Do theists and atheists experience life basically the same way or is there something different?

Answer 1

I think they experience it the same way, but interpret it differently.


For instance, a random stroke of unlikely luck will be seen by many theists as a blessing from God, whereas an atheist might see it as, "well, I guess such luck has to happen to SOMEbody, I guess it was my turn today... rock on!"

As a liberal theist, I actually tend to be more of a DEist in the sense that there is a lot more randomness to life than most theists are prone to believe. For instance, why would God choose to bless me with the 8% raise I just got, when there are tons of people in 3rd-world countries that are far more pious than I am and who would deserve even a measly 8% of my income far more than I would?

Answer 2

Even the well versed God believing theist cannot explain on God to relate all things that happens in our life, while atheist being rational does always seek a solution more scientifically and are more successful in getting the solution for earthly problems! For the atheist the nature is the ultimatum and limits his search for finding the truth while for theist its is always beyond the nature they look and find the solution which they want us to believe and pray to live happily in the unknown and unseen heaven!

Theist believes in all good things in life to be followed for good living. Though all the atheist does accepts the same principles, not all of them follow the same in life, because, neither they have the faith in second life nor they fear for anything bad and sinful to commit for their benefit!

No doubt, the religion is strongly associated with spiritual enlightenment wherein one can find peace of mind and a great experience to lead a simple and meaningful life based on clean habits and customs, which an atheist has no way to experience and evaluate the merits of it!

I firmly confirm that both theist and the atheist does experience life differently by their knowledge and experience in their own way!

Answer 3

The only difference is how the tangible and intangible are described, and/or delineated, and then wars are fought over the fictitious schism of truth.

Truth is one, but the views of it comes from many points. It's like the 3 blind men and the elephant. One feels the trunk and calls it a snake, another feels the leg and calls it a tree, another feels the body and calls it a great boulder... While the studious would note that it's potentially moving, and not safe to feel it all out when blind, and it's not feeling touchy-feely....

Thus patience and gentility would allow one to learn even when otherwise blind in this analogy/simile, while all else ends up hurt blaming the elephant for their own foolhardy tendencies trying to grasp something much larger than themselves that they can't control, and know little about.

Answer 4

Comparing my life now as an atheist to my former life as a theist, I don't notice much different about my life when I walk away from this computer.

I have a little more peace of mind, and a little less comfort. I have some very different thoughts than I used to have as well. I value life more now, too.

But, I have the same friends more or less, the same job, the same home, the same car, the same guinea pig, and I'm largely the same person I have always been.

I guess you could say that I have the same life, but I have a different pair of lenses through which I see that life.

Answer 5

It depends on how seriously one takes their religion, I suppose. I assume that most atheists never experience what I would call the "sublime". People who claim to be ex-theists probably never had a mystical sense or experience, so they became atheists.

BTW, just because there is a theory of sorts to explain this experience based on neuroscience does not make me doubt its reality. I just assume that God would, as a matter of course, give us a six sense that would allow us to commune with him. The fact that some people wander thorough religion's external forms all of their life without experiencing this is a mystery to me, but that does not surprise me either.

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...Many deeply experienced meditators feel, when deep in meditation, an experience of transcendance of the here and now. They feel a sense of being outside of time and space. How is this experience produced?

Two researchers, Andrew Newberg and Eugene D’Aquili, have taken a particular interest in these experiences. Through the use of a brain-scanning technique called SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography), they have determined how these experiences arise. The researchers have produced images of the brains of Tibetan Buddhists who undergo deep, profound meditative experiences as the result of years of practice. They have done the same with a Catholic Franciscan nun, who, after 45 minutes of deep prayer, had her brain scanned to determine what centers were active and what centers were not.

The results show that in both cases, the pre-frontal cortex, which controls attention, is highly stimulated. This is not surprising - meditation requires a great deal of concentration. The subjects are clearly deeply attentive to their task. But the superior parietal lobe, the center that processes information about space, time and the orientation of the body in space, is suppressed, and is almost totally quiet. The result is that any sense of time, space or being in the world is suppressed along with the activity in the superior parietal lobe. And not feeling "in the world" leads to an "other-worldly" experience. So it is not surprising that those who have this experience describe it as being in the "spiritual realm." Persinger has been able to reproduce this by electrically supressing activity in the superior parietal lobe using his helmet - and when he performs this experiment on Tibetan monks and the Franciscan nun, they all report that the experience is identical to what they experience in their own meditative practice....

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"It is very difficult to explain this feeling to anyone who is entirely without it. The individual feels the nothingness of human desires and aims and the sublimity and marvelous order which reveal themselves both in nature and the world of thought. He [the experiencer] looks upon individual existence as a sort of prison and wants to experience the universe as a single, significant whole"
--Albert Einstein

Answer 6

I don't think Atheists and Theists experience life the same way. Atheists tend to be more open to change and "issues" that the church deems unholy. Without the weight that religion can put on your shoulders, it can also be less stressful to be an atheist, and seeing things from an 3rd party objective can sometimes put things, such as religious wars, into better perspective.

Answer 7

the international is finished of non secular paths and religions and such. you will have been disappointed which comprise your adolescence faith, and now you're in limbo, with the point to communicate. which would be uncomfortable. yet relax specific, existence is adequate with recommendations. i used to be raised Catholic, felt I outgrew it in my adolescents, and a million/2-consciously grew to develop right into a non secular seeker. At age nineteen, I placed a clean non secular course that perfect me completely. Now, thirty-3 years later, i'm besides the undeniable fact that happy with it. It jewelry real, feels perfect, and works for me. fortuitously for me, my enjoyed ones replaced into by no skill very non secular besides (my dad was a staunch Catholic, besides the undeniable fact that he died after i used to be sixteen). Your venture is often distinctive; you will have kin individuals finding to tug you back into the fold. which would be stressful, i'm going to wager. i does no longer have any strategies, quite. yet i might advise you in finding anybody or something to love, and easily concentration on that, if basically for a couple of minutes an afternoon. it is a puppy, or in step with threat even a usual activity. once you're doing what you like and loving what you do, life has a skill of being wealthy and critical, in spite of your ideals (or lack thereof).

Answer 8

Basically it frees up Sundays for me. I am also relieved not to believe that after this long strange trip is over there is purportedly, laughably, yet another "life", this one lasting for "eternity", which is illogical. "Forever and ever" is a child's concept; time cannot be defined without a beginning or an end. Oops, I seem to have slithered onto a soap box there for a second. Sorry about that, it's so easy to do with these kinds of questions.

Answer 9

I can't speak for other theists, but my guess would be basically the same way with the exception of my belief in God.

Answer 10

The experience is the same, only the personal interpretation changes. I would know - I was once a theist.