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where is my mind?

takeonlife00
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Posted 10/21/09 - 01:44 AM: Subject: where is my mind?	#1
I am a young philosopher but since I can remember have had an internal conflict with my existence and what I had been taught to believe. I am raised Orthodox Catholic so obviously I saw some holes in my parent's beliefs. As a read more books and studied a vast realm of theology I questioned more and more while trying to keep my focus on Christianity to satisfy my parents. Now I am in college and I have achieved a new level of independence, I haven't gone to church in months and I am finding that my liberation is just confusing me more. Now I am trying to find myself in all this mess. I have learned so many things. There are so many different beliefs but I don't know where I stand. I have tried many different things; meditation, religious and spiritual exploration and various hallucinogenic drugs. In hope that I will have some kind of realization. I keep on meditating, searching my mind for answers and I feel like I am near something, close to an answer. But every time I get close I can't seem to break through. I keep on pushing but it seems no matter how hard I push I don't seem to quite make it through. What I seek now is advice, someone to point me in the right direction. So I ask of you: Is what I am feeling similar to a current or prior feeling that you have had? And if so what helped you through? What do you think I should do to help me get moving in the right direction? Or do you think that my worries are entirely normal and no matter what I do there is a level of uncertainty and this thread is absolutely pointless?

Minyun
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Posted 10/21/09 - 01:57 AM:	#2
takeonlife00 wrote: Is what I am feeling similar to a current or prior feeling that you have had? And if so what helped you through? I am still searching. takeonlife00 wrote: What do you think I should do to help me get moving in the right direction? Awareness of the fact that you are not the only one. takeonlife00 wrote: Or do you think that my worries are entirely normal and no matter what I do there is a level of uncertainty and this thread is absolutely pointless? Yes. We need to becareful of those people that think they have found certainty. You are normal. You are uncertain.

jsidelko
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Posted 10/21/09 - 03:53 AM:	#3
Most of us when we are very young think we live in a world of certainty. As we age, doubts creep in as alternative answers are discovered. Usually by late teens or early adulthood, we find the ambiguity intolerable and we begin to search for answers to the question of our existence. After years of searching some of us invent or hijack pre-packaged claims to certainty while the rest of us learn to tolerate the uncertainty from which we cannot escape. Philosophy doesn't really offer answers to the questions of existence. Rather, its main job is too eliminate silly and illogical answers that are unsupported by either reason or experience.
thanatos

takeonlife00
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Posted 10/21/09 - 04:18 AM:	#4
Minyun wrote: I am still searching. Awareness of the fact that you are not the only one. Yes. We need to becareful of those people that think they have found certainty. You are normal. You are uncertain. yes as I thought, most must feel the same way. Thank you for confirming that. I think you are very right I would be a little scared of some one who seemed to have a firm grip on existance. I guess this isn't a total waste of time I mean at least you confirmed that I am not alone. still I am posed with many questions. why build us as blind machines? and what is it exactly I am trying trying reach? i guess thats for me to find out. how to find the solution to a question I don't know. thank you for the "awareness" that was helpful.

swamy
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Posted 10/21/09 - 05:09 AM:	#5
In today's environment the word philosophy helps in two ways : a. Clear thinking b. Proper expression of thoughts Anything beyond is academic.

Dragohunter
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Posted 10/21/09 - 11:00 AM:	#6
I find that similar to the question, "Where is the music in an ipod?" Its not that there is no answer, but that it arises on a misunderstanding. I accept a theory that contains both elements of biological naturalism and quantum dualism. The brain produces consciosuness (hence the mind) just like certain molecules produce elasticity and viscosity. As those molecules don't "act that way" at the atomic level, consciousness isn't ontologically irreducible to chemical neuron firings but may be causually reduccible.
"Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal." - Albert Einstein

mway
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Posted 10/21/09 - 06:10 PM:	#7
Here is a little advice for you. Let's say you want to learn how a car works. It wouldn't matter how much you drove the car, where you drove the car, and what fuel you put in the car. The only way you could learn how the car works is to get out of the car and look inside the engine and analyse. Unfortunately for ourselves (our minds), we cannot get out of the car so to speak, however we are getting increasingly better at peering into functioning brains. In order to find what you are looking for, I would suggest learning neuroscience to be a good start.
Lame is to Wav, as the Brain is to Reality.

Gabrielus Angelus Mexicanus
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Posted 10/21/09 - 06:24 PM:

Found it!
Lol no but really...
You're young so your mind is in dirty places. = )

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No god exists to save you from thy doom

BitterCrank
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Posted 10/21/09 - 07:05 PM:	#9
takeonlife00 wrote: Or do you think that my worries are entirely normal and no matter what I do there is a level of uncertainty and this thread is absolutely pointless? Three pieces of advice: Accept your personal history. You may not like it; you don't have to like it; but you can't erase the past. So you were raised within a religious tradition and you found holes in it. This is not a calamity. All world views (no matter what) have holes in them. You are too young to be patient, but maturity takes time. It will come. Go easy on the drugs. Enlightenment is not yet available in pill form. Good luck. You'll be OK.
If you won't fan the flames of discontent, at least don't join the fire department.

sevenzedek
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Posted 10/22/09 - 06:22 PM:	#10
As BitterCrank said, all world views have holes. With this in mind: Nothing can be proven in any absolute sense. In the end, we rely on burden of proof. Trusting in the burden of proof you have is what I call faith or conviction. It even takes faith to trust where my next step will land. In fact, I have never seen you. It takes faith to believe you exist while you are reading what I write. But without this conviction I would never write to you. While our experiences are relative to one another, absolute truth is not relative to itself or anyone else. It is untrue for someone to say to another, "Your truth is different from my truth." Something cannot be true and false at the same time in the absolute sense. Truth is not relative. Absolute truth does exist. How can we know? It is impossible for the statement, "There is no such thing as absolute truth," to be absolutely true. Therefore, absolute truth exists. So don't give up. The truth can be known. How do we know? The above statements prove that truth is knowable. If it is knowable on an elementary level, then it is knowable on a more advanced level. However, it is only knowable on more advanced levels when you get your foundation correct. Truth has a source- or ultimate foundation. The fact that truth exists means there is a unifying principle to all of reality. And the fact that this unifying principle is so intelligently woven into all that exists means that one must ask not WHAT happened to cause all this to be, but WHO has caused all this to be. This is my burden of proof. Reality is too complex to say, WHAT. I must ask, WHO. Yes, there are holes. I have the certainty of an atheist. But! I also have the peace that passes understanding. I believe in God. I can prove he exists but I cannot prove it or anything else in any absolute sense. But who is God? How is he known? He is known by his word. His word says that faith comes by hearing the word (Romans 10:17). It also says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen- Hebrews 11:1 (ESV). Everybody has faith. But life is not a question of faith. It is a question of where you place your faith. Is the object of your faith true or false? Also, don't think you need to throw your mind away when you believe the God of the Bible. God's word says you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul [MIND], and with all your strength- Deuteronomy 6:5 and Luke 10:27 (NKJV). There are many intelligent reasons to believe in the God of the Bible. There are also many intelligent reasons to believe there is no God. This is the condition of the heart of man- hard heartedness. But what is the burden of proof? The heavens declare his glory. I have plenty more reasons for believing in Jesus. You may write me at any time. -Jon Dulin

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