Atheism and monasticism?

[ComradeMeow]

You and Ted Kazinsky would be great friends.

Perhaps making atheist monasteries, were people like you had a library and a "cell" to read books. The best way to absorb knowlege is to copy heh?

  You have no idea how funny it is you bring this up because my stepmother had this odd assertion that because I liked classical music it would make me turn out like the unibomber. She was a horribly stupid woman but oh well.


But keep in mind I am not saying to isolate yourself alone for decades at a time. Maybe one decade at the least but maybe I am just romanticising the thought of monasticism again. I am not denying there are very interesting things in religion that intrigue me still.

[LastPoet]

You and Ted Kazinsky would be great friends.

Perhaps making atheist monasteries, were people like you had a library and a "cell" to read books. The best way to absorb knowlege is to copy heh?

  You have no idea how funny it is you bring this up because my stepmother had this odd assertion that because I liked classical music it would make me turn out like the unibomber. She was a horribly stupid woman but oh well.
l

For liking classical music lel? Put me up in that club too.

As to the topic, i disagree about isolating oneself. If your brain, considering you are human, gets isolated from other brains, It starts racing with itself. Books are overrated since they are thought out and not in a moment talk.

To me, books serve as help to get knowledge (I don't read pussy romances or general fantasy books). My books are ridden with physics, chemistry, math and formal logic. My friends say I am very weird for liking such dry subjects, but I am what I am.

Still, interacting with others is important. You might get easily convinced by yourself, but I have learned that when interacting with others, we can learn things together.

Social anxiety. Its a thing Comrade. For those in Mafia, its WIFOM. You might look up for the Dunning-kruger effect.

I for one dont underestimate my human peers. Ever. Even from theists, that I say they are wrong about the existance of god whatever that is, in other subjects they can be right.

I for one learned to not be shy about who I am. My counsel is given free of charge.

[Succubus]

Actually that does help. Here I was thinking you were a total troll making a completely backward insinuation about atheists in some very obtuse way. I think Succubus might have come to a similar conclusion.

Then your thinking is wrong.
My overly  curt reply to ComradeMeow was to suggest that if he is so enamoured with 'his' idea of monasticism; ie, he appeared to me to be describing meditation,  then perhaps he should try it out.

[Hammok Man]

Monastic life probably becomes appealing to everyone at some point. I think at the end of the day we are social creatures, ultimately designed to pair off.

Monks who join an order or institution are still part of a group. Those of us who leave society all together often suffer from mental disorder, it may even be caused by isolation.

I may be mistaken but from reading your post it seems to me you are a student. If you are dissatisfied with that, take a break and work for a year or so. It may give you a different perspective. I urge students to learn a skill as part of their education. Growing up my father insisted that I work in the trades over the summer. The result is that I have a basic working nowledge of carpentry, electrical work, plumbing, and HVAC. I was exposed to all types of people, some work their ass off. Others ride the clock and do as little as possible.

[Astonished]

Actually that does help. Here I was thinking you were a total troll making a completely backward insinuation about atheists in some very obtuse way. I think Succubus might have come to a similar conclusion.

Then your thinking is wrong.
My overly  curt reply to ComradeMeow was to suggest that if he is so enamoured with 'his' idea of monasticism; ie, he appeared to me to be describing meditation,  then perhaps he should try it out.

Fair enough.

[Ivan Denisovich]

There is no "us" to benefit from thing you're proposing.

[The Grand Nudger]

Well, could it be a thing? 

I always had a great fondness for the concept of monasticism and I enjoy being alone due to my high anxiety and abrupt introversion which annoys people to no end. The thought of hiding yourself away from the world only to develop yourself and perfect your own wisdom in literature and spirit is something that has always appealed to me. I like to read books and be left alone from the world mostly because it causes me mild depression and ruins my empathy. As I have gotten older and become more apathetic towards people the concept of monasticism seems very interesting even for a grimy dude like myself.

Has anyone else thought about monasticism for atheists? 

If so, why do you think it would benefit us nonreligious and how could it benefit others if possible?

A bit of an idealized notion of monasticism.  They also secluded themselves to perfect the art of brewing, t-beam architecture, and machine automation....but mostly because they had no other prospects or abilities or were emotionally or physically damaged.  

Ultimately, monasticism as a paradigm for any of those things only ade sense when a person -had- to seclude themselves in a monastary in order to spend inordinate amounts of time developing some skill or talent, or just enjoying the peace and quiet.  We're no longer in that position...and if you spend most of your time in your own home with your own hobby you're living a better quality version of that life already.

[chimp3]

I am a weird introvert and difficult to get along with once you have entered my personal space. I like being alone a lot. Even in  a crowd I will isolate myself. "Hey! Are you listening!" is a common phrase I hear. I would not consider this a tendency towards monasticism. Being an introverted book worm is more accurate. I am now divorced and nearing 60. If I do consider another relationship I think another bookworm would be right up my alley.

[ComradeMeow]

I am a weird introvert and difficult to get along with once you have entered my personal space. I like being alone a lot. Even in  a crowd I will isolate myself. "Hey! Are you listening!" is a common phrase I hear. I would not consider this a tendency towards monasticism. Being an introverted book worm is more accurate. I am now divorced and nearing 60. If I do consider another relationship I think another bookworm would be right up my alley.

You have no idea how bad that sounded right now

---

  You have no idea how funny it is you bring this up because my stepmother had this odd assertion that because I liked classical music it would make me turn out like the unibomber. She was a horribly stupid woman but oh well.
l

For liking classical music lel? Put me up in that club too.

As to the topic, i disagree about isolating oneself. If your brain, considering you are human, gets isolated from other brains, It starts racing with itself. Books are overrated since they are thought out and not in a moment talk.

To me, books serve as help to get knowledge (I don't read pussy romances or general fantasy books). My books are ridden with physics, chemistry, math and formal logic. My friends say I am very weird for liking such dry subjects, but I am what I am.

Still, interacting with others is important. You might get easily convinced by yourself, but I have learned that when interacting with others, we can learn things together.

Social anxiety. Its a thing Comrade. For those in Mafia, its WIFOM. You might look up for the Dunning-kruger effect.

I for one dont underestimate my human peers. Ever. Even from theists, that I say they are wrong about the existance of god whatever that is, in other subjects they can be right.

I for one learned to not be shy about who I am. My counsel is given free of charge.

Well keep in mind I am not talking about being a hermit and secluding yourself from others but instead another group of people.

But obviously you can tell my anxiety issues are a massive reason why I romanticize this, I obviously have similar opinion with my girlfriend. My dream is to get out the city obviously and go back to Mississippi if I can. I enjoyed the isolation there a lot, it made me relax and I never had a panic attack there. Things like this are the reason why I cannot interact with others and it makes me very disabled socially. 

Also me and you have the same love for books it seems, I am in the midst of getting copies of the works of Plato and Omar Khayyam

[brewer]

Comrade, do you have the notion that by isolation and self education you can somehow transcend both theism and atheism? Develop some new kind of woo for humanity?

I hear that fire watching in New Mexico is paid isolation. Maybe try that.