mugaliens
02-November-2008, 12:07 PM
IMPORTANT: Please read before taking the poll!
While discussing various beliefs and faiths with another, I more or less stumbled across the following approach, which, if I'm not mistaken, can categorize people into one or more of four classes.
After putting these together, I realized that the first two are opposites, and that while few people fall into either category, the rest fall somewhere between one end and the other. The second thing I realized is that second two are also opposites, and the same applies as to the first two. In other words, the Practical/Pragmatic-Mystical (PM) is one scale, and the Predeterminist-Existentialist (PM) is another scale. These two scales are orthoganal. That is, where someone falls on one scale has no bearing as to where they fall on the other.
Thus, I made the poll in two parts, comprised of the first two types, and of the second two types.
Please check either 1 or 2, and check either 3 or 4. Please pick the one that describes you best, even if it's just 60% one and 40% the other. If you feel you're equally one or the other, please check both. The reason for this is simple. Let's say just two people voted, one who checked 1, and the other who fell in the middle and didn't check either. The polls results would then be skewed to 100% report 1. If the second person instead checks both, the results, at 66.7% are still skewed, but they're more accurate (75% would be the right answer) than 100%.
Thanks!
1. The Practical/Pragmatic: What is, is - nothing is spiritual. These folks do not believe anything that cannot be seen, touched, smelled, or heard. The "spiritual world" is sight unseen, and therefore, non-existant. Many atheists and agnostics fall into this group.
2. The Mystical: The will of God - everything is spiritual. To these folks, there's a whole other world out there, and that's where these folks live out there existence. "The will of God" overrides all other considerations. Where there is a conflict with the physical world, the anwer is usually, "it's not God's will (will of the spirits, whatever) for this to happen, or for that not to happen, and that is why it did/didn't happen." In other words, everything is in the spirtual realm, and the physical realm is but a consequence. Many of the more radical believers in various spiritual realms (all faiths/religions) fall into this category.
3. The Predeterminist: Non-spiritual versions of the mystics - the fates have determined... Instead of things being the will of god(s)/spirits, things are set in motion by things beyond one's control, either genetics, or by environment. Few people truly exist here in a pure fashion. One subgroup are behaviorists who feel that genetics plays an overriding role in determining who we are.
4. The Existentialist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism): Opposite of the Predeterminist - life is what you make it. The folks may or may not believe in God, and may even be nihilists, but all believe that life is what you make it. Many mainstream people of all faiths fall, more or less, into this category, as do many atheists and agnostics.
While discussing various beliefs and faiths with another, I more or less stumbled across the following approach, which, if I'm not mistaken, can categorize people into one or more of four classes.
After putting these together, I realized that the first two are opposites, and that while few people fall into either category, the rest fall somewhere between one end and the other. The second thing I realized is that second two are also opposites, and the same applies as to the first two. In other words, the Practical/Pragmatic-Mystical (PM) is one scale, and the Predeterminist-Existentialist (PM) is another scale. These two scales are orthoganal. That is, where someone falls on one scale has no bearing as to where they fall on the other.
Thus, I made the poll in two parts, comprised of the first two types, and of the second two types.
Please check either 1 or 2, and check either 3 or 4. Please pick the one that describes you best, even if it's just 60% one and 40% the other. If you feel you're equally one or the other, please check both. The reason for this is simple. Let's say just two people voted, one who checked 1, and the other who fell in the middle and didn't check either. The polls results would then be skewed to 100% report 1. If the second person instead checks both, the results, at 66.7% are still skewed, but they're more accurate (75% would be the right answer) than 100%.
Thanks!
1. The Practical/Pragmatic: What is, is - nothing is spiritual. These folks do not believe anything that cannot be seen, touched, smelled, or heard. The "spiritual world" is sight unseen, and therefore, non-existant. Many atheists and agnostics fall into this group.
2. The Mystical: The will of God - everything is spiritual. To these folks, there's a whole other world out there, and that's where these folks live out there existence. "The will of God" overrides all other considerations. Where there is a conflict with the physical world, the anwer is usually, "it's not God's will (will of the spirits, whatever) for this to happen, or for that not to happen, and that is why it did/didn't happen." In other words, everything is in the spirtual realm, and the physical realm is but a consequence. Many of the more radical believers in various spiritual realms (all faiths/religions) fall into this category.
3. The Predeterminist: Non-spiritual versions of the mystics - the fates have determined... Instead of things being the will of god(s)/spirits, things are set in motion by things beyond one's control, either genetics, or by environment. Few people truly exist here in a pure fashion. One subgroup are behaviorists who feel that genetics plays an overriding role in determining who we are.
4. The Existentialist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism): Opposite of the Predeterminist - life is what you make it. The folks may or may not believe in God, and may even be nihilists, but all believe that life is what you make it. Many mainstream people of all faiths fall, more or less, into this category, as do many atheists and agnostics.