What do you Atheists of the forum believe in?

[Guest The Architect]

You don't believe that God created the Universe, so what do you think caused everything to come into existence in the first place?

 

Personally, I think that something outside of the Universe caused its existence as a singularity in the first place, and within a nanosecond or so of time, the Laws of Physics that exist within the singularity caused the Big Bang to occur, and what followed from that is everything we know of today, which is basically what Stephen Hawking's spontaneous creation theory suggests, minus the italic part, not that he explicitly ruled out the possibility of an outside influence, from what I understand.

 

So what do you believe?

 

At the end of the day none of us know, but I'm curious to know what other people believe.

[Oblarg]

I think that unsubstantiated speculation as to the origins of the universe is completely worthless. We don't know. We may, at some point in the future, but we certainly don't right now.

 

I don't get the whole assumption that you have to "believe" something like this. What's the point of "belief" if you have no physical evidence to support it, or even anything that could even legitimately lead you to infer it?

[Guest The Architect]

Fair enough. I feel the same way, but I still believe in something. A lot of people believe in something just because they can. Why does there have to be a reason? It just is. Perhaps that is true of the Universe. The Big Bang just happened. No reason, no cause. Some people think their beliefs are fact, and some acknowledge that it's only a belief and not only could they be wrong, but admit that they probably are wrong. I think it's fascinating to wonder about the different possibilities of the origins of the Universe, but obviously at the end of the day it's all just speculation.

Edited September 29, 2010 by The Architect

[Gorth]

I subscribe to Gorthology

[Orogun01]

My problem is that there isn't much concrete information; there are definitively things that are beyond the reach of our minds. But since the nature of those remains elusive I prefer not to speculate much, same concept I apply to the Divine. Even though I am a big fan of mythology in general and it's archetypes.

[GreasyDogMeat]

The Universe is beyond comprehension. For all we know, we could make up the cells of some massive creature. Think of the end of Men in Black where it zooms out and aliens are playing with marbles and our universe is contained in one of the marbles.

[Humodour]

You don't believe that God created the Universe, so what do you think caused everything to come into existence in the first place?

 

Personally, I think that something outside of the Universe caused its existence as a singularity in the first place, and within a nanosecond or so of time, the Laws of Physics that exist within the singularity caused the Big Bang to occur, and what followed from that is everything we know of today, which is basically what Stephen Hawking's spontaneous creation theory suggests, minus the italic part, not that he explicitly ruled out the possibility of an outside influence, from what I understand.

 

So what do you believe?

 

At the end of the day none of us know, but I'm curious to know what other people believe.

 

30 years after proposing black holes destroy information, he conceded this is not true - that singularities preserve information.

 

Look, all I know is that it wasn't a sapient being in any human sense (in fact describing 'it' as a 'being' at all seem utterly ludicrous to me).

[mkreku]

I believe in the world around me, and that is enough. I do not feel a need to believe in fantasies about what could have been or what could have created us.

 

I would believe in a higher power (or a god) if it presented itself. So far it has not, so I see no reason to believe in one. Just because we currently don't know much about the world around us is not reason enough for me to believe in made up tales to fill the void of knowledge.

[Monte Carlo]

It's probably easier for me to tell you that I don't believe in: miracles, walking on water, water-into-wine, resurrection, prophets, revelations, pillars of salt, apples and serpents, dogma, testaments new or old, pantheons of elephant-headed gods (no matter how cool the iconography), reincarnation, karma, the power of prayer, statues crying, stigmata.... or whose imaginary friend is the most all-powerful.

 

However, I do believe that religion has left behind it as much good (if not more) as it has bad, that the Judaeo-Christian heritage that has forged the culture and society of where I live is a Good Thing, and that people should be left alone to practice their beliefs in peace.

 

But the organised religions of the world are as much an anthropological phase as animism or paganism. Technology is already stretching moral and ethical barriers between the sacred and the profane. This will continue.

 

I'll end by quoting Jesus, who explains why Christianity has been so successful and such a good basis for human development: Jesus said to them,

[Calax]

For the origin of the universe, I figure its one big ol' cycle. Universe expands to a point, then contracts down into a single point that becomes the big bang. No real beginning, no real end, except in the eyes of the mayflies.

[Purkake]

What do you Atheists of the forum believe in?

Death and taxes.

[Calax]

I believe in myself.

[LadyCrimson]

You don't believe that God created the Universe, so what do you think caused everything to come into existence in the first place?

I don't, and likely in my lifetime, can't, know the answer, so as far as that question goes, I have no belief. I need a decent amount of proof to believe in things like that, and there is none, so it's all sci-fi bedside stories or more scientific speculation, with nothing to believe in, yet. Also, similar to mrkreku, I don't feel a need/urge to have that question answered in order for life to have meaning or purpose or whatever, so I don't spend much time thinking about it in the first place. I leave it to the brainy scientists & forward thinkers (def. not me, har) to discover, predict & prove at some far future date, if they can.

 

I believe in now, enjoying now, & doing what's required to have the means to enjoy the now in the ways that I wish - both the internal (personal survival/pleasures) and the external (helping others/surroundings). To me that's all there is, and that's all I need.

[Purkake]

That's a pretty good point. It's not hard for me to accept that I'll never have all the answers. Plus it's more fun if there is something left to be discovered.

Edited September 29, 2010 by Purkake

[Gorth]

When the LHC gets up to full speed in 2012 we should get the answers

[HoonDing]

When the LHC gets up to full speed in 2012 we should get the answers

Our universe may have well been created by another LHC 13.7 billion years ago.

[Gfted1]

Wait a damn minute, LHC up to full power in 2012....predicted end of the world....coincidence? I dont think so!

[Tale]

I believe in rational and skeptical inquiry. I don't know or understand a lot of the evidence behind the various beginning of the universe theories, such as Big Bang or M-Theory's branes. But I'm open to them and curious about what will be found to support them.

[Gorgon]

What do I believe in, nothing yet. Still waiting to be disproved. I really do hope I am.

[Humodour]

What is the speed of relativity?

[Oblarg]

What is the speed of relativity?

 

C

 

Regarding the LHC, it doesn't do anything that cosmic rays hitting the upper atmosphere don't already do - it simply lets us study high-energy collisions. Doomsday theories are unfounded and silly.

[Calax]

What is the speed of relativity?

There is no "speed of relativity" per se. There is light speed where you start moving at speeds that cause you to slow down in relation to other things (known as relativistic speeds) but in all actuality you can pull that stuff off by flying two gets around the world one high and fast the other low and slow. It's just that it wouldn't reach our perception until you were much closer to light speed (or C)

[Wrath of Dagon]

What is the speed of relativity?

 

C

 

Regarding the LHC, it doesn't do anything that cosmic rays hitting the upper atmosphere don't already do - it simply lets us study high-energy collisions. Doomsday theories are unfounded and silly.

Not true. After a cosmic ray collision, the result keeps moving at near the speed of light and thus leaves earth almost instantly. In LHC, the result is almost stationary, and thus stays on earth. If a micro black hole is produced, it could conceivably grow and destroy earth after a certain period of time. Here's an interesting paper on the subject : http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0912/0912.5480.pdf

[Tale]

Written by an assistant professor of law. I'm not sure it's his field.

Edited October 1, 2010 by Tale

[Pidesco]

You think?