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Matthew does some thinking. Film at eleven. By: Matthew Patterson, the Paranoid Minister on 5/13/2000; 11:34 PM Well, Aradia did ask for it (at that otherdiscussion board), so I thought I'd post here my possible explanation for why Morgan thinks he can get along just fine without religion. The constant mentioning of how religion doesn't teach critical thinking skills got me thinking. Then I remembered the whole discussion about Morgan's lack of any common sense whatsoever. ("That a poisonous rattlesnake?" "Yep. Wanna hold it?" "Sure!") It occurred to me that religion to Morgan may be somewhat akin to a martini to a recovering alcoholic. Other people are able to drink socially (take some things on faith without all the exhaustive questioning) and not get drawn back in to the spiral of addiction (take everything on faith, including the used car salesman who insists that a 1993 Geo Prizm is worth $12,000.) Morgan, however, is like the alcoholic. He must keep up the questioning, skeptical attitude all the time, or else lose it for good. This is not necessarily a bad think, as it probably makes him a hell of a lot better thinker than most of us. Of course, this is just my opinion, and seeing as how I live over a thousand miles away from Morgan and am more likely to die in an atomic war than actually meet him, I'm probably wrong. But it was a fun thought. (On a totally and completely unrelated topic, SNL is on right now. Britney Spears is host and musical guest. All three of her major hits sound almost exactly the same (not counting remixes). This is annoying. Britney Spears is from about 40 miles away from where I live. This is most annoying. She likes to lay the Southern accent on thick sometimes, lose it other times. This is supremely annoying. Therefore, Britney Spears must die. Buwahahahahahahaha.)
RE: Matthew does some thinking. Film at eleven. By: Aradia on 5/13/2000; 11:52 PM Front row seats in the peanut gallery are already sold out. Woo hoo! Matthew calls Mark Morgan simply "Morgan" like I do! Now I am unstoppable! Ahem. On a serious note. That's not a bad analogy. Mine was somewhat similar, as he is afraid to believe in faith because faith would hurt him immensely. Defense against self proven injury. On the other hand, I'm doubting my own analogy now that I've actually spoken to the man. I promise, he's very reasonable. I got into approximately zero no-win debates with him today. Okay, Morgan, your words on this subject of our beloved webmaster?
RE: Matthew does some thinking. Film at eleven. By: Mark Morgan on 5/14/2000; 12:36 AM I would agree, with the caveat that it pretty much applies to everyone. We all need to practice critical thinking skills, as inherent common sense can only take you so far and it can easily lead you astray.
RE: Matthew does some thinking. Film at eleven. By: Matthew Patterson, the Paranoid Minister on 5/14/2000; 1:37 AM Well, I might respond with the saying that some people have to practice more than others. I think it's unreasonable to say that believing even a few things unquestioningly makes you stop questioning anything at all. Saying, as you do, that religion makes all people lose their critical thinking skills seems to me to be a bit of an overgeneralization.
RE: Matthew does some thinking. Film at eleven. By: Mark Morgan on 5/14/2000; 9:55 AM Fair enough. And I'm not just swimming in empirical data to back up that claim. But to generalize, I am not really saying religion is bad for your brain. What I am saying is that when you believe something based on faith, you have chosen to suspend critical thinking skills on that issue. Isn't that the value of faith, that it helps you despite your doubts and your fears? Then, how do you draw the line? How do you decide what things you will put in the faith box, and which in the critical thinking box? And for what good reason? I don't feel comfortable putting things in the faith box. I'd rather things be in the "Temporarily believed true, unless the evidence contradicts it." I mean, come on! What kind of puny faith can be debunked by a little evidence? This is what aggravates me about some forms of Creationism. Can't you people have faith in your God without demanding physical evidence? The evidence doesn't support your claim. What's the deal? But I still say, you have to watch out. Be cautious what things go in the faith box. Try and limit the range of statements about faith. I realize I'm making a slippery slope argument here, that if you start down the slippery slope of faith thinking you'll slide all the way down. Slippery slope arguments are generally bogus, because they don't consider a middle ground where people can compromise. However, in this case I have trouble seeing a good compromise. Where is a good place to draw a line, where one decides "Okay, I'll stop using faith now and start using critical thinking skills"? I dunno. Maybe that's the real Dilemna: what is a reasonable limit on one's faith? How do you decide what items go in the faith box?
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