Metaphysics and SL - Our place in the Metaverse

Hmm.. so a couple of recent posts to the Undying Thread made me wonder about metaphysical positions...

SL is a "Brave New World" - the future etc...

Is there room for god and religion in the "enlightened" future?

Just wondering and you certainly need not comment in any way that will divulge the nature of your answer- just curious how those of us that partake of SL and also come here to the forums feel about religion and deities and metaphysics.

Question then is-

Do you believe in a greater power- god - unifying force what ever you want to call it/him/her.

To steal a line from Mel Gibson, if there is no God and this is all there is, then I am way behind on my plot to rule the world.

Oh boy - this is flirting with a thread lock you know. But, yes, I think there is room in the virtual world for spirituality. Especially as nerdish types like me continue to read about the cutting edges of arcane physics, particles that are two places at once, other dimensions, cats that are neither alive nor dead until we observe them -- that sort of thing.

Religion I think is a man-made set of behavior shakles, decidedly unspiritual, designed to control people, but I do believe in a higher being and that our actions have consequences.

SL is well suited for spirituality, because for me there is nothing more spiritual than creativity -- or at least striving for creativity. I think I've said somewhere before, trying to be profound -- if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, creativity is the sincerest form of worship.

Interesting topic. I hope it can be discussed reasonably.

Number 2 is closest to my beliefs. I don't believe there is a God, in the sense of an omnipotent and all knowing being who sees all we do,and influences our lives directly. I make my own decisions and choose my own paths. Our lives are all affected by these choices, that we can control, and the choices of others, that we sometimes can have some control , and plain dumb luck and coincidence, over which we have no control over. There is no higher power pulling our strings. We bear responsiblity and are the causes of any consequences of our actions. There are forces of nature out there that cause things to happen, but these are natural occurances, witrhout forethought or planning.When I die, that will be the end of my existance. That also is a result of a confluence of events, there is no predetermination.

Or you can just listen to George Carlin. He has the right idea.

NSFW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBuOlxoHFSY

I like both of those responses

And I honestly don't see any REASON for this to get ugly- just stating ideas not defending them or proselytizing.

I hope it isn't really a topic that needs to be locked if we all behave civilly. It has a question and the question relates to SL - so if we can all behave maturely-

I was saying in the Undead Thread, that I have always believed SL somewhat self-selects. Many come into SL - not everyone stays, and of those that do, there are while varying reasons, I think there are also commonalities.

I think we all have a certain desire for optimism to some degree- futurists in some fashion, exposure to some sort of something- that drew us here and kept us. From conversations with other Residents, I have found many literary commonalities for one thing- so I was just thinking about this aspect and how many of us- the few of us that post here- are believers.

So...

I guess Kevn, Klein, Kiamat Dusk, and others will be making their appearances for these type of threads.

Oh wait no...that was BEFORE LL CHANGED THE FORUMS BECAUSE OF ALL THE FIGHTING FROM DRAMA BOMB QUESTIONS LIKE THIS.

There is no reason for it to get ugly. We are all adults. we respect each others different beliefs, and choices, and are open to opinions other than our own, aren't we?


Oh wait, I forgot where we are. IBTL.

My dad used to say "There are two things I find hard to believe: 1. That there is a supreme being who created everything and 2. That it's all just random chance."

That George Carlin routine is great Brenda. I saw him live back in the 70's but I don't remember if it was in his act back then.

I think this is a pretty interesting subject, in fact I was hoping we would see how many people are Born Again fundamentalists, New Agers, Orthodox Observers etc.

If there *IS* a God, surely She will lock this thread immediately?

Pep (Or if She is female will She ignore the thread title and tell us about a bad time She had with a man recently?)

As long as we have room for the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus, then I guess we can fit in other magical creatures.

Well, there was this one time with this guy....... and would you believe he actually................. I'm telling you, what a jerk..............






Oh - and I agree with Carlin.

IBTL

<--<< Roman Catholic... Have a nice day. (^_^)y

i can deal with any religion if they can follow their own guidelines.
Like this popular one "thou shalt not judge"..

Another is "thou shalt not get in Ceka's face with first testament or Ceka will convert them to an iThink book of the second where they should be"

there is room for everyone in SL..it's when they start to crowd me is when i have the problem

St. <Fill in the blank> Catholic School from K thru 11.

Core of the bible belt from age 10 till that one great day when the sky opens up and i move to the hat where i can get lost in the numbers and nobody knows my sins.

Q: Do you believe in a greater power- god - unifying force what ever you want to call it/him/her.
A: No.
Religion is simply the original pyramid scheme of which there are many variations.

I am not sure about many things especially spirtual I have my own
experiences with them but I don't know what to believe either way
Only thing I know is that we are just a bunch of people who come into this world
alone even though we come out of our Mother's body, feel alone even though there is tons of us here and then we die and we can only do the best we can each moment in between.
Religion though often seems like major pain in the butt, where
someone comes up with the truth and has this long intellectual explanation
of how you're suppose to believe and if you don't they use fear to get you
to believe.

I wonder what ants think, sometimes.

Follow the trail, follow the trail, follow the trail, search for food, search for food, go back to the nest, to the nest, to the nest... repeat daily.

A much more complex, incredible world is all around them, and right under their own feet. All they have to do is pay a little attention.

But they don't seem to do that. The food supply, the red ant - black ant conflict... all the important things occupy them utterly.

Good, colony-supporting, hardworking ants. Doing the right things.

But if the ants did come up with a mythos of wondrous things far beyond themselves, odds are it would fall horribly short of the truth. Could they imagine music, or scientific discovery?

Like it or not, call it what you want, there is magic to be found in this universe. Maybe it's physics writ complex with emergent properties, maybe it's god(s), maybe it's some third thing.

But whatever it is, it's very real. And it's the difference between either reading this page, or being a mere pile of molecules bouncing around according to the laws of physics.

What are the odds that we can understand everything? That is a question that the ants could probably explain.

* * * * *

Next question: How smart were the creators of the IQ test?

This could go on all day...

Metaphysics is the study of that which cannot be measured. I am sure I am not unique in being a person who has "flatlined" in real - twice on my part and for two different reasons. There was nothing on teh other side as far as I could tell, and my last view on each occasion was of my loved ones staring in horror as I slipped over the edge. But on each occasion I was brought back. Perhaps some greater power forces my return.

It's easy an deven fashionable to deny or doubt existence of a greater power, a creating spirit. I want to believe so I listen to Brahms and Beethoven and am assured something gave them faith and drove them to create. I stood in Coventry Cathedral and Chartres and was humbled. I read Hamlet, Moby Dick, and Shelley's poetry. Surely something drives the creating force. We have signs of belief everywhere, from pteroglyphs on rocks only yards from where I type this, to a hand painted on a cave wall, to da Vinci's Last Supper.

Casually to dismiss a power and chortle "oh how clever I am!" is the problem because it is a supreme arrogance; it assumes we are all that matter. It is "Me" taken to the nth degree. I wish I could believe in teh way that give strength in faith to a human.

An interesting thread question considering today's date when so many people died for what they believed in.

LOVE THIS!

Why all the fear of this thread being locked? Aren't we allowed to have freedom to believe in what we like? I suggest that if a thread that asks the overwhelming question is locked then the Forum as a whole is shut down forthwith.

In my opinion, if there is room for everything else in SL, why not for people of faith?

I am not an "evangelist" type at all, but my faith is very important to me. Since sometimes I do not have the opportunity to attend services RL, I am thankful for this opportunity in SL.

In RL, I have friends and family ranging from Atheists to all different types of faiths and beliefs, many vastly different from mine and I have never had an issue with my relationships because of it. I feel the same in SL.

No clue who those folks are but if the can state their opinions with out insulting any others' opinions or believes, they are welcome to.

Note the following answers- some firm believers in "something" others non-believers. It doesn't matter for the purpose here- just wondering about the numbers between us, although the well thought out responses, so carefully constructed are quite refreshing. Thank you all for participating so far.

Desmond, I read a sci-fi story once- wish I could recall the name- where a colony of ants that wd thru every winter die out, was kept alive on the whim of an immortal character in the story. Time passed:, years, centuries, millenia - the ants developed a high society and decided to take over.

The immortal then decided it was time to pull the plug.

Note the question is not whether there is room in SL or not- for believers and non believers. It is merely collecting numbers. The commentaries, while enjoyable are a side issue.

By the way, this is not a doctorate, thesis, or other academia research project

I knew that - Brenda already pointed out that all the folks doing surveys are from non-US schools.