About Me
Some people blog about their pets and yet others blog about deep and meaningful thoughts, science, and other things that are important to the world. I probably won’t do any of that here. I’m an anti-theist and I think I see life a little bit differently than many atheists. Sometimes I think the way I see the world is perhaps worth writing down. I have no clue who would want to read it, but here it will be.
Just some mental meanderings. The information age equivalent of talking to myself, I suspect. There is probably nothing wrong with that unless I start leaving comments to myself as well.
I have a profound interest in how we think and remember; how we make decisions and why. I intend to explore that curiosity here. I have a hypothesis that the processes of the human brain are much simpler than has yet been proposed, and it is the complexity of many interlinked processes that has hidden the simple beauty of making decisions within the human mind.
Enjoy
Some fun facts about my life:
- First born to a Pentecostal Evangelical preacher
- I was born with the space race
- When JFK talked about ‘our children’ or future generations, he was talking about me
- My mother first experienced air conditioning in the hospital at my birth – she didn’t like it, it was too cold
- My parents were the first in their families to get a college degree, I don’t have one
- I’ve travelled many places in the world for various reasons, no single place changed my world view
- There is no best place to live, that is something you create where you are, not where you want to go
- My parents taught me to think for myself and look things up, but still handed my religious beliefs to me as a child
- Science has been a constant influence in my life but I am not a scientist by profession
- Every culture has some food dish that equates to Shepherds Pie – they are all safe to eat
- Egyptians had more than 26 flavors of beer. I think this something worth having as a tradition
- I think that a bad day is one where you learn nothing new
myatheistlife 
I like the way you think. 😉 It sounds a lot like me. I think I’ll keep reading.
Thanks… I’ll keep writing 😉
You got my curiosity. I am following your blog. I my hope that we two could friends even though we hold two different worldview.
Thank you for your blog.
Nice blog! Thanks for following my blog. 🙂
Thank you, and thanks for following mine. It will take me some time. What you have blogged should be read carefully as far as I can see. Thanks
No problem! You are right. 🙂
I was reading a bit earlier, but felt tired and thought I should be more focused to read. Trust that I’ll comment 🙂
Take you are sweet time. Let me know any queries. Comments/Suggestions/Feedback are always welcome! 🙂
i guess backing my argument with scripture was not as tactfully done as intended.As stated before im a scholar still learning to present my faith with good apologetics
The problem that I have with people using the Christian bible (and other holy texts) as support for an argument is this:
It is not valid evidence for the existence of a god. Its existence conflicts with other holy texts, and its content conflicts with itself.
The existence of a god is what needs to be shown. I generally take it a step further and ask that someone be able to show me that a god, any god, can exist, then prove why their favorite deity is the one that does exist.
In the way that most will dismiss the idea of invisible pink unicorns as silly – because they can’t exist, I will generally dismiss the idea of gods because they can’t exist. Most Christians will dismiss the idea of Zeus, Mithra, Horus, and many other gods without feeling the need to disprove their existence. That is my stance with the god of Abraham. A result of this is that there is then no reason to believe that Jesus did miracles or is the son of a god. None of the stories in the Christian Bible matter if the premise is false. A fine book of fiction stories, based very loosely on some historical facts, but nothing more than that. Certainly not credible support for any argument about the truth of the world around us.
I could go on, but that is the general idea.
Thanks for commenting.
Well, the title of your blog made me instantly check it out! I think this about bit seems really intresting and I’m really looking foward to checking out your blog properly!
Thank you. I hope to get your input on posts that pique your curiosity or make you think.
You’re very welcome and I’m sure you shall 🙂
Mr. myatheistlife,
This ‘handbook of atheism’ reminded me of you. I think you and it would agree on many points:
http://www.atheistberlin.com/other-stuff/the-handbook-of-atheism-1.html
Enjoy.
LOL, that is indeed exactly how I feel.Thanks for the laugh.
Joe, I sure like that book 🙂
Hey! My first follower! Thanks for deciding to indulge in my mediocre writing :D. I hope it’s enjoyable.
You’re welcome….
Hi! (I wish I knew your name – at least the first one. I haven’t been able to find it on your blog yet)
Remember me? I’m the Christian who is interested in you as an Anti-Theist. I believe in an eternal being, that always was, and has all the properties of everything in the (our) Universe. There might have been “beings” (parents) who came to our planet and gave birth to us as human beings. I don’t know. It’s just a thought. But where did those “beings” come from? And where did the “beings” that gave birth to those “beings” come from (the grandparents) etc. etc. etc.? I don’t think all this orderliness came by happenstance, do you? What do you think? I like the way you write and I like the way you think. You sound like my Gnostic twin sister whom I love very much.
You can call me MAL.
The origin of life on this planet is uncertain. The panspermia theory is more likely, it seems, than alien colonists. The abiogenesis theory got a boost recently when it was discovered how a virus could coax a single cell organism to become a multi-cell organism… and eventually evolve into human apes along with all other life on this planet, and that fits with the facts as we know them today better than any other option we are currently considering as a species. The ancient astronaut idea supported mostly be Von Danegan (sp?) is not supported by any evidence of merit. While there are many thing that need more explanation, most of his evidence requires that humans were already humans when the ancient astronauts visited us according to his books. Troubling, that makes it seem possible the even earlier visitors might have been the colonists, or that life here is an experiment or something. There is no evidence for this. If they deposited single cell life here to see what happened… or even just the amino acids… it would be hard to tell, but it seems rather unlikely that dropping off some of our blood on a planet would kick start evolution.
why life would start? It’s chemical. If you mix baking soda and vinegar there is a reaction. There are millions and millions of chemical reactions on our globe. Yes, I did just advocate for materialistic or nihilist point of view. I have not seen any information or evidence that contradicts such a viewpoint. It seems unlikely that new facts will support anything but life from chemical soup scenarios.
What you call orderliness is an illusion that your mind plays on you because you are looking at scientific facts from a view point that does not let them make sense to you. Life on this planet has evolved to thrive in the environment that this planet/galaxy/universe provides. So it sort of looks like everything was designed. You should google for “puddle thinking”. It might help to think that every beautiful waterfall has come to be as it is from mindless, purposeless, pointless action. The wonder of the Grand Canyon is also created this way. It is not much harder to see that a mindless, purposeless, pointless reaction of chemicals could eventually become far more than the soup it started out in. Yes, science does have evidence of creating complexity through evolution.
If the only people you hang out with or listen to are religious apologists, their opinions and ideas will be the only ones that seem to make sense because they isolate you from other ideas even when they pretend they are being informative about opposing views.
Does that answer your question?
I am sorry ‘myatheistlife’, but I have to comment on this even when it’s your ‘about’ page.
Robin, because you too have no answers to those questions, you create god out of thin air. Oh boy! Man won’t stop prodding. Let some things just be!
I think I might like you.
I’m not really a likable person, I just play one on the Internet 🙂
We’re all in the same boat…
Yeah, but its not like that ark thing… trust me
This should be fun. i want to see how it goes
if the past is any indication, it will go in fits and starts and look not unlike a suicidal big wheel race driver trying to break a world speed record.
Your Christian friend here. Have you ever read any of my blog posts? I am a “quirky Christian” as I said in my “Who Am I?” page [at the top of the blog]. I have a Gnostic twin sister that I have regular dialogue with. I respect her and she respects me, but we are able to dialogue with each other just the same. She also requires me to answer hard questions regarding my faith; and especially regarding the Bible – which is a very “quirky book” I might add.
Robin, I an subscribed to your blog, so yes, I do read. I’ve commented there more than once I think, and replied to you up above this comment. Thanks for reading my posts 🙂
I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget things. I forgot that you get my posts and that you have even commented on things I’ve written. Sorry about that.
No worries 😉
Hi Mal,
Here is the blog site for “A Simple Faith”. I believe she also is walking on the true edge of faith. Her walk seems to be genuinely an inside job.
http://cindypowell.wordpress.com/about/
robin claire
ps – I just asked her your question about good & evil. I have not had a response to it yet. Maybe she will write about it on her blog. We’ll see.
Here is an interesting christian web-site I found. That’s if you’re interested in how the other half lives. Unfortunately I don’t know how to make it an actual “link”. It seems you are able to navigate wordpress in ways I have yet to learn (ie- putting in videos, etc). If you have a minute, can you tell me how one goes about creating real links? Or maybe you can just direct me to the correct wordpress web-site where you learned how to do that. Anyway, here’s the link.
http://freedomborn.wordpress.com/
Oh surprise. It seemed to come out as a link all by itself. Never mind.
Here is a post from the above web-site that I thought you might be willing to read. She tells a lot of my story, something I almost never see.
Read it – or ignore it – I leave it in your hands.
Again, I like the way your mind works. You have a great gift at the ends of your fingertips.
Robin,
I read that post. If that is like your story I can only say that I empathize and am sorry that the human species can be so cruel.
I am not a therapist, I do not have any place to tell you what is right for you or wrong for you. I know that I found religion to be a crutch to help people hang their sanity on while they figure out what to do. I lost the need for a crutch and found no reason to hang on to religion or faith. Then I began to learn more.
The say that god helps them that help themselves. Another way to put that is that if you don’t help yourself, there is no help. Whether you believe or not, it seems that it is you who does all the work. I no longer have to do somersaults to explain what I believe. Trust me, if I had a gun there have been times I’d have put it in my mouth at pulled the trigger. At those very lowest points when I felt most helpless, most useless and lost that I managed to remember that I have to help myself. I got up each day and dressed myself and went about my business as if the answer would arrive in the mail in the afternoon. It never did, but over time I found strength and the struggle seemed less and eventually got back on my feet. I face all my tribulations alone now… just as I always did, but now I admit it.
What works for me may not work for you. What works for you may not be what the baptist preacher across the road thinks you should be doing. I am not advising you on how to handle your life. I can only say what I have done, what made sense to me, what worked for me and why I think that it did.
It seems that too many times today I’ve had to say that it is not faith that atheists want gone, it is inequality and untrue teachings in public places and bigotry and hatred from religion that they want to go away. What gets you through the day is really none of anyone’s business and certainly not worth others worrying about. That is until your belief becomes the agent of oppression in society.. so this is what is fought against. I ask questions because I want to know what is true and unless I see answers to questions I will never know.
Your life is yours, no one can tell you what to do with it. I wish with all that I am that you had always felt empowered to change what you did not want. I wish with all that I am that a prayer would have changed all that for you or brought back my grandparents. I do. It just doesn’t happen that way. Life, this one that we know, it seems is something that we must face as individuals. We may take help where we find it, but in the end it is us who does all the work if any work is done.
Please understand that if I knew that a prayer from me would make your life all better I would start praying today. I have found that prayer does not help… but in a moment if you want to know what matters, if things are tough I want you to know this. There is at least one person on this planet that actually gives a shit whether you are feeling good or not. At least one that wants you to have a good day… If that counts as a prayer.. so be it.
The woman who wrote her story has prompted me to write mine in my blog too. I wanted to start writing my history but didn’t see anyone else doing that – until I came across her blog. I thought “Who would be interested in reading that sort of stuff?” But I found myself reading her story from beginning to end. Maybe my story would not be accepted with as must callor as I thought it might be.
You have a warm heart beating in your chest – you know that? I’ve always thought of Atheists as being cold-blooded people.Though you claim Atheism, I can feel a warmth in you.
So, the next time someone tells you they are an atheist, an anti-theist, a nihilist, or a materialist… remember that doesn’t make them a bad person. It just means they don’t believe in god. Everything else that you might think good of believers still applies. Non believers come in all shapes and sizes and colors. You can’t pick them out from a crowd and there are probably a couple in the congregation of your local church. The current Christian dominated society makes it so they can’t be open about it.. but they are all around you. Probably some of your friends.
I am completely antithetical to all that your church will tell you… but I am human and I have my subjective values and most people can’t tell them apart from what they claim are objective values. That I do not believe in gods does not infer a world view or character, just as not playing golf does not infer a world view or character. Some of the best people you know or will know are non believers… you just won’t know that about them. They prepare your food, fix your car, maintain your technology, fix your roads, mow your lawn… you can’t tell because they are good people… they simply do not believe in gods.
Hi,
Thank you for following me on my blog. Just upgraded & not sure about the WP redirects hence this message. If you enjoy my posts do follow me back at: http://thetalespensieve.com
Thank you.
Hi Mal,
Here’s another Christian blogger who is following my blog now. Like me, he also seems to have a unique take on Christianity that I thought you might like to check out… or not. Also – I think he’s a very good writer.
http://unshakablehope.wordpress.com/about/
talk to you soon.
robin claire
I read the ‘about’ page and I can only respond in this way.
Aron Ralston was featured in the film ‘127 Hours’ and the film shows exactly why god is not needed for hope, or determination, or value in life. We can and do rely upon ourselves and often enough those around us for the inspiration that we need. This is why films such as ‘127 Hours’ are considered inspirational. Did you hear anyone clamouring about the film is a lie because only a god can get you through such a traumatic experience? Nope. In this extreme case we see the arguments clearly, but the truth is that the same is true if you lose your car keys or your kid breaks an arm. WE do all the work whether we think a god did it or not. There is no reason to think a god is necessary. I’m about to post on this very topic.
A take on your life …. nobody really cares about others … why does this happen …. they see no reason to …. why …. they don’t feel they owe you their time ….. suppose you were in an accident far away from home …. and others also followed the way you think …. who would help you. If they were to follow your way of thinking … you’ll be left high and dry. Suppose your boss were an atheist too … he’d not care a whit about promoting you for helping you rise in any way. Do you think you’d like to be a part of these above 2 scenarios. Definitely not … when your life is not ideal … who will care … nobody … for you will attract to yourself the kind of people who think like you. My dear … wake up to your reality … grow up man ….. understand one thing ….. the mind of you is God living in you. He remains silent for you have decided that you do not wish to recognize his presence. Yet … there He remains …. waiting for you to realise that without him ….you cannot live …. for he is the energy of your life … you would only be matter were he to leave your body …. you would then realize the grave mistake … don’t let it be too late … depending on God is good …. it is the catharsis for our souls … there is so much you do not know and understand …. do you understand that you are God living in a body …. the ultimate rejection is the rejection of your own self worth … you have reduced yourself to a body … whereas the important part of you .. your mind … goes back to God … on parting from the body.
Sometimes its alright not to understand more than you know … but the important lesson for you is …. take the time to learn and understand and you will be blown away. Sometimes non-believers become better believers when they switch sides. Keep that possibility open for yourself. Read my tiny book MasterMind …. and you will come back to chat with me about your own experiences. I shall look forward to that.
Let me explain one thing about religions …. to a person who thinks .. they raise more questions than answers … why is that so … religion is also a tool for you to begin your own journey … to understanding your true nature … leave out the stuff that does not make sense to you … that is progress …. everyone’s life experiences are different and stuff in the bible happened a long time ago. It was relevant for its time. Just imbibe the lessons that make sense to you.
There is no god, I have no soul, and
“Let me explain one thing about religions …. to a person who thinks .. they raise more questions than answers … why is that so … religion is also a tool for you to begin your own journey … to understanding your true nature … leave out the stuff that does not make sense to you … that is progress …. everyone’s life experiences are different and stuff in the bible happened a long time ago. It was relevant for its time. Just imbibe the lessons that make sense to you.”
This is the crux of the problem: religion raises questions for which it does not have answers. I began my journey with religion and I jettisoned the stuff that did not make sense. I kept doing that and here I sit an atheist and anti-theist among other labels. It would be nice to find someone who proselytizes spirituality or religion that actually had useful advice… or more than that, actual proof or credible evidence that what they are selling is true.
You have instructed me to make up my own religion, any old religion kind of thing is good as long as I believe in god. Well, I don’t. The scenarios you started your comment with show that you know nothing of atheism or atheists. How can you profess to know what is good for me if you know nothing about my situation, nothing about what I know, nothing about what I’ve experienced?
As far as you thinking that my ‘mind’ is part of god, you’ll have to do a couple of things before I can get behind that notion: first prove there is a god and second prove that something outside my brain is required to explain what happens inside it.
You know what …. the one thing I have understood is that at some point in your life …. you cross the line to not needing them for your life. As a child we have inbibed the best of it and that knowledge in literally ingrained in our minds. But one religion tends to keep you thinking small … so you begin a journey that encompasses mankind as a whole … that cuts across all barriers of race, caste or creed … for that is judgement of the worst sort. If you look at another individual and find him wanting simply because of his religion …. you have a lot of growing up to do. Religion was not created to divide …. different names for religion came about as we were scattered all across a large globe and means of travel did not exist. Take a good hard look at all religions …. yes you may find a few things that may not gel with your own mind .. but those are few and far between … overall religion is the one reason we are not murdering each other … for that is possible without the bulwark of a religion.
You are missing out on life …. how can you convince me … a person who feels the presence of God in her very body … even as I write this … why do you think that is so … God is reaching out to you through my words … I am the vehicle that carries his message … but this one Sir is for you. A personal from God … take it how you will …. but I doubt you will be able to resist “HIS” personal request. As soon as you have read this … all sorts of stuff will go round and round in your mind to which you will need clarifications …. and MasterMind is the answer … for it will be the tool to connect you to God. Go on …. enjoy your life … I have seen many give in to my persuasive skills … and the answer is something no one can ever resist … I hold your greater good in my outstretched hands … I give it to you with love for the season soon at hand. Please enjoy it with my compliments.
You truly do not understand. I have no questions. You have provided no answers. You can’t even understand the questions that an atheist asks, so it seems. What doesn’t gel in my mind about religion is neither few nor far between. An all powerful and all knowing god would not need your words to reach out to some one. That can’t be a god talking. No… no, there is nothing going around in my head that needs clarification that was not there before your comment. The only thing that you’ve persuaded me of is the idea that you have no answers, that you don’t have any reasonable perception of what atheism is about. You’re just lost and think this mumbo jumbo is you having found your way. The sad part is that you think there is a right path.
Hey …. I read all you had to say … and as I feel vibrations in my body and as I have received healings through God and as I talk to him in my head … I do not require any convincing … I know what I know. But I’d like to have a bet with you. I want you to buy my MasterMind and read it … with an open mind …. then I want you to come back to me and tell me whether you found God talking to you in your head or not. You must have read the whole book slowly … allowing it to do its work.
I am so sure of the results that I am ready to return you your 99 bucks if you do not see what I promise you.
On the other hand … if it does what I say it does …. I would like you to come over to my site and wish me a happy new year . I hold very dear to me the good wishes of another. See you around … I guess we are going to be good friends … by the way lets exchange names … mine is Roda
If your book is so good, and you so certain, why not send me a copy and know that I’ll pay you back once I’ve been convinced by its contents that you are right? I’m an atheist, not a fool. I’ll keep my money. You keep your book. You can call me Mal.
SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS AND I’LL MAIL YOU A COPY … IT WILL TAKE A WHILE TO GET ONE FROM AMAZON.COM … BUT I’LL DO IT.
I was hearing that song when I saw your mail … so I just tagged it for you.
Have I told you about this very interesting believer blogger yet?
http://viewoutsidethepew.com/
He is an “outside the group” type Christian in my estimation.
robin claire
Hey, I nominated you for an award. (Warm smiles) 🙂 http://faintsignal.wordpress.com/2012/11/25/got-an-award-yeserday-on-wordpress-time-for-me-to-share-this-award/
I see. I’ll respond momentarily. Thank you.
Can you put together a “contact me” page with a contact form in it? For me, replying back and forth through posts can get a little overwhelming. I have a “contact me” page if you’d like to say anything directly to me and not just go through posts. Or not.
I’ve sent several things to your direct e-mail address. I don’t know if you’ve looked at that e-mail for a while.
rc
http://frozenintyme.wordpress.com/2012/12/16/278/ I thought you might like this.
Signed: Faint Signal
Thanks for the “Like”, and the compliment. You and your readers are welcome to download a free copy of my book, Why Marriage Matters, by Howard Rosenbaum. All you need to do is go to http://www.smashwords.com and use this coupon code: AW75R. The coupon is good until 1/1/2013.
Just wanted to say thanks for checking out Think! and thought I’d return the favor. It seems you’re more into the deeper / controversial side of atheism, so I thought you might like my other blog, TRAITOR (atheisttraitor.wordpress.com). I’d love to see your thoughts on it!
Checking it now 😉
Thanks for pointing out your other blog! Nice!
Hi Mal,
Have you ever heard this song?
robin
Of course I have.
Thank you for stopping in on my blog and for your comment. I look forward to following your posts.
safeamongtheheathen.wordpress.com
Hi Mal,
I kind of like this guy. He’s a Christian but I think worthy of reading.
He posted a quote from CS Lewis:
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
http://kingcohl.com/2013/02/11/problem-solution/
robin
There is the rub. The same can be said of Islam and Judaism. So which is one to follow? When the evidence is examined to determine thus, we find each lacking enough evidence to sway the non-believer to choose one over the other. If there is not enough evidence to even pick one over the others, there certainly is not enough to be certain that even one of them is true.
Thanks for the follow! This blog looks like a great conversation starter as well! I definitely will be reposting some stuff from here as well. Cheers!
I’m happy that you like it. I try to keep it interesting.
🙂
So, you’re the new type i’ve been hearing of.
Im happy … You’re hope in a new approach.
I can’t say that it is new, perhaps its a renaisance resurgence of sorts. I’ve always liked the term renaisance man, taking the talking points from Heinlein’s works. I a mnot a compatiblist or the lets work together kind of thinker on religion. I think that religion will choke on the new ways of society. We _are_ headed toward some semblance of a Star Trek society despite the fits and starts and blind alleys we’ll inevitably suffer.
The promised singularity of intelligence and machines is some ways off. Before we get there we’ll experience many transformations, or so I believe. Both the hobbling of religions caustic ways and the growth in knowledge and technology will require education. A lot of education. Even education just to understand the new levels of education.
I think kids should be able to calculate time by starlight and shadows, know as much about weather as meterologists do now at age 5 or 6, understand the chemistry of what they eat and cook with, how to operate all manner of machines safely and so on and on and on. I think that the high school education of 20 years from now should be at the level of today’s doctorate programs or higher. Further, it should be very cheap to attain. Start with gifted programs and start judging all students against that bar. It’s a complex problem but ultimately I think it is solvable with the right motivations. Geeks got cool, soon renaisance thinkers will be cool. Meritocracy is awesome for the most part – it’s not who you know, but what you know.
Anyway, some ramblings. I still need to do my in-depth series on both Intelligence and Free-will. Time is the most precious commodity. Yes, we have commoditized it. It’s problematic in how we’ve learned to sacrifice in order to preserve our stash of that commodity.
Educating the deluded… it’s a goal.
Do you have a public email address? I started a response to all your posts on my blog, but it’s getting really long. It may turn into multiple blog posts of some sort at some point, but just in case those don’t go as I imagine them, I could just send you my thoughts directly.
If you do not have an email address you’re comfortable posting here, you could email me at jenn@thatsajennstory.com if you wish to continue dialogue. (Don’t worry–I’m not expecting to “convert” you. I hope you’re not expecting to convert me either. But sometimes the exchange is interesting.)
You can write to myatheistlife@gmail.com if you like.
Thanks
Thanks.
Hello,
How’d you doing?
I’m compiling a free e-book about the Greatest Articles and I’m featuring excellent comments. Your thoughts in “What if.. You Sleep 2 Hours a Day” is a standout! I’m asking permission if I could include your words in the book? You surely will be attributed.
Also, I’m excited to inform you that Moment Matters is re-launching in days!
All the best,
Justin G. Bautista
I think that would be just fine. Simply attribute myatheistlife. If you are also linking, then linking to my blog would be awesome. I haven’t had lots of time lately, but I wondered how you did on the 2hr or polyphasic sleep cycles.
I tried but I can’t get used to it. I still feel better with a full 8 hours. Hey, are you sure you don’t want your name with it?
Right now I’m going with myatheistlife. I know that some folk like their own name out there but that’s how I commented so I’ll stay with that. I appreciate it.
I think that we need a certain amount of sleep for our bodies to restore and it depends on general health and how much restoration is needed. I think that is why we end up needing differing amounts of sleep depending on person and day etc.
Sure, let’s go with myatheistlife. Thank you and I’ll inform you when it’s released!
Thank you.
The free e-book “Greatest Articles | Moment Matters”, featuring your comment, is out now! You may download it in Nook, Kobo, ePUB or PDF format here.
Cheers!
Awesome! Thank you
Do you have an email address?
It’s me–SFL.
You can reach me at myatheistlife@gmail.com
Thank you.
Many thanks for all the support and encouragement you’ve provided these past few months. It’s been appreciated.
No need to thank. You’ve got a good blog that I enjoy.
I’m so glad you came across my blog or I would never have found yours. I love your thoughts, writing and how you present yourself. I look forward to continue reading. I am not drawn to follow many, actually any. I tend to keep to myself. In this case, after all the years of blogging under several different names, I have subscribed to your blog. A first for me! Thank you for sharing your thoughts so freely and to the point.
Wow, that is very kind of you. I’m glad that you like my writing and hope that you continue to enjoy it. I’m feeling rather special after that… thank you. I still have yet to do a real exploration of your blog. Look for comments.
Thought you might enjoy this–let me know what you think.
“If one person truly believed that there was a magical pink elephant that lived in the woods of Colorado, but you could never prove that it existed or prove that it didn’t, and yet this pink elephant had the power to improve your life and make the world a better place; well, anyone in their right mind would think that person was completely crazy. Now, if 100 people believed the same thing society would probably consider them some sort of cult and keep a watchful eye on them. If 1000 people believed this, scientists would likely start looking for something in the air, food, or water supply that might be causing this mass-delusional belief. However, if 1,000,000 or more people truly believed in this magical pink elephant; well my friends, the world would call that a RELIGION.”
Unknown
Hey, thanks for commenting. I missed the spot to comment… sigh, it’s late. See below.
Well, if there is no evidence to investigate science has nothing to do. The number of people that believe a thing is not related to it’s truth. It’s simply a shame that we did not have modern science back when people started claiming Jesus as a god man. The world would be a different place today.
I’ve been nominated for the ‘Liebster Award’ and wish to nominate your blog as one of my eleven nominees. Why? Because I find your words fascinating day-after-day. If this string of people nominating awards gets at least one more person to your blog I’ll consider it a success.
Here are the rules:
http://gedwardsmith.com/2013/05/06/the-liebster-award/
Good stuff. We think alike. Keep it up and I’ll keep reading. I especially enjoy your comments on religion.
Thanks for the very kind words. I’ll keep writing 😉
http://biochicklet.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/oh-yeah-me-luv-atheists/
Hi. Just dropping in to say… Hi. I like being friends with the people I discuss certain things about. It motivates me and helps me put a face on your words. So, what’s up? What are you into?
Most of what I feel free to say in that vein is in my blog. You’re are most welcome to read it. Sorry, but I’m not going to dump lots of personal stuff here.
My parents taught me to think for myself as well, to question. Especially my father. They tried to “give” me a religion but never took the time to explain why or anything about it and being that they both were working people and I a latch key kid what I grew up believing came from ????? Since I was taught to question, that included beliefs, lol. What I’ve come to learn through the lesson of life is this: the heart knows what the mind can never comprehend, of what is possible. That’s been a pretty reliable reference for me. I appreciated coming back here today and reading your words and a few of the comments. Thank you. Paulette
Thank you for commenting Paulette. Good to have you following. I am glad that you find my writing useful in some way.
Dude, I love this!
I’m pretty sure I think differently to most Christians, hence why I’ve got an anonymous blog. It’s such a shame I fear judgment from my fellow Christians but I’m a realist, and I want to share my thoughts too.
I also love thinking about how we think and make decisions, etc. Have you read The Invisible Gorilla? It really opened my eyes and made me see things differently. I read lots of books on the topic, but that’s the best one I’ve found so far.
I have not read the book… I will look into that. I’m glad that you like the premise of my blog. Sometimes I go orthogonal… but I try to keep it in line with thinking about thinking and how we perceive life
Ah metacognition – my favourite word. My metacognitive mind drives me crazy sometimes because it never gives me rest, but most of the time I love it!
It’s worth the read, I hope you like it now that I’ve given it a rap.
I have an entire theory about thought.. I actually have a definition of what a thought is… not many people do
Is that my cue to ask: so tell me, what is your definition?
Haha, let me have it.
It is not simple, and not short.
The idea that you see the world in real time is false. Your brain is simulating the world it can sense, and it is informed by your senses. You see the world with a delay of upto 500 milliseconds or so. for the most part you get sensory data and your simulation shows you what the world is like… when you decide that you want to alter an aspect or rule or property of the real world input, you have a thought. it is a specific state of analysis of the simulation in your head. A thought then is the manipulation of the simulation model which differs from the sensory data that you are receiving
No, I imagine it wouldn’t be simple or short – but always fascinating.
So are you saying the thought is not the simulation model itself and that they are two separate processes? Is a thought the interpretation of the sensory data (to make sense and give meaning to it) or does the simulation model already do that part?
E.g. the simulation model interprets visual data as depth so you can then have a thought that says, “I can see depth and the meta-thought of, “I know I’m thinking that I can see depth.”
Or did I miss the mark completely?
A thought is the act of interpreting the data and/or interjecting a new parameter to the model in the simulation – consciousness is the process of viewing the model or “seeing” it … it is logical evaluation of the meta data of the model
Yeah, I can see that. Not sure how much I understand of your theory or agree, but I’m cool with it. Makes it all very fun when you get into things like optical illusions and our consciousness sees things that aren’t there and even when we know/think something else, we still can’t help seeing the illusion. Our brains do a very good job at making sense of visual cues, so good that we miss what’s there – gotta love a paradox.
There’s some interesting TED talks about all this.
TED talks are good.. .but none of them actually get to where I am on thought
Do you discuss your theory with many people? What are their thoughts on it? Oh dear, “thoughts” haha!
not many people can keep up… it is beyond most
Mmm, all too often happens with my friends too when I try to share some of my thoughts. Their eyes glaze over, or they nod, but you can just tell not a word of what you said registered. It’s like a waste of breath. So I don’t bother much. Instead I write them.
see, if your thought causes them to have to change a rule in the simulation they are resistant
What is the rule they are changing?
a rule for the simulation,
Any more specific?
Like how many rules does the simulation have? And what are they?
Does ever human have the same rules?
Or is it different from human to human?
Is the simulation something we all genetically have that is the same across all humans?
There are millions of rules… not every human has the same rules, only the same ability to use them. All humans and mammals use a simulation
Cool.
Hope you don’t mind my ton of questions – I’m a details freak – drives my friends nuts sometimes.
But all my questions I ever ask aren’t to tear something down, but to try and understand as much as I can.
And if you did mind – thanks for putting up with them.
I do no mind… it may help me explain what I am thinking
Well, actually that’s part of the reason why I like to probe. To help people know what they think better, since I know I like to use people’s questions to refine my ideas.
so, what is a thought?
Oh no, eek. I have no theory. I don’t like to say things when I have nothing substantial to stand on, so I don’t feel I can answer that.
What I will do is offer something that equally fascinates me as what is a thought.
I wonder about the difference between two types of thoughts. The thoughts you just think automatically and the thoughts you think deliberately.
So for example, those split second thoughts when you’re just about to be hit by a car – they come to you spontaneously and automatically and it’s only after the event that you realize you had them. “Oh, I remember I thought the car was a nice shade of blue. Then I thought I better get out of the way.”
These types of thoughts differ to the deliberate thoughts where you’re aware that you’re thinking and the way to tell you’ve got these thoughts is because you say them out loud in your head. As though you’re reading a book in your head.
I’m not sure what it all means or what the difference is, but I think it’s intriguing.
We can’t stop the automatic thoughts, they’re like a constant running cycle. But I think some people have more of the deliberate thoughts than others (the ones where you say them in your head – deliberate may be the wrong word here).
I think I have more of these deliberate type thoughts because you know when people ask, “What are you thinking?” out of the blue, and most people genuinely say nothing, because they’ve only got the automatic thoughts running through their head.
But I generally always have the spoken words running through my head and pretty much always know exactly what I’m thinking at any given time.
How’s that for you. Most people will not have a clue what I’m talking about. Thankfully I know one person who does – my sister.
Surprise, you are not special. This happens to all of us. Those deliberate thoughts? We do all have them and most of us keep them to ourselves. It is our inside voice. We have those automatic thoughts running too. In the simulation, sometimes we hear voices… when our subconscious mind tells us stuff, the data enters the simulation in a way that is similar or identical to the data when someone speaks to us. This is how people hear voices that aren’t there. All sounds are converted to data and sent to our simulators… so it gets more complex than you described, but that is fully in-line with what I’m describing. Your subconscious is always active and you hear what it is telling you … spoken words.
You have fairly accurately described conscious thought and subconscious thought. When you interject changes to the simulation this is active thinking. Listening to your subconscious as it analyzes the simulation is passive thinking. A thought is simply the current state of the simulation. This is why you don’t think while you sleep – the simulator is off line.
No I know I’m not special and everyone has those deliberate thoughts. I’d be worried if they didn’t. Just some people seem to be able to turn them off and not put energy into the speaking thinking, and they just have the background automatic thinking.
I find this most happens in the car. I’ll be going off on some deep train of thought, speaking it in my mind. I’ll ask people what they’re thinking and they’ll genuinely answer nothing. Of course their automatic thinking is still there, and when I probe them because I don’t believe them, they get exasperated because they really weren’t thinking anything. When I explained this to a friend once, she was incredulous that I had thoughts all the time – even on long car rides. I was incredulous that she didn’t.
Okay, next point. Your view about voices actually resonates with some research I think of seeing where it was about our misunderstanding of the mentally ill – particularly schizophrenics. Perhaps, they aren’t crazy or ill just because they hear voices, is the gist. Would you agree?
Next point – what’s your theory on dreams?
the amount that each of us have active thoughts varies along a big spectrum. There is no value that is ‘normal’ for active thinking. Most people do not recognize active thinking as such… so when you ask they will answer with “nothing”
Dreams are odd. When we sleep our brains shut off sensory input. We are still conscious, but have no input from the real world. The simulation in our heads is still running but doesn’t have any inputs other than from our subconscious mind. As we sleep it flushes out and runs subconscious thought through our simulator. Only the simulator creates memories so as it flushes the days subconscious thoughts through the simulator we can have memories of it. Since there is no real world input to guide these thoughts, they can be strange. They follow a pattern which is more aligned with our memory storage methods than with our active thinking patterns. All our dreams are about ourselves, not the real world. It is about our subconscious thought for the last 24 hours or so.
Okay, but we can still get sensory input in one way right, like when we scratch a mozzie bite in our sleep, only aware of it when our scratching wakes us up. And when we kick off the doona when we’re hot while we’re asleep. Of course, there’s no conscious thought that we’re too hot, but there’s still the sensory input.
I have a fascination with dreams so I could talk about them forever. I’m one of those people who has multiple dreams every night and remembers them all. I’ve had this ever since I was a kid, and I’ve kept a dream journal for years, so there’s a ton of dreams. I tell ya, it’s so entertaining. Some are so so freaky, I’m a bit worried about my brain.
What’s your take on lucid dreaming? Because over the years I’ve learnt some things about my dreams. Like I have some level of control in them. I can change scenes and cause things to happen, it’s like there’s the me in the dream, and then the actual me’s voice can be heard in the dream over the top of the dream me and with great energy, I can change things. Often it makes me wake up straight away, so I’m guessing I’m in a lucid-ish state.
But there are other times when I know I’m coming out of sleep, and you’re in that half asleep/wake state, half in a dream and half aware of reality. In those states, I have greater control of the dreams, but it’s kid of different, because it’s the part of me that’s actually awake directing the dream and not the me who’s asleep.
And you might think I’m crazy!
Scratching a bite in our sleep is a subconscious thing. Yes, it could wake you. Our senses are still working, but our brain ignores them/shuts them out unless they are terribly wrong somehow… like someone calling your name to wake you.
When your conscious mind ‘awakes’ but you still have your senses shut down (dreaming) yes, you have a lucid dream. As you know, your conscious mind enters the dream as a voice… you are NOT crazy. The simulator is running all the time. When your conscious mind is active, it directs what happens in the simulator by changing this or that or interjecting objects into the simulator. If there is no sensory input you’ll be in a dream like state, and with the conscious mind active, it will be a lucid dream. You’re not crazy.
In your next lucid dream, command that your hearing be activated… and watch what happens in the dream.
I know I’m not crazy, but I know other people might think I am – in relation to my dreams. I still might be crazy, no I am. Everyone needs a little crazy in them. Makes things fun. Not too much, though, then it’s just freaky and you find yourself alone. Haha!
So would you be a fan of the power of the unconscious?
Apparently some think we don’t tap into it’s potential and that we only use 10% of our brains.
And what’s your take on sleep-walking – where people can make a sandwich and find their way around the neighbourhood without a conscious thought and no recollection in the morning?
I’m a fan of the power of the subconscious. It does much more for us than we imagine. We use 100% of our brains all the time. We might generally be utilizing 10% of the capacity, but that it like your computer, you utilize way less than 50% of it’s capacity most of the time but you’re using 100% of the parts all the time.
Sleep walking is where the conscious mind is disconnected from sensory input and the subconscious is doing its thing but motor controls are not turned off like in other people – so the subconscious is moving the body around and doing things. Because the conscious self was not engaged there is no memory of the events. It really is quite mechanical in nature.