Question for all atheists. Not a challenge question, just a general question, so keep it cool guys ;)?

Question

Dear Atheist users,

The question I am about to ask is in no way meant to be insulting or anything of the nature, I am simply trying to improve my knowledge of what atheists believe so that I may have a better understanding of them (note I am a non-denominational Christian.)

My question is this, what do atheists believe to be the reason we are who we are? I do not mean in a sense of things such as personality and DNA and etc., but yet, why is it that we can only perceive things from our body and not another's? What is it that allows us to exist to begin with? Why do we exist now instead of in the past or future? What gives us possession of our bodies?

I am sorry if this is hard to understand, I can't think of another way to word it :( I suppose it would help to say that I believe these things are so because we each have a soul within us that gives us possession of our bodies and gives us existence within the present realms of reality.

Thank you for your time in advance guys :D

Answer 1

No need to thank me in advance : D for exposing your nonsense. I do it without any regard for your feelings or other users'.

First, there is no question here. It is yet another request for information from which to contrive more content so that Yahoo Answers may continue its dubious project. Beezwax is the perfect example of the cooperative stooge Yahoo Answers enrolls. Within his answer the the failure of reasoning is manifest: his appropriation of the IDEA of the loop is inconsistent with his comical assertion of self-cognizance. In other words, he is blissfully unaware that his elaborate justification borrows from Plato's theological arch. A real philosopher understands that a-theism is problematic.

Somewhat related to this, here on Yahoo Answers, is the attempt to popularize the errors of Ayn Rand, the most assertive (by volume, not by force of argument) of the modern proponents of a-theism. It's no accident that Yahoo Answers and similar contrivances have an affinity to AynRandism, not to mention the ideological crutch she represents, a decayed monstrosity that can be traced to the elevation of History in the vacuum left by the loss of faith (called "Enlightenment") that has been playing out since the 17th century.

So, in place of legitimate inquiry, there are "questions" like yours, manufacturing ideological content. The advance will come when such nonsense is supplanted with doubt in the  project, meaning, when the supporting structures are exposed for what they are: questionable on every level, especially that of self.

Know yourself.

Answer 2

We don't 'possess' our bodies.  We are our bodies.  There is no component of a person that doesn't exist physically in his or her body.  Your thoughts, memories, personality, preferences, emotions, perceptions, consciousness, all of it exists physically in your brain.  There is no aspect of 'you' which isn't part of your body.

So the reason you perceive things from your body and no one else's is because you are your body.  Your perceptions are a function of your brain, which is connected to your sensory organs and not to anyone else's.

What allows us to exist to begin with?  No one 'allows' it, it just happened.  A certain combination of genetic and environmental influences happened to create what you refer to as 'us'.  

Why do we exist now instead of the past or the future?  We couldn't exist any time but the present.  Who you are (that is, your brain) is purely the product of genetic and environmental influences.  For you to exist required a specific sperm and a specific egg and a specific combination of experiences between conception and now.  If you lived a hundred years ago you couldn't have the same genes or experiences, so in no meaningful way could a person a hundred years ago (or a hundred years in the future, or whenever) be you.

You see, the same problems that you solve by applying a soul can be more simply explained by the absence of a soul.  If you stop thinking about a person as being some sort of abstract concept loosely connected to a body and accept the reality that all our thoughts, feelings, etc. are physical processes then there's no need for souls.

Answer 3

No soul.

We are just lucky, upright apes.

We have no purpose, we are the result of random mutations and millions of years of Evolution. One day we will be gone as all previous creatures on The Earth have gone.

Atheists don't NEED "beliefs" - I simply accept the fact of my existence and take pleasure in what the world gives me - I don't NEED some immaterial presence to oversee my existence.

Answer 4

Atheist are the same in that they share a common NON-belief in theism.

My personal experience and the consequent conclusion as to why we are who we are is that if there exists a specific reason that applies to everyone in general, that reason has not been discovered.

Answer 5

1. life is an expression. we are just who we are as is. (like god is god, adam is adam, life is a praise or song of god)

2. we are trapped in a body. we perceive through the mind  and senses and led to identify that that's who we are. (we sin by being in a body)

3. refer to 1.

4. it took that much time for monkeys to evolve into humans. (like it took god some time to turn dust into adam)

5. the brain controls the body. (like your soul control the body)

Answer 6

The cerebral cortex of our brain (the complex thinking apparatus) is a relatively recent addition, say within the last 60,000 years or so.  The irrationality of religion has a scientific basis. It goes back to our cave man days when man was very insecure living in a hostile environment.

The more primitive underlying limbic system, the seat of our ancient emotions or innate temperaments, is in all of us. Humans use both systems. In times of trouble, people still pray for intervention by the god(s). Prayers are requests by persons to have the laws of the universe repealed in their favor.

People who are rational, relying on their cerebral cortex, look at all the absurdities in religion, souls, ghosts, and things that go bump in the night. Christian dogma expects people to believe the fairy tale of Noah's ark, although it is patently impossible to squeeze even samples of billions of the world's animals into one small ark. Rational persons consider such stories ludicrous.

The bible account of the creation of man and the universe is in such contradiction to irrefutable facts that a rational person cannot help but laugh about such fantasies. There's not one shred of evidence of the existence of a soul, but there's a perponderance of evidence produced by neuroscientists of how the brain functions (including, btw the existence of the so-called god-gene which can be artificially probed to ellicit a 'religious' experience in test subjects).

Answer 7

Its just as magcal not to define it any way and to say - 'I dont know' I don't miss out on the extreme beauty and poetry of life or the fascination with human relations just becaue I don't want a ready made story.

In fact for me , putting a story around the mystery and having a sesne of knowing rather diminishes the astonishing affect of living life.

Sometimes i see a little bird and my heart melts and I find the way to relate fully to it othertimes the feeling is spoiled by my head coming out with labels - The minute I say blackbird in my head when I see one - the feelign of awe is gone as I have assumed  mastery with that word - I know something about it - curiousity and relationship is quenched  - I think I know something.

Your questions would take me to conjecture and thoughts - which take me away from myself and my present - and invite me not this knowing place that I find arrogant and thre for dumbing down fears - I want my fears all out on show to myself so that I can work through them.

I would rather be a still mind - or actively helping to make us a better society.

If I had the brains I'd be using my mind trying to find a green  alternative power but my recycling which takes a lot of time and  energy is undoubtedly in this present climate  useful, practical - I do this instead of pondering imponderables.

Answer 8

Clearly those are very large questions that cannot be addressed properly in the tiny form of Yahoo Answers, but I can give you one postage stamp version of an answer:

Change the word "soul" to "brain" and I'm with ya!  We each have a Brain which is contained within our bodies, and it is within the Brain that we "exist".  

Brains are a very special sort of thing in the universe, the only one we know of so far that has these properties (though eventually we will have computers which are conscious as well, and it is possible that there are currently extra-terrestrial species with also possess them).  Within the brain are many things, but the most salient to this discussion is: they are the Temple of Pattern.  

What I am, is not a soul, but rather a self-reflexive feedback loop of electro-chemical stimulations of brain tissue.  Brains are made up of billions of special cells called neurons, with trillions of connections between them, and they conduct electricity via the means of chemical transfers between them.  A Brain State, is a mapping of which neurons are in which state of chemical activation: this is the "information" necessary to create consciousness.

But information is not enough, it has to have Meaning, in order to get anywhere.  And that is why the concept of a Loop is important.  For meaning to exist, there must be a perceiver, something for the information to have Meaning to!  The information contained in a Brain State, has meaning to...the brain itself!  Different parts of the brain "perceive" other parts which percieve other parts which perceive other parts etc. etc.  When the Loop becomes sufficiently complex, it is Self-Aware, and is able to create the subjective "feeling" of consciousness.  

I think that this view takes care of all your questions as to why we exist as subjective beings from inside a body at a specific time.  The only difference between my explanation and a "soul" is that mine deals with only things for which there are evidence.  There is no evidence for a soul (or for god), therefore it is unreasonable to believe in them.  You believe them as a matter of faith, and I think that faith is both unnecessary and immoral.

Hope I have helped!

Answer 9

your question and your confusion stems from the assumption you have made that we have a soul.

you've in fact hit the nail right on the head. this is impossible. we don't have souls.

we can only perceive things from our body because our brain is responsible for our awareness, and it is only plugged into our eyes, and not somebody elses.

we don't possess our bodies, it's more like our bodies possess us in a way. your question needs a really long answer. much longer than this one.

do you think a plant has a soul? does a plant not move towards light, the venus flytrap trap a fly?

does a fly have a soul? does it not move and react and eat and die?

does a frog? a chicken? a dog? a chimp?

i think your answer would be that those animals that can have personalities would have a soul.

but self awareness is not a requisite of personality.

you could have a computer pet that develops a personality, that does not give it a soul.

if you search well you will discover souls don't exist.

but you never will, because before even you have asked the right questions, before even you have searched, you have convinced yourself you already knew the answer.

I'm quite sure you will not believe me.

but what i find strange is that you would ask a question and when found the answer would not acknowledge it. and probably what you would find strange is that i answered it knowing you wouldn't.

Answer 10

Humans exist to drink .. eat .. procreate .. and have some fun.

It is all good .. believe me .

Answer 11

As for why we exist in the present, that seems relatively easy to answer: we were born when we were born.  It could have been another way, but it wasn't, and that's just chance.  And as to why we are "ourselves"...that is a more intriguing question.  It by no means proves atheism to be incorrect, yet it is interesting not only from a religious but also a philosophical perspective.  I can give you the easy answer, which is DNA and our different brains and personalities...but I understand what you mean when you say there is a different level to the question than that.

Answer 12

Nobody knows. Cristianity is just another theory of why we are in existance. Whose to say whats right. There is no proof of a god what so ever. I believe that our bodies and brain are what control, not our "souls." It was also poven that we are here as a result of evolution. And "The Big Bang Theory" is the closest reason for our Earths existance. The story of creation in the bible is obviously inrrect.