Nathan Pralle - www.nathanpralle.com
PLACES TO GO: Home Mineself Résumé Employment Technology Wife Child Friends Pets Hobbies Texts Photos Beliefs Software Blog Downloads Contact People		Beliefs, Understandings, Perceptions People are defined by what they do, think, and believe in. This is a basic rundown of many of the things I have derived to be my beliefs, understandings, or perceptions. I reserve the right to change these at any time, be wrong about them, or be incomplete and/or unsure. Knowledge and belief are a life-long process and therefore I cannot be expected to render a complete and crystal-clear picture of such things at any one point. However, if I had to express what things are currently sitting at in my brain, this is a close approximation. If you don't see a point here and you'd like to know my opinion on it, please contact me about it and I'll be happy to add it. I'm also happy to engage in intellectual conversation and/or debate about any of these points. Links to Topics General: See below for a thorough explanation of my view of beliefs. God Jesus Afterlife Religion Supernatural Reality Good and Evil Personal Identity Political Issues: I consider myself an Independent with Democratic leanings because many of my opinions are liberal and some are conservative; I prefer to maintain a balance of sense when possible. This is a small list of various typical political issues that people like to have a position on and my particular bent: Abortion Affirmative Action Homosexuals Gay Marriage Gays in the Military Cloning Social Security Guns Death Penalty Gambling Alcohol Pornography Belief in General Belief is a concept that has been embedded inside the human psyche for ages and will not and cannot completely ever leave. Many have proposed that humans are wired to believe in things, and to some extent, I agree. Beliefs are formed via pattern development within the neural networks of the brain; these networks enable us to recognize various things in life via pattern comparison -- faces, places, situations, facts, figures, etc. A belief, then, is a mental conception that a pattern which occurred before will occur again, based on some sort of criteria. There are many standard situations in daily life which prompt belief. I believe that my car, when I drive it, will not jump off the road and into the sky, flying off like a bird. I believe this because I have evidence that for almost every conceivable case, cars do not do this. However, I do not know that every single time I drive my car it won't do this -- I believe it because it makes the most sense to do so based on what I know: the laws of physics, the nature of reality, past experience, etc. It is also convenient. Convenience plays a large part in a person's belief system. Although the person I perceive as my mother might not always be my mother (see the section on Personal Identity), I choose to believe it is for the sake of convenience. Hence, when I formulate a belief about anything, it is either for one of three reasons: Based on the evidence I know, I can say that for all n in the realm of possibility, n=x for almost every case of n that I can conceive of. Based on logic, deduction, and accompanying evidence and/or experience, I can say that n=x makes the most sense based on these observations. For my convenience sake, I choose to believe that n=x. I do not believe in things blindly or without proof or evidence to the case. Sometimes this proof or evidence comes from personal experiences or realizations; these may or may not be obvious conclusions to the people around me, but nonetheless are true and valid for me and are based upon evidence gathered from my perspective of the situation. I reserve the right, however, to examine, reexamine, and adjust these as I feel necessary and/or as I can logically determine. I believe it is the personal responsibility of each and every person to constantly second-guess and rethink their beliefs, their understandings of the world and reality, and their knowledge. Many people will argue that this leads to flux in the stability of their belief systems. But what of it? If your system is in flux under examination, it is not ready to be concretized and therefore clearly needs more examination. As such, I am not distressed if my belief system is incomplete or unclear -- it is simply a stage in the process. I also believe that belief formulation is a lifelong process, one that people should engage in their entire life, not just during a certain period, and must be open to change at any time. This site and all content (C)2002-2008 Nathan E. Pralle (www.nathanpralle.com).