Posts by losthobbit

2

Nudging People to Question their Beliefs

by losthobbit in

i'm not a jw, nor ever was, but like most of you, i grew up being totally convinced that my incorrect beliefs were true, and kept making excuses for them.

my sect was the church of christ.. i remember that, even though i was convinced that i was right, there were always splinters in my mind... seemingly small holes in the logic of my religion that bugged me from time to time.

i think that when i tackled these problems one-at-a-time, it was easy to plug up a hole with a simple excuse.. in my twenties, i remember coming across a full page listing perhaps twenty problems with logic in the bible.

losthobbit

I'm not a JW, nor ever was, but like most of you, I grew up being totally convinced that my incorrect beliefs were true, and kept making excuses for them. My sect was the Church of Christ.

I remember that, even though I was convinced that I was right, there were always splinters in my mind... seemingly small holes in the logic of my religion that bugged me from time to time. I think that when I tackled these problems one-at-a-time, it was easy to plug up a hole with a simple excuse.

In my twenties, I remember coming across a full page listing perhaps twenty problems with logic in the bible. It was different from dealing with them one-at-a-time... twenty problems at once was like a boat full of holes... you can't plug them quickly enough, and you sink into doubt.

I've also realized that arguing never works... cognitive dissonance builds up, backfires, and the everyone simply ends up with stronger reasons why they're right.

So, my theory is this: Perhaps if one asks thirty difficult questions, with the pretence of needing help... it may actually make someone question what they believe.

So I wrote this blog post: Questions for Christians

It's 28 questions on one virtual page, which should be difficult for a Christian, and perhaps a JW to answer... whether or not reading it can get them to actually question their belief - I'd like to find out. What do you think?

8

Separated From The Flock

by hyperpen in

forum
links

hello all, i've started a new blog to share experiences of living outside of the "flock" of jehovah's witnesses.

it can be found at https://separatedfromtheflock.wordpress.com.

i look forward to any comments, criticism or shared stories of life since you left the jw!.

losthobbit

I read the whole blog. You write well. Thanks for sharing :)

20

How did all these civilizations survive the flood?

by losthobbit in

flood 2304 bc (http://creation.com/the-date-of-noahs-flood).

neolithic 8500-1500 bc (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_neolithic_cultures_of_china).

egyption dynasty 4 2613 to 2494 bc, dynasty 5: 2494 to 2345 bc, dynasty 6: 2345 - 2181 bc (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_ancient_egyptian_dynasties).

losthobbit

Flood 2304 BC (http://creation.com/the-date-of-noahs-flood)

Neolithic 8500-1500 BC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Neolithic_cultures_of_China)

Egyption Dynasty 4 2613 to 2494 BC, Dynasty 5: 2494 to 2345 BC, Dynasty 6: 2345 - 2181 BC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ancient_Egyptian_dynasties)

Mesopotamia 5000 BC to 333 BC (http://www.softschools.com/timelines/mesopotamia_timeline/86/)

Sumerians 5400 BC to 1120 BC (http://www.ancient.eu/timeline/sumer/)

Norte Chico civilization 3000 BC to 1800 BC (https://prezi.com/gjpezlq7gfad/norte-chico-timeline/)

6

Critical Thinking and undeniable facts of true truiness

by losthobbit in

jw
friends

i was recently writing to someone on the fractal future forum.

he came across as a very intelligent person, but i noticed that a post of his about medicine showed that he seemed to lack a lot of knowledge about medical testing and the scientific method.

so, i asked him some questions, and his reply seemed to contain a logical fallacy in every sentence, concluding with a quote from mercola.com, one of those really dodgy conspiracy theory / anti-science type of sites.

losthobbit

One of the reasons I can't stand conspiracy theories, besides a general dislike for anything untrue, is because they can be quite insensitive. Often the target is governments (often all governments, because governments all conspire together - they love each other so much and don't like people who are not in government) or medical researchers (yip, all qualified medical researchers want to kill us all). These are real people and usually doing what they believe is right to make the world a better place. To listen to them being verbally attacked is quite annoying.

Alien conspiracies, on the other hand, are all true. SETI is run by aliens!

6

Critical Thinking and undeniable facts of true truiness

by losthobbit in

jw
friends

i was recently writing to someone on the fractal future forum.

he came across as a very intelligent person, but i noticed that a post of his about medicine showed that he seemed to lack a lot of knowledge about medical testing and the scientific method.

so, i asked him some questions, and his reply seemed to contain a logical fallacy in every sentence, concluding with a quote from mercola.com, one of those really dodgy conspiracy theory / anti-science type of sites.

losthobbit

I was recently writing to someone on the Fractal Future Forum. He came across as a very intelligent person, but I noticed that a post of his about medicine showed that he seemed to lack a lot of knowledge about medical testing and the scientific method. So, I asked him some questions, and his reply seemed to contain a logical fallacy in every sentence, concluding with a quote from mercola.com, one of those really dodgy conspiracy theory / anti-science type of sites. You know, the ones that use words like "true" and "fact" and stick things in "BOLD, CAPITAL" letters to make them truer. Now I know, from reading books about cognitive dissonance, that it's likely if I challenge him, then by defending himself, his belief in nonsense will just grow stronger.

Which is why I'm here. I haven't been here in a while, but I remember back in the good old days how much fun I had talking to all these amazing people who had learned to think critically about their former beliefs... and I just really need a place to have a little rant, and then feel good about it afterwards :)

Begin rant - AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! - End rant.

So... I thought I'd just spend a little bit of time promoting critical thinking. These are some of my favourite books to help improve thinking skills. Which ones have you read, and which are your favourites?

Software for Your Brain (Download for free)
English Thinking: The Three Methods (Updated version of Software for Your Brain)
Mistakes Were Made, But Not By Me (Easy to read book on cognitive dissonance)
Your Deceptive Mind (Audio book on critical thinking)
The Demon Haunted World (Carl Sagan's excellent book on critical thinking)
When Prophecy Fails (Practical example of cognitive dissonance)
Bad Science (Mostly about medicine and how to figure out which ones to trust)
Tricks of the Mind (For fans of the magician Derren Brown)
Nonsense On Stilts (Discussions about various topics)

Special note: By reading to the bottom of this post you've qualified to read an UNDENIABLE FACT of TRUE TRUENESS: If you share this post with a friend, you will have a million gazillion dollars added to your bank account instantly!

- The Fresh Prince of Nigeria (and random rambler)

16

Crisis of Conscience republished and on Kindle

by losthobbit in

hi guys.

sorry if this has been mentioned before... i haven't visited this forum in a while.. i've noticed that crisis of conscience is no longer ridiculously expensive on amazon.co.uk (now 9.38), and they have a kindle version which is even cheaper (6.84 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/b00bqou5rc).

unfortunately the publisher did an absolutely useless job of formatting the kindle version.

losthobbit

I got a reply from Amazon:

"I am sorry to hear about the problems you have experienced with the Kindle title "Crisis of Conscience, Abridged for E-Reader Devices"

Further to your email, I understand that the book very badly formatted and has lots of missing quotes. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

I am going to remove this item from our website until the issue has been resolved. We will investigate this issue further and do whatever possible to correct it.

Unfortunately, I can't confirm the exact date when these issues will be fixed, as it entirely depend upon the publisher. I hope you understand our limitations in the regards.

If you're not able to use the item because of this problem, please also let us know if you would like a refund. If we refund the item, you will no longer have access to it."

I just hope they sort out the problem rather than removing it permanently.

16

Crisis of Conscience republished and on Kindle

by losthobbit in

hi guys.

sorry if this has been mentioned before... i haven't visited this forum in a while.. i've noticed that crisis of conscience is no longer ridiculously expensive on amazon.co.uk (now 9.38), and they have a kindle version which is even cheaper (6.84 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/b00bqou5rc).

unfortunately the publisher did an absolutely useless job of formatting the kindle version.

losthobbit

...actually, on the PC Kindle application one can report formatting errors. I'll report a few and see if that helps.

16

Crisis of Conscience republished and on Kindle

by losthobbit in

hi guys.

sorry if this has been mentioned before... i haven't visited this forum in a while.. i've noticed that crisis of conscience is no longer ridiculously expensive on amazon.co.uk (now 9.38), and they have a kindle version which is even cheaper (6.84 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/b00bqou5rc).

unfortunately the publisher did an absolutely useless job of formatting the kindle version.

losthobbit

*lost* try this one:

https://read.amazon.co.uk/about

Although, if you're using a PC, you can download the Kindle application:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/kindle/pc/download

Also, as I said, the hard copy is £9.38, which is probably a much better option than getting the Kindle version. The Kindle version has many places where they say things like, In the 1928 Watchtower it said this:

(And the quote is just non-existent)

So, I had a bit of a crisis of conscience spending good money on a Kindle version which should really be sold for about £1.50 based on the lack of effort that has gone into it. I'll see if I can get Amazon to give me a refund or contact the publisher.

16

Crisis of Conscience republished and on Kindle

by losthobbit in

hi guys.

sorry if this has been mentioned before... i haven't visited this forum in a while.. i've noticed that crisis of conscience is no longer ridiculously expensive on amazon.co.uk (now 9.38), and they have a kindle version which is even cheaper (6.84 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/b00bqou5rc).

unfortunately the publisher did an absolutely useless job of formatting the kindle version.

losthobbit

Hi Guys

Sorry if this has been mentioned before... I haven't visited this forum in a while.

I've noticed that Crisis of Conscience is no longer ridiculously expensive on Amazon.co.uk (now £9.38), and they have a Kindle version which is even cheaper (£6.84 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BQOU5RC). Unfortunately the publisher did an absolutely useless job of formatting the Kindle version. One can download a sample and see how bad it is for oneself.

That is all.

Have a good day :)

13

This is just sad...

by OneDayillBeFree in

http://vimeo.com/50792317 .

i believe that everyone of us, witnesses or not, should take a look at this video.

it's a beautifully done short film/documentary about robert fitzpatrick shot starting on may 1st, 2011 until the 21st of may.

losthobbit

Thank you for sharing, OneDayillBeFree.

I read the book, "When Prophecy Fails," in which the authors inflitrate an end-of-world group until the day the prophecy is supposed to be fulfilled, and record how the members react when time is up. Very interesting to actually watch it happen in the video shared here.

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events I have survived about fifty apocalyptic prophecies in my lifetime, and that's including only one of the thirteen dates attributed to the JW's.

Merry Christmas everyone :)