Posts by Roger Edwards2

stormybadger9 said:Look... 😕 Some people try way too hard to be everyone's best friend, but there's a limit. I used to be the guy who was nice to everybody, but I learned the hard way that people just take advantage of that. Honestly, I've realized one thing: you get back exactly what you put in. 😁

P.S. Not sure if that made sense, but whatever. 😁 👍

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swiftcobra15 said:On the flip side, I don't buy this whole skeptic versus spiritual person dichotomy.
Skepticism and spirituality exist on completely different—and totally non-overlapping—levels, so one shouldn't get in the way of the other. If anything, I’d argue they actually balance each other out perfectly. 😉

How can someone claim to believe only what they can see while simultaneously believing in the supernatural? I think the issue is just that we aren't being precise enough with our definitions. For instance, when people talk about the "skeptic vs. spiritual" divide, they might actually mean belief in spiritual concepts rather than actual spiritual experiences. It would be much more accurate to frame it as a skeptic versus a believer, whereas spirituality sits on its own separate plane entirely. This used to trip me up when I was working on my grad school seminar, but since I don't have access to the full survey used to measure "spiritual acceptance vs. material rationalism," I can't say for sure.

Cro-Fag said:hmm
🤔 but then biology and all those studies suggest we don't actually have free will (not like how the Bible describes it)... they claim everything is just predetermined, leaving us with zero control and essentially sentencing us to live out our genes instead of making our own choices [/B]

It’s not quite that deterministic. Genetics might account for about 50% of how our attitudes vary, but the other half is largely shaped by our environment—and honestly, free will probably plays a huge role in the mix. Maybe genes wouldn't be such a heavy weight if we didn't choose to just surrender to our biology and surroundings. That said, since our willpower itself is molded by genetics, upbringing, experience, and intelligence, it's pretty hard to pin down exactly how much freedom we really have.🤔

Yeah, this is leaning more toward the scientific side, but I’m really curious to hear from anyone who actually has spiritual experiences. Hopefully, there are some people like that here.

I actually put together a seminar paper called biology spirituality - neurotheology where I touch on exactly what you mentioned—how twin studies suggest our core beliefs are heavily influenced by heredity. The idea is that genetic differences likely impact psychology indirectly by shaping the kind of environment a child grows up in.

Do you think spirituality and religiousness are something we're born with? Is it just a matter of how people are raised, or do our genes play a role in whether we believe in the supernatural and God?