I was in class last November and the teacher (the same one I have previously posted about) was talking about a king (I forget which one). I asked him how old the king was when he died. The teacher replied with a much older age than I had anticipated. Then, I asked who the oldest living person he had ever heard of, and their age at death. His answer was Methuselah, at about 969. I was surprised that he answered with a biblical person, but I nodded, and he went on speaking. Then, a girl, sitting next to me, said that she didn't believe a person could live that long. She went on to say that it was impossible for a human to live that long. The teacher and I exchanged glances, and he said to her, "Yes, you do." She sat startled for a moment and replied, "But it can't happen." He smiled, went to a book shelf, and picked up a copy of the Bible. He flipped through the pages for a moment, then began reading it. The girl looked very confused as the teacher read, until he got to a part about Methuselah. He then flipped through the Bible again, and began reading. He began to calculate aloud, and said "... yup, that's nine hundred sixty-nine alright." The girl said something like, "Ohhh, I guess I do. I didn't know he was in the bible, but I believe you now." She said that with as much belief as I have ever seen on a face. She did, then, believe. She went from disbelief to honest belief in a few seconds. The fact that Methuselah is in the bible overrode all of the reasoning she used to dismiss the account in the beginning. That both astounded and scared me. The issue I am concerned with is not the basis of her dismissal of Methuselah's Biblical age, but how readily and profoundly her mind changed with the mention of him in the Bible.

Thoughts, anyone?

• 'Sadness and Longing ' - quiet - January 2, 2003 - 21:29 UTC
  • Hmmm... - emperor__alikar - January 3, 2003 - 02:16 UTC
    • Standards of Proof and Disproof - quiet - January 3, 2003 - 20:29 UTC
      • Okay... - emperor__alikar - January 4, 2003 - 02:42 UTC
        • More - stormcrow - January 4, 2003 - 04:47 UTC
          • Entropy in complex systems - quiet - January 4, 2003 - 05:59 UTC
        • Changed Earth Orbit? - richard - January 6, 2003 - 02:28 UTC
          • What if we were arguing about stuff that Aaron didn't post? - quiet - January 6, 2003 - 21:21 UTC
            • You are correct. It is illogical to seek only illogical topics. - kantolfir2 - January 8, 2003 - 01:51 UTC
          • It actually doesn't take that much... - emperor__alikar - January 7, 2003 - 01:50 UTC
• That is kind of scary... - emperor__alikar - January 3, 2003 - 02:03 UTC
  • Elaboration - stormcrow - January 3, 2003 - 05:17 UTC
    • That is true... - emperor__alikar - January 4, 2003 - 02:24 UTC
  • I'm very confused, but I don't think I'm the only one. - phillipmartin - January 4, 2003 - 03:02 UTC
    • Enoch - emperor__alikar - January 4, 2003 - 04:47 UTC
      • Would not have been that dumb - quiet - January 4, 2003 - 20:45 UTC
      • It didn't matter that much anyway. - phillipmartin - January 4, 2003 - 21:36 UTC
        • Genes - emperor__alikar - January 5, 2003 - 01:23 UTC
          • Thats what I said. - phillipmartin - January 5, 2003 - 05:22 UTC
            • Old Age... - emperor__alikar - January 5, 2003 - 18:26 UTC
              • ...ain't what it used to be - quiet - January 5, 2003 - 20:17 UTC
              • ... brings Alzheimer's - stormcrow - January 6, 2003 - 01:44 UTC
    • Confusion is not feigned, but real - quiet - January 4, 2003 - 17:54 UTC
      • mistake. - emperor__alikar - January 5, 2003 - 01:27 UTC
    • This is why I said your confusion is not feigned - quiet - January 4, 2003 - 20:48 UTC
      • Most who I know are just afraid of changing their minds. - phillipmartin - January 4, 2003 - 22:12 UTC
        • I was arguing for an ideal and must admit you are being logical - quiet - January 4, 2003 - 22:19 UTC
• A satiric look at the Religious Rumors of the 20th Century? - kantolfir2 - January 5, 2003 - 18:05 UTC