RE: Testing the strength of your Atheism
January 26, 2015 at 10:51 am
(This post was last modified: January 26, 2015 at 10:55 am by Alex K.)
(January 25, 2015 at 2:14 pm)AFTT47 Wrote:(January 25, 2015 at 11:31 am)Alex K Wrote: For example hunger and thirst are not rational reasons to take action, right? They are states of mind that urge you to do something. Then kicks in rationality and tells you how to obtain them.
I'm not sure. I can see that giving a crap about your own existence is not rational; it is emotional. Given that you DO care, taking action to protect your existence becomes rational. But you didn't answer my example about a simple creature like an ant; you only quoted it.
I think it is safe to say that simple creatures like ants are pretty hard-wired in whatever they do. The urges/instincts we experience are - and I'm going out on a limb here as I'm not a biologist, neurologist or psychologist - probably what happens if this hard-wiring gets paired with a high-powered independent brain in the course of evolution. Many of these functions can be overridden by conscious efforts now, even breathing, so this instinctive drive has to be somehow implemented into the workings of this apparatus which we call the conscious part of our mind. I conjecture that the urges and emotions we feel which lead us to do basic things like keep safe, eat and produce and take care of offspring, are exactly what this implementation of formerly hard-wired urges into the mind looks like "from the inside". Does that make sense?
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
