[extropy-chat] John Wright finds God

[Samantha Atkins]

Well, the "claim" is about what these rather extraordinary yet
widespread experiences mean.  What it means largely falls into two
camps.  One camp says that the experience means that reality is not 
like we normally assume it to be and we ourselves are quite different
than what we normally believe to be the case.   The other camp says
that these experiences say little about what really is true beyond the
obvious fact that human beings can have such experiences.

Which is the more extraordinary interpretration?  It looks to me like
it is the first.

- samantha



On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 13:34:17 -0600, john-c-wright at sff.net
<john-c-wright at sff.net> wrote:
> BillK writes:
> 
> > John Wright is speaking as though his religious experience
> was something unusual. It isn't. Millions of people have had similar
> experiences and many also *know* the meaning of life.
> More than half of all adult Americans (and UK adults also) will report
> having had some kind of religious experience. Religious experience is
> common to humanity worldwide, regardless of religious persuasion. Even
> atheists have transcendental events in their lives. It is a
> fundamental part of how the human brain is structured.
> 
> Will all due respect, you misquote me. I did not say my experience was unique.
> Far from it. I merely opine that the most logical explanation to a type of
> perception that an overwhelming majority of people have had is not necessary the
> conclusion that the overwhelming majority of people are mistaken. It could be
> that that are: but the burden of proof surely lies on the party making the more
> extraordinary claim.
> 
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