Why do human beings believe in things that are not (or cannot) be proven?
Our culture of today spends much time and effort concentrating and presenting various theories on numerous subjects which cannot be proven.
I feel it is human nature to search for reasons to happenings that man does not fully understand. I believe that inherently man wants answers to unexplained events and occurrences in nature and elsewhere. Mankind's various speculations and hypotheses stimulate his imagination. Man also feels he can gain insight into his past and future in his queries, theories and speculations.
Throughout mankind's history there have been Oracles, such as; the Sybyl, Oracle of Delphi, Merlin (~ 1135 A.D.), to name a few. Various prophets also existed, such as John of Patmos ( who wrote the book of revelations in the Bible) and Black Elk of the Sioux Indians. There is also the Mayan calendar, the "Yi Jing hexograms" and the Hopi tribe. Most of these various sources predict the end of the world to be 12/21/12. ( www.endoftheworld2012.net ). Issac Newton of the 17th century studied the Bible and devised a math code to predict the world would end in 2060 A.D. These prophetic papers surfaced in London in 1936. ( "The apocalypse code"-3/3/10 8pm cst, The History Channel).
Prophets cannot prove the end of the world and proponents of this theory look also at the course of current events, such as current wars, global warming, asteroid encounters, etc. Scientists argue that there will be certain solar alignment of celestial bodies in the year 2012. NASA officially indicated that solar flare activity will be at peak during the year 2012. An increase in these flares and sun spot activity will cause increased amounts of charges particles to reach our ionosphere thru the solar winds. They believe these changes and possible magnetic field changes surrounding earth could cause some interference with earth's inhabitants and their satellite technology. But, certainly not the end of the world.
Another example of unexplained phenomena is the Bermuda Triangle where some 20 airplanes and ~50 ships, going back to the 16th century or earlier, have vanished without apparent reason. The visionary Edgar Cayce believed Atlantis is located around Bimini and that radioactive Atlantean crystals caused the disasters of this area. Some believe UFO's have removed people from intact ships. Ghost ships intact have been sighted on numerous occasions since the 16th and 17th centuries. Opponents of these theories propose various answers to these disappearances. Among them include: 1) Methane gas bubbles changing the buoyancy of ships. 2) Human and mechanical failure. 3) Rouge waves. 4) Powerful currents of the Gulf Stream with eddies below the surface. 5) Fog with electromagnetic energy. ( "Mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle" decoding the past 3/6/10 9pm cst The History Channel).
The most popular and imaginative suppositions and ascertians are derived from beliefs in ancient alien visitations beginning in eons past. Erich Vondanekin is our most prominent purveyor of this data. There are hundreds of different examples of ancient visitations. ( Vondaniken, Erich, Chariots of the Gods, 1999). My favorite unproven topic refers to the Great Pyramid located in Cairo, Egypt. The question is who built the pyramid? Each stone weighs 1 to 20 tons and The Great Pyramid contains well over 100,000 stones. It took 10,000 workers per month over a 20 year span to build The Great Pyramid, as experts suggest, and placed them 481 feet high. Supposedly using a ramp with stones that went from the ground to the top. However, opponents know the Egyptians had no machinery or construction equipment. It also would take more rocks to build the ramp than it would to build the pyramid. It is common knowledge that the Egyptians left detailed writings of farming, giving birth, Pharaoh worship, hunting, building structures, etc, but the building of the pyramid was never mentioned. There are numerous arguments for and against how the Pyramids came into existence. ( www.netscientia.com/egypt.html ).
Think of the Pairie Reis map of 1531 showing Antarctica ice free. Antarctica was ice free many thousands of years ago. How did they see under the ice to define the land mass on this map in that year? Think about Puma Punko, Bolivia, where megalithic structures are finely cut of interlocking granite stones of ~ 800 tons each, with straight, precise depth of lines. The Aymora Indians had no writing and this occurred ~5,000 feet above see level. Also no trees or agriculture could prevail in that area. What about the Nasca desert in Peru with large carvings of spiders and other animals and flat top of a mountain in amongst the summits of various mountains. Archeologist suggest these carvings were for Religious reasons or irrigation. Opponents feel these land carvings and flat mountain summit were for ancient alien landings. ( "Ancient Aliens" 3/6/10 7pm cst, The History Channel).
Does the previous small sample of the unproven or unexplained stimulate your imagination? Do these various arguments, pro and con give any insight into the cause and effect relationship of occurrences in the past and future that are questionable? Have these unexplainable subjects speculations and explanations given us any answers to the unknown? I believe so. This is why human beings believe in thing that cannot be proven.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Blog#2
Why are so many people uncomfortable with the idea that many problems don't have a single solution? Give an example of a current controversy in which there are different factions arguing that theirs is the one RIGHT answer and explain why there is in reality no one right answer to the issue.
Throughout mankind's history, one will always find differences of opinions to various topics. This is due to the fact that man's diversity is based on his socio-economic, educational, political and religious values. It is easy to understand why many people feel uncomfortable that various problems don't have a common single solution. Agreement among people would make life easy, uncomplicated and would avoid many conflicts. I feel man strives basically to achieve a coherent, congenial, peaceful and rational lifestyle. However, thru history, due to man's basic individuality, we will always incur differences of opinions and different solutions to problems.
We only need to consider the current controversy related to universal healthcare. The Democrats of Congress are supporting a massive government takeover of the healthcare industry at the taxpayer's expense of trillions of dollars. Individuals and doctors will be subservient to governmental bureaucrats making their healthcare decisions. Senior citizens will be at a serious disadvantage for services due to a governmental cut back of 500 billion in federal Medicare funding. This plan is strongly supported by Liberals and Leftists in our society. In opposition to this proposal are the Republican Congress men who support reform of healthcare but prefer a revision of the present system. This includes, oversight of insurance company premiums, insuring people with existing medical conditions, tort reform, ability for individuals to buy insurance across state lines, and no cut back in Medicare funding. The Republican proposal would not increase costs into the trillions of dollars and would maintain a non-socialized medical system for the USA. The Rightist and the Tea party movement are in favor of this ideology (Fox news nightly reports). Both opposing sides feel their plan is the right way to go. The previously stated are just a few of the issues involved. We cannot discuss the details of an approximate 2000 page legislative bill in this paper. Obviously, a compromise is needed, as both sides do have some valid arguments. There is no one right answer to this issue.
One can look back into our American history to the Philadelphia convention, now known as the constitutional convention of 1787. Fifty five delegates, with George Washington presiding, designed and passed our present U.S. Constitution ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Convention ). During this process, there was much disagreement. Benjamin Franklin gave the members an analogy. He, in essence told the delegates to imagine 3 pieces of wood that don't conform to a solid concentric surface. Therefore, you shape each piece to fit together and make a solid, concentric, strong and durable surface area. He effectively brought 55 delegates together to form The House of Representatives, the Senate and Constitution of the United States ( http://www.constitution.org/constit_.htm ). In conclusion, I must state, "we are all different......we have always been different, we will always be different. The diversity of mankind will never be conquered by national governments or by religious leaders. Our diversity is the reason we exist. We exist to be individuals; we exist to be different.........." ( http://wahiduddin.net/views/diversity.htm ).
Throughout mankind's history, one will always find differences of opinions to various topics. This is due to the fact that man's diversity is based on his socio-economic, educational, political and religious values. It is easy to understand why many people feel uncomfortable that various problems don't have a common single solution. Agreement among people would make life easy, uncomplicated and would avoid many conflicts. I feel man strives basically to achieve a coherent, congenial, peaceful and rational lifestyle. However, thru history, due to man's basic individuality, we will always incur differences of opinions and different solutions to problems.
We only need to consider the current controversy related to universal healthcare. The Democrats of Congress are supporting a massive government takeover of the healthcare industry at the taxpayer's expense of trillions of dollars. Individuals and doctors will be subservient to governmental bureaucrats making their healthcare decisions. Senior citizens will be at a serious disadvantage for services due to a governmental cut back of 500 billion in federal Medicare funding. This plan is strongly supported by Liberals and Leftists in our society. In opposition to this proposal are the Republican Congress men who support reform of healthcare but prefer a revision of the present system. This includes, oversight of insurance company premiums, insuring people with existing medical conditions, tort reform, ability for individuals to buy insurance across state lines, and no cut back in Medicare funding. The Republican proposal would not increase costs into the trillions of dollars and would maintain a non-socialized medical system for the USA. The Rightist and the Tea party movement are in favor of this ideology (Fox news nightly reports). Both opposing sides feel their plan is the right way to go. The previously stated are just a few of the issues involved. We cannot discuss the details of an approximate 2000 page legislative bill in this paper. Obviously, a compromise is needed, as both sides do have some valid arguments. There is no one right answer to this issue.
One can look back into our American history to the Philadelphia convention, now known as the constitutional convention of 1787. Fifty five delegates, with George Washington presiding, designed and passed our present U.S. Constitution ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Convention ). During this process, there was much disagreement. Benjamin Franklin gave the members an analogy. He, in essence told the delegates to imagine 3 pieces of wood that don't conform to a solid concentric surface. Therefore, you shape each piece to fit together and make a solid, concentric, strong and durable surface area. He effectively brought 55 delegates together to form The House of Representatives, the Senate and Constitution of the United States ( http://www.constitution.org/constit_.htm ). In conclusion, I must state, "we are all different......we have always been different, we will always be different. The diversity of mankind will never be conquered by national governments or by religious leaders. Our diversity is the reason we exist. We exist to be individuals; we exist to be different.........." ( http://wahiduddin.net/views/diversity.htm ).
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