Is atheism a belief?

[Belacqua]

Is the correctness of a postulate not also a belief?

Atheists think that the postulate "God exists" is probably not true.

If that's a belief, then atheism is a belief.

[bennyboy]

Is the correctness of a postulate not also a belief?

Atheists think that the postulate "God exists" is probably not true.

If that's a belief, then atheism is a belief.

When they say they are atheist, and spend hours each day typing about that fact, and are members of at least one forum about that fact, they are really just saying that they just happen to "lack" that particular belief.  They probably spend a couple hours a day on nounicorns.com as well.

*ducks*

---

I've learned from the best that there are people with ill intent and people who are either ignorant of the illness or don't mean anything by their comments. Tibs would much rather people talk about it and learn about it than fight about it. That said, he's given me leave to rip people a new asshole if they're rude to him after an incident where I yelled at an old lady in a craft store. So, before I go up in your esteem, remember that I brought the ruckus in a fucking craft store of all places.

My case was worse.  I was likening Bucky Ball to a person with Tourette's because he seemed unable to control his typing, which struck me as strange.

But the importance of pointing that out, next to the importance of not using that kind of term in a derogatory way-- it's not even in the same universe.

That's the 80s coming up in me, which popularized great classics like "What're you lookin' at, faggit?" and "Do you have a fuckin' problem, retard?" I'm not much for PC, but I think there is now some temperance in regard to that kind of aggression which is a good thing.

As for ripping old ladies new assholes in craft stories-- how could that do ANYTHING but increase my esteem for you? Old ladies are quite often total bitches, because they think people will let them get away with it. I remember when I was 18 and I had my first real gf. I picked a flower in Stanley Park in Vancouver to put in her hair-- and I mean there are MILLIONS of flowers in the park in spring there. Like. . . the petals literally carpet the walkways, and are practically a slipping hazard. And some old bitch has to shit on the moment: "Those flowers are for EVERYONE. . . you're being selfish." I was of the opinion that if she was that bitter, it was time for her to consider walking into the ocean.

[The Grand Nudger]

Is the correctness of a postulate not also a belief?

Atheists think that the postulate "God exists" is probably not true.

If that's a belief, then atheism is a belief.

That's not what atheists think, it's what some atheists think...but it's not really an answer to the question either, is it?

Unicornism isn't driving government policy, Benny, lol.

I'm not exactly the perfect person to opine upon why atheists like you or Bel do what you do on these boards or in general, how you divide your time, I'm a gnostic and an antitheist, but I can at least accept and understand your position..that I do not agree with.

I'll just ask again, in the context of this framework where the difference between belief and knowledge is correctness, is the correctness of a postulate not also a belief?

People have come up with all sorts of additional criteria to the tripartate theory in order to account for this.

[Shell B]

Old ladies are quite often total bitches, because they think people will let them get away with it.  

I think we have to be friends now.

There's also a subset of men that are horrible. They're the "Fuck you, lady driver." gang. I can't count how many times a typical tough guy has done something absolutely batshit while driving and then acted like a complete asshole to me about it.

/offtopicrant

[bennyboy]

Unicornism isn't driving government policy, Benny, lol.

That's the semantic difference.

"Atheism" as a lack of theism doesn't make sense to me-- I don't see how you could be presented with a God idea and not answer "I think that's bullshit." But "atheist" as a lack of being theist-- that is meaningful. You recognize that many people are theist, and you're saying "I'm not one of those guys."

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Old ladies are quite often total bitches, because they think people will let them get away with it.  

I think we have to be friends now.

<3

There's also a subset of men that are horrible. They're the "Fuck you, lady driver." gang. I can't count how many times a typical tough guy has done something absolutely batshit while driving and then acted like a complete asshole to me about it.

/offtopicrant

If a car spun out of control on an icy road, overall I'd want a young man to handle the mechanics of getting it under control: I really do believe that when it comes to reflexes, men have the edge.  However, 99/100 times the person spinning out of control is going to be a guy, because he thinks he's a professional rally driver and is driving far too fast. And even if he can recover 90% of the time, that's a lot of people the cops have to scrape off the mountainside. (The Vancouver -- Whistler highway is absolutely infamous for rich dudes in their Porsche SUVs doing 50% over the speed limit on their way to their weekend villas, passing at high speeds around blind corners and such. It doesn't even earn a line in the local newspaper anymore when they crash.)

I do think women as an overall population are more likely to do dumb stuff, like panic and just slam on the brakes in the middle of a busy intersection. That's my wife's go-to signature move. But when a man panics, he's much more likely to gun the engine and take out a car full of kids. The last thing they'll ever hear is his goddamned car horn, which couldn't possibly help in any way, but by which he announces, "Get out of the way, this is your fault" just as he broadsides them at 100mph.

Give me women, and whatever little traffic quirks they might have or trouble with the mechanics of parallel parking or whatever makes men so smug, over an overconfident asshole any day of the week.

[The Grand Nudger]

Unicornism isn't driving government policy, Benny, lol.

That's the semantic difference.

What on earth are you talking about?  The fact that unicornism doesn't drive important things the way that theism does isn't semantic..that's not at all what that word means.  If unicornism -were- driving important things you would see vocal a-unicornists, and ever was it thus.

"Atheism" as a lack of theism doesn't make sense to me-- I don't see how you could be presented with a God idea and not answer "I think that's bullshit."  But "atheist" as a lack of being theist-- that is meaningful.  You recognize that many people are theist, and you're saying "I'm not one of those guys."

You're only telling me that words don't make sense to you...am I supposed to be able to make sense of that.........? Wrong guy, man, I may not agree with this or that position but words do make sense to me even so.

Here again, I can only remind you that I'm not the typical atheist, as you are.  I'm not an agnostic....but still, I find it difficult to believe that you don't understand your own position in this way.  The believing set has clearly poisoned the well so effectively that you're distancing yourself from it literally as you drink. That's part of my antitheism, bluntly.

[GrandizerII]

Is the correctness of a postulate not also a belief?

Atheists think that the postulate "God exists" is probably not true.

Some atheists do; others don't. Some atheists simply see no reason to think it's true, but they don't have an opinion on whether this is true or not anyway. These atheists are atheists "by default" in the same way that many of us are "a-solipsists" by default.

Put another way, some atheists will say "it may be true, it may be not, I don't know". In this case, they're not expressing a belief.

If that's a belief, then atheism is a belief.

That's a belief, but it's not atheism in the broader sense.

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I do think women as an overall population are more likely to do dumb stuff, like panic and just slam on the brakes in the middle of a busy intersection.  That's my wife's go-to signature move.  But when a man panics, he's much more likely to gun the engine and take out a car full of kids.  The last thing they'll ever hear is his goddamned car horn, which couldn't possibly help in any way, but by which he announces, "Get out of the way, this is your fault" just as he broadsides them at 100mph.

Give me women, and whatever little traffic quirks they might have or trouble with the mechanics of parallel parking or whatever makes men so smug, over an overconfident asshole any day of the week.

You've majored in psychology (if I remember correctly), so you know very well about implicit biases and self-fulfilling prophecies and reinforcement of attitudes and such. You should know better than to make such broad stereotypes.

[bennyboy]

That's the semantic difference.

What on earth are you talking about?  The fact that unicornism doesn't drive important things the way that theism does isn't semantic..that's not at all what that word means.  If unicornism -were- driving important things you would see vocal a-unicornists, and ever was it thus.

"Atheism" as a lack of theism doesn't make sense to me-- I don't see how you could be presented with a God idea and not answer "I think that's bullshit."  But "atheist" as a lack of being theist-- that is meaningful.  You recognize that many people are theist, and you're saying "I'm not one of those guys."

You're only telling me that words don't make sense to you...am I supposed to be able to make sense of that.........?  Wrong guy, man, I may not agree with this or that position but words do make sense to me even so.

Here again, I can only remind you that I'm not the typical atheist, as you are.  I'm not an agnostic....but still, I find it difficult to believe that you don't understand your own position in this way.  The believing set has clearly poisoned the well so effectively that you're distancing yourself from it literally as you drink.  That's part of my antitheism, bluntly.

Me: I don't consider my atheist, and here's why. (gives half a dozen reason why)
You: Nuh uh!  You're atheist.  Your'e ATHEIST!

Is the motivation for 97 pages of that really only an interest in semantics?  Why wouldn't you just leave it at "Well, that's not really how I see it, but whatevs," and, realizing that to me it's an important difference, not keep trolling me about it?  What's the currency involved here, bruh?  Why are you fighting so hard to ensure that I understand that like it or not, I'm one of you?

[Shell B]

Give me women, and whatever little traffic quirks they might have or trouble with the mechanics of parallel parking or whatever makes men so smug, over an overconfident asshole any day of the week.

Yeah, I can parallel park like a boss, drive a stick shift and navigate gigantic trucks in city traffic, so I guess I'm a unicorn.

[bennyboy]

Give me women, and whatever little traffic quirks they might have or trouble with the mechanics of parallel parking or whatever makes men so smug, over an overconfident asshole any day of the week.

Yeah, I can parallel park like a boss, drive a stick shift and navigate gigantic trucks in city traffic, so I guess I'm a unicorn.

For sure.  Some of the best drivers I've met, mechanically, are women.  In my experience, women who really take an interest in driving have an aggressive edge to them.

They also crash a lot, though, so. . .