Oh my God

Amanda Jackson5 said:It isn't, obviously. And honestly, why on earth would it be?
You might want to give this a look:
http://www.philoonline.org/library/morriston_5_1.htm

Looks like I’m actually a much bigger expert for fools than you are.

It certainly seems so when you provide links to texts this nonsensical. I read through that entire mess of an article, and the ultimate proof that it is just a pile of garbage is the final paragraph—where the author summarizes the core logical fallacy of the whole mess:

In the last analysis, we simply do not have enough to go on to say what the causes (efficient or material) of the beginning of the universe are likely to be. Certainly, the Big Bang theory does not settle The issue in favor of creation ex nihilo. Even if time and the universe began together, they may, for all we can tell, have been created by an unknown efficient cause out of an equally unknown material “stuff.”

You can see how the author is essentially chasing his own tail in this previous sentence, trying to justify why he doesn't think these two claims are equally valid:
1.that the universe was created by an unknown but transcendental cause
2.that the universe was created by an unknown but material cause

It might occur to someone to object that the material cause of the universe couldn’t be timeless because it is a part or an aspect of the universe, and because every such part or aspect is temporal.

Exactly! But since the author of this nonsense has to somehow wiggle out of it, he performs a ridiculous bit of logical gymnastics before saying this:

I hasten to assure the reader that my purpose here is not to recommend such a doctrine of creation. I claim only that, given what is known about the Big Bang, creation out of an unknown timeless stuff is not less likely than creation by an equally unknown timeless person.

Notice how he "forgot" to include the word material between "timeless" and "stuff." He does this to create the illusion that this material substance isn't actually material, even though he is just repeating the exact same point!!!

It is obviously false to claim that an unknown timeless "stuff" (which is actually material) is just as likely a cause for creation as an unknown timeless transcendental person—unless that "stuff" is just a substitute for that very same person, which it isn't, because the material is not transcendental.

The fool who wrote this clearly has no way to coherently refute Craig's arguments. All he can do is chase his own tail and play word games to pretend he has written something smart and logical (he hasn't!), eventually concluding with the same thing every atheist participant in a debate ultimately concludes when they lose:

The best course may well be to suspend judgment about all of these bizarre possibilities.

If I know my dad is incomparably weaker than your dad, I will do everything in my power to make sure our fathers never even meet, because I already know mine stands no chance of winning.
So, it is best to just suspend judgment on who the stronger father is, right?

I have seen this tactic a billion times. ☕

@ Gock, didn't you dig my take on hell? -Can philosophy even judge something like that (assuming hell is a fact)? -To an extent, sure, but philosophy isn't going to give us any final answers on those kinds of things.

It’s only natural for people to look for a "justification" for their wrongdoings within some theoretical belief system. They lean on ideas like endless reincarnation to clean up their negative karma. It creates this massive loophole where they can relativize their own responsibility. It lets them brush off how seriously they should actually use their free will when making life's heavy decisions.

The biblical description of the serpent tempting the first humans is incredibly significant: "God won't mind, go ahead and take the fruit. In fact, once you eat it, you'll be like gods. Your eyes will be opened. You'll know secrets that make you wise. You'll break free from the yoke of moral norms. Absolute freedom is right there for the taking. Just grab it. Go ahead, sin, sin. Muffle the voice of your own conscience. Freedom is just slavery if it isn't Absolute. What's the point of being merely human? Be a god, or be nothing at all..."

It's hard to grasp that archetype—that urge to run from responsibility and bend objective norms to fit one's own naive reasoning. It's the idea that responsibility isn't that serious, or that punishment for a crime is just an empty threat. The mindset is that everything will turn out fine regardless of what we do. There is no difference in the consequences of good versus bad decisions. Everything is permitted because objective morality doesn't exist.

But if objective morality doesn't exist, then God isn't a person. Life becomes a mere accident. The meaning of life becomes nothing more than a construct of the human mind. That's why there must be punishment; otherwise, freedom wouldn't even be a real category.

Leibniz asked "why is there something rather than nothing?" Maybe we should ask "why aren't people gods who can do whatever they want? Why does responsibility even exist?" But the real question is: "can anything be higher than the Absolute creating us in His own image?"

And one last thing: Can we truly be made in the image of the Absolute if we aren't free? -Why is freedom such a painful thing? I don't think we'll ever fully understand that, or at least not until we face the ultimate consequences of our good and bad choices. -Maybe then we'll finally get the essence of freedom and why it carries such suffering.

It's easy to philosophize. The trouble starts when you have to apply philosophy to real life. It's hard to reconcile practice with that distorted, romanticized view of reality where responsibility basically doesn't exist. It's the same situation as those who condemned Socrates; they end up in the same place as the righteous Socrates facing God's justice.

Does that make sense?

Just as the theory of predestination is repulsive, so is the opposite side of the spectrum regarding human freedom. That's the view that says everything is relative and there's no difference between the consequences of evil and good acts. If that distinction doesn't exist, then there is no difference between good and evil. One step further from there, and God is nothing more than a type of natural law, governing infinite eons of universal nonsense that exists solely for its own sake.

brightdrifter18 said:@ Gock, didn't you dig my take on hell? -Can philosophy even judge something like that (assuming hell is a fact)? -To an extent, sure, but philosophy isn't going to give us any final answers on those kinds of things.

It’s only natural for people to look for a "justification" for their wrongdoings within some theoretical belief system. They lean on ideas like endless reincarnation to clean up their negative karma. It creates this massive loophole where they can relativize their own responsibility. It lets them brush off how seriously they should actually use their free will when making life's heavy decisions.

The biblical description of the serpent tempting the first humans is incredibly significant: "God won't mind, go ahead and take the fruit. In fact, once you eat it, you'll be like gods. Your eyes will be opened. You'll know secrets that make you wise. You'll break free from the yoke of moral norms. Absolute freedom is right there for the taking. Just grab it. Go ahead, sin, sin. Muffle the voice of your own conscience. Freedom is just slavery if it isn't Absolute. What's the point of being merely human? Be a god, or be nothing at all..."

It's hard to grasp that archetype—that urge to run from responsibility and bend objective norms to fit one's own naive reasoning. It's the idea that responsibility isn't that serious, or that punishment for a crime is just an empty threat. The mindset is that everything will turn out fine regardless of what we do. There is no difference in the consequences of good versus bad decisions. Everything is permitted because objective morality doesn't exist.

But if objective morality doesn't exist, then God isn't a person. Life becomes a mere accident. The meaning of life becomes nothing more than a construct of the human mind. That's why there must be punishment; otherwise, freedom wouldn't even be a real category.

Leibniz asked "why is there something rather than nothing?" Maybe we should ask "why aren't people gods who can do whatever they want? Why does responsibility even exist?" But the real question is: "can anything be higher than the Absolute creating us in His own image?"

And one last thing: Can we truly be made in the image of the Absolute if we aren't free? -Why is freedom such a painful thing? I don't think we'll ever fully understand that, or at least not until we face the ultimate consequences of our good and bad choices. -Maybe then we'll finally get the essence of freedom and why it carries such suffering.

It's easy to philosophize. The trouble starts when you have to apply philosophy to real life. It's hard to reconcile practice with that distorted, romanticized view of reality where responsibility basically doesn't exist. It's the same situation as those who condemned Socrates; they end up in the same place as the righteous Socrates facing God's justice.

Does that make sense?

Just as the theory of predestination is repulsive, so is the opposite side of the spectrum regarding human freedom. That's the view that says everything is relative and there's no difference between the consequences of evil and good acts. If that distinction doesn't exist, then there is no difference between good and evil. One step further from there, and God is nothing more than a type of natural law, governing infinite eons of universal nonsense that exists solely for its own sake.

Free will doesn't really exist, and even if it does, it's only in some tiny, limited way. We're shaped by our genetics and the society we grow up in. Real change is incredibly hard and fragile. Even when you do manage to change, your core nature stays with you. Anyway, seeing as you seem really focused on this idea of people being punished, I guess that's where you're coming from.

Anyway, back to my point. When we talk about this whole "objective morality" thing, sure, it exists—but let’s not pretend it’s some untouchable, all-powerful rulebook we’re all forced to bow down to. At the end of the day, it really comes down to how an individual internalizes it and decides whether they actually buy into it as something credible. Honestly, "evil" is such a slippery concept. It’s incredibly relative. What one person calls evil today might be totally fine tomorrow, and vice versa—it shifts constantly depending on the era or the vibe. People try to use logic to explain God or the way nature works, but then they immediately trip themselves up by getting all literal about things like hell or quoting the Bible.

I really wonder when people will finally realize that answering "God doesn't exist!" to the question of why He allows evil in the world isn't actually an answer...

Besides, there’s zero logic in asking "why does God allow suffering?" only to conclude that "He doesn't exist" as a rebuttal.

Does that even make sense? Is it logical?

It would be much easier for me to just erase God from the equation to avoid dealing with the heavy stuff, but they say there’s no such thing as an easy philosophical question, right?

If you want to call yourself a philosopher, you have to be ready for the hard questions.

And "why does God allow evil?" is certainly one of them.

Who actually thinks that saying "because God isn't real" is a logical response to that?

Since God most likely doesn't exist, there’s really no point in wasting breath asking why He chooses to permit certain things or withhold others.

Amanda Jackson5 said:Since God most likely doesn't exist, there’s really no point in wasting breath asking why He chooses to permit certain things or withhold others.

It’s a good thing you didn't say He definitely doesn't exist. What exactly are you basing this "most likely" theory on? Just because there is evil in the world...

Sigmund said:Based on the fact that nothing suggests otherwise to me.

Nothing suggests it? You must be a total moron.

Sigmund said:P.S. How long do you think your handle will last this time? Psst, I won't tell anyone... 🙂

Just more proof that you're a complete idiot.
What handle are you talking about, you jerk?
Am I a creationist too?
Most of you atheists—with few exceptions—are such absolute trash that it's hard to even describe...
Is everyone a creationist just because they don't agree with your psychotic brains?
If being a creationist is just a synonym for anyone who can't stand atheist scum, then sure, we're all creationists. You're right there.
It would be easy for some "expert" on fools to get blamed for things he didn't do, but if garbage like Sigmund and Wand 1 say he did it, then some moderator trash comes along and bans him.
Since it's clear you're just a coordinated group of atheist filth working to silence anyone who thinks differently, I know I can count on one false accusation from someone using the name Sigmund to get some moderator trash to ban me too.
You're just criminal scum, enjoying yourselves by banning dissenters while wallowing in your own endless filth...

Walter Carter58 said:It’s a good thing you didn't say He definitely doesn't exist. What exactly are you basing this "most likely" theory on? Just because there is evil in the world...

My reasoning is pretty straightforward: since there isn't any empirical evidence for the existence of God, while we do have a massive collection of various mythologies—like the Bible and other old tales—it seems quite certain that we're looking at the products of the human imagination.

Kate James11 said:My reasoning is pretty straightforward: since there isn't any empirical evidence for the existence of God, while we do have a massive collection of various mythologies—like the Bible and other old tales—it seems quite certain that we're looking at the products of the human imagination.

If that's a settled fact, I guess there's really nothing left to discuss... 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

Amanda Jackson5 said:Since God most likely doesn't exist, there’s really no point in wasting breath asking why He chooses to permit certain things or withhold others.

You should definitely pick up this book:

Why there is almost certainly 😲God
(A rebuttal to Dawkins 😁)

written by Keith Ward, a philosopher from Oxford
-----------------------------------------

This is an engaging, well-grounded, and witty response to Richard Dawkins' bestseller, the illusion of God. It was penned by his colleague from Oxford, the philosopher and theologian Keith Ward, who plays with Dawkins' own chapter titles—essentially flipping his "no" into a "yes." In his introduction, the now-retired professor notes, "In recent years, Alister McGrath, a theologian with a PhD in molecular biology, and John Lennox, an associate professor of mathematics at Oxford, have authored an excellent volume addressing Dawkins' arguments. Now, it is my turn to rejoin the Oxford debate regarding God." This serves as yet another rebuttal to Dawkins from one of those believers whom Dawkins describes as perhaps "the most convincingly unpleasant character in all of fiction."

rapidmaker77 said:You should definitely pick up this book:

Why there is almost certainly 😲God
(A rebuttal to Dawkins 😁)

written by Keith Ward, a philosopher from Oxford
-----------------------------------------

This is an engaging, well-grounded, and witty response to Richard Dawkins' bestseller, the illusion of God. It was penned by his colleague from Oxford, the philosopher and theologian Keith Ward, who plays with Dawkins' own chapter titles—essentially flipping his "no" into a "yes." In his introduction, the now-retired professor notes, "In recent years, Alister McGrath, a theologian with a PhD in molecular biology, and John Lennox, an associate professor of mathematics at Oxford, have authored an excellent volume addressing Dawkins' arguments. Now, it is my turn to rejoin the Oxford debate regarding God." This serves as yet another rebuttal to Dawkins from one of those believers whom Dawkins describes as perhaps "the most convincingly unpleasant character in all of fiction."

Given the mountain of books already sitting on my nightstand waiting for attention, I can't imagine wasting any precious time on intellectual junk like that. It’s not even worth the effort since I can more or less guess what the content entails. If you actually have a substantive argument to present, go ahead and lay it out. But please, spare me the "exciting, well-grounded, and witty" pitch—that sounds more like a fever dream than reality.

Amanda Jackson5 said:Given the mountain of books already sitting on my nightstand waiting for attention, I can't imagine wasting any precious time on intellectual junk like that. It’s not even worth the effort since I can more or less guess what the content entails. If you actually have a substantive argument to present, go ahead and lay it out. But please, spare me the "exciting, well-grounded, and witty" pitch—that sounds more like a fever dream than reality.

Please, either send me a DM or just post them here—I’m begging you—tell me which 5 or 6 books are next on your list.
I have a massive soft spot for seeing what people are reading and what they actually recommend.🙂

Do you have a specific argument in favor of the existence of God in mind, or perhaps a particular
argument pulled directly from one of the books?

rapidmaker77 said:Please, either send me a DM or just post them here—I’m begging you—tell me which 5 or 6 books are next on your list.
I have a massive soft spot for seeing what people are reading and what they actually recommend.🙂

Do you have a specific argument in favor of the existence of God in mind, or perhaps a particular
argument pulled directly from one of the books?

Well, if you really want to go there:

The Elegant Universe Global Catastrophic
When you start poking around the concept of Global Catastrophic Risks, it feels a bit like standing on the edge of a massive canyon and realizing just how thin the safety railing actually is. It isn't just about some sudden, dramatic disaster falling out of the sky; it’s more about those slow-motion train wrecks where we realize too late that we’ve been heading toward a cliff at full speed. We spend so much of our time worrying about the day-to-day grind—paying the mortgage or dealing with traffic in Los Angeles—that we tend to overlook the existential stuff that could actually reset the clock on civilization itself. It's that nagging feeling that while we're busy arguing over local politics, there are much larger, more systemic threats lurking in the background, waiting for us to trip up.
Risks here be Dragons_The Scientific quest for Extraterrestrial Life
Risks here be Dragons_The Scientific quest for Extraterrestrial Life Dog Behaviour
Earth Sciences Demystified
Key Contemporary Concepts: From Abjection to Zeno's Paradox
If you ever find yourself wandering through the dense thickets of academic theory, you’ll eventually stumble upon the intellectual heavyweights who shaped everything from Critical Theory to Post-Marxism. It’s a bit like trying to trace the lineage of a complex family tree where everyone is constantly arguing about whether the tree even exists in the first place. You have these thinkers who didn't just want to observe the world, but felt an almost obsessive need to dismantle the machinery behind it to see why it was grinding so loudly. It’s less about simple observation and more about pulling the engine apart while the car is still speeding down the highway, hoping you can figure out why the steering feels so off.
Lost Histories—Exploring the World's most Famous Mysteries
When you dive into Mircea Eliade's take on Cosmos and History, you really start to see how much our perception of time and space shapes everything we think we know about reality. It’s like looking at the world through a lens that doesn't just record events, but actually gives them weight and meaning, rather than just treating life like a series of random, disconnected accidents.
Cosmos and history Mystery of America_Enigmatic Mysteries and Anomalous Artifacts Neanderthals and Modern Humans Neurophilosophy
Neanderthals and Modern Humans
If you ever find yourself wandering through the dense thickets of neurophilosophy, you’ll inevitably run into Patricia Churchland. It’s one of those subjects that feels like trying to map a hurricane while standing right in the eye of it—complex, slightly dizzying, and deeply transformative if you actually manage to wrap your head around it. She approaches the whole mess of consciousness and identity from a perspective that doesn't pull any punches, essentially arguing that if we want to understand the "why" of human existence, we first have to master the "how" of the biological machinery driving the bus. It’s less about lofty, ethereal abstractions and more about getting your hands dirty with the actual wiring of the brain.
When you really start digging into the connection between deep history and how our brains actually function—specifically looking at those ideas regarding human identity during our earliest prehistory—it feels a bit like trying to reconstruct a massive, complex machine from nothing but a few rusted gears and some fossilized dust. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds, but there’s something fascinating about how our neurological evolution shaped everything we consider "human" today.
on Deep history and The Brain Origins and Revolutions_Human Identity in Earliest Prehistory Quote

rapidmaker77 said:Please, either send me a DM or just post them here—I’m begging you—tell me which 5 or 6 books are next on your list.
I have a massive soft spot for seeing what people are reading and what they actually recommend.🙂

Do you have a specific argument in favor of the existence of God in mind, or perhaps a particular
argument pulled directly from one of the books?

Whatever works for you.

Amanda Jackson5 As stated by:
Well, if you really insist on having it this way:

The Elegant Universe
The Elegant Universe Global Catastrophic
Risks here be Dragons_The Scientific quest for Extraterrestrial Life
Dog Behaviour, Evolution, and Cognition
Cognition Earth sciences Demystified Key Contemporary Concepts9rom Abjection
Key Contemporary Concepts_From Abjection to Zeno's Paradox
Paradox Key Thinkers fra Critical Theory to Post-Marxism Lost Histories
Post-Marxism Lost Histories~ Exploring The World's most Famous Mysteries
Mircea Eliade, Cosmos and History
Cosmos and history Mystery of America_Enigmatic Mysteries and Anomalous Artifacts Neanderthals and Modern Humans Neurophilosophy
Neanderthals and Modern Humans
Neurophilosophy, by Patricia Churchland
on Deep history and The Brain Origins and Revolutions_Human Identity in Earliest Prehistory baš ti hvala uljepšati biti ja dan
on Deep history and The Brain Origins and Revolutions_Human Identity in Earliest Prehistory

Much appreciated.
You’ve truly made my day.🙂 I have always found a certain fascination in observing what people choose to read, what captures their curiosity, and which specific books they hold closest to their hearts.
I’ve only managed to get through The Elegant Universe from your list.
The rest of the items on this list fail to hold my interest entirely.

I'm heading out on a trip tomorrow, which involves at least five or six hours stuck on a bus. I'm currently weighing my options on which book to pack, primarily because I've decided against bringing my Amazon; there are just too many practical and security-related headaches involved with carrying it.😢

On my waiting list are...

Paolo Zelina’s *a brief history of infinity*. Italo Calvino was a huge fan of his work; he practically lived inside those pages.
The mystery of Aleph by Amir Aczel Word made flesh by ramsey dukes
Word made flesh by ramsey dukes—a work I highly recommend.
The Book of Lies.

If you want my absolute top recommendation—the one book that seems to hold the answers to every question ever asked since the dawn of time—look no further. It was written by a street vendor who used to sell cigarettes and trinkets in Mumbai. 😲 Yes.

Nisargadatta Maharaj's "I Am That." 🙏 🙏 🙏
(translated here as It’s me. One could easily track it down via torrents or through various other alternative channels.

There is a profound sense of liberation that comes from finally possessing the answers to life's most pressing questions. Reading *I Am That* provides a clarity that is hard to articulate; it’s an experience that fundamentally shifts one's perspective. While reading this work, it becomes increasingly evident that while giants like Hegel, Kant, and Heidegger were undoubtedly monumental philosophical figures, they never truly experienced the very realities they spent their lives attempting to intuit, grasp, and express through pure intellect.
If you find yourself wandering through the labyrinthine corridors of spiritual inquiry, you might eventually stumble upon Nisargadatta Maharaj. His work, specifically "I Am That," available on Amazon, serves as a profound anchor for those attempting to navigate the turbulent waters of self-realization. It isn't merely a book; it's more of a direct confrontation with the ego, stripped of all its usual pretenses and distractions. For anyone looking to peel back the layers of perceived identity, this remains an essential waypoint. (Noting the 208 five-star reviews)

There was this one vendor in Mumbai who sold nothing but cigarettes and trinkets, yet he wasn't just a philosopher on par with the greats; he actually managed to catch a glimpse into "the other dimension." 😉 (Which you would likely argue doesn't even exist) 🙂 He resided within her, and through her, he spoke.

There is something else coming—something you will undoubtedly dismiss with that trademark philosophical disdain of yours—but I feel compelled to say it, if only to shake you out of your classic philosophical slumber. Words, words, words. 🙂

If we are discussing the only truly enlightened Western philosopher—someone actually operating on the level of Nisargadatta—we are talking about Plotin. Period.

By the way, how do you usually consume these texts? Are you reading physical copies, or are you strictly a PDF or Amazon reader?

👋

Read Brother Karamazov by Dostoevsky. You'll learn way more about God through that than you ever will through logic. You can't use logic to explain a feeling like love, and you certainly can't use it to explain God...

rapidmaker77 said:

Amanda Jackson5 As stated by:
Well, if you really insist on having it this way:

The Elegant Universe
The Elegant Universe Global Catastrophic
Risks here be Dragons_The Scientific quest for Extraterrestrial Life
Dog Behaviour, Evolution, and Cognition
Cognition Earth sciences Demystified Key Contemporary Concepts9rom Abjection
Key Contemporary Concepts_From Abjection to Zeno's Paradox
Paradox Key Thinkers fra Critical Theory to Post-Marxism Lost Histories
Post-Marxism Lost Histories~ Exploring The World's most Famous Mysteries
Mircea Eliade, Cosmos and History
Cosmos and history Mystery of America_Enigmatic Mysteries and Anomalous Artifacts Neanderthals and Modern Humans Neurophilosophy
Neanderthals and Modern Humans
Neurophilosophy, by Patricia Churchland
on Deep history and The Brain Origins and Revolutions_Human Identity in Earliest Prehistory baš ti hvala uljepšati biti ja dan
on Deep history and The Brain Origins and Revolutions_Human Identity in Earliest Prehistory

Much appreciated.
You’ve truly made my day.🙂 I have always found a certain fascination in observing what people choose to read, what captures their curiosity, and which specific books they hold closest to their hearts.
I’ve only managed to get through The Elegant Universe from your list.
The rest of the items on this list fail to hold my interest entirely.

I'm heading out on a trip tomorrow, which involves at least five or six hours stuck on a bus. I'm currently weighing my options on which book to pack, primarily because I've decided against bringing my Amazon; there are just too many practical and security-related headaches involved with carrying it.😢

On my waiting list are...

Paolo Zelina’s *a brief history of infinity*. Italo Calvino was a huge fan of his work; he practically lived inside those pages.
The mystery of Aleph by Amir Aczel Word made flesh by ramsey dukes
Word made flesh by ramsey dukes—a work I highly recommend.
The Book of Lies.

If you want my absolute top recommendation—the one book that seems to hold the answers to every question ever asked since the dawn of time—look no further. It was written by a street vendor who used to sell cigarettes and trinkets in Mumbai. 😲 Yes.

Nisargadatta Maharaj's "I Am That." 🙏 🙏 🙏
(translated here as It’s me. One could easily track it down via torrents or through various other alternative channels.

There is a profound sense of liberation that comes from finally possessing the answers to life's most pressing questions. Reading *I Am That* provides a clarity that is hard to articulate; it’s an experience that fundamentally shifts one's perspective. While reading this work, it becomes increasingly evident that while giants like Hegel, Kant, and Heidegger were undoubtedly monumental philosophical figures, they never truly experienced the very realities they spent their lives attempting to intuit, grasp, and express through pure intellect.
If you find yourself wandering through the labyrinthine corridors of spiritual inquiry, you might eventually stumble upon Nisargadatta Maharaj. His work, specifically "I Am That," available on Amazon, serves as a profound anchor for those attempting to navigate the turbulent waters of self-realization. It isn't merely a book; it's more of a direct confrontation with the ego, stripped of all its usual pretenses and distractions. For anyone looking to peel back the layers of perceived identity, this remains an essential waypoint. (Noting the 208 five-star reviews)

There was this one vendor in Mumbai who sold nothing but cigarettes and trinkets, yet he wasn't just a philosopher on par with the greats; he actually managed to catch a glimpse into "the other dimension." 😉 (Which you would likely argue doesn't even exist) 🙂 He resided within her, and through her, he spoke.

There is something else coming—something you will undoubtedly dismiss with that trademark philosophical disdain of yours—but I feel compelled to say it, if only to shake you out of your classic philosophical slumber. Words, words, words. 🙂

If we are discussing the only truly enlightened Western philosopher—someone actually operating on the level of Nisargadatta—we are talking about Plotin. Period.

By the way, how do you usually consume these texts? Are you reading physical copies, or are you strictly a PDF or Amazon reader?

👋

If you find yourself falling down the rabbit hole of occultism or Hermeticism, I’ve got a few recommendations to help you navigate the madness:
Patrick Harpur: Daimonic reality - a Field Guide to The Otherworld Florian Ebeling : The Secret history of Hermes Trismegistus - Hermeticism fra Ancient to Modern Times Quote
If you ever find yourself wandering through the dusty aisles of a bookstore looking for something that actually challenges your brain, you might stumble upon a Field Guide to The Otherworld Florian Ebeling : The Secret history of Hermes Trismegistus - Hermeticism fra Ancient to Modern Times Quote. It’s one of those deep dives that doesn't just skim the surface of esoteric traditions but really tries to map out how these ancient ideas trickled down into our modern understanding of the world. It’s a bit like trying to trace the lineage of a complex family tree where half the relatives are mythical figures and the other half are philosophers who spent way too much time staring at the stars.

rapidmaker77 said:

Amanda Jackson5 As stated by:
Well, if you really insist on having it this way:

The Elegant Universe
The Elegant Universe Global Catastrophic
Risks here be Dragons_The Scientific quest for Extraterrestrial Life
Dog Behaviour, Evolution, and Cognition
Cognition Earth sciences Demystified Key Contemporary Concepts9rom Abjection
Key Contemporary Concepts_From Abjection to Zeno's Paradox
Paradox Key Thinkers fra Critical Theory to Post-Marxism Lost Histories
Post-Marxism Lost Histories~ Exploring The World's most Famous Mysteries
Mircea Eliade, Cosmos and History
Cosmos and history Mystery of America_Enigmatic Mysteries and Anomalous Artifacts Neanderthals and Modern Humans Neurophilosophy
Neanderthals and Modern Humans
Neurophilosophy, by Patricia Churchland
on Deep history and The Brain Origins and Revolutions_Human Identity in Earliest Prehistory baš ti hvala uljepšati biti ja dan
on Deep history and The Brain Origins and Revolutions_Human Identity in Earliest Prehistory

Much appreciated.
You’ve truly made my day.🙂 I have always found a certain fascination in observing what people choose to read, what captures their curiosity, and which specific books they hold closest to their hearts.
I’ve only managed to get through The Elegant Universe from your list.
The rest of the items on this list fail to hold my interest entirely.

I'm heading out on a trip tomorrow, which involves at least five or six hours stuck on a bus. I'm currently weighing my options on which book to pack, primarily because I've decided against bringing my Amazon; there are just too many practical and security-related headaches involved with carrying it.😢

On my waiting list are...

Paolo Zelina’s *a brief history of infinity*. Italo Calvino was a huge fan of his work; he practically lived inside those pages.
The mystery of Aleph by Amir Aczel Word made flesh by ramsey dukes
Word made flesh by ramsey dukes—a work I highly recommend.
The Book of Lies.

If you want my absolute top recommendation—the one book that seems to hold the answers to every question ever asked since the dawn of time—look no further. It was written by a street vendor who used to sell cigarettes and trinkets in Mumbai. 😲 Yes.

Nisargadatta Maharaj's "I Am That." 🙏 🙏 🙏
(translated here as It’s me. One could easily track it down via torrents or through various other alternative channels.

There is a profound sense of liberation that comes from finally possessing the answers to life's most pressing questions. Reading *I Am That* provides a clarity that is hard to articulate; it’s an experience that fundamentally shifts one's perspective. While reading this work, it becomes increasingly evident that while giants like Hegel, Kant, and Heidegger were undoubtedly monumental philosophical figures, they never truly experienced the very realities they spent their lives attempting to intuit, grasp, and express through pure intellect.
If you find yourself wandering through the labyrinthine corridors of spiritual inquiry, you might eventually stumble upon Nisargadatta Maharaj. His work, specifically "I Am That," available on Amazon, serves as a profound anchor for those attempting to navigate the turbulent waters of self-realization. It isn't merely a book; it's more of a direct confrontation with the ego, stripped of all its usual pretenses and distractions. For anyone looking to peel back the layers of perceived identity, this remains an essential waypoint. (Noting the 208 five-star reviews)

There was this one vendor in Mumbai who sold nothing but cigarettes and trinkets, yet he wasn't just a philosopher on par with the greats; he actually managed to catch a glimpse into "the other dimension." 😉 (Which you would likely argue doesn't even exist) 🙂 He resided within her, and through her, he spoke.

There is something else coming—something you will undoubtedly dismiss with that trademark philosophical disdain of yours—but I feel compelled to say it, if only to shake you out of your classic philosophical slumber. Words, words, words. 🙂

If we are discussing the only truly enlightened Western philosopher—someone actually operating on the level of Nisargadatta—we are talking about Plotin. Period.

By the way, how do you usually consume these texts? Are you reading physical copies, or are you strictly a PDF or Amazon reader?

👋

I’m not exactly one to dismiss anything out of hand without giving it a fair shake, but I have to admit I’ve always been pretty skeptical of those suburban Buddhas—especially the ones who peddle books claiming to hold the ultimate answer to every single question under the sun. I’ve waded through some of his quotes, and honestly, I’m just not seeing anything groundbreaking or even particularly profound. Believe me, if something sounds too perfect to actually be true, it almost certainly isn't.

If you’re actually into this kind of stuff, I can definitely point you toward something I was reading recently:
I’ve been spending some time with The Long Discourses of The Buddha - a Translation of The Digha Nikaya by Maurice Walshe, specifically the version from Oxford World's Classics. It’s one of those books that really makes you slow down, which is a bit of a struggle when you're used to the constant, frantic pace of life here in the States, but there's something deeply grounding about it.
If you find yourself needing a bit of ancient wisdom to navigate the chaos of modern life, you might want to pick up the Sayings of The Buddha - New Translations fra The pasti Nikayas from the Oxford World's Classics collection. It’s one of those books that feels less like a dusty relic and more like a practical survival guide for anyone trying to make sense of their own head.

rapidmaker77 said:

Amanda Jackson5 As stated by:
Well, if you really insist on having it this way:

The Elegant Universe
The Elegant Universe Global Catastrophic
Risks here be Dragons_The Scientific quest for Extraterrestrial Life
Dog Behaviour, Evolution, and Cognition
Cognition Earth sciences Demystified Key Contemporary Concepts9rom Abjection
Key Contemporary Concepts_From Abjection to Zeno's Paradox
Paradox Key Thinkers fra Critical Theory to Post-Marxism Lost Histories
Post-Marxism Lost Histories~ Exploring The World's most Famous Mysteries
Mircea Eliade, Cosmos and History
Cosmos and history Mystery of America_Enigmatic Mysteries and Anomalous Artifacts Neanderthals and Modern Humans Neurophilosophy
Neanderthals and Modern Humans
Neurophilosophy, by Patricia Churchland
on Deep history and The Brain Origins and Revolutions_Human Identity in Earliest Prehistory baš ti hvala uljepšati biti ja dan
on Deep history and The Brain Origins and Revolutions_Human Identity in Earliest Prehistory

Much appreciated.
You’ve truly made my day.🙂 I have always found a certain fascination in observing what people choose to read, what captures their curiosity, and which specific books they hold closest to their hearts.
I’ve only managed to get through The Elegant Universe from your list.
The rest of the items on this list fail to hold my interest entirely.

I'm heading out on a trip tomorrow, which involves at least five or six hours stuck on a bus. I'm currently weighing my options on which book to pack, primarily because I've decided against bringing my Amazon; there are just too many practical and security-related headaches involved with carrying it.😢

On my waiting list are...

Paolo Zelina’s *a brief history of infinity*. Italo Calvino was a huge fan of his work; he practically lived inside those pages.
The mystery of Aleph by Amir Aczel Word made flesh by ramsey dukes
Word made flesh by ramsey dukes—a work I highly recommend.
The Book of Lies.

If you want my absolute top recommendation—the one book that seems to hold the answers to every question ever asked since the dawn of time—look no further. It was written by a street vendor who used to sell cigarettes and trinkets in Mumbai. 😲 Yes.

Nisargadatta Maharaj's "I Am That." 🙏 🙏 🙏
(translated here as It’s me. One could easily track it down via torrents or through various other alternative channels.

There is a profound sense of liberation that comes from finally possessing the answers to life's most pressing questions. Reading *I Am That* provides a clarity that is hard to articulate; it’s an experience that fundamentally shifts one's perspective. While reading this work, it becomes increasingly evident that while giants like Hegel, Kant, and Heidegger were undoubtedly monumental philosophical figures, they never truly experienced the very realities they spent their lives attempting to intuit, grasp, and express through pure intellect.
If you find yourself wandering through the labyrinthine corridors of spiritual inquiry, you might eventually stumble upon Nisargadatta Maharaj. His work, specifically "I Am That," available on Amazon, serves as a profound anchor for those attempting to navigate the turbulent waters of self-realization. It isn't merely a book; it's more of a direct confrontation with the ego, stripped of all its usual pretenses and distractions. For anyone looking to peel back the layers of perceived identity, this remains an essential waypoint. (Noting the 208 five-star reviews)

There was this one vendor in Mumbai who sold nothing but cigarettes and trinkets, yet he wasn't just a philosopher on par with the greats; he actually managed to catch a glimpse into "the other dimension." 😉 (Which you would likely argue doesn't even exist) 🙂 He resided within her, and through her, he spoke.

There is something else coming—something you will undoubtedly dismiss with that trademark philosophical disdain of yours—but I feel compelled to say it, if only to shake you out of your classic philosophical slumber. Words, words, words. 🙂

If we are discussing the only truly enlightened Western philosopher—someone actually operating on the level of Nisargadatta—we are talking about Plotin. Period.

By the way, how do you usually consume these texts? Are you reading physical copies, or are you strictly a PDF or Amazon reader?

👋

It’s almost exclusively available in PDF format.

Amanda Jackson5 said:Well, if you really want to go there:

The Elegant Universe Global Catastrophic
When you start poking around the concept of Global Catastrophic Risks, it feels a bit like standing on the edge of a massive canyon and realizing just how thin the safety railing actually is. It isn't just about some sudden, dramatic disaster falling out of the sky; it’s more about those slow-motion train wrecks where we realize too late that we’ve been heading toward a cliff at full speed. We spend so much of our time worrying about the day-to-day grind—paying the mortgage or dealing with traffic in Los Angeles—that we tend to overlook the existential stuff that could actually reset the clock on civilization itself. It's that nagging feeling that while we're busy arguing over local politics, there are much larger, more systemic threats lurking in the background, waiting for us to trip up.
Risks here be Dragons_The Scientific quest for Extraterrestrial Life
Risks here be Dragons_The Scientific quest for Extraterrestrial Life Dog Behaviour
Earth Sciences Demystified
Key Contemporary Concepts: From Abjection to Zeno's Paradox
If you ever find yourself wandering through the dense thickets of academic theory, you’ll eventually stumble upon the intellectual heavyweights who shaped everything from Critical Theory to Post-Marxism. It’s a bit like trying to trace the lineage of a complex family tree where everyone is constantly arguing about whether the tree even exists in the first place. You have these thinkers who didn't just want to observe the world, but felt an almost obsessive need to dismantle the machinery behind it to see why it was grinding so loudly. It’s less about simple observation and more about pulling the engine apart while the car is still speeding down the highway, hoping you can figure out why the steering feels so off.
Lost Histories—Exploring the World's most Famous Mysteries
When you dive into Mircea Eliade's take on Cosmos and History, you really start to see how much our perception of time and space shapes everything we think we know about reality. It’s like looking at the world through a lens that doesn't just record events, but actually gives them weight and meaning, rather than just treating life like a series of random, disconnected accidents.
Cosmos and history Mystery of America_Enigmatic Mysteries and Anomalous Artifacts Neanderthals and Modern Humans Neurophilosophy
Neanderthals and Modern Humans
If you ever find yourself wandering through the dense thickets of neurophilosophy, you’ll inevitably run into Patricia Churchland. It’s one of those subjects that feels like trying to map a hurricane while standing right in the eye of it—complex, slightly dizzying, and deeply transformative if you actually manage to wrap your head around it. She approaches the whole mess of consciousness and identity from a perspective that doesn't pull any punches, essentially arguing that if we want to understand the "why" of human existence, we first have to master the "how" of the biological machinery driving the bus. It’s less about lofty, ethereal abstractions and more about getting your hands dirty with the actual wiring of the brain.
When you really start digging into the connection between deep history and how our brains actually function—specifically looking at those ideas regarding human identity during our earliest prehistory—it feels a bit like trying to reconstruct a massive, complex machine from nothing but a few rusted gears and some fossilized dust. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds, but there’s something fascinating about how our neurological evolution shaped everything we consider "human" today.
on Deep history and The Brain Origins and Revolutions_Human Identity in Earliest Prehistory Quote

Whatever works for you.

That is an excellent suggestion. One might also consider including The hidden reality to round out the collection.

Risks here be Dragons_The Scientific quest for Extraterrestrial Life Dog Behaviour

It would be wise to include The eerie silence as well.

urbanwalker72 said:That is an excellent suggestion. One might also consider including The hidden reality to round out the collection.

Risks here be Dragons_The Scientific quest for Extraterrestrial Life Dog Behaviour

It would be wise to include The eerie silence as well.

I definitely plan to. I actually stumbled upon it on my hard drive earlier—I didn't even realize I had it sitting there, but considering I have a digital mountain of about 10,000 books (most of which I clearly won't ever get through), it’s really not that surprising.