In the pre-crash forum it was RoknRoll who originally started an "Ask an Atheïst" topic, but I'm pretty confident that I can respectfully answer any questions towards Atheïsm (well at least my Atheïsm, not the "hurr you're all dumb" kind).
So ask away!
OK - So...
Do you ever feel (and by "feel" what I mean is have a bodily sensation or emotion, rather than the other "feel" which means "have the opinion that") that there are more to some things than can be explained by a physical understanding of those things?
Why did you spell it "Atheïst"?
Originally Posted by Juniper
...it could be that crazy Dutch-speak ;D
Well first of all, I like to believe that any person's view on "the supernatural" is one of personal experience rather than just belief or disbelief:
Some prefer the view of "Anything supposedly supernatural can be rationally explained" but the part of being able to succesfully rationally explain it would also be a matter of being there when it happens.
Then again, some people witness one or more inexplicable thing(s) in their life and suddenly everything inexplicable is labelled "supernatural", which in my opinion is not a wise approach to the subject.
But to answer your question about me specifically, no. I've never experienced anything out of the ordinary or inexplicable so TO ME PERSONALLY there is no such thing as the supernatural.
Up to today I find my life as dull and agitating as looking at a blank piece of paper thinking of what to write on it.
I may be only 20 years old and perhaps have many years to go in which I could stumble upon something possibly supernatural, but that feels like standing next to the street waiting for a purple car with yellow stripes and a green bumper to drive by and honk at me.
You could argue "Oh but you can give it the benefit of doubt if you don't have any proof right?", well that's the thing: If it's not there, then the only proof of it not being there is that it isn't there.
That may sound kind of lame, but for example: If there isn't any milk in your fridge, how do you prove there is no milk in your fridge? The only proof you can come up with? Exactly.
(Well, unless you could prove it by showing a video of you drinking the last of the milk from the fridge but that's a different story! Shut up! xD )
Hope that answered your question :P
Because I find it shiny that way.
I guess you could discuss how it should be written, but come on it's not like the capital "A" is hurting anyone because it's pointier than the "a". He has feelings too!
And yes, maybe it IS just the crazy Dutch-speak. Wie weet...
Sorry I bumped myself, but I couldn't modify it anymore.
Towards B. de Corbin's question:
I may have generalized your question towards using "the supernatural" to talk about, but the answer should be the same, I have no such experience(s) that something feels "more" than it physically appears/feels like. I've tried to do so (tried-ish... I guess) in the past tough, but then you could argue that either I didn't try hard enough or that it's just something you come across.
And now I will express a quote in mime...
[quote author=Sitnamorcen link=topic=384.msg5491#msg5491 date=1287662569]
Because I find it shiny that way.
I guess you could discuss how it should be written, but come on it's not like the capital "A" is hurting anyone because it's pointier than the "a". He has feelings too!
And yes, maybe it IS just the crazy Dutch-speak
[/quote]
I think she meant the ï vs i...
“You have never answered but you did not need to. If I stand at the ocean I can hear you with your thousand voices. Sometimes you shout, hilarious laughter that taunts all questions. Other nights you are silent as death, a mirror in which the stars show themselves. Then I think you want to tell me something, but you never do. Of course I know I have written letters to no-one. But what if I find a trident tomorrow?" ~~Letters to Poseidon, Cees Nooteboom
“We still carry this primal relationship to the Earth within our consciousness, even if we have long forgotten it. It is a primal recognition of the wonder, beauty, and divine nature of the Earth. It is a felt reverence for all that exists. Once we bring this foundational quality into our consciousness, we will be able to respond to our present man-made crisis from a place of balance, in which our actions will be grounded in an attitude of respect for all of life. This is the nature of real sustainability.”
~~Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
"We are the offspring of history, and must establish our own paths in this most diverse and interesting of conceivable universes--one indifferent to our suffering, and therefore offering us maximal freedom to thrive, or to fail, in our own chosen way."
~~Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History
"Humans are not rational creatures. Now, logic and rationality are very helpful tools, but there’s also a place for embracing our subjectivity and thinking symbolically. Sometimes what our so-called higher thinking can’t or won’t see, our older, more primitive intuition will." John Beckett
Pagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
[quote author=thalassa link=topic=384.msg5493#msg5493 date=1287665143]
I think she meant the ï vs i...
[/quote]
Oh :-[ in that case it entirely IS crazy Dutch-speak because that's how I'm taught to write it, with an ï .
If it was about that, then it's typical of me to start ranting about what I think she was talking about rather than asking the details. Might also be due to the fact that I'm quite energetic today. o.o
And now I will express a quote in mime...
[quote author=Sitnamorcen link=topic=384.msg5494#msg5494 date=1287665238]
Oh :-[ in that case it entirely IS crazy Dutch-speak because that's how I'm taught to write it, with an ï .
[/quote]
I think it looks cool. Is there are difference in pronunciation for them or something?
Also, were you raised as any particular religion?
“You have never answered but you did not need to. If I stand at the ocean I can hear you with your thousand voices. Sometimes you shout, hilarious laughter that taunts all questions. Other nights you are silent as death, a mirror in which the stars show themselves. Then I think you want to tell me something, but you never do. Of course I know I have written letters to no-one. But what if I find a trident tomorrow?" ~~Letters to Poseidon, Cees Nooteboom
“We still carry this primal relationship to the Earth within our consciousness, even if we have long forgotten it. It is a primal recognition of the wonder, beauty, and divine nature of the Earth. It is a felt reverence for all that exists. Once we bring this foundational quality into our consciousness, we will be able to respond to our present man-made crisis from a place of balance, in which our actions will be grounded in an attitude of respect for all of life. This is the nature of real sustainability.”
~~Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
"We are the offspring of history, and must establish our own paths in this most diverse and interesting of conceivable universes--one indifferent to our suffering, and therefore offering us maximal freedom to thrive, or to fail, in our own chosen way."
~~Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History
"Humans are not rational creatures. Now, logic and rationality are very helpful tools, but there’s also a place for embracing our subjectivity and thinking symbolically. Sometimes what our so-called higher thinking can’t or won’t see, our older, more primitive intuition will." John Beckett
Pagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
[quote author=Sitnamorcen link=topic=384.msg5492#msg5492 date=1287663874]
I may have generalized your question towards using "the supernatural" to talk about, but the answer should be the same, I have no such experience(s) that something feels "more" than it physically appears/feels like. I've tried to do so (tried-ish... I guess) in the past tough, but then you could argue that either I didn't try hard enough or that it's just something you come across.
[/quote]
Thanks for coming back with that - I actually wasn't asking about anything supernatural.
So - if we're understanding eachother, what you're telling me is that, when you go out and look at the stars on a clear night, away from city lights, you don't feel anything? Or when you look over a the side of a high mountain, or into a deep canyon, you don't feel anything?
I do - the feeling is best described as "awe" - that's what I was trying to ask about.
Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.
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