pafret Loc: Northeast

Chet Raymo, "Rules For Believing And Thinking"


"Seven Rules for Believing"
by Chet Raymo

"I was reading again recently Richard Dawkins' letter to his daughter Juliet on her tenth birthday, urging her to avoid tradition, authority and revelation as reasons for believing. Ask for evidence, he writes - evidence that is at least potentially available to all. Good advice, and I wouldn't mind passing on Dawkins' letter to my own children or grandchildren. But there is further advice I would add.

A week or so ago I proposed here Four Rules of Rational Thinking, and had some savvy comments by readers. Let me now propose Seven Rules of Believing that I would offer for the consideration of young people.

1. Respect what your parents and teachers tell you, but keep an open mind.
2. Be skeptical of anything told you by people who are themselves not a little bit skeptical. Be especially skeptical of anything told you by people who believe they know the mind of God.
3. Trust science as a reliable guide to truth, but attend to poets too. Every "fact" is an open door to mystery.
4. Be willing to say "I don't know."
5. Don't be afraid to say "I was wrong."
6. Keep a sense of humor.
7. Respect the beliefs of others, in so far as they are willing to respect your beliefs."

"The 4 Rules of Rational Thinking"

"Brownie, dwarf, elf, Zeus, enchantress, crop circles, genie, gnome, goblin, gremlin, hob, imp, leprechaun, UFO, mermaid, seraphim, unicorn, nymph, puck, siren, angel, sprite, demon, phantom, Osiris, poltergeist, virgin birth, spoon bending, Bigfoot, revenant, shade, shadow, Leviathan, levitation, soul, specter, spirit, ghoul, vampire, wraith, zombie, astrologer, seventy-two virgins, Athena, streets of gold, banshee, augur, auspex, miracle, clairvoyant, diviner, limbo, druid, dowser, fortuneteller, Beelzebub, dryad, haruspex, pyramid power, horoscopist, magus, medium, Thor, tarot, oracle, palmist, card reader, seer, sibyl, griffin, soothsayer, sorcerer, tea-leaf reader, witch, wizard, astrologer, augurer, answered prayer, Eros, clairvoyant, werewolf, transubstantiation, conjurer, diviner, enchanter, dragon, god, goddess, fortune teller, alien abduction, magician, ESP, magus, Cupid, alchemy, necromancer, Grendel, fairy, thaumaturge, warlock, witch, Elysium, Shangri-la, Holy Trinity, dreamland, perpetual motion, enchantment, fairyland, crystaline spheres, pearly gates, promised land, the Rapture, voodoo.

• Do not use more when less will suffice.
• Prefer the probable to the improbable.
• Do not evoke the exotic when the commonplace will do.
• Be prepared to admit you are wrong.”
- http://www.sciencemusings.com/

Manning345 Loc: Richmond, Virginia

I see that God and related concepts are in the listing. I would not want to deny my children the opportunity to grow up in the church, and to appreciate what Christianity has to offer. What they end up believing is theirs to decide, obviously. They may drift around and even deny God for a while. Later on, however, they just might change their minds and return to the fold, just as I did. So the arguments may begin with the improbable, and the exotic...

pafret Loc: Northeast

Whatever their path, these are valid postulates and if more of us were guided by them we would all be better off.

Manning345 Loc: Richmond, Virginia

If more of us all were truly following Christ in this world we would most certainly be better off. Excepting the inclusion of God in your list, the remaining postulates would be quite useful.

pafret Loc: Northeast

Raymo is an atheist, hios only mention of God is a warning to distrust those who claim to know the mind of an infinite being. Not that he has any belief in such a being, he just finds that claim is used to justify too many charalatans.

Richard Rowland

I've posted this before, but perhaps one more time can be endured. I refuse to profess what I believe for fear of influencing either negatively or positively the beliefs of others, if, of course, that would be possible. I have experiences that help explain my personal belief in a higher power. But, if professed, others would probably shrug and consider the experience a coincidence. Or an act of probability. Whatever that is.

I'll admit that I am not as charitable as Christ would have me be, for I tend not to like my fellow man all that much. I also tend not to be very forgiving, either. Still, my life has been a charmed one. Is that because God sees other redeemable qualities, or is it just luck? Only God knows the answer to that question. However, my life hasn't been all roses.

I've lived through situations that have claimed the lives of others. I calculate that to mean that, while I was protected from paying the ultimate price, it didn't protect me from a, probably deserved, kick in the ass.

thinksense

Still, my life has been a charmed one. Is that because God sees other redeemable qualities, or is it just luck? Only God knows the answer to that question. However, my life hasn't been all roses.

I've lived through situations that have claimed the lives of others. I calculate that to mean that, while I was protected from paying the ultimate price, it didn't protect me from a, probably deserved, kick in the ass.

Richard,

As the bible says, G-d is a jealous, vindictive, miserable being and in His real world you like all "living things", have messed up and earned his punishment.
Like most of the beings sentenced to this planet for a time, you misunderstand the circumstances of your tribulations. Whether you manifest here as a spider, microbe, mouse, moose, fish, “human” or plant, you have been seeded with the ingrained command that you must strive to stay “alive” suffering this rotten, insane “life” of total confusion, and pain where everything kills and eats everything to fulfill that command for the period that we are sentenced. You will stay "alive" for whatever period you have been sentenced, for whatever transgressions you have made. You assume that staying “alive” when others are pardoned from this insane existence is a good thing.

Not so. In fact in spite of your contention that you have lead a "charmed life”, I would wager that at times old hidden memories have tried to surface and you have wished you had never been “born” and forced to “live” through your “charmed life”.

( ;-)

thinksense

Realize, that what you are experiencing is a punishment dream. It will end, and you will look back upon it with horror.

( ;-)

Richard Rowland

pafret Loc: Northeast

That is a rather miserable view of existence and sounds like despair. No matter how many difficulties I have encountered, there have always been offsets that showed the hand of God. In reflection, I realize that the majority of the bad times were due to my own lack of prudence or adherence to common sense. I am more concerened with what comes after than anything which has transpired. The past is done, I live in the now and anticipate what is to come.

Richard Rowland

Well, thinksense, I can't recall ever wishing I had never been born. However, I do wish I weren't, now so old. I think often about this process of dying. Recently, I was reading about euthanasia being practiced in Belgium. However, I doubt I have the courage to go that route. Still, visualizing myself withering away like a neglected potted plant isn't very consoling either.

I will continue to believe as I do, in a higher force, and hope for the best. From the plankton of the oceans, there is always the next rung up, I don't believe we humans are the last rung.

Manning345 Loc: Richmond, Virginia

Thinking about death is a significant driver towards wanting the afterlife, and thus bringing in all that Christianity says you need to do to be received on high. Walking with God and Jesus is the main thing, and it isn't an easy thing to do. It is ever like learning to ice skate: you quiver, shake and fall a lot until you get it right...and even then you will have your falls! Keeping at it becomes the real test.