Well I find myself asking questions to God like: "What form do you come in?" , "Do you exist?" , "What is this world we live in?" , and I really don't know what I expect ... I mean, do I think I'm going to get some clear-cut verbal answer in the English language? Will I have some experience that will make me believe in God -- and thus have confidence and trust? What makes me believe in God is the spectacular achievements that we humans have made. And I've also had a mystical experience or two (which I realize can be explained away with science i.e. "It's just a physiological episode that's produced by the chemicals in the brain" -- but that's BORING !) . Anyways, I just want to be confidence and trusting, because sometimes my worry can get in the way of my life...

That's just terminology/nomenclature

I'll get started right away.

No, given the answerer is an all-knowing being, it should have no problem. All complex problems can be summarized and broken down into its foundational parts. You learn the basics first then go on from there.

See my reply to Judaka, which can I suppose be applied to your discourse as well.

Your answerer isn't a human. It's an all-knowing being aware of all the constituents.

Give me any major philosophical work, and I guarantee it can be split up into yes/no questions. Einstein said “It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience.”

Steve Bannon comes to mind whenever I see your profile

Do you think we need to do something in the meantime, or just 'wait patiently'? Does studying help? — unenlightened

That is literally the question I asked myself upon entering this website.

If such things exist as heaven and hell or reincarnation, then death is not the great equalizer.

There needs to be some way to impel and encourage commenters to focus on the discussion topic at hand.

Is it this type of god, the "omni-benevolent" kind, that is fair and equal in its treatment of its creations? And why then would life be the focus? Just because it's living and breathing makes it more important that stars, rocks, water, chemicals, forces, (etc. etc.)?

And parents pick favorites. Parents can prefer the child that is friendly and happy over the other child that is murderous, conniving, and mean. Inequity, inequality, and injustice could arise from the partiality of the creator.

I started reading about him because of his hymns and advocacy for music. J.S. Bach and other composers of the north German organ school, whose compositions I've studied, used Luther's and Lutheran hymns in their works.

I've read his catechisms, and I find his ideas are still very appropriate and applicable in today's world. He argued that the head of the household should discipline the family in Scripture. The three parts of Christendom which Luther said should be memorized and constantly repeated are the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. St. Augustine had a large influence on Luther and is referenced throughout his major works.

In the Smalcald Articles (1537) Luther said of the papacy: "The pope is not, according to divine law or God's Word, the head of all Christendom. This name belongs to One only, whose name is Jesus Christ." And so as seen here Luther was in stark opposition to the pope and the government of the Roman Catholic Church. He also held contention with the mass in the papacy, the invocation of saints, and monastic vows.

You sound a bit judgy. Name-calling like this has been going on forever. It just encourages tribalism

From 9. The Argument of Miracles

" Many years ago, at an otherwise dull convention, a distinguished philosopher explained why he had become a Christian. He said: "I picked up the New Testament with a view to judging it, to weighing its pros and cons. But as I began to read, I realized that I was the one being judged." "

I think philosophy has way too much labels.

Well, what would you do? You know this world better than anyone else.

Your comment is quite a bon mot in connection to the reasons I brainstormed.

Your whole post sounds like a conspiracy theory. It sounds like you're nitpicking anything you can find in the Bible to support your argument that Christianity is satanic. The evidence and warrants presented just don't connect well and don't make much sense.

I'm sure you've read the Gospel of Matthew. How can you say Jesus's teachings of the the Beatitudes from Chapter 5 are at all satanic? Or, from the Old Testament, the maxims in the book of Psalms and book of Proverbs? It's very difficult after reading the Bible to somehow conclude that it is satanic in nature. Read the book of Job.

It seems that without scientific findings humans naturally despise the primal and claim that mankind is different from animals. I can understand that argument, because no other animal has made such an impact on Earth as humans in terms of intellectuality, and no animal can produce thought to our level.

You know that's interesting, you can carve your own path and describe any one experience in seemingly infinite ways. You could describe someone as selfish with certain strains of evidence, and yet there could be other evidence to show that that person (or humankind) is selfless. So, I think it really doens't have one answer, like, well, everything?

The fact is, I know that many women are into reading and studying philosophy, so I just wonder why they are so shy about proposing new philosophical ideas of their own. — DiegoT

I wouldn't say it's a matter of shyness. Perhaps women are just better at not needing the approval of others or needing something in their environment to justify their beliefs.

Compare your feeling and actions when you're in a room by yourself versus when there are others (or say strangers) in the room.

I think of philosophy as the general "pursuit of knowledge". And so there really is no such thing as abstractedness. Everything we say here applies to our life.

OK, that's the literal way of taking the question. I care (literally) what you think and I care about seeking wisdom. By titling this "Not caring what others think", I meant more a reference to the social maxim /proverbial saying. So, that is; the effect of others --
see above

The mere presence of another changes the experience. — jgill

Which is not easy, and not done via philosophy. — Noble Dust

I want to hear more... ;)

It can't be cut out entirely, but you can slap a gastric band on it. In other words you can control the amount you feel "effected by the presence of others" (as noted above). Or perhaps if it's not you controlling it, something else behind the scenes.

these things are crucially important — Judaka

Why?

There's no way to be a computer and have no ego or sense of self. Because you wake up every morning and have to eat something. So, it can't be wiped out completely, but they can be changed. It doesn't have to be this miserable burden when around others.

This is deeper than simply not caring what others think. As a former outdoors athlete I experienced this many times. And it wasn't related to safety or competition issues. The mere presence of another changes the experience. — jgill

But not caring what others think, or to allude what you were saying: to not be effected by the presence of others

Some people are great at it- and I'm not talking about the loud clamorous noisy individuals (who care the most about being correct)

And just stick to the logic of your argument and understand that once people feel they can lose face if they lose their argument, they become very hostile in an discussion. Once you understand that, it's far more easy. It really isn't personal. — ssu

This is a wonderful example because it can applied to what we're talking about right now. I'm arguing something and for some odd reason I'm mixing in my ego into what I'm saying. My words have come from my brain, I want to appear "smart", etc. Competitive drive, especially in men- like road rage for example.

But that's the thing. I think there are ways to "let go of your sense of self, or ego, or pride". Doing something you would normally never do, like wear ridiculous clothes, changing your appearance drastically, screaming in a library, etc. - I'm not saying those are the "solutions" but they sure do put your ego in perspective, say if you're cultivating a "normal" and "fitting in" image.

I think this in of itself is not a problem, this is not something anyone should be trying to fix. The issue is the word "care" not being sufficient. — Judaka

Care is quite a vague term. I really mean in all types of situations where you become self-conscious. In other words, where you solely focus on yourself.

In chess, computers (and now AI with AlphaZero) have for decades dominated the game. Today's chess grandmasters don't even come close to the calculating strength of AI.

That piece was created by Domenico Scarlatti, a baroque-classical composer, super nice..

At the moment, nothing except environmental noises (a fan). Haha

I've been listening to a lot of J.S. Bach recently and works by other German organists. The music really speaks to me

https://youtu.be/GCAFYpsoJbo

& @creativesoul You know, that's a question I've been wanting to find the answer to as well! We hear often, "Perfection isn't possible" but when I think of such subjects as math, 1+1 always = 2, no? I've caught myself trying to perfect something in my life, and I've noticed that I always end up disgruntled and upset. At the moment, I'm of the belief that functioning as a human being is possible only when not trying to go for perfection.

Thought experiments are usually incredibly vague. When applied to a field in which vague-ness is out of the question (law, for example), thought experiments can prove to be quite controversial.

Philosophy makes progress because everything makes progress. Anything created by a being that knows nothing but progress has to be a thing which progresses, no? Naturally mankind is bound to progress with the passing of time.

Regression, an antonym of progression, isn't a term that can be easily applied to life.