Question for atheists and agnostics

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The_Q
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16 Feb 2008, 8:21 am

I'm an atheist and am not superstitious. I believe that there is a rational explanation for everything, even if that explanation is yet to be discovered.

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coolstertothecore
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16 Feb 2008, 10:25 am

I'm an atheist and no longer superstitious. I went through a period during my teens when I was occasionally superstitious, like wearing certain pieces of clothing for exams. But now I'm pretty much 100% logical. :-) If there's enough evidence for something then I believe it, if not, then I don't.

I remember doing about that Skinner experiment at uni where he gave pigeons food. Most of them repeated whatever it was they were doing just before the food came. If pigeons are superstitious, then I don't want to be.

SilverProteus
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16 Feb 2008, 11:57 am

coolstertothecore wrote:

I remember doing about that Skinner experiment at uni where he gave pigeons food. Most of them repeated whatever it was they were doing just before the food came. If pigeons are superstitious, then I don't want to be.

LOL! I don't know why, but the thought of superstitious pigeons tickled a funny bone

PLA wrote:

I know nothing. I work stuff out as I go. It's a lot like a puzzle. I don't like it when pieces don't fit. I put those pieces away, and every once in a while, I see if I can use them for something. If not: I put them away again.

That's an interesting way of putting it...

zee wrote:

I'm athiest and superstitious, which I guess makes me a hypocrite of sorts. But I wasn't an athiest all of my life, so maybe it's just the remainders of childhood, and furthermore I'm not a slave to superstitions. I'm not afraid of bad luck, I just like to increase good luck, IE if I have no choice but to walk under a ladder or eat 13 dumplings, then whatever.

That's more or less how I feel, you described it better than I did. Like, you don't believe in something rationally, but you still have that lingering thought at the back of your head. You're not a slave to your superstitions, because they don't dictate your actions, but they're there.

greenblue
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16 Feb 2008, 1:43 pm

Phagocyte wrote:

No, I do not. I am an agnostic as well, though I do not outright deny something that isn't scientifically proven. Granted, I won't accept it either, but I will analyze it and see if it's logically viable. That's really what agnosticism is about; it's about accepting that there is no proof, and thus, no reason to deny as well as accept (god, in this case). I really try not to "believe" in anything, really; I either see it as a valid notion, and invalid notion, or I am unsure.

I believe that is the best way to see things, all things, I see that doubt is better and makes a lot more sense than always denying and refuting things, and I think that being agnostic about everything is the most logical approach, which I try to be sometimes, although I think I could fail to not to believe in anything sometimes, but I am never 100% certain about anything.

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Angelus-Mortis
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16 Feb 2008, 2:30 pm

I don't believe in the supernatural. The supernatural, by definition defies all that is rational, and because the universe operates on rationally understood properties, the supernatural could not exist that way. If you were to consider something as being supernatural, but found evidence that it existed, then it would no longer be considered supernatural; there would be a rational explanation for it.

Most of the ideas of supernatural stem from ideas that are based on little more than imagination anyways, and have no real basis in reality.

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greenblue
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16 Feb 2008, 6:31 pm

Angelus-Mortis wrote:

If you were to consider something as being supernatural, but found evidence that it existed, then it would no longer be considered supernatural

Yeah, pretty much it would be like that, and that is one of the reasons something is called supernatural or paranormal, because it doesn't have any scientific explanation yet, it has happened before.

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Odin
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16 Feb 2008, 7:18 pm

I am an atheist and I'm not consciously superstitious, though I do catch myself unconsciously following various common little culturally-ingrained superstitions like the 5-Second Rule.

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SilverProteus
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16 Feb 2008, 7:41 pm

Odin wrote:

I am an atheist and I'm not consciously superstitious, though I do catch myself unconsciously following various common little culturally-ingrained superstitions like the 5-Second Rule.

Could it have more to do with OCD rather than superstition (even if cultural) per se?

Jaded
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17 Feb 2008, 1:40 pm

SilverProteus wrote:

Do you simply deny something if it isn't scientifically proven or if there isn't a scientific answer? Or do you believe in it but don't tell anybody?

I cannot think of any superstitions that I am prone to. I tend to believe there is a scientific explanation for everything.

I am, however, afraid of the idea of "ghosts", though believe there must be some kind of scientific explanation for anything of that nature as well.

So you see....

OnceHardcoreWasI
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17 Feb 2008, 6:24 pm

I'm an atheist and not superstitious at all. I do believe in random chance and my reptilian brain's desire to find patterns where none really exist, though.

SilverProteus
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17 Feb 2008, 8:55 pm

OnceHardcoreWasI wrote:

I'm an atheist and not superstitious at all. I do believe in random chance and my reptilian brain's desire to find patterns where none really exist, though.

Reptilian...irrational?

I look for patterns in everything, but I would'nt say I'm irrational. Most of the time.

(On a side note, interesting username.)

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