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Ha, I've not seen a blimp in a long time! I think I'd probably think both those things :P I wouldn't say that I _only_ base my view of reality on my feelings,

• JR1427 3y ago
  As a side note, I also spent a period mentally tallying up the (sometimes famous) people on both sides of the God debate. When I discovered that someone I admire/respect believed in God, I'd add a mental mark on one column, and when I discovered someone else I admire/respect who doesn't, I'd add a mark in the other column. Both columns became full pretty quickly, so I concluded that someone's point of view on God cannot be a case of intellect or integrity. This at least helped me not feel insecure about my beliefs on that front. One reason why I don't hide my beliefs (although I rarely flaunt them, either) is so anyone else carrying out the same exercise has some more data. They might of course choose to put me in a "stupid believer" category, but that is up to them!
• haswell 3y ago
  > I think our feelings, as well as our thoughts, should be listened to But why? Not asking to be difficult; I'm trying to understand why we should listen to either. I've learned that my thoughts are often filled with unhelpful nonsense baked into me at an early age by the conditioning of traumatized parents. I've learned that I can change the kinds of thoughts that I have by learning new skills and reframing situations so that the next time I encounter a situation that would lead to unhelpful nonsense thoughts, those are no longer the default reaction. My thoughts aren't me - they're the results of processes in my brain. I've learned that often the most useful thing is to not listen to my thoughts, because they're spinning narratives that simply aren't true ("I'm worthless", "everything is my fault", "<person> must be thinking awful things about me", etc). Our interpretation of feelings are mediated by thought. Given the susceptibility of thought to conditioning and external shaping, what makes a feeling worth listening to? To be clear, I'm not saying that thoughts/feelings are never useful or true. We depend on them to make sense of the world and to survive our environment. I'm saying that they're often not true, and this raises the question: what differentiates the useful/true ones from the ones that are not? Simply having the thought/feeling isn't enough. I went through a period of time in my life when I experienced thoughts/feelings "as me". I felt identical to them. Once I realized that they're appearances in consciousness alongside every other appearance in consciousness: sights, sounds, physical sensations, smells, etc., my relationship with thoughts/feelings shifted. I appear to be closer to "that which is aware" of these appearances in consciousness. When you start observing these thoughts/feelings playing out from a distance, it becomes increasingly clear that they're often just plain wrong, but wrong for understandable reasons (e.g. the anxious brain borne of childhood trauma).
  • JR1427 3y ago
    > But why? Not asking to be difficult; I'm trying to understand why we should listen to either. Because our thoughts and feelings are really all we have to go on, when it comes to understanding the world around us. I don't mean that _every_ thought or feeling should be acted on necessarily, but that they should all be given consideration. For example, I read somewhere that ~70% of atheists admit to praying in the last year (or something like that. I don't remember the source). I think it's fair to say that the urge or feeling of wanting to pray is common. Many people would dismiss that feeling with their thoughts, i.e. rationalise why the feeling is really a result of something else etc. Whereas my take (by listening to my feelings) is that perhaps there is a reason why the urge to pray is a common one, and it might be as simple as something/someone to pray to actually exists.
    • alt227 3y ago
      > For example, I read somewhere that ~70% of atheists admit to praying in the last year (or something like that. I don't remember the source). I think it's fair to say that the urge or feeling of wanting to pray is common. I am an atheist. I am very strict about the fact I do not believe in a God. My beliefs are strongly based in science, and I also believe Gods are fictionally created by people who need something more in their life. However saying all that, there have been 3 major personal crisis in my life, and I have prayed in every one of them. I cant explain it, I dont understand it. But I am hopefully intelligent enough not to close the door on it and let my mind ponder the whys of it from time to time. JR1427, your comments here have provoked thought. Thankyou :)