Just to echo the others that brought this up, I applaud your courage; few people have the guts to jump into the lions’ den, as it were. That said, I’m going to play the part of the lion (*) on this topic.
I suddenly became capable of feeling two new sensations, neither of which I’d felt before and neither of which, so far as I know, has words in English to describe it.
How do you know that these sensations come from a supernatural entity, and not from your own brain ? I know that if I started experiencing odd physical sensations, no matter how pleasant, this would be my first hypothesis (especially since, in my personal case, the risk of stroke is higher than average). In fact, if I experienced anything that radically contradicted my understanding of the world, I’d probably consider the following explanations, in order of decreasing likelihood:
I am experiencing some well-known cognitive bias.
My brain is functioning abnormally and thus I am experiencing hallucinations.
Someone is playing a prank on me.
Shadowy human agencies are testing a new chemical/biological/emissive device on me.
A powerful (yet entirely material) alien is inducing these sensations, for some reason.
A trickster spirit (such as a Kami, or the Coyote, etc.) is doing the same by supernatural means.
A localized god is to blame (Athena, Kali, the Earth Mother, etc.)
An omniscient, omnipotent, and generally all-everything entity is responsible.
This list is not exhaustive, obviously, it’s just some stuff I came up with off the top of my head. Each next bullet point is less probable than the one before it, and thus I’d have to reject pretty much every other explanation before arriving at “the Christian God exists”.
Is either of those well-known? What about the pattern with which they’re felt? Sound like anything you know? Me neither.
My brain is functioning abnormally and thus I am experiencing hallucinations.
That don’t have any other effect? That remain stable for years? With no other sign of mental illness? Besides, if I set out by assuming that I can’t tell anything because I’m crazy anyway, what good does that do me? It doesn’t tell me what to predict. It doesn’t tell me what to do. All it tells me is “expect nothing and believe nothing”. If I assume it’s just these hallucinations and everything else is normal, then I run into “my brain is functioning abnormally and I am experiencing hallucinations that tell me Christian doctrine is true even when I don’t know the doctrine in question”, which is the original problem you’re trying to explain.
A trickster spirit (such as a Kami, or the Coyote, etc.) is doing the same by supernatural means.
And instead of messing with me like a real trickster, it convinces me to worship something other than it and in so doing increases my quality of life?
However, there’s a reason I put “cognitive bias” as the first item on my list: I believe that it is overwhelmingly more likely than any alternatives. Thus, it would take a significant amount of evidence to convince me that I’m not laboring under such a bias, even if the bias does not yet have a catchy name.
That don’t have any other effect? That remain stable for years? With no other sign of mental illness?
AFAIK some brain cancers can present this way. In any case, if I started experiencing unusual physical symptoms all of a sudden, I’d consult a medical professional. Then I’d write down the results of his tests, and consult a different medical professional, just in case. Better safe than sorry.
And instead of messing with me like a real trickster, it convinces me to worship something other than it and in so doing increases my quality of life?
Trickster spirits (especially Tanuki or Kitsune) rarely demand worship; messing with people is enough for them. Some such spirits are more or less benign; the Tanuki and Raven both would probably be on board with the idea of tricking a human into improving his or her life.
That said, you skipped over human agents and aliens, both of which are IMO overwhelmingly more likely to exist than spirits (though that doesn’t make them likely to exist in absolute terms).
Just to echo the others that brought this up, I applaud your courage; few people have the guts to jump into the lions’ den, as it were. That said, I’m going to play the part of the lion (*) on this topic.
How do you know that these sensations come from a supernatural entity, and not from your own brain ? I know that if I started experiencing odd physical sensations, no matter how pleasant, this would be my first hypothesis (especially since, in my personal case, the risk of stroke is higher than average). In fact, if I experienced anything that radically contradicted my understanding of the world, I’d probably consider the following explanations, in order of decreasing likelihood:
I am experiencing some well-known cognitive bias.
My brain is functioning abnormally and thus I am experiencing hallucinations.
Someone is playing a prank on me.
Shadowy human agencies are testing a new chemical/biological/emissive device on me.
A powerful (yet entirely material) alien is inducing these sensations, for some reason.
A trickster spirit (such as a Kami, or the Coyote, etc.) is doing the same by supernatural means.
A localized god is to blame (Athena, Kali, the Earth Mother, etc.)
An omniscient, omnipotent, and generally all-everything entity is responsible.
This list is not exhaustive, obviously, it’s just some stuff I came up with off the top of my head. Each next bullet point is less probable than the one before it, and thus I’d have to reject pretty much every other explanation before arriving at “the Christian God exists”.
(*) Or a bobcat, at least.
Is either of those well-known? What about the pattern with which they’re felt? Sound like anything you know? Me neither.
That don’t have any other effect? That remain stable for years? With no other sign of mental illness? Besides, if I set out by assuming that I can’t tell anything because I’m crazy anyway, what good does that do me? It doesn’t tell me what to predict. It doesn’t tell me what to do. All it tells me is “expect nothing and believe nothing”. If I assume it’s just these hallucinations and everything else is normal, then I run into “my brain is functioning abnormally and I am experiencing hallucinations that tell me Christian doctrine is true even when I don’t know the doctrine in question”, which is the original problem you’re trying to explain.
And instead of messing with me like a real trickster, it convinces me to worship something other than it and in so doing increases my quality of life?
You’ve read xkcd?
In addition to dlthomas’s suggestion of the affect heuristic, I’d suggest something like the ideomotor effect amplified by confirmation bias.
However, there’s a reason I put “cognitive bias” as the first item on my list: I believe that it is overwhelmingly more likely than any alternatives. Thus, it would take a significant amount of evidence to convince me that I’m not laboring under such a bias, even if the bias does not yet have a catchy name.
AFAIK some brain cancers can present this way. In any case, if I started experiencing unusual physical symptoms all of a sudden, I’d consult a medical professional. Then I’d write down the results of his tests, and consult a different medical professional, just in case. Better safe than sorry.
Trickster spirits (especially Tanuki or Kitsune) rarely demand worship; messing with people is enough for them. Some such spirits are more or less benign; the Tanuki and Raven both would probably be on board with the idea of tricking a human into improving his or her life.
That said, you skipped over human agents and aliens, both of which are IMO overwhelmingly more likely to exist than spirits (though that doesn’t make them likely to exist in absolute terms).
Hadn’t everyone ? :-)
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It sounds a little like the affect heuristic.