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Gregory Jones wrote:
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--- On <b>Mon, 7/12/10, samantha <i><a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:sjatkins@mac.com"><sjatkins@mac.com></a></i></b>
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<div>>...She saw perfectly clearly that much of what she
believed to be true could not be true. Do you know what she said at
the end? It was what persuaded me to not do that again. "Thank you
for your patience and even, calm, fair discussion with me. I learned a
lot and see that you are largely right in what you said at the
beginning. But this is what I believe and I like believing it so I am
going to keep doing so." - samantha</div>
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<div>"The man convinced against his will </div>
<div>Is of the same opinion still."</div>
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Yes, though it wasn't against her will. She was interested in the
discussion and whether her beliefs held up to the examination. <br>
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<div>Interesting commentary, one to which I can sure relate.
The difference between your friend and me is that I had no choice. I
liked what I once believed, wanted desperately to keep believing,
family pressure to keep believing, but found that being convinced
against my will changed my opinion against my will. I had no choice: I
could not believe what I did not believe. I wanted to, but couldn't.</div>
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Yep. I once upon a time was pretty mystical. I thought I wanted to be
a contemplative nun (though decidedly not of the Christian sorts). I
was very happy and even blissful. Yet I noticed too much was just
being roundly ignored and that too many things I believed had no real
basis. It began to feel like another way of staying high but not
really engaging in something real. Bit by bit it unraveled. It was
hard - really hard. So I think I can relate.<br>
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<div>Question please Samantha: how do some minds tolerate
cognitive dissonance, and others like mine, tolerate none at all? Why
do some minds work like hers and other minds work like mine?</div>
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I am not sure. Some of us just have this deep desire or determination
to integrate everything we possibly can. We cannot tolerate keeping
somethings outside the attempted integration. It doesn't seem to be a
matter of intelligence although more of the people with this
characteristic are more intelligent. I am not sure if it is even a
matter of conscious decision to seek this full integration. But I do
think the same thing that made me at one time a gung ho mystic is what
led me away from it - this deep desire to understand, to know, to make
sense of it all. <br>
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- samantha<br>
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