atheists and scientists?

Question

at what point did you find proof there was no spirit? Did you find proof of this somewhere? Or is it your belief that there is no spirit? At last check there is no scientific proof for or against the existance of the spirit or an intelligent creator. I dont want to hear negative proving negative answers. I want to really hear how you came to your conclusion without any proof either way. Because without proof, then what you think becomes a belief. And to have a belief, one must have faith. Outside of a few responders, very few are respectful of those who do believe in spirits and ghosts. Yet you expect us to believe everything we know of came as a result of a big bang that cannot be proven, the "something from nothing theory".

Karl, hate to burst your bubble, but most inventions we still use today were not from scientists but from normal undereducated schmucks toiling in their garages and basements doing things they had no business doing. You still skirted the question, you should go into politics.

thank you John B for an honest answer.

thanks to all for the answers. This is not a question of proof of anything, but rather, when did you come to a certain conclusion and why?

this is gonna be though making a choice

typo=tough

zach, great answer

Answer 1

Anyway you look at the Universe is a "something from nothing theory"Big Bang,God's Creation or anything else.Seems to me it's something from nothing.At some point in my teens,after a complete Catholic education.I started doubting there was a supernatural being.At least involved in the daily lives of Humanity.After awhile,I wondered if there was?What difference to them would we be from ants?Soon I realized that to me, it wasn't worth worrying about.Too many questions,not nearly enough answers.In other words We''ll never really know.So why worry about it.By my twenties I didn't.That said,to this day.I don't try to convert Religious folk to my way of thinking.To the point of not discussing it with anyone I don't know.I do have some of the the Religious constantly affecting,or trying to,my life.That's religion,not spirits and ghosts.If someone asks about them.I'm happy to tell them what I think.Being disrespectful of believers in ghosts.I'd like not to be,and try not to.If you ask though,it's hard to answer sometimes. Without disrespecting the idea of ghosts.That's a fine line,hard not to cross.It's my hope,you're not offended.If you are I take no pleasure from it.You're questions are difficult to answer.I never know if I'm on track.

Answer 2

As far as I know, scientists do not study spirits. Scientists study things that can be quantitatively measured. Spirits do not have mass or take up physical space, so they can't be measured and analyzed by scientists. Asking a scientist to study a spirit is like asking a carpenter to perform open heart surgery. It just doesn't fit their occupational description. Most scientists are busy curing diseases and laying the framework that makes modern technology possible (airplanes, computers, etc.). If you expect answers to theological questions from a scientist, then you are barking up the wrong tree. Go ask a preacher or rabbi.

Scientists have not found proof that there was no spirit. Scientists have not found proof that there was no Loch Ness Monster either. That just isn't what scientists do. Some scientists choose to have faith in spirits and others don't. Faith is a personal choice, not a law.

Also, when people tinker with gadgets in their garage, they are still going through a logical process like science. Uneducated mechanics are really doing the same thing as physicists with a PhD. They try things and test it out. If that doesn't work, then they do something different. Scientific ideas are constantly changing and are open for review. I encourage you to toil in your garage and prove science wrong whenever possible. Ghosts could easily become a part of modern science, but first someone has to explain more about them.

Answer 3

I really don't think there can ever be proof that there is no spirit, no God, etc. Seems like an impossible task to me. I'm a scientists and an agnostic atheist, but I don't pretend I can prove there are no spirits or intelligent creator. I just don't have convincing evidence for them, that's all.

When did I come to the conclusion about my belief, or lack of it? It wasn't anything life-changing or something like that. After grad school I just had a moment to think about it and realized that I hadn't thought about gods or religion for a long time, and I no longer took things like that on faith anymore. So then it was, "oh, I guess I'm agnostic!". Not a very spectacular story, but there it is.

Regarding the Big Bang, that can only answer part of the question but really doesn't address ultimate origins. When you start getting to questions like "where did the universe come from" that are untestable, you start straying away from good science and into metaphysics or religion. Then it become a matter of faith.

EDIT: As Wushu said, being a scientist and having faith in a god are not mutually exclusive. A poll reported in Nature in 1997 reported that 40% of scientists polled said they believed in a god that answers prayer. Interesting statistic.

Answer 4

Oh man, a total lack of response, must have rained on their day! How do I know anything is real? How do you prove or disprove anything for sure? Look at what happened to Galileo. He came so close to being burned at the stake and he was right all along. I thank god that I have an open mind to every thing, even if I don't believe in one god, I may be wrong. Most science changes every few years any way. So why should I stick with the same stuff I was sold as truth in school anyway? When I see, feel, or taste it, then it is real to me. But I may wake up tomorrow and find that I'm just a lizard on a tree in the rain forest, who ate some over ripe fruit and this was just a bad dream.

Answer 5

I do not have proof that supernatural deities and spirits don't exist. Anything that is untestable is unfalsifiable, so proving or disproving spirits or deities are real is a functional impossibility. We've all heard that absence of evidence isn't necessarily evidence of absence. I believe that to be a true statement. I also believe that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Any time there is a lack of evidence to sway your opinion on a subject you must fall back on reason and probability. In other words, if there is nothing (i.e. evidence) to compel you to believe, you weigh it in your mind using logic, reason and probability to see if it makes sense. We do this every day with all matters of life. Why would I cease doing this when it comes to the paranormal?

When I support a scientific theory like evolution I don't pretend to know every detail of it. In that respect I do have a bit of faith. I have faith the scientists have come to an objective conclusion based on actual empirical data. I do not have faith in an individual or any particular dogma. I have faith in the process scientists use to gather their data and reach their conclusions. This faith is not the same as the faith employed when a person believes he won't be struck by lightning because god doesn't want him to.

I see no spirits or deities. I see no *evidence* for spirits or deities. That doesn't necessarily mean they aren't there, but why would I claim something to be there that apparently isn't? It would seem if I did that I'd be going out of my way to contend the existence of something that for all intents and purposes--as far as our senses go--*doesn't* exist.

I believe there are many reasons people believe in deities and spirits and I believe many people are convinced such things do really exist. However, I have plenty of reasons to believe both supernatural and paranormal creatures aren't real outside of the imagination of the person "experiencing" them.

This is why technically I am not an atheist (as I claim to be), but rather an agnostic. Although I am unable to prove god or ghosts don't exist, given the lack of reasons to believe and plethora of reasons not to believe, I am quite comfortable operating under the assumption such things do not exist.

Answer 6

I understand how you feel. A universe created from nothing? How can that be possible? But of course you must understand how incredulous I am when someone says that something unexplainable thing called a "god" can do what is considered impossible: create a universe out of nothing.

I became an atheist as a child when I realized that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and God were all just stories handed down from generation to generation.

It is not a matter of proof -- it is impossible to prove the existence or non-existence of a god. It is a matter of evidence. There is no evidence that there is a god (or gods) beyond the myths we are told as children. Therefore, due to lack of evidence, I see no reason to believe that a god (whatever that may be) exists.

Furthermore, there is no evidence that the existence of a god has any meaningful effect on our lives at all. Therefore, even if a god does exist, there is no benefit to believing that it exists.

Answer 7

There is no evidence there is one, so the only reasonable thing to conclude is that there isn't. You are going to have to believe some pretty weird crap if you don't require evidence. And hey, I got some great property in Florida for sale real cheap if you are interested.

The Big Bang has a lot of evidence that can be measured, most notably the predicted background radiation coming from all directions. And it DOESN'T say "something from nothing" anywhere. Religions are the only ones that make that claim when they say that is how their god did it.

Answer 8

I believe you meant to aim this toward Atheist scientists, not atheists and scientists.
Contrary to popular belief there are many of us who love, study, and work in the field of science who are also Christians. I do not see any conflict between the two.
I don't need scientific proof to believe in God, as I do not need to justify my belief to anyone else. The Bible is filled with enough proof for me to believe.
Whats more, I am not alone. I know quite a few scientists, even well known scientists, who in thier time have come to the conclusion that not only is there a God, but Jesus was God in the flesh and that the Bible is the word of God. Go figure.

Answer 9

I became an athiest after like the previous person said holidays... there is no easter bunny, there is no santa claus...

and when i learned the true meaning of christmas.. which is actually a pagan holiday.. i was raised catholic...
in the bible it talks about people being ready for harvest during jesus's birth which means he was probablly born some time during the harvest time not during december...
but ive learned we have handed down the pagan tradition of trees and yule logs for some odd reason which most people have absolutely no idea about..

then i learned every culture celebrates a holiday during the winter solstice.. kwanzaa, chaunakah, kwanzaa, this has been since forever not necessarily due to the miracle of the baby jesus...

i was pritty much agnostic/ athiest by then

i then learned of the spanish inquisition and how they became masters of torcher.. kiilling people for being "less than animal" boiling people, raping people...
after a while the pope decide that he didnt want his people having sex with the non humans so he sent prostitutes with them...

i also have several older family members who have been molested by several different "holy men" pastors of the catholic church and no one evr belived them till one of them repented on their death bed....

this is how i came to be...

i consider my self an existentialist
i dont believe my existence has anything to do with some higher power

Answer 10

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."

-A. Einstein

people always get hung up on proof, but science doesn't sweat having proof. scientists really get a jones for 'disproof'. there is just something comforting about having a theory that one experiment can disprove, and when someone tries and it doesn't succeed, we do the "Science Dance of Joy".

No one dances for God.