atheism motivated by hatred for gods

[Ryantology]

[Foxaèr]

[Cyberman]

is that even atheism?

Protip: the 'a' prefix of 'atheist' is a negator for the word 'theist'. Thus, 'a-theist' means 'not a theist'.

It does not stand for 'angry theist'.

I hope that's clear enough; I don't know if I can dumb it down amy more and still use proper words.

[Walking Void]

is that even atheism?

Protip: the 'a' prefix of 'atheist' is a negator for the word 'theist'. Thus, 'a-theist' means 'not a theist'.

It does not stand for 'angry theist'.

I hope that's clear enough; I don't know if I can dumb it down amy more and still use proper words.

He must be confusing:

a-

with:

anti-, contra-, counter-, de-, ob-


It happens when one confuses negative (n<0) with none (n=0).

There are however non-theists that take their disbelief of holiness beyond zero.

[LostLocke]

is that even atheism?

Haven't created enough havoc on TTA, I and I?

Is that who this is?

Jeez, I pre-empathize with the unsuspecting people here at AF

[Angrboda]

Not putting this in a specific theoological context, but my hunch is that the brain uses the same processes and cognitive structures to build an "identity" for a fictional character as they do for a real person. Thus, while at some intellectual level, we know they're not real, to the bulk of our brain circuitry, they are just as real as actual people. That's why we become so attached to the fate of a fictional character, and mourn if they are killed off or whatever, because to the brain, they are just as real as actual persons. This, in part, explains why we spend a lot of our time immersed in the lives of fictional characters and events: sure, our reasoning fore-brain vaguely understands they aren't real, but the rest of the brain where the meat and potatoes of cognition occurs, doesn't really care about that distinction.

So I'd say it's perfectly reasonable to hate a fictional character, because fictional and real persons share the same "hardware," and thus at a fundamental level, they are the same.

Of course, I could be entirely out to lunch with this, seeing as it's based mostly on conjecture...

[Ryantology]

Not putting this in a specific theoological context, but my hunch is that the brain uses the same processes and cognitive structures to build an "identity" for a fictional character as they do for a real person. Thus, while at some intellectual level, we know they're not real, to the bulk of our brain circuitry, they are just as real as actual people. That's why we become so attached to the fate of a fictional character, and mourn if they are killed off or whatever, because to the brain, they are just as real as actual persons. This, in part, explains why we spend a lot of our time immersed in the lives of fictional characters and events: sure, our reasoning fore-brain vaguely understands they aren't real, but the rest of the brain where the meat and potatoes of cognition occurs, doesn't really care about that distinction.

So I'd say it's perfectly reasonable to hate a fictional character, because fictional and real persons share the same "hardware," and thus at a fundamental level, they are the same.

Of course, I could be entirely out to lunch with this, seeing as it's based mostly on conjecture...

I get what you're saying.

I could hate characters that deserved hating if they were real, and committing real atrocities. Otherwise, my feelings for any character don't usually extend beyond consideration of the works in which they are featured. I certainly do find the Christian God repulsive, but I would only hate him if he really existed and exhibited the behaviors he displays in the Bible. All it makes me do in the real world is suspect the sanity and moral compasses of people who can read it and come away convinced that the character is a good guy.

[Angrboda]

I could hate characters that deserved hating if they were real, and committing real atrocities. Otherwise, my feelings for any character don't usually extend beyond consideration of the works in which they are featured. I certainly do find the Christian God repulsive, but I would only hate him if he really existed and exhibited the behaviors he displays in the Bible. All it makes me do in the real world is suspect the sanity and moral compasses of people who can read it and come away convinced that the character is a good guy.

There are aspects which can be realized by reflecting back on how we form a mental identity of an actual person. We don't see a person's mind, we infer it, using the same bottom-level cognitive machinery that posits the existence of an invisible thing (a mind or self) in a body, despite never encountering such in the flesh. We attribute traits to people such as patience, intelligence, wit, and so forth that are abstractions which are incrementally built into the "identity" by correlating behaviors with (inferred) mental substances (a mind that can solve problems well, one that is possessed by strong emotions, or not, as in "a cold fish"). In a sense, other than the contextual markers up top, there is very little that differentiates how we infer the "mental" existence of the mind of an actual person existing in a body, and inferring a fictional mind inside a fictional character. Note that the traits like intelligence, patience, wit, and so on, don't come in fictional and non-fictional varieties; Sherlock Holmes is still the same clever, whether he is real or not.