My darling atheists, your opinions, please?

Question

If you are an atheist, do you believe that in the whole of the universe humankind is the ultimate? As in, there is nothing more powerful than your humble (or not) selves in the whole of the universe?
[Please be aware that I am making a distinction of powerful that does not presuppose an omniscient, omnipotent, etc. deity.]
If you are not of that opinion, do you have a belief that things more powerful than humans do not interact with humans and if so, upon what do you base this?
[For example, do you say that humans cannot violate the laws of physics and neither can things more powerful than humans....based on what humans can't do. Do you base it upon because you haven't seen it, etc.?]

Note parallel question to theists that follows.

Please note that I am certain that were there giant squids of some planet or another they would not be troubled by your lack of belief in them, as they'd need proof of themselves only to themselves....We aren't out there trying to make sure aliens know WE exist....well, not intentionally.

This question is not a threat to anyone's beliefs. Believe whatever you wish, it doesn't affect ME.

I am not asking anyone to prove any negative, silly, thus the word "opinions."

As for the guy who said who would care what atheists said, I would. I suppose if I were a Christian, or whatever religion you claim, I'd feel that way, however, I asked this question out of genuine curiousity.

Answer 1

I would be very surprised if humans were the most powerful entities in the universe. There are many reasoin why they might not interact with us. They may want us to develop in our own way and not interfere. They may be physically unable to. It may really be impossible to travel fatser than light.

Answer 2

I do not know.

I very much doubt that humanity is the 'Ultimate'. The universe has billions of galaxies with billions of stars in each, I find it very unlikely that we are the only life in the entire universe. Also we have been on this planet for less than 100,000 years. That is a long time, but the universe is about 13,700,000,000 years old. Alien civilizations could have risen and fallen many times over in that time. To say we are the 'ultimate' infers that there is nothing better to come after us. The universe will keep going for a very long time.

Also what do you mean by 'ultimate'?

From "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy"

For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much - the wheel, New York, wars and so on - whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons. -- Douglas Adams

Who is to say that the dolphins, or bats, or the influenza virus is not 'the ultimate'?

I see no evidence that anything has interacted with us. Could there be a monolith on the moon as in 2001? Could there be a crashed UFO of grays at area 51? I suppose it is possible, but I see no good reason to say it is so.

No one and nothing can violate the laws of physics. Period However, Einstein rewrote the theories put down by Newton (he called them laws, but that was just because he was an arrogant man in arrogant times) because he had information that Newton did not have. I fully expect that someone in the future will refine Einstein's theories that may enable us to do things that we currently think impossible.

Answer 3

Atheists don't worry about whether there is something greater than this universe. I don't personally think that we are neccessarily the best thing in the world anyway, I think that this earth could blow up tomorrow and the universe would continue as if nothing had ever happened, it wouldn't skip a beat, miss us, or ever know we were gone. The universe itself is much greater than we are. But I don't worry about what happens after this life. I believe this life IS the gift. Transendentalists believe something really interesting. You live your life as best you can as ethically as possible and with as much empathy as you can, you learn, you absorb but don't become to wrapped up in the material. The material world is what takes over most people, they ask the wrong questions, concern themselves with possessions and things- people become more interested in stuff than they are in the simple wonders of the world. Any omnipotent being that may exist, is not contained or known in the books we have -they were all written by men. Historically, some 40 different human authors wrote the Bible. And they injected their own hang-ups and prejudices of their day into those writings.

Answer 4

lol....hardly. I am off the firm opinion that. as a ecologically balanced planet, pretty much all forms of life are just as important as any other (except for spiders...I could do without those ; P ). The cycle of life on earth is important to me. That and the fact I'm not arrogant enough to think we are the only living planet in the entire universe. Just thinking about what else may be out there or even just staring at the stars on a perfect night humbles me. I'm aware of my insignificance in the eyes of the universe, while at the same time I'm thrilled to be a part of it all.

To answer your question, humans are just one part of a very large equation. And more often than not we have less impact on the bigger picture than we think we do.

Answer 5

I do not believe in a god or gods. It would be awful presumptuous of me to think however, that humans are the greatest and the end all be all of the endless and expanding universe. We are not the lowest forms of life, we are not the highest. I am not saying that aliens have visited earth to play with redneck bungholes or make art in cornfields. I do not think that the universe is devoid of other life. Things may be so great as to seem godlike to us (should we meet them). As we might seem godlike to any sentient form of life that would be less evolved than ourselves. People get the wrong idea about atheist, even many so-called atheist have it wrong. I am always open to debate of any kind from anyone on the existence of anything. If you want to convince me of the invisible man that created all and shakes his finger from an invisible land in the sky however, you better bring more proof than just the bible, because that is the only place I have ever seen any attempt to get their proof. I have never seen an alien and I do not say 100 percent that they exist either. But given my understanding upon how life on earth may have formed then I think it is more logical to believe that they exist than does one god.

Answer 6

It would never occur to me to say that "humankind is the ultimate". As you point out, humans cannot violate the laws of physics.

Human beings and higher animals share an extremely important power - the ability to have experiences. I think that is where we excel, but I wouldn't claim to know that only humans and only a few other Earthly animal species have that ability.

Answer 7

Humans are tiny and insignificant in compare to the scope of the universe. However, I don't view anything as ultimate, higher, lower, etc.

Everything observed is merely physics in action. There is no need or even room for such a value judgement. All things are exactly what they are.

Were we to meet a species millions of years older than us, with technologies so advanced that to use they would appear as magic to us, they would still just be physics in action, and as such would be our equals, just as bacteria are our equals.

The universe is nothing but math.

Answer 8

I'm pretty sure that in the space of a few lightyears we are the only ones kicking it. We are talking real, live beings of some sort right? I can't make any statements about the vast reaches of the larger universe out there. It is quite conceivable that there are beings out there who are smarter, faster, bigger, better than us. If they exist they are also very, very far away from us.

Answer 9

No to the first part.
Yes to the second part, but by "things more powerful than humans", I mean asteroids and super nova and things along those lines.

Humans can't do a lot of things, but not even the asteroids and super novae can violate the laws of physics.

Answer 10

I think that humans have the greatest ability to influence the world, however, I do not think that we do a good job of it. For every thing we do to better the world, we do twenty to harm it. Animals, in my opinion, are far superior in that context.

I can only speak to this earth. The rest of it is an unknown. :o)