Faith

[HappyGilmore]

I kinda see where RC is coming from, actually.  I really do. 

[TYTD Review]

Are you an atheist?

I'm not really a believer in definate anythings really xD I dont like the finality that atheism implies, but I think Agnosticisms a bit too wishy washy in terms of the whole "there may be something, or there may not..." kind of vibe... I suppose thinking about it faith in the form of extended optimism works for me as a great comfort blanket...while I dont specifically believe in a creator believing that thinking positive will tend to skew things towards positive outcomes (Even if thats scientifically and statistically unlikely) is a great source of relief and comfort...

By and large I tend to have the outlook that "If something bad happens its chaos theory; nothing personal. lifes just like that. if a good thing happens then promoting that good vibe could potentially make more good things happen"

Admittedly its all a bit hippy dippy...but I've had a pretty happy 10 years or so doing that 

Sorry for the long winded reply...but I suppose the short answer is: I dont believe in a creator or an afterlife, But I wouldnt class myself as an atheist strictly...

[lester1/2jr]

religious people also have moments of atheism or some do.


Also, once I saw a lecture on something and the guy made the point that if you look at the insect world its so unbelievably brutal its hard to comport that with any sort of nice God. Maybe being a human being as opposed to other sorts of animal has so any advantages that we are uniquely well off.

[ER]

religious people also have moments of atheism or some do.


Also, once I saw a lecture on something and the guy made the point that if you look at the insect world its so unbelievably brutal its hard to comport that with any sort of nice God. Maybe being a human being as opposed to other sorts of animal has so any advantages that we are uniquely well off.

When I think of a mere housefly, this non-aerodynamic blob, staying aloft only by the dizzying miracle of it flapping its wings 500 times a second, I find it hard to think nature alone devised such a talent, when nature can rarely even produce straight lines. In fact flight itself presents a good deal of consternation in a biological theory based simply on natural selection, with the best explanation (at least when I was in college pursing an undergraduate degree in biology) being that some species developed large, flappy limbs for catching bugs and fish, and from those wings came to be.

I suppose if you want to go really far into the matter of faith, why not go to the extreme of questioning whether reality even exists, or is all the illusion of Maya, as Hindus are fond of offering as a brain-teaser, and Age of Enlightenment-era French philosophers liked to consider when trying to impress the subscribers to their periodicals.

I think the universe has fingerprints all over it.

[indianasmith]

If you want to see one of those fingerprints, google something called the Golden Ratio (sometimes called the Golden Mean).

[lester1/2jr]

Er- my point was more along the lines of this

https://twitter.com/chr1sa/status/930873095086206977 "Turns out that fungus doesn't take over the ant's brain, as thought, but rather creates an internal network of fungus cells that controls the limbs. "The ant ends its life as a prisoner in its own body. Its brain is still in the driver’s seat, but the fungus has the wheel."



https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/11/how-the-zombie-fungus-takes-over-ants-bodies-to-control-their-minds/545864/

you could forgive this ant for thinking maybe a benevolent God doesn't exist

[indianasmith]

Except ants don't think.

[RCMerchant]

Except ants don't think.

Whoa whoa WHOA!
How do you know this?
They are pretty damn well organized... just because the thought process of ants is alien to us doesn't mean one doesn't exist.
I'm sure some super-evolved space life form would find were akin to a bunch of ants.
(and I do believe there's life in space).

[indianasmith]

I see evidence of organization and design in how ants were made.
But no real evidence of self awareness or conscious thought.
But then, I could be wrong.

[RCMerchant]

I see evidence of organization and design in how ants were made.
But no real evidence of self awareness or conscious thought.
But then, I could be wrong.

I dunno....If you see an ant hill-with lotsa busy little ants going about their ant business-and you drop a piece of candy next to them-they discover it-and go apes**t! They drop what there doing and figure out the situation fairly quickly.  They think- "FOOD!" or maybe they think "MANNA!"
(I was a weird kid-ants amazed me.   )

[indianasmith]

We have the big red harvester ants around here; I used to watch them for hours.
Apparently their behavior is driven by the release of scents called pheromones.

[RCMerchant]

We have the big red harvester ants around here; I used to watch them for hours.
Apparently their behavior is driven by the release of scents called pheromones.

Ever watch when 2 ants meet each other and communicate with their antenna?
But we can never really know. We're driven by our senses too.  Dogs think. So do whales and birds. Why not ants?

Maybe-because the ants have no clue we exist-but that candy fell into their lap-it was manna from the gods.
Not supernatural-just beyond they're ant comprehension of the universe. So when-as in past times-fish fell from the sky-or when one sees something that shouldn't be-a ghost, a UFO-it's just so far beyond us-we can't begin to figure it out. We're just guessing.  We're ants. And to me religion-created by us ants-is guess work.

[RCMerchant]

I guess that's why some folks have faith . I just can't see myself-or any human-being able to figure all this out. I just don't know. I never will.

[ER]

Whatever else may be said of them, ants are some of the most fascinating beings in existence. Like RC and Indy both said, they're amazing to watch. I am not entirely sure that ant colonies shouldn't be called civilizations.

[RCMerchant]

They have colonies-we have cities.

They fight wars. I don't think any other species-beyond ants and humans-wage war.