#truth claims

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Carl Sagan: There's two kinds of dangers.

One is what I just talked about, that we've arranged a society based on science and technology in which nobody understands anything about science and technology, and this combustible mixture of ignorance and power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces. I mean, who is running the science and technology in a democracy if the people don't know anything about it?

And the second reason that I'm worried about this is that science is more than a body of knowledge. It's a way of thinking. A way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility.

If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we're up for grabs for the next charlatan political or religious who comes ambling along.

It's a thing that Jefferson laid great stress on. It wasn't enough, he said, to enshrine some rights in a Constitution or a Bill of Rights. The people had to be educated, and they had to practice their skepticism and their education. Otherwise we don't run the government—the government runs us.

Charlie Rose: Jefferson was amazing in his devotion to science.

Sagan: Absolutely.

Rose: We think of Jefferson as this man who was literate and who was a passionate articulator of freedom, but if you go to Monticello, what you appreciate is he was at heart a scientist, a botanist, an architect, geologist. And if you, Meriwether Lewis, as we now know from Steven Ambrose, he wanted him to go out and do experimentations and explore and be skeptical and find answers to passages and explore the West.

Sagan: Exactly right. And there was also an economic grail there if the northwest passage was found. Jefferson said that he was at heart a scientist, that he would have loved to have been a scientist. But there were certain events happening in America that called to him, and so he devoted his life to that kind of politics.

Rose: A revolution.

Sagan: Indeed. So that generations later people could be scientists.

#Carl Sagan #Charlie Rose #Thomas Jefferson #science literacy #science #skepticism #scepticism #truth claims #religion is a mental illness

[pratchettquotes]

"Atheism Is Also A Religious Position," Dorfl rumbled.

"No it's not!" said Constable Visit. "Atheism is a denial of a god."

"Therefore It Is A Religious Position," said Dorfl. "Indeed, A True Atheist Thinks Of The Gods Constantly, Albeit In Terms Of Denial. Therefore, Atheism Is A Form Of Belief. If The Atheist Truly Did Not Believe, He Or She Would Not Bother To Deny."

Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

#dorfl #visit the infidel with explanatory pamphlets #feet of clay #discworld #terry pratchett #religion #religious debate #atheism #truth claims #denial #belief #no it's not #a form of belief

[wasmormon]

Was the first vision a “vision”? Was it the “first” one? Which one is “The” first vision? There are so many different accounts. The gospel topic essay mentions some of the main versions, but they also gloss over the differences and dismiss them all. The First Vision is a total misnomer and can be completely debunked with some simple reading and thinking. Something the church does not want members to do, they do everything they can to keep members from looking at the accounts. They first tried to hide them, and then they dismiss them by saying "we’ve always been honest and transparent about these accounts, and they all tell the same consistent story anyways, so don’t worry, trust us" ...

#church history #con artist #first vision #gospel topic essays #Heavenly Father #Jesus Christ #Joseph Fielding Smith #Joseph Smith #lies my prophet told me #mormon truth crisis #restoration inconsistencies #sunday school #treasure digging #truth claims #truth crisis #exmormon #exmo #former mormon #was mormon #post mormon #mormonism #deconversion #faith crisis #ex lds

[frogsinajar]

#I was gone for 4 months and all I got for yall is this #homestuck #dave strider #dirk strider #hs #dave hs #dirk hs #homestuck art #my art #my comics #frogsinajar #it was also everyones birthday #but couldnt get a piece done in time #university kicked my ass dawg #but at least im done with the semester #also give me a ring if u want a tag added to this #I have no idea how people will react to the phrase mad monks pickled wang #but im living my truth #also also I think at least three museums claim to have this item #but none of them has proof of having the real one

[f1-obsessed333]

Say what now??

Imagine…..

#But ofc this could also be Christian trolling 🤣 or something like that but i still think there is an ELEMENT of truth there 👀 #I always claimed that this was an opportunity so now I feel vindicated #if it’s true ofc #f1 #max verstappen #sir lewis hamilton

[dowagersqueen]

the way alicent was like “the king did not wish for the murder of his daughter he loved her i will not have you deny this” and threatened jasper with sending him to the wall for his suggestions while in the black council daemon was like “that whore of a queen murdered my brother and stole his throne and youc ould have killed her for it” and “we can put every green head on a spike” and in ep. 8 before coming to kl rhaenyra was like “those vipers rule in my father’s stead” 

not even otto spoke of rhaenyra the way daemon spoke of alicent....

#alicent hightower #anyway the objective truth is that rhaenyra never cared as much for alicent as people claim to #she straight up did not #we have got to accept that and move on #this was always about the care alicent had for rhaenyra #even thought it should have realistically ended in episode 7 #the narrative wont let her let rhaenyra go bc rhaenyra is so special nothing that she can take away from alicent isnt worth it

[zvaigzdelasas]

The opposite of conspiracy theories isn't "rational thinking" its just "coincidence theories"

#sometimes things are coincidences! but making that argument isnt intrinsically any more rationalistic than a conspiracy #point being 'its not a conspiracy' isnt just absence of a truth claim it is a truth claim itself with comparable standard of evidence

[horse-head-farms]

okay hear me out guys: trans girl Hypno

i have no explanation for this other than 1) i think it is fun 2) it gives the boob window a purpose (future investment for when boobs happen)

#this is 50% crack 50% im genuinely invested #wasnt confident at first about posting this. but the fandom seems chill with transfem grian transfem zed etc so this will be fine i think #(albeit it makes less sense than those) #also appreciate the art because originally this was just going to be a text post #obvious disclaimer: this is a fictional thing. applying to a character. not truthing/claiming cc hypno as a trans girl ofc #yall know that but i thought id write it out #she wears the bandana more like a hair band and less covering all of her head #do i maintag this… sure #hermitcraft #hermitblr #hypnotizd #hermitcraft fanart #my art #the argument hypnos having with xb has nothing to do with boobs. she just brings this up randomly because xb cant argue against that

[onlyangelxo]

Wednesday has one setting and it’s “I licked them, so they’re mine, and if you touch them I will eviscerate you and erase your existence from living memory.”

#wednesday addams #wednesday netflix #wednesday #jenna ortega #the addams family #christina ricci #wenclair #wyler #weyler #enid sinclair #tyler galpin #hunter doohan #emma meyer #the only emotions Wednesday feels are in relation to possession #possession of the truth #of control #of their attention #everyday IS about her #and when she’s claimed someone they now live in her world #jokes on you if you try to alter their place and state of being in her world #definition of self-centered #and that’s ok #I support Wednesday and all her toxic habits #addams family

[thevalleyisjolly]

I love how despite the party trying to shake the secrets out of Colin, no one has made an Insight check against anything he’s said about himself yet, which means that technically, nothing he’s said actually has to be true.  It doesn’t mean it’s not, but if it wasn’t, who’s to say?

#dimension 20 #the ravening war #dimension 20 spoilers #the ravening war spoilers #the perks of being a very low charisma character who keeps claiming to have no secrets #is that everyone assumes you won't bother lying because you're so bad at it #meaning that technically; as long as it's not an outlandish lie; you could get away with a lot of little lies and evasions #even if people know you're being evasive or secretive; they probably won't think you're outright lying because why would you bother? #for the record: i don't think colin has outright told a lie but just been very selective and general with what parts of the truth he shares

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

"'Fact' is not anybody’s experience; it states the experience of no one in particular. When the police detective says, “Just the facts please, ma’am,” he is asking, What would I have seen—what would anyone have seen, what would no one in particular have seen—at the scene of the crime?

By definition, then, if we take the empirical rule (no personal authority) seriously, revelation cannot be the basis for fact, because it is not publicly available. Similarly, attempts to claim a special kind of experience or checking for any particular person or kind of person—male or female, black or white, tall or short—are strictly illicit.

After a woman was raped by a gang of teenagers in New York City, the Reverend Al Sharpton said that there was no proof that a rape had occurred, because the victim was being attended by white doctors. In other words, white checkers’ findings do not count. That is illicit; if you make different rules for black and white checkers, you are not doing science.

Paranormalists who claim to have verified psychic phenomena often rely upon single experiments; later, when some other investigator fails to find the claimed effect, they reply (for instance) that the necessary psychic energy was blocked by the presence of a skeptic. That also is illicit; if the way you are checking works only for people with a sympathetic attitude, or if your results are not replicable by others in a reasonably regular fashion, you are not doing science.

The same applies to Christian Scientists and others who believe in faith healing but say that attempts to check it work only for the faithful. Believers in miracles argue that miraculous events can be witnessed and understood properly only by those to whom God chooses to reveal himself. That also is illicit. If the way you are seeing and explaining works only for the religious, you are breaking the rules."

-- Jonathan Rauch, "Kindly Inquisitors"

Rejecting divine revelation but not standpoint epistemology (or vice versa), makes you inconsistent.

#Jonathan Rauch #Kindly Inquisitors #empirical rule #empiricism #divine revelation #standpoint epistemology #standpoint theory #epistemology #be consistent #knowledge #truth #truth claims #lived experience #religion is a mental illness

[laniemae]

Uhh sorry guys but I think Trikoto might be dead

I was looking through the milgram app and when talking about the production of double and deco 27 specifically mentioned there being two Mikotos. It’s not a mistranslation either, I looked into it and the original phrase is “ふたりのミコトは果たしてこのあとどうなってしまうのでしょうか” and “ふたりのミコト” directly translates to “two Mikoto”.

I understand that people may be bummed by this or saying that Mikoto’s story is playing into stereotypes because of this. But personally I have hope, as trial 2 showed that John wasn’t just an “evil alter” stereotype that much and has a much deeper and interesting character comparable to everything else. Although it’s a bit iffy that it was a bait and switch in the first place because there would still be people who’d take it face value. But personally as someone here said (I forgot who I’m sorry) “the best way to do an overused trope is to do it right” which could apply in this situation. I know there are mixed opinions here and personally I have hope but this is just my take on what is very likely the de-conformation of the trikoto theory.

#milgram #milgram theory #mikoto kayano #There’s also a popular theory in the fandom that there were other alters but John forced them into dormancy or something else happened #As he said he was born due to stress from work and did develops in childhood and Mikoto definitely has implied childhood trauma #So maybe something happened thag just left mikoto and John? #There’s also the line in the trial 2 teaser which at first would make you think that it was about when John claimed to kill random people #But when you start to realise what he said was very likely a lie what he could mean in that line about beating annoying people wqs #He was talking about the others and was twisting the truth in the vd #I hope it goes this way because it’d be pretty stupid to say he got it as an adult #But personally I have hope kinda #I feel like I might’ve said something wrong here

[galedekarios]

random question but how tall do you think gale is? i heard that astarion is canonically 5'11" but i couldn't find official heights for anyone else.

gale is 175cm (1), anon.

(i kind of like the idea that gale himself is perfectly average overall, including his height, neither too short nor too tall, and what makes him stand out is the force and charm of his personality and his mastery of the weave. it makes sense for his character, imo.)

#i've seen some ppl claim certain heights comparing in-game models but they literally share all the same base height so idk #how ppl got that but #anyhow #i know this truth in my Heart of Hearts anon #ch: gale dekarios #vg: baldur's gate 3 #series: baldur's gate #text: asks #text: personal

[secondary-colorentimy]

everything is chrome in the future 😅

#fanart #twst #i dont claim to know how to draw disney #but they felt so off i had to intervene #riddle rosehearts #vil schoenheit #truth is i actuall love how silly they look #but theres something vaguely off about all of them #twisted wonderland

[thepersonalquotes]

I understand that you are claiming it is almost impossible to forgive, but only easier to forget. The truth is that, you can only forgive that which you have forced your mind to forget. We must forget first, then forgiveness will come by itself.

Mwanandeke Kindembo

#Mwanandeke Kindembo #thepersonalquotes #Forgiveness #Understanding #Forgetting #force #Truth #claim #mind #first #quotes #literature #lit #prose #life quotes

[antianakin]

Maybe it's my personal bias, but a dark Ahsoka trying to get back in to the WBW because the whole mess from Anakin and then never actually processing her feelings, grief, anger etc leading her to thinking she can "fix" everything by "saving" Anakin. Not really thinking of the repercussions.

And have it be that she isn't trying to change the timeline for selfless reasons, but because she wants Anakin back. That misplaced sort of blame that comes when you over idolize someone. It was only Palpatine's fault, she tries to believe, Anakin wouldn't have done this all unprompted.

In trying to get back to the WBW having her actually process her emotions and the events and realize she's putting herself and her former master on pedestals to cope. Gradually working on herself.

Or not. Idk having Ahsoka unhealthily cope with grief in a way almost paralleling Anakin (trying to cheat death for Padme and failing anyway) sounds cool to me. Or maybe I'm just exhausted.

This would certainly make a real cool AU! The one thing making me hesitate is that she explicitly says while in the WBW in Rebels that Ezra can't save his master just like she can't save hers and never shows any real inclination towards trying to use it to save Anakin. So if you went with this concept, you'd have to figure out why she changed her mind on it or you'd just have to pretend like that moment didn't happen.

But in general I think that the idea really works! Like, I wouldn't want her to actually MAKE IT to the WBW or anything, I don't want any weird time travel shenanigans for her to mess with, but I think the idea of her TRYING to get back to it so she can fix Anakin, or fix what she did wrong or something could be a really interesting goal for her to have throughout a season where she's dealing with her Anakin feelings. Especially if we assume she's slightly fucked up from Malachor and its Sith bullshit in addition to her regular emotional struggles.

And in the she has to give it up. Like maybe she finds a way to do it, a way to open one of those doors, but doing so would have some sort of consequence and she has to choose between her selfish desire to "save" Anakin and fix what she believes are her own mistakes, or keeping that particular consequence from happening. Maybe people she's grown close to over the course of the story will be killed or put at risk if she opens the door, and she has to let it go, let ANAKIN go, in order to protect them.

That version of Anakin is gone, he's dead, and the version of him that exists now is clearly unwilling to be saved, at least by her, and all she can do is accept that and move on. Let go of her guilt, let go of her fears, just... let go. MAYBE her choice to leave the Order spurred him down that path, but maybe it didn't. Maybe Anakin made his own choices based on things entirely unrelated to her. Maybe if she'd been there she could've helped him, but maybe she'd have just been killed with all the rest. She'll never know and she has to come to terms with that before she can move forward with her life. She might've left first, but Anakin left her, too, and he took everything else she loved with him when he did.

In an ideal world, this would lead Ahsoka to do a lot of reflecting on her past with Anakin as she tries to figure out how far back she'd have to go to "save" him and she realizes just how dark he already was when she knew him and ultimately realizes that HE WAS DARK WHEN SHE MET HIM. There were things that happened to him, things he'd probably already chosen to DO, long before she'd met him that were already taking him down the path to darkness, things she'll likely never know or understand. But it allows her to see Anakin so much more truthfully than she'd ever done before. No longer does she view Anakin through the rosy lens of childhood hero worship, she can see how often he struggled with his own darkness and the ways it impacted their relationship, the way it's continuing to impact her NOW.

There were good moments, and she'd loved him, but he was dark long before she knew him and that's something she HAS to accept about him if she's ever going to let him go. There were things Anakin did to her that weren't okay, there were things Anakin taught her that were wrong and caused her to start down her own darker path, and until she can recognize that Anakin FAILED HER, she'll never be able to find her way BACK. She'll never be a Jedi until she acknowledges this very important and vital truth about Anakin and her apprenticeship under him. He WASN'T a good master and he WASN'T a good Jedi. He was sometimes a good PERSON, but he'd ultimately decided to leave that behind, too. He wasn't the person she'd thought he was and unless she wants to become him, she has to acknowledge where he made mistakes so she can keep from making the same ones herself.

So yeah, I think this idea has a LOT of merit and could definitely be a very interesting path to take Ahsoka on!

#star wars #ahsoka tano #anakin critical #anakin skywalker critical #anti anakin #anti anakin skywalker #god i hate ahsoka claiming he was a 'good master' in the ahsoka show #i think there is a difference between ahsoka acknowledging he had goodness in him and they had good MOMENTS #and ahsoka acting like he was genuinely a good MASTER #they aren't the same thing nor do they have to be #she DIDN'T know anakin #she DIDN'T understand him #and a lot of what anakin taught her is what has caused her the most pain #anakin's teachings are what ultimately led her on a path away from the jedi #anakin's teachings are what cause a rift between her and the jedi #personally i feel like instead of having ahsoka apparently thinking only negative things about anakin #and then having to decide no actually he was good #i would've had her go the OPPOSITE direction to follow up on her rebels personality #ahsoka REFUSES to accept the truth about anakin and wants to save him because she doesn't think he'd have ever chosen this #not without some kind of mind control #and on that path she has to recognize that actually anakin wasn't that perfect kind master she'd chosen to see him as #anakin had darkness and attachments and he struggled with it A LOT #and it was anakin's failure that left her floundering #and she'll only be a jedi herself when she can see anakin for WHO HE ACTUALLY WAS #he was selfish and he was greedy and he was irresponsible and insensitive and impatient #he was a bad teacher and until she can acknowledge that she'll always be walking a path AWAY from being a jedi