Scientists discover that atheists might not exist, and that’s not a joke

[Jesse]

Source: Scientists discover that atheists might not exist, and that’s not a joke

WHILE MILITANT ATHEISTS like Richard Dawkins may be convinced God doesn’t exist, God, if he is around, may be amused to find that atheists might not exist.

Cognitive scientists are becoming increasingly aware that a metaphysical outlook may be so deeply ingrained in human thought processes that it cannot be expunged.

While this idea may seem outlandish—after all, it seems easy to decide not to believe in God—evidence from several disciplines indicates that what you actually believe is not a decision you make for yourself. Your fundamental beliefs are decided by much deeper levels of consciousness, and some may well be more or less set in stone.

This line of thought has led to some scientists claiming that “atheism is psychologically impossible because of the way humans think,” says Graham Lawton, an avowed atheist himself, writing in the New Scientist. “They point to studies showing, for example, that even people who claim to be committed atheists tacitly hold religious beliefs, such as the existence of an immortal soul.”

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since we are born believers, not atheists, scientists say. Humans are pattern-seekers from birth, with a belief in karma, or cosmic justice, as our default setting. “A slew of cognitive traits predisposes us to faith,” writes Pascal Boyer in Nature, the science journal, adding that people “are only aware of some of their religious ideas”.


INTERNAL MONOLOGUES

Scientists have discovered that “invisible friends” are not something reserved for children. We all have them, and encounter them often in the form of interior monologues. As we experience events, we mentally tell a non-present listener about it.

The imagined listener may be a spouse, it may be Jesus or Buddha or it may be no one in particular. It’s just how the way the human mind processes facts. The identity, tangibility or existence of the listener is irrelevant.

“From childhood, people form enduring, stable and important relationships with fictional characters, imaginary friends, deceased relatives, unseen heroes and fantasized mates,” says Boyer of Washington University, himself an atheist. This feeling of having an awareness of another consciousness might simply be the way our natural operating system works.


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A little something for our athiest friends to ponder.

[Jedidiah]

Cute.

[rwatts]

Source: Scientists discover that atheists might not exist, and that’s not a joke

WHILE MILITANT ATHEISTS like Richard Dawkins may be convinced God doesn’t exist, God, if he is around, may be amused to find that atheists might not exist.

Cognitive scientists are becoming increasingly aware that a metaphysical outlook may be so deeply ingrained in human thought processes that it cannot be expunged.

While this idea may seem outlandish—after all, it seems easy to decide not to believe in God—evidence from several disciplines indicates that what you actually believe is not a decision you make for yourself. Your fundamental beliefs are decided by much deeper levels of consciousness, and some may well be more or less set in stone.

This line of thought has led to some scientists claiming that “atheism is psychologically impossible because of the way humans think,” says Graham Lawton, an avowed atheist himself, writing in the New Scientist. “They point to studies showing, for example, that even people who claim to be committed atheists tacitly hold religious beliefs, such as the existence of an immortal soul.”

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since we are born believers, not atheists, scientists say. Humans are pattern-seekers from birth, with a belief in karma, or cosmic justice, as our default setting. “A slew of cognitive traits predisposes us to faith,” writes Pascal Boyer in Nature, the science journal, adding that people “are only aware of some of their religious ideas”.


INTERNAL MONOLOGUES

Scientists have discovered that “invisible friends” are not something reserved for children. We all have them, and encounter them often in the form of interior monologues. As we experience events, we mentally tell a non-present listener about it.

The imagined listener may be a spouse, it may be Jesus or Buddha or it may be no one in particular. It’s just how the way the human mind processes facts. The identity, tangibility or existence of the listener is irrelevant.

“From childhood, people form enduring, stable and important relationships with fictional characters, imaginary friends, deceased relatives, unseen heroes and fantasized mates,” says Boyer of Washington University, himself an atheist. This feeling of having an awareness of another consciousness might simply be the way our natural operating system works.



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A little something for our athiest friends to ponder.

Well I do think I exist.

However, I think that atheism is very much a reaction to the assertion that humans seem to find so easy to make - namely that something or someone must have started it all. To this a few humans who have a natural skepticism question this assumption.

And thus atheism is born.

I suspect we were always around, notwithstanding God's opinions about the matter. :)


A great post btw. And I do think that (some of) we atheists should not be so down on (most) theists. It's not necessarily a BS approach to the universe and existence.

[shunyadragon]

Somewhat misleading as to what the evidence indicates. Highly anecdotal.

[rogue06]

Well I do think I exist.

No you don't

[OldHat]

Interesting article, though I can see that some atheists may react badly to this.

[HMS_Beagle]

Title of the article is very misleading. There are no scientific studies referenced concerning "scientists discover atheists might not exist". The author has taken a few personal opinions from scientists and put his own rather religious spin on things. Not particularly honest IMHO.

[JonathanL]

Title of the article is very misleading. There are no scientific studies referenced concerning "scientists discover atheists might not exist". The author has taken a few personal opinions from scientists and put his own rather religious spin on things. Not particularly honest IMHO.

Buzzkill.

[HMS_Beagle]

Buzzkill.

Meh

Actually the whole article reminded me quite a bit of the propaganda from the professional liars at the Discovery Institute. Every time science makes a new find that modifies some previously accepted idea the DI charlatans will quote-mine and twist the living dickens out the of the research. Then they'll title their twisting "SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY SUPPORTS INTELLIGENT DESIGN!!"

[OingoBoingo]

Meh

Actually the whole article reminded me quite a bit of the propaganda from the professional liars at the Discovery Institute. Every time science makes a new find that modifies some previously accepted idea the DI charlatans will quote-mine and twist the living dickens out the of the research. Then they'll title their twisting "SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY SUPPORTS INTELLIGENT DESIGN!!"

Do you not read a whole lot of popular science articles? A comparison to Discovery Institute articles is unnecessary. Pop science headline are almost always crafted to grab your attention even if it means fuzzing the truthfulness of their claims. That's standard journalistic practice. I thought everyone knew that. Looking past that, I found the article insightful and interesting.

[HMS_Beagle]

Do you not read a whole lot of popular science articles? A comparison to Discovery Institute articles is unnecessary. Pop science headline are almost always crafted to grab your attention even if it means fuzzing the truthfulness of their claims. That's standard journalistic practice. I thought everyone knew that. Looking past that, I found the article insightful and interesting.

That's fine for entertainment as long as you recognize it's entertainment. Anyone who gets their science knowledge from superficial heavily spun pop science articles shouldn't expect to be taken seriously in real scientific discussions.

[Teallaura]

No you don't

No, no, he exists - you're thinking of Taoist.

Granted, merely existing doesn't mean he actually is what he thinks he is!




















































Sorry, RW - couldn't resist...

[rogue06]

Do you not read a whole lot of popular science articles? A comparison to Discovery Institute articles is unnecessary. Pop science headline are almost always crafted to grab your attention even if it means fuzzing the truthfulness of their claims. That's standard journalistic practice. I thought everyone knew that. Looking past that, I found the article insightful and interesting.

science-news-cycle.jpg

[OingoBoingo]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1050[/ATTACH]

Exactly.

[Jorge]

Source: Scientists discover that atheists might not exist, and that’s not a joke

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A little something for our athiest friends to ponder.

Pffftttt!!!

I've known for decades that there is no such thing as an Atheist and have stated
so numerous times here on TWeb. I do use the term "Atheist", of course, as a
sort of generic 'identifying label'. However, my position since sometime in the 1970's
has been that "Everyone has a religion, the only question is WHICH religion."
In fact, I believe that in a recent TWeb post I made that statement again.

BTW, as a corollary I also hold that Everyone serves some 'god', the only question is WHICH 'god'.

So, this "news" is hardly a revalation to me.

Jorge