Four Kinds of Atheists.

[imported_luckyme]

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Yes, the intelligent farmer may have figured out the process of fertilization over sacrifice, but there were still many things that were best left explained by a god.

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That doesn't explain the success of early godless cultures. Religion is socially based, we're crowd followers mostly.

We evolved a cause-effect viewpoint, as do animals, we think in those terms because 'it works'. Watch a chimpanzee during an approaching thunderstorm. The alpha hears 'something' crashing stuff around, so he runs toward it, threatening the 'shaker of trees'. Loud Clap, and he runs back and 'presents himself' to the obviously approaching Meta-Alpha. And we're off to the races.

Some cultures managed to break loose of the 'Meta-Alpha' mindset sooner than others, but it's such a powerful social tool in many ways that it isn't easy. Zen concepts fit into the discoveries of modern science better than any other approach, it's just a matter of when a culture arrives at accepting the universe as it is, if ever.

[Lestat]

<font color="blue"> That doesn't explain the success of early godless cultures. Religion is socially based, we're crowd followers mostly. </font>

I'm showing my ignorance, but I can't think of an ancient godless culture. The ancient Egytians certainly believed at the very least, in an after life. Can you provide an example of an ancient non-religious culture?

[Rduke55]

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<font color="blue"> That doesn't explain the success of early godless cultures. Religion is socially based, we're crowd followers mostly. </font>

I'm showing my ignorance, but I can't think of an ancient godless culture. The ancient Egytians certainly believed at the very least, in an after life. Can you provide an example of an ancient non-religious culture?

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I was thinking this as well.
Invariably, your successful ancient cultures were very religious (and probably, IMO, religion was neccessary for their success -nothing sets up a hierarchy better than religion).

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That doesn't explain the success of early godless cultures. Religion is socially based, we're crowd followers mostly.

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I'm showing my ignorance, but I can't think of an ancient godless culture. The ancient Egytians certainly believed at the very least, in an after life. Can you provide an example of an ancient non-religious culture?

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This is just a guess, but perhaps the godless cultures lost out to those with gods. Perhaps the tendency to postulate a god (or gods) is a life-preserving trait.

[imported_luckyme]

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That doesn't explain the success of early godless cultures.

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"early" was partly as a refutation of DS's #4

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Those who look at the things that science has only recently explained.

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The ability to discard the Gap reason for believing in a xtrian type Alpha god was available much earlier ( I simply said earlier, not ancient, but that may well apply too), but essentially not going to happen in a Zeus or Thor based culture.
Whether atheist Buddhism or even Jainism type religions where there isn't a Alpha creator qod that runs around causing things. Some variations of these are older than xtrianity.

Being able to break from 'god does it' thinking is more culture based than technology based. Always has been.

[benjdm]

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That doesn't explain the success of early godless cultures.

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There haven't been any that I have found. Every few months I search again, but it seems every group of humans we currently have knowledge of invented a religion.

[theBruiser500]

wow David again another revolutionary post. how do you keep coming up with this stuff? you were absolutely correct when you said you could have won the nobel prize if you wanted to.

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1. Those who deep down want there to be no God so they don't have to answer to him

2. Those who feel that if God is as portrayed in the bible he is undeserving of worship.

3. Those who apply philosophical principles going back hundreds of years to argue agianst the necessity of a God to explain things.

4. Those who look at the things that science has only recently explained. Things that previously seemed so astonishing that a God, as farfetched as the idea is, was a more likely explanation than anything else. And upon looking at those recent explanations come to the conclusion that it is now much more reasonable to expect that still unexplained phenomenon will also eventually be explained by science rather than the God of the bible

Only the fourth type of atheist should be taken seriously.

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Which type are you? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I'm #2 &amp; #4... but more of a "skeptic" by nature... who has learned that things that are far fetched usally aren't true, and therefore I need more evidence of them being true. I'm not sure what #3 means, by the way. Maybe I'm that too.

Should an amalgamated atheist be taken seriously too? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[peritonlogon]

I thought this might be light and amusing... a sort of converse, kind of like Kant's 4 antinomes....

4 types of Theists

1) Those who deep down want there to be a God because they feel the need to answer to someone.

2) Those who feel that God is portrayed in the Bible and with all of his bloodshed and forgiveness, he is deserving of worship.

3) Those who apply philosophical principles going back hundreds of years to argue for the necessity of a God to explain the existence of things.

4)Those who look at the things that science has only recently explained. And while, they notice just how far science has come, realize that the gulf between things know and things unknown always seems to grow, the more knowledge that is attained. And upon looking at those recent explanations come to the conclusion that it is now even more reasonable than ever to expect that even more unexplained phenomenon will have to be attributed to the God of the bible.

*note, I am not a Theist, nor do I think that any type of reasoning whatsoever can lead one towards or away from God.

[bocablkr]

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*note, I am not a Theist, nor do I think that any type of reasoning whatsoever can lead one towards or away from God .



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Reasoning is precisely how one moves away from god.