I exist.
It all begins with that primary FACT.
If I don't exist, who is it who just declared: I exist?
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Human existence is contingent upon life-sustaining actions which are indispensible.
Humans must eat, drink, find shelter, avoid catastrophe--or else existence is very short and often violent.
Can you choose to NOT eat or drink? Yes. The consequence of that decision is called Death which is non-existence.
BAD CHOICES are the nullification of that PRIMACY OF EXISTENCE.
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Is life but a dream? Is it all a lie? If you began to believe that were true you could perform a test.
There is a Philosophy which asserts Life is ruled by our own CONSCIOUSNESS.
Here is the test: Get in your car and drive toward a brick wall while shouting: "The wall is all in my mind--the wall is only in my mind--I created this wall
with my thoughts!"
At the moment of impact, primacy of consciousness is INVALIDATED by the fact of primacy of existence.
THE WALL IS REAL.
Discerning the difference between what you THINK is true and that which is NOT--is the difference between a good and long life and a short and miserable.
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The primary task which befalls humanity is separating out what is TRUE from what only appears to be.
For a fly--a Venus Fly Trap appears to be a beautiful way to drink nectar.
Alas! There is more to that flower than mere appearance!
This analogy is equally true for humans in everyday life.
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A Fact describes the brick wall for what it IS and not for what the driver might THINK otherwise.
The following words lead to FALSE FACTS:
Hope, Belief, Trust, Imagination, Delusion, Superstition . . .
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The greatest invention mankind has produced (besides the printing press) is FALSIFIABILITY.
Testing an idea to confirm it meets the test of FACT as an accurate description of reality.
Science tells us how many bricks are in the brick wall.
FALSIFIABILITY makes us count the bricks.
OPINION notwithstanding.
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What is the bottom line?
The most dangerous things in life for human beings are the things which appear to be EXACTLY WHAT WE WANT.
The testing must come before the committment or else we end up being slowly digested by the beautiful thing which lured us.
FACTS trump OPINIONS because FACTS are falsifiable.
FACT or FICTION?
Armageddon arrived in 1914.
Fiction.
How do we know?
1915 arrived without the death of billions and a perfect godly government.
FACT or FICTION?
1975 was the End of 6,000 years of human existence.
Fiction.
How do we know?
1976 arrived and the entire Watchtower religion promotional campaign fizzled into embarassed silence.
FACT or FICTION?
Nothing is absolute.
Fiction.
How do we know?
The statement:"Nothing is absolute" is itself an absolute statement!
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Without FACTS we can't balance our checkbooks.
Without FACTS we plug our lamp into an electric outlet and tomato soup comes out instead of electricity.
Without FACTS we cannot shoot a rocket to Mars and broadcast images through a robot named ROVER.
If OPINIONS were just as good as FACTS:
Elvis is still alive somewhere.
The Virgin Mary appears on grilled cheese sandwiches.
The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses are Kings and Priests who will judge all of mankind and we should listen and believe
everything they say. Even when they get it wrong.