TST Trainer
Wisdom Mix
MODE:
~
7 minutes
Religion:
Human attempts to understand the currently unknown and unknowable.
From ancient stones to distant stars, the human journey is one of reflection, reason, and the ongoing search for truth.
Wisdom Mix.
Here are 10 random key ideas and takeaways.
1.
Article summary.
.
The Bible is both sacred scripture to many and a human historical document shaped by oral tradition, authorship, editing, canonization, translation, interpretation, and evolving moral values. Read it with respect and to understand, but do not surrender your critical thinking.
Subject: Holy Bible.
A mature philosophy of religion does not mock holy books, nor does it blindly obey them. It places them in context. The Bible can hold wisdom, beauty, history, poetry, moral insight, and troubling ancient assumptions at the same time. Open minds can honor its influence while still sorting each idea it contains within historical, symbolic, ethical, and a primitive idea humanity needs to outgrow.
2.
Quote.
- William Kingdon Clifford.
- 1877.
.
Clifford argued that personal belief is a moral responsibility to humanity, not just a private habit. You have a moral obligation to be careful what you believe.
Subject: Belief.
Belief is not just private. What you believe shapes you and the world around you. Although his suggestion is stricter than most like, I think he wants you to treat belief as a responsibility: seek evidence where you can, stay humble where you cannot, and do not let wishful thinking do the work of truth.
3.
From History: 2080: 60 Years From Now (+/- 10 years).
.
With small steps, help humanity strive for a shared empirical origin story. Only from that stable foundation will we acheive global cooperation.
Subject: Futurism.
Promote the idea that as scientific literacy expands, the bulk of humanity will converge on a common empirical account of its origins. This does not eliminate spirituality or meaning; it allows them to thrive in their proper place. A shared origin story grounded in evidence strengthens cooperation, reduces tribal conflict, and supports long-horizon flourishing, all while preserving space for the unknown and unknowable.
4.
.
About 50% worldwide identify with one of the Abrahamic religions. Christians about 31%, Muslims about 24%, and Jews a tiny .2%.
Subject: Hasty Generalization.
Hasty generalizations extend evidence beyond the reasonable. Nearly 60% of humanity today identifies with one of the three Abrahamic religions. Also, about one in five humans accepts the story of Noah’s Ark as literal history. That God brought wrath upon the Earth, killed everyone except Noah and a few to make a point. They believe God killed ordinary people simply living their lives, and that all modern humans are descended from a single surviving family.
5.
Quote.
- Thomas Aquinas.
- circa 1265.
.
Situational ethics, like Just War Theory, can be brought down to your life. When you cannot turn the other cheek, strive for a response that is proportionate and never exceeds the harm done.
Subject: Situational Ethics.
Life does not always give us peaceful people or clean choices. Sometimes you must respond. But living well means resisting the urge to escalate. Situational ethics reminds us that a proportionate response protects dignity, limits damage, and keeps pain from multiplying. Even when you must push back, do not let someone else’s wrong turn you into more of the same.
6.
From History: Spirituality is exploration..
New Look.
When publicly discussing spirituality, distinguish thought of the material world, what we directly experience, from the spiritual interpretations beyond it. Organize each spiritual idea into agnostic, non-theistic, and theistic.
Subject: 2 Layers & Metaphysics.
Spiritual ideas have an agnostic, non-theistic, or theistic posture. They can also be calibrated to reality as empirically true, rationally true, speculative, or disproven. Speculative ideas remain open but unsupported; disproven ideas have failed against reality and should be released as truth.
7.
.
Belief in determinism has deeply shaped science by encouraging thinkers to search for order, causes, and laws beneath nature’s surface.
Subject: Free Will.
From Aristotle to Spinoza to Einstein, the thinkers behind determinism are heavy weights. However, believe in determinism or indeterminism is a believe and this is a good example of how belief influenced philosophy and science. Einstein was solidly in the God does not play dice with the universe camp.
8.
Quote.
- Roger Williams.
- May 6, 1682..
.
We don’t know exactly when Roger Williams was born, nor died. For his birth, we don’t even know the year. He was born circa 1602. For his death, we know for sure it was 1683 and around March.
Subject: Roger Williams.
The exact birth and death dates of Roger Williams has been lost to history…so far at least. We think he was born around 1602, give or take a few years. We know he passed in 1683, and by April 1st. We also know he was alive on January 15th. We also believe he was about 80 or 81 when he passed. It’s interesting how much is lost to time for even the famous just a few hundred years ago.
9.
From History: 76,000 BCE.
.
By 76,000 BCE our cognitive ability meets emotional intelligence. Is this when we started believing in one story?
Subject: Ancient Humans.
The burial of Mtoto suggests more than care for the dead—it hints at shared meaning. Preparing a child for burial implies intention, ritual, and perhaps a growing sense of “us.” This may mark an early moment when humans began aligning around a common story about life, death, and belonging.
10.
.
Religion can shape a worldview, but it is not science unless its claims can be tested.
Subject: Philosophy of Religion.
Religion and science both begin with human wonder, but they follow different rules. Science tests claims about the material world through evidence and experiment. Religion organizes meaning, faith, morality, and the unknown. Think well by letting each do its proper work without confusing belief with scientific validation.
Done. Refresh for another set.
TST Trainer
(c) 2025-2026 TouchstoneTruth.
Writing and coding by Michael Alan Prestwood.
(c) 2025-2026 TouchstoneTruth.
Writing and coding by Michael Alan Prestwood.
