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18529436 No.18529436 [Reply] [Original]

It’s unlikely that the Holocaust actually happened. It’s unlikely that the moon landing really happened. It’s unlikely that you’re reading this blog right now (or any blog, for that matter). It’s also unlikely that much of what we consider “reality” today, including history, is entirely true. It’s estimated that 99% of all historical records are false. Even the original Bible is riddled with contradictions and more than a few forgeries. (And isn’t the Bible one of the foundations of human knowledge? What do you call the writings of a hypothetical, mythical figure based on the details of a handful of credible ancient texts?)

This doesn’t mean, however, that there isn’t a greater understanding that the unknown is truly unknowable and just as often unknowable than the known. In fact, most of what we know and feel as truth today is based on ideas we haven’t really bothered to question in a long time.

The truth, which we’ve long considered “real,” is largely a product of the human psyche — a complex psychological process that allows us to achieve a semblance of order in a world ruled by chaos. In many ways, it’s the second most powerful force in the universe, after gravity. It is the seat of our emotions and our dreams. It guides and shapes our thoughts and actions and reveals the world to us through our senses.

And, as with everything else, it is also subject to change.

In his excellent book, Asimov’s Guide to Reality, author Isaac Asimov tells us of his own personal journey as he began to realize that the known universe — including the physical universe as we know it — is actually a product of the minds of billions of different individuals, none of whom actually have the ability to predict or shape the universe at all. When he put these ideas to the test, Asimov discovered that he was wrong about everything.

>> No.18529440

>>18529436
Science, in its earliest forms, is built on the fundamental assumption that there is such a thing as “reality,” which is indeed something that can be known and knowable. It’s the notion that you can reason out why something happens, why something is in a given place, why something is here or there or what you should do, if something happened or not. But science and “reality” are not the same. Science is built on the idea that you can know all the reasons why something happens, when in reality, the only reason anything happens is because something else happened first. If there is a reason why something happens, that does not mean that there was a cause and effect relationship between the cause and the effect.

It’s a very real problem. In fact, according to Asimov, it is only through a complete re-examination of everything that we have come to know about ourselves that we can gain a “reality” that has no subjectivity at all.

Is there a God? What if there is no God? If there is no God, why are you here? Do you have any purpose? What is the purpose of your life?

These are just a few of the questions Asimov struggled with.

In his essay on his journey, Asimov candidly admits that most of what he has discovered about himself is probably wrong. But, he says, “I am no longer an atheist, but I am not an agnostic either.” It took several years for Asimov to slowly come to grips with the fact that there was no “better” way to perceive the world than in a scientific manner. “I started my personal journey with a completely blank slate,” Asimov writes, “unenlightened as to whether I was right or wrong.”

>> No.18529445

>>18529440
Although it might seem weird that this self-described atheist would be more religious than most of his contemporaries (given the fact that atheism is, by definition, the lack of belief in any deities), Asimov explains that he had to be forced into a “religious frame of mind.” Asimov wrote, “Atheism, according to the dictionary, means ‘without theism,’ and I see no reason to dispute that definition.”

Asimov’s awakening to his own “truth” wasn’t nearly as shocking to those closest to him as it was to him. His wife, who still believed in God, became a Christian. He has two children, both of whom are now Christians. His son is the pastor of a Baptist church in San Francisco, and his daughter is a minister.

Religion is a fundamental part of Asimov’s life and will likely remain so, at least for the foreseeable future.

We asked Asimov’s son about his father’s faith and how it has affected their relationship. Chris Asimov said that, although he is currently only in his early 30s, he learned from his father that there is a lot of difference between “believing” in God and being a “born-again” Christian.

There are many people like his father who are born-again Christians but do not believe they are Christians. For them, religion is just an accessory that helps them express their personal feelings, Asimov said.

His father found a way to live his life and to spread his message without being at all judgmental, or preaching to the congregation, Chris explained. “I think that is the crux of his message.”

So what was his father’s ultimate message? Why are we here? Is there a purpose to our lives?

Chris had a simple answer: “He said there is no reason to believe that we are here.”

>> No.18529451

>>18529445
But his father was not indifferent to the point of being emotionless about it. In Asimov’s book, “Alphabetized Holy Scriptures,” there is a letter that his father wrote to his younger brother, where he shares that he now believes that what the Bible says is “to the greatest possible degree possible” true. And Asimov’s favorite passage in the Bible, which he explained to his son was really his favorite passage in the entire Bible, comes from the book of Job: “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Asimov said, “I will always take the word of the Lord as being true,” no matter what that word is.

While his statements about the science of religion and the difference between “believing” and “believing” are perhaps the most surprising part of Asimov’s life and this post, his story reveals a few lessons that apply to all of us, regardless of religion:

Believing in something does not mean that you have to do something. Many Christians today have believed in something that they have done nothing to promote. While they might consider that faith is a “true belief,” they often view “believing” as meaning something that has to be acted upon.

Often we “believe” without actually looking to see if what we believe is true. Asimov said, “One of my favorite sayings is that we must take to heart what we think we believe and take action as though we believe it.”

When you take action, you have to act in faith. While believing is easy, acting on it is often much more difficult.

If your actions align with your beliefs, then you are living according to them.

Is there a lesson in Asimov’s life that we can learn today?

>> No.18529454

>>18529451
For many Christians, perhaps the most important lesson Asimov’s story teaches is that it is possible to walk an incredibly different path from the path followed by most of the world. Not only is the path that Asimov took, the one that brought him and his family so much happiness, the path that you will want to follow, but it is also the most productive and productive path.

It is the path that leads to joy, peace, and contentment. It is the path that Asimov described as the “sweetest and simplest, and also the hardest and most difficult way.”

He believed that the Lord was calling him to follow that path, and he did just that.

Excerpted from 'Charles Asimov: A Life of Discovery' by David Hartwell, publisher for House of Anansi Press. Copyright © 2018 by David Hartwell. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

>> No.18529462

>>18529436
take your meds

>> No.18529463

>>18529436
>Even the original Bible is riddled with contradictions and more than a few forgeries
No

>> No.18529465

>>18529436
>isn’t the Bible one of the foundations of human knowledge

Are you some kind of retard?

>> No.18529539

Asimov. What is that, an italian name?

>> No.18529621

>>18529465
No, he's a Jew defending the cultural primacy of his people. To reject the Bible as the foundation of all human knowledge is to reject the Choseness of the Jews, which is the single greatest crime you can commit (in Judaism).

All >>18529463 is doing is taking part in a constructed dialectic whereby he defends the supremacy of the Jewish people and denies himself political agency by arguing for one artificial constructed narrative in the face of another.

>> No.18530091
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18530091

>>18529539

>> No.18530159

>>18529436
>gravity
This is one of the weakest forces in the universe. Was Asimov a pseud?