An atheist who is not so keen on God

Snikwad writes:

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What I meant was what do rational atheists believe in without evidence, but then again that wasn’t what Rrhain originally said at all. I take it the answer is nothing, unless I’m missing something.

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But that's just it. Nobody is completely rational. Take, for example, someone in the midst of crisis. There is a very common belief that "everything is going to be OK." While the theist might ascribe that belief to god's benevolence, atheists have this feeling, too. "This, too, shall pass." They may claim that the world has been turning for millions of years and past experience shows that while there are down times, they are usually followed by up times; after all, they made it this far, etc.But that doesn't mean this time is going to be like the last time. Past experience is not indicative of future gain and all that. There is no proof or evidence that things are going to get better, but we all believe it (assuming no descent into depression and suicide.)The belief that there is "somebody out there for me." "Love conquers all." All sorts of philosophical positions are out there that atheists believe in.They just don't have any belief in god.

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Rrhain
WWJD? JWRTFM!

That matter always existed in one form or another?This message has been edited by Phatboy, 02-26-2005 06:45 AM

Rrhain responds:

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But that doesn't mean this time is going to be like the last time. Past experience is not indicative of future gain and all that.

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Whoa. Let’s slow down for a second. This is precisely why science is tentative in naturethis time you run an experiment, the results may not be like last time. But the probability that if you release an apple from your hand on earth it will fall to the ground, is very high. I would argue that past experience is indicative of the future. Past experience shows that if you release an apple from your hand, it will fall to the ground. You can expect this to happen in any future trials. This doesn’t mean you have belief in gravitation.And in the case of a crisis, you’d have to assess the situation in its entirety, and from the evidence you collect, I’m sure you can come to a conclusion through logical deduction. You may reach the incorrect conclusion, perhaps due to a dearth of evidence, but the process is still rational. You gather evidence before arriving at a logically derived conclusion. This doesn’t mean that there is no evidence involved and that thus it constitutes belief.

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The belief that there is "somebody out there for me." "Love conquers all." All sorts of philosophical positions are out there that atheists believe in.

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Aha. Indeed.

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"Chance is a minor ingredient in the Darwinian recipe, but the most important ingredient is cumulative selection which is quintessentially nonrandom."
--Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker

That would be faith -- a specific subset of belief.

True, true: I'm equivocating. Whoops.

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"Chance is a minor ingredient in the Darwinian recipe, but the most important ingredient is cumulative selection which is quintessentially nonrandom."
--Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker

Snikwad responds to me:

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This is precisely why science is tentative in nature

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What does this have to do with atheism? Science isn't atheism.

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Rrhain
WWJD? JWRTFM!

maybe not.do you know about blaise pascal's wager? maybe you could look for it and try to see his point.

I am very familiar with Pascal's wager, and, like everyone else who is familiar with it, I see the huge errors that Pascal made.Brian.

at what point do you see his huge error? you know, i believe there's nothing wrong withbelieving in god and obey his will, besides it all leads to goodness.

I see what you are saying - Better to believe in Adroa just in case he/she/it is real.That's what you are saying - right?