mattsidedish
New member
Hello all. My name is Matthew Rice (hence my screen name). I'm 17. I'm a law student in college as of now and am an active member of my community. I've been a long term member of many forums in the past few years, some of which being LessWrong, Secular Cafe, the Freethought and Rationalism Discussion Board, the Rational Skepticism Forum, and the Living Non Religion Discussion Forum. I will explain the purpose of my participation later in this thread.
I was born and raised as a southern baptist and in the past six months or so I've been looking around for some alternative views on life, the universe, and how we fit into it all. To my surprise, even in my exploits on very secular areas of discussion, I've yet to find a valid compelling set of evidence that refutes the possibility of an all powerful deity and it's influence on the creation of mankind. I will most likely explain all of my beliefs later on so I won't spoil it now.
Basically as far as information about me, there's not much to talk about. I'm very serious and literal. I greatly enjoy discussion on an intellectual basis. I love nature and will most likely start a Wildlife thread here if there is not already one, and post a multiplicity of my own photos. I'm also a very philosphical person. I'm always and have always been very open to any and all schools of thought about anything, but one fact remains with me, if not with other people. If I have a certain opinion about something and I have evidence to support it, it will take more than "well, you're wrong because A, B, C, or D." I would require, as well as any intellectual person would IMO, a valid piece of (or set of) evidence, as well as some logic to put it all together in order for me to change my opinion. After 3-4 years of discussion and ideal-seeking, I've encountered so many failures for arguments that I really can't begin to explain it all to you. What you need to know is that I'm very polite and try not to let anything get in my way of facilitating the manifestation of truth- a concept you will soon find to be my life motto. Finding truth in life seems to have been my pursuit since I left highschool. You will also soon find my explanation of "Intellectually Dishonesty," a concept that I'm very passionate about.
In lieu of ranting on and on about myself, I look forward to immediately meeting all of you and sharing thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics. I've done quite a bit of research on many issues, and have written papers (not assigned by professors) also on many issues just for the sake of knowledge, so if any of you need a second opinion or some more information on an issue, please ask me. I'm all about learning and forming opinions on subjects, and I greatly enjoy researching and finding new information that I hadn't previously been privy of.
I must stop now. Thanks in advance for your friendship and thought-provoking discussion.
I was born and raised as a southern baptist and in the past six months or so I've been looking around for some alternative views on life, the universe, and how we fit into it all. To my surprise, even in my exploits on very secular areas of discussion, I've yet to find a valid compelling set of evidence that refutes the possibility of an all powerful deity and it's influence on the creation of mankind. I will most likely explain all of my beliefs later on so I won't spoil it now.
Basically as far as information about me, there's not much to talk about. I'm very serious and literal. I greatly enjoy discussion on an intellectual basis. I love nature and will most likely start a Wildlife thread here if there is not already one, and post a multiplicity of my own photos. I'm also a very philosphical person. I'm always and have always been very open to any and all schools of thought about anything, but one fact remains with me, if not with other people. If I have a certain opinion about something and I have evidence to support it, it will take more than "well, you're wrong because A, B, C, or D." I would require, as well as any intellectual person would IMO, a valid piece of (or set of) evidence, as well as some logic to put it all together in order for me to change my opinion. After 3-4 years of discussion and ideal-seeking, I've encountered so many failures for arguments that I really can't begin to explain it all to you. What you need to know is that I'm very polite and try not to let anything get in my way of facilitating the manifestation of truth- a concept you will soon find to be my life motto. Finding truth in life seems to have been my pursuit since I left highschool. You will also soon find my explanation of "Intellectually Dishonesty," a concept that I'm very passionate about.
In lieu of ranting on and on about myself, I look forward to immediately meeting all of you and sharing thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics. I've done quite a bit of research on many issues, and have written papers (not assigned by professors) also on many issues just for the sake of knowledge, so if any of you need a second opinion or some more information on an issue, please ask me. I'm all about learning and forming opinions on subjects, and I greatly enjoy researching and finding new information that I hadn't previously been privy of.
I must stop now. Thanks in advance for your friendship and thought-provoking discussion.
