Atheist here (Ask me anything)

[Wicked Willow]

I'd appreciate it if this topic not be used for dumping religious spam.

Seconded.

 

[CoderHead]

Like, when you look at humans compared to all the other animals on Earth, we dominate them all in intelligence

And they dominate us in swimming, flying, running, hunting, mating, and building. It's nice that we can do math and create art, but those things aren't inherent to survival.

 

[Mela Monkey]

And they dominate us in swimming, flying, running, hunting, mating, and building. It's nice that we can do math and create art, but those things aren't inherent to survival.

Well yea, but that applys to ALL other animals, they all accel in their own special area, but there's never only one animal that can run fast or swim in deep water. So, why is it that humans are the only ones who are intelligent enough to do what we do?

Well.. If you look at other animals, i guess there are some that accel over all others in their field, such as a cheetah sprinting 70 mph, so it could just be that humans are at a further point in evolution and evolved differently to have brains (if evolution is real, i don't believe it personally).

Once again, lots of what I said might not make sense, so sorry about that

 

[nicknack28]

Well yea, but that applys to ALL other animals, they all accel in their own special area, but there's never only one animal that can run fast or swim in deep water. So, why is it that humans are the only ones who are intelligent enough to do what we do?

Well.. If you look at other animals, i guess there are some that accel over all others in their field, such as a cheetah sprinting 70 mph, so it could just be that humans are at a further point in evolution and evolved differently to have brains (if evolution is real, i don't believe it personally).

Once again, lots of what I said might not make sense, so sorry about that

First, nothing can be "at a further point in evolution" because there isn't any endpoint or destination. It isn't that humans are higher up on a scale and fish are lower on a scale or anything -- humans and fish have simply evolved to specialize in different areas. Humans have evolved to have bigger brains and more intelligence; fish have evolved to have aquatic anatomy and be better at swimming. Animals evolve according to what genetic properties are favored in certain environments. If circumstances were different perhaps our ancestors wouldn't have evolved bigger brains at all but something else instead like thicker coats, more muscle mass, larger canine teeth, etc.

This is just to say that there isn't any "goal" in evolution such as having a species evolve to have the best attributes of everything. That wouldn't be possible. You can have the best attributes for your environment though.

So according to evolution your second paragraph would be half correct. Perhaps brain mass/intelligence is the best thing to evolve in a species -- making them better candidates for any environment over all other species -- but only time will tell. Of course this is measuring a species' success by its adaptability. Maybe measuring a species' success is better done by its survival and reproductive abilities. Insects or something would then be "superior" to humans then. After all, evolution is driven by animals' ability to survive and reproduce. Perhaps we only think intelligence is better because we're the ones that have it.

I got slightly sidetracked but hopefully in a good way.

 

[Skeptic90]

That's why people say things like "Faith in God,"why people have faith that he is real, so I see where your disbelief comes from so yea.. there probably is not a bit of scientifical evidence to him existing, which is .

I personally just don't see how everything could have happened by chance though. Like, when you look at humans compared to all the other animals on Earth, we dominate them all in intelligence. So, if nature did everything by itself, then why would only one thing (humans) be so far ahead than all other animals in intelligence? I mean.. to me, it seems that if evolution and all that actually happened, we wouldn't be the only ones with super smart brains. (sorry if that's all confusing)

Well it didn't happen from complete chance, it was more like natural design guided. Just because something is complex or hard to understand, it doesn't mean it will never be understood.

Well what do I mean when I say guided chance? From complete randomness, not everything will be a successful chance. Only those things that are successful will work. So lets say that we have a car, and we are trying to see what things can we put in the car to make it run. If you put kool aid in there, it will fail. If you put some urine, it will fail. If you put some water, it will fail. So then a successful combination like gasoline is added, then presto, it works, and it carries on to the next generation. So it is not complete chance, it is just chance that works, its kinda like how capitalism works.

Well yes we dominate from our intelligence. We call this, specialization. It was one of those things that separated us from the rest of the animal kingdom. That we can 'outsmart' other animals. Early humans were not as bright as we were, they had a far smaller brain, but we were slightly smarter than other animals. So from this main advantage from the rest of the animal kindom, it is what we mainly stuck with, being smart. So the not so smart early humans were probably eaten or died, and those who were stronger and smarter survived to reproduce. And from the offspring, the smarter of the pack survived, and so on. So after million of years, our brain grew bigger and bigger. And who knows, future generations may be smarter than us, it all depends on if being smart is 'successful'. If being stupid is successful, well the future will be stupid to a point it just kills itself, until again smart is good.


Actually that what evolution explains, the why we are the only smart ones. We probably killed off our competitors, and us the stronger and intelligent, survived. "survival of the fittest".

So no, it wasn't by chance, it was self guided chance that the successful chances moved forward.

If you still don't understand it, well here is another example:

Lets say you are making dinner. You haven't made dinner in your life. You will combine a bunch of random ingredients, if it ends up being good, you will, in most likely hood, make the food again in the future. If the food tastes nasty, then you will trash it, and make something different in the future.

Makes sense? Or do you have any other questions?

 

[Skeptic90]

I'd appreciate it if this topic not be used for dumping religious spam.


eudaimonia,

Mark

third'd, and thank you.

 

[Mela Monkey]

I guess I have one more question, what about miracles?
I'm talking about when someone has some sort of disease or injury, how that goes away?

Christians obviously belive that God performs them, what do athiests think about them though? like, how they happen? Or are miracles just something made up by christians to you?


Sorry if my tone sounds like i'm trying to attack you, i'm just curious

 

[hikersong]

Seconded.

And thirded!

Edit: that would be,um, fourthed?!

 

[Eudaimonist]

I'm talking about when someone has some sort of disease or injury, how that goes away?

Christians obviously belive that God performs them, what do athiests think about them though? like, how they happen?

Natural causes that might not be fully understood. Cancer goes into remission, etc. I notice that limbs don't grow back.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Quath]

I read a bit, the first parts that you posted, and see that you have been drawn away from God becuse you could see no evidence of Gods existance. Well I have had encounters with God that proove to me his existance and I will share them here with you;

If God communicated through prayer, then you could easily prove He exists. For example, one person picks a random number, writed it down and seals it. You pray to God to give you the number. This could be done scientifically and prove God exists. As it is, we have billions of people praying to God and coming up with different and contray messages from Him. It is simpler to assume that people hear their own voice in their head. They remember the "hits" and ignore the "misses" from what this voice tells them.

I guess I have one more question, what about miracles?
I'm talking about when someone has some sort of disease or injury, how that goes away?

Christians obviously belive that God performs them, what do athiests think about them though? like, how they happen? Or are miracles just something made up by christians to you?

This would be another way to show strong evidence for Christianity. If you looked at statistics, Christians should be healthier, live longer or something if prayers for health worked. But statistically, they are just like anyone else. So if God does heal some Christians, then He must harm others to make the statistics work out.

 

[Skeptic90]

I guess I have one more question, what about miracles?
I'm talking about when someone has some sort of disease or injury, how that goes away?

Christians obviously belive that God performs them, what do athiests think about them though? like, how they happen? Or are miracles just something made up by christians to you?


Sorry if my tone sounds like i'm trying to attack you, i'm just curious

Well in this case, we may separate miracles in a few categories. For simplicity purposes, I will separate them in 1 and 2.

The first order of miracles are those miracles that are considered uncommon, but have been present in various places. Like surviving a horrific car crash, seeing jesus in a cracker, getting better from the flu, or being cured of some disease like cancer. From a few studies I have read, these miracles are present in equal proportion with and without prayers. These miracles are simple outliers, or the lucky ones. These small number of 'good fortunes' over cloud the vast number of the not so lucky ones. Miracles get publicized more than a free taco giveaway. Same with why the news show more pretty white girls getting kidnapped, it almost seems they are the only ones that happen.

Now lets talk about the 'healing power of prayer'. Prayer works as a placebo. This is what homeopathy is all about. The healing power of the mind. If you are optimistic and you believe you are getting better, your body will better fight off the disease, than a depressed person. You can try this out yourself. The next meal you have, think of it as rotten flesh or it is infested with rat feces, something that your body rejects. Wait a few hours, and you feel sick! Same with prayer, you must believe it to 'feel 'it, litterally. So nothhing supernatural here, it is just your body better fighting off the disease through your mind. Same idea with adrenaline.

Now lets talk about these 'supernatural' miracles, like those which science can't explain yet. Like back in the day rainbows were such examples. They were considered as gifts of their gods. If there is something that appears outside of the natural phenomena, we must investigate and embrace it within the natural world.

I have not seen such miracles which defies the natural laws of the universe, like seeing the common miracle in the bible of healing an amputee, if I see a guy grow his limbs back, then I would say that either we have created some medical breakthrough from starfish DNA, or there is something else. We must investigate, and search for the truth. Saying that these things are done by god, is simply irrational and just jumping to illogical conclusions without any evidence. Anyone can say that (insert your god) did it. I can say I did it, or my dog did it, they are all equally liable.

Having different opinions of what it is simply means that the truth hasn't been found.

I hope this answers your question, if not please ask more questions or comments.

 

[brinny]

do you like tea?

 

[Mela Monkey]

Now lets talk about the 'healing power of prayer'. Prayer works as a placebo. This is what homeopathy is all about. The healing power of the mind. If you are optimistic and you believe you are getting better, your body will better fight off the disease, than a depressed person. You can try this out yourself. The next meal you have, think of it as rotten flesh or it is infested with rat feces, something that your body rejects. Wait a few hours, and you feel sick! Same with prayer, you must believe it to 'feel 'it, litterally. So nothhing supernatural here, it is just your body better fighting off the disease through your mind. Same idea with adrenaline.

Yeah that is 100% true about how you can tell yourself something and it actually happens, my pastor has talked about it a few times.


But when I was younger I saw a guy, who was deaf, get healed. Right on the spot, he started to get his hearing back. It happened when a guy was praying for him also.
Now, it wasn't an all of a sudden "I can hear everything perfectly now!!" sort of thing, be was able to slightly hear things. I haven't followed up on him though, so I don't know if he can hear now or not, but I assume that it was real.



There are also a lot of fake healings like you said, where people think they were healed, but it turns out that they actually wern't. This probably is very confusing to someone trying to understand if healing is real or not. It doesn't make sense to me, I think it's that they got caught up in the moment and wanted to believe so hard that God would heal them, that they actually believed it.


Unfortunately, God works in mysterious ways, so it's very hard to prove a lot of stuff, most everything believed by christians is by faith.

 

[Skeptic90]

do you like tea?

It's ok, depends what it is, and the weather conditions.

 

[Skeptic90]

Yeah that is 100% true about how you can tell yourself something and it actually happens, my pastor has talked about it a few times.


But when I was younger I saw a guy, who was deaf, get healed. Right on the spot, he started to get his hearing back. It happened when a guy was praying for him also.
Now, it wasn't an all of a sudden "I can hear everything perfectly now!!" sort of thing, be was able to slightly hear things. I haven't followed up on him though, so I don't know if he can hear now or not, but I assume that it was real.



There are also a lot of fake healings like you said, where people think they were healed, but it turns out that they actually wern't. This probably is very confusing to someone trying to understand if healing is real or not. It doesn't make sense to me, I think it's that they got caught up in the moment and wanted to believe so hard that God would heal them, that they actually believed it.


Unfortunately, God works in mysterious ways, so it's very hard to prove a lot of stuff, most everything believed by christians is by faith.

Well in the case for the guy, it could have been one of many possibilities.

One is that his deafness was a psychological thing, you can see the same with blindness in some cases.

The most probable thing is that you were at one of those 'rock-star' like things, with a very motivational person having people shake in the ground and talk in tongues and what not. I know a few do this as a business, and they plant 'decoys' to make things like this authentic, and at the end they get hundreds and go off in their limo to buy a new suit. People are able to walk, or break from stress easily if they believe that a "spirit" is lifting them up. You can try this yourself. Go claim that you have healing powers. Have two freinds act crippled or something, then once you get the public believing in your magic, then go out and create a show. Works pretty well.

So yes, that is what separates us and Christians, faith vs reason. Fine by me, but I rather seek and wait for the truth, than to have someone tell me their definitive truth.

 

[Eudaimonist]

do you like tea?

Yes, a great variety of them, including green tea.



eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Mela Monkey]

What are your feelings on christians in general?

Do they mostly just annoy you? Would you consider most to be narrow-minded to your views? Do you hate when they try to convert you and judge what you do?

I'm sure you'll say yes to most of these questions, I probably would too.

 

[Eudaimonist]

What are your feelings on christians in general?

In general? I don't often have feelings about a group in general, but rather about various segments of that group. Any group has different factions, and individuals will differ as individuals.

My feelings about Christians as Christians is mainly that I would prefer it if they not stigmatize me for being an atheist, that they don't encroach upon my life in an attempt to convert me, and that they don't try to use politics as a tool of religion. Live and let live. I have had dear friends who are Christian, so my feelings regarding Christianity don't influence me on a personal level.

Do you hate when they try to convert you and judge what you do?

Yes, who wouldn't? Do you hate it when atheists such as Richard Dawkins criticize Christianity and judge what you do? This is natural.

[Edited to add: "Hate" might be too strong a word, however. Irritation or disapproval is closer to what I mean.]


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Mela Monkey]

Yes, who wouldn't? Do you hate it when atheists such as Richard Dawkins criticize Christianity and judge what you do? This is natural.


eudaimonia,

Mark

Well, to be honest, I don't really mind when people bash christianity, in fact it really intrests me. Well it does get annoying when someone twists the words of what others say in order to try and make their point look valid, but that doesn't seem to happen too often (or at least I haven't seen it very often). Christians and athiests are equally guilty in that area, im pretty sure.
I guess I don't really mind it because i'm a very curious person. I like to see why people believe what they believe, and why people do what they do. I always *try* to keep my judgements out of conversations.


Christians are supposed to not care when they get mocked for what they do and believe, for the bible says that such things will happen, but that's one problem with christians now-a-days.. many get way too defensive on subjects that they shouldn't be getting defensive on. So it really makes me sad when I see christians mocking the beliefs of athiests.

Sorry for all my rambling lol, I'm just very.. eager to learn

 

[Eudaimonist]

I'm just very.. eager to learn

That's a good attitude. You are welcome to ask more questions.


eudaimonia,

Mark