http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/125152Atheism a positive world view?!? Please read this article. In the spirit of the convention, this is a great piece to urge Atheists to stand up!Thanks Thesius
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/125152Atheism a positive world view?!? Please read this article. In the spirit of the convention, this is a great piece to urge Atheists to stand up!Thanks Thesius
Since 1963, AMERICAN ATHEISTS has been the premier organization laboring for the civil liberties of Atheists, and the total, absolute separation of government and religion.
Copyright 2012. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of American Atheists.
AMT,
Ditto what pasta said except that I’d add that our solar system is the result of one or more generations of exploding sun.
I love the idea that humanity is the universe becoming self aware.
Ditto HZ’s ditto and comment about self-awareness.
I saw an article in a recent Discover Magazine about a theory of multiple continuing smaller bangs, rather than one big bang. Matter collapsing and expanding on itslef repeatedly. Sorry, I’m not at home where the mag is to look it up.
What does anyone think about this?
Karen,
That’s part of M-Theory, what used to be called String Theory. Brian Greene did a pretty fun documentary on PBS exploring the history of it:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/
R4D:
Thanks for the information. I was not aware of this one. His other books look interesting as well.
But what I think is unique about what I am trying to do is bringing all the disparate points of view on these topics together in one place, hopefully in a coherent form which people can look through relatively quickly and with many different forms of communication to make comprehension easier.
AMT,
I may never know how the universe was created, but and educated guess is sure better than saying “Well, some invisible being in the sky created the whole thing about 4000 years ago. There were some floods and stuff and two people in a garden.”
Yeah, good theory. The fact that it originated 2000 years ago and has no evidence to back it whatsoever makes it VERY scientifically credible.
That’s obviously “AN educated guess”
My bad.
Whoa… that’s a pretty tall order. Every point of view yet short and easy to read? Good luck.
hey r4d I think he maens a wiki of atheist thoughts, view points,and evidence right tom but I could be wrong
So you are all saying that there was no beginning? You are saying the cosmos and planets and stars have been here forever? So there is no time? The laws of pyshics are wrong? Plus, who said the earth was created 2000 or 4000 years ago?
Oh and…what evidence is there of evolution?
No. Speaking for myself I have no idea if there was a begining, and if so when it might have been.
Obviously not. At least not those we currently see.
Time is relative. The laws of physics are actual, our understanding of them is under constant review.
That would be Young Earth Creationists – although I think the figure is between 6,000 and 10,000 years.
I’d start at your local library.
I suspect however that evidence that you’d accept does not exist.
Read my post on the above topic.
HeatheNZ, sorry to burst your bubble, but The Evoloution Theory is completely outdated. Like I said, read my two posts on the topic above this one.
AnswerMeThis are you sure when you picked your screename that you didn’t mean Answers4U ?
R4D:
Each major approach to a specific topic would be on a different page. A ?central? page might have a short description of each. Different ways of expressing the same approach my also be helpful since different people have different ways of understanding. Still a serious challenge, but so was Wikipedia and Linux. Get enough people interested and it is possible, I think. I have high hopes.
udonman:
The word I like is ?realism? rather than atheism, but it amounts to the same thing: based on observed reality and logic; no gods, magic, mysticism, etc. (Even if one assumes a creator, it is observation, not guesswork, by which one figures out what was created).
Still not settled on the site. Wikipedia?s edit mode and page creation look too difficult for non-programmers, so a place like Wikispaces might be better. It also has better backup for when some theist decides that this is evil. (Bound to happen eventually if it takes off).
answermethis presented some of her christian pseudoscience in the mega churches topic. You can see my response to her there.
Joining the conversation late, I will make a few concrete points. Jcc, phreedm, and all the rest of our resident trolls are laymen. They are not scientists, they do not think scientifically, and will take exception to anyone who does. Please don’t get so riled up by them. They can only derail threads if we take the bait.
Jcc,
Arguing points with Symbiote, is just plain silly. You are always going to lose because she has a Masters in biology, something I am quite certain that you do not possess. She studies daily the very points about which you can only produce conjecture. I know this because I know Symbiote in real life. You cannot seem to produce a correct definition of the word theory, let alone use it as a tool to observe the universe. You are a layman and she is a scientist. Granted, I’ll tell you not to be offended, but you will because it is in your nature to do so. When it pertains to biology, I am a layman as well. My education is not in biology, and though I have accumulated a significant amount of knowledge of the subject on my own, even I cannot compete with Symbiote’s education in the subject. When someone speaks from a position of higher knowledge it behooves you to do less talking and more listening.
Phreedom,
It is a very interesting statement because it is indicative of the nature of science. It also went over your head. Science is very much akin to studying the inner workings of a watch, when you do not always have the tools necessary to open it up and tinker with it to find out how it works. If you are to make assumptions about the behavior of those inner workings, you have to back them up with observable – and most importantly – REPEATABLE observations. The workings of evolution are being studied in great detail.
As far as your argument goes for the jump in teen suicide, etc., I’d like to see your concrete facts regarding this. Right now it’s purely conjecture, and not worth discussing. If you can somehow link suicide rates to the disbelief in deities then I’d be happy to converse with you about it. Until that point, bring more to the table if you want to eat with the big boys and girls.
That is all the feeding-of-the-trolls I will provide.
To those of you that do not understand that the mathematics of the behavior of evolution are also being studied, quantified, and predicted I will direct you here:
http://www.discover.com/issues/feb-05/cover/
This article details a computer simulator of life that is amazingly predictive of the behaviors of life, and particularly of descent with modification (evolution). It has given surprising answers to some of the questions that have kept evolution from evolving into a law (pun intended). Once the difficult-to-quantify minutia of evolution fit into a mathematical model that accurately predicts the behaviors we see in real-world organisms the term “law” will fit more comfortably with the scientific community. It can’t be forced. Evolution is a theory, but then… so is gravity. I haven’t seen the creationists attacking the reality of gravity, even though the mathematics we have to describe it still isn’t quite perfect.
Actually, I think I remember jcc mentioning several times that he has degrees in both computer science and geology. Not entirely sure what his profession is, though.
TomSD,
Sounds like a worthy cause to me.
If you are trying to build a team together, then I’m glad to offer my services as a designer, front-end web developer, and actionscripter.
I finally got the reality-based guide to living started. All there is at this point is the introduction stuff and one page of (hopefully) useful information (which needs major editing and additions).
Check it out at: http://embracing-reality.wikispaces.com/
Anyone who is interesting in contributing to this is very welcome! The more insights we get, the better this site will be. Since it is just starting out, this is a good chance to make a major difference. Everything is very much open to changes at this point (except that articles must be based on real-world observations, not beliefs), so any improvements will be welcome.
International Space University Hat
The boisterous sound of schoolchildren fills the space as Hat tip reader T via Rontini39;s Submarine BBS.Almost nine…