Radical Empiricism

"In its most radical forms, empiricism holds that all of our knowledge is derived from the senses. This position leads naturally to the verificationist principle that the meaning of statements is inextrically tied to the experiences that would confirm them. According to this principle, it is only if it is possible to empirically test a claim that the claim has meaning. As all of our information comes from our senses, it is impossible for us to talk about that which we have not experienced. Statements that are not tied to our experiences are therefore meaningless.

This principle, which was associated with a now unpopular position called logical positivism, renders religious and ethical claims literally nonsensical. No observations could confirm religious or ethical claims, therefore those claims are meaningless. Radical empiricism thus requires the abandonment of religious and ethical discourse, let alone belief." - http://www.theoryofknowledge.info/empiricism.html

"No observations could confirm religious or ethical claims, therefore those claims are meaningless"

Only when you forget about life's herstory on this planet; religious thought from Abrahamic origin tells us an All powerful God is up there. He has the capability to 'punish' us (comets, tectonic upheaval) but also It's what was allready there when we became aware of Him, It, it... whatever. We know we arose from this universe and we know it'll kill us if we do not adapt. That's what lies at the core of the three Abrahamic religions; Judaism, Christianity and Islam.... Now pair each one of them up with the one of the life forces.

Hunger or suffering is basic to the jewish story. Roaming the desert for 40 years, in search of the land of milk and honey. Judaism is the personifacation of hunger.

Look at Christianity, the protector of modern capitalism, the agent of lust. Don't get me started on all those pedophile priests. Christianity has sexuallity at his core, mostly fear thereof.

Islam. For both jews and christians today and in memory Islam equals fear.

I know this hasn't to do with anything factual and scientific. I know that all people within all religions experience all three force and none of them experience their religion as a metaphor for any thing, let alone a life force, it's still a remarkable coincidense when you find out the more eastern way of thinking about life and reduce their thoughts to the trinity of our consciousness;

Buddha tells us:

The Four Noble Truths Are:

1. Life means suffering.

2. The origin of suffering is attachment.

3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.

4. The path to the cessation of suffering.

  
1. The original suffering is not to be able to feed: hunger
2. Attachment is to cling. It is the other side of the coin, pleasure or lust. You'll first experience lust for food, then pain.
3. Cessation of suffering is in a real sense loosing your appitite. Fear does that to you...

4. well, its a guide to not suffering, a thing all life forms go for. For us it's more difficult... hence religion.
When we apply the 'Theory of Reduction' to our consciousness (senses as described above) and we incorporate this with the 'Theory of Evolution', starting out as single-celled microbes we arrive at the most logical, rational, foundational, coherent and reliable conclusion; hunger & lust is/are the life force. The third force, completing the trinity, is the Buddha's Third Noble Truth:  Cessation of suffering. (suffering is Buddha's first Noble Truth, i.e. Hunger, second is desire, i.e. Lust. It all describes our Original Consciousness) What is it that keeps us from suffering? It’s our Fear of suffering. It’s all over the place, we’ve known it all along; pain, pleasure, fear… It’s in all our metaphors, all our superlatives. Lust for this, Hunger for that, fear for this and fear for that. Freedom means doing what you want, desire. Pain is failing to do what you want. The origin of suffering is desire, 2^nd noble truth.

We are the ‘free’ to influence our own destiny, making choices. These choices are either based on one of the three life-forces, hunger, lust or fear. Or they are based on the hard-laboured new and inescapable force; Love. Not romantic love, not abstract emotions making us cry-kind-a-love, but practical love. Love that kept us alive.

This love, I’ve written about extensively in my blog “Hidden in plain view: Hunger is the Life Force” is the original love; mother-love.

At this moment we are deprived of the knowledge, gnosis, from which we came. Soon we’ll have to accept that for life to survive, we humans, created in the image of our creator, are ourselves creators and victims of our senses, our consciousness. Without us, life will not be able to create her/our next phase in life. By cannibalising on the consciousness of others, we created the extreme opposites within our consciousness, her, life’s experience.

The simple fact is that life eventually will have to leave this planet. For her to leave this planet she needs near-perfect Sophia’s. The near perfect woman. To experience the selfish atrocities together with the, less well known, deeds of altruism, she’ll be able to keep the good and discard the bad.

Out there in space we have no planet to fall back on, no save haven. We’ll be completely depending on and other. Depending on the other. Your neighbour. You don’t have to even like your neighbour, but you must love him. Whenever required, you’ll save his ass when you can. Don’t cause Hunger, don’t cause Pain, don’t cause fear. And when in Lust, refrain.