Explaining the unexplainable
Offline I am new here and this is my first post. Posting messages about atheism in a public forum is something relatively new to me. I tried it once in a Texas Gulf Coast forum and regretted it. Needless to say my opinion didn’t go off to well. White Bible belt southerners tend to get really offended by this topic and sometimes I feel as though I am the only atheist in the city I live in.
My philosophy:
Theism is an attempt by primitive civilizations to fill in scientific voids. If they couldn’t explain something they observed then a made up story served to purpose of filling in that void. Modern civilization use actual science to accomplish this but there is a problem. Science isn’t perfect and humans aren’t as advanced as they seem to think they are. Science is the best we have but it’s still a relatively young discipline.I realize intervention isn’t necessary for evolution to take place but that doesn’t necessarily mean that life starts and end with evolution. Some theist may think that I am making a case for creation but that’s not the case. How would it be even remotely possible that a delusional ancient civilization had this insight? Maybe our existence is too complicated for us to understand. I know many might disagree but I am the kind of person that believes the humane race over rates itself.
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Welcome to the forums!
First off, it would be cool if you would go by this forum and officially introduce yourself.
Now, on to your post:
This is the most common scientific explanation of how theism started. It also lines up pretty nicely with the theory that "mystical experiences" are related to a particular form of epilepsy, and that early shaman interpreted these experiences to be caused by "gods."
I'd probably say science isn't infallible. There's a subtle difference. It is self-correcting, though, which means that it's kind of like in calculus, where we can approach, but never arrive at zero. It's not a perfect analogy, but hopefully you see what I'm saying. Science is continually approaching perfect understanding, but it won't get there. We'll know more in a hundred years than now, barring catastrophe.
I kind of agree with you. We do tend to overrate ourselves, but I'd say that you're probably not giving science enough credit when it comes to understanding our existence. We're actually not far from understanding how the first pre-RNA replicators managed to get going. If we can figure that out, we'll have pretty much explained everything that went into the origin of life. It's definitely a big step, but honestly, it's just the very beginning we're unsure about. (Notice, I said unsure, not clueless! We have some very good educated guesses.)
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Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
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Welcome rationalfriend, and nice philosophy.
Welcome, rationalfriend! We look forward to your contributions and getting to know you better!
Hint: As Hambydammit mentioned, formal introductions can be posted here.
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Welcome to the hizzle!
We do over-rate ourselves. We can't know all the answers. And that doesn't mean we have to make them up.
There is the known, the unknown, and the unknowable. Science can eventually know the unknown. But it can never know the unknowable. Theists pretend they know the unknowable but they are fooling themselves. Let the unknowable be unknowable! Mystery is beautiful.
Look at the predictions the National Weather Service made about this years and last years hurricane season. I think we over rated this organization. Lets look on the bright side. At least they didn't base this prediction on the premise that people living in the Atlantic and Gulf Coast regions have been living sinful lives.
Welcome!!
And where could one find this forum?
*looks mischevious*
My reason for PM you is because I didn't want the search engines to pick up any key words.
You have no idea what it's like being an atheist in this town.
Welcome rationalfriend.
There's a big difference between science and scientism, where quantification runs amok and curbs inquiry. Evolution is a theory in progress; it could lead anywhere.
What I find intriguing is modern physics, which is demonstrating that the universe is wilder and far more wooly than we can conceive.
The choice is not between religious infantilism and abstract bean-counting. There may well be some structure or order to the cosmos that is beyond our cognitive/perceptual state.
A strong case can be made for wonder and depth beyond religious thought.
Psssst! Please don't use colored text to post. It doesn't display well on all browsers.
For instance, I use FireFox, but I had to highlight your comment to be able to read it.
Thanks!
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