Hello.
I’ve haven’t watched this yet. It’s only just popped up on my computer this morning. But I reckon it’ll be of interest to the folks here. So, please watch and listen.
Thank you,
Walter.
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I really love and prefer this kind of content where you have a choice between the video and a (good) transcript. I prefer the latter. And this transcript is probably good because it’s probably not transcribed, rather it is the script he read in front of the camera, and is polished because he perfected that first.
At any rate … this strikes me as a key paragraph in all this, and I totally agree with it:
I think you can substitute “belief” or “opinion” for “philosophy” and it would be just as true. And if there’s a belief that people really WANT to be true, it’s that there’s a bestowed, baked-in purpose to their existence that gives their lives (and their suffering) meaning. And a lot of people also find it very attractive that a powerful being cares about them and has their back, at least in the ultimate sense that eventually it will “wipe away every tear”. And hence, the appeal of religion and the desire / need for a benevolent and friendly (to you at least) God to exist. And the yearning for an idealized afterlife.
It is much harder conceptually and emotionally to say, there’s no inherent / given / bestowed meaning to life, but I can make meaning for myself and it is enough. Even harder perhaps to say there’s no ultimate / first cause, no “moral arc” that even ultimately bends towards justice, no high-level guarantee of a positive ultimate outcome for humanity generally or for me personally.
Most of us here have come, with varying degrees of resistance, to the conclusion that we aren’t part of some Divine Plan or anything like it. That we make our own purpose and meaning and there’s only a flaky connection between intent / effort and outcomes in life, with not even an afterlife to backstop it all.
Especially at first, I freely admit that this is, compared to various theistic or theistically-influenced core beliefs, no fun at all. Even anxiety-inducing or depressing, depending on your personality.
But I have found that if you stay with it, it adds stability, coherency and even comfort to your existence. Because it’s real, and grounded in and tied to reality and lived experience. It is less pretty in some ways, but also presents far fewer surprises.
I abandoned theism three decades ago, and I’ve probably got somewhere between 10 and 20 years ahead of me … little enough that a badly-timed accident, illness or natural disaster could cut it short at any time. And I have never felt better or more content. I’m truly “good without God”. Indeed, more than good. More content than happy … I quit chasing happiness awhile ago too. It’s a fool’s errand, particularly for a natural idealist.
To the point of this guy’s essay … is that just my preference? Well it certainly wasn’t. I originally preferred to be in God’s back pocket. But I kept falling out of it, and eventually figured that I was imagining the pocket and what it was attached to, and being surprised at all the random stuff happening in my life when I was supposed to be “blessed”. Eventually the pain of that became greater than the pain of letting go of my original beliefs.
I believe no one changes (changes a belief or habit, improves their character, whatever) until the pain of changing is less than the pain of not changing. That is what happened to move me from the belief column to the unbelief column. That is how I lost weight, and made any number of other changes in life. Nearly all of them required temporary discomfort to get to a place of greater comfort. So it goes.
Good idea but one and half hours? I mean sometime… maybe….
UK Atheist