{"id":49,"date":"2008-03-01T20:07:43","date_gmt":"2008-03-01T20:07:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thetruthiswrong.com\/indeed\/belief\/argument-and-preaching\/chapter-09a-why-are-you-here\/"},"modified":"2008-03-17T13:02:19","modified_gmt":"2008-03-17T13:02:19","slug":"chapter-09a-why-are-you-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetruthiswrong.com\/indeed\/belief\/argument-and-preaching\/chapter-09a-why-are-you-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 09a – Why Are You Here"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in our attitude towards them.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Antoine de Saint-Exupery<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How long has it been since you last practiced your math? Let\u2019s put it to a test with two simple riddles. We\u2019ll start with this one: Suppose you randomly pick an integer (that is, whole) number from the set of all positive integer numbers, what\u2019s the probability of picking an even<\/em> number? \u2026 What was that? Did I hear you say \u201c50 percent\u201d? Sounds reasonable indeed!<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s proceed with the second riddle: Have a look at this specific set of numbers: {1, 3, 2<\/strong>, 5, 7, 4<\/strong>, 9, 11, 6<\/strong>, 13, 15, 8<\/strong>, 17, 19, \u2026} \u2013 hope you get the idea. Now, if you randomly pick an integer number from this set, what\u2019s the probability of picking an even number? Did we hear you say something like \u201c33 percent\u201d? Sounds reasonable again!<\/p>\n

The point is that \u201cthe set of all positive integer numbers\u201d is identical<\/em> to this strange set above (since for the term \u201cset\u201d, the internal order of its members is irrelevant, as long as we talk about the same members altogether). Therefore, the last two questions are actually the same question<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the trick here? What is the correct answer to these questions? We\u2019ll get back to that later in this chapter. In the meantime, let\u2019s return to our boring discussion about religious preachers: \u201cWhy were you born into this world?\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s the purpose of your life?\u201d \u2013 it\u2019s common to come across such questions. If we look at them closely, we find that they are more answers than questions<\/em>. \u201cWhy\u201d in this context generally means \u201cfor what purpose\u201d. Since lifeless entities usually don\u2019t set any goals and purposes, then the question implies there is some living entity involved in your being here and alive. \u201cWhy did you come to this world?\u201d therefore stands for \u201cSomeone brought you to this world \u2013 what was his goal in doing so?\u201d<\/p>\n

After we\u2019ve already agreed on the creation of your soul<\/em>, the argument about the goal of the creator<\/em> may well be less important. Hiding an answer in what seems to be a question, is something we often do. Many times we don\u2019t even think about it, yet sometimes we plan it carefully. Look at the following examples:<\/p>\n

Question: Cash or charge?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Actually: We\u2019ve already agreed you pay. We\u2019re only left with the minor issue of how you pay.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Question: Was the light on when you were in the room?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Actually: You were in the room! Was the light on then?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Question: Have you read the Holy Bible?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Actually: The Bible is holy. Have you read it?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

The correct answer to the above math questions is that there is a problem in the questions themselves. Without going too deeply into the probability theory, let\u2019s just say that the action of randomly choosing something from an infinite set is not clearly defined.<\/p>\n

Undefined questions and self-conflicting questions constitute other interesting categories. They often confuse words with ideas. \u201cWhat happened before time began?\u201d \u201cCan God create a rock so heavy that he cannot lift it?\u201d \u2013 Note that in a way, most statements that discuss \u2018God\u2019<\/em> also express a hidden claim about the existence and qualities of that \u2018God\u2019, as if it is well and uniquely defined.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in our attitude towards them.\u201d \u2013 Antoine de Saint-Exupery How long has it been since you last practiced your math? Let\u2019s put it to a test with two simple riddles. We\u2019ll start with this one: Suppose you randomly pick an integer (that is, whole) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,14,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-argument-and-preaching","category-book","category-the-truth-is-wrong"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetruthiswrong.com\/indeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetruthiswrong.com\/indeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetruthiswrong.com\/indeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetruthiswrong.com\/indeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetruthiswrong.com\/indeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetruthiswrong.com\/indeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetruthiswrong.com\/indeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetruthiswrong.com\/indeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetruthiswrong.com\/indeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}