Post by lawrencebiteranta on Sept 6, 2015 0:45:01 GMT
Since the creation of the human race, people have attempted to explain the meaning of life using religious or supernatural occurrences. Often times, an occurrence will be classified as a supernatural phenomenon despite multiple affirmations of mundane origins. Certain individuals will believe in miracles or conspiracies due to a fabrication of connections with seemingly unconnected details. Known as “apophenia”, humans have a natural inclination to search for patterns or significance within completely unrelated and meaningless sets of data. As a result, men and women will usually craft fallacies in order to answer one’s own life-altering uncertainties. There are multiple examples of this throughout history; originating from both religious and astronomical backgrounds.
Religious apophenia occurs very often. Individuals will use “God” as a reason for ones actions or prevention of certain actions. For example, recently during a long line awaiting trial at a courthouse, I found myself speaking with an individual who recently received a ticket for possession of a certain illegal substance. He stated that before the incident, he felt as though he should dispose of the substance, however, out of greed, he ignored his conscience and kept the substance to himself. After being apprehended by authorities, this young man went on to believe that God was trying to warn him about the consequences of his ways. He felt as though he had ignored his God and is now suffering the consequences. This is a prime example of apophnia, as the young man was simply caught by authorities for possession of illegal substances, despite his own mind warning him about the consequences. It is as simple as an everyday hesitation, yet this man was prone to believe in a religious warning to possibly enlighten him and his way of life. It is quite possible that this man was unsure about his own moral stance, causing conflict within himself. Finding religious calling in his conflictions allowed this man to decide what is wrong or right.
In addition to moral and religious choices, the human race has always tried to make sense of what they see, even if they do not have any scientific evidence to support their claim. This has been the case for several thousands of years. Since the beginning of the human timeline, individuals have attempted to explain the lights in the sky without a scientific basis. Constellations, “a group of stars that forms a particular shape in the sky and has been given a name” ("Constellation."), were developed around the world with the intent of explaining why stars were placed where they were. This was done with the use of mythological stories that were also used as a way to teach each generation certain philosophical lessons about life. With the use of completely random stars used to form patterns in the sky, humans were able to motivate future generations with mythological stories.
These two examples, although unrelated to each other, display the experience of seeing patterns or connections in random or meaningless data, known as apophenia or patternicity. Humans are prone to seeing significance and meaning in random data because humans naturally attempt to find reasons for everything they witness. If experimenting is not possible, individuals attempt to acquire knowledge through theories. People find comfort in what is known, and are uncomfortable with what is not known, resulting in humans finding reasons for the placement of stars, and making the religion-influenced moral choice. Ultimately, apophenia is common because humans require meaning to keep motivated and comfortable with their existence.
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Religious apophenia occurs very often. Individuals will use “God” as a reason for ones actions or prevention of certain actions. For example, recently during a long line awaiting trial at a courthouse, I found myself speaking with an individual who recently received a ticket for possession of a certain illegal substance. He stated that before the incident, he felt as though he should dispose of the substance, however, out of greed, he ignored his conscience and kept the substance to himself. After being apprehended by authorities, this young man went on to believe that God was trying to warn him about the consequences of his ways. He felt as though he had ignored his God and is now suffering the consequences. This is a prime example of apophnia, as the young man was simply caught by authorities for possession of illegal substances, despite his own mind warning him about the consequences. It is as simple as an everyday hesitation, yet this man was prone to believe in a religious warning to possibly enlighten him and his way of life. It is quite possible that this man was unsure about his own moral stance, causing conflict within himself. Finding religious calling in his conflictions allowed this man to decide what is wrong or right.
In addition to moral and religious choices, the human race has always tried to make sense of what they see, even if they do not have any scientific evidence to support their claim. This has been the case for several thousands of years. Since the beginning of the human timeline, individuals have attempted to explain the lights in the sky without a scientific basis. Constellations, “a group of stars that forms a particular shape in the sky and has been given a name” ("Constellation."), were developed around the world with the intent of explaining why stars were placed where they were. This was done with the use of mythological stories that were also used as a way to teach each generation certain philosophical lessons about life. With the use of completely random stars used to form patterns in the sky, humans were able to motivate future generations with mythological stories.
These two examples, although unrelated to each other, display the experience of seeing patterns or connections in random or meaningless data, known as apophenia or patternicity. Humans are prone to seeing significance and meaning in random data because humans naturally attempt to find reasons for everything they witness. If experimenting is not possible, individuals attempt to acquire knowledge through theories. People find comfort in what is known, and are uncomfortable with what is not known, resulting in humans finding reasons for the placement of stars, and making the religion-influenced moral choice. Ultimately, apophenia is common because humans require meaning to keep motivated and comfortable with their existence.
_______________________________________
Google Sites Link