some “essential goodness” from which people “could be estranged” and back toward which they would strive to move…

          Still. could you explain in more detail how internal requirement for meaning becomes a quest for truth.. I mean this seriously.. πŸ™‚

      2. Re: truth and meaning need not be linked…

        Okay.. I tracked them down…

        You can check out.. if you want..

        http://www.livejournal.com/users/tricstmr/4327.html
        as well as
        http://www.livejournal.com/users/tricstmr/26261.html it’s the fifth point

        Also related to this is an earlier post…
        http://www.livejournal.com/users/tricstmr/1915.html

        more comments to follow later.. when I have some time…

        1. Re: truth and meaning need not be linked…

          Interesting… responding to the first post, if you replace “truth” with “meaning” in the phrase “the truth shall set you free”, it makes a lot more sense.

          I’m not sure dualism is as bad as you make it out to be. And I say this as someone who normally sees the word as you do – it is what it is. What I’m coming to realize is that dualism can be a useful tool of thought. Perhaps I’m off-base, but it seems to me that in identifying with the archetypical Loki, you practice a kind of limited, personal dualism, albeit one which does not rely on any metaphysics. When we “draw down” an archetype into ourselves, it’s a kind of superimposition of an ideal onto our mundane selves.

          Thoughts?

  3. The first point also fits with me as well… though I have to admit with that last one that sometimes I *do* laugh at myself. Haven’t passed out yet, but Most of what I believe would probably look silly to an outsider.

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