Ask an atheist

[grey.tea]

not as serious as some of the other questions but what are your favorite books/authors?
also: what are your favorite songs/artists?

 

[Wedjat]

It's rather fascinating actually. When they decoded a particular cancer DNA, the music that played was Chopin's Funeral March. Cool huh?

Forgive me if I find that very hard to believe. A credible source would help, if it were true that would be rather fascinating, possibly even alter my faith...

I was the biggest evolution fan, and have many Scientist icons to look up to. My favourite medical scientist is still Robert Winston. Though the truth is, the more we try to understand science, the harder it is to believe in evolution. if our DNA or our body composion is of 1 percentage difference we die. I'm in the health sciences stream.

With something like 98% of the human genome being composed of non-coding strands (junk DNA), even in light of recent studies suggesting junk DNA may have some purpose outside of sitting there uselessly, I find this statement almost as hard to believe as the Chopin one. Again, a source would help.

Since you believe in your purpose in reproducing and so on, survival basically. Have you ever wondered why there is a need for feelings? Or why we actually put people in jails even without God's law?

I have thought about emotion a great deal, I have done research, and found plenty of satisfactory answers.
Jails make more sense without God. Firstly, by God's law, are you referring to OT laws (most of which involve stoning, not jail) or something else that I am unaware of? Secondly, if we knew for a fact that God existed, why don't we just kill all criminals and let God sort it out?
...Or, we could impose our own justice system here on earth since the existence of divine justice is still up in the air (no pun intended)... thus, jails.

If you have no other purpose living, think about it, if you have nothing worth dying for, is there any reason worth living for?

Who said that I had nothing worth dying for?
And have you not seen my first few posts? I still have plenty to live for.

Down 2 or 3 generations who'll remember your name?

No one unless I do something to be remembered. I would do well not to forget that.

 

[Wedjat]

Are you going to encourage your kids to be atheist's, have them go to church or let them make up there own mind about there beliefs?

Obviously this will be an issue that will have to be decided between me and my future spouse, but my plan is to do my best to be completely neutral. If I can find one I'll go to a UU church whose RE classes are about studying a variety of religions.
When asked about religion I will answer to the best of my ability without putting any sort of atheistic spin on it (not saying that I will be able to all the time, but I will try my best).
I would avoid indoctrination of any sort like the plague.

I think it's much more important to raise an open minded critical thinker than it is to raise an atheist.

 

[Wedjat]

hi Wedjat. Why did you choose to be an Atheist?

Long story short, nothing about religion made sense to me.

 

[Wedjat]

not as serious as some of the other questions but what are your favorite books/authors?

Gaaah, that's the hardest question yet! I love books, all of them! Actually no, not all of them, Tess of the D'Ubervilles was the worst book of all time, but most of them.
I am an avid reader, sometimes I'll forgo a night of sleep entirely just to read a novel.
Really... don't make me choose.

also: what are your favorite songs/artists?

That's a better one.
After a lot of deliberation I decided on The Crow & the Butterfly by Shinedown.
Also I'm going to pretend that you didn't put an "s" at the end of "song" and "artist" so that this post doesn't go on for pages.

 

[dunjunn]

hey Wedgat any plans for Christmas?

 

[Wedjat]

hey Wedgat any plans for Christmas?

:/ not as many as I'd like. I'm on exchange right now in NZ so I'm not getting to spend this one with my family.

 

[Krystabelle]

Forgive me if I find that very hard to believe. A credible source would help, if it were true that would be rather fascinating, possibly even alter my faith...

.

You might have thought I never think of what you have. But I can't convince ya. Never mind. I found a link Stonehenge that describes the DNA and music thing. Google more if you have to, just for fun.

 

[Isambard]

Is it true atheists eat babies?

 

[Wedjat]

You might have thought I never think of what you have. But I can't convince ya. Never mind. I found a link Stonehenge that describes the DNA and music thing. Google more if you have to, just for fun.

So here's an article from a non-ID oriented site (also, they spelled his name wrong). I've red-texted the important bits.

1986 Susumu Ohno and Midori Ohno have transformed DNA sequences into musical scores based on an eight note scale. Their project was based on the principle of repetitious recurrence and redundancy that is found in nature, for example genome duplication, and within human inventions such as music. They ordered the nucleotides, AGCT, based on the molecular weight of each nucleotide. Using each nucleotide twice, a scale beginning on the note D can be assigned the following nucleotide sequence (note=nucleotide): D=A, E=A, F=G, G=G, A=T, B=T, C=C, D=C, etc. The A and G (purines) have heavier molecular masses than the C and T (pyrimidines) so the former nucleotides were placed at the lower end of the scale.

They used the human X-linked phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) coding sequence as an example to show the resulting musical conversion. Secondly, they used their coding assignment to translate the Chopin Nocturne Op. 55 No. 1 into a DNA sequence. The sequence was compared to the large subunit of the mouse DNA polymerase II and the mouse sequence encoded a similar sequence to that found in the Nocturne: CAACCTCTC. The sequence occurs four times in the Nocturne and differs from the Chopin sequence by one nucleotide.​

Susumu Ohno also converted both strands of the mouse H1 histone variety-1 DNA into music according to the previously established rules in order to hear the peptide palindromes, which are commonly found in DNA-binding proteins.
Susumu Ohno and Midori Ohno. The all prevasive principle of repetitious recurrence governs not only coding sequence construction but also human endeavor in musical composition. Immunogenetics 24: 71-78. 1986.
Susumu Ohno. A song in praise of peptide palindromes. Leukemia 7 (Supplement 2, August 1993): S157-9

So, yeah, only a string of 9 base pairs (notes). The experiment was to demonstrate principle of repetitious recurrence within gene duplication, it didn't actually find entire songs encoded into a gene sequence.

 

[Wedjat]

Is it true atheists eat babies?

What kind of question is that? Of course we do, they're delicious.

 

[dunjunn]

lol
Are u doin anything for New Year's?

 

[Wedjat]

Probably going to go do stuff with friends, but nothing's planned yet. They like do do things last minute.

 

[dunjunn]

cool. Not sure what I'm doin either.
What are your thots on Christians?
And how did you come up with your user name?
Have a good 1 Wedjat

 

[Wedjat]

I think it's a great holiday to get together with family and celebrate. Of course I don't get into the religious aspects of it, but no one acknowledges every aspect of the holiday.

Wedjat

 

[PassionFruit]

Why don't you atheists have any morals? I mean it's obvious you don't have any because you don't believe in God, because God is the one who gives us morals. So what's stopping you from murdering people?

j/k

My real question is do you have any hobbies and what are they?

 

[Wedjat]

Why don't you atheists have any morals? I mean it's obvious you don't have any because you don't believe in God, because God is the one who gives us morals. So what's stopping you from murdering people?

j/k

My real question is do you have any hobbies and what are they?

if only that weren't a question I've been asked in all seriousness.

Anyhoot, I play piano (have for eleven years), take martial arts, I write occasionally, I do art, and I love videogames. Probably lucky I'm going for a BFA in 3-D game art, I think it's important to love what you do.

 

[dunjunn]

Thkx for that link. I'm a musician too.
Do you write your own original music?

 

[Wedjat]

I've done a few pieces, they're not horrible.

 

[Aino]

How do you like it in CF? I mean, with all us Christians around you...