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RE: What date do you estimate atheism will overtake theism in the world population
September 10, 2017 at 9:07 am
(September 7, 2017 at 10:31 pm)Coveny Wrote: For many years now I've felt like the world is losing its religion quite literally. Polls around the world show a trend of fewer and fewer theists. So much so that in some countries atheism is the majority. However on the global scale theism still dominates atheism. We do see the young are far less likely to be theists, and the numbers of atheists there lend support to my idea that theism is dying. So the question is this at what year do you think atheism will become the majority on the global stage?
I think that those who voted "never" are simply dead wrong. Your question is akin to asking, "When will heliocentricism take-over geocentricism?" Many in the 15th-century would have replied, "Never," also; ditto for theism.
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RE: What date do you estimate atheism will overtake theism in the world population
September 10, 2017 at 11:11 am
(This post was last modified: September 10, 2017 at 11:13 am by Succubus.)
(September 10, 2017 at 9:07 am)Jehanne Wrote: I think that those who voted "never" are simply dead wrong. Your question is akin to asking, "When will heliocentricism take-over geocentricism?" Many in the 15th-century would have replied, "Never," also; ditto for theism.
Given the very limited means the ancients had at their disposal geocentricism was the best picture they could paint, it's hardly surprising it stood so long. Of course It was wrong, but it worked. Until the enlightenment happened that is, and those old ideas fell like dominoes.
The problem is, human thought isn’t a tangible thing like orbital mechanics and science is powerless with regard to changing the way we think.
Given the propensity for homsaps to this day, to believe in absolute nonsense, strongly suggests there is something profoundly wrong with in the way our brains are wired. Perhaps there's some sort of switch or relay in our brain's that needs to be triggered at age 4-5yo? Some of us did make that connection, we are called rational thinkers. Others will keep on buying ten different branded pain killers for ten different ailments, all @£4-5 a packet. All of them with the same active ingredient, Paracetamol, which costs pennies.
What is the net worth of the Catholic church? Financially; probably in the trillions, actual worth? Two aspirin. Religious belief is a mind virus and I don't see an over the counter remedy appearing any time soon.
It's amazing 'science' always seems to 'find' whatever it is funded for, and never the oppsite. Drich.
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RE: What date do you estimate atheism will overtake theism in the world population
September 10, 2017 at 2:27 pm
As it stands now it's 9 that it will happen at some point and 11 that it won't. I believe it will, as atheism is in it's infancy, and the more globalized the world becomes the less it's possible to isolate and indoctrinate children before they hear about and experience opposing viewpoints.
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RE: What date do you estimate atheism will overtake theism in the world population
September 10, 2017 at 3:21 pm
Trouble is we are pattern seeking mammals and that false negative survival trait is deeply embedded. It's not just religion, but all kinds of woo. We have seen TM, aliens, homeopathy and conspiracy theories with a good level of following, despite their rational inconsistent nature. We see the political machinations that construct news as all Fake, all Alt-right, Alt-left. People satisfied with easy answers and unlikely solutions to difficult problems.
Anti-scientism is rampant, either through religious nonsense or just poor education.
Learning to be rational and skeptical is hard and a never completed job.
I don't think the star-trek generation is achievable without a zeitgeist mindset change globally, and the key to that is education and the empowerment of women IMHO.
Truly hope it I am wrong and a way can be found to achieve it more readily.
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RE: What date do you estimate atheism will overtake theism in the world population
September 10, 2017 at 11:14 pm
Never.
It's never going to happen, because superstition is part of our behavioral mechanism.
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RE: What date do you estimate atheism will overtake theism in the world population
September 11, 2017 at 5:04 am
(This post was last modified: September 11, 2017 at 5:04 am by ignoramus.)
Guys, obviously atheism isn't a thing competing for our dollar. I just see the trend as religion slowly but surely becoming a redundant relic of the old world.
It'll die off naturally with time as the "deck of cards" foundations are seen for what they are..
No God, No fear.
Know God, Know fear.
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RE: What date do you estimate atheism will overtake theism in the world population
September 11, 2017 at 12:05 pm
(This post was last modified: September 11, 2017 at 12:06 pm by SteveII.)
(September 10, 2017 at 2:27 pm)Coveny Wrote: As it stands now it's 9 that it will happen at some point and 11 that it won't. I believe it will, as atheism is in it's infancy, and the more globalized the world becomes the less it's possible to isolate and indoctrinate children before they hear about and experience opposing viewpoints.
Your view is not based in reality. This highly referenced link shows that at best, atheist probably don't even break 10% by 2050 (because "unaffiliated" does not equal atheist). Notice the trend line as a % of world population.
Do you know why the trend is down? A major reason is Chinese atheists from the communist era are dying out and are not being replaced by a new generation of atheists. That seems at odds with your premise that all it will take is a lack of indoctrination.
So, not only is your view wrong, it is actually the other way around. There will be way more religious people in the world well into the future.
BTW, atheism is not in its infancy--by any stretch.
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RE: What date do you estimate atheism will overtake theism in the world population
September 11, 2017 at 12:18 pm
(This post was last modified: September 11, 2017 at 12:18 pm by Whateverist.)
*yawns* Who cares? Not me.
We're an imperfect beast of inconsistent aptitude. Following facts where they lead rather than looking for ones which reinforce our primitive superstitions isn't being selected for by evolution. I see no mechanism to make that happen other than education. But education is also indoctrination and can serve superstition as easily as skepticism.
You don't have to worry Steve. You're not likely to go extinct anytime soon. But by all means, to be sure you don't lose any of your own lock them in the basement with the missus for some home skoolin' until you're sure any rebellious spark of originality is put out.
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RE: What date do you estimate atheism will overtake theism in the world population
September 11, 2017 at 1:29 pm
(September 11, 2017 at 12:05 pm)SteveII Wrote: (September 10, 2017 at 2:27 pm)Coveny Wrote: As it stands now it's 9 that it will happen at some point and 11 that it won't. I believe it will, as atheism is in it's infancy, and the more globalized the world becomes the less it's possible to isolate and indoctrinate children before they hear about and experience opposing viewpoints.
Your view is not based in reality. This highly referenced link shows that at best, atheist probably don't even break 10% by 2050 (because "unaffiliated" does not equal atheist). Notice the trend line as a % of world population.
Do you know why the trend is down? A major reason is Chinese atheists from the communist era are dying out and are not being replaced by a new generation of atheists. That seems at odds with your premise that all it will take is a lack of indoctrination.
So, not only is your view wrong, it is actually the other way around. There will be way more religious people in the world well into the future.
BTW, atheism is not in its infancy--by any stretch.
Yeah, "second that". I am a transgender female and openly wear skirts in public, and no one gives me a hard time about it! Would not have tried that 30 years ago for fear of my life!! I could care less if people are religious, only that the evangelical right in America has lost virtually all of their influence over my life, and that of others.
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RE: What date do you estimate atheism will overtake theism in the world population
September 11, 2017 at 4:12 pm
The spread of religiosity is not evidence for rational belief of the idea; there could be many reasons for that uptake that speak in no way to the veracity of the belief.
We had a numbers game in the past when the world was flat and everything circled the Earth.
Easy answers are not equivalent to accurate solutions.
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