Who has permanent residence in your head?

I have been reading a new series by Don Everts. Short, to the point, entertaining, and compelling, Everts has personified the ideas living in his head and explains the way in which he thinks. The converse, they fight, they try to work it out. I'm a fan.

When is the last time you thought through why you believed something? Working with college students, I often hear opinions being firmly expressed. It's astonishing to me how people can strongly assert their belief is the "right" one. In seminary, some of my favorite professors were those who had landed on a belief but were humble enough to admit they could be wrong. Really humble... not the I could be wrong but I actually think you're the one that's very wrong kind of humility.

The ability to be adaptable and flexible with one's beliefs while being grounded at the same time is a difficult endeavor. When I encounter someone who is rather resolute or even militant about a belief, I tend to think they have a pretty shaky foundation. The need for someone else to agree with one's beliefs indicates a lack of confidence in that belief.

With our postmodern culture, most of our beliefs come from our experiences. I experienced pre-marital sex as enjoyable, therefore it is fine/okay/good. The problem with basing our beliefs on experiences is that two people can share the same experience but come away with very different interpretations. Give the experience some time and the interpretation can and will change.

Sex for the first time can be amazing for the guy... and it probably is since it's not so complicated for men to enjoy sex. First time sex for a woman however, is most likely disappointing if not absolutely traumatic. But she won't tell the guy since she doesn't want to hurt the feelings of the guy she loves. Or she doesn't know what good sex is until much later. Wow, my first time really was a D+. How do I know? Plenty of girl talk and personal experience. So... pretty much my experience has taught me that pre-marital sex is pretty lame. Who's "right?"

This begins a series of posts about the nature of ideas/beliefs... how we come to form them, how they change, and how to know you've formed them with true critical thinking.

Note to self: Post in the future about the ridiculous notion that having sex is the way to show you love each other.

Note to readers: If you want to know more about women and their views on sex, see When Harry Met Sally for the infamous orgasm scene.