Question for Atheists

[Angrboda]

"The universe exists to glorify Jabba the Hutt. In His infinite glory, all beings by their existence give praise to Jabba the Hutt. Jabba does not need our praise, we need to praise Him for our own sake. All glory to Jabba the Hutt."



Yeah, that's a swell answer.

[Alex K]

It is not true that a spatially exactly flat universe would have to be spatially infinite.There are suitable flat manifolds of finite size, e.g. the three-dimensional torus (S^1)^3

Even in a finite torus the universe would still be approximately 100 times larger than the horizon distance. regardless, it's a fecking huge!

Yes absolutely, those measurements still apply! And it could be infinite anyways...

[The Reality Salesman01]

I have a powerful desire to know why the universe exists and our purpose for existence as individuals. I don't see science as a way to discover this.

Why the universe exists? Hmm...I don't know. But is that the only question you have for something that exists with seemingly zero purpose? Suppose you answer that with God. Now that's settled, what's next? Is the universe the only thing that needs an explanation? As soon as you accept that God created the universe, and it's purpose is a species of sentient primate, you've opened the door to a bunch of complications concerning all of the things we experience that must also be attributed to God, and from there on, what happens to this powerful desire to know things? Is it punctuated by a faith explanation that ends all honest enquiry? Why are humans capable of feeling such anguish and sorrow at the expense of things that wouldn't exist had God not made them? Why does God appear to be a cosmic dictator that looks after his own, while subjecting the others to pain and torture? What sort of eternity could be considered paradise if you know that there are people's souls being tortured for eternity during every moment that passes by, people you were capable of knowing and loving, but for one reason or another, God was unable to know and love them the way that you did? Mothers in heaven while their Atheist children burn in hell? What about happiness in life? Does your desire to know persist once faced with these kinds of questions, or does shut down at the dead-end of "faith", or "God's will"? Once you conclude that God created the universe, and us it's purpose, what then do you know about happiness? Is there anything you can convey to an Atheist about happiness after you've decided you have the answer to the origin of all things? What can you tell an Atheist that has decided the purpose of the universe is not nearly as important as finding individual purpose within it, and that purpose is to be happy? What if I know how to be happy, and I've figured out how without accepting any of the other conclusions about God that you have?

Do atheists search for the same thing and, if so, what is their source or method? I think most atheists don't see any purpose at all.

Perhaps your desire to know about such purposes is a clue that there may be purpose to the universe, but your lack of answers is because you've been looking in all the wrong places. Perhaps you should try looking inward and not outward. You are a part of this universe, and you are a part that makes up the sum of the whole. Finding your own meaning gives the universe meaning. Gratitude, love, happiness...these are things that can be achieved by searching within. As an Atheist, I see no need to insert God explanations, as I see God explanations as thought stoppers that add nothing to my personal experience of the universe and that which matters within it. If your desire to know is sincere, I think you have not come here by mistake and you, yourself, may be feeling the side effects of such a lackluster antidote to the questions your desire continues to search for.

[Neo-Scholastic]

Some atheists display cognitive dissonance about meaning and purpose. On the one hand they insist that the natural world has no teleological properties. Then they turn around and claim their lives can still have significance, thereby inserting teleology back into reality.

[max-greece]

Some atheists display cognitive dissonance about meaning and purpose. On the one hand they insist that the natural world has no teleological properties. Then they turn around and claim their lives can still have significance, thereby inserting teleology back into reality.

You say cognitive dissonance.

I say reality.

Whatever.

[houseofcantor]

Some atheists display cognitive dissonance about meaning and purpose. On the one hand they insist that the natural world has no teleological properties. Then they turn around and claim their lives can still have significance, thereby inserting teleology back into reality.

I don't remember insisting that my Gwynnies is your purpose. Sillies.

[Esquilax]

Some atheists display cognitive dissonance about meaning and purpose. On the one hand they insist that the natural world has no teleological properties. Then they turn around and claim their lives can still have significance, thereby inserting teleology back into reality.

Significance to us individually, in ways that often echo out into our social groups, and possibly beyond. Significance to the universe is a completely incomprehensible concept; in your religious world you're talking about significance to god, which is really just one more mind to be significant to, only you've puffed that one up above all the others.

Essentially, we're thinking of the same kind of significance no matter our teleological positions; the atheists just aren't arrogant enough to invent another mind so that the most important person in the universe also finds us significant.

[ThePinsir]

Some atheists display cognitive dissonance about meaning and purpose. On the one hand they insist that the natural world has no teleological properties. Then they turn around and claim their lives can still have significance, thereby inserting teleology back into reality.

No cognitive dissonance, yo.

"purpose" =/= significance.

[Mister Agenda]

I have a powerful desire to know why the universe exists and our purpose for existence as individuals. I don't see science as a way to discover this. Do atheists search for the same thing and, if so, what is their source or method? I think most atheists don't see any purpose at all.

Thanks for starting this thread, it's been a while since we had a 'Question for Atheists' thread.

It's impossible to speak for all atheists, we have about as much in common as all theists. Freethinkers would like to know these things too, but are not so desperate as to prefer a made-up answer over 'I don't know'. Not being able to stand not knowing doesn't entitle anyone to an answer to a question whose answer hasn't been found yet.

[Ryantology]

Some atheists display cognitive dissonance about meaning and purpose. On the one hand they insist that the natural world has no teleological properties. Then they turn around and claim their lives can still have significance, thereby inserting teleology back into reality.

My life has no significance to anything or anybody except me, and perhaps the people in my life who care about me. Beyond that, I'm just another sack of flesh on this tiny little rock, of no significance to the rest of humanity let alone the cold and unfeeling universe in which we all preside.

And I have no problem with that. The universe owes me nothing and I am obliged only to enjoy myself while I've got the chance. If, by your own reckoning, that means my life lacks purpose, meaning or both, then the ramifications of that are yours to wrestle with.