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Agnostism has been around for a long time. Sanjaya Belatthiputta, a teacher who lived round 2600 years ago in todays India, was the proponent of the Ajñana school of thought. Followers of this school were also known as Skeptics, this movement basically said that no useful knowledge can be obtained from the metaphysical.

Sanjaya Belatthiputta is said to have stated :

“If you ask me if there exists another world [after death], if I thought that there exists another world, would I declare that to you? I don't think so. I don't think in that way. I don't think otherwise. I don't think not. I don't think not not. If you asked me if there isn't another world... both is and isn't... neither is nor isn't... if there are beings who transmigrate... if there aren't... both are and aren't... neither are nor aren't... if the Tathagata exists after death... doesn't... both... neither exists nor exists after death, would I declare that to you? I don't think so. I don't think in that way. I don't think otherwise. I don't think not. I don't think not not.”

What is known about this school comes from Jain and Buddist texts, while skeptism is present in much earlier texts such as the Brahmanas and Early Upanishads, this school proposed that it is a fact that the human intellect is limited, no one can claim to know everything and therefore nothing can be known to be true. They held that all teachings, including religious teachings are nonsense since they have no basis. They seem to have believed that even if the knowledge was within our reach, attaining this knowledge would be useless to us because of our limited intellect. So why bother?

What do you guys think?

Sadanty 5 May 18
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I dare say, NOT believing in fantastic and unproven tripe, probably goes back even further than believing it.
You have to be taught to be gullible, not believing comes naturally

1

Interesting. I hadn't known about this group. I'm not sure about not attaining any knowledge. Speculative "knowledge", yes, but there are things we can know. Though doubt is usually a good thing.

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