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It did for me. When I consider the complexity and slow pace of evolution, the way the earth has shifted to form the world we know now, the infinity of the space beyond our atmosphere, the confluence of random events that brings each of us into existence as unique individuals, I am awed by the world around me. That this is all here by random chance is frankly amazing to me.
Reading about evolutionary theory, the natural world, the theories about the formation of the universe, etc., just fascinates me.
I ask because I feel that many people see atheists as people who have no sense of wonder, and I have always found that to be the furthest thing from the truth.
I dunno that it *increased* my sense of wonder, which has always been pretty intense ever since I can remember - but I would say that the more understanding I have, the deeper and more nuanced my feelings become.
I think it was more a matter of my sense of wonder facilitating my atheism.
I think once I accepted that I was an atheist and embraced the concept I'd kind of been flirting with since I was a child, I just became more attentive to the reasons behind things. I mean, I was never RELIGIOUS, but before I became consciously atheist (as opposed to just constantly thinking to myself "OMG, you don't really believe that, do you?" when anyone talked about their faith) I kept the idea that there was a deity driving everything at the back of my head.
When I embraced empiricism and reason as the guiding principles in my life, I started to think a lot more about how the world we live in came to be and started researching it on a deeper level than I'd learned about in school. And it seems far more amazing (secularly miraculous, even) to me than the fundamentalist/literalist belief in a 7-day creation period 6,000 years ago.
Though I was atheist all my life, becoming "Thinking" atheist, and getting involved in the debates about the Bible, evolution and morality have all contributed to a sense of wonder and excitement at all the amazing information there is and how more is being added to it all the time.
It did for me. When I consider the complexity and slow pace of evolution, the way the earth has shifted to form the world we know now, the infinity of the space beyond our atmosphere, the confluence of random events that brings each of us into existence as unique individuals, I am awed by the world around me. That this is all here by random chance is frankly amazing to me.
Reading about evolutionary theory, the natural world, the theories about the formation of the universe, etc., just fascinates me.
I ask because I feel that many people see atheists as people who have no sense of wonder, and I have always found that to be the furthest thing from the truth.
I think the 'sense of wonder' you talk about is more of a personality trait, and I certainly share your fascination of all the things you mention.
I say this because my husband is a lifelong atheist and a scientist. He certainly has an inquisitive mind, as you would expect of a scientist, but he does not share my same sense of awe.
Example- we both had our DNA tested some time ago. When we got the results back I was blown away how so much information could be gleaned from 10ml of saliva: eye colour and build etc and then a whole plethora of information that told me how my ancestors had migrated across Europe over tens of thousands of years right back to how much DNA I share with Neanderthals.
My husband, who works in this field was like "Yeah, what did you expect? It's genetics. It's exactly what you'd expect to find". Couldn't have been less enthused.
What I do think atheists tend to share is a thirst for information, inquisition and seeking the truth.
I always think it ironic that the evolution deniers and the creationists, for all their talk about the 'glory of god' are actually missing out on the true wonder of nature and all it's complexity by refusing to see what is really out there.
I think the 'sense of wonder' you talk about is more of a personality trait, and I certainly share your fascination of all the things you mention.
I say this because my husband is a lifelong atheist and a scientist. He certainly has an inquisitive mind, as you would expect of a scientist, but he does not share my same sense of awe.
Example- we both had our DNA tested some time ago. When we got the results back I was blown away how so much information could be gleaned from 10ml of saliva: eye colour and build etc and then a whole plethora of information that told me how my ancestors had migrated across Europe over tens of thousands of years right back to how much DNA I share with Neanderthals.
My husband, who works in this field was like "Yeah, what did you expect? It's genetics. It's exactly what you'd expect to find". Couldn't have been less enthused.
What I do think atheists tend to share is a thirst for information, inquisition and seeking the truth.
I always think it ironic that the evolution deniers and the creationists, for all their talk about the 'glory of god' are actually missing out on the true wonder of nature and all it's complexity by refusing to see what is really out there.
As a life-long atheist, I can't say that my sense of wonder was increased; it was always there. As a quick example, I never take for granted that after I'm done typing a response to a person in another part of the world that can be read instantly, I can then type in a few simple commands and take a close-up look at an actual celestial object million and millions of miles away, something that no one else in the entire history of humankind before me was able to do, and I plead guilty to being jealous that those who come after me will be easily able to do things that I can only imagine today and are impossible to achieve as I type this. Science made all that possible.
I've been online since almost the beginning of the internet as we know it today, and I continue to always run across those online who try to insist that I'm unable to appreciate the full and true beauty of a sunset because my atheism does not allow me to. They believe I'm limited, when I feel exactly the opposite, namely that the prerequisites of their self-imposed religious beliefs are an unnecessary additional burden to true appreciation.
As a life-long atheist, I can't say that my sense of wonder was increased; it was always there. As a quick example, I never take for granted that after I'm done typing a response to a person in another part of the world that can be read instantly, I can then type in a few simple commands and take a close-up look at an actual celestial object million and millions of miles away, something that no one else in the entire history of humankind before me was able to do, and I plead guilty to being jealous that those who come after me will be easily able to do things that I can only imagine today and are impossible to achieve as I type this. Science made all that possible.
I've been online since almost the beginning of the internet as we know it today, and I continue to always run across those online who try to insist that I'm unable to appreciate the full and true beauty of a sunset because my atheism does not allow me to. They believe I'm limited, when I feel exactly the opposite, namely that the prerequisites of their self-imposed religious beliefs are an unnecessary additional burden to true appreciation.
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