Freethought & Rationalism Archive

seebs · 01-11-2005, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DBT

Ok,defining critical thinking as;

"Within the framework of skepticism, critical thinking is the process of acquiring information and evaluating it to reach a logical conclusion or answer".

And of course personal bias can not be a part of that process,if you begin with the desire for the existence of God,or an afterlife,that will motivate your "search for truth" and it will also bias your conclusion.

Well, obviously, personal bias is always in the picture. But... I don't see what that has to do with whether or not you can have faith.

Quote:

Quote;
Overcoming bias
"To reduce one's bias, various measures can be taken during the process of critical thinking: Instead of asking "How does this contradict my beliefs?," ask: "What does this mean?"

In the earlier stages of gathering and evaluating information, one should first of all suspend judgement as one does when reading a novel or watching a movie. Ways of doing this include adopting a perceptive rather than judgmental orientation; that is, avoiding moving from perception to judgment as one applies critical thinking to an issue."

Faith has no place in scepticism or the process of critical thinking, and it has no place in the conclusion - if one can be reached.

This is, I think, where I disagree. There are always points where we get stuck with insufficient information, and end up adopting working hypotheses to see how they pan out. Furthermore, once we've reached a conclusion, faith may be a good tool for making an honest and workable test of that conclusion, or for getting on with our lives, having thought about the issue critically long enough.

Pjanc · 01-12-2005, 04:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Classical

Give me one good reason why I or anyone would want to be a christian or have any type of religious faith.

If anything goes wrong in your life it's not your fault - it was God's wish. Relying on God frees you from responsibility. Help thyself and God shall help thee. I think this phrase invented by Christians tells a lot about this 'God' guy...

DBT · 01-12-2005, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seebs

Well, obviously, personal bias is always in the picture. But... I don't see what that has to do with whether or not you can have faith.

If we have an underlying desire for the existence of a God we have,in a subtle way, reached the conclusion before we have even begun our inquiry.

That desire for God will probably determine how we interperet not only what we read but also how we view our personal experiences - a form of confirmation/observation bias.

And that's without saying that 'God' does or does not exist.

Quote:

Originally Posted by seebs

This is, I think, where I disagree. There are always points where we get stuck with insufficient information, and end up adopting working hypotheses to see how they pan out. Furthermore, once we've reached a conclusion, faith may be a good tool for making an honest and workable test of that conclusion, or for getting on with our lives, having thought about the issue critically long enough.

I agree with that on every point except the faith.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.