"Listening" to you guys talk is very amusing to me. I came here looking for reasons for atheism but instead I just find reasons against it.
Why would anyone wish, as you say, for human beings to be nobler than they are? Where would the idea of nobility even come from? For a Christian, that's easy: we were created for nobility. For an atheist: we weren't created at all, we evolved through factors of random chance acted on my natural selection.
Nobility has nothing to do with it! Nobility makes no sense, you shouldn't even be talking about it. I don't understand. As a biologist, I think I understand natural selection and evolution theory quite well. For human beings to be longing for nobility goes directly against the idea of natural selection. It is counter productive!!
"Why would anyone wish, as you say, for human beings to be nobler than they are? Where would the idea of nobility even come from?"
I just want to see how things are: and how noble human beings are is a factor in analyzing and determining explicit rational motivations for human goodness.
"Nobility", a vague word, refers in this case to disinterested altruism.
Desire is a key to happiness and suffering. It is possible to control desire. The three main paths are: 1) fulfill desire, 2) change or alter desire and, 3) stop obtaining desire. Happiness pertains to a selection among the many ways of obtaining and fulfilling desire. In some cases, the fulfillment of certain desires fosters more of the same desire - one gets involved in a perpetual cycle. On the other hand, there are some desires that when fulfilled allow for more interesting and fun desires to come into experience for modification, or fulfillment.
Go Away
"Listening" to you guys talk is very amusing to me. I came here looking for reasons for atheism but instead I just find reasons against it.
Why would anyone wish, as you say, for human beings to be nobler than they are? Where would the idea of nobility even come from? For a Christian, that's easy: we were created for nobility. For an atheist: we weren't created at all, we evolved through factors of random chance acted on my natural selection.
Nobility has nothing to do with it! Nobility makes no sense, you shouldn't even be talking about it. I don't understand. As a biologist, I think I understand natural selection and evolution theory quite well. For human beings to be longing for nobility goes directly against the idea of natural selection. It is counter productive!!
Aug 24, 2012
Simon Paynton
Go Away - please ignore Korsan.
"Why would anyone wish, as you say, for human beings to be nobler than they are? Where would the idea of nobility even come from?"
I just want to see how things are: and how noble human beings are is a factor in analyzing and determining explicit rational motivations for human goodness.
"Nobility", a vague word, refers in this case to disinterested altruism.
Aug 24, 2012
onecae
Desire is a key to happiness and suffering. It is possible to control desire. The three main paths are: 1) fulfill desire, 2) change or alter desire and, 3) stop obtaining desire. Happiness pertains to a selection among the many ways of obtaining and fulfilling desire. In some cases, the fulfillment of certain desires fosters more of the same desire - one gets involved in a perpetual cycle. On the other hand, there are some desires that when fulfilled allow for more interesting and fun desires to come into experience for modification, or fulfillment.
Aug 24, 2012