No matter what I read about the mind and life, one question I can't reconcile is, what is that little point in our heads that says "I think, therefore I am." It never goes away, there is an awareness that is always there, even when I sleep, something experiences my dreams. What do athiests think this awareness is, exactly. I hear some scientific definitions, but they don't really answer the question. Not a religious debate, just want to know what an athiest feels we are. What makes me..me, and you...you, exactly?
2007-03-10 09:43:02 · 9 answers · asked by Cpt_Zero 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Brain function. Everything comes from the brain. There is no soul. Everything we do, every dream, every thought, every idea, every bodily function, exists as brain function. There is no other organ that controls anything. The other vital organs exist to provide life support to the brain, because without blood, oxygen, etc., the brain dies. If the brain dies, we are basically dead, which is why those who are in a persistent vegetative state or in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's are not themselves anymore. If you're brain dead, you might as well be dead, there is nothing else to animate you. Each brain is determined by genetics and environment, nature and nurture. Its structure and composition and factors that have affected it influence the way in which it functions, so while we may think we are making choices, the brain is making them. We don't control those choices, we'd have to use the brain to do that, so the brain isn't acting on anything separate from itself. If you really think about the choices you make, you will see that you really couldn't have made any other choices, given the way your brain works. That is why I feel that one's own mental health should be carefully watched and brain injury avoided at all costs, and that if there is anything whatsoever wrong in a person's brain function, it should be corrected if possible, whether it takes medication or therapy.
2007-03-10 09:46:47 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I am an athiest, and I dont think about stuff like this. Doesn't occur to me to sit around and think about stupid stuff like that. We are products of our minds just as that other person described. If someone really wants to see an alien, Im sure they will see one, same as ghosts, same as some god they've heard about. The only way we would be able to answer this is if we had a true athiest, one which has grown up in 4 walls only since birth with no stimulae. That will never happen. I am an athiest because nothing can ever be explained and life is too short to sit around thinking about stuff.
2007-03-10 10:21:21 · answer #2 · answered by kiss_me_cold_007 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Some atheists believe in a soul, I do not.
Just the electrochemical machine we call our brain, self-awareness (a byproduct of our evolutionary path) and the many problems that come from that, including this 'soul in the drivers seat' illusion.
2007-03-10 09:50:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
"christianity is the perception of a cosmic Jewish zombie who we could continuously worship becuase of our eternal "sin" by way of a ribwomen being confident via a speaking snake to consume from a magic tree" That description is quite precise nevertheless. religious absolutely everyone seems to be usual people who certainly have self assurance bullshit as actuality, not extra no much less.
2016-10-01 21:56:07 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That depends on the atheist.
There are tons of sleep studies that show that the brain is active during sleep, so of course we experience our dreams.
I don't think our awareness continues after death. For me, it doesn't make sense. If you damage your brain, then you reduce the person's ability to function. So, if the brain dies, it seems to me that the person's awareness dies with them.
2007-03-10 09:52:02 · answer #5 · answered by Let Me Think 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Self, spirit, soul, personality, etc.
Not all atheists believe the same things - except in regards to the non-existence of gods.
2007-03-10 09:51:37 · answer #6 · answered by gelfling 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I think there for I am, but was is "I", and which bit of "I" is doing the thinking?
I, personally, cannot see that there is a bit of "me" that is going to go floating off after my death and still exist. It is even less likely that this bit is then going to invade another body and take it over.
2007-03-10 09:48:58 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It is just your brain function. There is not a detachable thing that you would call a soul.
2007-03-10 09:51:23 · answer #8 · answered by Alex 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We believe in a soul...just not who put it there.
2007-03-10 09:46:55 · answer #9 · answered by ste.phunny 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋