Simple Answers for Complex Questions - Why Not Just Accept Them?

[MineralMan]

I think most people are curious, by nature. However, some things people are curious about are very difficult to understand. In some cases, people prefer to accept a simplistic explanation that quiets their curiosity and lets them focus on real-world issues that need attention. I can't blame them for that. Life's complicated and there's so much to understand.

My curiosity about things cannot be so easily satisfied, though, so I've spent most of my 72 years reading and discussing all that complexity with others. I know I'll never fully comprehend it all, but that's OK. The search for answers is its own reward, really.

Perhaps it would have been simpler if I were able to simply accept easy answers to all of those questions. But, that was impossible for me. The first time I saw a rainbow, at about age 6, for example, I asked my parents what caused it. They didn't know, actually, and told me some silly story to hid their lack of knowledge. I was already a reader, though, so I went to the library, where I found a book that had an illustration of the refraction of light into its primary colors in a prism, along with another illustration of a water drop showing the same process. I had my answer, although I didn't completely understand it until a number of years later when I took a class on optics and atomic physics in college.

Some people, though, accept the Genesis story about the rainbow, and believe that to be factual. God created it to send people a message! That simple answer works for all sorts of difficult questions for some people. It satisfies their curiosity and lets them worry about other things. Others, like me, don't accept those and go looking for actual answers that truly provide evidence-based explanations.

Sometimes, it takes years to get the entire answer about things we are curious about. That's fine, since we do have time to keep learning. It's not as easy as believing that "God did it," but lots more fun, and accurate, besides.

[yallerdawg]

1. You're right! It is actually quite simple!

[Lordquinton]

5. Gotta catch them young

Of course in the reverse case you would be raising hell.

[edhopper]

12. This would be funny if posted as sarcasm

sad if not.

[Binkie The Clown]

2. If it just stopped at "god did it", I suppose that's OK for someone who doesn't mind being ignorant.

The problem for me is when they start arguing over which god did it, and what that so-called god wants every else to do. That's when they start dragging everyone else into their ridiculous fantasies and it becomes dangerous.

[MineralMan]

3. Well, yes, and if they try to get others to believe their simple, but incorrect,

answers, that presents additional problems. To this day, Sunday School teachers are still explaining the rainbow to children by telling the Noah story and explaining that "God did it." The same millennias-old fable is still being taught to young children as fact. Of course, they'll learn otherwise if they are awake at school or don't attend a home or church school. And there's another conflict of stories.

I had a full-grown adult tell me one time that it had never rained on the planet Earth until after Noah's flood. I thought he was kidding. He wasn't. He actually believed that and tried to defend, it in his way. He also told me that all animals were vegetarians until after the Flood, when they began to eat meat. Weird shit, and he wouldn't even listen to actual explanations. He wasn't stupid, but he believed stupid things stubbornly.

[Binkie The Clown]

4. All I can say to that is "OMG"

(Where the "G" stands for "gosh", just so you don't mistake it for a theistic sort of exclamation.)

On edit: I used to tell my kids some pretty outlandish stories when they were young, but the object was to get them to question those stories. By the time they were 7 or 8 years old they'd just give me that certain eye roll whenever I tried to pass off some silly story as true. They were exposed to religion through grandparents, but they all managed to grow up to be good little atheists.

[MineralMan]

8. It's all biblically sound, though.

A close reading of the end of the flood account can be, and sometimes is, interpreted that way. Ken Ham would be glad to explain to you at length.

[guillaumeb]

6. Now I understand.

Well, as much as a simple person can understand, that is.

So, if I understand correctly, there are simple people and complex people. How nice of you to point this out.

[MineralMan]

7. No, it doesn't appear that you do,

based on your reply, at least.

[guillaumeb]

9. Do you know the word condescend?

Just asking.

[MineralMan]

10. Why, yes, I do.

I cannot imagine that you know any words in English that are unfamiliar to me. Perhaps in French, though.

Thanks for asking.

[guillaumeb]

11. I thought that you might.

How about patronize? Another interesting word, would you agree?

Sometimes, unconsciously or not, one can write, and speak, in ways that simply reek of patronizing and condescending attitudes. And a condescending or patronizing tone and attitude is quite counter productive to actual dialogue.

Simply an observation.

[MineralMan]

13. And sometimes, it's intentional, often when

no meaningful dialogue is taking place.

[guillaumeb]

14. Given the large amount of condescension,

and preaching to the choir, and sarcasm, dialogue is probably not the intent. So what is the intent?

Other than perhaps to contrast the sophisticated complexity of one argument over the simple admission of belief in the other?

[MineralMan]

15. Is that your word for the weekend, Guillaume?

It's fun using newly discovered words, but the novelty soon wears off.

[guillaumeb]

16. You are consistent in your tone, if nothing else.

However, the consistent tone and the attitude it reveals undercuts much of your arguments.

Was it Gandhi who said: "be the change you wish to see?"

And yes, I am aware of your claimed aversion to arguments involving sub-text, but when there is so much sub-text, sometimes the argument is obscured.

[marylandblue]

17. You don't want anyone to attribute motives to you, stop attributing to others

"Be the change you wish to see."