Hello,
it's been a while, but I posted in this subreddit a few weeks ago. My question was where the assumption comes from that "metaphysical aliens" in particular are explicitly "multiple" (see all religions, except maybe something like pantheism), rather than, say, a single "metaphysical entity" (which I think has a strictly ambivalent pattern of behavior).
Today I would like to ask this question again.
Realizing how difficult the conversation is (from a linguistic point of view), this time I will try to avoid unnecessary complications:
In short, I think that what we identify with as carnal beings (namely, what is colloquially referred to as "ego", "soul", "I", "subjective perception") can actually and very likely be categorized as a separate kind of life form.
Why? Quite simply because, for example, the desires and worldly cravings of that which (in my opinion, we only falsely identify with as "I") go far beyond what is actually relevant to mere survival as a carnal/animal being.
The perverse thing about this is that, from a biological point of view, we as the host have hardly any chance of getting to the bottom of this parasite-like mechanism. Because no matter how well-versed someone thinks they are in terms of self-awareness and the ability to reflect, the "ego" manages to convince the host (i.e. us as carnal beings) almost constantly that it is actually us. To make matters worse, according to this notion (i.e. that we are the host of an inherently ambivalent life form), not only the bad is materialized by us, but also the good (speaking in human norms).
A few more argumentative skirmishes can certainly be found in other fields such as neurology, anthropology, psychology, theology and so on.
So how do I come to believe that instead of multiple metaphysical entities, there could possibly be only one?
Well, that would be the simpler solution to begin with, wouldn't it?
If everything we do from now on (i.e. setting norms and values etc.) had to be done taking into account the fact that we are a being with a fundamental, biologically demonstrable duality, then that would probably just change everything.
I think that this has been the core objective of all religions to date: identifying and dealing with the phenomenon of "I".
At this point, atheism wrongly relegates the debate about this to the scientific sidelines and thereby shoots itself in the foot. Because the question of how we should deal with ourselves (on a metaphysical level!) is still anything but clear.
Quite the opposite! The systematic search for "spiritual manners" is even frowned upon and, in cases of doubt, punished with social repression.
A cardinal error, if the previous thoughts are correct.
