I have spoke to a good number of inmates sentenced for over 40 years and lifers I asked them do they prefer life in prison or death, most prefer life
Why do human beings pray?
- Thread starter JBrentonK
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I have spoke to a good number of inmates sentenced for over 40 years and lifers I asked them do they prefer life in prison or death, most prefer life
[QUOTE="Billy T, post: 3332281, member:
Before my early teens, I prayed for reason (1), then I transformed into an agnostic, and it seemed of little use as even if some god(s) existed they obviously were not concerned with earthly events and certainly had no foresight. If they did, they could have let / caused Hitler to die of heart attack in his teens.
I was already at the stern with hand on the wooden tiller so did not expect a lightning bolt to pass thru me, but thru the aluminum mast which was electrically connected to the metal keel; however as I was only a couple of meters from the mast, I feared the dB/dt could kill me. You can believe I was soon praying as sincerely as I ever did. Fortunately, the hissing stopped in a few minutes. The power of pray? I doubt it.
* Interestingly, intense fear makes for strong memories. I can still mentally see that St. Elmo's fire![/QUOTE]
1 ) we have a free will , so don't blame any body for human event . 2) Perhaps the Japanese common man could blame Trumann for Nagasaki and Hiroshima
Before my early teens, I prayed for reason (1), then I transformed into an agnostic, and it seemed of little use as even if some god(s) existed they obviously were not concerned with earthly events and certainly had no foresight. If they did, they could have let / caused Hitler to die of heart attack in his teens.
I was already at the stern with hand on the wooden tiller so did not expect a lightning bolt to pass thru me, but thru the aluminum mast which was electrically connected to the metal keel; however as I was only a couple of meters from the mast, I feared the dB/dt could kill me. You can believe I was soon praying as sincerely as I ever did. Fortunately, the hissing stopped in a few minutes. The power of pray? I doubt it.
* Interestingly, intense fear makes for strong memories. I can still mentally see that St. Elmo's fire![/QUOTE]
1 ) we have a free will , so don't blame any body for human event . 2) Perhaps the Japanese common man could blame Trumann for Nagasaki and Hiroshima
No I do not.
I don't cross my fingers and I don't think I am very superstitious but it is difficult to assess oneself on these types of matters.
Yazata
Valued Senior Member
It would be interesting to hear theists answer it as well.
In general, they want to connect themselves to a higher power. Sometimes they pray so as to put things in perspective, to deemphasize mundane concerns and to remind themselves of things they think are more important.
In petitionary prayer, they are asking for help and protection from a higher power, much as children seek protection from their parents.
What's this energy made of and what's the mechanism for transfer?
Also, is it possible just to have "positive" energy?
If we assume that we live in a zero-energy universe then surely any creation of "positive" energy is also creating "negative" energy? Conservation 'n' all that!
So in praying, and creating positive energy for your own desires, you are surely inflicting negative energy upon everyone else.
Not very nice, now, is it.
If we assume that we live in a zero-energy universe then surely any creation of "positive" energy is also creating "negative" energy? Conservation 'n' all that!
So in praying, and creating positive energy for your own desires, you are surely inflicting negative energy upon everyone else.
Not very nice, now, is it.
Ask the survivor
Apparently for this man that survived the concentration camp. God exist
And some Jews became atheists for the same reason.
This is what's known as confirmation bias.
Maybe I could claim that BECAUSE I don't believe in "god" is the reason I wasn't killed in any of the accidents I was involved in with cars and motorbikes.
Or perhaps it was the Easter Bunny that saved me?
Why didn't "god" save anyone else? Did no one else pray?
Entirely unsupported claim.
I note that you didn't actually address the point I was making (i.e. what you quoted).
Nor did you provide any evidence for your claim of "positive energy".
Yazata
Valued Senior Member
I agree, so long as we interpret 'positive energy' in a psychological as opposed to a physical sense.
Prayer is a practice that can center a person, reminding the person of the things that are most important, values and virtues that the person wants to serve as the guiding principles of his or her life.
In that sense, prayer can be a valuable and important mindfulness exercise.
Yazata
Valued Senior Member
I'm inclined to think that it's possible. I've met a handful of very saintly people during my life who seemed to me to come very close. They were people that brightened any room they were in and brought light into darkness. It's a rare thing.
I don't know if it had anything to do with prayer. It seemed to emerge from somewhere deeper in their being than that. Prayer seems to be a practice that people use when seeking that place.
So by trying to be virtuous and good, by trying to live according to one's values and principles, one is causing suffering and evil elsewhere, because positive and negative always have to equal out? That's novel.
It also seems to me to be profoundly wrong, the result of a bad analogy. Spirituality isn't a zero-sum undertaking and there isn't any conservation of suffering principle that I'm aware of.
I think it's mostly physical, as in serotonin. But chasing happiness or positivity is bunk. It's using the mind to overcome the mind, it's like trying to plane a piece of wood with another piece of wood.
Well, you do use steel tools to machine steel.
Yeah, it's a carrot-and-stick kinda thing. You can't quite reach the carrot and you beat yourself up for your failure.
My previous comments were more to encourage the poster to define what they mean by "energy" than to be taken seriously.
That said... some might see charisma as a "positive energy" - and one that is coupled to outwardly "good" deeds even more so.
But this speaks, I think, to energy in a psychological sense, as you allude to Spidergoat, whereas my comments were strictly referring to energy in a physical sense.
Is it? I'm sure it's been the grand conceit in at least one novel I've read - although don't ask me to name it as I have no idea now.
Welcome to the age of facetiousness.
Yes, an analogy raised to be facetious is often insufficiently robust - especially when you remove it from the realm of "physical energy" to "psychological".
I think what I'm trying to say is... don't think too hard about what was intended as a facetious post.