What things do I have faith in?

[pineapplebunnybounce]

I have recently been told a few times by theists, that there are lots of things that even I as an atheist, have faith in. And every time I hear this, I deny it. I then usually proceed to ask them what I have faith in but have not received any answers. I made this thread so that theists can voice what they think atheists have faith in.
Just to make things clear, I define faith as: believing in something without any evidence.
I'm not really expecting any replies from theists but it would be fun if they did.

You go to bed with the faith you'll wake up in the morning.

GC

Lol, 70% of the time I sleep because I fell asleep while working. That's during the school year/when I have projects in labs. How do I have faith I'll wake up if I didn't even realize I was asleep until I woke up?

[Esquilax]

You go to bed with the faith you'll wake up in the morning.

GC

Leaving aside this whole question of evidence, and the active examples of sleeping and waking up that we all have, 365 days a year, you also can't necessarily claim what you've claimed, because you don't know what any of us are thinking as we do go to sleep. Perhaps we all wake up pleasantly surprised that we have done so. Falling asleep isn't predicated on the belief that one will wake up, it's done so under the need our physical bodies have to sleep.

No faith required.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

I have recently been told a few times by theists, that there are lots of things that even I as an atheist, have faith in. And every time I hear this, I deny it. I then usually proceed to ask them what I have faith in but have not received any answers. I made this thread so that theists can voice what they think atheists have faith in.
Just to make things clear, I define faith as: believing in something without any evidence.
I'm not really expecting any replies from theists but it would be fun if they did.

You go to bed with the faith you'll wake up in the morning.

GC

Based on repeated, verifiable (and observable) observations and experiences. I woke up this morning. I don't go to sleep with an active 'faith' in a religious sense I will wake up. I go to sleep because my body, as a result of evolution, requires me to rest and regenerate as well as to compile thought processes that have occurred in my brain through the day/week/lifetime till that point.

You understand the difference between that and believing (having faith) in something that has never been observed, never been evidenced, and that never once had any verifiable substance to it aside the very faith that one professes to have?

Of course you don't.

Come on GC, your baseless assertions used to have a little more substance to them. Now I read them and all I get is, how you say, je ne sais quoi. And not in a good or comprehensible way.

[Zazzy]

Economics bugs me, because it seems like something we all have to have faith in. I mean, I get paid, but it's "idea money" that goes into my bank account. Then I spend most of it as idea money, too, through my credit card or checking account. The majority of my money is never actual money, yet I believe it's worth something and that people will accept it in exchange for goods and services. But even if it WERE real money, it would still only be paper, so even real money is still idea money. Yet we all believe it's valuable.

This has often struck me as being very like god-belief. Thoughts, maybe from someone who knows about economics?

[Ronga]

If you believe you can do it, then you have faith in yourself, that can work very well if you wish to do a good job
Its a nice figure of speech, don't be too strict on atheism

[freedomfromforum]

According to your definition, I believe people change their username for sordid reasons.

I'm not following you...

According to your definition of faith (belief without proof or evidence), I could as easily say that I believe people don't change their username for sordid reasons. It was an exercise in modeling - nothing more.

[Ryantology]

Economics bugs me, because it seems like something we all have to have faith in. I mean, I get paid, but it's "idea money" that goes into my bank account. Then I spend most of it as idea money, too, through my credit card or checking account. The majority of my money is never actual money, yet I believe it's worth something and that people will accept it in exchange for goods and services. But even if it WERE real money, it would still only be paper, so even real money is still idea money. Yet we all believe it's valuable.

This has often struck me as being very like god-belief. Thoughts, maybe from someone who knows about economics?

Strictly speaking, no money, not even solid gold coin, has any intrinsic value. Paper and electronic money work because of a basic reality of economics: anything has value as long as someone else is willing to accept it in exchange for goods or services.

It isn't like religious faith because you can test whether a good or a service has value by offering it to someone and seeing what they are willing to give you in return for it.

[Tonus]

Economic bubbles often grow due to misplaced faith. When they burst, it's a sign that the faith of those involved has wavered enough that the bubble cannot be supported any longer. I think it's a fair example of faith in action. During the dot-com boom in the 1990s, a lot of people had faith that companies with poor prospects for making money would nonetheless make so much money that millions (possibly billions) of dollars were sunk into them. It was faith that kept people buying $430 shares of Yahoo stock when the company had reached valuations higher than $110 billion in 1999.

People do have faith in many things, and when it comes to god and money that faith can be extremely irrational.

[Zazzy]

Strictly speaking, no money, not even solid gold coin, has any intrinsic value. Paper and electronic money work because of a basic reality of economics: anything has value as long as someone else is willing to accept it in exchange for goods or services.

It isn't like religious faith because you can test whether a good or a service has value by offering it to someone and seeing what they are willing to give you in return for it.

OK. I'm not sure if I believe my own point, so I'm going to argue it and see if I do.

My thinking is: the ONLY thing propping up both gods and economics is belief in something that is not real, and has no intrinsic value. Only the belief (faith) that your money will buy you something makes it valuable to you. The fact that we all share the faith- that the guy at the store believes it, too, and will take it in exchange for a good- would seem to further the religious metaphor: people prop each others' faiths up in gods and in money- but it is faith. There is no evidence that money is valuable or real EXCEPT THAT WE BELIEVE IT. There is no evidence that god is valuable or real EXCEPT THAT BELIEVERS believe it.

Is that full of shit, or does the argument hold?

[Fruity]

Is that full of shit, or does the argument hold?

I don't know, but, fuck I love boobs, though.






lol sorry. I had to post this video somewhere. I'm in love with Tim!