The World's Largest Coalition of Nontheists and Nontheist Communities!

Are you still atheist if you believe in a afterlife?

Im atheist but I cant understant the concept of not existing. I think the thought of not existing is just in the mind. To me I feel nature always finds its way. I think all things within the universe is recycled. It rules out god cause then something would have had to create god and so on.

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by BradHAWK on March 16, 2010 at 3:13am

"He shall be, no less a biological extension of my original self which is a good start."

So are children.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Roy The Infidel on March 16, 2010 at 3:34am

So is my biological clone.

In having children, you would have added random mutations in the genome that is transferred from parent to child.

I am talking about a biological clone not a biological child.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Howard S. Dunn on March 17, 2010 at 12:45am

As I said - identical twins are biological clones and clearly individuals. We are more than our genetic make-up - even with very similar experiences and upbringing. Your clone would no more be you than your identical twin would be. Survey them - I think most would be pretty affronted if you suggested they were interchangeable.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Roy The Infidel on March 17, 2010 at 12:56am

Of course he wouldn't be me. I clearly stated that in my previous reply.

But, he originated from my DNA. While Brad may consider having children as his biological extension, I consider cloning myself a logical alternative.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Glenn Sogge on March 15, 2010 at 8:55am

To me I feel nature always finds its way.

I don't know what this means ... Sounds suspiciously woo-woo to me.

I think all things within the universe is recycled.

If the universe is all that exists, what else could it be? We are all just stardust as Lawrence Krauss puts it very poetically in one of his lectures. I can't quickly find the short excerpt, however.

I think the thought of not existing is just in the mind.

But only if the thought of existing is "just in the mind", too. There is plenty of evidence that things exist (as a result of coming into existence) and that things don't exist that once did. The processes are going on continuously throughout the universe. We happen to be in clump of existent stuff at the moment but that will change when our galaxy collides with another (or two or three or ...) The stuff always exist, it's just that the "clumping" goes in and out of existence.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gliktch on March 15, 2010 at 1:00pm

"To me I feel nature always finds its way.
I don't know what this means ... Sounds suspiciously woo-woo to me." - Glenn Sogge

True, but then again if you look at it from the point of view that EVERYTHING (including us) is a 'part of nature', then it may not be incorrect - if we eventually develop the ability to perpetuate our existence by transference of everything that makes a person them (mainly brain activity) into a new body, then 'nature found a way' :P

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Roy The Infidel on March 15, 2010 at 8:37pm

Yes, I agree.

The human brain is the final frontier.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gliktch on March 16, 2010 at 2:47am

Maybe the Transhumanists aren't quite so nutty after all... It seems likely that our next leap of evolution will be self-driven and move in the direction of cybernetic (or perhaps biochemical/synthetic organic) augmentation ;)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Howard S. Dunn on March 17, 2010 at 12:46am

Next stop - head in a jar - ala Futurama.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Edward Teach on March 15, 2010 at 9:07am

To be a person of reason means to use the evidence at hand when making determinations about the nature of things. Unfortuanately, the resulting answers are not always going to be to our liking.

Mistaking what feels true for what is actually true is the fundamental flaw in human judgment.