Agnostic/Atheist.... Survival?

Wreck X
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Agnostic/Atheist.... Survival?

My apologies for re-opening old arguments and not looking for the answer myself immediately. I have looked up the definitions but still can't quite fit myself in between the two options. I do NOT believe in anything. I merely have the hope that there is a god because that would be nice when I die and it helps me to live a less crappy life. My ideas mostly help me to accept my terminally ill wife's death in the next 3-35 years from kidney failure.

The most honest view of my opinion is that I really don't know for sure, 100%, whether or not there is a god. I do not believe that a supreme being is likely but in my head would hope one exsists. Survival "instinct" is the only mechanism that bothers my puritan atheist view.

I think that to make me a full atheist then the "survival" instinct would need to be better proven to me. I see with my own two eyes that cats, trees, and rocks all have different survival insincts. Cats and trees are somewhat similar in that they have a desire to live. A rock has none, obviously, since it is a rock. But wouldn't a plant obviously have no reason to live when compared with an animal as complex as a cat? I understand fully that PERSPECTIVE has a huge role to play in a human being's view of complexity, but living beings survive, and natural chemicals and materials merely follow the path of least resistance in all instances. If living animals followed the path of least resistance like most materials, then why don't we have suicidal monkeys? Or any other animal?

Please help me clear up my beliefs. I do not BELIEVE in a god but due to the survival insinct in life I think that it is possible that a supreme being might exsist (if only a very slight chance exists).


Cpt_pineapple
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I believe that many animals

I believe that many animals exhibit suicidal behavour. Bees for example die after they sting you. I also believe that every animal will exhibit suicidal behavours if the conditions are right. [ for example a bird will attack you if you're close to it's nest, yet you could easily kill the bird]

 

 

I think that humans have a tendacy to hope for more.

 

The worst part is that we really on our perceptions in evaluting things. When I took psych courses it really changed my perception of things. Things that are "obvious" or "self-evident" turn out to be wrong.


 

 

Even though, I'm a Theist, I don't hold to the after life, I think this life is good enough, I personally never really understood the after life thing.

 

And for curiosity, why don't you think a supreme being is likely?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Wreck X
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I suppose I think a supreme

I suppose I think a supreme being is unlikely because of... external influences I suppose. When I decided I didn't believe I mostly relied on my disbelief and dislike of Christianity and other religions. I didn't think of specific reasons why a supreme being "doesn't" exist. I cited survival as a shred of evidence that a god is possible, but I guess I just havn't seen anything to say that a god is "probable".


BobSpence
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The "path of least

The "path of least resistance" only applies to objects moving under the influence of gravity or other simple physical forces, or perhaps to some extent to the path taken by a plant root growing through the soil. It is not particularly relevant to the more complex aspects of the behaviour of living things

Living things without a general instinct to avoid things which had shown themselves to be dangerous would be less likely to survive and reproduce. It is one of the clearer examples of how how Natural Selection works.

A Supreme being is unlikely because it is  much harder to imagine how such a being would come into existence than the Natural Universe.

 

Favorite oxymorons: Gospel Truth, Rational Supernaturalist, Business Ethics, Christian Morality

"Theology is now little more than a branch of human ignorance. Indeed, it is ignorance with wings." - Sam Harris

The path to Truth lies via careful study of reality, not the dreams of our fallible minds - me

From the sublime to the ridiculous: Science -> Philosophy -> Theology


Cpt_pineapple
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BobSpence1 wrote:The "path

BobSpence1 wrote:

The "path of least resistance" only applies to objects moving under the influence of gravity or other simple physical forces, or perhaps to some extent to the path taken by a plant root growing through the soil. It is not particularly relevant to the more complex aspects of the behaviour of living things

 

 

 

Actually it is. It should be worded as "path of least dissonance" though.

 

 

 

 


Balkoth
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First, I'm sorry to hear

First, I'm sorry to hear that about your wife.  I hope you two are happy for however long you get together.  Losing a loved one is painful, especially when you know it's coming.  I've lost a few relatives to cancer myself.  I'd suggest focusing on the time you still have left and do what you think is meaningful together.

Second, on a more...mechanical...note:

If you hope there's a god but do not actually believe in one, you're an atheist.  If you also think it's impossible for you to know for sure whether there is a god or not, you're an agnostic atheist.

I imagine most people would like there to be an afterlife when they can meet all of the people they lost during their life and perhaps meet historical figures, and also be able to see how the future turns out after they die.  Simply hoping it exists or wanting it to exist is not the same as actually believing it exists.

Does that help?