I think I found the *other* solution in...theology class?

[BabyYoda]

Yes, that's exactly it. I found *another* solution to my predicament in the least likely place possible. I gotta thank my professor for this. And the solution?

Change of perspective. Why the hell didn't I think about this before? I'm dumb as hecc

My theology professor talked about arguments for and against God. He said that while many people argue on the existence of a supreme being, many of the arguments (actually all that we discussed, for and against) each have their own flaws. As an agnostic I prefer not to take any side when discussing the existence of God because of the thousands of meanings for the word "God" available. According to my professor there's no point in arguing whether God exists or not because you are reducing a pure, infinite, supreme being into your limited mind. I thought maybe this is the same for "love"? I mean, there are equally as many meanings for love as for God, and I guess it's pointless arguing about the definition of love?

Then he proceeded to tackle two fallacies: Appeal to ignorance and Hasty Generalization. So the example he used for the ignorance fallacy was this:

I have five friends, and all of them smoke. They are still alive therefore what the doctors say about smoking being harmful is not true. I haven't seen anyone die from smoking.

I thought it was funny because of how silly it sounded, but then I realized that my thinking patterns followed this fallacy. Another argument that was debunked was the "I haven't experienced God, therefore he does not exist". Just because you never experienced something does not mean it is not out there. We believe that there is outer space and planets, despite only seeing it in pictures. We are placing our faith in NASA. Another thing he said was "What is thought in the mind may not necessarily be true in reality". Ah yes, that is more comforting that anything else. The person I love typically refutes my "irrational" shit with "well that depends on how you view it". For example, a volcanic eruption may cause deaths among humanity, but in an environmental perspective the soil gets fertilized, so it's not entirely a bad thing.

Now I have three solutions available:

1.) Have someone else love me the way I wanted them to
2.) Commit suicide
3.) Be fucking rational when thinking things

The third option is the least painful and has the least horrible consequences. So I will go with this one. I really hope it works this time.

Now I have the energy to read those readings we were assigned to read. And I can play games again. For now.

Sorry if I was bad at explaining all of this, but I hope you get the point.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

I thought you explained that very well. Option 3 is indeed the best if you can do it. Whether reality is subjective or not, we behave as if it is, whilst often believing our views to be objective. I'm glad you have found another solution

 

[randomz]

I am glad you found something that makes you want to live. My therapist actually supports this view. She says that the "right" and "healthy" way of thinking is not the optimistic nor the pessismistic way - it is the realistic way. When you think rationally about almost all problems someone might be experiencing then you will get to the point in which you realise, none of them are actually that bad and fatal.

I find this philosophy good and definetely worth a try, although, unfortunately I still can't seem to accept it.

 

[avoid_slow_death]

Good for you!

 

[Epsilon0]

Practising the habit to view problems from different perspectives is definitely useful. So nice to see you feel inspired by your theology professor!

I think trying to find rational arguments to prove the existence of god, or a god, or many gods, is useless. The cornerstone of faith is the willingness to take a leap into the absurd. I don't mean that as a critique, I just mean faith is an exercise of accepting something which you do not understand or can explain logically.

Also, anyone can actually view most of the planets in our solar system through a decent pair of binoculars or a telescope. So, we don't have to rely on Nasa for that.