Atheists: About the intangibles?

Question

I've heard it said atheists do not believe in anything that cannot be proven.

Can you prove you have thoughts? Or emotions? Yes, we can see behaviour. But to attribute that behaviour to a thought or emotion cannot be proven.

And yet, we all experience them first-hand, despite the lack of scientifically-measurable evidence that they exist.

How do you reconcile this apparent paradox?

Answer 1

This isn't so much a question about atheism as it is existential philosophy. Not all atheists are existentialists.

An existentialist would say that, no, you cannot prove anything exsists. At all.

However, as a non-existentialist, you can prove that things we call 'emotions and thoughts' exist by measuring the corresponding impulses produced by the brain. For example, when the amygdala is stimulated, a person would have a fear response. Thus, we can prove that the emotion 'fear' exists biologically.

Answer 2

"I've heard it said atheists do not believe in anything that cannot be proven." You may have heard that, but that's not true. The truth is atheists do not believe in a deity for which there is no evidence. There is proof of the "intangibles" you mention such as thoughts and emotions. But your point would be moot regardless, as scientifically these things can be seen and measured; we are learning how to quantify hormones, white matter and synapses, etc., by which emotions and thoughts will eventually be understood.

Answer 3

You are mistaken - atheists will not believe something for which there is no EVIDENCE - evidence is not the same thing as proof (ask any lawyer). Thoughts and emotions are scientifically measurable by brain scans and by measuring the electrical impulses passing between neurons. These are not PROOF that they exist but they are EVIDENCE. You will be pleased to know that your paradox is resolved.

In any case, if experiencing something first-hand is your criteria - how can you show to someone else that your 'first hand' experience of God is anything other than a personal act of self-delusion? Evidence, please!

Answer 4

Thoughts(brain activity) can be measured.
Emotional responses can be seen in the reactions of the body systems of all animals.
No paradox exists.
Simply because the current technology does not allow for reading of actual thoughts or emotions does not mean they are "intangibles."

Answer 5

You take things way too literally.

You can believe whatever you want ignoring the mountains of facts to the contrary, yet you question such a minor point and then take the high moral position that you are correct on this point, therefore you must be correct on every other opinion you have.

It all sounds a bit pretentious to me.

Answer 6

It's been proven in brain operations, surgery patients are talked to be the surgeon (Dr.) parts of the brain are stimulated and the patient responds.

incomplete science is just that, incomplete, and not bunk!

This has nothing to do with unverifyable deities, old men in the sky, or fairies at the bottom of the garden.

back to the drawingboard bob.

Answer 7

Atheists believe in many unproven things, they simply do not believe in gods. The opposite of your argument would be: theists believe in everything unproven, like Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, the Tooth Fairy, ghosts, magic,... which is obviously not true either.

Answer 8

You can prove both thoughts and emotions through creative visualization. When you learn to manifest your thoughts, you'll have a clue as to the lies about dieties.

Answer 9

thay are just chemical reations in the brain

Answer 10

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