Knowing That You Don't Know

Not knowing is fine; but not knowing that you don't know (aka thinking that you know when you don't) = big problem.

“Not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance is the death of knowledge” - Alfred North Whitehead

Is there a particular type of person that just tick you off immensely?  Someone who you just can't stand being around with; so much so that you just wanna get the hell out ASAP or you know things would get ugly.  Well, some say that in most cases, what you hate in others is what you hate about yourself.  So what do I find absolutely disturbing in others?  It's just one word really: IGNORANCE.

Thinking about "Positive Thinking"

I just heard someone refers the concept of positive thinking as an irrational optimism. And then I realized how much the term has been abused (or not). I don't know how the masses understand "positive thinking" nowadays. But after a bit of contemplating, I think this is what the term really means (maybe it has been said, I don't know). Anyways, in my understanding, being positive is not equivalent to being optimistic. Being positive is to love. On the flip side, being negative is to fear. Some examples below:

Thought

Where does it come from?

Could it be told with words?

If so, what is delivering those words?

Who is there to comprehend?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

But could a thousand pictures convey a thought?

Thoughts come in and out of my mind as they please.  And I (if there's such a thing) am left speechless...

Introducing...Epicureanism—the Materialist

In this new series I'll be summarizing various religions and philosophical systems in the simplest way possible.  It should be quick and easy to read allowing us to compare and contrast .  I'll only focus on their views of the following aspects:

• Nature of the cosmos and our place within it
• God?
• Evil?
• How should we live?

First up, Epicureanism

Bible = Truth? Depends on how you read it

When you read the Bible literally, it makes little to no sense.  It's quite obvious shown by the examples below,

• God created everything in the universe in 6 days (148 hours)?! 
• God created one sole couple, Adam and Eve, to populate the Earth?!  (Meaning their children had to...)
• Snakes could talk?!
• In John 14:10, Jesus said "...I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me" (What?!  How's that possible?  It would make more sense if it's the mother, before he was born...)

Cult and religion? "Original sin" of a religion?

As a follow up of my previous post, I'll trace back a bit and look at how a religion is formed. By looking into the difference between a religion and a cult, we see a critical problem of a religion.

religions? Religion?

When people found out my major as religion, they often asked me: Which religion are you studying? After I've told them that I study all kinds of religions, they would then follow up with this question: Do you believe in God? I don't think most of them were satisfied by my answer. Maybe this is what they were looking for.

How Quantum Mechanics Contradicts Our Commonsense Beliefs

In earlier posts, I talked about the significance of quantum mechanics to our technology advancements and reviewed the book- Quantum Enigma.  However, I missed the most important point; I didn't explain how exactly quantum mechanics is contrary to our common senses.  I'll try my best to keep the explanation short and simple, so even I could understand it.  If you don't like to read (at least watch the cartoon), skip to the last part where I list what the quantum mechanics is strongly suggesting.