Not being offensive. I’m just asking.
No.
In what way do you think it is “depressing”?
I find the theist one depressing, myself. An overarching god (or gods) that demands worship and capriciously hands out eternal rewards or punishments… ew. The alternative, that my time of existence is short and I should make the best of it, is just fine by me.
No. Militant Agnostic speaking. *
- (I don’t know, and you don’t either.)
Not particularly. What do you think would be depressing? Fear of a permanent death? I don’t fear mortality.
I do, just a little, worry about senility. But I’ve seen a shit-ton of believers sink into dementia. I’m pretty sure God isn’t helping anyone out with that issue.
I say yes. I’d prefer to think there’s an all-powerful being that’s watching out for me (even if he’s judgmental) and that there’s some kind of existence after death.
I’d also be happier if Santa Claus and Superman were real. But I acknowledge that reality isn’t based on what makes me happiest.
…questions.
So yes, why would you think it depressing?
Yeah but the one theists have cooked up is suspiciously like some nosy village priest or strongman, just with more power. He’s all up in your business, monitoring your very thoughts to see if you have sent Him (and it’s definitely a him) a prayer or not. And who you’ve put your genitals together with and whether or not the village elders are happy with your hookup. (remember, originally marriage was something arranged by families, and also sex outside it is a sin so originally it was something pretty coercive)
An athiest thought is “well there’s no evidence for any such beings, and the most rational thing to conclude is none exist”
An agnostic thought is “well it does seem kinda inconceivable that I could exist at all, given I appear to exist in a universe bound by causal laws where something cannot come from nothing and yet this universe seems to have come from nothing. So maybe some sort of intelligent entity was involved at some stage of the cosmic process. But I bet that entity doesn’t give 2 shits about which set of particles is fondling who…”
I’m depressed about lot of things, but unverifiable gods ain’t one of them.
Atheist here. I find it depressing. Have a read of this when you get a minute. It puts it better than I could.
I’m an atheist and I feel like it’s very depressing at times, I don’t think about it daily but sometimes the realization that it’s all for nothing hits you like a ton of bricks.
Not necessarily, no. Are there people who find it depressing? Sure. I know people who find it depressing that the sun will rise tomorrow: it’s called having a depression.
There are a number of depressing things in this world, and there are a number of people who are depressed for any of a number of reasons.
I do not see how knowing that you have to find your own path could possibly be more depressing than constantly being worried that you have strayed from the path that someone else has laid out for you.
What does it all mean? It means that we get to create our own meanings. We can explore the fundamental truths of the universe and of life and of ourselves and not have to worry about stepping on anyone’s toes. We don’t have to live up to someone else’s arbitrary expectations, we don’t have to limit ourselves to avoid challenging them.
It is daunting, and maybe even a little frightening, to know that we are on our own, that there is no one looking out for us and guiding us and protecting us from our mistakes. I can see that leading to anxiety and depression, but no more so than religion inspires people to be afraid that they will not please their deity.
Life after death? Who cares? I don’t want to die anytime soon, as I have plans of things to do and see, and my death would prevent that. Once I’m dead though, I don’t really care. I would hope to leave some sort of legacy, that I will be remembered and still have an affect on the world after I’m gone, but an actual life after death sounds terrifyingly boring in the best case scenario.
I do feel a certain profound sadness that ‘magic’, of any type, isn’t real. But once you get over that, it’s nice not to have to worry about that particular brand of human folly. I feel similarly free when considering spectator sports.
That “eternal life” thing would get pretty dull, especially since the vast majority of it would take place after the heat-death of the material universe. Who wants to sit around and watch a lone neutrino pass by once every trillion years?
I’m not exactly an atheist, but I don’t find the nonexistence of deity depressing. It’s liberating.
I’m an atheist but that tells you absolutely nothing about my worldview other than it doesn’t include a god.
As such there is nothing inherently depressing about being an atheist v being a theist.
I’m not sure it is possible to be a little bit atheist.
The only way you stop being an atheist is by believing in a god. Anything other than that and you are an atheist.
Gnotiscism/Agnosticism is whole other ball game but that is something you hold in addition to theism/atheism.
But yes, liberating is a good word for it. This is the only life we get and the only chance we have to experience. We will only come this way once so make the most of it.
This.
The first thing to say is that there is a common misconception about what “atheist” means. It does not mean a person is certain there is no god.
But the thing is, regardless of one’s certainty (or lack of) whether there is a god, it doesn’t tell you much at all about that person’s worldview.
It’s only if you are used to hearing non sequiturs like “Atheists believe there’s no point to life” or “Atheists believe all morality is relative” (and by “relative” they often mean “arbitrary”) that one might think this.