Superstition Stuff - Why Do They Keep Believing In It ?

[pizzachang]

We have found out, "proved' if you will, that nature (systems that we observe) is a perfect, self-sustaining system.

I'm not sure the millions of species of animals that have become extinct would agree.

The universe only exists for those that can observe it. In the sealed ecosphere, there are no longer "outside" influences - hence its sustainability. Since our universe is still expanding, it is still subject to changes that include extinction.

[PalMan]

These last few are getting pretty far out there, part of me wishes I knew what the heck they're talking about but -

Naaah. . .

[pizzachang]

I have seen no proof that a creator does not exist and I try and keep up with science and technology.

Here is proof http://godisimaginary.com/

Thanks for the link. The "chance" that every law of physics just happened to be fine-tuned at the right moment(of the expansion) in order for life to exist at all in the universe are mathematically astronomical. Miraculously astronomical, in fact.

[tw25rw]

Have you ever given thought to the superstitions of Catholics in the Western world ?

Or are they not relevant and are acceptable because they are farangs ??

Eh ???

Superstition has nothing to do with being educated or not.

Don't confuse religious belief with superstitions, it is not even related.

Religion is high intensity brain washing from multiple sources of which most are state controlled. as a conditioning program. the other are just silly superstitions handed around by friends and family.

2 forms of the same madness..

[tw25rw]

In America more than half of the people believe that the earth was created a few thousand years ago by an entity they call god.

...and the other half believe it was created billions of years ago by a strange entity called 'Nature'...

...which would obviously raise the question of who created 'Nature' itself...

...and who created the creator of Nature.....and so on..

Suddenly, the 'God' theory doesn't look so ludicrous..

No it still looks just as ludicrous. One just needs to get the head round the idea that the universe can exist without being intelligently created.

[PalMan]

I'm pretty sure there is/are some intelligent entities other than humans somewhere in the universe.

However I am 100% sure that our human brain - or at least the part of it we call our "logical mind" - is incapable of comprehending fundamental truths about "creation" the "universe" and so on.

Like ants speculating on the nature of the sun, but the distance between ourselves and the big bang, even the fact that our bodies are limited to only four dimensions.

I'm pretty sure the stories our religions tell us about such matters aren't "true" in the logical factual sense, at best metaphors or parables.

I'm happy to admit and accept our ignorance on such matters.

I also don't claim to "know" for a "fact" that everything Thais believe that I don't know about are all ignorant superstitions.

Keep an open mind.

[tetleythedog]

 

In America more than half of the people believe that the earth was created a few thousand years ago by an entity they call god.

 

Yep , got to agree with you. You only have to meet some 7th day adventists, or Jehovas, all have predicted the "end of days", what a load of b*ll*cks!

[lemoncake]

papa al, on 20 May 2013 - 16:48, said:

No silly. 9/11 was Masad.

Mediterranean Association for. Science Advancement and Dissemination???

Edited May 20, 2013 by lemoncake

[Andre0720]

Have you ever given thought to the superstitions of Catholics in the Western world ?

Or are they not relevant and are acceptable because they are farangs ??

Eh ???

Superstition has nothing to do with being educated or not.

Don't confuse religious belief with superstitions, it is not even related.

Religion is high intensity brain washing from multiple sources of which most are state controlled. as a conditioning program. the other are just silly superstitions handed around by friends and family.

They are one and the same:

Superstition definition:

irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, especially in connection with religion.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/superstition

[notmyself]

is it not?

It is an extension and or juxtaposition, it is not another dimension.

[OldChinaHam]

"Anyone who can explain how they think ? The longer I stay here, the less I understand them..."

Know thyself

Before you attempt to understand others.

[lemoncake]

is it not?

It is an extension and or juxtaposition, it is not another dimension.

Well,,,,, that just made a difference, did not it?!

So cats can see more and different to what we see, but for the sake of trolling lets discuss what exactly they can see

[OldChinaHam]

Who is your all time favorite skeptic?

But I do not really understand the point of the OP's questions. We see the same superstition throughout the world. And it is particularly alive and well in our leaders who believe in the strangest unfounded nonsense. This is just nothing more than lack of education and denial of science and the scientific method.

What more is there to say?

[PalMan]

Thanks for the link. The "chance" that every law of physics just happened to be fine-tuned at the right moment(of the expansion) in order for life to exist at all in the universe are mathematically astronomical. Miraculously astronomical, in fact.

-

So who says there's only one universe, or only the four dimensions our body/brain can deal with (that we know of)?

String theory, multiverses http://www.technologyreview.com/view/424073/multiverse-many-worlds-say-physicists/

Maybe we just happen to live in one universe where this set of laws operate correctly for the creation of life and human (and whatever other) intelligence.

In many if not most of the other gazillion universes and dimensions, life is very different or may not exist at all.

If you think this is just too mind-blowing, realize that science in the future will make today's look like foolish superstition.

So don't rely too much on the limitations of our current state of knowledge.

And be tolerant of other societies where they are perhaps just a little bit more ignorant than ours.

What would you think of a 20-IQ idiot who expresses disgust and contempt for how stupid the 15-IQ moron is?

Edited May 20, 2013 by PalMan

[ravip]

Well... here are some more to think about.

http://www.eu-forums.com/tourism/superstitions-in-different-countries-t2356.html

http://englishcenter.maxforum.org/2010/09/19/american-superstitions/

http://www.livescience.com/14141-13-common-silly-superstitions.html

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/superstition.html#animism

[notmyself]

There are a lot of superstitions/folk wisdom in Asian cultures. In China these have been around for thousands of years. Japan has, arguably, a decent educational system, but still has many superstitions, so I'm not sure it's fair to lay blame on poor education here?

Here, traditionally, on Wednesdays it was bad luck to get a haircut, or to wear new clothes for the first time.

Another one I heard quite some time back was to do with cutting nails. Can't remember the details but it was perhaps that it should not be done after dark... Or could have been during a full moon or when it was raining.

I could ring up a dear friend of mine right now and go out for dinner and few drinks (except I can't as she's in Issan for some reason) but during the evening she could tell me dozens of things that I have done which would be considered lucky or unlucky. She doesn't believe in any of them except for a few odd quirks but she does know lots and lots and lots. She likes to throw in the odd curve ball to keep me on my toes which I quite often miss because as far out as it may seem, it's still believable

[notmyself]

Thanks for the link. The "chance" that every law of physics just happened to be fine-tuned at the right moment(of the expansion) in order for life to exist at all in the universe are mathematically astronomical. Miraculously astronomical, in fact.

-

So who says there's only one universe, or only the four dimensions our body/brain can deal with (that we know of)?

String theory, multiverses http://www.technologyreview.com/view/424073/multiverse-many-worlds-say-physicists/

Maybe we just happen to live in one universe where this set of laws operate correctly for the creation of life and human (and whatever other) intelligence.

In many if not most of the other gazillion universes and dimensions, life is very different or may not exist at all.If you think this is just too mind-blowing, realize that science in the future will make today's look like foolish superstition.

[overherebc]

What intriques me is the way that people become more religious as they get older. My Grandfather was one of them and I always remember his dying words. Christ a bus.

Edited May 20, 2013 by overherebc

[PalMan]

Fear of death, the thought that it's all over with nothing to follow.

My mum's pretty close to the end of her life, and she keeps telling me with tears in her eyes "I just wish I could believe in that stuff".

[jocko]

What intriques me is the way that people become more religious as they get older. My Grandfather was one of them and I always remember his dying words.  Christ a bus.

As the great Dave Allen said

I'm a Atheist, Thank God

[khaowong1]

I have seen no proof that a creator does not exist and I try and keep up with science and technology.

Here is proof http://godisimaginary.com/

Hard to argue with all these statements.. Although, you know, someone will try..

[IsaanUSA]

I'm superstitious. Why would I suddenly change that if my lottery numbers didn't come up? I wouldn't. It's just part of who I am. Do you permanently stop consuming alcohol after you have a hangover?

[Dap]

Nearly all the homes in and around my village have a shirt or scarecrow like figure at the entrance to stop ghosts or spirits taking the man apparsntly, anyone else have this ?

Was on a morning bike ride with a Thai buddy some time back when we came across a red t-shirt tacked to the wall in front of the house. My buddy asked me to take a photo of him standing in front of the shirt. As we were doing this a older lady walked out to deposit some trash. My buddy asked her of the meaning of the shirt and she told us that recently several men in the village had died in their sleep and the local soothsayer had "suggested" everyone in the village needed to post a red shirt with the words "There are no men in this house." As we continued the ride through the area it was obvious that the greatest majority of the folk had taken the "suggestion" quite seriously.

I always worry about commenting on situations such as this as I could fall foul of the slippery slope argument.

The Slippery Slope is a fallacy in which a person asserts that some event must inevitably follow from another without any argument for the inevitability of the event in question. In most cases, there are a series of steps or gradations between one event and the one in question and no reason is given as to why the intervening steps or gradations will simply be bypassed. This "argument" has the following form:

Event X has occurred (or will or might occur).

Therefore event Y will inevitably happen.

This sort of "reasoning" is fallacious because there is no reason to believe that one event must inevitably follow from another without an argument for such a claim. This is especially clear in cases in which there is a significant number of steps or gradations between one event and another.

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/slippery-slope.html

However, if I were to meet someone who put a red shirt in their wall with magic words on it I would worry about what else they would be willing to use this lack of logic with.

Well said nm.

[Rhys]

Social control...

[Thai at Heart]

How far out of the village are any Thai people?

[PalMan]

How far out of the village are any Thai people?

-

Sorry I don't understand, maybe try re-phrasing that?

Maybe you mean something like:

Are many Thais still "village people", that is, rural?

To which the answer is yes, most, even if they live and work in the city much of the year, most are within a generation of subsistence peasant farmers and consider their village "home" and mostly keep to that culture not that of the city.

[Thai at Heart]

How far out of the village are any Thai people?

-

Sorry I don't understand, maybe try re-phrasing that?

Maybe you mean something like:

Are many Thais still "village people", that is, rural?

To which the answer is yes, most, even if they live and work in the city much of the year, most are within a generation of subsistence peasant farmers and consider their village "home" and mostly keep to that culture not that of the city.

I am more than aware of Thai Buddhist sprituality. Put it like this, Thailand is one maybe two generations into industrialisation. 60 years.

Other countries went through it 300 years ago. 80% of the Thais you meet every day are one maybe 2 generation out of the fields.

Unless they are loaded, which means they are Chinese and never planted a seedling in their life.

[pigeonjake]

hi all,

if you bare with me and put up with my bad spelling and gramer ide like to tell you a little story, its about me funny enough,

we my wife and i had just finnished our small house,

anyway after a couple of nights i had a dream about the bloody number 18, bare with me this is true,

i woke mac up my wife and said i have dream about number 18, i said when is lottery, the underground one run at the corner shop i our village,

she said on the 16th, i said remember number 18 and wrote it down,

come the morning of the 16th off to the shop we go, i said put me 100b on number 18, this she did, she had 10bht mama had 10bht,

later that day of she pops to the shop to be told number 18 win,!!!!,

well they lots of the villagers say to the wife how jak pick number, she told them he dream it long time ago,, they said to her your house be very lucky now,

and to be honest it has been, i got oferd a very good job, we had a beautitul healthy daughter, all the pigs did well,

and even now they say if they see us you have dream again yet,,lol

sorry by the way i got 7,000 for my 100 it pays 70/1

jake

[notmyself]

Greta story but nothing to believe it is any more than chance.

[poanoi]

I had a few dreams about numbers too, and bought lottery in accordance, but so far i have the same lack of luck as always