Everything is relative and habituation.
Habituation is a very powerful psychological primer.
Is it true? That the smarter you are the worse the world looks?
- Thread starter ElectricSavant
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Everything is relative and habituation.
Habituation is a very powerful psychological primer.
Such a phrase will inevitably take one into religion and philosophy. I would say that faith is something that should be reserved for something bigger than ourselves or our fellow man. That point could be argued from one's personal religion. But I will argue it inititally from literature. The major theme of the Greek tragedy Antigone is whether there is a higher law than the laws of man. Antigone was from a cursed family and one might say she lived in a cursed world and yet she had faith in something greater than herself. The play was obviously written to present the struggle between two opposing world views. Some three thousand years later people are still struggling with those views. From a religious frame, the Christian Bible give those believers a mechanism to deal with these opposing views. The "World" is used to describe the population of mankind of whom we really can have no faith in because they are spiritually dead as long as they choose not to be "born again." It does not tell us to put faith in our brothers or our enemies but to simply love them. That is difficult for many to swallow, but recent news event in Pennsylvania tell us that there are still those who will love the enemy even though that enemy came and killed their youngest and most innocent.<p>The Christian dilemma is that he has no choice but to live in the world, but he cannot be "of the world." Christians must separate themselves from the world which is another way of saying that they must not be world pleasers or people pleasers. Whether, one is religious or not this is the place where many problems lie. Who are we trying to please? Whose expectations are we trying to live up to? If we allow the world to provide the expectations that we seek to live up to, then I can tell you those expectations will not be met, because the world is never satisfied, enough is never enough.<p>From a trader's point of view, I do not have faith in the market but I do trust the market. I trust the market to be the market, which is to say that it will always provide one with opportunities to make money as long as I do not think I am smart enough to be absolutely certain what the market will do tommorrow, next week or next month. The market is the market and it will do what it is going to do, and I must adjust to the market, it will not adjust to my wants.<p> I have actively traded for over 15 years and for a living nearly 10 years. Over that time, I have learned some lessons the costly way but I can say that I have never been royally screwed by anyone. Therefore, my trust in the market has foundation<p>I have been royally screwed in other places. It has usually been by those who had "good reputations." I am a person of some faith but I am very cynical. I having nothing but disregard for lying thieving politicians of both political parties. But as much disregard as I have for those politicians , I have more disregard for the worst kind of politican and that is the church politician. I have tried to come to terms with organized religion but I often found less Christian behavior inside the church than I did outside of it. Christian faith may be easier to come by somewhere else than a church. I could back that up scripturally but I fear that I have already made my remarks more sermonlike than I intended. Philosophically speaking, I heard someone say that profound truth is paradoxical. And so it is, the questions you have posed invite the paradox. I will state that paradox personally, because I have faith in some power greater than myself, and I am able to come to terms with the high disregard that I have for much of my fellow man.<p>Is this a good time to be alive? I think back to my grandfather who was orphaned at childbirth in 1889 and was forced to quit school at the fifth grade to earn his keep. This man had an intellectual curiousity and hunger for learning that is unequalled in anyone whom I have ever met. An intellectual curiousity to which he passed on to me to a much lesser degree than his. From knowing and learning from him, I absolutely proclaim that is indeed a glorious time to be alive, and daily I am able to live a life which would have given him unimaginable joy.
Hello TickerWatcher:
You wrote this: But as much disregard as I have for those politicians , I have more disregard for the worst kind of politican and that is the church politician. I have tried to come to terms with organized religion but I often found less Christian behavior inside the church than I did outside of it. Christian faith may be easier to come by somewhere else than a church. I could back that up scripturally but I fear that I have already made my remarks more sermonlike than I intended......
Well, I'll suggest that you treat the Church and the people within it about like you treat the Market and the stocks within it.
You can make a living from the Market and its stocks? Then you could just as easy live within the Church and the people within it.
I've found (over the last 6 decades plus) the people within the church to be just as evil as those that don't go to church. I am not in church to put "faith" in any of those people.
You wrote an interesting post... Thanks. agpilot
You wrote this: But as much disregard as I have for those politicians , I have more disregard for the worst kind of politican and that is the church politician. I have tried to come to terms with organized religion but I often found less Christian behavior inside the church than I did outside of it. Christian faith may be easier to come by somewhere else than a church. I could back that up scripturally but I fear that I have already made my remarks more sermonlike than I intended......
Well, I'll suggest that you treat the Church and the people within it about like you treat the Market and the stocks within it.
You can make a living from the Market and its stocks? Then you could just as easy live within the Church and the people within it.
I've found (over the last 6 decades plus) the people within the church to be just as evil as those that don't go to church. I am not in church to put "faith" in any of those people.
You wrote an interesting post... Thanks. agpilot
It would be tedious to go into my experiences with the church. But I will only tell you that the last two churches that I attended, I was very satistfied with. Each church was of a different denomination but both were closed by denominational bureaucrats from above and in each case the church was financially paying its own way and was by no way having to be subsidized by the denomination as other churches of the same denomination in the immediate were having to be subsidized. Both were examples of church politics at their worst.
Organized religion is among the worst devices of any of our lifetimes.
50 years ago this country was more organized around the Judeo-Christian ethic. This line of thinking demanded more responsible behavior to one's self and to others. Since this has fallen out of favor, nearly every indicator of human misery has increased per capita from 50 years ago. Murder, abortion, divorce, rape, suicide, etc.
And people are more sure than ever that we got a good deal by leaving behind virtues that now belong only to the unhip.
That may be true, but the real question is whether there's any correlation to organized religion.
poverty and rich-poor divide are much more to blame than organized religion. Look at brazil, very catholic, very religious. Very high murder, rape, crime etc. rate