An interesting series of questions here. People of all religions struggle with the deeper meaning of life and their core beliefs. I guess, for the atheist or the humanist, that's the question you have to struggle with; which is worse in your mind, the possibility that there are super-natural forces or a God or gods controlling things, which brings to bear the terrifying notion that you are not in complete, total, 100% control of your destiny, and that the universe has an order and rules that you must follow, but that you yourself did not set, which, to many, is an intolerable situation, or, that there are no gods or super-natural forces, and that you are exactly what you are in flesh and blood and this consciousness really is all there is to life, and all the unpleasant limitations and implications that means with regards to the meaning of life and humanity's place in the universe. I do find the prospect of a non-theistic, non-intelligent universe quite pessimistic, and a little irrational, when I think really hard about it. I don't think I follow you here. Are you a believer in determinism? If so, what exactly "determines" your actions or your fate. Is the universe some blind, dumb machine that just cranks on forever, and everything that occurs is just the natural result of it's machinations, which make up natural law? Or does the script require a scriptwriter? Knowing what little I know about probabilities and numerous outcomes, or simply asking the questions "well how would things be different if person X did action Y instead of Z?," I do not believe that we mere mortal humans could ever master natural law and be aware of all conceivable paths and probabilities at each occurance where different choices are available to accurately predict the future. It seems to me that this same sort of idea could be advanced by a Deist, who would think just as you have expressed, except he would believe that the cosmos were set in motion by some sort of intelligence.
i dont, and i see no reason to. i can accept things the way they are. i can accept the best guesses of science about the universe, and if their theories change, fine. i am unaffected. i accept the sutuation as it is, and do not beat myself up because there are things i do not know, or even worse, make up explanations. i do not have to struggle with anything. i accept what we can know and go from there. there may be a god, there may not. i see no reason to think there is, so i dont make up a system of beliefs and things that god cares about or likes, or stories about what god does or did or whatever. i dont need that. that isnt so bad. it certainly isnt so bd that i need to delude myself in order to deal with it. i know my life means nothing, and i am ok with it. i know that if you blew my brains out tonight it would not matter. i am a pattern of information. i am ones and zeros. it doesnt depress me to realize it. i dont need to make up a soul and pretend something magic is going on. based on what? for a second consider what you are saying. all you know is that the universe exists, and here you are. thats all. any assumptions about intelligent design or a god are of your invention. is that so hard to accept? i am aware that reality is a pill most of you cannot swallow. you people need your allah, your jesus, your whatever. i dont.
Jetstorm... I don't really struggle with any of that. There is no deep meaning of life; I accept that I'm just a byproduct of mindless, purposeless cosmic occurrences, and I'm supremely confident in my beliefs. That's because you want an eternal life of happiness. Without that want you'd have little cause for pessimism. I'm not sure I desire such a destiny, so my own personal pessimism doesn't derive from that particular want. In light of the evidence, atheism is the ONLY rational course. Yes. The immutable laws of nature control everything. Yes No. You're entirely correct on that count, but the fact that we can't make perfect predictions doesn't mean our lives are not predetermined. That's correct, and in that case even though the universe runs unattended it does so on a scripted purpose. The materialist, on the other hand, sees no purpose.
I don't see how anybody, atheist or theist, can be absolutely certain about their beliefs. I mean, afterall, they are beliefs - not facts, not science or math, just beliefs. How can anyone count out the possibility that there is a God. No matter how much science is done - there will always be the question, what started it all. The big bang? Came from somewhere... Perhaps God is not some infalable, omnipitent being, but rather just something that created the universe - and was simply converted into this idea of a being by people to help people coprehend the magnitude of the universe. I'm of the belief that there must be some higher being, something that started it all. But religion - "the opiot of the people" that's all it is. The idea of heaven and eternal life is a way of keeping people in order. Do good, you get ice cream (go to Heaven). Do bad, you get a spanking (Hell). Why do all major religions have a figure of a man in them? Jesus, Muhammad etc. It's so that people can relate to it, so that people will buy into it, and so that people will follow it. How can you be absolutely certain that there is a God? You feel it? Are you the same religion as your parents? What if your parents had been of a different religion, chances are you could feel "it" for whatever God that told you was right to believe in. It's no coincidence that children grow up to be the same religion as their parents (atleast still Christian or whatever the case may be, wether Catholic or whatever). If there is only one right religion, what makes you certain its yours?
exactly. i am only certain that i dont know anything, i wont accept made up things just because they might calm my nerves. good post, why cant the rest of you think like cparso? you are all brainwashed and scared into belief. you do not want the spanking that cparso describes.
