Post by hchang on Feb 14, 2015 8:14:03 GMT
1. Why is Faqir Chand's experiences important in understanding the projective nature of religious visions and miracles?
Faqir Chand’s experiences are important in understanding the projective nature of religious visions and miracles because they are likely evidence suggesting the brain’s ability as a virtual simulator. Faqir Chand’s experiences illustrate that religious visions and miracles are illusions projected by consciousness. In the book The Unknowing Sage, it writes, quoting Faqir Chand, “No Rama, no Krishna, no Buddha, and no Baba Faqir comes from without any body. The visions are only because of the impressions and suggestions that a disciple has already accepted in his mind.” This is likely based on Faqir Chand’s experience of his disciples claiming to have seen Faqir Chand present in different occasions while himself wasn’t aware of making any of the appearances. This indicates that what the disciples experience are actually what their minds want them to see; the decision has already been made, and those advice and suggestions only appear in the form of their guru or religious figure to convince the disciples. Everything the disciples experience are all projections of their minds, and the visions they see as well as the advice they get from those vision all come from within themselves. I think this also implies that all religions are the same, since all the miracles and visions are all products of the mind and varies according to belief systems. Faqir Chand’s experiences shows how the brain create illusions on him and his disciples, so by examining his experience, one can better understand the projective nature of religious visions and miracles.
2. What is meant by the phrase, "philosophy done well is science; philosophy done poorly remains philosophy."
I think by saying that, “philosophy done well is science” is suggesting that philosophical ideas can develop into physiological explanations, and once those explanations are found, it would be considered as science. As the book Cerebral Mirage quotes The Feynman Imperative, science “is predicated not upon what we desire or wish but rather competing our guesses, hunches, and theories by allowing them to be tested in real world situations and against other hypotheses and other viewpoints.” This shows that science is based on evidence that can be supported by testing theories out in the real world; science is build up by evidence, it doesn’t matter if our intuition tells us otherwise. Philosophy is conclusions based on logic and rational arguments; it is also based on the facts that we already know. I think by doing philosophy “well,” is suggesting that when the logic meets with the evidence, philosophical conclusions would become science; in other words, it would be considered as new facts. On the other hand, by saying that, “philosophy done poorly remains philosophy” means that those conclusions cannot be verified with evidence, so it remains merely as thoughts or theories. For instance, in the film The Elegant Universe, one of the interviewees mentions that if the String Theory can’t be tested, it is philosophy rather than physics. Science is backed by actual proof, and when an idea cannot be supported by evidence even if it is logical, it cannot be considered as science.
Faqir Chand’s experiences are important in understanding the projective nature of religious visions and miracles because they are likely evidence suggesting the brain’s ability as a virtual simulator. Faqir Chand’s experiences illustrate that religious visions and miracles are illusions projected by consciousness. In the book The Unknowing Sage, it writes, quoting Faqir Chand, “No Rama, no Krishna, no Buddha, and no Baba Faqir comes from without any body. The visions are only because of the impressions and suggestions that a disciple has already accepted in his mind.” This is likely based on Faqir Chand’s experience of his disciples claiming to have seen Faqir Chand present in different occasions while himself wasn’t aware of making any of the appearances. This indicates that what the disciples experience are actually what their minds want them to see; the decision has already been made, and those advice and suggestions only appear in the form of their guru or religious figure to convince the disciples. Everything the disciples experience are all projections of their minds, and the visions they see as well as the advice they get from those vision all come from within themselves. I think this also implies that all religions are the same, since all the miracles and visions are all products of the mind and varies according to belief systems. Faqir Chand’s experiences shows how the brain create illusions on him and his disciples, so by examining his experience, one can better understand the projective nature of religious visions and miracles.
2. What is meant by the phrase, "philosophy done well is science; philosophy done poorly remains philosophy."
I think by saying that, “philosophy done well is science” is suggesting that philosophical ideas can develop into physiological explanations, and once those explanations are found, it would be considered as science. As the book Cerebral Mirage quotes The Feynman Imperative, science “is predicated not upon what we desire or wish but rather competing our guesses, hunches, and theories by allowing them to be tested in real world situations and against other hypotheses and other viewpoints.” This shows that science is based on evidence that can be supported by testing theories out in the real world; science is build up by evidence, it doesn’t matter if our intuition tells us otherwise. Philosophy is conclusions based on logic and rational arguments; it is also based on the facts that we already know. I think by doing philosophy “well,” is suggesting that when the logic meets with the evidence, philosophical conclusions would become science; in other words, it would be considered as new facts. On the other hand, by saying that, “philosophy done poorly remains philosophy” means that those conclusions cannot be verified with evidence, so it remains merely as thoughts or theories. For instance, in the film The Elegant Universe, one of the interviewees mentions that if the String Theory can’t be tested, it is philosophy rather than physics. Science is backed by actual proof, and when an idea cannot be supported by evidence even if it is logical, it cannot be considered as science.