Fundamentalism versus Critical Thinking

So Phat wisdom trumps human wisdom?And Phat intentions alone are untainted?

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I move that the words "prove", "proof" and "proven" be stricken from the English language.Of course it's impossible to "prove" that a "belief" is a "lie". But we have overwhelming evidence that a lot of beliefs are wrong.Are you going to sweep wrongness under the rug because it isn't an intentional lie? Are you going to demand "conclusive proof" while you're drowning in evidence?

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You've bought into the false dichotomy. Believing and thinking are not mutually exclusive.There is a limit to what we "know", about the origin of the universe, for example. There is a limit beyond which we can not "think".Everybody has a belief about what is beyond that limit.The problem with fundamentalists is that they put that limit far too low. They believe when they should be thinking.Not every religious person does that.

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You haven't told us.You're just expecting us to accept on faith that you don't have any blind beliefs.
You're thinking like a fundamentalist about fundamentalists.

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Stereotyping is not a characteristic of critical thinking. Having no fixed belief is not the same as having no belief.(Having no fixed position is not the same as having no position. Every number has a position on the line, whether it's positive or negative, finite or infinite.) So you believe. Some believe the possibilities are finite. I'll let you know when I see some. If you think critically (take the beam out of your eye), you might find beliefs where you thought there were none.

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A sawed-off shotgun is "useful" too, but that doesn't make it a "good" thing. Society protects itself from sawed-off shotguns because their usefulness is individual, not societal.Similarly, society needs to protect itself from religions that are "useful" to their members but detrimental to society as a whole - e.g. YECism.That's where critical thinking comes in. Every religion needs to be assessed for its overall "good" and "bad" qualitites. If religious groups don't do that for themselves, society will do it for them.If you don't think critically about yourself, somebody else will think critically about you. You might as well take control of your own destiny.

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Double post.Edited by Ringo, : No reason given.

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Nobody can answer that question until you define what "real" is. What we are dealing with here is a trichotomy (at least).

1. Thinking critically to determine our own reality, or
2. Depending on the criticism of others to validate our reality, or
3. Rejecting any criticism of our received reality.

Depending on external criticism is no better than depending on external definition.
"I was only following orders" is no excuse.

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That's the key, isn't it? The fundamentalist has to closet himself from the "real world" for his way of thinking to work.He can't look at rocks because they'll tell him how old the earth really is. He can't look at living things because they'll tell him that evolution really is a fact.If he eliminates the real world - or at least eliminates thinking about it - he can cling to his "precious".Then there are the anastasiists, who like to pretend that there is some woo-woo "reality" that is "just as real" even though it has no real symptoms.

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If it's "unmeasurable", how can you assign a "probability"?Seems like you want to have your critical cake and eat it too. You want to (ab)use the terminology of thinking without investing the effort to do any. Sure, it might be all warm and fuzzy to believe you have The Answer™, but it can't be very satisifying in the long run. You can't really "know" anything until you've done your homework.

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