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We'd probably get along quite well.
It's my line of work also, I have just come through a tough period though you have to pick yourself up and remember what you can achieve.
I don't think you do, I think you haven't comprehended his meaning correctly. Einstein didn't consider life meaningless, nor did he believe in an afterlife. In fact you have more in common in your views, as expressed, than disagreement. But Einstein wasn't an Atheist either, he had an open mind on the subject, but believed in dealing with the actual World around him, rather than speculating on the unknowable.
At the most basic level, your purpose is to perpetuate the species, however as our species is thriving to such an extent it is detrimental to the planet on which we live, this drive to survive is dampened and we need to find other things to occupy our energy
Any time you take a particular interest in anything, it gives your life purpose, be it a vocation, a responsibility, or merely a hobby, you are stimulated to want to live longer in order to pursue or fulfill or complete
I read somewhere the secret to happiness is low expectations, which while not being entirely true, does have an element off truth in it.
Very simple things can give your life meaning if you choose to place a value on them.
Quite.
But that doesn't make it not true.
And hiding heads under imaginary comfort blankets, whilst it might be consoling to some, means you close yourself off to much of the wonder of this universe, which despite what any of us think we believe, is the only one we know exists.
And I'd add that it's pretty arrogant and downright vain to believe that you're here for a reason, that a superior being has a special plan for you and created not only this world (a universe no less) especially for you and other believers. It's far more humble to understand that you are here by a series of random encounters and that your exise in itself is meaningless and devoid of divine intention.
What I find ironic is that theists, while eager to show humanity's flaws, often accuse atheistsof arrogance. You know, for questioning God or saying we are better than him, etc. But we are the ones that don't think the world was made for us, we are the ones conscious of the transient nature of mankind and human existence, we are the ones trying to expand human knowledge and understand better the universe we live in and improve our quality of life.
And I'd also say that we are superior to this hypothetical God, whether he exists or not. But intellectually and morally. We improve and correct his lousy design every day.
Funnily enough, as this thread has been a vanity project for some.
Well I humbly participate in it as I think we can educate people about atheism, secular humanism and skepticism, not to mention accepting reality, rather than being delusional and slave of groundless dogmas. And in all humility I think my fellow godless heathens and I do it for educational purposes as well. I know it's only an internet thread, but if we can deconvert one or two people here I'll be happy.
Well fair enough.
What is truth?
The bit of truth we know, to have it acknowledged. Finding it is a different matter entirely.
I'd define truth as something that exists, that is verifiable, regardless of one's opinion or belief.
The older I get and the more I learn, the more I recognise how much more I don't know.
The term "meaningless" is a purely subjective term, not the "truth" about life.
You are part of humanity and therefore you may, in some way, have contributed to the sum total of what humanity is now or may become in the future.
If that's not "meaningful" what is?
Are you saying that you think individual immortality is the only measure of what qualifies as being "meaningful"?
You presume to educate others?
Now that is arrogant.
When I was a kid I used to call myself an Atheist for a while, until I realised what an idiotic concept that is. The universe is so large, and we know so little, that nothing should be ruled out. Now I just try to keep an open mind. I don't follow any religion, but I recognise that they all contain useful concepts for living life by... along with the groundless dogma.
"Take what you need and leave the rest" - The Band
If you don't understand that and prefer your strawman definition that's your problem.
@Ludovico actually makes the point--or so I'm inclined to read his post--that we're nothing special in a religious sense, that it's not "plants, animals and people" as if we were some separative cosmic cornerstone, created with divine purpose, but that we're in fact no less special than an ant or a wasp. Yet many people throughout the centuries have mistaken themselves for "a gift of god" and spent their entire life in blissful ignorance regarding exactly how special they are, to which the answer is: not at all. A convenient confluence of physical and chemical circumstances has enabled carbon based organic life to come into existence. Millions of years of slow and painful evolution has brought us where we are today, possibly on the brink of extinction, possibly just another transitional state.
In that sense, life is meaningless. We weren't put here through divine intervention; there's no particular spiritual meaning to our lives. There's a biological meaning to it, of course, in that we exist to promote evolution by cancelling out certain genetic flaws and steering our species towards biological betterment. Grass does the same thing, so do pigs, and divine intervention, once again, seems ridiculous to even remotely assume.
As far as morality is concerned, I'd say the only "moral" thing to do is to give your life meaning by how you live it in the now. Don't pretend there's a book of rules to follow in order to be rewarded in the afterlife. You'll be sorely depressed to find out no such thing exists. Don't live your life by dogmatic rules some idiot, manipulator or fellow victim has fed you at an impressionable age. Instead, let logic guide you and draw your morality from open-minded deductions in the here and the now. Don't do "good" because god demands it; don't believe you're on a divine mission, that you're somehow special. Do "good" as you reason it out, free from religious decrees, and understanding that one day your carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms will be ripped from your body and built into other organic life forms or even dead matter.
But why do you feel the need to?
In that way you are just as misguided as a person knocking on my door wanting to tell me about God. In my experience Atheists seem to feel the need to actively oppose, rather than just ignoring something which has no relevance to them.
Again, you presume to educate...
If you actively choose to try and persuade others that there is no God, that is taking things a step further than merely "disbelieving". In your case you have developed a "faith" that there is no God, as there is no definitive proof either way, which makes your form of atheism a sort of quasi religion in itself.
The internet says - "Atheism is the rejection of belief that any deities exist... Atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which is the belief that at least one deity exists."
That sounds like "denial that God exists" to me?
Not a problem, just a point of discussion ; )
But why allow the religion you are opposing to provide your definition of what "meaningful" or "meaningless" is?
Ludovico wrote: »
I'd concur with my fellow godless heathens: that one finds it sad that life is in itself meaningless does not make it less true
The fact is we don't know, so why make a definitive statement like that?
What value is there in taking a definite negative point of view on such things?
Better to keep an open mind ; )
I do not actively choose to convince people there is no God, re-read this thread and I challenge you to find one instance where I did this. What I do try to do, however, is explain why a belief in God is unsupported by evidence and thus unjustified. It does not mean there is no God (albeit I find his existence very unlikely) but there is no reason to believe in one, let alone follow the rules of said hypothetical God, worship said hypothetical God, or tell me and other that I must worship said hypothetical God. And yes, someone who tells me I must worship and obey God, then I will oppose him and very strongly.
This definition is correct... and in no way contradicts mine: I do not believe there is a God, I reject the claim that a God exists the same way I reject the claim that the Loch Ness Monster exists, that the great Cthulhu exists, that there was an alien civilization striving on Mars and so on. You cannot disprove a negative. So no, both statements are not equivalent. And I would thus not try to disprove God, but that is not my problem: the burden of proof resides on the theist's side.
As for the accusation of being "religious" myself, this is a tu quoque fallacy.
Oh boy, so many wrong things here and I have things to do outside the internet. Let's keep it simple: we do know a number of things, none of them leading to God. The things we don't know, as we don't know them, it is pointless and circular to invent an explanation about them. It is not being close minded to reject claims that have no evidence to be backed up. Such as... "our existence has been decided by a divine creator according to a divine plan that he himself knows". Accepting claims as valid before they are actually proven is not being open-minded, it is being gullible and open to any sorts of crazy stupid claims. It's switching your brain to off.
So where is your evidence for God, for his plan, for any pre-existing purpose of our existence as a species? If you have none, then it's pointless pondering about them.
lol
Yeah right...
Whatever floats your boat : )