Big Think

Peggy Marble on February 2, 2008, 8:00 PM

What is a neurosis? Once that is defined then the conversation can continue. Some think that neuroses are what makes each of us unique.

Lesa Perry on March 2, 2008, 3:19 AM

I think people are attracted to religion because it offers tools for removing fear and anxiety — faith and fellowship. Unfortunately, religion carries a lot of unnecessary baggage the world would be better off without. Our challenge is to remove the baggage without leaving a painful gap where faith and fellowship once were.

D C on March 2, 2008, 1:00 PM

Lesa..you said, “Our challenge is to remove the baggage without leaving a painful gap where faith and fellowship once were.”
Lesa…once you engage in critical thought of all that these insideous organizations say and let go off all of it..come out as an Athiest…there is no painful gap left where these things were…there is only freedom left to be who you are..it is such an amazing experience of self.

paul babcock on March 2, 2008, 5:32 PM

While I agree w/ you on most things and think we in t West can benifit from t idea of emptying t mind and not thinking. I have a quible. I think defining hapiness as merely t lack of fear and regret w/ t mind at rest and such lacks robustness. I think it requires effort and in fact hapiness may largly be t effort

Lesa Perry on March 2, 2008, 7:39 PM

Naturalist, on what basis do you presume that I have not yet engaged in critical thought of religious dogma and let go of all of it? I am a proud Atheist. I do find freedom, but I also recognize that religions have very effective tools for retaining and enticing new believers. I agree with Sam Harris’ that happiness is fundamentally the absence of fear and anxiety. If you offer people easily accessible tools to keep fear and anxiety at bay, they will try to use them, even if it means sacrificing logic. I’m not sure there is a more powerful motivator than fear.

Chug Bears on March 13, 2008, 1:21 AM

Sam brings up great points, and I personally agree. David Rockefeller himself said, “to contain a society you must make a villain, only then will the people come together.” Religion is the same way, along with good & evil. All man made words/ideas to inflict fear.

I still am amazed by the symbolism of religion to astronomy and astrology. Life shouldn’t be dictated by fear and misinformation.

Chug Bears on March 18, 2008, 10:16 AM

Once again I partially agree, with Roakes that is. Life is certainly experience, and we most definitely have a hereditary connection. Thats just sociology, nothing newly discovered.

This system that the bankers of the world have created keeps us blissfully distracted from reality. We care more about our differences, rather that similarities among each other.

That actually is the big problem, our global society will never have a chance to prosper. Solely because we are over attached to our relatives, culture, and denouncing change.

I’m in love with somebody, so I’m happy. Yet I have not forgot about “reality”.

Chug Bears on March 20, 2008, 3:13 AM

Roakes, let me start off by giving you the up most gratitude for your opinions. I appreciate the rare opportunity to hear a honest, experienced, and reputable reply.

I apologize for being so very vague. Although, i was not in any way implying that we could or should live without free trade. Its the gold standard (or lack there of) that concerns me.

Here is a dismal fact, an American dollar is not redeemable by anything of value, not gold, not silver, nothing! Essentially diminishing the financial worth of this country to peanuts or lint.

I strongly think we need a global standard. Mainly education, how can the people of this world be satisfied with the current global situation? Why isn’t there a global code of ethics?

My limited experiences might not mount up to your prosperous achievements, but hear me out….

I think it starts with humanities nature fear of change, then progress to blissful closed mindedness that leads to persecution. We can’t say that religion is the main cause of warfare, but it would a fair assumption that is does not help the situation.

In todays day and age we face the toughest challenge of all, putting aside our ignorance and beginning to respect the difference of opinion.

We know that you and i can look at a painting, hear a song, or watch a movie and have entirely different reactions/opinions. A book called the “The Wisdom of Crowds” by James Surowiecki really made me understand and respect individual opinions and outlooks.

Thats were the politicians turned the table on global prosperity. Like moving pawns on a chess board, calculating the very worth of land beneath our feet. Strategically drafting geographical profits and markets.

Welcome to the Technological Revolution. With a free flow of information right at your fingertips, such luxuries should be beneficial. I have an enormous array of facts that paint a horrifying picture.

Chug Bears on March 25, 2008, 2:12 AM

Roakes,

Once again, thank you for the generosity of your knowledge. Everything you wrote answered the entire angle of my comment! And respectfully so! Do not consider bluntness as a negative, it’s a rare articulation these days.

A couple years I studied the Ancient Mayan, Egyptian, and Chinese civilizations. As an Agnostic, I’ve pursued knowledge of all known religions. Yet those particular three cultures stood out and surpassed beyond all before and after them using symbols instead of numbers or letters. The pioneers of time, natural resources, complex geometrical architectures and most importantly astronomy. (and astrology)

My question is, how isn’t there be a larger than life conspiracy? Since the creation of Jerusalem religions, all scientific discoveries and rational innovations have been persecuted, killed or imprisoned.

Please help me understand how such ignorance has consumed the world and turned people of the same origin into segregated zombies jumping into cultural ideals and adopting geographical hatred for their neighbors.

I personally think that the religious institutions and political themes of our planet are manipulating and controlling the masses. How else could such significantly essential contributions to human history be completely under minded and misled?

The pyramid of Kukulkan in Chichen Itza is our calendar, and the pyramids of Giza are the compass. The clock is simply the sun’s shadow rotating around any of those structures. There is still more significant information i need to learn about them.

Chug Bears on March 25, 2008, 11:15 PM

Roakes,

You certainly make a concrete point and i agree. Society is exactly that and it does make more sense to explain it economically. And in that notion conspiracy theories usually are not factually adequate, but nonetheless there is crucial relevant information dwelling in that sea of uncertainty and despair.

Please give me some knowledge if you will/have time on these two subjects:

1

Personally i have not committed to any kind of establishment or false ideology that is/has popularized propaganda and consumed the world in extortion. From any perspective, i am skeptical to find truth. Science, business, politics and economics are man made entities that are apart of who we are. Our marvelous creations, causing our own endless questioning of universal creation.

You can not deny the corruption of modern business and its effect on the economy. Cheap manufacturing costs, importing benefits, flipping of anything to turn a profit. What do you think about the monopolies, certain “nonprofit organizations”, unethical marketing and subliminal advertising?

There is plenty to choose from out there, and I’m not saying there isn’t money to be made or its coming to a downfall. I simply think if its this easy for me to find incriminating patterns of gross negligence by big business, then it should not be difficult for the public authoritarian law keepers to find them and enforce the proper consequences.

But they don’t! Like you said, all people have personal interests, i agree and think specifically regarding those matters. And thats not a conspiracy, its the flaw of the global system of justice and fairness.

2

On a separate subject, I completely disregard the word theory, with association to the Big Bang. Astronomers have concluded our own galaxy was constructed by a supernova. God by definition truly is; the one supreme being, the creator and ruler of the universe. That commonality is shared by the worlds religions and cultures, involving the theory of god and or creation is from one perspective unanimous.

The sun it self was considered as god in those three ancient civilizations. As corny as this sounds, if god really was the one supreme being, entity, organism, or any type of matter. It would have been decimated when the initial big bang occurred. Inherently, the universe it self and everything in it IS god! (that is my opinion of course, but I’ve found numerous relation in all major religions and beliefs.

(feel free to interpret or directly contradict. I respect your opinion, no harm done in knowledge/perspective)

Chug Bears on March 29, 2008, 11:47 PM

Roakes,

Agreed! Those were both excellent answers, sorry I’ve been tied up at work for the past couple days. And couldn’t get back to you sooner. But i must say, corporations are extremely corrupt and unethical. Not all but a vast amount. Look at the fast food industry or the entire transportation industry. Both stuck on a cheap product that will be exhausted in the not to distant future.

They have caused international postponement for the upgrading and evolving of the technological revolution. All convenience oriented products are being mass produced and made affordable for the people. Usually one to two years after release, any/every material possession depreciates, thus constantly delaying the up to date ownership of the lasted technologies.

All that aside, i appreciate the piece of mind! Each comment you’ve posted so far has been immensely beneficial and respected. To keep the ball rolling, i ask another….

What do you think/know about the alignment of the sun and the galactic equator in 2012?

(proven in various fields and referenced by three ancient civilizations via Solstice, Equinox, galactic equator and cycle of the Zodiac)

Chug Bears on March 30, 2008, 12:14 PM

For the record, I could technically consider my self an atheist, but agnostic (to me of course) seems to be a more appropriate title to articulate my own religious perspective.

Since obtaining certain knowledge regarding the beliefs and findings of the ancient Maya, Egyptians, and Chinese. I’ve linked every single religion to one standard commonality; space i.e. Astronomy & Astrology.

Recent scientific findings clearly depict the exact scenario. That is, each religion contains symbolism of either astrological and/or astronomical relevance to this particular event. The actual chain reaction is widely debated.

What they agree on is, sometime around December 2012 the sun will complete its 26,000 year cycle and align with galactic center directly above the super massive black hole that dwells in the middle of our Milky Way Galaxy.

The actual effect this will have on the Earth is debated worldwide. The major theories include, changing of the Earths gravitational axis, the explanation for global climate change (not “global warming”), implosion of our galaxy and most famously the Rapture! All these theories are very unlikely yet the actual effect is completely unknown.

I personally don’t believe in any of those theories but won’t undermind the possibility of unimaginable circumstance.

This particular study has proven itself to be far more than just beliefs or religions. It all adds up to the same system of galactic calculation.

If you have some time, check out the LHC or Large Hadron Collider located in Switzerland. It is currently being constructed and will be finish sometime in June of 2008. They will actually create a black hole right here on Earth to find the “missing link” in the standard model of physics.

Chug Bears on March 30, 2008, 1:56 PM

From the Earths perspective, the center of our Milky Way is between the Sagittarius and Scorpio constellations.

Kitty Givens on March 9, 2009, 8:31 AM

I appreciate this Sam Harris explanation.
Living in the moment is the key to less stress and more fulfillment.
Religion is a salve, but quieting the mind, that’s the way to live.

tim hall on April 11, 2009, 4:31 PM

Thanks Sam,
Religious phenomena seems to be the hardest for believers to come to grips with and understandably so. While I was studying Art History which is made up of 85% religions, I stumbled across phenomena where different scribes wrote almost the same beliefs in the same human lifespan from opposite continents, without the possibility of communication or any previous knowledge of the subject. From this I gathered that our fears and beliefs are mostly alike and are conjured up in the same manner. It is human nature to take similar routes to the same solution. This is what happened with astrology and is what made it seem so real.

While digging deeper into this phenomena I found that our fetish with scoring and competing came from the same roots. The early tribes picked their leader from who brought the most from the hunt. This later created the atmosphere of competing and picking winners and losers. This became so ingrained in our culture that we lost track of real meaning of adventure and fun. It also is one of our greatest disabilities in learning. To be able to learn what is real at a good clip, you need to remove all negatives. Scoring (separating losers from winners)is a negative social action.

Trent Eady on April 12, 2009, 3:24 PM

Harris says consciousness — after you remove anxiety, neurosis, worries, etc — is intrinsically happy. Er, don’t you mean consciousness is happy when you take all the unhappy bits out of it? How is that “intrinsically” happy?

Renee Alexandrea on June 3, 2009, 2:00 AM

I agree, happiness is living in the NOW. 

Dustin Currie on August 10, 2009, 3:14 PM

Dustin Currie on August 10, 2009, 3:24 PM

So happiness is “being aware of oneself in the present moment?”  Or playing sports and having sex, and noticing how you feel when you do these things?  Sounds pretty selfish to me.  If this is really happiness how could there be room for anything difficult or rewarding in the future; how can there be room for how others feel or charity?  To me this is yet another example of how atheism and self absorption are inseperably connected.