Aleksander comments on Rationality Quotes May 2014 - Less Wrong

4 Post author: elharo 01 May 2014 09:45AM

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Comment author: Aleksander 07 May 2014 04:39:02PM 0 points [-]

There are also people who claim that they feel God's presence in their heart, you know.

Comment author: Nornagest 07 May 2014 05:12:09PM *  6 points [-]

I believe them. I don't believe in God, but I do believe that it's possible to have the subjective experience of a divine presence -- there's too much agreement on the broad strokes of how one feels, across cultures and religions, for it to be otherwise. Though on the other hand, some of the more specific takes on it might be bullshit, and basic cynicism suggests that some of the people talking about feeling God's presence are lying.

Seems reasonable to extend the same level of credulity to claims about enlightenment experiences. That's not to say that Buddhism is necessarily right about how they hash out in terms of mental/spiritual benefits, or in terms of what they actually mean cognitively, of course.

Comment author: Aleksander 07 May 2014 11:27:42PM 2 points [-]

I don't disagree with any of that. Who knows, could be even one and the same experience which people raised in one culture interpret as God's presence, and in another as enlightenment.

Comment author: Desrtopa 13 May 2014 06:09:07PM 0 points [-]

The research summarized in this book seems to suggest that this is indeed the case.

Comment author: TheAncientGeek 07 May 2014 06:35:19PM 2 points [-]

And people who claim to see cold fusion and canals on mars.

There is a happy medium between treating empirical evidence as infallible, and dismissing it as not conforming to your favourite theory.