Saturday, November 11, 2006

Doubt: Does it exist? Do you doubt your Theories?


Google did these pictures


Doubt: Does it exist? Do you Doubt Your Theories?


I was reading a combination of blog entries when I realised "Whamo!" Do these people allow for the existence of doubt?


 Do they think that the universe is absolutely a certain way or another way due to the fact that they are composed of intelligent elastic molecules that shrink and grow... and because the plants appear to be products of molten rocks??? Really?


It is true that we have learned a tiny bit about this huge cosmos due to science... hey... is that it then?


Many scientists don't think we know enough about the cosmos ...


How about you? Do you allow for doubt in your thinking about the origin of the universe and where it is going?Please leave comments


TY


 

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know there's a creator.......I call God. Other than that, I don't know "exactly" how he created everything. I'm just happy He did. I just wish we would treat his creations with the respect they all deserve, including ourselves and one another.

Angela

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

  There you go, Natalie. Angela has said exactly what I didn't want to. She *KNOWS* there is a God. There is no room for doubt in her world. My response? "I doubt it."
-Paul
http://journals.aol.ca/plittle/AuroraWalkingVacation/

Anonymous said...

Having read about astronomy during my life I find the universe a totally awesome place. The creation of the universe is still ongoing and will be for many years, stars birthing and dying, who knows where it all started but let's be glad it did! I think it's too big a thing for us to take in and fully understand, our minds can't cope with the extraordinarily massive figures of size and distance, our perception faulters. I never doubt something created it for a purpose, as Angela said, so lets look after our tiny piece of it! Jeannette xx  

Anonymous said...

Natalie - yes, doubt always exists because we are human and can never be totally certain about what is true and what isn't.  This is where faith comes in - trusting in the unknown because it's what you believe in.  There is too much evidence to believe anything other than the fact that God created the earth and everything in it. I'm sorry, but I cannot believe that we evolved from a monkey.  If this was so, then why haven't we evolved further into something else?  Hey, moms need at least 4 arms, eyes at the back of her head and two pairs of legs for everything she does!  If we evolved from monkeys to adapt to our circumstances, then we should have adapted further. If we think about the incredibly intricate way in which our body works, there is no way that it can just have "happened" - it must have been created with much thought and purpose. So yes, even though I have times when I doubt certain things about the universe, I have to switch over from my human thought to faith, and everything becomes very clear again.  Love Caroline
Http://journals.aol.com/caromarls/ANewAdventure

Anonymous said...

Hi Nat. I profess a faith in God, and in Jesus, and in the Holy Spirit, but do I allow for doubt? Do I doubt? Yes, I am afraid I'd be lying if I said I didn't. I doubt. The doubts are what push me to seek further. I started as a Catholic, I doubted, and left the church. I turned to science, then I doubted, and sought faith again. I combined elements from various faiths. I doubted again, and returned to Christianity. Do I know anything is for certain? No, I don't. But, God can handle that. He can still work with His doubting servants. Adam and Eve, look what happened to them when they doubted. Banned from a life of ease. Abraham didn't doubt, and his progeny were given the Promised Land. Moses doubted Him, Jonah doubted, too. Job didn't doubt his faith, but he still suffered a long time before his life was righted again. His friends tried to put the fear of God in him, but he never doubted. God listened to Job's questions. They dialogued. This tells me that there is room to doubt. The apostles wavered all the time, right up to the Resurrection, and some even after. Paul didn't doubt once he met Jesus on the Damascus Road. For him, there was no room to doubt, no time. His mission was pretty clear to him.

I think a healthy doubt, one that causes us to seek further, deeper, is good for the mind and the soul. Should I doubt? Probably not, but I do, and if that is a sign of my weakness in faith, I can only say that is where I am. I trust in the Lord to know that. I think it makes me stronger to allow questions of doubt. In the end, even with our doubts, we still have a choice. With all my doubts about believing in what I cannot see and do not understand about God's place in the great creation, combined with what I do know and understand about scientific facts, I still choose to believe God's plan. I doubt I will ever know for sure while I live in this world. It's called faith.  Bea
http://journals.aol.com/bgilmore725/Wanderer

Anonymous said...

Let me just say...I don't doubt God! This one thing I know! He is my Creator, I love Him & worship Him, there is no doubt in my relationship with Him. I believe in the Bible & do not doubt it. However I realize that many people read it & understand it differently. Being a Minister, I have seen over the yrs, other Ministers (within the same Church) often argue about a specific scripture in the Bible & what it means. Seems each have their own belief & understanding of what it means & how to interpret it.
Things of this world, of course I doubt, frequently! Wouldn't be human if I didn't.
God Bless,
Sugar

Anonymous said...

Dear Natalie,
The only thing that I am certain about is my own ignorance. The more I learn the more I realise how little there is that I can actually hold my hand on my heart and swear that I know it to be true. That is what makes people label me as skeptical. I do doubt scientific theories about the origins of the Universe. After all the evidence is very much still being gathered, that is assuming that the Universe had an origin and that it is a clearly defined entity, which is very much open to debate still too. So, yes, of course I doubt and I question and I try to keep an open mind to the possibilities. I do not have an innate belief in God either. Some people do have that, and express it as a knowledge that they have that God exists, even though they cannot describe their proof to you when asked. For them it is enough to believe and that is fine and good. But it does not suit me to simply believe in God without doubt. I do doubt it.  
An interesting post and thanks for asking the questions.
Kate.
http://journals.aol.co.uk/bobandkate/AnAnalysisofLife/

Anonymous said...

I think that doubt is the biggest part of what we learn. The cosmos is to large for us to believe in absolutes. I'm actually surprised that we have enough information to form any real oponion about what is in any galaxy in our area or beyond. Regards, Bill.

Anonymous said...

Hey Nat- cool subject!  Once in a long while I'll have a small bit of doubt clouding my mind- but then God will always do something amazing, and make me smarten up.  I really have no real doubts about who we are, where we come from, why we're here.  God's got it all worked out already- and things happen in His time, His way.  Even what scientific things come along- even if the Scientists doubt- I always see it pointing to Him who made science!!  Love Carolyn

Anonymous said...

Doubt allows for change and change is a healthy, well most of the time.
http://blog.myspace.com/poptartcoco

Anonymous said...

I have no doubt there is a God. I've had enough Stephen Speilberg miracles that the only conclusions someone could draw is she nuts, shes hallucinating, her chemicals in her body are whacked, shes in a mental coma because culture sabotage her ability to beleive that their isnt a God, of finally, that God is real. Its really something you can't prove unless your there and experiencing it. Because, I know 100% there is a God, the after life is also real. In terms of the Universe, I study so many varients of thought. I have spent my whole life surrounded by people who disagree with me. I seem to have been born with the ability to love diversity. I dont stay in a shell of protection with one-tract thinkers. People are naturally interesting to me. In terms of there being a God, or finding him, you have to think its a cool idea first. You have to hope that one exists. Hope is first, searching and seeking is second and in time, things happen in your life. Hope becomes beleif and in time it becomes knowing without a doubt. Maybe one day, I will share the miracles where I'm open to be interpreted as a loony,lol. But, that doesnt bother me. I enjoy being alone. -Raven

Anonymous said...

I have doubt in ALL of my theories.  

There are certainly many things I believe to be true.  There are some things I even strongly believe to be true.  There is little if anything I would ever say I *know.*  To me, to "know" something implies that it must be or definately is true.
I try to think rationally and believe whatever makes the most sense; whatever is *most likely* true.  If some new evidence or a more logical argument comes along, I hope I'm willing to change my beliefs accordingly.  When I was a kid, I believed the moon cast its own light.  When someone provided me with more information and an explanation that made more sense, I changed my belief and now think it's actually reflected light from the sun.  For similar reasons, I believe in evolution. It's possible my belief is misplaced and I'm mistaken, though given the overwhelming amount of evidence in favour of it I'd be very surprised if something was turned up disproving the entire theory.
--
Carolyn, there's several flaws with your understanding of evolution, but just to comment on the biggest: why do you think humans *aren't* still evolving? Nothing in the theory of evolution suggests that just because four arms would be handy (pun intended) means that they should appear after a few generations, or even a few thousand...though I agree it'd be nice :) The point is, evolution doesn't suddenly "just happen" as you say.  You might want to check out the time spans involved with evolution. If you do want an example of something more recent and on a more realistic scale, consider how societies that don't use footwear (and haven't for thousands of years) tend to have slightly longer toes than societies where footwear is common.  Which makes sense...as does how climate can affect skin colour.  And I don't mean getting a tan, but can you see how over many thousands of years people that live in a desert will likely have a different skin co

Anonymous said...

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