(February 5, 2018 at 10:20 pm)psalm531 Wrote: How do you think we got here - how did humans originate?

God.

Quote:Where did the universe/world come from? Big Bang, God, other?

God.

Quote:What do you think the purpose of life is?

God.

Quote:Does human life have meaning? If so, what gives that meaning?

God.

Quote:Are humans more significant than other creatures? Are we special? Why?

God

Quote:Why do we have moral ethics? Why do some things ‘seem’ bad (like murder)

God.

Quote:Do good and bad exist? How do you determine what is good or bad?

God.

Quote:Are good and evil subjective or universal/absolute?

God

Quote:If you don't believe in sin, do you ever feel guilty?

God.

Quote:What happens to us after death?

God

Quote:Is there a heaven / hell? 

God

Quote:If so, how do you get there? Is there anything specific you have to do?

God.

Pretty sure I aced it!

Hallelujah, Praise God Almighty

Personally, beyond the idea that god is the answer to all of those questions just tickling the shit out of me...I can't fathom why anyone would think that believing or not believing was an indicator of a difference in position on any of those questions.  You'll get different positions on each even amongst people who share belief in god or gods (and people who, collectively, don't), and shared positions on all of them between at least some subset of people who do believe in gods and people who don't.   

"God" is an empty answer and a poor predictor on every single count and from every direction. -That- is my "worldview", at least insomuch as the subject of god is concerned.

(February 5, 2018 at 6:50 pm)mh.brewer Wrote: Hello.

Why don't you post your questions in the open forum? Is there some reason you want to limit/restrict the discussion?

Did the original poster ever post the questions? EDIT: found it

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(February 5, 2018 at 10:20 pm)psalm531 Wrote: If so, below are the starting questions I was going to ask - on 4 general topics.

Origin

How do you think we got here - how did humans originate?
I understand science is still striving to discover the answer to this question, though from my limited perspective we need to first discover the missing link to better comprehend rationally the origin of our human existence

Where did the universe/world come from? Big Bang, God, other?
The Big Bang is scientifically the most credible answer.

Meaning

What do you think the purpose of life is?
To live it while allowing others to live theirs.

Does human life have meaning? If so, what gives that meaning?
Man provides meaning to his own life by what he does with it. Otherwise, human life is no more important than any non-human life.

Are humans more significant than other creatures? Are we special? Why?
No. No. Because man's ego has always been one of his greatest downfalls.

Morality

Why do we have moral ethics? Why do some things ‘seem’ bad (like murder)
Anthropologically, it has been discovered that we learned morality during the early stages of our existence when we needed every member of our clan in order to survive in a world we barely understood. It would have done us no good to kill someone just because we were mad at the person; thus, the beginnings of reasoned morality.

Do good and bad exist? How do you determine what is good or bad?
This is a tough one, because it is somewhat dependent on subjective interpretation. What one person may think is good, someone else may think is bad; and vice versa. There do seem to be universally accepted forms of what is considered good versus bad, however. What I determine to be good or bad is dependent on how it affects others, because I am a biased source. Just because I personally think man having sex with a woman is bad, because I'm gay, does not make it so. If a man having sex with a woman was doing real, not mentally imagined, harm to someone, I would be right in considering the sexual act as bad.

Are good and evil subjective or universal/absolute?
If you don't believe in sin, do you ever feel guilty?
I believe my answer to the 'good/bad' question above qualifies for this question as well.
As for sin, it is invented nonsense. I learned long ago to only feel guilty if I have wronged someone in some way. After apologizing, the guilt is lifted.

Destiny

What happens to us after death?
Our consciousness ceases to exist and our bodies rot.

Is there a heaven / hell? 
No.

(February 5, 2018 at 10:20 pm)psalm531 Wrote: Wow. Thanks for the replies. 

The reason I didn't initially open it up to a group discussion is that the assignment is to interview one person. But I'd certainly like to get other thoughts if you'd like to share.  If so, below are the starting questions I was going to ask - on 4 general topics. If not, just ignore them...

Origin
How do you think we got here - how did humans originate?
Where did the universe/world come from? Big Bang, God, other?

Meaning
What do you think the purpose of life is?
Does human life have meaning? If so, what gives that meaning?
Are humans more significant than other creatures? Are we special? Why?

Morality
Why do we have moral ethics? Why do some things ‘seem’ bad (like murder)
Do good and bad exist? How do you determine what is good or bad?
Are good and evil subjective or universal/absolute?
If you don't believe in sin, do you ever feel guilty?

Destiny
What happens to us after death?
Is there a heaven / hell? 
If so, how do you get there? Is there anything specific you have to do?

Well, the evidence shows that humans evolved biologically from other apes. Notice that I said *other* apes. Humans are a type of ape biologically.

I'm not completely sure it is even meaningful to ask where the universe comes from. An answer would presume causality and causality is a part of the universe.

That said, it is clear that the universe went through a period where it was hot and dense enough that nuclear reactions happened everywhere and has expanded and cooled since then (the Big Bang theory in a nutshell). What happened before that expansion started, or even whether there *was* a 'before' that expansion is not currently known. We need more progress on quantum gravity to answer this.

I don't think there *is* a purpose to life. Life exists. *We* have to decide what we want to do with our lives. Purpose isn't determined externally, it is determined internally.

Do humans have meaning? yes, of course, to other humans. And that is the whole point. We are the ones that determine meaning for us. Same with 'significance'.

In the cosmic scheme of things, humans are a flash in the pan. We have been around 1-200,000 years in a total of 13.7 billion years. If we are lucky, we may last another 10,000. And, if we manage to destroy ourselves, the universe (and even the Earth) will go on quite the same without us.

We have morals and ethics because we are a social species of intelligent primates. So we form rules of behavior. The goal is to have a reasonably stable society where as many people as possible are enriched and fulfilled. Murder, for example, is quite contrary to that goal.

How do we determine what is good and bad? By whether it promotes human well-being or not.

I don't consider morality to be universal. A species of intelligent spiders from a planet around a different star would likely have a *very* different morality based on their biology (so, eating males after mating might well be 'moral' for them).

Guilt is a feeling I have when I have hurt another. It is a common emotion among social species. The best way to deal with guilt is to make amends to the person you've hurt.

SIN is a nonsense word for me.

What happens after death? We rot. Or mummify. Our consciousness dissipates. The analogy I like to use is of the flame of a candle. When the candle is blown out, the flame is gone. But that doesn't mean it didn't give heat and light while it was shining.

I don't believe in a supernatural: no heaven, no hell, no God, no Devil, no angles, no spirits, no demons, etc. Those are all fiction.

(February 5, 2018 at 6:42 pm)psalm531 Wrote: I'm taking a class on Christian apologetics - and as part, I need to find a non-christian to interview. Figured I might find one or two here...

Anyone willing to share with me their viewpoint on the big questions - where we came from, morality, destiny, and the general meaning of life? No debate, just a chance for you to speak your mind.

If you are, reply or send me a private message - and we can find a time to chat or skype.

Welcome. I like hearing about other people's worldviews too, so I'd be curious to hear your views on these issues as well

Great responses - very helpful and well argued! I appreciate it.

All in all, quite interesting and a lot of similarities. I need to do some deeper thinking on a lot of what was said, but a couple questions do jump out -

1) How do you deal with the idea of ceasing to exist after death - or doesn't it bother you?
2) How do you explain what could be considered evidence of intelligent design (such as DNA) - or the statistical improbability we could have happened by random occurrence.

Another is - Can you explain why you became an atheist? But that could easily be a topic for another thread.

(February 6, 2018 at 3:26 pm)psalm531 Wrote: 1) How do you deal with the idea of ceasing to exist after death - or doesn't it bother you?

Same way you do.  We both know that we're going to die.  I doubt that knowledge has either of us crippled, huddled in the corner crying and unable to function.

Quote:2) How do you explain what could be considered evidence of intelligent design (such as DNA) - or the statistical improbability we could have happened by random occurrence.

An impressive misunderstanding of biology and the meaning of the word evidence, coupled with an inability to do simple math.

Quote:Another is - Can you explain why you became an atheist? But that could easily be a topic for another thread.

I became an atheist the same way I became a gingery blonde. Born that way.

(February 6, 2018 at 3:26 pm)psalm531 Wrote: Great responses - very helpful and well argued! I appreciate it.

All in all, quite interesting and a lot of similarities. I need to do some deeper thinking on a lot of what was said, but a couple questions do jump out -

1) How do you deal with the idea of ceasing to exist after death - or doesn't it bother you?
2) How do you explain what could be considered evidence of intelligent design (such as DNA) - or the statistical improbability we could have happened by random occurrence.

Another is - Can you explain why you became an atheist? But that could easily be a topic for another thread.

1. Well, I prefer to live at least a bit longer.

But the fact is that we all die. It is better to learn to deal with that unpleasant fact than it is to be in denial. Again, the candle analogy is one I like: I try to burn bright and with warmth while I am shining. THAT is what makes live worthwhile, not living forever--which would inevitably get to be boring. Have you ever actually contemplated the duration of a billion years?

2. Most claims along this line use the statistics incorrectly. I say this without hesitancy as a mathematician. Almost inevitably, they assume independence of probabilities where we *know* that isn't the case.

DNA isn't evidence of ID. But it *is* evidence that chemicals that are not alive can lead to life.

Why did I become an atheist? Well, I was raised in a religious household, but the religious ideas never made sense to me.

(February 6, 2018 at 3:26 pm)psalm531 Wrote: a couple questions do jump out -

1) How do you deal with the idea of ceasing to exist after death - or doesn't it bother you?
The idea that I will cease to exist when I die does not bother me.  From my perspective of having studied religion and how primitive minds approached the world around them, it appears as though the concept of an afterlife was imagined and created merely to aid in alleviating the fear of death.  By imagining that something exists after death, an irrational fear subsides.

2) How do you explain what could be considered evidence of intelligent design (such as DNA) - or the statistical improbability we could have happened by random occurrence.
I do not comprehend how DNA is considered a rational extension of intelligent design, not that I place any stock in I.D. to begin with.

Another is - Can you explain why you became an atheist?
I have extensively explained it before, but I am pressed for time at the moment.  I am certain the post is on this forum somewhere.  For the moment, however, I will make it brief: through critical thinking and logical interpretation of religious concepts, I was able to reasonably shed ignorance related to such unrealistic notions.  It was as though I was finally awake and understood the world, the real world, for what it was as opposed to the imagined one created by religious delusion.  Having read the agnostic works of Robert Green Ingersoll certainly helped me to get where I currently am, as well.