A quotation from Smith, Sydney
It is always right that a man should be able to render a reason for the faith that is within him.
Sydney Smith (1771-1845) English clergyman, essayist, wit
Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, by His Daughter, Lady Holland, Vol. 1, ch. 3 (1855)
#quote #quotes #quotation #articulate #belief #faith #reason #religion #self-awareness #understanding
Sourcing / notes: https://wist.info/smith-sydney/73332/
A screenshot to save you visiting the #MuskVirus #Media Ministry ...
Thin-sliced: Barack Obama posted on X/twitter and got 42K hearts/likes in 3 hours - and then the ability to like was blocked.
So much for free speech 'absolutism'... Now it's more like absolute power over the media which shapes #belief about #truth #X
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Surely that faith cannot save, can it? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from works, and I by my works will show you faith.
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
James 2:14-18 [NRSV (2021 ed.)]
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Sourcing / notes: https://wist.info/bible-nt/4934/
A quotation from Russell, Bertrand
Self-respect will keep a man from being abject when he is in the power of enemies, and will enable him to feel that he may be in the right when the world is against him. If a man has not this quality, he will feel that majority opinion, or governmental opinion, is to be treated as infallible, and such a way of feeling, if it is general, makes both moral and intellectual progress impossible.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Authority and the Individual, Lecture 4 (1949)
#quote #quotes #quotation #confidence #selfconfidence #righteousness #belief #progress #minority
Sourcing / notes: https://wist.info/russell-bertrand/72034/
A quotation from Russell, Bertrand
The essence of the Liberal outlook lies not in what opinions are held, but in how they are held: instead of being held dogmatically, they are held tentatively, and with a consciousness that new evidence may at any moment lead to their abandonment. This is the way in which opinions are held in science, as opposed to the way in which they are held in theology. The decisions of the Council of Nicaea are still authoritative, but in science fourth century opinions no longer carry any weight.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“Philosophy and Politics,” lecture, National Book League, London (1946-10-23)
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Sourcing / notes: https://wist.info/russell-bertrand/21713/
A quotation from Bierce, Ambrose
FAITH, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge of things without parallel.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Faith,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
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Sourcing / notes: https://wist.info/bierce-ambrose/70062/
A quotation from Russell, Bertrand
But so long as men are not trained to withhold judgment in the absence of evidence, they will be led astray by cocksure prophets, and it is likely that their leaders will be either ignorant fanatics or dishonest charlatans. To endure uncertainty is difficult, but so are most of the other virtues. For the learning of every virtue there is an appropriate discipline, and for the learning of suspended judgment the best discipline is philosophy.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“Philosophy for Laymen,” Universities Quarterly (1946-11)
#quote #quotes #quotation #ambiguity #belief #fraud #uncertainty #judgment #charlatan #evidence #fanaticism #gullibility #philosophy #proof
Sourcing / notes: https://wist.info/russell-bertrand/69738/
A quotation from Russell, Bertrand
When I come to my own beliefs, I find myself quite unable to discern any purpose in the universe, and still more unable to wish to discern one. Those who imagine that the course of cosmic evolution is slowly leading up to some consummation pleasing to the Creator, are logically committed (though they usually fail to realize this) to the view that the Creator is not omnipotent or, if He were omnipotent, He could decree the end without troubling about means.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“Is There a God?” (1952)
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Sourcing / notes: https://wist.info/russell-bertrand/69517/
A quotation from Russell, Bertrand
People will tell us that without the consolations of religion they would be intolerably unhappy. So far as this is true, it is a coward’s argument. Nobody but a coward would consciously choose to live in a fool’s paradise. When a man suspects his wife of infidelity, he is not thought the better of for shutting his eyes to the evidence. And I cannot see why ignoring evidence should be contemptible in one case and admirable in the other.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“Is There a God?” (1952)
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Sourcing / notes: https://wist.info/russell-bertrand/69102/
Excerpts from the Special Article
How does this stuff (below) tie together? You have to read the article!
#Words no longer need to have #objective meanings in this #market. Everything is about ‘ #attention’, however achieved. True or false. That’s what the advertisers wanted. Words could mean what those in #power say they mean. The ‘ #truth’ behind the #narrative became irrelevant.
What mattered was the force of a narrative, now divorced from meaning, to compel a singularity of messaging, and to demand that #belief in the new order be reflected, not just in #compliance, but in #assimilation of the messaging into personal conduct in life. Critical thinking was disallowed as denoting an enemy; a threat to be crushed.
Most often people seek in life occasions for persisting in their opinions rather than for educating themselves.
André Gide (1869-1951) French author, Nobel laureate
“An Unprejudiced Mind,” sec. 1, Pretexts (1959) [ed. O’Brien (1964)]
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Sourcing / notes: https://wist.info/gide-andre/66959/
That's the headline CBS led with, sort of a buzzy lead...
But I'd say this polling and results presentation is actually quite decent, in attributing the participant pools (all registered voters, and likely Republican voters), and in the effort to get a representative sampling. Nothing much to quibble with though I'm left wondering a bit about the demographics of the respondents (by age, geography, SES, a few other details). Overall, I'd say this is impressive for a news organization, both in the efforts at decent social science and in the clarity of presentation, without over-concluding big 'shockers' or under-considering some of the key determinants. So I applaud it's effort at 'neutrality' or grand conclusions.
Thin-sliced: This seems to mirror other polling and the general observation of how key beliefs are distributed between likely voters.
Beyond that; 1) Things are very close, split nearly in half by party; and 2) That is... Very Interesting
#GQP #TrumpVirus #disinformation #elections #voters #opinions #political #belief
Religious Belief Systems by Continent Region, 2023.
Due to there being no data for just over 900 million people, each figure given for each belief system should be considered as being around 89% accurate. This could, for example, swap the most prevalent religion position between Christianity & Islam, or could further extend Christianity's lead.
#religion #metaphysics #philosophy #belief #faith #ideology #dogma #beliefsystems #religiousideology #data #statistics #stats #information #demography #anthropology #culture #god #gods #spiritualism #spirit #ontology #abrahamism #judaism #usa #christianity #uk #islam #hinduism #un #buddhism #folklore #folkreligion #eu #irreligion #athiesm #agnosticism #hindu #christian #muslim #jew #buddist
A quotation from Russell, Bertrand
I think nobody should be certain of anything. If you’re certain, you’re certainly wrong, because nothing deserves certainty, and so one ought always to hold all one’s beliefs with a certain element of doubt and one ought to be able to act vigorously in spite of the doubt.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Interview by Woodrow Wyatt, BBC TV (1959)
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Sourcing / notes: https://wist.info/russell-bertrand/63283/
