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Meaningful experiences, "Spiritual" without spooks
This article on Atheist Scientists being "Spiritual" ties directly into wonderism. I've been reading about creating a sense of community and a sense of reality by what we collectively pay attention to in Living in Denial: Climate Change, Emotions, and Everyday Life by Kari Marie Norgaard. If 20% of atheist scientists have individual quests for meaning-making without faith, why can't we open a space for such discourse? Let's share experiences that are deeply meaningful personally, to create a community. In particular, I find a greater sense of time and space a common theme, where we escape everyday-concerns time-and-space. For me, there is also an awareness of the limitless possibilities for our future (as in Everett's Many Worlds) and how a small act can send our reality into one future scenario rather than others (extreme sensitivity to initial conditions). A related thing for me, the collapse of quantum entangeled possibilities by experimenter effect is deeply meaningful.
One example of a profound experience that stayed with me was sunbathing, being aware of the arbitrariness of up and down as I was grounded to the earth, at the bottom of the planet's gravity well within the sun's gravity well.
Tags: experiences, meaningful
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Wonderist on -
I agree with your ideas, but just want to point out that the author of the research in that article is Elain Ecklund, who is notorious for her quite obvious agenda of trying to make scientists look a lot more religious than they actually are. Check out Jerry Coyne's take at Ecklund and Long: Scientists are totally spiritual.
It's that darn word 'spiritual' again. The problem is that there isn't a good, popular alternative to 'spiritual' that means 'having strong positive emotional experiences without any of the baggage of a supernatural interpretation to them'.
I've played around with the word 'inspiritual'. I like it, but it's a bit clumsy, possibly. My meaning for it would be "motivated by inspirational things", "not spiritual" (using the in- prefix as 'not'), "embodied spirit" using in- meaning 'inside', as opposed to "disembodied spirit", and "inspirited" which is from the obscure verb "to inspirit" which means to invigourate or energize.
I've also started using the phrase "wondrous experiences" to contrast with "religious experiences". It works surprisingly well, in my experience. I just emphasize that wonder is natural and everyone can have those experiences, and it pretty much deflates any special-pleading claims to having 'special' supernatural experiences. But at the same time it doesn't deny that those experiences happen. It just takes a more parsimonious interpretation of them, i.e. they are natural, not supernatural.
I would really love to find a good solid word that could counter 'spiritual'. Inspiritual is the closest thing I've seen yet. How does it sound to your ears? A bit clumsy?
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Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on -
I've also started using the phrase "wondrous experiences" to contrast with "religious experiences".
Yes, I like "wondrous experience." It's easier to understand than "inspiritual." Parsimonious too, as you say.
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Permalink Reply by Kelly D. Rodgers on -
In my opinion,this is ''Spirituality,as these events,feelings,and experiences are what causes the more finely tuned of us to be moved deeply by those experiences. This is [at least for me] a total forgetting that time even exists due to the profundity of the experience at that particular span of time. I have experiences somewhat like this where I am acutely aware of the earth's gravitational pull coupled with the energetic photonic-energy of the sun and my being caught in the middle of these very different energies. For me this is awe inspiring,and the deep sense of awe,I believe is the core of true spirituality. I see no reason why god would have to be a factor concerning spirituality to begin with.The ability to be awe-struck is a factor here.
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Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on
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What are You Celebrating? This video speaks about meanign, but not about particular celebratory events such as HumanLight or Darwin Day.
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Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on
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The Japanese have a word for it! "yugen"
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Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on
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Permalink Reply by Joan Denoo on -
"That is amazing!"
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