The Suggestion Theory

[RastaKaze]

I just came up with a theory. I'll call it the suggestion theory. Ok, so, we, as animals who had a much higher protein regimen then other species on earth, developed large brains, and in turn developed voices and written word. With these voices, and writing, we were able to voice feelings that were once uncomprehendable. The idea is that, "knowing all" and "god" are purely concepts of man, and have no true reality to them. But then, "reality" is a human concept as well... Any thoughts?

[smokincajun]

Deep - I've heard the saying that "perception is reality"...but I wondered what that really means. I found an explanation that I perceive to be pretty good:

Perception is defined as the act of perceiving, which is "to become aware of directly through any of the senses, especially sight or hearing." On the other hand, reality is defined as "the quality or state of being actual or true".
An analogy may help: the earth was "perceived" to be flat which influenced peoples understanding, beliefs, and behaviors. The "reality" turned out to be something significantly different.

Therefore, it seems to me a more accurate statement is to say "perception may be reality" or "perception is perception of reality" rather than the more common "perception is reality".

credit to Stephen Carman ([email protected]), May 09, 2003

So, what you perceive could well be reality, but only to those that believe it. To those that don't believe it, they perceive something different that is just as real to them. So what is reality? That which is seen, physical, tangible, real. But that's not to say what isn't seen or felt isn't real...faith is believing in the unseen and considering it real and true. Am I babbling? I'm beginning to confuse myself here. I'll just stop now.

[beachguy in thongs]

Well, before language was there a belief in a God?

With primitive thoughts, I wonder about their thought process. When they thought of a bone, they saw the image and only could show it to someone else. "This is what this is." When they finally started saying, "Look what I've got, it's a 'bone'", the bone became personalized. When Sky got mad, he rained. When Bone went bad, well, they really had no idea where a bone came from, did they? It must've been like some Kryptonian thing, or something.

[RastaKaze]

Ahhh... very interesting point beachguy, can you elaborate a bit more on what you said about thought proceses, I'm not sure I quite understand...

[sm0k1t]

did the belief of a god was necessary at that time?

[beachguy in thongs]

RastaKaze, they must've thought in images and remembered in images. They had no labels, like words. They, undoubtedbly, had amazement at nature. Anyone who's ever been through a Hurricane, which could be like an 8-hour tornado, would have thoughts of a Higher Power, if it wasn't for Television, etc.
Their world was all sight and sound, no explanations.