Sure...
So lost.
I think that's a good example...there's lots of others as well. I would take a look at the advice too...not just the OP.
I guess I'm not really seeing how this example exclusively ties into religious thinking? Seems like problems that non-theists find themselves in often as well.
I think perhaps you're overlooking their ability to learn something from those failures. Confidence may help them try, but without a clear ability to understand reality, they would simply be repeating failures over and over (I'm sure you know people like this, everyone does).
If someone is that clueless, I'd say they have more psychological problems other than over confidence.
Free will and determinism are interesting concepts...but they only attempt to describe what is...they don't change it.
Yeah, I'm talking about the psychological effects of realizing one over the other.
Since neither could be proven...it's a bit of a non-issue for me.
There have been some interesting studies done on free will. One being an experiment where the brain seems to light up before a conscious decision is made. Even something as simple as raising your hand up in the air. Not to mention I do not think the concept of free will makes sense purely on a physics level.
I don't want to keep repeating myself, so I'll just ask this once...why did these concepts make you feel suicidal? Was it because you believed so strongly otherwise?
The idea that if people do not really choose their actions, things like compassion, love, etc lose their merit.
I'd say that life is indifferent...but I can understand why it can look brutal. Again, I'd wonder if you'd even feel bad about this if you didn't first believe that there was a god who can magically make things alright.
I don't see that being true for myself. I've always been one to look at reality to the best of my abilities no matter how foul and unsavory they may be. Part of the reason I lost my faith in the first place. Even under Christianity I had many morbid realizations that made many of my fellow Christian peers turned off to me, lol.
That's a tough one...I think a lot of people never learn this lesson, or when they do, it's too late for them. It taught me that suicide isn't always the awful thing I believed it was. While that may not seem to have any advantages over the deluded person who believes in something else...I think I'm better prepared to handle a suicide of a close individual than I was before.
Well I haven't thus far received such benefits being an atheist.
That's certainly possible...but I'd probably take someone's word on it unless they showed me reason to believe otherwise.
From my experience with people, there is often much more to them than the simple front they put on for the public. It was true for when I was a Christian and I noticed it being true for many of my Christian peers.
Yeah, in my opinion though...they are a tiny minority compared to the swooning masses that pretend to feint when their pastor gets "the holy spirit".
My observations is that most theists are mildly skeptical, like most atheists I meet.
Even the people who are more charismatic about their faith compartmentalize that, and are actually quite reasonable and rational people outside of it.
I did...and to be sure, I'm really only talking about atheists who aren't unbelievers for emotional reasons. The logical/rational type.
I'm not either. I assume the atheists who are atheists for emotional reasons are a tiny minority. I'm talking about those who simply lack a belief because of a lack of sufficient evidence.
While I get what you're saying...I think it's difficult to overestimate how much things would change without religion.
Yet from the atheist circles I've been around, I've seen a huge degrade from only a few years ago. Those who once spoke of the virtue of free speech and open questioning have become feminists and now say things like "freeze peach" to mock those who still value free speech. I've seen them try to police people's sexuality be demonizing men for admiring female beauty. Try to be controlling with various weasel social justice language. Have concepts of "sin" revolving around cut throat concepts of what constitutes a racist/sexist/ablelist/etc.
It's actually quite remarkable how SJWs mimic much of the toxic mindsets many unsavory religious people exhibit. One can't help but think, that those toxic mindsets are deeper than religion and quite human, and people will find ways to express them regardless of the environment they are in.
In regards to intelligence...I think a lot more emphasis would be placed on public education, with a stronger emphasis on science and critical thinking, if for no other reason than to keep religion and superstition from creeping into the public mind again.
I think many atheists like to think of themselves as champions of reason and education, yet in reality many are quite lukewarm like the vast majority of theists. And often fall into their own biases that they want to protect. Like my examples from above.
