Autism and Skepticism

Post Reply New Topic

Most of us see volition/free-will/creativity as the defining characteristic of life. Bacteria, without a brain, make simple decisions. Individual organs make rational choices of which our conscious minds are not aware. Our brains work while we sleep, and we sometimes awake to find solutions that were unresolved problems when we went to bed. Whatever our thoughts are, they don?t take up space. Thoughts, feelings and information are not physical in any form that science has been able to detect. Encoded information, such as words on paper, a computer program or DNA molecules may be physical, but they are merely physical representations of an immaterial thought. Do thoughts have to be translated into words in order to exist? If so language differences might account for cultural differences. But animals appear to think without a language. If thoughts exist even before they are expressed, in some form that we haven't yet detected, maybe they are reinforced by the numbers of individuals thinking them ? thus accounting for the power of religion, for example. Could passion increase the pervasiveness of thoughts? What appear to me as original thoughts, I?ve usually discovered were not at all original. Most have been thought by someone else. Maybe thoughts really do exist, as light waves or magnetic fields do ? available to other minds willing to consider them. Carl Jung?s collective unconsciousness. Perhaps we each place filters upon our minds which regulates the thoughts we are willing to entertain. Would that be a definition of skepticism? And of intolerance? Could lack of such filters cause our thinking to become chaotic? Or autistic?
Berthajane Vandegrift

Animals have languages. Some, like crows, have distinct regional dialects.

Space and time have different definitions but as a concept of reality they are inseparable. Thoughts contain energy and although they are not tangible, they most definitely affect yourself and others.

A "filter" in your mind isn't the definition of skepticism or intolerance per say but rather how you experience the world through your own eyes. The way we view things in life is shaped by internal and external factors which changes over time as we grow and learn.

Thoughts take up space in your mind. Open your mind and there will be space for new thoughts/ideas.

There is an old story about a professor who wanted to study martial arts from a Master. The Master made him carry buckets of water, sweep floors, and perform other mundane tasks for months. After awhile the professor had enough and exlaimed, "Why won't you teach me martial arts!?" The Master sat the professor down for a cup of tea and began pouring. Soon the cup was overflowing and tea was spilling out. The professor looked bewildered and asked, "Why are you still pouring tea when the cup is overflowing?" The Master smiled and told the professor he is like the full cup.

Moral of the story... be like an empty cup.