From dark comes light, from one understand all, and from faith, there is progress

[Knowledge Enthusiast]

After consulting with humanity's newest friend, ChatGPT, I now have a newfound perspective on the way forward. My perspective can be summed up in the phrases from dark comes light, from one understand all, and from faith, there is progress. I feel these phrases are quite beautiful and pack tons of meaning into them but before you notice anything else, I would like you to notice how it seems to flow in a progressive way. First, there is light, then one became all and everything within it kept becoming more and more complex, then humans arrived, and we started with faith and now we have progress. The phrases line up in a progressive way and I'm here to tell you that it is also about progress, which brings me to the first important point I want to bring up, which is we must be what we believe. I will follow up by unpacking all the meanings that are in these phrases and conclude my vision for the future.

First, from dark comes light. I already mentioned that it implies genesis but the phrase is also about finding meaning in life. I came to find my meaning when I'm in my darkest moments but it doesn't have to be the case for everyone. But the phrase does imply that maybe our surroundings may be too bright and we need to focus and ignore the distractions to find meaning. Another way to think about it is, the stars are brightest when everything else is pitch dark, which is to say meaning is clear if you get rid of the distractions. Also, it hints that even at your darkest, light may come one day. And so for me, this phrase is about hope and finding meaning.

Next, from one understand all. Again, as I said, it is about how one spark can lead to a whole universe but you can also see it as a guide to understanding the universe. From one understand all, can from a bottom-up way mean, to keep learning, start with one and then another and then another. This bottom-up way focuses on the what questions of life. I start by understanding one followed by another. Of course, you can also understand "one understand all" another way, which is once you have many what questions answered, you can start to answer the why questions, which I would contend is top-down. From one theory, I understand all phenomenon that is encompassed in the theory. From one, understand all, understanding is key in life, either bottom-up or top-down.

Third, from faith, there is progress. As mentioned above, it hints at our history, we had tons of faith, now more so progress but more profoundly, it suggests that to keep improving, we need to have faith in ourselves, we need to have faith in humanity and this has completely changed my outlook on life. We love progress, we love technology, and we love science but until we can love ourselves enough to not quit on ourselves, love humanity enough to not quit on humanity, we will keep having problems indefinitely. From faith, there is progress, love yourself enough to keep going even when it seems insurmountable, and love humanity enough to give others a chance when it seems that the only way is to forsake them.

And so now to what it all means. Well for me at least, it means to keep working hard every day to make my life about what I believe in and helping others find their meaning as well. Progress comes when we live our lives according to the meaning we give them. The phrases above also mean to learn every day and to teach others what they need to know. Progress comes from learning and understanding. And lastly, the phrases above tell me to believe in myself and to work towards reconciliatory movements. I don't mean unity movements where we find where we are similar and unite but to understand each other's grievances and realize that as much as we love ourselves, the other side loves themselves also, and we can love each other to make things better from wherever the situation is right now.

Those are my newfound beliefs, grounded in these artistic and beautiful phrases. Progress comes when we find meaning and help others find meaning in life, when we work to understand the world and help others to get a better understanding of the world, and when we have a growth mindset and work to support reconciliatory movements. The biggest revelation among all definitely is that as much as it is important to love ourselves, the other side should love themselves too and we both can love humanity and that is how progress is made. We will not get anything but a lose-lose situation in war. I believe we will get more progress if we trade and reconcile. Ultimately, my hope is that I can live by my newfound beliefs and that everyone can learn from what I have learned also.

[swansont]

10 hours ago, Knowledge Enthusiast said:

Ultimately, my hope is that I can live by my newfound beliefs and that everyone can learn from what I have learned also.

!

Moderator Note

Ultimately my hope is that you will abide by rule 2.8:

Preaching and "soap-boxing" (making topics or posts without inviting, or even rejecting, open discussion) are not allowed. This is a discussion forum, not your personal lecture hall. Discuss points, don't just repeat them.

 

[Knowledge Enthusiast]

18 minutes ago, swansont said:

!

Moderator Note

Ultimately my hope is that you will abide by rule 2.8:

 

Preaching and "soap-boxing" (making topics or posts without inviting, or even rejecting, open discussion) are not allowed. This is a discussion forum, not your personal lecture hall. Discuss points, don't just repeat them.

 

Noted. The problem is I already did the discussion with ChatGPT and so was hoping for further discussion based on the conclusions that I got.

[swansont]

5 hours ago, Knowledge Enthusiast said:

The problem is I already did the discussion with ChatGPT

!

Moderator Note

Yes, that would be a problem. 

ChatGPT is not a reliable source, so unless you want to dissect the problems that arise from that, this is a nonstarter. 

 

[Phi for All]

19 hours ago, Knowledge Enthusiast said:

Ultimately, my hope is that I can live by my newfound beliefs and that everyone can learn from what I have learned also.

This stuff isn't universal. I have no problems with not quitting on myself.

I define faith as unshakeable belief without reason, so I don't think it represents progress at all, but rather the opposite. To me, not questioning your beliefs is dangerous. I prefer beliefs I can trust over those I simply have to have faith in.

Dark can be wonderful and soothing, and light can be overwhelming and destructive. I think it's important not to let ourselves get too attached to our labels.

Loving ourselves and each other is great, and we've been moving towards that goal for a very long time, and globalization almost demands it.  I can love that someone is human, that they have hopes and dreams and knowledge and personality, that they are unique on this planet and in my life, but I wouldn't expect to love everyone the way I love family or friends. Understanding everyone is different than loving everyone, but is it any easier?

[Knowledge Enthusiast]

2 hours ago, Phi for All said:

This stuff isn't universal. I have no problems with not quitting on myself.

I define faith as unshakeable belief without reason, so I don't think it represents progress at all, but rather the opposite. To me, not questioning your beliefs is dangerous. I prefer beliefs I can trust over those I simply have to have faith in.

Dark can be wonderful and soothing, and light can be overwhelming and destructive. I think it's important not to let ourselves get too attached to our labels.

Loving ourselves and each other is great, and we've been moving towards that goal for a very long time, and globalization almost demands it.  I can love that someone is human, that they have hopes and dreams and knowledge and personality, that they are unique on this planet and in my life, but I wouldn't expect to love everyone the way I love family or friends. Understanding everyone is different than loving everyone, but is it any easier?

I feel we should not quit on ourselves. Quitting on ourselves on things that we find important and meaningful does not constitute progress in my mind.

Faith can also mean that even in the face of doubt, you give the benefit of the doubt to an extent such that you do not end up forsaking yourself and others to a fate that is not proportional to the circumstances. Questioning and doubt is important but so is faith because faith leads to more resilience.

The light is meant to represent progress. Sometimes to get progress we must sacrifice other things like the stability of the planet, that is true, but we must have faith and keep working to solve problems one by one as they crop up and not give up, so as to not forsake ourselves and others. 

You may not love others more than your own family but there must be a baseline of love for others so as to not see them as outside of the confines of humanity. We may be distantly related but related nonetheless by our humanity. We cannot get anywhere without understanding, that is true, but if we cannot even acknowledge our common humanity, we can have great understanding but not make any progress towards achieving morality. I feel morality is just as important as understanding.

 

[Genady]

25 minutes ago, Knowledge Enthusiast said:

I feel we should not quit on ourselves. Quitting on ourselves on things that we find important and meaningful does not constitute progress in my mind.

Faith can also mean that even in the face of doubt, you give the benefit of the doubt to an extent such that you do not end up forsaking yourself and others to a fate that is not proportional to the circumstances. Questioning and doubt is important but so is faith because faith leads to more resilience.

The light is meant to represent progress. Sometimes to get progress we must sacrifice other things like the stability of the planet, that is true, but we must have faith and keep working to solve problems one by one as they crop up and not give up, so as to not forsake ourselves and others. 

You may not love others more than your own family but there must be a baseline of love for others so as to not see them as outside of the confines of humanity. We may be distantly related but related nonetheless by our humanity. We cannot get anywhere without understanding, that is true, but if we cannot even acknowledge our common humanity, we can have great understanding but not make any progress towards achieving morality. I feel morality is just as important as understanding.

 

This is preaching.

[Phi for All]

1 hour ago, Knowledge Enthusiast said:

I feel we should not quit on ourselves. Quitting on ourselves on things that we find important and meaningful does not constitute progress in my mind.

It seems like this isn't a problem for most.

1 hour ago, Knowledge Enthusiast said:

Faith can also mean that even in the face of doubt, you give the benefit of the doubt to an extent such that you do not end up forsaking yourself and others to a fate that is not proportional to the circumstances. Questioning and doubt is important but so is faith because faith leads to more resilience.

This is actually the best endorsement against using faith to believe in something. Resilience is the ability to return to an original state, to rebound after being stretched or misshapen. If you use faith to believe in anything, you run the risk of being wrong to begin with, and then rebounding to this wrong state again and again. Faith is a big lie. Using trust to believe in the information you gather makes you strong in knowledge.

1 hour ago, Knowledge Enthusiast said:

The light is meant to represent progress. Sometimes to get progress we must sacrifice other things like the stability of the planet, that is true, but we must have faith and keep working to solve problems one by one as they crop up and not give up, so as to not forsake ourselves and others. 

Your faith tells you it's OK to sacrifice the stability of the planet? Yep, that sounds like one of the faithful. As long as you get to go to heaven, the planet can kiss off, right? This concept of light representing good and dark representing evil hasn't worked out for anybody but the light folks.

1 hour ago, Knowledge Enthusiast said:

You may not love others more than your own family but there must be a baseline of love for others so as to not see them as outside of the confines of humanity. We may be distantly related but related nonetheless by our humanity. We cannot get anywhere without understanding, that is true, but if we cannot even acknowledge our common humanity, we can have great understanding but not make any progress towards achieving morality. I feel morality is just as important as understanding.

I have no problems seeing humanity as within the confines of humanity. We aren't distantly related, we're directly related as a species, all of us, light and dark and in between. We've gotten this far on limited understanding, and science has helped us grow that understanding. As far as morality goes, statistics show that being around religious people doesn't improve my chances of leading a moral life. In fact, since people lose their "faith" all the time, I'd say I have a much better chance of being a moral person if I don't follow any beliefs in a deity. My morals have nothing to do with any gods.

[Knowledge Enthusiast]

14 minutes ago, Phi for All said:

It seems like this isn't a problem for most.

This is actually the best endorsement against using faith to believe in something. Resilience is the ability to return to an original state, to rebound after being stretched or misshapen. If you use faith to believe in anything, you run the risk of being wrong to begin with, and then rebounding to this wrong state again and again. Faith is a big lie. Using trust to believe in the information you gather makes you strong in knowledge.

Your faith tells you it's OK to sacrifice the stability of the planet? Yep, that sounds like one of the faithful. As long as you get to go to heaven, the planet can kiss off, right? This concept of light representing good and dark representing evil hasn't worked out for anybody but the light folks.

I have no problems seeing humanity as within the confines of humanity. We aren't distantly related, we're directly related as a species, all of us, light and dark and in between. We've gotten this far on limited understanding, and science has helped us grow that understanding. As far as morality goes, statistics show that being around religious people doesn't improve my chances of leading a moral life. In fact, since people lose their "faith" all the time, I'd say I have a much better chance of being a moral person if I don't follow any beliefs in a deity. My morals have nothing to do with any gods.

I think you have gotten me wrong. I am not deeply religious either, but surely, given that that is the case, Isn't it true that I must formulate my own understanding of what morality means in absence of a moral code built by someone else. Of course the wording is not perfect because I'm squeezing everything into these phrases but you should not take me as a proponent of blind faith, I am definitely a believer in reason and scientific rigor. In essence, what I am saying is that progress is important and that a growth mindset and belief in a common humanity that is worth loving, is part of what will allow for progress, with or without a belief in GOD or GODs.

Also, I do not know what you would suggest we do about climate change, given that for the most part, higher standard of living is closely tied to higher quantity of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere in the creation of products and services that make life better. If we stop the project of making life better, we will emit less but a lot of people will suffer. It is very tricky and I am of the camp that while it may seem like leaders are not doing enough, it is probably the case that they are already doing very close to their best.

 

[iNow]

7 minutes ago, Knowledge Enthusiast said:

what you would suggest we do about climate change

Just pray harder. That solves all problems. Except amputated limbs. Why won’t god heal faithful amputees?

[EmDriver]

I feel like the title is overly anchoring. I think an 'understanding of all' should occur at the end of that flow. Our reality is a perception of the truth. If one only sees truth, then they no longer have a reality. How many sides does a circle have with an infinite number of dimensions? We subjectively perceive the same thing until we see the truth.