our possibilities

[Peter Kropotkin]

in thinking about existence, I often wonder about this
question of "what should we hope for" one of the Kantian
questions... and many hope for the theological solutions..
which is going to heaven or living a "Christian life" or
spending eternity with 72 virgins who grant your every wish....

and yet, I think this is a mistake..... for in "hoping" for this
possibility, we forget that we have lives, very human lives..
in which we live and love and hate and finally die....
or in other words, we become so involved in seeking a
"spiritual" solution, we forget that we have human possibilities
we can seek out....

the best way to describe this is in the second "Star wars" movie,
"The Empire strikes back" in which Yoda complains that Luke is always
thinking about where he wants to be instead of thinking about where he is...
and that almost perfectly describes us in which we are so focused on
reaching heaven that we forget we have lives to lead... the real focus of
human existence ought to be the "here and now" and not some future heavenly
possibilities that may or may not exist....

and that "here and now" is what we need to focus on...
I am a human being, how can I become a better human being?
and not just to reach heaven or some sort of thinking about after life,
but in thinking about our current life.. what is possible for us
in our current life? to focus on what might be after death, is to make
death our focus, not on our current life... religion is death focused,
and we must become life focused... what is possible for us in our current life,
not on what is possible for us after death....

and none of this is new... this has been a complaint about religion for centuries..
that is takes us away from thinking about our current life, about what is possible
for us as human beings... not as sitting as the right hand of god...

we currently hold, at least many Americans hold that America is on
the wrong track and polls tell us that.. but what if, what if we are on
the wrong track because we don't engage in our lives in terms of,
how can I become a better human being? How can I become my possibilities?

An example of that, I was once, a decent athlete, not great, but a slightly
above average.. and I pursued that possibility in my running, (I ran cross-country
and track) I was seeking to improve my times.. for example, trying to improve my
mile time.. I wasn't trying to set a world record, given my ability, that wasn't a
possibility, but I could become the best runner that was possible for...
today, that possibility is gone, mostly due to physical problems like a bad back...
so, I am unable to achieve any goals of sports or achieving any possibilities..
but I can achieve other possibilities.. like becoming the best philosopher, I
can become... by studying and thinking and writing... that possibility still
exist for me....and in our lifetime, our possibilities change as we grow older..
for example, women can have babies up to a certain age.. but once menopause
happens, that is no longer possible... that possibility of having babies no longer
exists....but other possibilities do exist for women...and they must engage in
those possibilities... to become a better mother to the children she already has
or to become a better wife if that is true or to become a better whatever
she thinks is her possibility to achieve.... that is where we need to focus
on.. what possibilities do actually exist for us, in this lifetime.....

that is why I am so focused on the Kantian questions, "what am I to do?"
"what should I hope for?" "what can I know?" for these questions
explore what is possible for us today, right now, in this lifetime....

in our focus on the next lifetime, we forget ourselves...

or to rephrase this: "what does it profit a man to gain the whole world,
if he forfeits his soul" into

"what does it profit a man to gain his soul, if he forfeits his future possibilities"

Kropotkin

[Peter Kropotkin]

so, what is more important, faith or doubt?

By far, doubt and skepticism is the greater need for us...
and why? for me, it is always the question of why....

for if I hold to faith, then I am not motivated to seek out what is true,
I assume I already hold the truth in my hand... this need for certainty,
with its faith and trust, is the downfall of us human beings... in faith we
forgo our actual possibilities of being human... of seeking what it means to
be human.... faith, certainty forgoes the challenges of seeking our possibilities..
in having faith, certainty, we foreclose what is possible for us...

faith denies other possibilities, doubt renews other possibilities ....

if I hold to the faith that I will reach heaven, then why bother to
explore philosophy or explore the Kantian questions of "what am I to do?"
in faith, those questions are already answered for me.. I just have to follow...
in doubt, we are forced to examine our possibilities in light of not knowing
what is.. the burden of responsibilities in finding out who we are, becomes
ours and ours alone....

in other words, when we doubt, we take the responsibility for our own lives,
when we have faith, certainty, the responsibility of our lives goes elsewhere.......
I can justify failure as being part of "god's plan" but if I take responsibility for
my life in doubt, I cannot blame anyone other than myself... the responsibility
for my life, lays in my hand.... no one else's....

I return my life to this realm, and not to some future possibility after death...

so, ask yourself, are you of faith/certainty.. or are you of doubt?

and that answer will guide you to what is or isn't possible for you....

Kropotkin

[Peter Kropotkin]

one such possibility lies within the "book of Job" in the bible...
to have such faith? who in our modern age engages in such faith?
No one... but Kropotkin, I have faith.. do you? the possibility of faith
requires that you hold to your faith regardless of what stand before you....
and yet today, faith, faith has become "modern"..

soulless and bloodless, mechanical... and why do I say that?
for our "Modern belief" really doesn't cost us anything...
Reread Job or if you wish, read the sacrifice of Abraham...
do you have enough faith to sacrifice your own child?
no, no you don't.... and that is the modern version of faith..
to claim something that isn't true... many claim to be faithful
to god or Jesus, but in actual practice, will happily deny others
the same they receive....
in other words..... the idea that we should treat others as our own
has been lost in our modern age... or have we forgotten Matthew?

"Its natural for us to be our brother's keeper. God is love, and he made us
to be caring and kind to others"

or perhaps this:

'' You have heard that it was said, "love your neighbor and hate your
enemy, but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"

and who actually practices that today? followers of IQ45? They practice hate
and prejudice and bigotry of the worse kind.. and yet, they claim to be
of the faith... and liars, all of them... or said another way, by Nietzsche,

"... at bottom there was only one Christian, and he died on the cross"

what possibilities are actually worth reaching for?

faith/certainty or doubt and uncertainty?

if you seek the truth, then your only path lies within doubt/uncertainty....

Kropotkin

[Lacewing]

if I hold to faith, then I am not motivated to seek out what is true,
I assume I already hold the truth in my hand... this need for certainty,
with its faith and trust, is the downfall of us human beings... in faith we
forgo our actual possibilities of being human... of seeking what it means to
be human.... faith, certainty forgoes the challenges of seeking our possibilities..
in having faith, certainty, we foreclose what is possible for us...

Nicely said.

The possibilities are truly vast right in front of us if we can avoid being lulled into complacency by the limits and lure of patterned beliefs.

[bobmax]

so, what is more important, faith or doubt?

for if I hold to faith, then I am not motivated to seek out what is true,
I assume I already hold the truth in my hand... this need for certainty,
with its faith and trust, is the downfall of us human beings... in faith we
forgo our actual possibilities of being human... of seeking what it means to
be human.... faith, certainty forgoes the challenges of seeking our possibilities..
in having faith, certainty, we foreclose what is possible for us...

faith denies other possibilities, doubt renews other possibilities ....

But this is not faith, it is instead superstition.

In fact, faith is continuous coexistence with doubt.
Those who have faith doubt, because nothing is certain.

Therefore faith, the only authentic faith, is faith in the Truth. Truth that appears as nothing.

Difficult to live in total uncertainty.
Therefore it is easy to cling to a "certain truth" that is a remedy for existential angst.
This truth can be a religious dogma, or nihilism.
But it's never faith, it's just superstition.

[Veritas Aequitas]

in thinking about existence, I often wonder about this
question of "what should we hope for" one of the Kantian
questions...

that is why I am so focused on the Kantian questions, "what am I to do?"
"what should I hope for?" "what can I know?" for these questions
explore what is possible for us today, right now, in this lifetime....

Kropotkin

In meeting the expectation of 'What I should hope for?'
Kant wrote the following;
Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch -1795
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual ... cal_Sketch

The above is only achievable with the other;
What can I know? Kantian Epistemology
and
What can I do? Kantian Morality and Ethics.

However to sustain the above, we need an effective Life's Problem Solving Technique, i.e.
Buddhism's 4NT-8FP is a Life Problem Solving Technique.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=25193

One point is all humans has an innate inherent potential for a ONE-UP drive, i.e. to improve upon one's current state either gradually or exponentially on a continual basis.

Given the above, all humans will have the opportunity to unfold their inherent potentials and possibilities.

[Age]

if I hold to faith, then I am not motivated to seek out what is true,
I assume I already hold the truth in my hand... this need for certainty,
with its faith and trust, is the downfall of us human beings... in faith we
forgo our actual possibilities of being human... of seeking what it means to
be human.... faith, certainty forgoes the challenges of seeking our possibilities..
in having faith, certainty, we foreclose what is possible for us...

Nicely said.

The possibilities are truly vast right in front of us if we can avoid being lulled into complacency by the limits and lure of patterned beliefs.

The BELIEF, faith, and trust, that there is NO (one) Truth is a VERY LIMITING factor, which also STOPS one from SEEING and LIVING WITH and IN ALL the possibilities.

[Age]

so, what is more important, faith or doubt?

for if I hold to faith, then I am not motivated to seek out what is true,
I assume I already hold the truth in my hand... this need for certainty,
with its faith and trust, is the downfall of us human beings... in faith we
forgo our actual possibilities of being human... of seeking what it means to
be human.... faith, certainty forgoes the challenges of seeking our possibilities..
in having faith, certainty, we foreclose what is possible for us...

faith denies other possibilities, doubt renews other possibilities ....

But this is not faith, it is instead superstition.

In fact, faith is continuous coexistence with doubt.
Those who have faith doubt, because nothing is certain.

LOL So, the ones who have faith that God, for example, exists also, supposedly, doubt God exists.

Hopefully I am NOT the only one who is SEEING the CONTRADICTION here.

Therefore faith, the only authentic faith, is faith in the Truth. Truth that appears as nothing.

As can be clearly seen here, as well, people, back in those days, will say just about ANY thing thinking or BELIEVING that those words will somehow support or justify what they were ALREADY BELIEVING was true.

As seen here, they say things, then end them with what they BELIEVE is absolutely true, but NEVER noticing NOR realizing that the conclusion NEVER actually logically follows the claim/s and premise/s.

Difficult to live in total uncertainty.

LOL It is NOT just possible to live in total uncertainty ALL of 'you', human beings, began living that way.

Therefore it is easy to cling to a "certain truth" that is a remedy for existential angst.
This truth can be a religious dogma, or nihilism.
But it's never faith, it's just superstition.

Some are saying, 'you are BELIEVING in your OWN superstition, and faith, here'.