Questions for atheists

[frankiej]

This looks like fun.

1) what is prime reality?
Optimus

2) what is the nature of external reality?
Crispy

3) what is a human being?
A useless flesh sack.


4) what happens at death?
People get sad.

5) why is it possible to know anything at all?
Coz we have books, yo.

6) how do we know what is right and what is wrong?
Flip a coin.

7) what is the meaning of human history?
I don't know. All my knowledge of history comes from Black Adder.


8) what person, life orienting core commitments are consistent with your worldview?
What a fucking stupid question. The rest are obviously great though...

[Bucky Ball]

(23-09-2013 01:50 PM)frankiej Wrote:  This looks like fun.

1) what is prime reality?
Optimus

2) what is the nature of external reality?
Crispy

3) what is a human being?
A useless flesh sack.


4) what happens at death?
People get sad.

5) why is it possible to know anything at all?
Coz we have books, yo.

6) how do we know what is right and what is wrong?
Flip a coin.

7) what is the meaning of human history?
I don't know. All my knowledge of history comes from Black Adder.


8) what person, life orienting core commitments are consistent with your worldview?
What a fucking stupid question. The rest are obviously great though...

You just made me laugh out loud in class.

[NoSkyDaddy]

Hi Megan,
Welcome to the forum. Admittedly, I was a bit suspicious of your post at first, but, your responses to our questions swayed me to reconsider.

I really can't add much to what has already been said. But, I did want so say something I think was missed about question 8.

Quote:8) what person, life orienting core commitments are consistent with your worldview?

I think your question (understandably) suggests that we have an atheistic worldview. Atheism is not really a worldview. It is a skeptical position regarding the existence of supernatural forces or beings. Our worldviews, thereby, are formed in other contexts like science, or philosophy. I personally have a scientific worldview. Questions about chemistry are answered by the scientific discipline of chemistry for example. This can be applied to geology, astronomy, cosmology, etc. Because of this worldview, I find that questions classically asked by religion are best answered by sociology, anthropology,biology, and psychology.
Each of us, in the absence of a religious worldview, picks their own frame of reference that turns the world right side up so to speak. That is why you will find so much variety here.

I think it's great that you are trying to understand the perspective of others, even if you can't agree with them. I hope your curiosity persists.

[Dom]

(23-09-2013 02:37 PM)NoSkyDaddy Wrote:  Hi Megan,
Welcome to the forum. Admittedly, I was a bit suspicious of your post at first, but, your responses to our questions swayed me to reconsider.

I really can't add much to what has already been said. But, I did want so say something I think was missed about question 8.

Quote:8) what person, life orienting core commitments are consistent with your worldview?

I think your question (understandably) suggests that we have an atheistic worldview. Atheism is not really a worldview. It is a skeptical position regarding the existence of supernatural forces or beings. Our worldviews, thereby, are formed in other contexts like science, or philosophy. I personally have a scientific worldview. Questions about chemistry are answered by the scientific discipline of chemistry for example. This can be applied to geology, astronomy, cosmology, etc. Because of this worldview, I find that questions classically asked by religion are best answered by sociology, anthropology,biology, and psychology.
Each of us, in the absence of a religious worldview, picks their own frame of reference that turns the world right side up so to speak. That is why you will find so much variety here.

I think it's great that you are trying to understand the perspective of others, even if you can't agree with them. I hope your curiosity persists.

There is more in this world than philosophy and science! Some of us don't dwell in the sciences, either. I am a 60 year old female who is neither a scientist nor a philosopher (although I like to wax philosophical at times, and I research everything that crosses my path). I operate mostly on common sense, something I find seriously lacking in the majority of people.

[morondog]

(23-09-2013 03:08 PM)Dom Wrote:  I operate mostly on common sense, something I find seriously lacking in the majority of people.

Common sense that's not so common, as my Mama would say...

[Rahn127]

1) what is prime reality?
Not sure what you mean by prime. The only words that come to mind are prime rib reality.
In that reality, I am always satisfied
As for regular old reality. It is a collection of forces and particles of matter that interact with each other according to physical laws.
There's more to it than that, but in a nut shell, our observable universe is our reality.

2) what is the nature of external reality?
Again not sure of your meaning of the word external. Lately I would take that to mean, reality outside of my house.
Reality is nature, so your question is asking what is the nature of nature ? And again nature is the universe, the fundamental forces and physical laws

3) what is a human being?
That would be YOU. You are a human being, but I think you already know this.

4) what happens at death?
At death biological functions come to a grinding halt and that which was alive, no longer is.

5) why is it possible to know anything at all?
It is possible to know something because we are conscious and we have brains that allow us to remember information.
Also it is because we live in a universe that is consistent in it's nature & physical laws day in and day out.

6) how do we know what is right and what is wrong?
The same way we know what is helpful and what is painful.

7) what is the meaning of human history?
Human history means activities by humans that have taken place in our past.

8) what person, life orienting core commitments are consistent with your worldview?
My world view is the observable universe. I try my best to have a world view that is consistent with reality.

[EvolutionKills]

(23-09-2013 02:37 PM)NoSkyDaddy Wrote:  I think it's great that you are trying to understand the perspective of others, even if you can't agree with them. I hope your curiosity persists.

+1 for curiosity.

[houseofcantor]

(23-09-2013 03:08 PM)Dom Wrote:  There is more in this world than philosophy and science!

Ah, no.

[EvolutionKills]

(23-09-2013 03:08 PM)Dom Wrote:  I operate mostly on common sense, something I find seriously lacking in the majority of people.

To be fair, 'common sense' is very very subjective and often case specific.

[morondog]

Nah, it's not supposed to be. It's supposed to be that subset of sense which is so fucking basic there's no two interpretations. Things like "patting big ugly as fuck doggies who're growling at you is a bad idea"... yeah... not so common...