Mindless rambling about reason

Humans are essentially normal animals, but we have this thing that sets us apart called reason. Reason is a tool used by the brain. The brain is a powerful being when it uses this reason. It can understand so many things. Unfortunately, the brain has this funny idea that it knows everything, which is obviously not true. When the brain sees something that it DOESN'T understand with reason, it sometimes creates an excuse for not understanding it. Some people call this excuse Faith.

The question here is, what if this thing that the brain sees really is supernatural? What if there are things in this universe that the brain cannot ever hope to comprehend? Would those things be something we can have faith in? Or should we go with the safe route and knowingly scrap faith in it's entirety?

Reason is the part of our brain that tells us to not hump the couch when company is over.

"Humans are essentially normal animals, but we have this thing that sets us apart called reason. Reason is a tool used by the brain. The brain is a powerful being when it uses this reason. It can understand so many things. Unfortunately, the brain has this funny idea that it knows everything, which is obviously not true. When the brain sees something that it DOESN'T understand with reason, it sometimes creates an excuse for not understanding it. Some people call this excuse Faith.

"Reason is the part of our brain that tells us to not hump the couch when company is over.


"

What appears to be magic or supernatural may in fact be wholly comprehensible. Look at childbirth. Once thought to be a miracle, we now understand how it works and the awesome forces that make it possible (not that that makes it any less amazing). Never have 100% faith that something is beyond your understanding, because if you search for the truth you may find it.

I don't believe the right word to use is reason, rather the right word should be cognitive thinking. I've never taken psychology before, but I did take a religion course were this one priest tried effortlessly to convince the class that humans did not evolve from animals, and that were in fact not animals. Although I didn't agree with what he said, he did bring up the idea that it's our ability to employ cognition that seperates us from monkeys.

As for your question, you haven't made a clear definition between what we cannot understand and what simply cannot grasp, which I think are two different things. Take a look at monotheistic religion like Christianity, or a common subdenomination, Roman Catholicism. They understand what the Holy Trinity is, yet they simply cannot grasp it, they know the meaning, they understand how it works, but simply due to the divine nature of it, cannot fully come to grip with what it truly means. That is were you could, or should draw the line between rational thinking and faith.

"I don't believe the right word to use is reason, rather the right word should be cognitive thinking. I've never taken psychology before, but I did take a religion course were this one priest tried effortlessly to convince the class that humans did not evolve from animals, and that were in fact not animals. Although I didn't agree with what he said, he did bring up the idea that it's our ability to employ cognition that seperates us from monkeys.

As for your question, you haven't made a clear definition between what we cannot understand and what simply cannot grasp, which I think are two different things. Take a look at monotheistic religion like Christianity, or a common subdenomination, Roman Catholicism. They understand what the Holy Trinity is, yet they simply cannot grasp it, they know the meaning, they understand how it works, but simply due to the divine nature of it, cannot fully come to grip with what it truly means. That is were you could, or should draw the line between rational thinking and faith."

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Do you not think many animals can reason?

I think you have mis-interpreted faith. Faith, (to me at least) is a strong belief unsupported by any scientific proof. Having faith is akin to having knowledge. In the scientific framework, knowledge is arrived at though rational deduction and  from first principles; it uses peer review and criticism and is bound by the relativistic scientific notion of knowledge. Faith based thinking needs none of these balances, so consequently there are many faiths.

Before I chomp in to an apple picked from a tree, I inspect it for small holes. If there is one, experience tells me there is likely to be a maggot in it. If there are no holes in the apple, I can assume there is no maggot in the apple. Your beliefs can be guided by your experience, so perhaps you should start checking your apples for holes.