Henry, I think most people who converse with you would agree with me.henry quirk wrote:'You are a good man, Henry'
Eye of the beholder, I think.
This is the part that I think we developed through divine influence. (What you're saying here is what natural theology also speaks of.) Otherwise, it doesn't make sense, well, at least in my head, why anything else other then bio-survival would become more important ...henry quirk wrote: Humans do what (it seems) other animals can't, that is: self-reference.
Human consciousness folds back on itself. We aren't just aware of the world, but are aware of ourselves in the world.
To some extent, this self-referencing allows each of us to hi-jack our biology and turn instinct or impulse into sumthin' more: choice, for reasons sussed out by the individual.
And by believing that our ability to value others' well-being just as much as our own, or sometimes even more than our own (like those heroes) comes from Above, makes me want to hold dear the way we're designed, and be devoted to live by it. If I thought it could be some kind of biological misfiring (I think Dawkins said something to this effect), then the world loses its color, well, at least to me.
So, it's a choice I made for myself that there's something up there . . . but of course I respect others' choice to disbelieve too. I just like to discuss freely to get others' views is all, since I came to this conclusion by exchanging honest opinions with people with various views.
Anyway, it doesn't look like I fit in this forum. What I say seems to irritate some members here. I've already found another forum where atheists didn't object to my OP, and I'm starting to have interesting exchanges with a naturalist. So, I think I'll fully move to that forum.
But even though it was brief, I'm very glad I had an opportunity to converse with you. You have a big heart. Your nephew is so very lucky to have you.
Best of luck to you and yours.
Yuujin
