Why is it that most people believe in contradictory things about reality and don't even realize it?

Most believe we have an "eternal" soul, but then believe that it was "created".

Some believe that "money is the root of all evil" while simultaneously believing that "Money is good" and we should get a lot of it to be successful and important.


Some believe killing is evil but then make exceptions even though they already called the act an "evil sin".

Most believe in "Peace" meanwhile we have to start "Wars" to get rid of "evil".

Some believe in "Acceptance" but then make an exception to those who are not so accepting.

Some guys believe that being gay is disgusting meanwhile ignoring the fact that they like lesbians.

Some Believe in "following your heart / being true to self" but then hate people for that exact reason...

Most believe in "Compassion" except when the "bullies of authority" are around.

Some believe that "Selfishness" is bad meanwhile calling YOU "selfish" so that you can stop what YOU are doing and do what THEY want, how is that not selfish?

These are just a few, and I'm sure there are many, many more.

reply to post by arpgme


grey is beautiful.

I am at odds with TPTB, though I admire their vision....

I don't like watching sports, though I love playing them.

I don't know the names of even the most famous movie stars...but I LOVE movie culture.

I hate school, but LOVE learning.

Extremes are lame.

If you are a diehard anything, you don't know enough about it, you just think you do.

it really is all relative.

George Orwell would say this:

Doublethink. The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them... To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just as long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies – all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth.

reply to post by arpgme

Nobody is perfect.

That and we have a one track mind.

Another thing is that it's possible to think money is evil and yet still use it. Just like it's possible to think sex is disgusting and primitive and yet still desire some portion of it.

Reality is usually not black and white.

It's love/hate.

Nature is cruel and beautiful depending on your perspective.

Originally posted by arpgme
Most believe we have an "eternal" soul, but then believe that it was "created".

Actually, the term under Christianity is the "immortality of the soul" or "everlasting life", which is not the same as eternal -- only God is eternal, not us.

Some believe that "money is the root of all evil" while simultaneously believing that "Money is good" and we should get a lot of it to be successful and important.

The saying is actually "The LOVE of money is the root of all evil", quite a different thing.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:10 NIV)

Not sure what the rest of your little rant is in favour of, but yes, people can be confusing. Not really a news flash, though, is it?

Originally posted by jonnywhite
reply to post by arpgme

 

Nobody is perfect.

You don't have to be perfect to have belief systems that make sense. If you claim to believe in something the least you can do is be consistent instead of being hypocritical (or having opposite beliefs at the same time).


I'm not talking about people that believe things change according to situation. I'm talking about people who claim something to be "sin" or "evil" and yet still claim it is "not a sin" or "not evil". If the thing ITSELF is evil, the situation should not matter.

Nice observations.

Regarding the contradiction of the soul being eternal but also being created.

I see the universe as eternal but being created at the big bang. Modern science would tend to agree with this. I don't think its a contradiction. In mathematics a number that can grow infinitely large can have a beginning.

As I said nice observations tho, everyone should be using their brain like this and questioning everything that doesnt sit right with them. Good job lad

Very good.

Self-contradiction is one of man's fundamental stupidities. For instance Pro-Lifers believing in the death-penalty. The laws of contradiction are a priori, yet we avoid such things when it suits us. Something can only be and not be in matters of language and ideas, not in reality.

Astute observations. In response to the question in the title, maybe peace is coming to terms with our own hypocrisy? With great knowledge comes great responsibility.

Originally posted by arpgme
.........
...If the thing ITSELF is evil, the situation should not matter.

But the situation does matter, often times.

Like killing.

If killing itself was evil then we couldn't kill anything: good or bad, great or small.

Murder is not just any kind of killing.

This is its definition according to Wordweb:
"Unlawful premeditated killing of a human being by a human being."

"Unlawful premeditated killing."

It IS killing, but it's situational killing. It's a special form of killing.

The more I think about how deep reality goes (or how deep the rabbit hole goes) the more I think that our comprehension of good and evil could easily be incorrect in special circumstances.

From my perspective, morality is a very relative thing. Contrastingly, some people view good and evil from an absolute perspective. In their view, something is wrong and always wrong. In my view, whether something is wrong or not depends on the circumstances surrounding it. So ti's relative.

One example of this tendency for morality to be relative is the definition I just gave here for murder. Unlawful is a relative term because different cultures can have different laws. Executing a pedophile in one culture might be unlawful but in another it might be lawful. Premeditated is also somewhat of a subjective term as one must ask HOW premeditated must it be? 1 second, an hour, days, months or years? Obviously, the longer and more deliberate a plan is to kill another person, the worse the sentence will be. Whereas a quick and thoughtless murder is seen with less severity.

Nature is GREAT at changing the circumstances so humans will always be readjusting. Absolute rules are not effective. This is why morality, under the surface, is usually circumstantial. We project our simplistic absolute rules on a complex world and they almost always fail to persevere.

SO money and/or power are evil SOMETIMES. That's relative. But "sometimes" can mean few or even many, depending on the universe we live in and the conditions we experience in it.

Originally posted by MrSpiderMonkey.......
Regarding the contradiction of the soul being eternal but also being created.
...........

I agree, it's a nice observation about how not to define the soul if one assumes it was created.

However, I think that people are just confusing the literal definition of eternal with their own understanding of the soul. They may think that we were created and yet also think that we will live as long as the universe exists into the future. It's only a contradiction if you apply the literal definition of forever, but the definition people have in their own head can be different. The literal definition implies no beginning or end, but I can hardly fault someone for usingit wrong.

I've used the wrong words to define things before, so it's nothing new to me.

reply to post by arpgme


We are individuals with built-in conditions. I will help if....I will love when.... I listen only when....
We like to think our intentions are pure, but we end up conceding to conditional controls.
Our own selfish ambition coupled with fear is what creates contradictions.

I want to love those people but this group that accepts me won't like it.
If I open my mind to that idea it may infect my perfect little world and I might have to change.

As far as money goes, It's not money, it's the love of or lack of self control that is evil. Money acts as leverage for our conditions. Sex is also acts as leverage for our conditions. The more conditions the more control, the more power. I will do this if you pay me this, I will love you more if you sleep with me.

If we drop the conditions, then we might get understanding.

reply to post by arpgme


I think inconsistency such as you have described partially occurs because it is not possible to predict human action in all cases and circumstances. And so I would say that propositions which are not supported by consistent evidence (nondeterministic, so to speak) are a ... less-order conditional and therefore more subject to ad hoc revision. (By less-order conditional I mean that the proposition's truth is less reliable than a proposition which is supported by consistent evidence, which primarily occurs with scientific laws.) Having said that I actually subscribe to the belief that apriori knowledge exists (that there are certain propositions which do not require testing to prove the propostion is true), but that position is highly controversial and it is not my intent to argue epistemology along those lines. I share this simply to point out one of my beliefs and acknowledge that it is also possible for someone who subscribes to an avowed apriori proposition to contradict himself or herself in terms of the proposition. He or she may do so unwittingly, but then later make correction for the mistake.

As one commentator has already noted (unfortunately I can't recall the member's name ... my bad) we are all prone to error now and again. And I don't mean to pontificate, either. Your thread points out an idea which I tend to think a lot about (I strive to be consistent rather than inconsistent). Nonetheless, there have been times when I have judged it prudent to accept a different point of view & consequently contradicted a former position that I held. In that way I think it is better than not to leave some breathing room for error, but I suppose that the litmus test for this breathing room should be dependent on whether a person is consistently inconsistent or marginally inconsistent & self-correcting.

Anyway, this forms my general opinion about inconsistency and I enjoyed the theme of your OP.

This goes to show you that belief systems are temporary and pointless.

I believe it comes down to realising that humans are complex creatures with intricate psychological makeups. Sometimes we experience an inner-conflict when there is a need to make important decisions or explain our views to others.

reply to post by arpgme

Some believe that "Selfishness" is bad meanwhile calling YOU "selfish" so that you can stop what YOU are doing and do what THEY want, how is that not selfish?

The contradictions are due to the two minds in us. First conceptual created ideas. The second feelings heart. etc
Contradications are easy to understand as we move further to understand our own self.

Thats how the mind works. As long as you're living in that dimension of uncotrolled thought, you will rationalize every action your ego tells you to take.
Remember, your ego is "always right". This means you will rationalize your every impulse, no matter how evil, as "the right thing".

That is a symptom of being asleep.

All those contradictions, could be seen as something more than bothering contradictions, It would be best if one See's it as a complement, a wonderful substitution for that word. And I quote:

Life is dialectical. It is more Hegelian than Aristotelean because it consists of the opposites. Without the opposites existence is impossible – day and night, life and death, summer and winter.
Life is so vast it can contain contradictions, and yet life in itself is not contradictory. There is harmony in the contradictions; the contradictions are complementary - Osho

I believe it's called cognitive disonance: the term used in modern psychology to describe the state of holding two or more conflicting cognitions (e.g., ideas, beliefs, values, emotional reactions) simultaneously.

I believe it has to do with perception and our ability to choose to not perceive something that we are not ready for or are not willing to see. And then we end up deluding ourselves, and it's hard to get out of that delusion because A) It's hard to admit that we are deluded because it's like admitting we are crazy and B) We are surrounded by likewise deluded people which perpetuates our delusions.