Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Isnt this just a way to bail out when facing too much complexity (and the universe is indeed too large for us to use logic at this scale) ?

I kinda feel like you beside the notion of God. I understand that living in anxiety (my previous way of living) is not optimal. That things are too chaotic, and often relying on paradoxically blind trust can yield better solutions. Paradoxical in the sense that trust also help you to see things calmer and clearer which is a requirement for reasoned thinking.

I guess this ties into the problem of living in chaos[0], which is how the world used to be, and probably how humans managed to go through with such high levels of uncertainty.

[0] pardon the link but trading also exemplify this.



// Isnt this just a way to bail out when facing too much complexity

I understand your point and if it was "just" that it would be valuable enough as you say.

The only thing I can say for my case, is I came to this point through religious study that was motivated by a search for truth. This calmness is an unexpected side effect, it was not the motivator.


Oh and btw my phrasing may sound a bit harsh and personal but I was asking about the general idea you mentioned, not attacking you. (Just in case it might felt that way on your side of the screen). I just failed to write it clearer.

What caused you to seek truth (even though I guess most of us have this reflex 24/7) ? Then chose to do so through religious study ?


Sorry for delayed response, it's so much easier to get sucked in arguing with the doubters than to answer someone curious like yourself.

To answer your question, part of it has always been there. Eg my parents raised me to always question and grow. Meaning, if I have a day where I just ate/played/slept with nothing to show for it, it didn't feel good. If I learned and understood something new then it's a good day. So I was kinda bootstrapped with that approach.

Then over my life (I turned 40 this year) I have been exposed to different things that I approached with open mindedness. When I got more exposure to at first yoga and then Judaism, I recognized on both of these things a tradition of people trying to push their levels of understanding, in the same way that I am compelled to. To a naive person religion comes across as dogmatic, just unquestioned answers, but I quickly recognized that religion is really about asking the biggest questions there are and then the smartest people of their generations have spent cumulative millennia contemplating the answers. So it slowly but surely resonated with me.

It's kind of like.. imagine someone never had watermelon until they were 30, but once they tasted it they loved it. The reality is that they must have always loved watermelon they just didn't know it. And luckily they were open minded enough to taste it which let them discover that they had this hunger within them to begin with.




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2026 batch! Applications are open till May 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: