Question by irishumanist: Is the search for REAL answers to life’s mysteries more gratifying than simply blindly accepting ancient dogma
Is there anybody else who feels an absolute joy and sense wonder and fulfillment when learning about the true scientific reasons for the how the universe and everything that is in it came to be ?
Do you feel an immense sense of wonder and amazement when you contemplate the sky at night and marvel at all we have learnt about our orgins and existance and all that there is still to know ?
Finally do you think that this joy and wonder is far superior to simply accepting ancient dogmatic myths as a way of explaining the world around us
Best answer:
Answer by =42
One does not preclude the other, in both directions.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
What is gratifying in life is grievous in death. Truth is the only gratification life affords.
Yes to all you have said above. I find great joy in opening my mind and learning about the world and universe around me. I also find great joy in learning the history of the people around me. Learning shouldn’t stop after you leave school or because someone else tells you it’s wrong to expand your mind.
Yeah. When you compare the cosmos to the petty creation of the invisible, magical sky-fairy that lies behind the Abrahamic death-cults of desert monotheism… basically, a clump of dirt surrounded by water, with a dome over it (the sky), and heaven on the ‘other side of the sky’… well, even a good comic book surpasses that.
What I just described is the ‘universe’ that results from the biblical description of Genesis. It means exactly what is said… that is the way that ancient, primitive people perceived the universe. A problem has arisen because as knowledge of the universe has increased, churchmen (apologists) have sought to convince their minions (sheeple) that the ‘word’… which at one time was taken to be the literal ‘truth’… is no longer ‘truth’… it has been transformed into allegory and metaphor, which we are unable to interpret unless we are possessed of the ‘Secret Magical Decoder Ring’… ehhh… scratch that… I mean unless we are possessed of the ‘Holy Spirit’.
Yep… the universe is an amazing place… much more so when we strive to understand it and appreciate it without being encumbered by the blinders of superstition, mythology and fairy tales.
I do find joy in trying to figure it all out. Science and spirituality have both been paths to truth, and I don’t accept the dogma from either.