Do you believe conventional wisdom without ever questioning its validity?
608896
I do not believe in conventional wisdom. I personally believe that it only increases the chances for people to do what ever is being questioned. I stick to one of the mottos of the Perkins School for the Blind near my town, "Let the child interact with the scissors, so he may cut himself and learn that they are sharp"
383080
absolutely.even though it is not proven
627151
yes if one acts this way they question their beliefs which can cause to a new synthesis which will strengthen faith.
330880
It is much better not to force belief. Sooner or later you will reject it if forced. Best to look at all the evidence and accept what you can, if necessary, piecemeal. For the rest, try and be comfortable to put it on hold until either you learn more or understand more, or grow in maturity. Use also your own gut feeling. That is much more reliable than most of us give it credit for.
307250
To be honest it is not about believing it or not it is about thinking outside of what we have always been told.  More about possibilities.
628058
Yes, absolutely.  This is why I study religions and am majoring in religious studies!  There is more than one way to be human, and when you learn others' religious beliefs, you can see that very clearly.  We tend to take so many things for granted and not realize they are even "beliefs" but we assume them to be "facts."  But then when we realize that other people look at it differently, we can see that we were just taking certain things for granted and there is no reason to do that.\n\nThere is wisdom in all religions.  Why limit yourself to the wisdom of only one?
474400
How is it rational to say with certainty that something does exist when the possibility will always remain that it does not?\n\nNOT believing is what atheism means.
832238
Hi,\nTry this: "Wisdom without practical common sense is worthless."\n\nT.C......Rose
392137
Yes. That's the trouble with BELIEF. You accept something on faith, whether it makes sense or whether there's any proof at all.
723182
Personally, for me, I choose to. I know I could be wrong, and there are questions the Bible raises that contradict science, or what others deem as proof. I even accept the fact I could be 100% wrong in the way I believe, and live my life. I know that, and still I choose to believe. It is something I feel in my heart to be real, something I feel as if I have evidence of in my everyday life, and for me, that is my proof.\n\nJust personally though.
57840
You've given us a false dichotomy.  Neither of these is a good choice.  Practical advice on open-mindedness is that you should be open-minded, but not credulous.  Consider new things, but don't swallow everything some nutball tells you.
513123
That depends on your definition of free thinking.\n\nIf by 'free thinking' you mean thinking about whatever you want so long as it NEVER contradicts the bible, then no. The Church says go for it.\n\nHowever, as soon as you start thinking 'outside the book' then you are WRONG! \n\nDo you believe in evolution? ...YOU ARE WRONG! Stop thinking for yourself and trust the bible.  \n\nDo you believe the evidence that the great flood never really happened? ...YOU ARE WRONG! Stop thinking for yourself and trust the bible.\n\nDo you believe that maybe good people from other religions may still be grated entry into heaven? ...YOU ARE WRONG! Stop thinking for yourself and trust the bible.\n\nDo you believe that many of the biblical stories are just parables and not meant to be taken literally? ...YOU ARE WRONG! Stop thinking for yourself and trust the bible.\n\nDo you think that homosexuality is a biological condition and not a spiritually corrupt personal decision? ...YOU ARE WRONG! Stop thinking for yourself and trust the bible.\n\nDo you find anything at all in the bible to be 'unrealistic' or just a fairy tail? ...YOU ARE WRONG! Stop thinking for yourself and trust the bible.\n\nFree thinking? ...YOU ARE WRONG! Stop thinking for yourself and trust the bible.
885857
Having the ring of truth or plausibility but actually fallacious: a specious argument.
827275
I do believe truth has nothing to fear from investigation.\nI have a belief of my own, my faith.  where did it come from. \nWell it wasn't something my parents passed on to me because i left that belief system.. \nI searched for something for at least a good 10 years.\ni followed what was natural to me. what i felt worked when i tried it.\nafter so long trying things reading different peoples ideas i came up with my own views. \nThis sort of fits in with a belief system already out there. Also called Natures Religion. as its nature based. \nI believe i test my own thoughts and ideas.. (only to make sure I'm going going completely mad. most of the time.).\nWhere i see some follow there belief blindly not seeing reason or knowing what is good or bad. "its for the faith" or " its for god" .\nQuestioning brings our minds back from the clouds and hopefully gives us the grounding we need to answer them. \n\nJust my thoughts. \nBlessings ALD
815905
Within the folds of the universe lie numberless secrets and I think the only way to get to these secrets is to learn to see the world differently by applying out-of-the-box thinking. Incredible discoveries have been made thanks to such thinking. Some examples include laws of gravity, the earth being round, that it moves around the sun, evolution of species, the drift of continents and the concept of zero. \n\nIf we want to experience our milieu in a fresh way, out of the box thinking would be necessary. But in-the-box thinking is the way of experiencing our milieu as a community that is by embracing the beliefs, values, assumptions and prejudices of the people we share our lives with. I think human beings need to apply both types of thinking and strike a balance between them.\n\nThinking out-of-the-box usually requires accepting a degree of discomfort. Recall the young prince who left 'the box' of a happy household and birthright to a kingdom in order to find answers to some meaningful questions. As a result, he founded a great religion that has enriched millions. More recently, another man used his out-of-the-box brand of thinking to begin dismantling the largest empire the world has known without so much as poking a finger into anyone’s side.\n\nCertainly, out-of-the-box thinking may be applied in the business world to great advantage, too.  The paper clip, Velcro, hotmail.com and You Tube are just some of the countless examples. In fact, when Christopher Columbus set sail to find a westward route to India it was essentially an out-of-the-box business enterprise.\n\nOut-of-the-box thinking does not guarantee success. In fact, the rate of failure is very high but for such thinkers the rush of pursuing an original idea is often reward enough.\n\nAnd such thinking can also be useful to ward off the harm of a potentially traumatic experience as in this advice by a much respected ancient sage: When rape is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it.
33159
Perhaps you are being too skeptical.  What is your purpose?
983909
Believe it or not, yes. Often