Hey everyone I am doing a interview on an Atheist for one of my classes so if you guys could answer these questions the best you could that would be great I am a Christian and I am trying to have a better understanding of what you believe. The longer the answer the better! (These were the questions my teacher gave me to ask).

1. What is prime reality? (What is real)?
2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?
3. What is a human being?
4. What happens to a person at death?
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all?
6. How do we know what is right and wrong?
7. What is the meaning of human history?
8. What personal, life orienting core commitments are consistent with this world view? (What do you do for your religion).


Thanks!

What class is this?

Religion?

---

The majority of atheists are not religious so what's that last question doing there?

Edit: sorry, i took out my earlier comment, that was unwarranted. but still, what class?

1. What is prime reality? (What is real)?
Who knows?
2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?
I don't get you.
3. What is a human being?
A member of the species most chromosomally-similar to myself.
4. What happens to a person at death?
Independent biological functions cease and consciousness ends.
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all?
Insofar as we can actually know anything, we can only really 'know' what is reproducible and able to be verified by disinterested third parties, the more the better. .
6. How do we know what is right and wrong?
We decide what is right and wrong.
7. What is the meaning of human history?
There is no meaning. History is a series of events which occasionally form connections and influence outcomes, but there is no metanarrative.
8. What personal, life orienting core commitments are consistent with this world view? (What do you do for your religion).
There are none, as far as I am aware.

(September 24, 2013 at 11:10 pm)danidare13 Wrote: Hey everyone I am doing a interview on an Atheist for one of my classes so if you guys could answer these questions the best you could that would be great I am a Christian and I am trying to have a better understanding of what you believe. The longer the answer the better! (These were the questions my teacher gave me to ask).

1. What is prime reality? (What is real)?
2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?
3. What is a human being?I
4. What happens to a person at death?
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all?
6. How do we know what is right and wrong?
7. What is the meaning of human history?
8. What personal, life orienting core commitments are consistent with this world view? (What do you do for your religion).


Thanks!

Okay, I'll play your game. I do not speak for every atheist, only me
1. Reality is the opposite of Faith. It's the lack of dependence on the imagination.
2. There is no way to answer that. Reality is being learned every day, and always will be. It wasn't answered by a 2,000 year old book.
3. Current evolved state of the genus "homo." And yes, that includes the current level of intelligence. ALL OF IT.
4. Their brain stays alive for a few minutes, then all function stops.
5. Chemical and electrical reactions in your brain record and recover information at a constant state. How? No one knows for sure.
6. We learn through trial and error what is the best way to interact with our local culture. Morals should be learned, not imposed.
7. To give us a record of what we have learned so that we can build upon that knowledge and become wiser. But yeah, a lot of things run in vicious circles. We're only human.
8. I do not have a religion, I learn philosophies, and apply what I see are best to my life. If I don't agree with it, I don't live by it. As I said before, my morals are learned, not imposed.

Again, I speak only for myself. Please do not make a stereotype.
Hope you get a good grade.

Hello, welcome...

From reading these questions, it sounds like your teacher and class could do with some Biology and Cosmology courses.

1. What is prime reality? (What is real)?

Linguistically, reality is all that actually exists in the Universe(s).

Philosophically, reality is what humans perceive it to be, there is no empirical evidence that you are not a figment of my imagination if we want to go down that rabbit hole.

2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?
The nature of reality? That it is simply what it is, reality doesn't respond to questions of "why me", it is indifferent, without feeling, and is all that we know to exist.

3. What is a human being?

One of the billions of living organisms in our universe. It is a proud and arrogant specimen. Many humans think that there is a god who cares whether or not it masturbates or prays or gives money to Churches.

4. What happens to a person at death?

Depends on the cause of death. An infant born to a heroin addict mother may suffocate and have irregular heart beat which is not able to sustain life for long.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/hu...rocess.htm

5. Why is it possible to know anything at all?

"I think, therefore I am."

If you weren't alive or capable of thinking, you wouldn't be able to think you know anything.

But since we can think, and use logic, we use logic to determine that our thoughts are accurate based on the scientific method.

Place finger over fire, fire burns finger, remove finger from fire, finger does not burn... Do not place finger over fire.

If you disagree with this thought process, you may continue placing your body parts over fire until you think it is a bad idea to do so any longer.

6. How do we know what is right and wrong?

How did cavemen know what is right and wrong?

How do monkeys know what is right and wrong?

It is relative.

Animals do what benefits them and their families the best for survival, unless there is a malfunction.

Humans have evolved into large groups, civilizations, requiring ethics to satisfy the needs of the many over the few.

Right is a consensus. Sticking a knife in my stomach hurts, so we don't do it. I bet if stabbing felt good and didn't result in any bodily harm then it would not be wrong to stab people. But since it infringes on my right to exist, and causes me pain, I consider it "wrong", or more accurately, undesirable.

Right = desirable, least amount of harm/backlash
Wrong = undesirable, potential for large amount of harm/backlash

7. What is the meaning of human history?

Human history means the past events that have taken place as concerns the homo-sapiens... this question seems ridiculously vague and rhetorical.

8. What personal, life orienting core commitments are consistent with this world view? (What do you do for your religion).

Consistent with what world view?

My world view is based on my knowledge and understanding of the world.

God has never spoken to me, nor anyone I've met. Until then, I'll presume he doesn't have anything to say.

(September 24, 2013 at 11:10 pm)danidare13 Wrote: Hey everyone I am doing a interview on an Atheist for one of my classes so if yo u guys could answer these questions the best you could that would be great I am a Christian and I am trying to have a better understanding of what you believe. The longer the answer the better! (These were the questions my teacher gave me to ask).

1. What is prime reality? (What is real)? It's all illusory, but some illusions have better evidence compared to others.
2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us? Ask a physics major.
3. What is a human being? The only animal currently understoodto question his existance instead of just living it.
4. What happens to a person at death? Their bowels let go. The funeral home gets a payday.
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all? Because species stand a better chance to thrive over time when they learn. We're still here, so...
6. How do we know what is right and wrong?There are no absolutes, but if it harms us or others, now or in the future, it could be called wrong. Right would be if it benefits us or others, now or in the future.
7. What is the meaning of human history?We can learn from history, but I don't think it has some existential meaning.
8. What personal, life orienting core commitments are consistent with this world view? (What do you do for your religion). Atheism(small 'a', by the way) isn't a religion. There are no agreements between atheists on this point.


Thanks!

(September 24, 2013 at 11:10 pm)danidare13 Wrote: Hey everyone I am doing a interview on an Atheist for one of my classes so if you guys could answer these questions the best you could that would be great I am a Christian and I am trying to have a better understanding of what you believe. The longer the answer the better! (These were the questions my teacher gave me to ask).

1. What is prime reality? (What is real)?

What do you mean by prime? Do you mean to ask of what we are most sure? Too vague.

(September 24, 2013 at 11:10 pm)danidare13 Wrote: 2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?

It is outside us. It is natural.

(September 24, 2013 at 11:10 pm)danidare13 Wrote: 3. What is a human being?

Featherless biped? Naked ape? Certainly a mammal. Say more.

(September 24, 2013 at 11:10 pm)danidare13 Wrote: 4. What happens to a person at death?

I've heard we die.

(September 24, 2013 at 11:10 pm)danidare13 Wrote: 5. Why is it possible to know anything at all?

Does anyone think they know the answer to this question? Don't you mean "how" is it possible? "Why" just begs the god question too much.

(September 24, 2013 at 11:10 pm)danidare13 Wrote: 6. How do we know what is right and wrong?

Hint: the answer isn't in the big book of jewish folktales.

(September 24, 2013 at 11:10 pm)danidare13 Wrote: 7. What is the meaning of human history?

Oh I suspect we could find more than one meaning.

(September 24, 2013 at 11:10 pm)danidare13 Wrote: 8. What personal, life orienting core commitments are consistent with this world view? (What do you do for your religion).

You do know what "atheist" means, don't you? (We don't have a religion.)

Fuckall. I don't get to play yet again.

(September 25, 2013 at 12:39 am)apophenia Wrote:


Fuckall. I don't get to play yet again.

Ah come on. Pway with us Apo. That's "play"! Not pray.

(September 25, 2013 at 12:46 am)whateverist Wrote: Ah come on. Pway with us Apo. That's "play"! Not pray.

I pway you pway we all pway whiwe we pwayyyyyyyyy----ayyyyyy... don't hate the pwayer, hate the gaywam.