> > > b) perhaps we don't consider skepticism inherently and
> > > unquestionably true or good for all purposes.
> >
> > Would you elaborate? Now I'll admit that there are many ordinary
> > day-to-day situations in life where *speaking* skeptically isn't
> > to the point, e.g., your boss tells a funny but highly improbable
> > story, your brother tells your sister that the meatloaf was
> > superb, or you visit a friend's church just out of curiosity.
>
> Skepticism as a philosophical position holds that doubting
> everything is good and further that there is no reason to really
> believe much of anything. Most "skeptics" don't go that far. I
> don't believe science and critical inquiry that affirms only
> scientific methodology has a good handle on the many things that
> simply are not addressed by science like values and ethics,
> esthetics, qualia and so on.
Quite so, but then of values, or ethics, or esthetics, one can
not search for what is true and what is false. That's the
job of (generalized) science, e.g., history, philosophy,
biology, and so forth.
> > Now (thinking out loud here) is your case parallel? Perhaps it
> > is. Right now I can't think of why it's not. Can anyone?
>
> Not sure as I'm not sure of the parallel you are drawing. I
> hold spirituality both because I find it very beneficial
> personally and believe it is can or will be beneficial more
> globally and because I personally experience much of what is
> within it as deeply true.
Are those things that you find in it falsifiable? Can you
give examples that you find as deeply true that aren't just
aesthetic preferences? Are those things necessarily true
of all humans, or of aliens, or of sentient creatures in
general?
> > That's maybe what is not parallel in our cases. Do you actively
> > separate yourself from all those "luddites" as you called them,
> > by also ALWAYS disparaging their beliefs while putting forth
> > your own about "spirituality"?
> >
>
> I don't find "disparaging" their beliefs very fruitful often.
...
> Now sometimes it is necessary to say that what some of them is
> doing is evil and wrong-headed and to make no bones about that.
> But for it to be effective you must also understand their world
> a bit and say it in a way that penetrates that world.
In some discussions with them I have gone so far as to
say that their beliefs about miracles and so on are false.
> ...So no, I don't go out of my way to disparage others.
In an effort to prevent further miscommunication, I want it
clear that I was never asking you about disparaging others,
only about their beliefs.
Lee
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