No, some of us don't (or don't often) experience that wonderful confidence and certainty—because we, too, value human-comprehensible logic to a fault. Believe me, I know that in stepping toward faith I am stepping away from the whole logically constructed universe, from everything that can be and has been measured and tentatively explained by science. Now, in most of my life, that is where I live and work and think. So when I do get washed over with a feeling of joy and certainty about my faith, another part of my mind is going, wai-wai-wait! This doesn't meet the standard! It isn't up to code! Don't trust it! And all the ineffable certainty wafts away to find a friendlier home.nerdanel wrote:I "get" it, though I share your concerns about why it could be problematic. You can have a strong emotional (spiritual?) "certainty" about something, even as the logical/analytic parts of your mind admit that you cannot "know" that thing - in the sense of earth-based/human understanding - to a certainty.Alatar wrote:I just don't get how anyone can be "certain" about something that can't be proven. Thats just strong belief, surely, not certainty?
Those of us who value human-comprehensible logic to a fault may feel that this emotional "certainty" is not true "certainty," but that doesn't change the fact that a believer may experience it that way. I emphasize "may" because it sounds as though some religious people (e.g. Prim) do NOT experience faith that way, if I'm understanding correctly.
I'm not going to abandon science; it works, for everything except the supernatural, whose existence it can't measure. If I were 100% logically consistent, I would therefore deny that the supernatural can exist. If I were capable of taking the Bible literally, I would therefore deny that science is valid. I can't do either one.
So that's me, stuck here on the floor between two barstools. Just hand me down a drink now and then, okay?