Saturday, May 1, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Stop Complaining and Make a Difference!
I need to rant a little bit. I just got a new job and I can't take the political commentary among my co-workers anymore. I keep quiet while everyone in the room blames the current president for everything that's wrong in their lives and our country but secretly I want to punch them all in the face whenever they open their naive mouths. Okay, maybe not actually punch them in the face, but it seems to me that a lot of people these days love to talk but don't want to actually do anything about it.
Since when did the citizens of the United States become so dependent? I live in a world filled with loud, but lazy people. People that scream at their televisions about how stupid a football player was for not making a certain move. So many people think they know how something is "supposed" to be done, but very few of them actually try to make a difference with any of it. Let me use the president as an example. More and more people give up control of their lives to the government every day and they do it by accusing them of controlling their lives. It's a catch 22 and they don't even realize it. When you blame circumstance for any predicament your in, you have just given up your power to that circumstance. Stop getting on your soap boxes, stop pointing fingers and do something about it.
The president of the United States is ONE MAN. I don't care who it is. I don't care if it's Bush, Clinton, Obama, or anyone else. They are one person and yet somehow the citizens of this country think they are supposed to turn it all around, as if he has his hand on some big political steering wheel and he can just do a U-turn. Screw off with your finger pointing guys! How about instead of complaining about president Obama not doing all the things he said he would to fix the economy, you go out and spend your money. All it would take to turn the economy around would be for people to forget that it's bad in the first place. The economy is yet another catch 22 that people don't seem to understand. If the news came on tomorrow and said, "The economy is all better, go spend your money now." It would be all better because they said it was and you would go spend your money.
Recently there was a city council meeting in my area where business owners of all types showed up. The entire time people kept complaining about how our little town is going down the toilet. One gal even complained that the sidewalks in front of her business never get swept and it makes her business look ugly. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? Sweep the sidewalks for crying out loud! Quit depending on other people to do things for you and be a part of the community, help out! Nobody understands what community means anymore. Do you really think of a community as a city full of people that don't interact with each other unless they have something the other wants, and government employees keep it all clean and trim the trees? Go out and participate. Get involved in community projects, help pick up trash, cast your vote when city meetings come up, and stop waiting for everyone else to do it for you!
It's just like positive thinking. You can't wait for everyone around you to start thinking positively before you do or you'll never think positively. Someone has to do it first, that's how it starts. So go out in front of your business, wave to somebody driving by, and sweep your god forsaken sidewalk. I don't care if it belongs to the city, YOU LIVE IN THIS CITY, so help out. Tons of people complaining and nobody bothering to lift a finger. There are arm chair critics around every corner. People complain about tax hikes and then don't want to help out the community in any way. If it doesn't directly benefit themselves then they won't do it. "Why should I sweep the sidewalk, it doesn't belong to me?" You should sweep it because it's dirty. You should sweep it because helping your community will help you in the long run. You know what, while you're at it why don't you sweep in front of the two businesses on either side of you too.
It doesn't matter what job I have, everyone there hates the company. They all think they know how a company should be run yet here they are at the bottom of the totem pole. People build up corporations to be evil and uncaring. None of them have any idea how much work it takes to build and maintain a large company. I'm sure that if any one of them had a group of people watching them that they would be bombarded with things they don't do right; in fact they do, other people just like themselves talk about them when their not in the room. But nobody ever stops to offer a tip or help out. Is your supervisor a dick? Why not bring him/her something to cheer them up one day? How about instead of bitching to anyone nearby that the supervisor is a dick you become their friend. Stop complaining and DO SOMETHING!
I consider myself to be a pretty happy and helpful person but even I could do better. It's easy to catch myself running through the same thought processes that everyone else does. There's an underlying desire to complain about everything, especially when we have it so good. I'm pretty sure the children working in factories in foreign countries don't complain about their supervisors. In fact, I'd bet money that they are very grateful to have jobs and making 2 cents an hour to help feed their families.
Quit acting like you are privy to knowledge that you obviously don't have. Not only should you NOT refuse to buy a sweater because it was made by child laborers in a foreign country, you should go out of your way to buy them! Why? Because you don't understand how it works. I hear at least twice a week that those poor child laborers don't get any rest. What you all fail to realize is that those poor child laborers live in countries and communities that are already poor with or without the giant factory that moved into town. Those people are excited to have a corporation come into town and say "hey, come knit sweaters all day and we'll help you have food to eat." If you want them to have more money then support the businesses that give them jobs. The more you buy the more their labor is worth and the more money they will make. Stop believing everything you hear and stop pretending you have knowledge about a subject you couldn't possibly.
You don't know what it's like to be the CEO of Walmart. You don't know what it's like to run a country. And you likely don't even know what it's like to be a pro football player. You are you because you chose to be, whether you know it or not. Who or what do you give your power of control to every day? If you bitch about your supervisor being a dick then guess who has the control? You supervisor does. If you come into work and give them a card that says "Thanks for being awesome!" then who has the control? YOU DO! Of course you can't always change the moods of those around you but that's still no excuse to be in a bad mood with them. Even if your efforts to make a difference go unnoticed you shouldn't care. If you're a positive person then you are happy to be you and that's as much as you need. Do you hand over your power to the rush hour traffic? Do you hand over your power to the government? There are always things to complain about, so for once let's get creative and come up with ways that we can affect the issues we care about most.
Do you want to make more money at your Walmart job? Do a good job! Impress someone and you will be rewarded. Quit waiting to be noticed and then complaining when you're not. Go up the food chain and talk to the people that care. In any company there is always someone that cares, you just have to go up the ladder a bit to find them. If you have worked in the peon position at a company for more than a year and you're starting to wonder why you never move up, maybe it's time to have a look at yourself and the way you live your life. Who or what controls you? You hand your control over to the very things you complain about, so stop doing it. Stop complaining. I'm not saying I'm perfect or that anyone is; we all complain, some of us more than others.
Put yourself in the shoes of others and watch yourself in your mind. What kind of person would you think you are? If you were the president of the United States and you were scrambling every day to accomplish impossible tasks all by yourself, what would you think of this little person in the corner bitching and moaning about every move you make? If you were president and you ran into yourself as you are now what would cross your mind?
Let's all go out and make a difference today. Get someone you dislike a thank you card. Write a letter to the president thanking him for taking on such a huge responsibility. Wave to a neighbor. And always wear a smile.
Since when did the citizens of the United States become so dependent? I live in a world filled with loud, but lazy people. People that scream at their televisions about how stupid a football player was for not making a certain move. So many people think they know how something is "supposed" to be done, but very few of them actually try to make a difference with any of it. Let me use the president as an example. More and more people give up control of their lives to the government every day and they do it by accusing them of controlling their lives. It's a catch 22 and they don't even realize it. When you blame circumstance for any predicament your in, you have just given up your power to that circumstance. Stop getting on your soap boxes, stop pointing fingers and do something about it.
The president of the United States is ONE MAN. I don't care who it is. I don't care if it's Bush, Clinton, Obama, or anyone else. They are one person and yet somehow the citizens of this country think they are supposed to turn it all around, as if he has his hand on some big political steering wheel and he can just do a U-turn. Screw off with your finger pointing guys! How about instead of complaining about president Obama not doing all the things he said he would to fix the economy, you go out and spend your money. All it would take to turn the economy around would be for people to forget that it's bad in the first place. The economy is yet another catch 22 that people don't seem to understand. If the news came on tomorrow and said, "The economy is all better, go spend your money now." It would be all better because they said it was and you would go spend your money.
Recently there was a city council meeting in my area where business owners of all types showed up. The entire time people kept complaining about how our little town is going down the toilet. One gal even complained that the sidewalks in front of her business never get swept and it makes her business look ugly. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? Sweep the sidewalks for crying out loud! Quit depending on other people to do things for you and be a part of the community, help out! Nobody understands what community means anymore. Do you really think of a community as a city full of people that don't interact with each other unless they have something the other wants, and government employees keep it all clean and trim the trees? Go out and participate. Get involved in community projects, help pick up trash, cast your vote when city meetings come up, and stop waiting for everyone else to do it for you!
It's just like positive thinking. You can't wait for everyone around you to start thinking positively before you do or you'll never think positively. Someone has to do it first, that's how it starts. So go out in front of your business, wave to somebody driving by, and sweep your god forsaken sidewalk. I don't care if it belongs to the city, YOU LIVE IN THIS CITY, so help out. Tons of people complaining and nobody bothering to lift a finger. There are arm chair critics around every corner. People complain about tax hikes and then don't want to help out the community in any way. If it doesn't directly benefit themselves then they won't do it. "Why should I sweep the sidewalk, it doesn't belong to me?" You should sweep it because it's dirty. You should sweep it because helping your community will help you in the long run. You know what, while you're at it why don't you sweep in front of the two businesses on either side of you too.
It doesn't matter what job I have, everyone there hates the company. They all think they know how a company should be run yet here they are at the bottom of the totem pole. People build up corporations to be evil and uncaring. None of them have any idea how much work it takes to build and maintain a large company. I'm sure that if any one of them had a group of people watching them that they would be bombarded with things they don't do right; in fact they do, other people just like themselves talk about them when their not in the room. But nobody ever stops to offer a tip or help out. Is your supervisor a dick? Why not bring him/her something to cheer them up one day? How about instead of bitching to anyone nearby that the supervisor is a dick you become their friend. Stop complaining and DO SOMETHING!
I consider myself to be a pretty happy and helpful person but even I could do better. It's easy to catch myself running through the same thought processes that everyone else does. There's an underlying desire to complain about everything, especially when we have it so good. I'm pretty sure the children working in factories in foreign countries don't complain about their supervisors. In fact, I'd bet money that they are very grateful to have jobs and making 2 cents an hour to help feed their families.
Quit acting like you are privy to knowledge that you obviously don't have. Not only should you NOT refuse to buy a sweater because it was made by child laborers in a foreign country, you should go out of your way to buy them! Why? Because you don't understand how it works. I hear at least twice a week that those poor child laborers don't get any rest. What you all fail to realize is that those poor child laborers live in countries and communities that are already poor with or without the giant factory that moved into town. Those people are excited to have a corporation come into town and say "hey, come knit sweaters all day and we'll help you have food to eat." If you want them to have more money then support the businesses that give them jobs. The more you buy the more their labor is worth and the more money they will make. Stop believing everything you hear and stop pretending you have knowledge about a subject you couldn't possibly.
You don't know what it's like to be the CEO of Walmart. You don't know what it's like to run a country. And you likely don't even know what it's like to be a pro football player. You are you because you chose to be, whether you know it or not. Who or what do you give your power of control to every day? If you bitch about your supervisor being a dick then guess who has the control? You supervisor does. If you come into work and give them a card that says "Thanks for being awesome!" then who has the control? YOU DO! Of course you can't always change the moods of those around you but that's still no excuse to be in a bad mood with them. Even if your efforts to make a difference go unnoticed you shouldn't care. If you're a positive person then you are happy to be you and that's as much as you need. Do you hand over your power to the rush hour traffic? Do you hand over your power to the government? There are always things to complain about, so for once let's get creative and come up with ways that we can affect the issues we care about most.
Do you want to make more money at your Walmart job? Do a good job! Impress someone and you will be rewarded. Quit waiting to be noticed and then complaining when you're not. Go up the food chain and talk to the people that care. In any company there is always someone that cares, you just have to go up the ladder a bit to find them. If you have worked in the peon position at a company for more than a year and you're starting to wonder why you never move up, maybe it's time to have a look at yourself and the way you live your life. Who or what controls you? You hand your control over to the very things you complain about, so stop doing it. Stop complaining. I'm not saying I'm perfect or that anyone is; we all complain, some of us more than others.
Put yourself in the shoes of others and watch yourself in your mind. What kind of person would you think you are? If you were the president of the United States and you were scrambling every day to accomplish impossible tasks all by yourself, what would you think of this little person in the corner bitching and moaning about every move you make? If you were president and you ran into yourself as you are now what would cross your mind?
Let's all go out and make a difference today. Get someone you dislike a thank you card. Write a letter to the president thanking him for taking on such a huge responsibility. Wave to a neighbor. And always wear a smile.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Emotional Appeal
I want to talk a little bit about emotional appeal. In a nutshell emotional appeal is the application of anecdotal evidence put forth to influence an opinion. The problem is, being human makes it extremely difficult to squelch emotion altogether, especially when discussing a topic I am particularly passionate about. I think that emotion has its place, even within the skeptical community. There are times when it is appropriate and times when it could be considered a logical fallacy.
It is important to remember that emotion almost always involves subjective experiences and anecdotal evidence. What that means is that it is rarely useful in science and cannot be logically applied to an argument to bolster your position. Emotion is a tool that can be used to describe a personal or subjective experience/feeling. Take for instance, the blog I wrote about being an atheist. Disbelieving in a god is just as unfalsifiable as believing in one. Because of the nature of that subject, much of the post had to be anecdotal emotional appeal. That has its place as a descriptor, but not as a basis for argument. I cannot say that God doesn't exist because it flies in the face of human achievement. However, I can state that the idea of God flies in the face of human achievement. It doesn't prove anything, but it describes my subjective feelings regarding the issue.
Unfortunately, we are emotional creatures. This is a big part of why skepticism isn't as well received as it ought to be. Skepticism often comes off emotionless, which to most people is a cold and dreary state of being. I want to clarify that misconception. Skepticism can be an immense source of happiness. The mysteries and wonders of science are so amazing, they can leave you breathless if given the chance. Skeptics tend to be more analytical people. To others, that can seem boring and uninteresting. The skeptical movement needs passionate individuals that are simply fans of science, whether or not they are experts in any one field.
There is one thing that much of the skeptical movement lacks that other groups in the world have. Charisma. Often-times a scientist's excitement is simply not expressed in a way that the layman can understand. The media tries to fluff up science pieces to make them sound interesting, but the way they do it is by altering or over-simplifying the science being reported on. I hate to say it, but us skeptics could take a page out of the true believers' book. Why do you think woo and pseudoscience is so good at spreading? Obviously it's not because of the woo itself because the moment they were disappointed by it they would throw it away. It's because of the people pedaling it with great charisma!
I did business with a guy locally that I would consider a friend. After getting to know him a little bit I found out he was drowning in a whole mess of pseudoscientific beliefs. He talks about all sorts of homeopathic remedies, natural cures, and subscribes to all sorts of multilevel marketing ideas. None of what he says is compelling, even to the extremely gullible, beyond a magical emotional appeal. The only reason they believe it is because he has more charisma than anyone I've ever met. He's lovable; of course he is extremely deluded in my opinion, but if you meet him you instantly want to be his friend. I can see why so many people trust him and what he says pretty quickly after getting to know him. He sounds intelligent and in fact he is on numerous subjects, but not many scientific ones. If he, who knows literally nothing of science except for the words "quantum mechanics" (not the definition, obviously), can be that compelling to that many people then so can we as skeptics.
Yes this is all anecdotal, but I still think it applies to a large number of pseudoscientists out there. They are successful because they are enthusiastic, and sadly most of them actually believe the things they say which makes their enthusiasm that much more convincing.
In my line of work I teach business owners why relationship building is so important in running a successful business. The product or service is only a tiny fraction of a business's success in most cases. Only a few businesses ever become successful because they stumble upon some brilliant product or niche that hasn't been filled. Most successful businesses are successful because the owner or marketing team has massive amounts of charisma and enthusiasm. We all need to take a lesson from Carl Sagan. There was a man that knew how to excite the masses about science, without bogging them down; he simplified science in a way that the general population could understand and be excited by and he did it without dumbing down the science. Another one is Bill Nye. The only reason that show is entertaining is because the guy is exciting to watch. You can easily see the excitement he has for science and that transfers to the audience. The bottom line is that skeptics need a better marketing team. We have to appeal to that emotional side of our human minds. There is plenty of room for emotion while still sticking to the science and being a logical thinker.
- Alex
It is important to remember that emotion almost always involves subjective experiences and anecdotal evidence. What that means is that it is rarely useful in science and cannot be logically applied to an argument to bolster your position. Emotion is a tool that can be used to describe a personal or subjective experience/feeling. Take for instance, the blog I wrote about being an atheist. Disbelieving in a god is just as unfalsifiable as believing in one. Because of the nature of that subject, much of the post had to be anecdotal emotional appeal. That has its place as a descriptor, but not as a basis for argument. I cannot say that God doesn't exist because it flies in the face of human achievement. However, I can state that the idea of God flies in the face of human achievement. It doesn't prove anything, but it describes my subjective feelings regarding the issue.
Unfortunately, we are emotional creatures. This is a big part of why skepticism isn't as well received as it ought to be. Skepticism often comes off emotionless, which to most people is a cold and dreary state of being. I want to clarify that misconception. Skepticism can be an immense source of happiness. The mysteries and wonders of science are so amazing, they can leave you breathless if given the chance. Skeptics tend to be more analytical people. To others, that can seem boring and uninteresting. The skeptical movement needs passionate individuals that are simply fans of science, whether or not they are experts in any one field.
There is one thing that much of the skeptical movement lacks that other groups in the world have. Charisma. Often-times a scientist's excitement is simply not expressed in a way that the layman can understand. The media tries to fluff up science pieces to make them sound interesting, but the way they do it is by altering or over-simplifying the science being reported on. I hate to say it, but us skeptics could take a page out of the true believers' book. Why do you think woo and pseudoscience is so good at spreading? Obviously it's not because of the woo itself because the moment they were disappointed by it they would throw it away. It's because of the people pedaling it with great charisma!
I did business with a guy locally that I would consider a friend. After getting to know him a little bit I found out he was drowning in a whole mess of pseudoscientific beliefs. He talks about all sorts of homeopathic remedies, natural cures, and subscribes to all sorts of multilevel marketing ideas. None of what he says is compelling, even to the extremely gullible, beyond a magical emotional appeal. The only reason they believe it is because he has more charisma than anyone I've ever met. He's lovable; of course he is extremely deluded in my opinion, but if you meet him you instantly want to be his friend. I can see why so many people trust him and what he says pretty quickly after getting to know him. He sounds intelligent and in fact he is on numerous subjects, but not many scientific ones. If he, who knows literally nothing of science except for the words "quantum mechanics" (not the definition, obviously), can be that compelling to that many people then so can we as skeptics.
Yes this is all anecdotal, but I still think it applies to a large number of pseudoscientists out there. They are successful because they are enthusiastic, and sadly most of them actually believe the things they say which makes their enthusiasm that much more convincing.
In my line of work I teach business owners why relationship building is so important in running a successful business. The product or service is only a tiny fraction of a business's success in most cases. Only a few businesses ever become successful because they stumble upon some brilliant product or niche that hasn't been filled. Most successful businesses are successful because the owner or marketing team has massive amounts of charisma and enthusiasm. We all need to take a lesson from Carl Sagan. There was a man that knew how to excite the masses about science, without bogging them down; he simplified science in a way that the general population could understand and be excited by and he did it without dumbing down the science. Another one is Bill Nye. The only reason that show is entertaining is because the guy is exciting to watch. You can easily see the excitement he has for science and that transfers to the audience. The bottom line is that skeptics need a better marketing team. We have to appeal to that emotional side of our human minds. There is plenty of room for emotion while still sticking to the science and being a logical thinker.
- Alex
The Crazy Skeptic
I had an interesting experience after posting my blog about why I am an Atheist. I created a forum topic asking for any criticism of the blog. I like to do this because I'm not an expert in any given scientific field. While I do consider myself a "thinking" person I still want feedback from anyone who might have something to add. Several great suggestions for clarification were made and I corrected the relevant lines in the blog post. Soon after, something odd happened. I encountered the "crazy" skeptic.
I won't name any names because it was just a forum thread, but this person was the perfect example of a skeptic that the public gets to see. He was the epitome of the skeptic that is always right, super cynical of everything, and was generally ill-willed toward other people. He regarded what he deemed "stupid people" with great contempt. I ended up debating him for many pages because I felt he had misrepresented me and my blog post. The conversation devolved into an argument of semantics about Occam's Razor. I won't delve into the meat of the argument because it was pointless, but I kept it going because I was completely fascinated at the dedication put forth by someone who on the surface seems fairly level-headed.
The conversation lasted for several days and once the board hit around page 17 I decided that I was satisfied. It was down to satire and name calling anyway. I bring all this up because this is the perception the world has of skeptics. It is these people who are just as self-righteous as the crazy pseudo-scientists and creationists, that gives the skeptical movement a bad name. Forgiving the points he made that I disagreed with and the logical fallacies I pointed out, he was overall a very mean-spirited individual. What is sad is that when he interacts with the rest of the world nobody learns anything. He calls them stupid and makes a point out of encouraging them to continue being stupid instead of attempting to enlighten them. His heart seems to be in the right place but his methods for reaching others (if that is even his goal) are extremely flawed.
I bring this up as an example for how skeptics are perceived by the public. This was an argument between two skeptics, supposedly on the same team! I did some research on his name and discovered a sleuth of Amizon.com posts where he went on a review rampage. He attempts to debunk pseudoscience left and right, and while it was extremely entertaining, none of it was useful. He gets into arguments with scientifically illiterate people left and right. Whenever they commit logical fallacies he just steamrolls them with attacks directed at their intellectual capacity. Now and then he actually does reference the studies that support his arguments, but most of the time it is just naked criticism. This doesn't speak to the fact of whether he is right or wrong, only that he doesn't take the time to explain things in a calm enough way that someone else might benefit from it.
This is just one extreme example of a crazy skeptic out to debunk the world. The sad fact is though, that skeptics such as him are the vocal majority. They put out a negative vibe and worsen the connotative meaning of the word skeptic. It is sad to see so many people talk about how much they hate those "skeptics" because of one crazy they interacted with. Most of us are happy skeptics that have just as much meaning in their lives as those that take joy from believing in nonsense. I may end up renaming this blog to "The Happy Skeptic" because that is the image I would like to convey. I want others to see me as an example of a scientifically literate atheist and skeptic that is perfectly happy and lives a great life. I want people to know that all atheists and skeptics don't have an agenda to push on them. Having an agenda to push onto others is no different than the Mormons here in Utah trying to convert the world to their religion.
I want to end this post with a message to my fellow skeptics. As you journey out into the world of woo, do not try to show everyone why you're so intelligent and why they are not. Do not try and convert them to your way of thinking. Set an example and be the happy skeptic that is content with his/her confidence in logic and the scientific method. When you set that example people will become interested. Once those people become interested you have opened the door for rational thinking to take place. Several of my close friends have already come to me asking me about my participation in the skeptical movement. Never once did I tell them they should be interested. I simply set an example and they fell in line. All we can do as skeptics is grease those mental cogs a little bit and hope that they start turning. Don't get caught up arguing with someone that will never see things the way you do. In fact, the more you argue, the worse they will forever stereotype you and all skeptics.
Set an example. Don't stoop to the same tactics that true believers use. Feuding will never accomplish anything. You can make your points and still be calm and collected.
- Chevex
I won't name any names because it was just a forum thread, but this person was the perfect example of a skeptic that the public gets to see. He was the epitome of the skeptic that is always right, super cynical of everything, and was generally ill-willed toward other people. He regarded what he deemed "stupid people" with great contempt. I ended up debating him for many pages because I felt he had misrepresented me and my blog post. The conversation devolved into an argument of semantics about Occam's Razor. I won't delve into the meat of the argument because it was pointless, but I kept it going because I was completely fascinated at the dedication put forth by someone who on the surface seems fairly level-headed.
The conversation lasted for several days and once the board hit around page 17 I decided that I was satisfied. It was down to satire and name calling anyway. I bring all this up because this is the perception the world has of skeptics. It is these people who are just as self-righteous as the crazy pseudo-scientists and creationists, that gives the skeptical movement a bad name. Forgiving the points he made that I disagreed with and the logical fallacies I pointed out, he was overall a very mean-spirited individual. What is sad is that when he interacts with the rest of the world nobody learns anything. He calls them stupid and makes a point out of encouraging them to continue being stupid instead of attempting to enlighten them. His heart seems to be in the right place but his methods for reaching others (if that is even his goal) are extremely flawed.
I bring this up as an example for how skeptics are perceived by the public. This was an argument between two skeptics, supposedly on the same team! I did some research on his name and discovered a sleuth of Amizon.com posts where he went on a review rampage. He attempts to debunk pseudoscience left and right, and while it was extremely entertaining, none of it was useful. He gets into arguments with scientifically illiterate people left and right. Whenever they commit logical fallacies he just steamrolls them with attacks directed at their intellectual capacity. Now and then he actually does reference the studies that support his arguments, but most of the time it is just naked criticism. This doesn't speak to the fact of whether he is right or wrong, only that he doesn't take the time to explain things in a calm enough way that someone else might benefit from it.
This is just one extreme example of a crazy skeptic out to debunk the world. The sad fact is though, that skeptics such as him are the vocal majority. They put out a negative vibe and worsen the connotative meaning of the word skeptic. It is sad to see so many people talk about how much they hate those "skeptics" because of one crazy they interacted with. Most of us are happy skeptics that have just as much meaning in their lives as those that take joy from believing in nonsense. I may end up renaming this blog to "The Happy Skeptic" because that is the image I would like to convey. I want others to see me as an example of a scientifically literate atheist and skeptic that is perfectly happy and lives a great life. I want people to know that all atheists and skeptics don't have an agenda to push on them. Having an agenda to push onto others is no different than the Mormons here in Utah trying to convert the world to their religion.
I want to end this post with a message to my fellow skeptics. As you journey out into the world of woo, do not try to show everyone why you're so intelligent and why they are not. Do not try and convert them to your way of thinking. Set an example and be the happy skeptic that is content with his/her confidence in logic and the scientific method. When you set that example people will become interested. Once those people become interested you have opened the door for rational thinking to take place. Several of my close friends have already come to me asking me about my participation in the skeptical movement. Never once did I tell them they should be interested. I simply set an example and they fell in line. All we can do as skeptics is grease those mental cogs a little bit and hope that they start turning. Don't get caught up arguing with someone that will never see things the way you do. In fact, the more you argue, the worse they will forever stereotype you and all skeptics.
Set an example. Don't stoop to the same tactics that true believers use. Feuding will never accomplish anything. You can make your points and still be calm and collected.
- Chevex
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Why I'm an Atheist.
Today I want to clarify something. Atheism. I feel that many people misunderstand what true Atheism is all about. Most theists see Atheists as naysayers that are just out to attack their beliefs. Well the sad fact is that they are often right. Many Atheists are Atheist simply to be contrarian. The ones that are in it just to piss off theists give the rest of us a bad name and because they are very vocal about it they are primarily what others end up seeing. True Atheism is something very few people have actually considered.
The easiest way for me to describe why an Atheist believes what he/she believes is to describe my own reasoning. I used to be simply agnostic, refusing to pick a side of the debate simply because I did not know enough to make an educated decision. An agnostic can also be a Theist or Atheist, but at the time I was neither. Over time, especially living here in Utah, I have arrived at the personal conclusion that the concept of God is a human creation. Of course you cannot prove or disprove this, much the same way you cannot prove or disprove God. However, I arrived at this conclusion for several reasons. After observing other people for quite some time I found that people have a hard time accepting that they just don't know something. God seems to be the filler that seals all the cracks in knowledge anytime a theist does not understand something. I believe that this human instinct to create answers in the absence of real answers is responsible for the creation of God in order to answer life's greatest questions.
Another reason I have trouble validating the existence of a god is because it is an unfalsifiable, non-scientific claim. I like to bring up a principle known as Occam's Razor. Occam's Razor says that, of two theories that arrive at the same conclusion, the hypothesis that introduces the fewest assumptions is usually the most correct in it's formulation. I believe that of all theories that explain how and why we are here, the theory that we simply don't yet know is the only one that does not require the introduction of another HUGE unknown. It does not need to introduce any new variables. It's not even a theory really, it's just intellectual honesty to state that we don't know something. The concept of God creating the universe is explaining an unknown with another, possible larger, unknown. Such theories cannot be tested and are therefore unfalsifiable.
That is why I made the jump from being a so called "fence-sitter" to being a disbeliever in God. I found that I get more happiness from my life by simply acknowledging and looking upon in awe, the mysteries of our reality. When the answer to every mystery is "God did it" life seems to lose its luster for me. It is the pursuit of knowledge that is fulfilling to me. A true Atheist finds life and every aspect therein to be fascinating!
Another reason I became an Atheist is that the concept of God flies in the face of human achievement. There was a story (http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSEIC47086020070905) where an airline in some other country was worried about the safety of an aircraft and they conducted a religious sacrifice of two goats to ensure the safety of the coming flights. I could not understand how one could be in the presence of such human ingenuity as a large metallic craft that can fly through the air and still think they have to please some whimsical being by killing two goats in order to be safe. In my humble opinion, belief in a god downplays all of humanities accomplishments. Look how far our species has come! It is this reason that I dislike the beginnings of every Thanksgiving dinner.
At Thanksgiving your family likely sits down at the dinner table as mine does. Before you is a grand feast, the likes of which you probably haven't experienced since last Thanksgiving. This food came from all over the world; it was raised or grown using methods that have been developed and refined by humans over hundreds of years. So refined are our methods for growing and raising food that we can manufacture food for humans all over the globe. Afterward, the food is harvested and loaded into trucks which are also a product of human ingenuity. The food is then taken to the appropriate processing facility where more technological development is rampant and always improving. We have learned enough about our environment that within these facilities we can detect and kill microorganisms living in our food that we can't even see! This in turn has contributed to our life expectancy increasing drastically over the last several hundred years. Once the food undergoes all the processing necessary it is packaged appropriately so as to prevent contamination and shipped all over the world.
It is so easy to forget about how far we've come when you get in your car, drive to the store, and come home with a turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, stuffing, cornbread, dinner rolls, butter, milk, chips and dip, croutons, lettuce, ranch dressing, etc etc etc... And all of that can be done in under an hour. God didn't make that feast. WE DID! God didn't make the soil fertile for the farmers, WE DID! God didn't adjust the diets of farm animals to help raise nutritious food, WE DID! God didn't protect you from getting sick from your food, WE DID! Our accomplishments are vast and yet it is so easy to forget about all of that and thank God for the feast in front of us. We are amazing creatures. Most will argue at this point that we are amazing because God made us that way. Well, at that point it becomes a matter of opinion once again. Some people choose to make the jump from an unanswered question about life to a faith-based answer involving God. Others like myself enjoy the mystery and prefer the intellectually honest answer of "we simply don't yet know."
That is why I am an Atheist. I don't have an agenda other than I choose not to believe anything on faith. I take nothing at face value. I utilize the power of critical thinking and the scientific method to make my decisions. Why am I telling you all this? Because I love to express myself, even if that expression upsets those I am close to. Change can only occur in persons desiring change, therefore the only thing I can do is be an example of an Atheist that lives a perfectly happy life and has good moral values despite the absence of religious belief. I try to be as fair and understanding as possible while still expressing myself and what I believe/disbelieve. Now you see what true Atheism is all about. It is just a choice; one that does not require anyone else to agree. Sure, my bias rests with me wishing other people felt as I do, but I do not seek to convert anyone. I only want to grease those mental cogs a little. If nothing else, at least you can see my perspective and perhaps understand my position just a little better.
Thanks for reading.
- Alex
The Utah Skeptic
The easiest way for me to describe why an Atheist believes what he/she believes is to describe my own reasoning. I used to be simply agnostic, refusing to pick a side of the debate simply because I did not know enough to make an educated decision. An agnostic can also be a Theist or Atheist, but at the time I was neither. Over time, especially living here in Utah, I have arrived at the personal conclusion that the concept of God is a human creation. Of course you cannot prove or disprove this, much the same way you cannot prove or disprove God. However, I arrived at this conclusion for several reasons. After observing other people for quite some time I found that people have a hard time accepting that they just don't know something. God seems to be the filler that seals all the cracks in knowledge anytime a theist does not understand something. I believe that this human instinct to create answers in the absence of real answers is responsible for the creation of God in order to answer life's greatest questions.
Another reason I have trouble validating the existence of a god is because it is an unfalsifiable, non-scientific claim. I like to bring up a principle known as Occam's Razor. Occam's Razor says that, of two theories that arrive at the same conclusion, the hypothesis that introduces the fewest assumptions is usually the most correct in it's formulation. I believe that of all theories that explain how and why we are here, the theory that we simply don't yet know is the only one that does not require the introduction of another HUGE unknown. It does not need to introduce any new variables. It's not even a theory really, it's just intellectual honesty to state that we don't know something. The concept of God creating the universe is explaining an unknown with another, possible larger, unknown. Such theories cannot be tested and are therefore unfalsifiable.
That is why I made the jump from being a so called "fence-sitter" to being a disbeliever in God. I found that I get more happiness from my life by simply acknowledging and looking upon in awe, the mysteries of our reality. When the answer to every mystery is "God did it" life seems to lose its luster for me. It is the pursuit of knowledge that is fulfilling to me. A true Atheist finds life and every aspect therein to be fascinating!
Another reason I became an Atheist is that the concept of God flies in the face of human achievement. There was a story (http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSEIC47086020070905) where an airline in some other country was worried about the safety of an aircraft and they conducted a religious sacrifice of two goats to ensure the safety of the coming flights. I could not understand how one could be in the presence of such human ingenuity as a large metallic craft that can fly through the air and still think they have to please some whimsical being by killing two goats in order to be safe. In my humble opinion, belief in a god downplays all of humanities accomplishments. Look how far our species has come! It is this reason that I dislike the beginnings of every Thanksgiving dinner.
At Thanksgiving your family likely sits down at the dinner table as mine does. Before you is a grand feast, the likes of which you probably haven't experienced since last Thanksgiving. This food came from all over the world; it was raised or grown using methods that have been developed and refined by humans over hundreds of years. So refined are our methods for growing and raising food that we can manufacture food for humans all over the globe. Afterward, the food is harvested and loaded into trucks which are also a product of human ingenuity. The food is then taken to the appropriate processing facility where more technological development is rampant and always improving. We have learned enough about our environment that within these facilities we can detect and kill microorganisms living in our food that we can't even see! This in turn has contributed to our life expectancy increasing drastically over the last several hundred years. Once the food undergoes all the processing necessary it is packaged appropriately so as to prevent contamination and shipped all over the world.
It is so easy to forget about how far we've come when you get in your car, drive to the store, and come home with a turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, stuffing, cornbread, dinner rolls, butter, milk, chips and dip, croutons, lettuce, ranch dressing, etc etc etc... And all of that can be done in under an hour. God didn't make that feast. WE DID! God didn't make the soil fertile for the farmers, WE DID! God didn't adjust the diets of farm animals to help raise nutritious food, WE DID! God didn't protect you from getting sick from your food, WE DID! Our accomplishments are vast and yet it is so easy to forget about all of that and thank God for the feast in front of us. We are amazing creatures. Most will argue at this point that we are amazing because God made us that way. Well, at that point it becomes a matter of opinion once again. Some people choose to make the jump from an unanswered question about life to a faith-based answer involving God. Others like myself enjoy the mystery and prefer the intellectually honest answer of "we simply don't yet know."
That is why I am an Atheist. I don't have an agenda other than I choose not to believe anything on faith. I take nothing at face value. I utilize the power of critical thinking and the scientific method to make my decisions. Why am I telling you all this? Because I love to express myself, even if that expression upsets those I am close to. Change can only occur in persons desiring change, therefore the only thing I can do is be an example of an Atheist that lives a perfectly happy life and has good moral values despite the absence of religious belief. I try to be as fair and understanding as possible while still expressing myself and what I believe/disbelieve. Now you see what true Atheism is all about. It is just a choice; one that does not require anyone else to agree. Sure, my bias rests with me wishing other people felt as I do, but I do not seek to convert anyone. I only want to grease those mental cogs a little. If nothing else, at least you can see my perspective and perhaps understand my position just a little better.
Thanks for reading.
- Alex
The Utah Skeptic
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