• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Common Bad Beliefs Among Atheists?

I Am The Scum

Philosopher
I Am The Scum
Joined
Mar 5, 2010
Messages
5,787
I'm curious if any of the posters here (atheist or otherwise) would like to address any bad ideas that are common among nonbelievers. Here's my (least) favorite:

You can't reason someone out of what they did not reason themselves into.

I don't think I've ever heard a single non-atheist repeat this line. Strangely enough, however, it is quite common that atheists themselves are living counterexamples of the claim.
 
What on earth has atheism itself got to do with A/ beliefs (other than lack of them), and B/ illogicality? There are stupid atheists as well as stupid theists, you know.
 
I Am The Scum said:
..... Strangely enough, however, it is quite common that atheists themselves are living counterexamples of the claim.
Click to expand...

Do tell. So there are atheists that haven't really thought about their position? Probably.
Just as there are theists who haven't really thought about their position.

Not sure of your point.
 
I Am The Scum said:
I'm curious if any of the posters here (atheist or otherwise) would like to address any bad ideas that are common among nonbelievers. Here's my (least) favorite:

You can't reason someone out of what they did not reason themselves into.

I don't think I've ever heard a single non-atheist repeat this line. Strangely enough, however, it is quite common that atheists themselves are living counterexamples of the claim.
Click to expand...

I haven't heard an atheist claim it either. And it is nonsense.

Hans
 
I should have been more clear on that last paragraph. Let me rephrase:

It is common that atheists have reasoned themselves out of religion, when they did not reason themselves into it.
 
I Am The Scum said:
I should have been more clear on that last paragraph. Let me rephrase:

It is common that atheists have reasoned themselves out of religion, when they did not reason themselves into it.
Click to expand...

Why would anyone have to reason themselves into something unreasonable first before coming to a reasonable conclusion?

I reasoned that the butler did it because that's what everyone believes. But then realized that reasonably it was the wife since we have video of the wife shooting the husband and the butler was in Ecuador at the time.
 
I Am The Scum said:
I'm curious if any of the posters here (atheist or otherwise) would like to address any bad ideas that are common among nonbelievers. Here's my (least) favorite:

You can't reason someone out of what they did not reason themselves into.

I don't think I've ever heard a single non-atheist repeat this line. Strangely enough, however, it is quite common that atheists themselves are living counterexamples of the claim.
Click to expand...

Considering the herbal supplements, probiotics, prebiotics, paleo diet, gluten fee and other fads, I would assume many atheists have many silly beliefs.
 
I Am The Scum said:
I should have been more clear on that last paragraph. Let me rephrase:

It is common that atheists have reasoned themselves out of religion, when they did not reason themselves into it.
Click to expand...

I never was religious - so how does this apply? I do use logic to try to help others understand religion is a total fake started by primitives (out of desire to believe everything was explainable and could be controlled if you just used the right procedure and/or said the right words) and slowly moved to power grabbing and control of the weaker minded.
 
The thing is, atheism is pretty much a lack of belief. There is no creed, no scripture, no dogma that is both unique and universal to atheists. So while it is trivially true that there are atheists that hold odd positions or strange beliefs, it seems a bit forced to associate it specifically with atheism. It's sort of like asking for a list of bad beliefs of left handed people. Or redheads.

Now, there are certainly any number of bad arguments against various religions, but those are not always promoted by atheists!
 
I Am The Scum said:
I'm curious if any of the posters here (atheist or otherwise) would like to address any bad ideas that are common among nonbelievers.
Click to expand...
A lot of nonbelievers eat raisins. I think that's a horrible idea, they are utterly disgusting (the raisins, not the people).
 
Request clarification: Is the OP confusing atheism with skepticism and/or critical thinking? They are three entirely different things. Atheism is a conclusion, skepticism is an attitude and critical thinking is a process.

An atheist may not have arrived at his atheism through critical thinking, and may not be skeptical at all about anything. He may, in fact, be a True Believer in his atheism, with a completely closed mind.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
 
I Am The Scum said:
I'm curious if any of the posters here (atheist or otherwise) would like to address any bad ideas that are common among nonbelievers. Here's my (least) favorite:

You can't reason someone out of what they did not reason themselves into.

I don't think I've ever heard a single non-atheist repeat this line. Strangely enough, however, it is quite common that atheists themselves are living counterexamples of the claim.
Click to expand...

It's originally a quote from Ben Goldacre, and it refers to pseudoscience.

Ben Goldacre said:
“You cannot reason people out of a position that they did not reason themselves into.”
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom