[howerd]

Thanks for taking the time answering my comments Brian, here are the questions I'm left with on hearing your thoughts:

Originally Posted by Brian249x

Hello howerd,

Let me start out by saying that it is a much a hope as an opinion.

Sure but hopes need some justifiable basis as do opinions otherwise we're just wishful thinking.

Originally Posted by Brian249x

I really hope to have the opportunity to use lessons learned through a succession of painful experiences.

Yes so do I but sometimes to avoid the same errors you made in the past you have to question whether you're means of assessing reality are justified otherwise you'll keep on guessing & keep on failing.

Originally Posted by Brian249x

Aristotle stated at the conclusion of Posterior Analytics that all knowledge is based on intuition.

OK maybe he did & even Professor Richard Feynman said at first you guess an answer: you intuit it indeed & 99% of the time or more it's wrong - it's only when you test your intuitions to destruction can you discover which 1% (if it's even that much) that's left standing.

Originally Posted by Brian249x

IMO, all of our experience and/or knowledge is subjective in the final analysis. Do you have anything genuinely verifiable that objective knowledge can exist?

Well now you are trying to shift your burden of evidence onto me & I never claimed we ever have 100% water tight 'knowledge' of anything at all did I? All I'm saying is that despite not being able to be 100% certain of anything we can still be reasonably certain of many things if there's at least something that can be independently confirmed about it with a high standard of verification & that's as good as anything gets so why demand perfection when you can still have a close second?

Originally Posted by Brian249x

My subjective reasons for believing reincarnation may be true are 1) experiences that suggested encounters in past lives and memories thereof,

That's incredibly vague answer. What's the most compelling experience you can cite that's convinced you it's true? Anything particularly robust beyond alternative interpretation?

Originally Posted by Brian249x

2) Plato and several Eastern religions attest to that reality.

I'm sure they did but other great figures & popular religions in history have had equally unsupportable ideas too so what makes his beliefs obviously far better? There must be some reason you consider these claims better than those claims or do you just like the sound of them more?

Originally Posted by Brian249x

The 'special education planet' hypothesis comes from the cosmology of the spiritual practice of a former girlfriend.

OK so why was she convinced then? - Because she too liked the sound of it from someone she had an inkling also harbored esoteric wisdom as well? - Is that really a good enough reason?

Originally Posted by Brian249x

This explanation states that all the souls in the universe "who just don't get it" are sent to this out of the way place so that they don't impede the work of the Masters in the serious business of making the universe work.

So if I just don't get this explanation & I'd say it's actually just a naked claim that's confirmation it's probably true yeah? That sounds a lot more like confirmation bias & circular reasoning to me. Why am I wrong? Because I lack the wisdom to just "get" it's truth?

Originally Posted by Brian249x

I rather like it because it reminds me not to have unrealistic expectations of my fellow travelers, and it reminds me to humbly remember that I am here, too.

So if we rather like the ideas we find that we rather like, that's a sure sign it's justified then? Hmmmm...

Originally Posted by Brian249x

Take a look around you. Do you have a better explanation for human behavior?

Yes a testable one. One which is robust enough to be independently verified. This is why we behave as we do:

Originally Posted by Brian249x

Naturally, if this is indeed the special ed planet, all of us here are a very long way from enlightenment.

Yes if, but how could we be pretty damn sure that we really have become enlightened rather than projecting our existing beliefs onto what we notice 'hits' confirmations & doesn't even register blind spots which disconfirm them? Don't you think self doubt is as important if not even more important a strategy if we are genuinely committed to believing as many true things & dismissing any false things, whatever they may be & regardless of whether we 'rather like the idea.'?

Originally Posted by Brian249x

It is notable that the burning forever conception of hell originated with desert peoples living in blazing temperatures. The Nordic peoples conceived of hell as being conscious, but eternally frozen.

Or it may just be coincidence.

Originally Posted by Brian249x

Stories to scare children or allusions to a spiritual reality, probably some of both.

So you can doubt others! But can you turn the same skepticism onto your own beliefs with equal skepticism too?

Originally Posted by Brian249x

Thomas Aquinas talked of hell and sin in terms of being in a state of alienation from God.

OK perhaps that's how he imagined 'error' to be however isn't a simpler explanation - with less assumptions built into it - 'error' is a state of alienation with the nature of reality therefore you keep making guesses about the nature of reality which aren't based on evidence but by projecting an incorrect assumption about reality on to what you think you are seeing going on around you & therefore that's the cause of your errors? e.g, The philosopher Wittgenstein was in conversation with one of his students who he asked:

W: Why do you think that people once thought that they could see the sun go around the earth?

S: Well I suppose it's because that's what it looks like.

W: But does it? - Then how would a static sun appear when observed from the surface of an immense spinning sphere?

i.e. If we assume in advance we know the nature of what reality has to be like we may very well be in danger of making the error of 'projecting' our evidence free assumption onto what we think 'reality' is & consequently create a self induced delusion based on what you assumed to be the case unconsciously (or consciously) in advance - without good, independently verifiable evidence for your assumption.

Originally Posted by Brian249x

Now, there was a period of my life where I was on a self destructive path, completely alienated from my innermost values, much less any underlying principle of Being or experience of all embracing Love. It is this state that I conceive as being hell. It is a state of the soul's own choosing and not a sentence from a vengeful deity.

Well yes we certainly can create our own hell & sometimes it can result from not caring that much if our beliefs are supportable. Those who can make you believe absurdities, could also make you make errors in life which is why we must never imagine we are above delusion ourselves. I'm not which is why I'm happier to admit I don't know things than feel very sure I do but not be able to know exactly how I got there beyond finding an idea appealing. To me that starts alarm bells ringing & a voice in my head screams 'Warning! Potential delusions breaking through the doubt firewall!' - Now I'm not against letting anything through if I've tested it very very carefully but 'carefully' has to mean whether I love it or hate it.

Originally Posted by Brian249x

I know I owe you an a promised PM. It has been on my mind of late. Life has been quite a struggle for quite awhile now, but hopefully I can get the PM out to you in the next few days.

OK thanks Brian I look forward to it!