Hi everyone :)

[robvalue]

My name is Rob, I've always been an atheist. I was lucky enough not to have any kind of religion thrust on me as a child at least by my immediate family, but I feel even if I was it wouldn't have stuck on me.

I enjoy most kinds of debates, particularly those regarding how the universe works at a fundamental level and about peoples' beliefs. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of people around me who enjoy talking about things in the detail I do.

I recently stumbled upon some amazingly funny videos on youtube by such people as Nonstampcollector and Darkmatter2525 and then more serious shows such as The Atheist Experience.

I spend a lot of time thinking about serious fundamental questions, such as:

1) What am "I"?
2) Is my consciousness real or just a side effect of my brain working?
3) Is anyone/anything else conscious?
4) How can I ever tell what is real and what is not?
5) Do I have free will?

I know these are questions which probably will never be completely answered. The most recent one which interested me though is, "What would it take for me to believe a god exists?" The only answer I have at the moment is "nothing". Even if I appeared to suddenly be directly experiencing god or some kind of higher power, I would come to the most likely conclusion that I am dreaming/hallucinating, particularly because of the stark contrast to every other experience I have had up to that point. I'd be interested to know other people's answer to this question.

Well, that's enough drivel for now! Take care all, and I look forward to taking part in discussions and stuff.

PS I forgot to mention things that I like: animals, video games (and all kinds of games), comedy