Onyx Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/04/study-of-the-day-even-the-religious-lose-faith-when-they-think-critically/256402/ Just a bit of an explanation for your ExChristianity as obvious it may be to you all.
JoeCoastie Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 That article resonates with me. I didn't lose faith over traumatic events; I just started thinking. My religious beliefs couldn't stand up against my scrutiny and they withered away over time. Maybe fundies will want to ban critical thinking from schools along with evolution. There are some pretty rediculous comments after that article. Funny how hard hitting truth about religion makes them so defensive. "Maybe the weak and dumb religious lose faith. Smart religious and spiritual people know that in the absence of a greater hope and belief in something larger, humbling and supra-intelligent, something that BY NATURE AND DEFINITION defies humans' capacity to examine and thus diminish in their minds, humanity would devolve into a mindless collectivist inhuman borg where NOTHING positive would ever penetrate the stifling, soul crushing fog of evil that would envelope anyone unlucky enough to inhabit such a realm."
owen652 Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 'i didn't mean that people who lack faith were bad, I merely pointed out that they cause most of the problems in the world today.' I nominate this for Dumbest Internet Comment 2012.
Eugene39 Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 Yeah, that article is from "The Research Center for Studies With Obvious Answers".
Akheia Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 I saw that, thought it was hilarious. I can only imagine that the comments are comedy gold. It reminds me of some of those language experiments from the 80s and 90s when they had Japanese girls speak in English and answer a survey, then answer the same survey but in Japanese and saw how radically different the answers were. When we "speak" in religious ways, we tend to reach for religious attitudes and answers, but when we think critically, we tend to reach for different tools to answer questions. I can now see why the fundies really don't want proper educations in our schools, why they don't want kids going to college. The set of critical-thinking skills they'll acquire via these means ensures they won't be reaching for the religious tools.
Yrth Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 http://www.theatlant...tically/256402/ Just a bit of an explanation for your ExChristianity as obvious it may be to you all. Saw this last night. Loved it, despite the caveat at the end saying that analytic thinking isn't necessarily better than intuitive thinking.
Akheia Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 Depends on what the thinking's about, doesn't it? Sometimes intuition is better: "since feeling is first/who pays any attention/to the syntax of things/will never wholly kiss you," after all. But if my car mechanic isn't able to think critically about what's wrong with my Miata and instead opts to just go with what feels right in fixing her, then I need to re-evaluate my choice of mechanics. I tend to be an intuitive thinker myself, so obviously I think highly of that style of thinking. But it can go overboard and be misused. When one only has a hammer, problems all start to look like nails.
midniterider Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 Depends on what the thinking's about, doesn't it? Sometimes intuition is better: "since feeling is first/who pays any attention/to the syntax of things/will never wholly kiss you," after all. But if my car mechanic isn't able to think critically about what's wrong with my Miata and instead opts to just go with what feels right in fixing her, then I need to re-evaluate my choice of mechanics. I tend to be an intuitive thinker myself, so obviously I think highly of that style of thinking. But it can go overboard and be misused. When one only has a hammer, problems all start to look like nails. True. We need both critical thinking as well as intuition to live better. Years ago my wife had scheduled an installation for cable tv. The installer knocked on the door and when she opened it got the creepiest feeling from this guy...she dismissed her intuition and let the guy in. A week later this guy was arrested for several recent murders. Logic and reason told her that she needed to let him in to get the job done. She said she won't dismiss her intuition like that again. The police like to use the phrase "just dont look right" when a citizen isnt quite able to describe what is wrong with a situation. They know intuitively that what they are witnessing doesnt quite add up but can't put a finger on it.
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