On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 8:41 PM, meekerdb <meeke...@verizon.net> wrote:
> On 1/10/2013 11:31 AM, Platonist Guitar Cowboy wrote: > > > > On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 7:27 PM, meekerdb <meeke...@verizon.net> wrote: > >> On 1/10/2013 6:20 AM, Platonist Guitar Cowboy wrote: >> >> I have never understood what it means to be atheist. Sometimes it appears >> to mean existentialist "not Christian god", another appearance is "not >> organized religion", which both appear reasonable. >> >> Intuitively however, I've always asked myself: "what are they talking >> about?" as we're all invested in beliefs or working hypothesis (whatever >> you wanna call these structures primitively) of one sort or another. >> Physical, scientific, mystical, mathematical, computational, financial, >> political, biological, creative, group solidarity + individualism spectrum, >> and yes also beer, drugs, shopping attitudes etc. are all areas where you >> limit or enable mucking about with core assumptions, either skeptically >> distant or suspending disbelief, to avoid hell or approach some utopia in >> mind. >> >> Implied by every thought operation, every action, we at a certain point >> take a leap of faith, we bet on some belief, deity, working hypothesis. >> >> I don't see how an agent can act or decide without this, which is why I >> can't understand the proposition that entity exists without belief in >> something that transcends them, that they want or wish to avoid. Ok, you >> can blame me for not differentiating between absolutely static belief and >> work-in-progress working hypothesis, fine. But the result still is that >> some force of propositions have convinced or forced us to invest in them. >> >> I should maybe speak to more atheists to get it perhaps, or maybe >> somebody here can point me towards a flaw to get what people mean with >> "atheist". Oddly, I often find the same "this I take for granted attitude, >> that anything else makes me smile condescendingly", that even keeps me from >> bringing it up. >> >> >> Do you know what "theist" means? >> >> Brent >> > > If you could clarify your question, why you ask, it would be easier. > > That is so broad: what does anything mean in some absolute sense, or are > you playing some specific frame? > > That broadly though: > > Greek root theos, so god/transcendental principle + ism, implying a more > or less flexible belief, held by adherents. Whether anthropomorphic, > interactive, or any other feature of deity in question, the term is used in > more or less broad terms to denote belief it one or more supreme beings. > And yes you could differentiate endlessly here... but to what end? > > > Then you know what "atheist" means "... to denote nonbelief in one or > more..." > > Which entails believing in one or more other things selectively or believing non-belief. Either way, I "grasp intuitively what people mean", but it is far from clear to me because of this. Mark ------ > Brent > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
