Friday, February 10, 2017

Feigned ignorance is the new white lie

I love answering questions about demons on Quora simply because of this blog; I simply point to it whenever any question about the existence of demons arise. If one post alone doesn't convince someone, I simply recommend they add to the other 999 or so posts, which, collectively, should remove all doubt about whether demons exist, and what some of them are up to on this planet (that is, if doubt existed at all).

I always get upvoted (similar to "Like" on Facebook) for my answers, even though some who read my answers do criticize from time-to-time. For example:

She forgot to take a look at the blog; even still, I can deliver demons right to her doorstep at-will, so, if she really wants testable evidence....
At first glance, I wasn't sure if this was more of the typical heckling I get from demon collaborators; but, on closer inspection, it lacked the ridiculousness that comes with such. This person just looks a wee bit behind the rest of the class.
NOTE | You can read my answers to demon-related and other questions on my Quora profile.
Same thing with the answers to the question as to whether demons exist prior to my contributions; they seem to have demon-people origins, they are so off. But, lacking the requisite ego-stroking innuendo or I-know-but-I'm-not-telling phrase here and there, I'd say these people are simply ignorant to the point of being dangerous:

Are demons real?
Out of 200,000 years of humans existing, there has yet to be a single solitary speck of evidence supporting the existence of beings referred to as “demons”. None. Zero. Zilch.
People claiming things is not evidence. They need evidence to support their claims.
It is safe to say that this concept, originated by humans in the first place as a way of explaining things that were not understood in the past (much like how people thought a human fetus came from a “homunculus” before we understood biology better, or that bad smells could carry diseases and so you just had to block out the smells to avoid getting sick, etc.), has no credibility whatsoever.
Remember: Believing something doesn’t make it real, and insisting demons exist but not having evidence to support that claim does not suffice as evidence. Just because some people may not require evidence to believe something fantastical for which there is no support does not mean everyone else is going to accept their feelings as proof of something which supposedly exists and functions independent of their feelings.
And when those who do not believe as they do and do not share their feelings consistently remain immune and unaffected by these “demons”, it should really make a rational human being start questioning whether those who say demons exist and that they’ve had experiences with them are only saying that because they are predisposed to wishing these things were real, since those who don’t believe in demons never have any interactions with them.
Not believing in demons is a 100% guaranteed method of not having any interaction with them.
Are demons real and can they hurt you? 
Answer A. Is any entity real? No. To see anything as differentiated from anything else is an illusion caused by your identification with something differentiated from everything else, like a body or a mind. What you see is determined by your desires and fears. Reality, on the other hand, is singular, meaning it doesn't consist of objects, things - they are just a common fantasy within reality. Reality is everything and nothing, which means it is also you. The real you is all of reality.
Answer B. Demons are within you. Everyone has their own unique sets. Some have it as jealousy, some as hatred. Some fear them, some befriend them. They hurt you when you let them over-power you.
Answer C. No, demons are not real, and no, they can't hurt you. The only sense in which "demons" actually exist is in the metaphorical sense of someone being "driven by their demons". This means someone having a bad mental habit or compulsion that causes them to do things that harm themselves or the people around them, but which are so engrained they find them hard to change. This could be physical, like excessive drinking, or more psychological, like jealousy. But these demons, too, can be banished if we understand them as unhelpful patterns of behavior and work to break them down.
Answer D. The scientist in me agrees with most replies here on Quora. That is, supernatural events do not exist. 
There are few religions I know of that do not believe in dark forces; either jinns, Devils, black magic or sorcery.
To believe in God necessitates a belief in the devil, at least so far as logic dictates. One cannot admit one supernatural power without admitting others.
As has been reported by Pope Francis, the devil does exist. The uptick in requests for exorcism by Catholic priests suggests that there are still many who believe in both positive and negative supernatural forces: http://www.ibtimes.com/pope-fran... 
But belief doesn't make something true, it only proves that the believer believes.
There is no scientific evidence to support the existence of anything supernatural and unless there are some spectacular breakthroughs with quantum technology, there won't be in the foreseeable future.
Personally, I sit on the fence, having seen too many inexplicable events in my own personal life to make a resounding no on the topic of demons. 
I therefore admit the possibility of my own delusions, elemental possession and/or naivety.
I believe that those things which cannot be explained by science will most likely be explained with further advances in science.
Until that time, perhaps leave science to continue its quantum investigations and take anecdotal evidence for what it is - someone's subjective opinion of reality.
And for those curious about dark forces, I'd caution you about playing the devil's advocate. I've seen my fair share of psychiatric hospitals.

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