Why do people believe in Materialism/rationalism?

[Paul]

I don't understand why people believe so much in materialism. I have nothing against material or technology, I'm using my computer to type this, after all. But It feels like people nowadays are like slaves. They believe that their happiness can only be found in material goods. Now again I have nothing against technology. Honestly, don't you think there's more than that to a human being? People claim to love money but it's only because of what it can offer to this type of society. In this world right now it's like money is a god or an idol to chase...We obviously need something to live off but what about our freedom? I personally think that the key for happiness is more than material. Some people will think I'm crazy and some may not, but don't you think it just feels great to love, forget about the past and live out of our epoch/century?I think this is true freedom. I got friends telling me they dream to be on T.V ect... But I mean, without trying to be offensive to anybody, isn't this a slave mentality? Or maybe corrupted? It's like the society and system we live in limit our freedom and mentality. Sometimes when I talk of freedom to some friends of mine they say " I get the choice of what I want to see on the television and on the computer."- just as an example. And I think it is a terrible example to choose because what freedom do we get from T.V? The media showing things around the world from their point of view and putting that same perception of the world into our heads ,we get loads of adverts showing either the "perfect" woman with products and such ect, ect... These same women are on magazines' covers making women wanting to be "feminine" and trying to give them an image of what being a real woman/girl means... And on the internet we get more and more adverts and websites like Facebook that get you dependent and even kill your social life sometimes. We get less and less freedom every single day. Now let me get back to what I was saying further up: Freedom is love, Forgiveness but also some sort of strength that we feel but don't see. Freedom is is all sort of good things we do daily I believe. It is far from what people think ( Drink as much alcohol as you'd like to, dress as you'd like to, steal as much as you want), because all of these, can simply make you guilty but more than that, it affects your humans qualities that make us different from any other creatures we know of. This is a type of freedom but the true freedom with a capital F is being able to Love, Forgive, Be in Peace (With other people but also with yourself) because Loving somebody frees you from any prejudices built by the centuries and the cultures. Loving destroys the culture ( which is a wall that stops us from being able to understand each other's values and makes us misjudge people around us). Do you see what I mean? (are you still reading by the way?).

Unlike what some people may think while reading this, I am not against science. Not at all. I believe in God. I do not believe in religion but I do believe in God, though. But I am not against the theory of Evolution. After all, God is Life and we humans change depending on our will so why wouldn't it be the case for the world around us? I just think that from the evolution of the ape to the human something happened. I believe it is when God gave us human the freedom of choice between good and evil. I am sure that this freedom and ability to understand things is what makes us different from any other creature in the Universe. E.g: We are the only creatures smart enough to be able not to be scared of fire. Animals know what fire is, yet they're still scared of it. I won't say we can touch fire with our hands and, you know, all this, but we are smart enough to "control it".This same freedom of choice between good and evil is so "real" that because of us human beings, the whole world is affected. There is no animal specie smart enough to "rule" or find a way to make the world work in a certain way. Now, is science evil? no. But there is what I call rationalism, people that try to find a logic for everything, and that try to explain everything. "Knowledge is Power" - This is absolutely true because we have to be conscious of whats around us because the freedom of an individual depends on his consciousness, but everything, every single thing must be done with the right balance, not a too small amount, but not a too big amount either. Rationalism and materialism being is overused nowadays because of the 1000 ways of the system and the politics to keep us in a sort of mental cage, in other words, our freedom is being killed, but the answer to this isn't to set a revolution or something. It is simply up to each of us, since we are free, to choose between good and evil, to change ourselves individually. It could be hard, but yet possible.

[Agent Sixty Three]

I will always choose right, I will always choose hope, I will always choose good, I will always choose love.

But God STILL doesn't exist.

[Stephen]

I agree! Life first, money second!

[Skeptikitten]

Text. Wall.


If you want a real response for crying out loud SUMMARIZE.

Most of this is a sort of stream of consciousness and has no real coherence to the question at hand.

[Biggle Piggle]

Because Materialism and Rationalism are the tough parts of life that we should face instead of bury ourselves in fantasy.

[lowfood750]

You are right, However I do not think it is technology, its the system.
Imagine a world where all jobs and work is automated by machine leaving humans to live their lives at their own free will. No money and no jobs. Remember technology is not trying to ruin peoples lives, technology is to help, that's the point of it.

However our "system" has developed a world where money and materialism are king and this has to go. It makes vile human beings and takes away what it is to be human.
Just imagine if all work can be automated then humans can then do whatever they wish, as well as developing human understanding and mentality. There is no rich or poor, were all equal then we can focus on what's really important.

Your belief in god is your own and as long as you are not a ignorant creationist then you can believe what you want. The system prevents what humans can really be like.

Its the system !

[Michael]

As opposed to what? Mysticism and irrationality?

[Eric]

I believe that we are captured by materialism and rationalism due to the fact that we are finite beings supplied data about the environment around us by five senses that rely upon physical inputs. We all tend to think in terms of the external rather than the internal. This is what leads people into thinking that what they do is who they are. If they lose their job they are in panic and feel threatened as a person. For example: when many pro atheletes retire they are at a loss as to who they are. They used to be the all star end or forward or goalie but now who are they? They have no internal sense of self, it has all been external.

Yes, I agree that freedom is rather illusory in today's society. Children frequently believe that adults get to do what ever they want to. The pity is that too man adults believe that they actually do get to do what ever they want. Or to think what ever they want. You are correct that the mass media has reached a point where they can easily control what all of us believe, if we do not stop to do our own thinking instead. This plays out in politics, economics, foreign policy, domestic policy, education, and faith.

In order to properly choose between good and evil, one must be able to accurately identify both "good" and "evil" don't they? Who is teaching that to anyone these days? Christians attempt to, but they often shoot themselves in the foot, limiting their positive impact on society as a whole.